Round of 16 - Ajax vs Real Madrid

Or Modric instead of Kroos or go with a 4-4-2

"given the correct set up" is the most important point. you have to take into account what you have. isco may prosper in a different scenario. but with what we have now kroos is valuable for long ball distribution especially. if you had a system with wingers acting as full fledged midfielders, then you may have a case for isco. but we don't have that, bale needs the ball in open space. lucas too , since his strength primarily is crossing the ball. for that reason solari is right to bench isco.

also, kroos takes our corner kicks and long free kicks, who's going to perform that task besides him? we can't afford to have ramos adding corner kicks to his repertoire. i'm already nervous as is with his penalties. i guess modric can take them, but i like kroos for those.

going with a 4 4 2 means bale will play out of position, and we are down to the square peg round hole thing all over again

Lol, bad example Tito. Bale plays poorly regardless of position.

I must admit after my initial hypejob of Isco during his post U-21 Euro win in 2012 he really has not turned out the way I (we) expected.

For all his glorious performances in the white shite and of course trophies, it was panned out for him to be the new Iniesta to which in hindsight was a stupid opinion as Isco seems one of those incredibly skilled players who needs to be isolated under pressure to use his greatest trait yet when presented with options and space his decision-making Overall is just severely lacking.

It's a shame really... because he has everything other than that final "awareness".  

I think he's the Spanish version of Di Natale if he can get himself to a club that is the right size and will build around him.

My point is that he should convert into a striker so that he doesn't really need great awareness other than his immediate vicinity.

if he is having issues with being a central midfielder, what makes you think he can transition into a striker which is a completely foreign position. his best bet might be for his agent to find a team that suits him. whoever it is, i hope they are willing to drop a ton of cash at our door step so we can make signings

He was playing the scoring and attacking role at Malaga. If you don't count CDR, he was the top scorer for Malaga that season in La Liga + CL. They basically shared the scoring burden between Saviola, Santa Cruz, Isco and Joaquin.

Those were his best seasons... where he was really the focus of the attack and the top scoring threat out there.

at malaga he had freedom, he wasn't a striker, he would drift out left occasionally. its kind of like van der vaart. van der vaart's not a striker nor a forward, but he scored lots of goals at hamburg , probably way more than isco did at malaga, cos he had freedom to play how he wanted. doesn't mean all of a sudden you make him a 9 or false 9 or any of that. isco doesn't have the skillset for that. he is a nos 10, not a guy who can operate in and around the box off the ball

I think you all are over reacting. Isco is world class when on form.

yeah his final decision could be better but it's not disastrous like Asensio or Lucas.

Modric is old and Lucas is shite. we need Isco in the future. there are not many players as talented as him around.

titosantill wrote:at malaga he had freedom, he wasn't a striker, he would drift out left occasionally. its kind of like van der vaart. van der vaart's not a striker nor a forward, but he scored lots of goals at hamburg , probably way more than isco did at malaga, cos he had freedom to play how he wanted. doesn't mean all of a sudden you make him a 9 or false 9 or any of that. isco doesn't have the skillset for that. he is a nos 10, not a guy who can operate in and around the box off the ball

I think he can.  That's his instinct imo.  He's basically a false 9 at heart.  Not a lone striker mind you...  but if he took that central role and you have scoring threats around him, he would thrive.

Hazard is not really a striker either.  But Chelsea is playing him in that role today for example and he has two goals.  I don't think that's the right move for a club of Chelsea's stature... but let's say you put Isco in that role at Sevilla and you surround him with Ben Yedder and Andre Silva with Isco as the focus... he would be great.  

To me, Isco can be a star but at the Sevilla level.  At an elite club, he's not good enough to have the kind of player.  Heck, I've only seen two who were great at it and they are Totti and Messi.... and Roma isn't elite. Also, Totti didn't take that role until he was 26.which is Isco's age. I think he needs to find a situation that allows him to make that move.

Mamad wrote:I think you all are over reacting. Isco is world class when on form.

yeah his final decision could be better but it's not disastrous like Asensio or Lucas.

Modric is old and Lucas is shite. we need Isco in the future. there are not many players as talented as him around.

i doubt lucas will be starting for us after this season. this is just one of those years we have to accept what we got.....for what its worth, for his lack of talent, lucas does work hard, i have to give him that, he loses the ball a lot though, no wonder in training clips i see he's always the one in the middle when they are playing piggy in the middle. but yeah i hope flo has a change of heart come summer, and we stop these experiments...i'm hoping an isco sale will bring in some much needed cash. a city move would work for all parties involved as long as the money is right

Now that El games have ended. Time for the real CL clash. RM vs La Masia. Can't wait to put 5 past these lot and have De Jong go off injured to avoid further humiliation

La Masia lol. Thoroughly inaccurate but yes, I agree imo.

BT commentator: "You can see Pep Guardiola's effect on Ajax coach Erik ten Hag"

Typical British punditry, they think football started when Guardiola started managing City, oblivious or ignorant to the fact that Guardiola's mentors both as a player and coach are from Ajax school.

farfan wrote:Weird that Ajax's best player ( Ziyech ) isn't talked about that much compared to De Jong and De Ligt.

Goes to show that picking the "wrong" national team can really affect the way you're perceived in Europe.

Likely because he's about to turn 26. He's not a prospect.

Like a lot of Madrid posters on this site so you'll have to forgive me for being fully behind Ajax

-insert dutch ajax chant here-

What is this hype with this Ziyech chap? He is not a team player and overdoes everything.

Had a terrible World Cup too if I remember correctly.

That was a penalty imho. Ramos had a whole arm on Tadić while he was taking his shot.

Madrid struggling badly.

danyjr wrote:BT commentator: "You can see Pep Guardiola's effect on Ajax coach Erik ten Hag"

Typical British punditry, they think football started when Guardiola started managing City, oblivious or ignorant to the fact that Guardiola's mentors both as a player and coach are from Ajax school.

They think Guardiola started playing from the back in the PL as well

Madrid players getting away with fouling. Usual culprits Ramos and Carvajal.

@Harmonica was right.

danyjr wrote:What is this hype with this Ziyech chap? He is not a team player and overdoes everything.

Had a terrible World Cup too if I remember correctly.

Casemiro vs Marquinhos

Discuss

Firenze wrote:

Sarcasm?

Soz I'm autistic.

Ajax final balls have been poor. Otherwise they have been dangerous but mainly due to Madrid being very flat.

SantiaGOAT needs to sub Bale out. He is slower than Mertesacker these days.