You'll think Zizou would see that but the man is ridiculously stubborn in his ways.

I can’t believe what I’m reading..

Zidane has no style at all.

Also we’re being outplayed by Spanish teams tactically each week. Don’t give me all this BS that it’s becayse our players aren’t good or athletic enough.

If anything they’re just lazy.

Our entire back 4 is incredibly athletic. We’ve got a great bench of young athletic players willing to step up.

Problem is playing lazy ass has-beens like Kroos and Bale. It’s impossible to have any possession game or to get the ball back when there’s so many players not showing effort. And that problem starts with the manager. If he won’t sub players being lazy, then there’s no accountability, so why should they work hard?

Zidane could have signed both Eriksen and Van de Beek. He didn't.

The midfield is bare. No one to bring off the bench.

Zidanes tactics, system and selection is becoming worst and worst.

FennecFox7 wrote:We do not have the players, midfield, or goalkeeper (sports is 100% right about thibu.. he is awful) to play a high line and to play the style zizou wants.

We look bad because
- we can't press
- we have zero athleticism.

Zidane's style requires a massive amount of athleicism and hustle.. why do you think he's making everyone run so much?

He needs to drop the ego and change our style of play. We can't do a high press, we have an unathletic midfield and team. Only good athletes this team has is casemiro, bale, mendy, and MAYBE benzema. 2 of these players don't defend.

What I would do is run a mid-low block and switch to a 4-5-1. We need to cover our weakness in the midfield. and we need to play on the counter. It's pretty much the best chance this team has.

I really don't understand this. If we assume that Pogba has the perfect set of qualities for Zidane's ideal system, I still believe he would have a massive task ahead of him, in proving that he can put in the work on a regular basis. He's got the physicality, or athleticism if you will, but I can't stress enough how unproven he is in terms of doing his share of the work over the course of an entire league season.

Like Scholes said recently, you can take Pogba out of Man United and the difference would hardly be noticeable. His brilliance isn't anywhere near sustainable enough to make a difference outside of a short and isolated competition like, the Champions League (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here, because I've never been convinced by his performances in the CL). Scholes also mentioned that it's possible that a deal similar to the one we made with Man United regarding CR7's transfer, has already been made - where we may have agreed to let Pogba stay with them for this season only, in order to give them time to find a replacement.

If he does come next summer, or even as soon as in January (doubtful), I really wonder how Zidane intends to utilize Pogba as a difference-maker, when his lethargy and lack of work rate is already quite reminiscent of what we've seen from some of our existing players. I genuinely want to know what the plan is regarding Pogba, because the way I see it, he would have to step up his game by a substantial margin compared to how he's performed over the past 3 seasons if he's going to solve any of our issues. Less relevant, but it would honestly annoy me a little that we'd be doing them a massive favor in taking him off their hands, as well.

That may sound silly considering he's a world cup winner, but I don't think there's any doubt that a comparatively less talented and athletic player with a more reliable performance output, like Van De Beek would not only improve them, but they'd have money to spare as well. We are screwed beyond belief if this theoretical Pogba deal doesn't pan out in our favor. This was not intended to be a Pogba rant, it's a genuine concern of mine, considering what a poorly kept secret it is that Zidane sees him as a solution to our midfield problems.

futbol_bill wrote:IMO, expect many more of these type of games this season!

One thing I am sure about, was my decision to sell my season ‘s tickets for this year!

I look forward to next season when Mbappe arrives and Zidane is replaced.

Since Mourinho is the likely replacement.... you can say goodbye to Mbappe, Pogba and any other creative mid or forward for that matter unless Real Madrid is a big step up for them.

Mourinho comes... and Mbappe either stays at PSG or goes to EPL imo.

Mourinho had a great attackers during his real Madrid stint

He won't sign Pogba, I'm cool with that.

But hopefully Pogba doesn't influence Mbappe against Mourinho

The team needs a tactician though. Ancelotti?

Mbappe and Pogba are not the be all and end all. I am positive other attackers and midfielders would spring up lol.

At this point, Zizou is honestly looking like he is not aware of what exactly he is doing or want at this point but I shall still be a believer ffs. Can't wait for Nick to start the shitposting tbh.

Other than Mendy, ZZ did not get any of his requests filled...  forget Pogba.  He wanted Bale and James gone as well.  Lucas was about to be sold btw until Asensio was injured... that's why he remains a Real Madrid player.

Now, he's forced to play Bale, James and Lucas because Asensio and Isco are out while Hazard just returned. Vini has been a failure as a RW too.

He literally has a team that he did not want.  Regardless of results, i wouldn't be surprised if he resigns at the end of the season.  They asked Dugarry on RMC if ZZ was going to quit before the season... he answered that he's not that kind of person (like Bielsa) but that, past this season, he doesn't know.  Pretty big hint.

Yeah, that isn't gonna cut it at Real Madrid. He knows that isn't gonna cut it at Madrid.

Not to mention he's supposed to build the attack around Eden Hazard... but they guy came to camp looking like a beached whale, then got injured and not is barely back.

That said, our biggest issue is the midfield. Gueye looked like a combo of Makalele and Vieira out there last night lol. We have no ability to handle strength and speed... we'll just get run over.

Didn't help that Militao and Mendy never played with each other either.

I think last night was an aberration the more I think about it.

@freeza, we have technically gifted players but we have no athleticism, and no our back four bar mendy have zero athleticism, carvajal has fallen off a cliff physically and football wise, injuries have slowed down varane, ramos is ageing, marcelo is shot as well..

our forwards don’t do any defensive work besides maybe Bale here and there and our midfielders are all slow as fuck

sportsczy wrote:Not to mention he's supposed to build the attack around Eden Hazard...  but they guy came to camp looking like a beached whale, then got injured and not is barely back.  

That said, our biggest issue is the midfield.  Gueye looked like a combo of Makalele and Vieira out there last night lol.  We have no ability to handle strength and speed... we'll just get run over.

Didn't help that Militao and Mendy never played with each other either.

I think last night was an aberration the more I think about it.

zizou is just gonna have to change his ways. He needs to be pragmatic like he used to be. He is trying to play a high press with this team but it won’t happen. Barca has one player in messi who does zero defense.. we have multiple players who don’t defend and we think we can play a high press??

The game has completely changed and every player more or less need to be complete technically and physically

sportsczy wrote:Not to mention he's supposed to build the attack around Eden Hazard... but they guy came to camp looking like a beached whale, then got injured and not is barely back.

That said, our biggest issue is the midfield. Gueye looked like a combo of Makalele and Vieira out there last night lol. We have no ability to handle strength and speed... we'll just get run over.

Didn't help that Militao and Mendy never played with each other either.

I think last night was an aberration the more I think about it.

The team has been playing poorly since last season.

These poor performances are slowly becoming a norm now.

The decision making in the summer is looking so terrible, I'd trade Jovic, who looks lost everytime he plays btw, for a midfielder.

Ceballos and Llorente weren't great, but they were good cover

He's making a point fennec to the board... he told them how he wanted to play, asked for the players to do it... and they said he could do it with the current players.

So he's going to show them up. He really doesn't care if he's let go because he's leaving after this season anyhow unless his demands are met.

Real Madrid can keep firing managers left right and center like we always have. The problem now is that we can't outspend everyone and managers aren't exactly lining up to come here anymore.

If you noticed, Zidane doesn't feel any pressure. He has every Ligue 1 club, including PSG, Lyon and OM, who would jump at the opportunity to sign him if something happened in Real Madrid. Pretty certain a few Serie A and EPL clubs as well.

So to him, he's fine. He'll stick to his principles and let the cards fall where they may.

sportsczy wrote:He's making a point fennec to the board...  he told them how he wanted to play, asked for the players to do it... and they said he could do it with the current players.

So he's going to show them up.  He really doesn't care if he's let go because he's leaving after this season anyhow unless his demands are met.

Real Madrid can keep firing managers left right and center like we always have.  The problem now is that we can't outspend everyone and managers aren't exactly lining up to come here anymore.

If you noticed, Zidane doesn't feel any pressure.  He has every Ligue 1 club, including PSG, Lyon and OM, who would jump at the opportunity to sign him if something happened in Real Madrid.  Pretty certain a few Serie A and EPL clubs as well.

So to him, he's fine.  He'll stick to his principles and let the cards fall where they may.

That post is so ridiculous on so many levels!

It was Zidane saying he wanted only Pogba.

It was Zidane who got rid of the midfield depth we had and turned down the available alternatives.

It was Zidane that insisted on playing same old guard.

It was Zidane’s hand selected physical trainer that led to all of the muscle injuries.

It was Zidane that views all of the new signings except Hazard as bench players.

It was and is Zidane who won’t play youth talent.

It was Zidane that pretty well killed any sale value of Bale.

It is Zidane that can’t seem to use or teach any viable tactics.

But go ahead with your delusions that this disaster is all on Flo!

It's funny how @sports just completely makes up stories so confidently like he lives with the people and is always completely and awfully wrong. Just look at the way he's talking like he's the one controlling zidanes mind. Loooool

So you think any coach would like to loose or play awfully because they want to prove a point? Lmao

Hazards injury is not an excuse as he already had like 6 preseason games under his belt. Neymar has been out for 4 months and is still banging left right and centre, hell he's been out for a combined 7 months since January (with no single preseason game) and still showing why he's an unapologetic alpha anytime he steps on the pitch..

You cannot tell me a good coach will have just one player in mind before he can do anything remotely meaningful, it's just a silly excuse honestly, I mean what if the player was signed (Pogba) and said player gets injured? Isn't even all that? Or is out of form? Or God forbid the player refuses to come? Or doesn't want to be sold by the club? What does he do then? Or is it Flo's fault that man it's decided to play hard ball?

He's time at real is over and he's being exposed for who he actually is and it's funny because most people (fans and non fans) called this out even in his first stint here, the only difference is that ramos is no longer clutch in front of goal and Ronaldo is not longer there to flesh out the numbers..

These group of players have been (mentally and physically) tired for like 3 years now tbh the only difference was that they still had the heart to convert motivation into results (cue Ramos and Ronaldo heroics), which zidane sadly can't offer anymore (which was all he really had anyway). So what the players need now is a new coach to paper the cracks and at least give them something to fight for in the form of motivation to see the season out before madrid overhauls the team (and sign the almighty savior mbappe).

Mourinho imo, if not for his bad man management skills (in the longer run) will do far better with these same players in this exact same conditions. I can make a safe bet on that. Otherwise my preferred choice for Madrid would be Klopp or Tuchel IMHO.. (with guadiolar being obviously unattainable).

It's only downhill from here for luckdane. He shouldn't have come back tbh. The stars won't always align.

@ sports . If that's true Zidane might as well resign now and stop wasting time.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've read. You're basically saying Zidane is sabotaging the Real Madrid.

there's no excuse. its one of the reasons i say i love when a coach is given authority to get who he wants, that way there is accountability. and mind you, a coach is not always going to get what they want, that's not how sports work. BUT, if you don't get your first choice, you should have ideas on second and third choice suggestions

when someone played a clip of zidane shaking all his players upon his return, i kinda knew it wasn't going to be a revolution but more of the same. we couldn't sell james and bale, we tried hard, but nobody wanted em at a reasonable cost. unless zidane would have been happy to see james go to atleti. and even then, if we sold em, we would barely have any players left to play. we didn't get pogba, but the manager should have had ideas for alternatives, instead it was pogba or bust

he got other players, none of whom where starter material besides hazard (who i'm not a fan of). i'm sorry but zizou has to get up out of this mess, if we are being true to ourselves, the board tried their best for what he wanted......lol we freaking spent 300 million....on what, i do not know

i really didn't want to make that post, i have a sick feeling we might have more road blocks and anytime we beat a terrible liga side we'll get one of those marca "madrid is back or madrid never gives up" headlines. at least barcelona aren't hitting form.....yet

the probem of Zidane is that he is an average coach who is now struggling to build a team from the ground up.

These fuckers really tried to ruin my week at the beach relaxing.

Zidane is doing a poor job of coaching the team so far, i hope for his sake that he improves.

I’m waiting to see if Zidane gets out coached tomorrow by of all people Lopetequi!

futbol_bill wrote:I’m waiting to see if Zidane gets out coached tomorrow by of all people Lopetequi!

Someone needs to mention that he's the worst coach in Porto history for the 782nd time. His shoes are ugly as well, hopelessness personified. That'll teach him!

Zidane after he returned is the worst in Real Madrid history. Don't know which is worse

Oh shit, we are playing Sevilla tomorrow. Ha. Well, that's a loss and with Lope at the helm too.

Zidane was brought back by Perez to calm the fans down. Everyone knows that the team is exhausted, getting old, and in need of a grand change. Zizou is just there to buy time. It is normal after that much success the players are less motivated, and the team is in transition mode. If we are smart that phase should last another season, but with today's pulling power it could last up to five seasons. The old guard is close to finished, to sum it up we would've needed way much more than Pogba to fix all of our problems. We would've needed a fresher bench, world class striker and most definitely a close to total defensive revamp.

The only thing for Zidane to do is soften the blow.

That being said, tactically we are poor due to our low level of athleticism, players are slow as fuck, and the most affected by this is Carvajal, the guy goes forward and we get beaten down, it is 4 to 2 in an opposition counter attack.

The right thing to do here is to let just one of the fullbacks to go forward going from our usual 2-1-4-3 in attack to a more stable formation with 3 defenders and two midfielders ready to intercept a counter. Two defenders, a fullback and two midfielders with one of them being slightly forward should always be behind the ball.

Often we see both fullbacks on the respective flanks with side forwards next to them, a striker in form of Benzema way outside of a goal threatening position, and two midfielders close to the 16 meters line, with just Casemiro and the two defenders which in most cases push way up. All you need to threaten us is an opposition midfielder with a simple pass to a flank and we are on the back foot. Casemiro cannot fill the gap on both flanks.

Attacking wise we should implement something new with Hazard on scene now. While Modric is out we could try out a 4-2-3-1 with Bale being a LW, James or Vazquez as a RW(someone to cross a ball, and cover a fullback) Benz upfront with Hazard supporting him, Toni just further up than Casemiro. That way you have Benz and Bale being the danger in front of the goal, with Hazard just behind them to set them up or dribble inside from the left side and shoot.

The problem with that would be that the middle would be left by just two players and can be easily be overcrowded by the opposition, and that is where the fullbacks should be more prepared to quickly return to their position. In this case the RW should be also able to fit into a center right midfielder if needed converting to a standard 4-3-3.