2018 / 2019 season prediction

Unique wrote:Madrid fans are unreal

lmao, we are unreal, but you can't blame us. when you finish 19 points behind barcelona, you know u still have homework to do...despite the champions league

Rumours are still saying we are going after Odriozola! Actually with Carvajal’s injury record, there can be playing time to accomodate both NT RBs.

@Nick, Achraf is the least likely to stay out of all the kids!

we will see about that, even if he leaves i have already said what i think about a 40 mil back up RB who is not versatile to play other roles.

Here’s a summary of what El Confiencial is saying re Flo’s desires

Portero - they want De Gea, if not Courtois if not Allison. They want Navas to remain?? And let Casilla go. Plan Z is to buy a better backup than Casilla.

RB - they are going after Odriozola and letting Achraf go out on loan.

LB - they are going to give Theo a second year.

CB - They don’t mention any changes yet we know they are willing to pay the exit price for Gimenez. Probably means Vallejo goes out on loan, unless they plan to go with 9 defenders?

CM - Ceballos has gone and very likely Llorente. They seem to be planning on Mascarell as backup to Casemiro. No other changes other than there still is some interested in Hazard, but also says he’s too much like Isco and Asensio.

Forwards - out is Bale and Mayoral. They want Neymar and if not then Kane. Also mentions Vinicius will get a look see in July / August and he will likely join 1st or Castilla in January. They do mention Raul de Thomas but I highly doubt that.

Marca and ElConfidencial clearly don't have the same sources they mostly talk about different things

Bye bye

Don't let the door hit you on your way out

Who? Ronaldo?

vanDEEZ wrote:Who? Ronaldo?

Yup

So according to Marca we'll try to get Mariano back. Nice back up to have. Now we need a starter por favor

For the millionth time. Ronaldo won't leave. Bale has his whole body out the door and he's still there. Don't fret too much about it

Just because he wasn't around to get his picture taken yet? I mean if that is your idea of credible information then more power to you.

Mariano is not at the standard of the level of strikers we should be signing. He simply isn't good enough yet, however much I like him. There is nothing to be happy about that type of news, if anything it's disappointing

It is only if he replaces Benzema as backup to the main striker

the point is to sign someone good enough to start in big games, nota back up, we need a potential.

Have you guys forgotten how mediocre Benzema was all season?

That is for Zidane to decide.

In any case Mariano has 21 goals in all comps.
He had met the minimum requirement to be considered an elite cf. hes got pace, hes got hunger and he actually is on an upward trend. 21 goals in your first professional season as a starting forward is not something you ignore. that shows hes got potential if you give him responsibility.

hes shown hes better than morata even. morata took years before he hit 20 in one season. Mariano proved his mettle on his first year. I'd completely welcome him should Zidane sees hes necessary for next season. with our midfield and his work ethic, im sure we can turn that 21 into 25-30 goals if he works hard and benz gets injured. im certain he can make an impact as a supersub and as a rotation option no problem.

in any case i dont see a problem. plus we got vinicious jr coming. Vinicious has great potential to be an elite cf. we got excellent new blood ready to reinvigorate our veins.

I would be more concerned for CR7 and Bale spots tbh.

calling Mariano an elite CF... i dont even know what to say ffs... Being better than Morata is not a criteria to play for Real Madrid.

And Vinicius Jr is not only FAAAR from being madrid ready, but HE IS NOT A CF... you dont know what you are talking about

The Mariano ship has sailed for me, if he wants to come and play backup I guess that is fine, but I'd just rather keep Benz as backup so we don't have to split our spending on a backup CF and a starting CF.

Mr Nick09 wrote:calling Mariano an elite CF... i dont even know what to say ffs... Being better than Morata is not a criteria to play for Real Madrid.

And Vinicius Jr is not only FAAAR from being madrid ready, but HE IS NOT A CF... you dont know what you are talking about

he can be if guided correctly. we dont do classic wingers. whoever is on the flanks has an attacking responsibility that requires them to be quasi cfs. look no further than cr7  who is a stinger as i like to call it. though he is more of a cf nowadays, he still drifts to and attacks from the wings.

vinicious has to learn and be capable of similar if he is to have a future here. at the very minimum hes got the speed and techique. latter needs work but he us young. martial was a cf but hes been played out wide for god knows why. and in todays football, the lines are  blurred as to wingers and forwards anyways.

even more so in our team in which the cf is NOT the main goalscorer for the team. does the bigger picture always elude u,  nick?

back on mariano, so you're just gonna ignore the 21 goals then? at worst, he cant be called a scrub or an average player. scrubs dont even make double digits and average players never score more than 15+ goals. whether or not he is ready for the big time is up for debate. because you dont truly know till u put the man in question to the fire.

look at lewandowski for example. on a scale of F to S he is a solid A elite cf. world class is at S. wanna know why hes not S? because padded up goals aint enough. u need big game performances as well as titles to show for it. Mariano is at a C+/B- but could be a B+/A- if he shows that 21 in one season wasnt a fluke. I understand your reservations. you want an  A+ or at least an A as there are very, very few world class cfs in the world.

but the scarcity is a thing and in this current market, apart from lewandowski who is getting old... the quality is just not there and inflation of market prices isnt helping matters.

and if lewa was trying to sell himself to madrid when we faced bayern. he did a good job showing he wasnt what we're looking for. good grief. dude looked on the downward trend looking for his last big payday. we require those on an upward trend, not downward.

and in any case Benz at his best IS an S rank cf. even if its only one to five games a season. it seems Zidane is content with that arrangement so i wont complain. personally if it were upto me i would demand mbappe, martial, or just sign lewa for league games and leave big games and cl to the Lord of CL, Karim Benzema. but thats just me.

but wishes and reality are kept separate for a reason. if Zidane thinks Mariano is worthy to return home then leave it to him

the last thing we want is players that zidane didnt want or ask for. just look at ceballos. prefer no repeats if u ask me.

Zidane wont do us dirty and in any case he deserves the luxury of making mistakes. yall are spoiled.

Sorry dude...  Mariano is not elite.  He was a good poacher to start the season with Lyon.  Faded really badly after a fast start (only had 5 goals from day 19 through 38).  His big problem is poor technique and really very little to offer other than poaching.  

At best, he's a good backup for Real Madrid.  He will never be considered for a regular role.  He'll turn 25 in August so he's not going to develop much more either.

you say that sports but these lot sure gave lesser cfs a look because of "heart". besides, i thought these guys wanted a poacher or someone who's game is for putting the ball in the back of the net rather than someone eith a similar profile to Benzema. Innany case Madrid is actually considering looking at mariano for the sub role so he csnt be ignored.

its true he faded fast but it doesn't change the fact he scored 21 in all comps. at the very minimum he did something right because not a lot of cfs will ever make it to 20+ goals in one season in their careers.

and he is a cheap option so peeps best brace themselves if they dont like the guy.

I mentioned in the transfer rumour thread that lewa has signalled his intent to leave. to where probably the premier league. i cant see us signing him. hes too old and on the downward trend. we would have to waste top dollar in a year or two. Madrid's policy on going for the young has payed dividends and i dont see us breaking unless there is an indication otherwise in the press.

The way you talking about martial being forced wide as if he had never done that before... Let me know you don't know know what you are talking about

The way you call Vinicius a CF when he is not and then argued he can be trained at it like CR... let me know you don't know what you are talking about

As for Mariano I have already said we need a top CF now even if it's for 2-3 years the goal should be to maximize the cycle of this team before we start a new one. Mariano does not fit that and will not compete with Benzema if he returns here. He will be on the bench like Borja with 0 equity to be considered as starter in big games, I don't want that.

its not about what u want or what u think you know even (lol). its about what will happen.

However even that may change as the World Cup looms over us all. Benz will remain our starting CF unless a new variable with enough weight is introduced and changes the equation. you are under the impression we need a new starting CF.

I think Zidane justs wants cover for Benz rather than signing a cf of your preference. so I strongly suggest lowering your great expectations/delusions.

none will truly know until the world cup ends. i will reiterate i strongly dislike the WC  i fear it will interfere with our plans. mostly though because i cant predict our moves. wc brings the most unstable variable of all.

Well this thread is all about what we want as fans, we are not in zidane's head to know what he wants... you still don't know what you are talking about

So, Gimenez huh. I actually hope this happens, really good defender.

That's a good one. Groom him for when Ramos gets too old (in 2 years imo).

L'equipe is no saying that Griezmann is hesitating between staying at Atleti or going to Barca. My hope is that he mentioned he's thinking about staying in Madrid... just not which club.

Doc wrote:So, Gimenez huh. I actually hope this happens, really good defender.

I love him he is super aggressive as a player typical charrua. Except for Ramos we don't have a CB who is this aggressive so I'm all for it, young but lots of experience.

I'm hearing Zidane will have more voice and power over transfers, with this in mind i doubt we bring in Odriozola as we would have enough with Carvajal, Nacho, and an improving Hakimi, and regarding Vallejo, if we get someone like Gimenez i think that means that Vallejo would be gone indefinitely, which wouldn't be so bad because he needs a lot of minutes to grow and has to prove he isn't a perma-injured type of player.

Regarding strikers, time will tell; and i see people confident that Bale will leave but i don't see it that clear. Lack of available elite forwards and Perez' appreciation of him might result in Bale staying. I think it can be said that Zidane ostracized Bale last season and when asked about Bale's comments about playing time Zidane seemed a bit indifferent and said that things wouldn't change regarding his player choices. We have already seen Zidane flex muscle with James, Bale, Llorente, Ceballos, and the Kepa transfer, hope he remains cold to Bale and this puts the nail on the coffin. Bale has nothing to do here anymore.

Also, due to our success, Zidane being here, and having a pretty good squad, i doubt Flo makes any James-like Galactico purchases this WC time around.