I think it started after the death of his father. That must have shaken it badly.

futbol_bill wrote:Doc, I think you are right about everything except Benz.

I think the priorities are

replace Navas (likely De Gea)
Backup LB
Backup DM (likely Marcos Llorente)
Replacement for Pepe (ugh) - likely Varane is the starter and Vallejo as #3 and Nacho #4)
New CF, possibly 2
New Winger, possibly 2, depending what they decide to do re BBC (or front 3)
Possibly replace Danilo
Possibly replace Isco (ugh)

(and, (this one is all mine) - hire a tactical guru to mentor Zidane.).

I also would like them, maybe with the Isco replacement a new CM that can rotate with Kroos / Modric. While I think both Modric and Kroos are very good, they are too much the same and with Modric's advancing age, maybe they should rotate the two of them and have the new CM, that hopefully offers something different in terms of final 1/3, play regularly or Alternatively convince Isco to stay and rotate Modric / Kroos.

How many years are you gonna keep up this act of knowing what's going on with the club?

Every year is gonna be the year the club rid itself of Benz wow you know sod all, flo runs the club its up to him and benzema, if he leaves or stays, not zidane or any sporting director or any scrub that having a good season.

flo been clear and so as benzema, if he should leave it would announced by the club not some morons who think morata is world beater, so some stupid journalist pulling the same names out of their asses every year, clearly don't know anything either, been quoting these same clowns every season since benzema came to the club shut up about it already, so butthurt and pushing silly agendas going for 10 years.

Edit: also I hope he leaves too so I can stop reading these posts awful stuff.

True that. Coentrao was an extremely balanced player and one of the best produced in this shitty era. Sad that he no longer has any ambition to play at higher level.

Monchi seems to be headed to Rome top kek.
So much for the discussion regarding his role.
I guess either it was all paper talk, he was already set for AS Roma, or Flo was too restrictive...

Who knows. Summer plans do not change. We need to reinforce and make some tough decisions.

A couple of updates on this Monchi subject.

First, as I stated in la liga thread, his not coming to Madrid is due to either Flo was too late (the negotiations with Roma have been ongoing all year) or as Monchi has reportedly insisted on full control of signings, Flo not willing to give that up. It's a shame really as a Sporting Director of Monchi's makeup is exactly what this club (and Flo) need.

Secondly, Today, club has announced it has signed a new sporting director, in the exact same role as Zidane had when he returned to club, when Mourinho was here. His name is Raul Gonzalez Blanco!

What's Raul supposed to do. At least Zidane was getting his sports and managing diplomas at the time AND Real Madrid wanted to use his France contacts to recruit there (Varane, Hazard, Mbappe, etc.)... there was a very tangible plan with substance. Sure, Zidane got the role because of his name. But it's not like he didn't put the all the work he could into it.

Other than his status as a former player, I'm curious to find out what value add Raul brings. More importantly, I wonder if Raul is going to feel entitled or if he's going to put the work into it.

Raul ffs. That names screams legend to me

Sporting directors allow the manager to focus more on coaching and tactics as they handle transfer matters.

Whether Raul will be an excellent pencil pusher is another question but I welcome our greatest captain back. I hope he gels with Zidane and allow our transfers to be done more efficiently.

Wasn't too confident on monchi tbh. I have no qualms with Raul. Hopefully he can play a key role bringing de gea here.

sportsczy wrote:What's Raul supposed to do. At least Zidane was getting his sports and managing diplomas at the time AND Real Madrid wanted to use his France contacts to recruit there (Varane, Hazard, Mbappe, etc.)... there was a very tangible plan with substance. Sure, Zidane got the role because of his name. But it's not like he didn't put the all the work he could into it.

Other than his status as a former player, I'm curious to find out what value add Raul brings. More importantly, I wonder if Raul is going to feel entitled or if he's going to put the work into it.

is there no end to your anti Spanish. I often wonder why you bother supporting a Spanish team with your anti anything Spanish attitude.

Raul has long been envisioned as a future coach having exhibited many of traits you expect in a coach. He has just retired so it a little early to enrol in coaching courses, but you can expect him to follow the same path as Zidane. besides Flo has long been after Galacticos to come back to the organization.

You needn't to at least get the fact correct, Raul is returning as advisor to the president, not sporting director.

What is he gonna do? lol

That was Zidane's title also when he came back to the organization!!!!

Yeah but again... In France, in order to qualify to take courses for certification and the exams, you need to be sponsored by a football club. RM also wanted him as a scout and recruiter in France and, to a lesser extent, Italy. So there were clear roles and a path.

I'm curious to see what Raul's role and path are.

It's not an anti-Spanish sentiment to actually be curious as to his role at the club. We asked it with Zidane, Raul is no different.

Give me a break. You know damm well if it was another french former player coming back, Sports would be singing praise. Raul's role will be no different than when Zidane came. It will be to advise Flo on acquisitions, ie a pseudo sporting director. I suspect he will also start getting the diplomas / training he will need if he has any ambitions of coaching / managing. This move is no different than it was with Zidane nor with Puyol at Barca.

It's no secret that I would have preferred Monchi, but bringing Raul back into the organization is not a bad second choice. Raul will have just as much positive influence with players and academy as Zidane has had (maybe that's why Sports objects).

So after the past couple of weeks and various statements re players thought to be considering summer moves, I've been wondering who actually will leave the club this summer:

Coentrao - he has basically stated he is not up to Madrid standards although no doubt looking for a buyout offer before retiring to Portuguese futbol. And club has openly said his replacement will be Theo. conclusion - he goes.

James - no question about it, he will go.

Isco - club now appearing desperate not to let him go and has dangled a 6 year, 6M renewal. Zidane trying to convince him he is important. Isco has for now, held his cards tight to vest. Conclusion - think he will stay.

Pepe - openly looking to leave but now that Varane is injured yet again, I suspect club will realize how much we need him and give Pepe the 2 year deal he wants. Conclusion - maybe he will stay.

Mariano - no doubt he will be loaned out.

Morata - seems both club and Morata are saying he will stay. conclusion - maybe he will go depending upon who is signed.

Benzema - most of have said he should go, but recent statements by Flo, plus the dedictaion to him shown by Zidane seems to imply he is staying. Conclusion - he stays and likely we don't sign any CF this summer.

Danilo - although several have said he should go and be replaced with a more competent RB, noone within club seems to agree. Conclusion he stays.

So if my analysis / conclusions are correct, it would mean only Mariano and James will leave, leaving little opportunity for new signings. We can safely assume both Theo and Marcos Llorente are incoming, possibly Vallejo if Pepe does go, plus there is the possible Flo galactico signing (currently projected to be Hazard at 120M)).

Issues with this are

although it does address the two basic needs we have (backup LB and DM), we still have balance issues. issues with effective CF (with both Benz and Morata) nor is Benz being challenged.

Then there will be the issue of how to play BBC plus Hazard???  - question could it be that someone must depart aka Robben or Sneijder if Hazard is signed, perhaps Bale due to his injury record (again aka Robben??

I don't think you can draw any conclusions for the others until the season is over and we see how successful (or not) we are.

But the following are pretty much set in stone:
- Coentrao out
- Pepe out (we'll never give hime the size contract he wants for those number of years. Likely PSG will)
- James out
- Isco - up to him and will likely depend on his role in big game to end the season. He will need to start most of those to stay. I think he goes.

So at a minimum, we'll look to replace the outgoing guys. Hernandez is the replacement for Coentrao... so there's one.

Here's a big story... according to Griezmann's representative in an interview with RMC, he has an exit clause of 100 million. The teams that have inquired about him are Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man U and Man City

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Antoine-griezmann-atletico-a-l-embarras-du-choix/791422

I dont think Pepe wants to go anywhere, the psg links sound like Perez trying to get him 2 years extension with madrid, while we offer just one.

James out for sure, coentrao too.

I really hope we calm down that Griezmann interest, we REALLY dont need him. i would much rather spend that on Hazard

Get serious.  Griezmann shits all over Hazard.  The only time he had a down period was right after the Euro when he was exhausted and emotionally drained... but he's recovered from that and has been on fire.

Hazard has no mental toughness.  He takes full seasons off.  

And Griezmann is a 25-30 goals/10 assist player now.

Not to mention Griezmann defends hard.

There's a reason Conte wants to sell Hazard so he can get Griezmann... he's not stupid.

your theory about conte wanting to sell hazard to sign griezmann is yours only.

I dont want Griezmann because his best position is too awkward and you need to play him behind a CF to get the best out of him.

that's all i dont want that. i dont want us to start playing a 442 again and to become a straight counter team. You could say that it's a stylisic choice, not to mention that in chance creation Griezmann isnt very good. Superb off the ball very limited on the ball.

So no i dont want him, i would rather we invest in players who have higher quality on the ball to break down opposing defenses that are parking. we already have counter attacking specially, we dont need more of that.

I guess it's a forum and everybody is entitled to their opinion. I respect that.

In that regard, here's mine: I believe the current crop of French players is very overrated and we should stay the hell away from them.

There are other countries to buy from, and there's no point in buying an overpriced player only to watch them get exposed and royally flop. If they have a player of Ronaldo's caliber, then by all means, break the bank for them. But if you're going to stack our squad with overrated, useless, whiny and injury-prone players and then watch you later make up excuses as to why they flopped, then please leave them where they are.

I don't think I would have enough energy or (the will-to-live) to endure another 8 years of another Benzema up front.

As for the Ins and Outs: It would be a monumental mistake to let go of Pepe and Isco. Let's face it, Varane is not good enough, and it's very hard to chance upon a player of Isco's caliber in today's market.

Both of them should not be allowed to leave.

halamadrid2 wrote:I agree with Sport, Griezmann is definitely better than Hazard on every level bar dribbling. With Hazard you'd be lucky if you got 5 goals and 7 assists all season. Those numbers are not required in our team. Not to mention he goes missing in the tougher games. Griezmann has performed against all the big team but he is a bit of a mental midget for me. At Atleti he can afford to go >10 games without scoring at Madrid he'd be labelled a flop. Neither of those are good enough to be starters for us. Griezmann could probably work if Ronaldo was 4 years younger because Ronaldo would take a lot of the heat off our striker by scoring most of our goals


The rest stays the same

you want me to pull up the games where Hazard killed Arsenal, Liverpool, City and so on in EPL?

Hazard does not need to score a lot of goals to be successful, he is a chance creating machine. you put him aside Bale and a CF that actually scores goals and he would do just fine.

But yall here complaining how our top 3 does not create chances on the ball and how all we do is counterattack but then you throw the name of Griezmann and you conveniently forget he is some kind of SS who sucks playing wide, and he can't lead the line.

We have to be careful here because he is the type of player that needs a specific scheme to function and is not very adaptable or his output greatly drops off.

Do you mind me asking where you checked your "Hazard aint even in the top 10 when it comes to creating chances in the EPL" stat please? i am very curious

lol at atletico having 3 wingers better than him, just lol

The Demon of Carthage wrote:I guess it's a forum and everybody is entitled to their opinion. I respect that.

In that regard, here's mine: I believe the current crop of French players is very overrated and we should stay the hell away from them.

There are other countries to buy from, and there's no point in buying an overpriced player only to watch them get exposed and royally flop. If they have a player of Ronaldo's caliber, then by all means, break the bank for them. But if you're going to stack our squad with overrated, useless, whiny and injury-prone players and then watch you later make up excuses as to why they flopped, then please leave them where they are.

I've seen this sentiment expressed by a lot of Madrid fans. It appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to the disillusionment over Benzema's form/career rather than an idea grounded in logic or facts. Reading some of these comments, you'd think Madrid has a long history of buying french flops.
The most expensive flops in recent history haven't been french: Coentrao, Kaka, Illaramendi, James, Danilo, Lucas Silva etc...

What other league exports more players to the European top 4 than Ligue 1? What are these other countries that are flop-proof and offer better value for money?