Sporting play 5 in defense and we played without a DM. The first goal was as a result of having no DM out there. Both James and Isco just watched as their player had all the time in the world to take that chip. 2nd goal was bloody unlucky. Soorting was minutes from drawing the game against our starters too with Duje Cop missing a penalty etc. Their tactics are spot on to tackle our crossing game plan and they tend to be extremely clinical against us

They couldn't handle our technical players today and were fouling us left right and centre. I lost count on the amount of times they tackled our guys who didn't even have the ball and the ref did nothing all game. They are a dirty team that have no business being in LaLiga. Hope they get relegated

Also it seems the teams can manhandle our players in the box and not concede penalties. I don't understand why more teams don't do it. They haven't called a single penalty for grabbing our players

On the first goal Kovacic watched the runner go past him if he had follow the sporting player would not have been able to follow through with a straight open shot

on a side note, i thought danilo did relatively alright today, in comparison to what we are used to. at least on offense.

Absolutely, his passes are still mind-bogglingly bad but he did relatively well in an attacking sense. He completely gave up his defensive duties in the 2nd half though which put pressure on Nacho who was walking a yellow card tightrope. We are lucky Sporting were only attacking with at most 2 players towards the end

his crossing was world-class today.

2 things really...

Is this club really sure they wanna go into next season with Nacho and Vallejo as back ups? For the 4th straight game, Nacho lost tracked of his marker and seems to have a serious deficiency in his game.

Next thing, if Madrid wanted a performance to give Isco that contract extension, this was it. Not that they should have just use this one but Jesus, that was a 10/10 performance. Eat your heart out Chad.

And in classic irony, James showed exactly why he is really just wasting his time here.

Doc wrote:2 things really...

Is this club really sure they wanna go into next season with Nacho and Vallejo as back ups? For the 4th straight game, Nacho lost tracked of his marker and seems to have a serious deficiency in his game.

Next thing, if Madrid wanted a performance to give Isco that contract extension, this was it. Not that they should have just use this one but Jesus, that was a 10/10 performance. Eat your heart out Chad.

And in classic irony, James showed exactly why he is really just wasting his time here.

man u will give you 50mil for james if he is not earning his corn.

What I have been saying Doc, where are the haters at? Nacho is some average jobber, but we need 3 sure thing CBs and then maybe Nacho and Vallejo lol. Specially concerning because we don't have players that can fill in at CB in emergency maybe Casemiro but that's it

I do like Nacho as a back up but the club should be cautious in just having those 2 as back up only, Especially if Pepe leaves.

This week Perez was talking with Pepe's agent plus he made statements about how valuable he is to the club and to top it off Pepe said he will wait til last possible moment to see what club will do as he doesn't want to leave his home. To me this all says he will be renewed! Nothing wrong with leaving Vallejo in Germany for another year.

As to Isco they are offering 6 year 6M renewal. Isco wants Zidane to show him how valuable he is to club. I say he stays.

The only departures thus summer we can speculate on are James, Coentrao and Mariano.
Possible is Morata.

As to the rest, it will likely be only if they sign someone better than an incumbent. I.e. navas out for a De Gea or Hazard coming for Bale or Ronaldo, or Mbappe for Benz. The only exception to this would be someone who is willing to take a backup role (in Morata's spot). By the way, I think part of the thinking will be (if they want to start breaking up BBC this year) to let Benz go and move Ronaldo to CF role. That also allows a purchase of a Hazard or Dembele

Just watched the Barca game. Man imagine if we had a LW, Roberto is trash. Marcelo and a LW against this guy

No BBC, no kroos and no salty posts, just admiration for scrubsco scoring fluke goals lmao never change forum and morata lmao at least he scored I guess.

Fluke?  Dude... that was all skill.   And he's been showing it all but his first season too.  The only problem is that Kroos can't play the low CM role so Isco had to be sacrificed for a DM... otherwise, he's an uncontested starter.

Personally, I'd start him over Bale anyhow but that's not going to happen.

Kid is too good to sit on anyone's bench including Madrid's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8UVphtbPrw

This game was amazing.

Ray Hudson is so crazy about him

Fluke goals? Sports don't bother. Chad clearly needs to get his eyes checked. You're right on that it was a master class. What a *bleep* game from him

Look at where he juked 6-7 players en route to goal. Absolutely amazing

chad4401 wrote:No BBC, no kroos and no salty posts, just admiration for scrubsco scoring fluke goals lmao never change forum and morata lmao at least he scored I guess.

yes because Isco actually won the game, and displayed again some fantastic technique and control during the game.

i know it hurts, you can try this, suppository, works great for my nephews. here is how to use it, cheers bro

Spoiler:

And even Morata, who we all know is a backup not a starter, has more goals, better scoring ratio than the starter who has played almost double the minutes!

Anyone else get the feeling that this guy is only a Madrid fan because of one player!

Anyone coming anywhere near Benz's role on team (or was peviously) will be subjected to endless ridicule.

And yet we are all scolded that only he knows futbol and the rest of us know nothing!

Again... because Morata gets all the easy games AND he rarely plays with Ronaldo and Bale (if at all) in the games he's on since December. So he's the focal point for goalscoring when he plays.

Context is important like always.

Problem with Morata is that he was completely invisible and couldn't score when he actually played in games with Ronaldo and Bale (or just Ronaldo).

Basically, you stick him in the box or put him on the counter. Those are his two assets. When Ronaldo is standing in the box next to you and Bale is the one leading the line on counter attacks, it's hard for him to exist.

You are explaining why he is a squad player! There is no debating that.

But when the squad player is having better results, despite all his flaws than the starter, you have to question what's wrong with the starter (despite all the excuses you two continually come up with).

Benzema has played both easy and hard La Liga games and still has a very paltry 9 goals though I probably still won't start Morata over Benny. Anyway, that is a non issue really since we are at the point where anyone could score once we win.

Also, Isco fluke, sigh. The only Madrid fan I've seen in 3 different forums who talks like that.

Actually he has scored plenty with Ronaldo in the team. What utter nonsense. Morata is 10x the player Benz is. In fact even a traffic cone would be.

Morata scores more, but but but bla bla bla

Benz doesn't score but but but bla bla bla

How about we call a spade a spade. Benz is a terrible CF, if Morata was a stater he would easily score over 20 goals. But even he is no Suarez/Higuain. There aren't many of those strikers left. When Ronaldo leaves we need to invest glactico money on a new striker, someone we can rely on. With Morata it's too hard to tell, he doesn't have that aggression in the penalty box like Pipa and the vampire but he gives you goals which is his main job. Still we need another Ronaldo because no other player is as dependable as him

Our way forward is a 4141, and neither Benz nor Morata have any place in there. Benz shouldn't even have a place on the bench

lol the amount of BS excuses some people use to justify Benzema's embarrassing and disgraceful stats makes me cringe. Cringe, I tell ya.

The guy has as many goals as Isco and less than the back-up striker, both of whom rarely ever play.

Give me a freaking break, Jesus! The guy sucks. End of story.

chad4401 wrote:No BBC, no kroos and no salty posts, just admiration for scrubsco scoring fluke goals lmao never change forum and morata lmao at least he scored I guess.

when that goal was scored, late in the game, to ensure we are still 3 points ahead, with a game in hand, prior to a clash against barcelona coming soon, did you celebrate it? or would you have been happy that we dropped points because players you didn't like started?

danilo, who i'm not a fan of could have been the one to score that goal and just on the basis that my team has secured all 3 points, i'd be super happy. just the same way most on here were happy when benzema scored the header against dortmund. i get this feeling that you'd be content if benzema scored a hattrick and we lost, than anyone not named benzema scores a goal in the last minute and we win

i'm not big on isco myself, but to downplay his role in a crucial game like yesterday's, whilst being a madrid fan is suspect. i bet even benzema celebrated when isco scored

Chad. I do not understand your criticism of isco.

Nor do I need to bother understanding it. Isco was clear motm.
Stop being such a troll.

And with regards to Morata and Benz (who brought this up and why??), That debate is long settled. What most people forget is Morata actually had chances to displace Benz. But Just like last time with Don Carlo and this season under Zidane, Morata shows his worth which is average at best. Zidane remains unconvinced as a result.

But to address nacho, well I prefer him as a fullback than center.
Rather have him there than the likes of danilo.

Yeah, I too prefer Nacho at full back than him at CB. While he can play there, think he is better utlised on the wings. Also, his mistakes and lack of concentration are less punishable there apparently.

How many goals did Morata score with Ronaldo on the pitch as a starter?  You don't want to know Hala...  it's only 1 when I heard the stat.  He's had 8 starts with him too.  Check the game logs lol.

The only times he scores with Ronaldo is when he comes in as a sub against a tired defense.  When he starts against proper teams with our full side and he needs to show football IQ, he's like a ghost.

Big reason is that you don't get a lot of shots with Ronaldo in there. He's in the box. Our CFs since Ronaldo has come over... and that includes Higuain.... have averaged just above 2 shots per game. When he doesn't play, it's above 5. This is according to Opta Sports stats.