I really don't like the overly aggressive defenders tbh. Am I in the minority?

There is a reason they are being phased out, the likes of Pepe are just so erratic you never know if they will make an amazing play or get a red card and concede a penalty off of something incredibly stupid and avoidable.

This is why I was much more for De Ligt than Militao. So I guess you guys will be excited for Militao then- he is definitely closer to that mold of defender.

I also prefer an aggressive, intimidating player. Pepe was certainly over the top in his early twenties, but he mellowed out later. that version of pepe was great.

One of each is preferable. An aggressive defender with athleticism to give an x-factor, and the smart calm defender to clean up his shit when he fails.

Aggressive defenders are mostly idiots and bad defenders...  but they're entertaining so people like them.

The job of a defender isn't to be aggressive.  They actually train that out of you.  Technique (being on the right side, covering angles, etc.), proper positioning and "safe" anticipation are the defensive skills that are emphasized.

It's better to consistently be a 7 out of 10 in a game than have half of the games be a 9 or 10... and then have the rest at a 5 or 6.  Why?  When your defensive teammates can comfortably anticipate what you're going to do, they'll play better and more consistently too.

People don't realize the stress that the likes of Pepe (until he was in his 30s), Ramos and Marcelo have on a defense.  They actually make other defenders look worse than they are.

There’s a difference between being aggressive and being idiotic. Ramos is the latter.

Late Pepe was the perfect aggressive defender. He knew when to turn it on.

intimidating forwards is huge for the centerback, if you can create that split second hesitation in forwards, and force them to go half assed in challenges against you, that's a win

No CF gets intimidated by aggressiveness. They actually like it because it means that the CB is gambling. Pace, position and anticipation intimidates strikers.... when they know that you've got their best runs covered, that's when you got them.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't play physically. But it's about being smart about it as a CB.

I call it controlled aggression; when a CB knows when to amp up their need to be hard on an attacker but still very much in control of what he is doing. Pepe became a fine example of that, man, only if he were like that from the start. Would have easily been a proper Madrid legend but such is life. A CB should have that in his arsenal including the ability to be a bit dirty when called upon.

That being said, I rather anticipation, speed, strength and positioning as qualities I look for than aggression.

Varane is far more aggressive on NT btw.  I think he knows that we have plenty of "aggressiveness" on Madrid in Ramos so he doesn't need to do that.  With Umtiti, he's more aggressive.  With Rami...  he's just pissed off in general lol.

He's naturally looking to outthink and outpace attackers... the aggressiveness is something he's learning. In the WC, i don't think he lost a duel in the box the whole tournament whether it be on set pieces or course of play. It was impressive.

He didn't want to address the rumours.

I was expecting him to rubbish the rumours. Interesting.

Who should come in. de ligt, koulibaly.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Well, let's look at the bright side:

Spoiler:

It's always darkest before the dawn

I am a big skriniar fan, at 24 he is a top 3 CB in serie A. he is an amazing tackler, tall, good passer, and he is a leader as well.

If Varane wants to go have new experiences, which would be understandable, let him go, and sign of someone else.

If Varane leaves, which I still think is highly unlikely, then we should go for either Skriniar or Lucas Hernandez. I'd personally give a slight favorite to Hernandez under ZZ because of the French connection and the fact that Hernandez has a release clause of 70m, doubt we could get Skriniar for less than that.

I don't think there are any other players in the world that could fill those boots currently. Maybe Umtiti, but I think there is no chance he leaves Barca, not De Ligt, the moment we made Militao official is the moment De Ligt was scratched off the shortlist of possibilities. Koulibaly maybe, but probably not.

We should definitely go for Hernandez if Varane leaves. Militao can take over from Varane and then Hernandez from Ramos in 2 seasons

Hernandez has agreed to personal terms with Bayern and they will trigger his release clause. All over French media about 10 days ago.

We need to jump in quick to change the course there... if we can. It doesn't sound like he wants to come to Real Madrid. He's refused us before.

we dont need to jump anything, lucas hernandez is not some kind of generational centerback that we need to pursue at all cost. Skriniar as an exemple is a better centerhalf with superior physical presence.

With the way we play we need our CBs to be fast too. If we don't get players that actually fit us this is going to be another Courtois situations. That's not to say that Skriniar isn't a good CB but he won't fit us imo. Neither the overhyped DeLight. Hernandez said that it wasn't right at the time to move especially since we were getting Theo in thr same summer. Lucas wasn't even a regular when we tried to get him.

RMCSport has reported that he's already agreed to a 5 year deal with Bayern.

sportsczy wrote:RMCSport has reported that he's already agreed to a 5 year deal with Bayern.

How credible would you say that source is? I clearly don't know Rafa Varane personally, but I struggle to understand why he'd want to go to Bayern and Germany, all of a sudden.

I think Sports is referring to Lucas

halamadrid2 wrote:I think Sports is referring to Lucas

Ah, I thought we were discussing Varane. Well, that's a relief.

Thimmy wrote:

halamadrid2 wrote:I think Sports is referring to Lucas

Ah, I thought we were discussing Varane. Well, that's a relief.

Not a relief for me. Thought it was about Vazquez

I don't think Vasquez will be going anywhere, now that Zidane has returned. I genuinely hope he doesn't play from the start again, though. The summer transfer window is going to be very interesting.

Thimmy wrote:I don't think Vasquez will be going anywhere, now that Zidane has returned. I genuinely hope he doesn't play from the start again, though. The summer transfer window is going to be very interesting.

That dude will 100% bench Hazard

I personally think that Varane wants to make bank. So he's going to force Madrid to pay him EPL type CB money or he's going to move to the EPL.

He doesn't give a hoot about Madrid's salary structure.

halamadrid2 wrote:With the way we play we need our CBs to be fast too. If we don't get players that actually fit us this is going to be another Courtois situations. That's not to say that Skriniar isn't a good CB but he won't fit us imo. Neither the overhyped DeLight. Hernandez said that it wasn't right at the time to move especially since we were getting Theo in thr same summer. Lucas wasn't even a regular when we tried to get him.

thing is Skriniar is not only a fast player, he also reads the game and tackles extremely well.

THe n1 attribute of he player we sign can't just be speed.

Now if you are arguing that we should sign him as LB that's another argument i am more inclined to listen to