Welcome Brahim Diaz!

Mr Nick09 wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:We should ask for Lautaro Martinez from Inter to be included in the Modric deal. He isn't having a good time with Inter at the moment but he seems a good talent for CF

inter are not stupid they would never do that. You don't give up a young attacking talent you could sell 100 mil in a couple of years to get a near finished midfielder lol. Not to mention Inter, if they sign Modric it's gonna be on some hand me down type of deal like loan + obligation to buy the next season for like 25 mil lol. Just don't expect to make much money out of a Modric transfer

So give them Modric and money. He's the type of striker we should target from Inter, not Icardi, as he good both inside and outside the box.

Llorente was benched because he came to preseason unprepared.... until this year (where I mentioned he looked the best of the kids imo).  ZZ is old school... so he has certain expectations with kids.

He was trying to toughen up our kids.  And frankly, it's worked with Ceballos and Llorente (they needed to learn what it was to be a pro for an elite team).  

Also, you can toughen up kids while giving them opportunity at a club like Madrid if you are playing well and have a lead... not when you're behind in the standings.  ZZ had that opportunity in his 2nd year... but not his 3rd (+ we got eliminated in CDR very early).

Finally, you were never going to win CL with Ceballos, llorente, etc.  So if you had your core players out of form, you need to get them into form by playing them... or you're not winning anything.  So with La Liga out of reach, the focus was getting our top guys into top form last season. Developing kids wasn't the focus.

Things are black and white.  They're circumstantial.

The shit thing about our team construction this year is that we're neither trying to win no in reconstruction. We're built like a team in limbo. You have entitled veterans that will never stand for getting benched... and you have kids that aren't ready for the brightest lights.

Valkyrja wrote:

So give them Modric and money. He's the type of striker we should target from Inter, not Icardi, as he good both inside and outside the box.

his release clause is already 100 mil, Inter know Icardi will leave soon, then it's gonna be his turn.

Lautaro is a good talent, but he has npt done enough to justify that kind of fee.

Lautaro has the same amount of goals as Gagliardini, the DM, and less than vecino, the other DM.

It is extremely early early to think of him as a top player, let alone 100m player, or comparing him to Icardi.

@Sports, please stop this BS about Llorente not being "prepared" lmao, where is that from?

Llorente was unprepared? But Theo Hernandez, who was a complete scrub las season was prepared to play for us? Zidane forced that double left back tactic on us so many times last season it was gag.

Mr Nick09 wrote:
The problem is not age or mentality, the problem is opportunity. Take Marcos Llorente for example, Zidane buried him on the bench for a year, Lopetegui did the same making him look like a scrub, and now he just delivered two excellent games. The same applies to Ceballos.

If you sign Rodri and he never plays because of Kroos, casemiro, Modric, you would have been saying the same thing, praising another kid in another team.

And i dont understand some of the names you throw out. Griezmann was never leaving; De Vrij was not coming here as a 4th CB, he starts every game for Inter; why sign Malcom when you are trying to promote Asensio to grow + Vinicius + Rodrygo coming + Vasquez in the squad; Icardi, again poachers...

Disagree about the Llorente part, as you said we have had multiple managers go to extreme lengths (playing kroos as DM, playing Ceballos as DM, playing Fede over Llorente, etc.) There is no doubt in my mind if we had a better player in Rodri, that he would have been able to fight his way in when Modric was under performing or Casemiro out. Llorente is a good player, but he is not the level. Rodri is.

As for the other points, we know Griezmann was flirting with Barca, and Man U. There is no reason why we couldn't have been in the mix. Just because he didn't leave you can't necessarily say in retrospect there was a 0% chance of him leaving. We just didn't go for him, so in the end there was no chance, but considering our dire CF issue we really should have attempted.

De Vrij, I think, would have been willing to fight for a starting spot given our injuries and suspension record at that position. In my mind he would be 2/3rd choice considering injuries and Nacho would be 4th, allowing him to fill in for RB/LB more.

The difference between Malcom and Vini/Rodrygo is that he is ready to play now. Vini is more with Castilla and on the LW, Rodrygo isn't even here yet, Asensio needs some competition, Vazquez I don't really care about. Icadri, I don't really understand the argument against, he's a great goalscorer, can lead the line and was in our financial reach. Maybe 100m is overpaying but Relative to Lukaku and Morata, it's a good deal.

Theo Hernandez barely played... and only due to injury . Just like Hakimi. It wasn't by choice.

We had Kova available in the midfield and Lucas when we played a 442.

I'll say this again... it took the kids a year to understand what it took to be a pro. There was also a power play as none of these kids were Zidane players... they were management players. In the end, the whole issue with transfers was a big reason ZZ left. Why would any manager stake his rep on players he didn't choose? Current managers are learning this the hard way.

Rubbish stop cooking up these silly theories, justify zidane silliness llorente is the natural back up for casemiro he went out got experience and was prepared to play, need a year to know how to be a pro lmao things you guys make up.

@Deez, Rodri is objectively a better talent than Llorente, im not going to argue against that. Llorente still deserved more opportunities which were not afforded to him, wrongly imo. He did get 2 recently, and he helped us massively. Actually, we are not losing in Eibar if he starts instead of Ceballos imo.

I am pretty sure Marca had big headlines about us going for Griezmann before. At the very least, it's safe to assume there were conversations and we weighted the transfer. Utlimately, he stayed at Atleti over going to Barca which to me is our equivalent. If he had left i would have understood your disappointment, but he chose to stay.

as far as De Vrij, there is no such a thing as competing for a starter position in this madrid at the back. You dont compete with Ramos or Varane, you are on the bench, yes or yes? if they are fit, you sit down. We chose it like that and it's fine. This is why we are not looking for the likes of De Ligt, Skriniar etc on the market. we need a nice boy that will sit behind and understands his role as back up first and foremost. We will bring Hermoso back, hoping he can assume that role, first compete with Nacho to be 3rd back, and as Ramos is aging, we will see. If we sign a manager like Pochettino next summer who uses more 3 at the back schemes, then maybe he will start more.

Honestly, there was no need to sign a player like Malcom, he is not good enough. We went for talent, and again, im just arguing that it makes sense as a move. You have Asensio, Isco, Vasquez at the club, and Vinicius that's plenty. You have to account for Rodrygo as well because he is a big investment and you got to ensure he has a spot in the squad the following year.

I have nothing against Icardi, i just believe that if you spend 100 mil on a player, he needs to be a complete player. Icardi isnt that. There is no need to rush into a decision to sign a new CF anyway, specially if you are unsure about your options.

Did he get sent to the shadow realm? Where is our 20 million dollar signing up to these days? He isn't injured (or not reported injured) so...what's up?

https://en.as.com/en/2019/02/20/football/1550674943_452089.html

Brahim pushed for his move to Madrid because he was discontent with a lack of first team opportunities under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad and City were happy to let him go as it was apparent that he would not be remaining beyond the end of his contract, which expired in the summer.

Reading on MM he was in the stands for the two Clasico's. Not sure who I am disliking more: Solari or Flo.

Why did we spend 20m on him when he could have left on a free in 6 months again?

vanDEEZ wrote:Why did we spend 20m on him when he could have left on a free in 6 months again?

We don't want to be known as the old Juve or current Melan quite yet. Once we start signing free players, offer 10 year payment plans or go for loanees... we'll officially have gone to the dark side.

Doc wrote:

Brahim pushed for his move to Madrid because he was discontent with a lack of first team opportunities under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad and City were happy to let him go as it was apparent that he would not be remaining beyond the end of his contract, which expired in the summer.

Reading on MM he was in the stands for the two Clasico's. Not sure who I am disliking more: Solari or Flo.

He should be in the stands. Has no business being near the first team.

He's young, he has time.

Neither does Bale but there he was, making a mockery of the shirt in the Clasico.

THIS SHORTY IS A BALLER

I AM HIS N1 FAN

Goddammit Nick, leave the kid alone.

Mr Nick09 wrote:THIS SHORTY IS A BALLER

I AM HIS N1 FAN

Classic Nick hyping up people based on nothing lol.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:THIS SHORTY IS A BALLER

I AM HIS N1 FAN

Classic Nick hyping up people based on nothing lol.

please he is the second best dribbler in Madrid, this is where i come from, understand my pain

Calm down, he's not McAgger.

He's allowed to hype players already here.

Transfer targets on the hand.

One thing Barca have gotten right in their recruitment these past few years over us, is that they consistently sign players with high level of technical abilities. Their wingers, almost always proficient in 1v1, great dribblers, help them win games consistently.

On the other hand, we sign good players but with no specific model or guidelines. It's always been a pet peeve of mine, in the past 10 years, i hardly remember any elite dribbler we had, meanwhile, we had to deal with barca with messi, neymar, even dembele is a great dribbler, Sanchez etc..; look at Bayern with Robben and Ribery who were nightmares for fullbacks for year, and now they have Coman, and want to sign Pepe, etc...

Vinicius turned into our best player because he could do just that, be individually great at taking on players and creating plays by himself. We relied on Marcelo creating plays for us for like 10 years. My point is, we need more players who have that ability, Vinicius is that, Hazard is coming, Brahim has that despite his size, we need more of that please.

It's like Madrid forgot that wingers are suppose to actually be able to take on their man constantly. Sigh. Anyway, Diaz and Vini (and hopefully Hazard) would bring things back to some sane place.

Doc wrote:It's like Madrid forgot that wingers are suppose to actually be able to take on their man constantly. Sigh. Anyway, Diaz and Vini (and hopefully Hazard) would bring things back to some sane place.

I think we should aim further and have 2 on both flanks. Eden and Vini on the left and a new RW with Brahim on the right. Ditch crapsensio and Vasquez

I still don't mind Vasquez coming off the bench (if he minds that is another story) but Asensio clearly doesn't have the mental fortitude to really shine in this team. Which sucks as I was a real fan of his...

Doc wrote:I still don't mind Vasquez coming off the bench (if he minds that is another story) but Asensio clearly doesn't have the mental fortitude to really shine in this team. Which sucks as I was a real fan of his...

We need to find a new Vasquez for Zidane 2nd Era. A new Vasquez and a new Nacho. Those are past it