Really surprised to see Solari doing this well so far, I just thought he was another commentator/pundit who isnt good enough for such a big job.... do the Real fans hes really made the difference? Or if it more like the players themselves and the managerial change effect?

I've come to the conclusion that with this team of veteran players, that the coach doesn't matter at all.

These players show up each season out of shape or simply worn out from previous season / euro or WC action and literally unmotivated. They begin each season poorly and disconnected, no matter what who the coach is nor with what he is trying to implemented. It's probably like Tito said at one point, they are successful veterans and either don't listen to coach or their bodies are unable to do what coaches want them to do. Then around Christmas, they get their shit together and start playing decently.

All this talk about Zidane being the master motivator / man manager MAY only be the veteran players getting their act together, when they feel like it.

My rationale for this conclusion is I don't believe Solari is a good coach nor do I believe Lopetequi nor Benitez (although I did see ridiculous huge distances between the lines under him) were as bad as they said to have been.

That is a fair assessment, never thought of it like that. I still like to think El Indiecito benching Magisco is what has turned Madrid's season around.

futbol_bill wrote:I've come to the conclusion that with this team of veteran players, that the coach doesn't matter at all.

Hallelujah, finally, people are starting to realise that our team does NOT need any of these hipster coaches. Perhaps when our veteran players have all left but right now all they need is a good motivator who let's them play their way. Tacticians will get sacked midseason, no matter who they are. I have said it before but I'll say it again Raul or Guti should take over this team when Solari eventually gets sacked for being a dickhead

It's the wrong conclusion otherwise Lopetegui would have succeeded, and the same for Benitez. The coach matters because he needs to be able to connect with the players first and foremost, veteran or not.

What this group has shown is that they like the man management style which is shared by zizou, Carlo and looks like Solari is inspired by that. They have no tolerance for something else and will get u fired if need be

Nick, Zidane didn’t fair any better than Lopetequi in the beginning of the season. It isn’t any magic that the improvement came around Xmas regardless of who was the coach!

Bill with a theory that undermines Zidane and Solari and justifies the failures of the two Spanish scrubs, how surprising.

What happened in 2016-2017 then? if I recall correctly, Madrid didn't lose a single game until January. Who gets the credit for that?

futbol_bill wrote:Nick, Zidane didn’t fair any better than Lopetequi in the beginning of the season. It isn’t any magic that the improvement came around Xmas regardless of who was the coach!

you are missing the point by 100 miles.

The players took to Zidane, this is what matters. running a football team is not like turning a tap, it takes time, but at the end of the day, it's clear that the players loved working with Zidane way more than they did working with Benitez.

In the same fashion, the players love working with Solari a lot more than they do under Lopetegui.

Also, the point about their fitness is not correct imo. I think if we accumulate minutes played in europe between late CL round, CWC, la liga, la copa, Euros, World cup, our players will rank in the top of minutes played because it's just been an insane 5 years for all of them, playing in every competition. This is imo why they have a hard time restarting in spetember year after year. they are just damn tired, and this season post world cup was no exception.

farfan wrote:Bill with a theory that undermines Zidane and Solari and justifies the failures of the two Spanish scrubs, how surprising.

What happened in 2016-2017 then? if I recall correctly, Madrid didn't lose a single game until January. Who gets the credit for that?

To be absolutely fair, the first half of that season made me want to tear my hair out and gouge my eyes out. Trophy-wise, our most successful season in recent time, yet those first few months were incredibly depressive to watch. There's actually nothing that baffles me more than how quickly a lot of people forgot about those god awful performances, where we kept drawing and winning despite looking like the worst team on the pitch on a very consistent basis. I don't usually let poor performances affect me to such a substantial extent, but that half a season actually put me in a foul mood until I got too fed up to let it affect me anymore. I genuinely think we've looked more productive this season, which is not much of a challenge, although our results have obviously been worse.

halamadrid2 wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:I've come to the conclusion that with this team of veteran players, that the coach doesn't matter at all.

Hallelujah, finally, people are starting to realise that our team does NOT need any of these hipster coaches. Perhaps when our veteran players have all left but right now all they need is a good motivator who let's them play their way. Tacticians will get sacked midseason, no matter who they are. I have said it before but I'll say it again Raul or Guti should take over this team when Solari eventually gets sacked for being a dickhead

Can't believe we went through 3 years of Zidane for people to only now put this together

I mean, Zidane did have some level of tactical acumen. He ain't no Helenio Herrera but he did think a bit on what to do lol.

Lope was unfortunate to have a few things going against him all at once but at the end, the players no longer responded to what he asked of them and deservedly got fired.

Rafa was rubbish, that is all.

Nick says I’m missing it, but he is missing the fact that no matter who the coach was, we begin the season poorly and no matter who the coach is they somehow start playing much better around XMas! For sure Benitez was a poor choice and definitely Lopetequi had difficulties getting his ideas accross but I don’t for a minute think Solari is a better coach than Lopetequi (quite the opposite IMO) nor do I think that players like playing more for Solari, as Nick is implying.

Sure with their results, Anceloti and Zidane were good coaches, but I have concluded that with this team of veterans really, the coach really doesn’t matter.

It is not that simple. for example if Lope didn't rush Varane, Marcelo and some other players who clearly wasn't ready to play in supercup we could have won that easily. It's the managers job to assess things like that.

You think someone like Lope had the balls to bench Bale for Vini? Play lUcas and Bench isco for good? Bench Marcelo for Regui? play Llorente in Camp Nou instead of Case?

the key to success in a team like Madrid is unity. attack together, defend together. and Solari has made them do that.

how? they know if they don't work their ass off and be at their best they will be benched.

Lope and Benitez had mistakes. many.

Interesting and great opinions... I remember the old Real like back in the 2000s or so were mostly just of bunch of stars thrown together (maybe Im wrong but comparatively speaking at least) and it was quite different to the Real we are watching these days, whether thats the improvement of the players or the clubs mentality in general, or certain managers influence, etc., is up for debate.

Anyway, definitely agree with a lot of the above posts.

EXACTLY as good a manager as Zinedine Zidane IMHO

vanDEEZ wrote:I doubt he makes it to the end of the season.

Perez, pull the trigger already. Put the man out of his misery.

He could hire and fire all the managers working today. As long as he's being cheap and signing second-rate players, he'll never get out of this cycle.

Think now would be the time to switch to the www.goallegacy.net/t41742p25-santiago-solari-sack-watch

Name one manager in the world who thinks Lucas and Asensio are better players than Isco.

Mamad wrote:Name one manager in the world who thinks Lucas and Asensio are better players than Isco.

Zidane?

He's still a GOAT in my opinion. His squad is shit. He could have done better with, I don't know, Ronaldo in the team.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Mamad wrote:Name one manager in the world who thinks Lucas and Asensio are better players than Isco.

Zidane?

You mean the same Zidane who started Isco in CL final last season? hated Bale's guts though.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Mamad wrote:Name one manager in the world who thinks Lucas and Asensio are better players than Isco.

Zidane?

Zidane used Isco a lot. Do we need to have a chat again about you talking about things...?

Doc wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Mamad wrote:Name one manager in the world who thinks Lucas and Asensio are better players than Isco.

Zidane?

Zidane used Isco a lot. Do we need to have a chat again about you talking about things...?

technicalities etc

Zidane only started using Isco when he was on form and playing well. I can count on one hand how many good matches he's had for us, this season. Even a blind man can see how talented he is, but he must be fed up with fighting for a starting spot, by now. This was the season when he finally had a golden opportunity to push other players down the pecking order, but he's been about as opportunistic as Asensio. It may be a controversial opinion, but I think Llorente has been more impressive than him since the season started. He's a fan favorite for a reason, but no one's going to start him if he doesn't actually play well. His complaint that other players are treated like they have less to prove, looks quite silly when you consider how little he's proven when he's been given the chance to do so, this season. He's played 16 matches in the league, and they've mostly been underwhelming performances. I really don't understand how and why some of our players believe they should start when they're playing like shit. It's such a negative mentality.