Good game. The further bale is from the ball the more fluent we play

Benzema is in a monster form right now

Bale was horrible today (not that he was wc before). How could he miss those chances? How could somebody be this selfish?! He jumped in front of James to take the ball that was meant for James, and still missed it? Then he took another one; and even though Chicharito was unmarked; he still took the chance himself and missed it again.

He's our biggest liability right now. Our team plays much better when he's on the bench. Problem is, Carlo is hellbent on playing him every time he's fit to play. He would rather destroy the 4-4-2 system that terrorized teams in the first half of the season than to leave Bale out.

Ronaldo will be back after the Sevilla game. Guess what Carlo is going to do when he has both Ronaldo and Bale available? Screw the 4-4-2, he's going to play them both and make us suffer another undeserved defeat. oh well whatcha gonna do 'bout it?

Isco is such a monster. Without him, we look clueless and we can be easily beaten in midfield (think Cordoba). Him and James are one hell of duo.

Marcelo, of course, had an excellent game. Kudos for him.

This is just wishful thinking, but I really hope Carlo would consider not playing Bale against Atlético and definitely not that brainless, talentless Khedira. Instead, just field a 4-4-2 formation and see how long the plane they're going to park holds.

Bale had 10 shots with only 2 on target The second highest is Benzema with 5 shots. Not even Ronaldo at his worst does that

Benzema and Isco are such a joy to watch this season.

Wonder who Carlo will bench when Modric gets back. James had an excellent game too which is to be expected because unlike Bale he actually has a great understanding with Carvajal

A match day thread, what is this sorcery?
I got the game on 2min late, saw the score & thought they were showing highlights of some previous game. Then Bale scored.

We were pretty good today. Disappointed Illara & Khedira are still getting game time, sell them already!
James's final ball is just fantastic, shame Bale nicked that 'would-be' tap in from him-he looked pissed.

Benzema is magic. I was one of those that wanted him out in the beginning. Credit where credits due he's taken a lot if s###, but he's pushed through. I don't remember a CF that's adds as much as he does to our game.

Bale really should've taken his chances. £120mil for Bale is starting to sound pretty appealing...

Benzema is pure magic.

I dont know what Illarra has to do to be appreciated. He does his job but still gets stick.

Illara did well today mostly. Bale was good for 30 mins and a horror show for the rest... better than usual I just don't think he has any peripheral vision, which is a problem. Or rather, he needs to either concentrate on scoring or passing; he can't transition from one mode to the other on the same play.

He's gotten amazingly far in his career given this weakness. But it won't work with Madrid. He needs to learn to multi-task.

Bale has actually improved in the last games.

About the match, imo this was our best performance in 2015. Marcelo, Isco, James, Benzema were great. Kroos and Illarra also played pretty good.

halamadrid2 wrote:I dont know what Illarra has to do to be appreciated. He does his job but still gets stick.

I suppose he was decent. I just don't see why Khedira & Illara are still getting game time, when they're going to be sold.
Khedira won't renew and Illara isn't needed.

@ valk, I dont think he's improved at all. He is still the same selfish player now that he was 4/5 games ago. Last game he got involved more lets not forget his average touches of the ball is like 20 something a game which is pathetic. This game he just reverted back to his selfish self, had he taken the shot instead of passed to Benz for his goal he would 100% have missed and booed out the stadium. His second half did not improve at all

Our best performances have come with him absent. Lets hope when Modric gets back Carlo has the balls to bench his sorry arse. He will probably selfishly take up all the seats with his belongings knowing him

In order for Illarra to perform well, you need to take pressure off him by surrounding him with players who constantly defend and pressurize the opposition into losing the ball. Isco (mainly) and James do that. This is why Illarra looked decent yesterday and horrible (like the others) against Cordoba. I'm okay with his role being boiled down to being just a sub for the time being though.

However; and having said that, I haven't lost the tiny shred of hope and faith I still have left in him. I genuinely believe he can turn this around. He can become a beast regardless of whether or not you take the pressure of him. I hope he does just that.

He rejected the Bilbao offer to stay and fight for his place here. That's determination. That's pure love for Real Madrid. That's courage. You have to respect that.

What I struggle to get though, is why on earth Carlo is still using that joke of a footballer Khedira? What does he see in him other than brainlessness and slowness? Even if we were to assume that Carlo thinks Khedira brings something to the table (which is highly unlikely but let's go with it for the sake of the argument), why would you choose someone who's on his way out and clearly bereft of determination over someone who's younger and more determined AND at the very least equally talented to him? Isn't it unfair that you're taking Illarra's time to develop and giving it to someone who clearly doesn't deserve it?

Khedira should never, ever play again for Real Madrid. He's a walking disaster in every sense of the word.

bale generally played better in 2nd half if u bar the 1on1 miss, this show he can be useful if his head was right, but if he needs these extreme pressure/heat from heavy mistakeS to make him less retard every games, we are screwed.

I think Carlo uses Khedira because he is the only physically strong player in our midfield. If you think about it there are some games you need him when our midfield is up against a very physical team hence why he started vs Atleti over Illarra. But I don't think we need that if we defend as a team

Regarding Bale meh. His strength is scoring and he cant even do that properly. We play better football when he is far from the ball and he is not better than our two strikers. For me he is not starting material, he is a player who has been stealing a living at the best club in the world. There is a reason we beat Barca comfortably with him absent.

Benzema this guy is so freaking good. I always fear him worse vs us then Ronaldo. can really do magic sometimes

I am not saying it's related but Benzema always plays as a leader when Ronaldo isn't playing. Saw the highlights and he looked like the MVP.

Yepp he was definitely the MOTM. It's like the weight has lifted from his shoulders, he is playing more freely now steppind into the midfield demanding the ball, taking shots and press even when the others think its "job done". If he continues like this we will stay top of the league come the end of the season. Imagine, Benz plays like a monster against Barca in seasons he is bad in, what will it be like when he is in the form of his career

Its not only Benzema though. Isco is similar he is having a monstrous season to date and Marcelo is also having a great season

The thing is benzema plays even better when cr is on the field. It's pure *bleep* magic. But bale takes all the glory from big benz, ever since he came back benzemas touches in the CF role have been reduced

Benz, Isco, James and Marcelo together is magic