Zidane becoming the manager pretty much sealed this one.

Inb4 Barca claim him and have a GOAT midfield to dominate us for years to come

Only way he doesn't come is if Flo Perez doesn't want to pay up... otherwise, he will jump if Zidane call him.

Then I hope, with every fiber of my being, that Zidane doesn't call him.

When does the Aubameyang deal go through? This week or next?

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Then I hope, with every fiber of my being, that Zidane doesn't call him.

He already has Met with him last year i think when there was a legends game against Juventus. It's really all on Flo.

Honestly, if Florentino wanted him, he could get him, Zidane or no Zidane. But so far he has expressed zero interest in him. None. Zilch. Nada.

Though I agree with Zidane as head coach, things might change.

We were too busy buying Danilo and Kovacic to focus on anyone else

"Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"

we don't need pogba. we need a dm.

Valkyrja wrote:"Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"

we don't need pogba. we need a dm.

We actually have a decent DM in Casemiro, what we could use is some variety in the midfield, which we have almost none of.

Why have Modric, Kroos, Isco, and James on the field at one time? Only one player can pass the ball at a time. To me they are all too similar- especially between Modric/Kroos and Isco/James

Think Zidane will try to get Hazard too if he is still the manager in the summer

vanDEEZ wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:"Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"

we don't need pogba. we need a dm.

We actually have a decent DM in Casemiro, what we could use is some variety in the midfield, which we have almost none of.

Why have Modric, Kroos, Isco, and James on the field at one time? Only one player can pass the ball at a time. To me they are all too similar- especially between Modric/Kroos and Isco/James

Apparently Zidane doesn't use DM either; rarely does he ever with Llorente with Castilla, but most of the time he plays 4-2-3-1 with no DM.

RealGunner wrote:Think Zidane will try to get Hazard too if he is still the manager in the summer

Please no.

And Pogba is overrated in my opinion. If Juve is still asking for those insane prices then Flo pls

Valkyrja wrote:"Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"

we don't need pogba. we need a dm.

Actually we may very well need him, in addition to a DM. Plus Zidane needs to decide if he is going to play with AMs or not. If he doesn't, which is a strong possibility with BBC, Isco and possibly James are better off going elsewhere (probably same with Asensio). Kroos either has to leave or play more forward along side Modric. If we get a proper DM (with Casemiro available as a backup), then having Modric and Pogba would be great. If Ronaldo does go, is James the replacement or does Flo do what he always does, bring in another prima donna galactico?

In my mind the best option would be play a 4 men mid, with a DM, Modric, Pogba and an AM (James or Isco) with Benz and Bale up front.

Or use both Isco and James with Modric and a DM. We don't need Pogba

I think Isco will be used to rest Kroos and James the same for Modric. James could get some run if Bale gets injured too.

More interested to see Carvajal-Varane back in given how horrible Danilo-Pepe have been... Pepe has lost pace and that's a killer for a CB of his style.

As far as Pogba... he'll either go wherever Pep goes or Barca or Madrid.

This a no brainer. Knowing flo hazard will be here in the summer and knowing zidane, he will kidnap pogba to the bernabeu himself. Though I like neither of them tbh.. In my mind hazard isn't madrid material how much more the new face of madrid. Poga is okay but madrid need a proper dm, not one whom will never defend even if his life depended on it.

Amidst all this its already pretty much certain and obvious that isco will be the victim in all of this. James will get good playing time while isco will be a bit part player at best. It doesn't help that isco isn't as politically powerful and he isn't a flagship galactico infact isco has 0 media power on his side at this point..
For instance, a Neymar frown in barca after being subbed would mean he would never get subbed till the end of the season again form or not. Even the media will go on and on, visit and revisit the issue till no end, same with ronaldo and messi. But isco doesn't have that, making him an easier target for coaches.

Both James and Isco deserves to be starter, or at least they deserve to be in a position where they can have their football decide who plays or not, specially Isco, and that's by not being pitted against a player that cost 100 mil.

The only way both James and Isco play for us imo, is if we sell CR, and go with something like
Bale-Benz-James
Isco-DDMM-Modric

To me that's the only way, and of course providing that we find a DM to protect both Modric and Isco.

If we are going to continue playing Kroos somewhere he does not belong, and lord have mercy. In that condition alone then yes, Pogba or dare i even say someone like Andre Gomes makes more sense. I dont worry about Kovacic because as it stands, he should be fast tracked to replace Modric moving forward (if he is good enough).

But again, is Pogba so good that it's worth signing him at all cost to play him an whatever midfield we build? Question would be whether we want to build around Isco in midfield, or Pogba is midfield (or again some other player). Someone needs to be making those kind of decision for us to move forward

I just don't think it's wise to build around players... you build around a philosophy/a system.  It's important for that system to allow flexibility to emphasize the strengths of the squad as much as possible.  But in the end, it has to be about a system.

If you build around a player, you expose yourself to disaster if that player's form drops or he gets injured. Chelsea learned that the hard way this season with Hazard and Matic dropping their level. City gets exposed too when Yaya isn't at his best. On the other hand, teams like Bayern, Barca and PSG do fine with or without key players. Of course, they're better with their top guys... but they don't fall apart if the top guys are going through a spell. Heck, Ibra was a ghost all last season due to injuries and Lucas/Lavezzi were very average... yet they carried along fine.

sportsczy wrote:I just don't think it's wise to build around players... you build around a philosophy/a system.  It's important for that system to allow flexibility to emphasize the strengths of the squad as much as possible.  But in the end, it has to be about a system.

This... i'm not keen on using the term "philosophy" in football, but i do agree, you don't build around one player. its like the san antonio spurs; popovich can decide to field his bench guys for games and they'll perform. they may not play as well as the starters, but it won't be night and day. with a set system you can always counter things like injuries, as you're not solely relying on players' talents, so if someone goes down, another can fill in.

issue now becomes one of discipline; maintaining the shape and how to be less predictable. over the last couple of years, with mourinho and with carlo, the counter attack was our go-to style, but in certain instances u find teams just say to us "here have the ball, we won't attack", and then we lose all sense of creativity and become terrible. this half season, we've had no system at all, a lot of our wins haven't even been down to individual brilliance neither. either the foolishness of the opposition, or some happy go lucky strike

i don't know about signing pogba, hazard and all these guys though. i'd want us to work on how we play first, there's a lot of time to discuss signings in the summer. for now, let's see what the remainder of the season has to offer

The thing about Pogba and Hazard (and players of that mold) that i like is that they're consummate team players first...  they only do individual stuff within the team concept.  That's why they had trouble when the managers asked them to be selfish.  It's just not their personality.

We need more of these.  Isco, James, Bale and Ronaldo are all invidualists first.  Heck, i'd even throw Marcelo in there to a certain degree. That's too many.  Typically, you want 1-2.  At 3, it becomes unmanageable.  So assuming we keep Bale and Ronaldo, then everyone else really has to be about team play and flow first.

sportsczy wrote:I just don't think it's wise to build around players... you build around a philosophy/a system.  It's important for that system to allow flexibility to emphasize the strengths of the squad as much as possible.  But in the end, it has to be about a system.

If you build around a player, you expose yourself to disaster if that player's form drops or he gets injured. Chelsea learned that the hard way this season with Hazard and Matic dropping their level. City gets exposed too when Yaya isn't at his best. On the other hand, teams like Bayern, Barca and PSG do fine with or without key players. Of course, they're better with their top guys... but they don't fall apart if the top guys are going through a spell. Heck, Ibra was a ghost all last season due to injuries and Lucas/Lavezzi were very average... yet they carried along fine.

I dont disagree with you, but even if you build with a team idea in mind you still need starters are bench players. If you want to use PSG as an example, then they have verratti-motta-matuidi and everyone else when they are fit and it's a big game goes to bench. We cant sign Pogba for example and have him rotate lol

That's why i said, regardless of the pick, we also have to make a commitment to that player and play him to the extent that he will blossom and be great for us

Yeah i agree... make your top 11 clear but rotate in games that are less competitive. The thing you need to do is make sure that there's competition so that, although the top 11 is clear, they need to perform. It also motivates the backup people to work hard and try to beat out the starters. At PSG for example, Motta was benched for a while when he was poor last season. Same with Lavezzi. Pastore as well.

It's possible to reinforce roles while allowing for competition and stressing accountability. That's what good managers are supposed to do AND sell the squad on it.