I read a summary of ZZ's presser, and man was he much more honest than usual. I like that. Definitely worth a read or a watch.

Doc wrote:If playing for Madrid or Utd were a dead end job making just above minimum wage, I could see the motivational issues there. Not sure how these men could feel unmotivated to kick a ball for either club tbh. I could understand not being skilled enough (see Lingard and Lucas) but unmotivated? Right...

It's a combination of things:
1) first and foremost, they have won too much, the key players of the team are simply not as hungry as they use to be to go through the motions of la liga games.
2) season is over, everyone understands that, they are going through the games like mindless robots
3) objectives for the squad players are not aligned, between the young players fighting for their future and the older players acting conceited just waiting for the end of the year.

Doc wrote:If playing for Madrid or Utd were a dead end job making just above minimum wage, I could see the motivational issues there. Not sure how these men could feel unmotivated to kick a ball for either club tbh. I could understand not being skilled enough (see Lingard and Lucas) but unmotivated? Right...

Many of our players have won most of what there is to win. It's rinse and repeat for them, and they're getting older as well. We lost the league months ago.

In Man United's case, it seems to be a mix of many things. Their lack of a wage structure has caused them a substantial number of issues, and several of their players seem to have their eyes on other clubs. Sanchez is consistently their worst performer, and he's their top earner. It's shocking, really. They must've been absolutely desperate for Sanchez' signature. They may have gotten away with breaking their wage structure when they signed Rio Ferdinand, but I don't think the issue will fade away so easily this time around.

Barcelona has won one a trophy every season since Pep with more or less the same core group and yet, don't see a motivational issue with those asshats.

Something has to be in the drinking water in Madrid for them to feel so demotivated to not wanna continue winning.

As for Utd, my personal theory is that ever since SAF, they lack any proper coaching. Moyes, Van Gaal and Jose fucked up that squad nicely and it ain't just shit signings.

Most of their players aren't performing that well, to be fair. I've lost count of how many matches they've won in the league, despite looking equal to their opponent team, or like the worst team on the pitch. It's not as bad as it was for us during the first half of 2016-17, but they just have a lot of luck on their side when it comes to churning out wins. There's also Messi, of course. They still have Busquets, Pique and Suarez, who only seem to show occasional glimpses of their past selves. In Suarez' defence, he actually tries. He just doesn't have that consistent sharpness he used to have.

The reason is Messi.

Every team has their downs in league season except the one Messi is on.

We just gonna ignore the obvious fantastic supporting cast Barcelona have?

Messi is the fcking equalizer, he has carried barca on his back and massacred la liga teams for over a decade

I think it's easy for us Madrid fans just to say it's all Messi since it makes it seem that all Barcelona need is him and no one else. That their signings were meaningless and nothing else matters, just gotta wait till Messi declines.

But MaTs has been motivated. Alba, Pique, Suarez, Busquets, Sergi Roberto (as limited as he is) keep themselves motivated to continuously put in consistent performances. Least of all, Messi still is hungry for titles.

Again, it has to be something in the water for these players to feel this way after some titles.

Doc wrote:

But MaTs has been motivated. Alba, Pique, Suarez, Busquets, Sergi Roberto (as limited as he is) keep themselves motivated to continuously put in consistent performances. Least of all, Messi still is hungry for titles.

All of the players you've mentioned have been heavily criticized by Barca fans this season. The mutual understanding between Alba and Messi is as good as it gets, but Pique, Suarez and Busquets have had some shockingly poor matches. Sergi Roberto is, as you say, limited. I don't know how they manage to win matches, half of the time, but from what I've seen, either Messi takes matters into his own hands, or their opponent team decide that they've held out long enough and decide to capitulate.

time to break this conversation, with a small interlude,Luca Zidane gents

Grande Luca Zidane! pic.twitter.com/1cQCkLKR0Q

— Don Diego (@futbol_433) April 28, 2019

Criticized for not being dream level... while still winning...  is far different from being criticized for being middle of the table La Liga with little effort.....  and losing.

Standards for criticism are very different.

It's been well documented that Barca fans are quite possibly the most cancerous fan base on the net so whenever they criticise a player, you literally have to watch the team to verify their "complaints". Most of the time, it's quite untrue and they are being ridiculous.

We've got some players who have no business playing at this level at this moment in time and should feck off asap:

Vallejo
Nacho
Kroos
Casemiro
Bale
Vasquez
Asensio
Mariano

All have to be moved on

Doc wrote:It's been well documented that Barca fans are quite possibly the most cancerous fan base on the net so whenever they criticise a player, you literally have to watch the team to verify their "complaints". Most of the time, it's quite untrue and they are being ridiculous.

I can confirm. If it was up to our fanbase, we'd have sold Suarez, Rakitic, ter Stegen (when Bravo was starting and ter Stegen looked a bit insecure with 5 games per season) long time ago, made Montoya and Bartra starters in the backline etc.

I don't blame anyone for wanting Kroos gone after this season as this was indifference personified from him. But maybe a proper summer would sort out his head because he is still a really good midfielder, world class even. Though if he is to be sold, well, it is what it is.

futbol wrote:

Doc wrote:It's been well documented that Barca fans are quite possibly the most cancerous fan base on the net so whenever they criticise a player, you literally have to watch the team to verify their "complaints". Most of the time, it's quite untrue and they are being ridiculous.

I can confirm. If it was up to our fanbase, we'd have sold Suarez, Rakitic, ter Stegen (when Bravo was starting and ter Stegen looked a bit insecure with 5 games per season) long time ago, made Montoya and Bartra starters in the backline etc.

And you would have fired your soon to be treble winning coach Valverde after getting beaten by Roma last year. Wonderful bunch that makes every other big club fan base seem patient and understanding.

No Bale in the squad to play Villarreal. No Ceballos or Modric too. The writing is on the wall for Bale and Ceballos I guess

He is trying to make Bale understand he is not wanted and he better look for a club now

Bale needs to be publicly embarrassed and told straight to his face that he is not wanted. As autistic as he is, he has an ego and already threatened to leave after the CL final last year, if he has dignity then he will scram. Even in the press conferences where Zidane has to be PC, you can tell he has no love lost for Bale.

No matter how many times ZZ tries to play Marcelo it's not going to change the fact that he is done on the highest level. It's time to make the tough decisions

halamadrid2 wrote:No matter how many times ZZ tries to play Marcelo it's not going to change the fact that he is done on the highest level. It's time to make the tough decisions

the gaps marcelo leaves behind are so massive, can't disagree.

A few passes and Villarreal had a free pass to charge at our CBs. If ZZ is serious about LaLiga, it can never be that easy for teams to get to our box. Never!!!

huge fan of brahim what a baller. his dribbling is fire