as much as i hate to say it, harry kane is very possible...if his form/hype continues, maybe not next year but down the road. one person who has really bought into the epl's marketability hook line and sinker is florentino perez.... i think david beckham was an amazing player, a hardworker, and very talented but when u sign him, with all those crosses, yet the best header on your team morientes is let go, and you can still get free kicks from figo, zidane, carlos, hell even hierro

not to mention owen, woodgate et al...kane is definitely possible. the epl have made a believer out of flo, i think almost every year since after bringing in ronaldo (el phenomeno), under florentino we've signed at least one player from epl...now some have been good, don't get me wrong, but its not far fetched to think that flo will soon buy into kane's marketability if this goes on

oh please don't remind me of that move to play bale as an attacking midfielder. i think we are too proud to the point we think we can do certain ridiculous things and pull it off. i bet one day we'll attempt to go a full season by playing wing backs in the cb position

sportsczy wrote:@Doc...  remember that Rafa actually played a 4231 that used a ACM... and we put Bale as the ACM

I mean honestly... how can Madrid expect to perform for trophies at an elite level when we sabotage ourselves almost every season. The titles that we do manage to win happen in spite of ourselves.

Isco, James, Kroos, Modric, hell even Jese can do the role of ACM but Rafa needs to appease Bale who, for whatever reason that is clearly not based on logic, thinks he is an ACM or false nine or whatever.

Sigh.

titosantill wrote:its funny how we were linked to neymar and suarez, and barcelona went for them when florentino wasn't interested anymore.....oh well. hell, doesn't mean they may have performed here, trust us to look for a way to totally mess that up by playing them out of position, firing a coach that may have helped their progress, or whatever it is we do to players ....btw is anyone besides me bothered by these injuries bale keeps getting? is it the same injury he's been having or is it a bout of different injuries?.....and i agree with doc on isco; that was a political signing, when florentino wanted to appease fans by bringing in more spanish players -to be fair to him, the fans and media largely requested for that b'cos of what they saw at barcelona, which i thought was a bit ridiculous

We were linked to them but we already had players in the position. CR played on the LW and there was no place for Neymar.

Benzema was the CF and not even trying to buy a much superior Suarez because Flo is in love with Benzema looks like a sick joke now.

Well as I see it Bale wants that left flank, but since The Untouchable Ronaldo plays there, Bale picks the position next to the left flank, yest that central attacking midfielder.

Back to the real problem, Mr.Perez. His biggest enemy is consistency.

When we find the key of success Perez throws that key and changes the lock from season to season. As long as he and someone similar to him is in charge we are never going to win anything.

How is Suarez much superior out of curiosity.

Adit wrote:

Benzema was the CF and not even trying to buy a much superior Suarez because Flo is in love with Benzema looks like a sick joke now.

Damn it.. look what you've done.. this is like hanging a steak from a stick for a dog to eat. In the next 12 hours we can expect a post angrily responding to this on how we don't know anything and the infamous "this forum "

We didn't buy suarez because we were set in the striker spot. Last season bale ruined it for us and we should've been in the final. He cost us the semis in the CL. Also made us drop quite a few points with his donkey antics.

i say there are a few things wrong with this team:

1) Flo and his insistance in control over signings, signing for marketing reasons and not ahdereing to team needs.

2) Ronaldo's selfish play

3) Zidane's work in progress to convert team to new more proper tactics esp. James.

4) lack of a defensive mid

5) lack of competent backup laterals.

i don't buy this Sports agenda that we need Pogba. i say our midfield would be just great if we can get a DM. tHere is plenty of talent in Modric, Kroos, Isco, Kovavcic, James, just need to get rid of one of them to balance out squad size and Casemiro is fine as a backup DM.

Ronaldo has to go and we need competent backup laterals.

As to Ronaldo's replacement, I quess that is up to Flo, I would think it is either Lewan or Hazard (and once again Sports, Greizmann would never be sold to us by  Atleti plus he isn't as good as either of them. Your constant push for your countrymen is relentless). The other factor out there besides Lewan and Hazard is Morata as it sure sounds like he is being repurchased, but then again that may just be a move to resell him at a higher price.

sportsczy wrote:How is Suarez much superior out of curiosity.

Not going to beat dead horse again. Suarez has settled this two years ago.

Suarez is superior to Benzema. I can't believe it's even up for debate. I don't agree that he's "much" superior, but he's definitely better. The best in the world dare I say.

It's the "much" adjective that i take exception to.  Suarez' goal per game played this year is 1.0... so is Benzema's.  Last year?  Suarez scored 25 goals in 43 games.  Benz scored 22 in 41 games.

To me, they're very different but produce the same.  We just haven't been very good in the past 2 years so we haven't played a ton of big games late in the year.  Benz has been our best player by far in the clasicos however.

Suarez also plays plays with Messi and Neymar, both of whom will make the needed pass and know how to pass. Bale was pathetic until this season and Ronaldo won't pass.

Can't believe i have to defend this guy still.

You don't even have to defend him. Benzema is Benzema, one of the best in the world. It just so happens that Suarez is superior. Not by a big margin as many think, but he's definitely better.

And if you're going to rely solely on numbers to make your comparison, then your judgement might fall a few inches shy of reality, for numbers are very misleading. This is Ronaldo's worst season at Real Madrid by far, yet he has as many goals as Benzema (19), does that mean he's been as good as the Frenchman? Of course not.

Well yeah I see your point. But with the way the team is set up, it's not like sticking suarez in there is gonna be that big of a deal in our results.. it'd be just the same.

Suarez misses lots of chances imo and is incredibly overhyped. A great player but think about this; if he was the "X factor at barca" with his hold up and link up play.. I'm positive benzema can do that better.

Any player in the world can look good with neymar and messi giving you insane through balls too. Even pedro looked good for a good minute

Not saying he is bad, he's very good, but I think they are on equal terms..

said what i always have suarez ain't better than benzema, anyone who says otherwise clearly can't gauge ability, and needs to stick to youtube comment sections.

next is playing players out of position, when you have the proper players in the squad already, because of hype.

lack of discipline some players can never stick to plan, too busy impressing stupid fans with useless dribbling or statpadding, than actually trying to win games.

lastly coach must have more control over the team, than picking flo favorites.

Doc wrote:In all fairness, I had no issues with the signing of Isco and Illarra and considering Isco's performances, I think he has done quite well in this mad place where his role changes ever so often. Quite the professional that man.

rubbish isco got handed a starting spot playing as AM, he flopped and the 10 idea got scrapped for 3 man midfield, again twisting history for certain players.

FennecFox7 wrote:

Damn it.. look what you've done.. this is like hanging a steak from a stick for a dog to eat. In the next 12 hours we can expect a post angrily responding to this on how we don't know anything and the infamous "this forum "

the reason why a lot of madrid fans like adit don't know anything about football, is because they lack objectivity and clearly can't tell whats happening on the pitch.

as you said in your other post suarez misses a lot of chances, even more than benzema at times, yet silly posters just keep pulling reasons out of their asses, and acting like its magically different, when its more or less the same thing, selective ratings on this forum needs to die.

chad4401 wrote:

FennecFox7 wrote:

Damn it.. look what you've done.. this is like hanging a steak from a stick for a dog to eat. In the next 12 hours we can expect a post angrily responding to this on how we don't know anything and the infamous "this forum "

the reason why a lot of madrid fans like adit don't know anything about football, is because they lack objectivity and clearly can't tell whats happening on the pitch.

It's not that dude. You have valid points at times, like right now, but you come off as a giant douchebag with your insults at times. That's why people are frustrated with you

chad4401 wrote:

Doc wrote:In all fairness, I had no issues with the signing of Isco and Illarra and considering Isco's performances, I think he has done quite well in this mad place where his role changes ever so often. Quite the professional that man.

rubbish isco got handed a starting spot playing as AM, he flopped and the 10 idea got scrapped for 3 man midfield, again twisting history for certain players.

Unless you have proof of us hyping Lucas Silva, please don't quote me again. I have just about enough of your lies and bs.

We're not pressing hard enough and we're not passing good enough. These two reasons are why we aren't playing well.

Kroos is just really poor at covering the middle defensively... that the last true major issue imo.  But it's a big one because of the position.  It needs to addressed one way or another.

We do not have enough players occupying the space between the defense and attack, therefore we lose the ball many times because the deeper players do not get enough support during build-up.

Zidane is yet to turn this side into a compact pressing unit. It will be interesting to see if it's going to happen anytime soon.

sportsczy wrote:Kroos is just really poor at covering the middle defensively... that the last true major issue imo.  But it's a big one because of the position.  It needs to addressed one way or another.

So Sports are you finally admitting that we need a DM or are you saying your countryman is the answer for that glaring problem?

I'm not saying we need a DM... if we play BBC, we actually cannot play a DM because you need at least 3 guys that can playmake (you usually have a winger or two that can do that). If we drop BBC, then a DM works. If we keep BBC, we just need to get a CM that's better at defending to play the middle. Heck, Marchisio isn't a DM and he is doing a great job of it at Juve. Kroos is just ridiculously poor defensively.

What's wrong with a DM plus Modric, Isco (or Kroos or James) behind BBC (or more likely Bale, Benz, Hazard or Bale, Lewan, Hazard)

Teams can pressure you with 4 guys in the midfield and you only have 2 guys that know what to do and how to handle it... that's the issue.  Opponents don't even need to break shape to put pressure on you and take the ball away.  That's what they're doing to us right now and we have somewhat of a hard time already.  Now imagine having a DM in there for Kroos and this player being even more uncomfortable making decisions with the ball under pressure.

It doesn't work.  That's why i've never liked a 3 striker setup because it really limits what you can do with the rest of the team.  Neymar isn't really a striker as he does the creative work in the middle when needed, which is why Barca stay balanced.  Heck, Messi can do it too.  None of our guys up front can do it like it's needed to allow for a DM.