Sevilla vs Real Madrid

Most of the goals so far came from the left side as it is easy to exploit the space between both Marcelo and Ramos. Ridiculously easy. Imagine I would live to see a CB supporting a FB on the wings, what a time to be alive.

Freeza wrote:Vazquez easily passing his man and being afraid to cross until he's tackled is my favourite thing to watch

I've never understood why he does that. He's a competent dribbler, but he almost always makes the wrong decision after passing one or two opponent players. He either hesitates to cross, or attempts to take on another two, three players. I think it's great that he dares to take risks, few of our players do that these days, but by now you'd think someone would have told him to be more mindful when he's in possession of the ball. I've always appreciated how hard he works, but he wastes his energy a lot of the time. Unfortunately, decision-making isn't his forte.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:I should also point out that Varane wasn't entirely to blame for the goal. It was Ramos who passed him the ball even though he knew he wasn't free. So yeah, ultimately, all roads lead to either Ramos or Marcelo.

I think Courtois should have communicated better with Varane in that situation. He had a better overlook of the situation, and should have shouted to Varane that he was ready to grab the ball. That said, the crowd was loud as hell.

i totally missed this game and for whatever reason i feel responsible. had to pick my kids up during the match. i take it our defense was a calamity

Not just defense, our everything. This was a proper bad day for everyone except Varane.

I don't think you'd want to watch this match, Tito. It's not the worst match I've seen from us in recent years, but in addition to us playing really poorly, we faced a team that was far more motivated, and actually competent enough to take considerable advantage of how poorly we were playing. We were completely overwhelmed by their intensity in the first half, and the frustration in our players became evident in the second half, when Kroos and Modric received each their yellow card for arguing with the referree about a clear foul committed by Kroos. Kroos, Modric and Casemiro also registered a few long range shots that were nothing to write home about.

We created very little, and didn't take advantage of any of our chances. Bale came close twice, and Modric scored a goal that was ruled off-side, but it ultimately ended 3-0 in their favor - in a frustrating match where 3-0 seems like a merciful scoreline compared to how the match actually played out. We have the Atletico match to look forward to. Sevilla will probably look like Croatia in the WC final, when they play their next match. They simply wanted to win more than we did.

I used to think Zidane's defensive tactics were bad but to come to think about it they are actually FLAWLESS and UNIQUE. Caps lock for how amazed I am.

He basically sacrificed our midfield control, making Toni and Modric defend our wings, for defensive stability. In any other humans brain, that is retarded because more control equals more stabile defense... But Zidane saw it for it really was.

Hats off. Zidane is a genius. Yeah it might not look pretty but Marcelo and Ramos are big liabilities in defence, in Marcelo's argument there is atleast he provides a good attack... Ramos has no arguments right now. Either cut it and start playing proper or get bench'd imo. We really need Zidane back... Miss that man already. He knows his tactics and he is a great man manager. None can make this team defend great, but Zidane made it function atleast.

Benzema is not good enough to start.

That being said Mariano was not an improvement. Yes, he was active and hassled defenders, but his positioning is awful. Decision making is poor. Maybe it can be improved with game time.

I would prefer playing with a false nine and leave Benzema out completely. Maybe even fielding five midfielders

Lopetegui doesnt have Cristiano but after recent games I'm starting to appreciate Zidane more.

Myesyats wrote:Lopetegui doesnt have Cristiano but after recent games I'm starting to appreciate Zidane more.

What has changed your opinion on Zidane, exactly? In recent games, we convincingly beat Roma in the Champions League, playing a cohesive, attractive brand of football that I don’t recall anyone on here questioning. I think it’s far too early to say whether it’s the right brand of football, or whether or not Lopetegui is the right man for the job, but a sloppy performance against a strong and determined Sevilla side means very little in the grand scheme of things.

It’s not as if we’re screwed after last night, and I honestly don’t think that match exposed some kind of hidden or overlooked weakness that wasn’t already well documented. Hell, if it had been Zidane out there, Sports would’ve had all kinds of reality-bending excuses for the substitutions and whatever went on in the match. The fact that Lopetegui was jumping and shouting like a madman, somehow doesn’t seem to be considered and indication that things weren’t going according to his plan.

Myesyats wrote:Lopetegui doesnt have Cristiano but after recent games I'm starting to appreciate Zidane more.

Zidane lost the league in October WITH Ronaldo. Imagine what he would've done without the guy who saved his ass countless times.

At least Lopetegui is putting a tougher fight with a much, much, much weaker attack.

Just as a side note...  Barca won their first 7 games and started the season winning all their game but 2 draws through the end of December in 2017-2018.

So if this were last season, we'd be 4 points back right now as a FYI. If we lost to Atleti, we'd be 7 points back in comparison to last year's Barca.

We started the season with 6 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws last season through October. 19 GF and 9 GA. Let's see how we end up in this one.

What I always appreciated with Zidane is that it would seem it was him that kept Ramos' madness and ego in check as, well, it's Zidane. Lope is gonna have to grow some serious balls to tell Ramos' to behave himself in no uncertain terms. He can borrow the shoe SAF pelt Beckham with imo.

We have to improve in defence or last night won't be the last time we get humiliated.

drop Marcelo, drop Ramos, play with 5 midfielders, i don't know..... just fix this joke of a defence. we should have conceded 7 goals last night. it wasn't a normal loss. we got raped.

Also when we attack, we do it with such high numbers. everyone acts like there no possibility of losing the ball and getting countered. we are so vulnerable in counters.

And someone have to remind Ramos that he is not above everyone else. he is 30+ and now he wants to take freekicks? Bale, Asensio and Kroos are there and he takes fk's? this is not acceptable and shows two things: Ramos being delusional and Lopetegui having no balls.