Morata was superb this game. Very efficient with the ball and made the right moves all game. Bale,Varane and Kovacic to an extent stood out too. I really liked how Casemiro covered for out of position center backs and full backs when it was necessary.

Superb first half and only players who were not fully there were Marcelo and Ramos, both senior players.

Here here, all in on Morata, i havent seen a CF making runs like that for Madrid in... i liked it, now he truly needs to double down on his finishing because it's gonna make all the difference for him. I hope he is dedicated, working on it like a mad man, it can improve and it needs to improve, he could have had 2 goals easily yesterday.

Casemiro makes those long runs in defensive transitions and just shuts down counters, that's incredibly valuable and it's working for us. A real shame Zidane doesnt want another DM in the squad, real shame.

El plan de emergencia (repliegue + Casemiro) hoy es 'el estilo'. Imposible renunciar a un arma competitiva ganadora. pic.twitter.com/aa9N4NMs4d

— Alberto Egea (@esttoper) August 22, 2016

I like the way he defends, could make an interesting CB I am just happy of his def game because Ever since we have started playing him in front of the CB, we arent so vulnerable to counters.

Good first game, i liked james, he played very well when he came on, his vision is clearly way above average and it's a shame he can't play more. Maybe the plan to use him is to modify the shape and line up in a 4411 when he is on the pitch. As an alternative formation, why not.

I dont think there is a DM out there who can do what he does for us. I am not being biased or anything but individually there are a few out there who are better than him because he hasn't achieved much yet but for our team it's hard to replicate what he does. I can understand if ZZ is reluctant to buy a DM just for the sake of it. Not many of these young players being mentioned have the courage, the grit and the determination to succeed with us and like ZZ I'd rather go with Kroos when Casemiro is rested. My views will obviously change if Casemiro God forbid gets a long term injury

LaReal coach: We tried to play at a high intensity, continuing to apply pressure with the idea that we could wear them down but they were running till the last minute. They are very strong and committed to their defensive work

Yeah, this version of Madrid is made of sterner stuff. Not as brittle as before nor does the team put their head down when things aren't going their way.

Just have to wait till March for Ramos to be in full effect

Before that you can expect him to put players onside, foul players in the funniest ways possible like for example two red worthy challenges one after the other, get red cards, cause penalties, score own goals, pass to noone in the middle of the pitch and us getting countered and scored on...... have i missed anything?

Btw his yellow against LaReal was his 143rd of his career which means that he has already equalled Hierro's record with 100 less games played. I can already see Ramos' reaction to that when he hangs his boots up:

I have set the bar so high in order for noone to be able to break it, it took alot of tears, sacrifice and hardwork for me to achieve that.

Then he will go out with a bang punching the reff and winning us the decimoquinto

Show a bit more respect to our living legend please.

I have never insulted Pepe in my life tbh

halamadrid2 wrote:I have never insulted Pepe in my life tbh

Except for the thousand times during mourinho's tenure. Varane >>>

I was Pepe's biggest supporter after the Kommander imo. Mou tried to destroy him but he rose from the ashes and gave Portugal their first international trophy. Bet Mou was somewhere in the corner of his bathroom cutting himself in the meantime. The 2 players he hates the most after Iker won his country the Euro

Honestly, the character that is Ramos, he would probably retire with a trophy after spending his last season playing wonderfully from August - February to doing absolute nonsense from March to May except for the UCL semis and final.

Because Sergio does what Sergio wants.

You have to cut Ramos a little bit of slack because he's defending on the same side as Marcelo. That can't be easy. In fact, it's also hard on Varane and Carvajal, which is why i think the defense looks discombobulated at times... they have to drastically shift all over the place. At one point, I think I saw Varane cover the player on the left sideline and then have to run all the way back to the right

My point is... as bad as Ramos looks often, he really isn't helped my Marcelo either.

@Sports You can't just blame Marcelo. Marcelo is the ball carrier on the left because Kroos holds his position and can't do it and Ronaldo is essentially a box player and stays forward. Who else will bring the ball out of defence on the leeft with the way Madrid play?

That is why I thought Madrid should have gotten Pogba but we blew them out of the water. Pogba would have solved that problem on the left.

Carvajal doesn't have that problem because Modric is one of the best ball carriers as well as pressing resistant CMs in the world so he carries the ball from mf. This allows Carvajal to be a lot safer in his play. Marceloa is always having to run back during counters so he looks positionally worse generally than he actually is. I'm not saying he is Maldini, but there is a structural problem there. especially against Small teams that compress the lines, Marcelo is the only one on that side that creates anything by dribbling vertically.

Ramos is another story. The guy is subpar and has been for years. 2 Cl final goals don't take away almost a decade of mediocre defending.

So do I blame Marcelo for Ramos' lack of positional awareness, absolutely risky tackles, being reckless and the occasional misplaced pass because to me, that is all Sergio.

I didn't say his stupidity can be excused at all.. but being out of position happens a lot due to Marcelo just not being there and forcing the others to stretch out. That's the only part I cut everyone, including Ramos, some slack.

@jibers...  with Marcelo (and a couple of others I won't mention to avoid wrath), you see a lot of flash and not a whole lot of final product.  His crosses and final balls are almost always off.  If I'm the opposition, I actually love it when Marcelo is the one who makes those final ball decisions... i get a lot more worried when Bale, Kroos and Modric are the ones triggering those balls.  I'd cover the aforementioned tightly and give some space to Marcelo and it's almost a guaranteed play that leads to very little.  Oh he may do a nice dribble and try some fancy pass... but it won't lead to anything 99% of the time.

Marcelo is very very very (very) overrated to me on offense.

Brazil NT dropped him for a reason along with Luiz and Silva. Silva is just an emotional mess with Brazil... On the other hand, Marcelo and Luiz don't understand their job descriptions.

Marcelo was as adventurous when ADM was around hence Carlo preferring the more defensive minded Coentrao in some games. Under ZZ we attack and defend as a team. Marcelo has the freedom and should always have the freedom to attack as he pleases because guess who the outlet is when our midfielders run out of space and need a player to dribble out of pressure? Marcelo, who's basically our most creative player? Marcelo, who is the best dribbler? Marcelo etc etc i can go on and on. Sometimes he gets lazy when defending but that wasn't the case vs LaReal instead it was his nonchalance on the ball that was the problem. Ramos is just a knucklehead you can ask him to defend 1v1 and he will find a way to give away a penalty

Can't believe I am having to defend Marcelo lol. And jibs i hope you didn't think that having Pogba there would have stopped him being attack minded our best combo right now is Bale + Carvajal and that's not because of Modric but because they are exactly that......an excellent "combo". Marcelo is a lone force on the other side. Back when Ronaldo was a winger, that combination was probably the best in the world

Some highlights of Marcelo. Grannted I agree his crosses are frustrating but aside from that he is a 10/10, give me an attacker who can do what he does in our team, he is the only defender i will cut some slack if he has a bad game like yesterday, he is just unbelievable ffs

Do we really need that Hala? Wouldn't you rather have Kroos push further up like he does with Germany NT as opposed to having Marcelo just completely mess up the team balance on that side and overall? I just don't like Marcelo and haven't for years tbh. He had 2 good stretches for me... half a season under Mou and the start of last season. Other than that, I just don't think he's been very good. He's the "Ramos" of fullbacks to me.

Wrong, Marcelo was not dropped because he is bad. He was dropped because Dunga had a personal vendetta against him. He has been called up by their new coach for the WC qualifiers

personal vendetta? Nothing of the sort. They must really have nobody else because Marcelo is truly an atrocious fullback imo. Besides, Felipe Luis will start without a doubt.

While I agree Marcelo needs to improve his final ball , his ability to thrive under pressure and get out of tight situations are invaluable. We always goes to Marcelo when we are pressed badly.

Kroos not pushing up is lot to do with Marcelo being there.. Lol are Jibbers trying to sell how Pogba is the one we need. Like he will also allowed to push forward with already attacking Marcelo and Ronaldo he will be useless deep as he can't playmake for shit. He went to EPL for good, fits his game, he is a player who plays on instinct and an individual player first not a player who is strategically good or tactical brain. Basically perfect Mourinho and EPL player. Too good to sit on the bench as Kroos sub.

From Toril was shit for Castilla to Marcelo is atrocious dude you're on a roll

sportsczy wrote:@jibers...  with Marcelo (and a couple of others I won't mention to avoid wrath), you see a lot of flash and not a whole lot of final product.  His crosses and final balls are almost always off.  If I'm the opposition, I actually love it when Marcelo is the one who makes those final ball decisions... i get a lot more worried when Bale, Kroos and Modric are the ones triggering those balls.  I'd cover the aforementioned tightly and give some space to Marcelo and it's almost a guaranteed play that leads to very little.  Oh he may do a nice dribble and try some fancy pass... but it won't lead to anything 99% of the time.

Marcelo is very very very (very) overrated to me on offense.

Brazil NT dropped him for a reason along with Luiz and Silva. Silva is just an emotional mess with Brazil... On the other hand, Marcelo and Luiz don't understand their job descriptions.

WHo else will do it? Kroos is a controller and makes off the ball runs with Germany into the final 3rd, he isn't their ball carrier. Germany also try to dominate the ball and have a system where they circulate the ball so Kroos can do that because it's Ozil usually in front. For Madrid, Ronaldo takes up that zone.

Marceloa has to carry the ball if not Madrid can't initiate any competent attacks from the left. Carvajal doesn't have to as I said because of Modric, it's really not hard to understand. Marcelo might fail but he has to try and so he will be caught out of position more often than not.

halamadrid2 wrote:From Toril was shit for Castilla to Marcelo is atrocious dude you're on a roll

Truth hurts hala... always has with you

If Marcelo is an atrocious fullback what does that make of benzema as a striker ?

benzema as striker is way more clutch than chokeguain, then again what can you expect from posters, praising morata for hogging the ball and crap finishing as superb and unplayable, because dribbling just like flopsco, can't wait until you turn on him when benzema send him to the bench, oh and his off the ball movement and positioning is rubbish, but them runs though.... .