Real Madrid vs Barcelona

Stop with this "giving the fans what they want" nonsense. He *bleep* up. Plain and simple.

I can't believe we sacked a world class manager for this loser.

tactically dude... this was a PROVEN failed tactic.  You can't play 2 CMs only against Barca unless you plan on parking the bus.  Mourinho proved that.  If you want to play then you need 3 CMs because you can't play through the midfield otherwise and you end up being broken in 2.

You're telling me that Rafa didn't watch the 7-10 clasicos that showed this?  Come on. Not only does it not work on the attacking side, it exposes the defense as the passing lanes are open to the strikers for Barca. It was a fail to start.

As i mentioned before the game, unless we score first, we were going to get trounced with this tactic.

Last season we played only 2 cms too but last season we could actually keep possession. This team. My God even Varane is having a shocker as he has many times this season

We actually defended our right better when Carvajal came in. Shocker. Wherever Danilo goes goals seems to follow him. Plays on the right Barca score from there, play on the left Barca score from there

When Isco came on we also created all but 2 of our best chances. I can't believe people want him benched. Without him we can't keep possession. He even gets a red Card for lashing out, has that ever happened before?

I am done with BBC. One needs to be benched. James yet to have a good game against a big team. But hey why don't you score your golazos against Levante at home and get your customary injury

James played very well against Barça at the Bernabeu last season. You can't possibly think he's a scrub.

I agree with you about Isco and the BBC. Isco is too good to be benched and the BBC suck.

Rafa isn't good enough to coach Real Madrid.

This is what happens when you fire a world class manager without thinking about those available. I bet Carlo is loling with his wife now

@sports, as far as tactics go, i agree with you wholeheartedly. for years, even under carlo, regardless of who we play against, i've been against playing both kroos and modric alone in midfield. as far as the manager, i remember fans wanted him because "he was born in madrid, he knows madrid", cos someone is born somewhere means nothing. but i want to lay off rafa, cos coaching cycles tire me

let's look at the players; last season, after xmas break, we won one big game, the ucl against atleti. we flopped against juve (we played like garbage btw), flopped against atleti in regular season and copa (played full garbage in copa), flopped against barcelona in the second leg (played a bit alright, but still lost and they never looked scared)

eyes don't lie. barcelona, even when they've lost to us have never looked terrified, i can't say the same for our players. when a team has to rely too much on a manager's plan, then they're not ready imo. this loss wasn't solely on rafa it was on the players as well. unless rafa adopted some really defensive style, based on player personnel, we wouldn't have won. and even with a defensive style, if barca happened to score first, it would have been over, maybe not 4 nil but still 3 points

you can't blame the defense when they're left naked like this by the scheme... they're constantly facing 2v1s.

@tito... you absolutely depend on tactics or the galacticos would always win everything and City would have won 5-6 EPLs in a row.  The shape has to be there.  The synergy has to develop on the practice pitch.  The defensive cues have to practiced between players.

This is all on the manager. We look disjointed.

I feel if he wanted James the best and safest approach would have been a repeat of what we did last year at home with that 4-4-2 but the dilemma is that Ronaldo and Bale must start and cannot be touched regardless of form. fck politics


Isco/James either one but Casemiro was a must for this game.
Carvajal not starting over Danilo baffles me and can someone confirm the sub for Marcelo was due to a knock because if it wasn't then that mean Benitez would have kept Carva on the bench next to Casemiro.

@hala, the bbc will end this season i think. regardless of the season's outcome, it hasn't been a successful project. and if florentino stays (he's run away before, so i don't put it past him), cos of his love for bale (for whatever reason), i'd say bale will have one more season of grace. the problem with us is deep on many levels. i don't see how anyone could be confident in us winning this game when u look at how we played not just this season but last season too.....forget about defense and tactics for a minute; but is there any DOMINANT player in offense? and can this offense actually create anything?

once again i'm not talking about two yard passes and side assists before a goal while on the counter. can anyone slice through a tough defense? hell can anyone even dribble successfully and create a chance? the team is a farce. and this loss might have been best for us. if we won via some tough defensive system, maybe we'd have lied to ourselves we are a good team. neymar right now's better than cristiano, suarez no doubt is better than benzema, he's scored in so many big bouts since his biting suspension was over, i don't want to compare messi and bale....that's almost criminal

^This. tito's post is spot on.

Benzema and Ronaldo will be gone at season's end imo.

sportsczy wrote:@tito... you absolutely depend on tactics or the galacticos would always win everything and City would have won 5-6 EPLs in a row.  The shape has to be there.  The synergy has to develop on the practice pitch.  The defensive cues have to practiced between players.

This is all on the manager. We look disjointed.

i'm not saying u don't, i'm saying ure life shouldn't depend on it. which it seems is the case with our team. a team that's actually good, should be able to pull something out of the bag, and out of the blue when needed. as for the galacticos, from 05 onwards, they weren't losing cos team's adopted better tactics, they were just trash and got old. this team has nobody who can pull anything out the hat. for us it has to be play counter and hope the opponent opens up. obviously when we play a side with good offensive players, and we have scrubs like danilo at the back, hoping the opponent opens up becomes suicidal

if you have a talent advantage, you can overcome tactical issues.  But if you have no talent advantage (or of course a deficit), it comes down to tactics in terms of who wins 90% of the time.  You also open yourself to being surprised by lesser teams more often if you're not tactically sound.

You look at Barca... they have individual defensive weaknesses. But they make up for it collectively due to tactics for example. The Dortmund team that made the CL Final had a talent deficit against Barca/Madrid/Bayern. Yet they were so well coached that they almost overcame it for the ultimate prize.

Well you can blame this on Benitez, Danilo, defense in general, but I say it is time to acknowledge we are not as good as Barca. They won everything last year and at this point one has to question why they won't repeat.

The biggest deficiency I observed is how inferior our BBC is to their MSN. There is little doubt if you set your bias aside that Messi is far superior to Ronaldo, Suarez much superior to Benz and no question about Neymar head over heels to Bale. In addition, they make excellent teamwork between them with lots of creativity and none of them are selfish, like our three. In sum, there simply is no comparison.

titosantill wrote:but is there any DOMINANT player in offense? and can this offense actually create anything?

once again i'm not talking about two yard passes and side assists before a goal while on the counter. can anyone slice through a tough defense? hell can anyone even dribble successfully and create a chance?

Hamez is that player.. He needs to be given the green light to play wherever he wants and do whatever the *bleep* he wants

Is it time yet?

sportsczy wrote:if you have a talent advantage, you can overcome tactical issues.  But if you have no talent advantage (or of course a deficit), it comes down to tactics in terms of who wins 90% of the time.

that is my point, we've been fooled into believing that we are actually good. even if rafa played some tactical chess match and we somehow won or drew, it would only cover up the cracks, the fact that this team is poorly built, and you know what will happen next year? we'll go out and buy another 30 million backup wing back (even though nacho will probably be better than them), and some bench players, so as not to disrupt the "harmony" of the starters. my point is we should now be thinking of moving forward without certain players.

yes, rafa has his problems; as i always like to highlight, i wasn't among those wanting a coach simply cos he's born in madrid...then again, when a coach comes, i'm not in a haste to fire him (i must have seen like 20 or more coaches since becoming a fan of this club). my point is we absolutely have to hold players accountable at some point....doesn't equate to leaving rafa off the hook, but players MUST be held accountable

sportsczy wrote:you can't blame the defense when they're left naked like this by the scheme... they're constantly facing 2v1s.

Exactly. Ramos and Varane looked outnumbered each and every time. Danilo, the midfield set up, and bale/Ronaldo not tracking back.. well most of that is on benitez.

We were playing high pressure DESPITE having so many attackers who can't defend on the field this was the only result that could happen

https://www.instagram.com/p/-W7s74pYAL/

Keep that mentally deranged psychopath away from the Bernabeu. Benitez sucks, but I'd rather keep him than have Mou back.

Our 1v1 difference makers are Marcelo, Isco and James in tight space... Bale in open space.  Modric is a difference maker in the midfield.  We have plenty.  The issue is team balance and team shape.

You need a manager with real grit and balls of steel to control this group of primadonnas.

I also think its time you buy real talent.
Hazard is not a bad choice.

Just my 2cents.

You can continue talking about check mating, tactics...etc but fact is Madrid were never really a good team that gels together.

Carlo did well actually with what he had, and that was the support of the dressing room after he made out with Iker and Ramos.

Anyway...I dont want to go into a deep debate with you guys. I know how it feels like to be wounded and hurt.

Better luck in the CL .

FennecFox7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:you can't blame the defense when they're left naked like this by the scheme... they're constantly facing 2v1s.

Exactly. Ramos and Varane looked outnumbered each and every time. Danilo, the midfield set up, and bale/Ronaldo not tracking back.. well most of that is on benitez.

We were playing high pressure DESPITE having so many attackers who can't defend on the field this was the only result that could happen

bale and ronaldo not tracking back has been going on for years, went on last season against juve and atleti as well. at some point, we have to go "hey you two aren't helping the defense"...granted that's rafa's job, but even carlo didn't admonish them last year. the midfield set up, was also similar last year, hell, this was practically the same team from last season....besides danilo (that i blame rafa for). kroos and modric reminds me of becks, guti, zidane and figo with no help in defensive mid, its too flashy (granted they not better than those guys, maybe guti but whatever)..but as i said, we saw that exact same midfield last year, bbc, with james played in some weird position we're not exactly sure of (maybe wing or cmf), and kroos and modric, how can one even win the ball back?

Madrid has no player that says, "screw this give me the ball, I'll do something". Ronaldo has that mentality but he sucks right now. I feel like he was the only one who was making runs, but thats ridiculous to point out for an offensive player, that should be standard at this level. Bale and Benz need to grow some balls and at least try to make something. Benz was trying a little towards the end and him and bale are a little rusty but still. James is the only player who can make something out of nothing but he got subbed out early for whatever reason. I think Marcelo got a knock, can someone confirm this? He's our best creatvive player we have.

Guys,

to keep it simple.
You didnt play for a win today.
You didnt think you could win and you didnt even try to.
so all this talk about who flopped and who didnt well can be thrown out of the window if the team morals and team spirit was not there.

Kinda like what chelsea were / are facing but Madrid are still much better.