Lopetequi will NOT play with a fixed 11. There will be lots of opportunities for the likes of Odriozola, Nacho, Llorente, Ceballos, Asensio, etc. Pretty clear his starters at this point are Navas (although subject to change), Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Isco, Bale, Benz (ugh).

Besides Lopetequi being of different tactics and a teaching coach, you will find him using his entire squad.
He may not have the man management skills of Zidane, but he does possess a lot of positive skills that are different from Zidane. If you are expecting a Zidane type tactics, you are sadly mistaken.

And again he is not playing with a fixed 4-4-3 or 4-4-2

Lopetegui seems to be a smart man regarding man management skills, we will see. I have a feeling peeps don't read my posts as i mentioned how Lopetegui was pragmatic and not an extremist, that we would likely play 433/4231 hybrids weeks ago, and some peeps are barely catching up. I even posted a link to his website where he described his philosophy.

I don't feel we will replace Kovacic with a big signing if he leaves, we have enough up and coming talent to wait it out a year. I think we will see far less of Casemiro if anything, Kovacic will likely stay (who else can buy him that he would like to go after the EPL window closes?) Llorente and Ceballos will get plenty of minutes, and Valverde maybe loaned. Need to see more of Reguilon but i'm already liking him more than Theo

Marcelo, Kova and Varane back in training. Modric will join tomorrow. Finally a full house

Where is ramos though

in washington with the team, he got 1-2 days ago

About Reguilon- it's so hard to evaluate Castilla at the moment. Not only are we in Segunda B, but we have an absolute shit coach in Solari.

From what more knowledgeable sources have written about him- he could be useful, and he has been given expectations of starting to feature with the first team. So Nacho would be backup LB and Regui could be third option (unless Theo stays).

Modric is seriously at risk of leaving if the club arent interested in giving him a new contract. Just dont be surprised if he actually leaves

I'd be surprised at this point if we weren't able to work things out, unless Modric is asking to break the wage structure, which I doubt he is.

I think Lopetegui's style of play really suits Modric, and will be an easy sell to get him on board with the tactics. Not to mention how much Lope has gushed about him in the media when asked.

He has 2 years left on his contract, so it's not like he even walks for free in a year either. Unless Inter are willing to spend upwards of 90m, I don't see it happening. This is all a ploy for a better contract off the back of a really good WC.

hum... i am not so sure, because the rumour is Inter offering 11.5 mil net til 2022, year modric turns 37.

We can easily match the money and even offer more, the question is whether Perez wants to pay him that much til 2022.

I dont know if he will

What did people make of the false 9 tactics we deployed for part of the 2nd half?

I want to see it for longer against Roma to be able to critique it properly but I liked how dynamic the frontline was. Made it easier for the midfielders to find them

I found it odd that Lopetegui came out and said he hates the false 9s. For someone that hates it, he seems to use them more frequently than other managers.

Apparently Vallejo missed training today and the Juventus game the other day because of "overload in the quadriceps." Ridiculous.

Vallejo can go to be honest. Not that anyone wants him in particular, but after watching him more closely for a year I can say with some confidence that he is average. Has some decent moments, some lapses of concentration, overall can't stay fit to save his life, so he is not a player I would hold on to.

He has had fitness issues for a long time now. Maybe this is a reason why he is so shaky when he plays. When your body isn't 100 it's harder to play at a high level. You always have it in the back of your mind.

Too bad there is no other great Spanish CB talent we can snatch. I was hoping we would sign a center back this summer I guess that won't happen uh?

Line up:


Keylor; Carvajal, Ramos, Nacho, Reguilón: Kroos, Ceballos, Isco; Asensio, Benzema y Bale.

No Theo for the 2nd game in a row. Safe to say he's a goner

I hope this isn't an indication that Lope will deploy Kroos as the DLP more often. 2nd game he's started as the dlp now. It would be the biggest mistake he does if he doesn't have a CDM in there

Looks like we're playing 433 and Roma 352/451, theyre trying to press high with a high line and we have bypassed them too easily, showing our dynamic play that i wanted to see. Happy to say Bale is having a good pre season and moving like he should, he is team playing and not showing wannabe main man-isms of yesteryear. Asensio playing well and being very present, moving everywhere.

Ramos and Nacho in a high back line is gonna make sure your heart is in good condition this season, uff. Nice 1st half with some really good attacking phases. Isco still looks out of shape in a big way but he got off some nice dribbles here and there. Bale looks good, Asensio looks good and Kroos would actually excel in Lope's tactics I feel.

What a wonderful half. Fast, crisp passes. And 10/10 workrate. Reguillon continues his impressive form and yup welcome to the starting line up Ceballos. How good is it to watch him and Isco just dribble past players so effortlessly. All that is left is a Benz goal. He deserves it. Want to see some Vinicius in the second half

Isco had that roulette that took out two players. Shame they didn't show the replay. Crowd went wild.

Freeza wrote:Isco had that roulette that took out two players. Shame they didn't show the replay. Crowd went wild.

He did a flick over a Roma player that had me actually go "uff, damn son". He just needs to get back into shape, that's all.

Doc wrote:

Freeza wrote:Isco had that roulette that took out two players. Shame they didn't show the replay. Crowd went wild.

He did a flick over a Roma player that had me actually go "uff, damn son". He just needs to get back into shape, that's all.

Please don't fat shame our thicc boi

Freeza wrote:

Doc wrote:

Freeza wrote:Isco had that roulette that took out two players. Shame they didn't show the replay. Crowd went wild.

He did a flick over a Roma player that had me actually go "uff, damn son". He just needs to get back into shape, that's all.

Please don't fat shame our thicc boi

El Grosor (The Thickness in Spanish according to Google translate)

Isco looking like a plucked chicken with them tiny legs

Roma changed to 4141 and are standing off deeper, Marcos Llorente i feel will be good for us this season.

No Kroos no party, man leaves the pitch and no one is left to control the midfield

I can't *bleep* believe that the standards of our back up CF right now is Mayoral.

what a complete joke