this situation is exactly like when isco first got benched, he was so hyped that a lot posters would look for any reasons, to suggest he should start based on being magical ffs, these are facts a lot of posters on here have no problem twisting reality to suit themselves, as i said i can't wait until the kroos hate starts, cause its a coming just watch.

Hope Rafa rotates a bit. No point burning people out early. Set a regular rotation schedule early on in the season AND THEN you can cheat with it in the important games in 2016.

Kovacic is a very talented and good player. He can handle the job. Let one of Kroos or Modric start on the bench and then bring him in later. It's healthy to have a 3 player mid rotation with a specialist if needed in Casemiro.

Oh Doc I admire your optimism but our record against Bilbao is filled with filth I would've agreed with you had we played them at home but away with all those fans booing us and Ronaldo getting riled up by their players I am with Demon, they are too tough i would gladly take a 1-0 and gtfo of there

Re Kovacic even if he played on the right he would not stay there, against Shaktar when he came in he played predominantly in the middle of midfield although our shape was a 442. I wouldn't have him in place of Modric/Kroos yet Sport because he hasn't played an intimidating opposition like that yet. Casemiro on the other hand could be an option as he doesn't get fazed by anything thrown at him. It depends on what Rafa wants. Does he want defensive solidity over better passing when they press us??

This isn't a game to rotate, we can rotate against Malaga next Saturday but for tomorrow we need to beat them at all costs which means strongest line up possible

Kroos is one of the few non Spanish players I have seen personally Madrid fans have taken a real liking for without him doing anything remotely fascinating. My name ain't Wenger so I can't give anyone any real in depth analysis on players but Kroos has been really consistent at being a solid CM. Nothing outstanding, nothing awful.

I guess the Bernabeu recognises that and they warmed up to him or maybe they find him handsome. I do know it would take a lot more crap performances to get them really riled up which, to be fair, would probably not happen anytime soon.

Kroos is a freak. best midfielder in the world imo

I agree, Kroos is a monster. His intelligence, vision and passing skills are second to none. He didn't even need time to adapt when we bought him. That's the definition of a world class midfielder.

I think you guys are missing the main difference with Benitez from Carlo. He believes in rotations and FULL use of his squad. Saying a Denis or Lucas can't start in the same liga that have done so previously is ignoring why they are on the team. Saying that the fans overhype newcomers and that some vets will see more of bench is ridiculous. first off fans don't influence who plays and secondly it ignores the rotations that are inevitable. Saying we have to play only starters against a mid level team, even if that team in the past has given us a hard time in their stadium ignores the overall talent we have and how much Bilbao has fallen in past two years.

Tbh, i remember when nick, & especially hala used to give isco motm game after game whether he did good or not, so long he showed up for the game and i used to wonder to myself if it was thesame game i was watching. One problem isco has always had is strong inconsistency right from his malaga days. He admitedly improved last season tho but u could see he was trying too hard and it was only a matter of time he went back to his old self, at least its the way i see it. James for example, hardly ever got enough praise (except the days he scores a golazo) till it became inevitable that he was one of madrids best players. It was mostly valk who used to stand up for him iirc. So, i think kovacic, while being good, shouldn't be rushed into these kind of games just cause we might like to believe he's just so good when in reality he has done just about okay tbh. The tried and trusted veterans should be used for these tough games while guys like kova should be used in the less demanding games till they prove themselves.

James not given enough praise?

Bankz wrote:Tbh, i remember when nick, & especially hala used to give isco motm game after game whether he did good or not, so long he showed up for the game.

Bankz wrote:James for example, hardly ever got enough praise.

These types of comments are just ridiculous.

Isco was called MOTM because he deserved it. He was unplayable till about late February last season. His form dropped after that and wasn't called the best

This season he hasn't started very well, he was awesome against Shaktar and against Granada he was effective but was poor in large stretches. I wouldn't blindly call someone the best when they haven't shown it trust me. I try to be as honest as possible

izzy wrote:

Bankz wrote:Tbh, i remember when nick, & especially hala used to give isco motm game after game whether he did good or not, so long he showed up for the game.

Bankz wrote:James for example, hardly ever got enough praise.

These types of comments are just ridiculous.

It's like they purposely send their garbage to our section

@hala. Fair enough, maybe it just so happened that i coincedentally logged in anytime u made those comments, as it kind of appeared or seemed like an everytime occurence in my mind, which seemed to be quite odd. But i maintain what i said bout kova though.

i have no clue why u are including my name in your nonsense dude, pls stop

Bankz sounds like one of those people you find in comment section of Goal.com.

@bankz no probs. I would agree to an extent about Kova in the sense that he's still unproven againet the tougher teams so it'd be a gamble to start but between Kova, Jese, Lucas and Denis I definitely prefer the former

Kova proved plenty at Inter and with NT. He's not some kid coming in with no top league experience.

not for us which is what he needs. He is used to losing with Inter with no pressure from the media or fans. If Rafa throws him in like Carlo did with Illarra vs Dortmund and he has a bad performance he might not be able to recover from it. With young guys like that you slowly integrate them until they've gotten used to the hostility of away grounds and the antics of opposing players

it's one thing to play Granada at home and it's an entirely different thing to play Bilbao, Atleti or Celta away

+1 hala

Jese on the bench again

Bilbao away isnt the game for him not now

well well well what do you call a performance like this 10/10 the lot of them

Carvajal attacking like prime Marcelo
Benzema ffs
Kovacic unlucky not to score, had more chances than Ronaldo lmao
Kroos the general
No lapses in concentration with our defenders with not calamity Ramos

The tactics Love this Kovacic, Modric, Kroos trident with Benz dropping down to help and Isco, Bilbao just decided to stop pressing us in the end

Negatives: We are missing waaayyyy too many chances, Ronaldo keeps moaning whenever someone dares shoot instead of pass to him. stfu please

Marcelo also, he was fantastic.

I still prefer Ramos to Pepe because the former is a LCB and Varane feels comfortable as RCB

Hala... Now you're getting why I haven't been able to become a CR fan ever. Truly have always disliked him. He's a spoiled brat and it's highly irritating to watch him for me.

Pepe really needs to get benched.

Pepe has been shit