Re: Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

by Hapless_Hans Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:30 am

I believe that Alaba has not signed because his signing is connected to Ramos

Wherever Ramos goes, or stays, Alaba goes not. Between Real and PSG, I mean

And before you start clamoring about positions, this is not about positions but about the salary

by futbol_bill Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:09 am

There is no connection of Alaba to Ramos. Perez took the deal to strengthen the defense regardless of what happens to Ramos or Varane. I still maintain at end of day, Ramos remains.

Actually the defense is the one area that is likely to remain stable with likely the only changes being exits of Odriozola and Marcelo and the addition of Alaba, and Lucas being the backup to Carvajal.

Meanwhile Flo will try to sign both Mbappe and Haaland (in addition to Alaba), although he acknowledges that Haaland is very doubtful.

by halamadrid2 Sun May 23, 2021 4:20 am

Would anyone take Ronaldo back if Juve don't make it into the CL? I would, i would then bring Mbappe. That would guarantee goals and we will have a hunble Ronaldo back who went on a trip where he failed to reach his goals

I have my doubts about Alaba. The lad has won it all from a clubs perspective, i don't know, feels like he'll come here for his last paycheck and not to help elevate us. The only old player I'd go for is Ronaldo

We need a clear out next season:

Isco
Asensio
Marcelo
Hazard
Bale
Varane
Mariano
Mayoral
Vallejo

Need to gtfo, i don't care how

We need at least two more goal scoring wingers, I'd prefer one of them being a total winner in Ronaldo and the other a young and hungry guy in Mbappe. We need a midfielder, not Camavinga or Aouar, we need a Bruno Fernandez type, somebody who can give you goals. We already have MCK and Valverde, we need another WC midfielder and promote Blanco to be Casemiros back up.

We need a new RB, preferably Hakimi who wouldn't be a total downgrade on Dani when he inevitably gets injured as usual

I'd even look for a new LB because i am not sold on Mendy who is absolutely useless against teams that bunker up, but doubt we'll go for a new LB, will just hope fot Miguel to surpass him in Zidanes eyes.

CB situation i am happy with. Militao gives you the Pepe vibes and his partner can be Nacho or Ramos if he stays. Varane nedds to gtfo, he's terrible, weak, slow to react and awful on the ball

But the most important thing for nrxt season is proven goalscorers!!!

by futbol_bill Sun May 23, 2021 6:48 am

Hala, i agree on some of your points, but I think you are ignoring the financial reality of club plus there is possible coaching change coming.

I wouldn’t take Ronaldo back, that just prolongs the relying on aging veterans problem, plus the financial cost, coupled with the Bale dilemma. I had posted (below) in another thread a week ago as to what I believe will happen this summer.

futbol_bill wrote:You raise some important points, Cyborg. Bottom line whether it’s a new coach or Zidane, several things need to happen, if the club wants to remain in contention. But first and foremost, we all, including Perez, need to recognize we, as well as all Spanish clubs, are in a down cycle and there are very limited funds available.

Basically that means there can’t be a wholesale shedding of veterans rather they have to be fazed out, much depending on availability of transfer funds.

The reality is we don’t have any valued players to sell, like they did last summer to raise significant funds for transfers. The best we can hope for is someone taking Bale off the roster and a stadium sponsorship deal, although that likely is a year away.

They also need to recognize the whole youth movement has not worked out well. They need a coach to play and develop what talent we have and should not have any of this talent on squad that coach will not play, rather those guys need to leant out for development, and if not in any way in club’s plans should be sold.

And the coach needs to ease off the constant reliance on the veteran players.

Also Perez needs to acknowledge that trophies should not be his number 1 priority, rather an acknowledged planned approach to improve over a 2 or 3 year period.

Which all of this means then is between Perez and Flo, they need a fairly drastic changed approach. And if it is not going to be Zidane, then the new coach has to have the capability to implement such a plan.

They also need to improve scouting, to identify good players that don’t demand the ridiculous transfer fees.

And finally, please bear in mind that coaches normally at Madrid, do not get a say in transfers (in or out). Only Mourinho and Zidane had this influence in that past 30 years!! (I.e. not just under Perez). A new coach can express opinions, but they don’t have any final say.

My reading of what likely is going to happen is as follows;

They will try to get Mbappe, possibly offering Vinicius in return. That would leave Hazard (ugh), Benzema and Mbappe leaving Rodrygo, Vinicius or Asensio with a returning Jovic as reserves. Any possible offers to Haaland will have to wait a year, if he still will be available.

I don’t expect much change in midfield except I want coach to fully rotate all 6 transitioning away from the veterans. The six I expect are Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, Valverde, Odegaard returning and Blanco promoted.

On defense, There will be a departure of one of Ramos or Varane. My money is on Ramos staying for another year. There will be the addition of Adaba.
I think they will promote Miguel to backup Mendy and they might renew Lucas to backup Carvajal.
Goal remains the same with Courtois / Lunin

That means departure of Marcelo, Odriozola, Varane, Isco, Mariano and possibly one of Asensio or Vinicius. Hazard as well if there are any decent offers for him.
And hopefully someone takes Bale on in a loan for his final contract year.

by titosantill Sun May 23, 2021 7:36 am

in response to @halamadrid2, i dont want cristiano back. he is old, we already have a bunch of oldies at the club, signing another oldie to just paper the cracks does little to help the club's short or long term position. i keep saying it we cant just have all these guys playing here till they turn 40, its a lazy solution

by halamadrid2 Sun May 23, 2021 8:29 am

@Bill, how long will we say that we are broke. Instead of getting a lazy fatso for 150M in his last year we should've got him free next summer, we didn't even need him for 2 seasons he's played here. If you pay big bucks, you do it for absolutely top level players not the Belgian version of Isco. There is no need to spend 50M on a LB when we had a perfectly capable LB at the club. All these bad decisions together is why we are now "broke". That's on Zidane and Perez. They need to sit down together and really rip off the bandaid. Alot of these useless players need to leave because they hinder us from investing in new players. This summer is going to be very important imo. Either we cut our losses with alot of these players or we go into next season with worse expectations as this one

@Tito, i understand your point and would be agreeing with you if we weren't so broke. If we can get Ronaldo back for two seasons that'll be a win-win imo, it allows us to really clean this roaster up of these useless bench, you get a goalmachine and a winner back and it allows our young wingers to actually develop in peace instead of being thrust into the limelight at their tender ages

by futbol_bill Sun May 23, 2021 9:43 am

Hala, you have just pointed out some of the reasons we are in 1B debt. That plus covid implications and stadium build. That all was disclosed in financial statements recently. I agree it’s on Zidane and Flo and that need lots of changes, which I stated in my post. There is an article today in Marca that there has to be a changed approach, a new plan if you like. Apparently one of the discussion points between Flo and Zidane is whether Zidane is willing to follow this new plan. I suspect the answer will be no and thus the need to change coach.

by Doc Sun May 23, 2021 10:34 am

You totally do not need a 250 mil war chest to be competitive lol. A club does not need to over spend on players to be competitive lol. Maybe Madrid needs to change their approach on things. Actually use their scouting network and improve their damn coaching and medical team.

There a lot of footballers that are skilled enough to play not just in La Liga but for Madrid. Also, Atleti didn't need Haaland, Mbappe or Sancho to win a title, they just needed a manager/coaching staff who knew what the hell he/they were doing (they also had Barcelona gift them a world class striker too but that is another thing).

by futbol_bill Sun May 23, 2021 10:40 am

I don’t think we are of much different opinions Hala. Let’s take a by line. Portero is fine, no changes needed.

Defense, we will be getting rid of Marcelo, Odriozola and one of Varane or Ramos plus Alaba is coming in (that was decided months ago). Carvajal (although he needs a solid backup), Militao, Nacho, Ramos (for one more year), Adaba and Mendy (we disagree on him) are all good enough. What we need then is 2 backups. Choice at RB is renewing Lucas or promoting Marvin. Buying back Achraf will not be cheap at this point. And at LB, it is promote Miguel or bring back Reguilion (again not cheap).

In Midfield, i’m predicting Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Odegaard and Blanco with lots of rotation.

Up front is were the issue lies, not on rest of squad. If they are successful in Mbappe, that goes a long ways towards resolving the main issue. I would agree on getting rid of Hazard and I do understand that club will listen to any offers for him. Problem is, as with Bale, is any one willing to take either one of them and secondly will they take on their salaries? Even if you find a club with interest, we are likely still stuck with salary load. To be frank, I prefer putting everything into getting Mbappe, even if it means a larger debt load, than bringing back a 40 year old.

by futbol_bill Sun May 23, 2021 10:43 am

Apparently the blame for players’ repeated injuries is on Dupont(Zidane’s training coach), not on Sanitas.

by futbol_bill Sun May 23, 2021 10:53 am

Doc wrote:Also, Atleti didn't need Haaland, Mbappe or Sancho to win a title, they just needed a manager/coaching staff who knew what the hell he/they were doing (they also had Barcelona gift them a world class striker too but that is another thing).

To win la liga yes, but it didn’t help them in CL! And they needed Suarez magic in final minutes of last two games to bearly beat us. It’s not like they were head over heels above us!

I agree they need to drastically improve their scouting, but in the cases of Mbappe and Haaland, they are young and proven. Getting one of them does not stop them from trying to get a proven quality player cheaper (in place of Hazard).

As to change in approach, that’s what I’m hearing and thus the discussion about a new approach / plan and whether Zidane is the man for it or not. Odegaard for example does not want to come back without some guarantees

by Doc Sun May 23, 2021 12:32 pm

I've always gotten the impression Zidane (and most French managers apparently) are very stubborn as to what their personnel should be. If they do not have this particular set of players, it's difficult for them to adjust their already designed blueprint.

I'm not sure if Zidane is the right manager for an approach where he cannot get exactly what he needs.

by futbol_bill Sun May 23, 2021 1:10 pm

Right, I agree Zidane is not the right coach for transitioning this team. Rumours are that Alegri has already been in Madrid and met with Flo. Don’t know if he is the answer either. The alternative as I understand it is Raul. Thus far, he seems to have been good with kids, but he is too inexperienced IMO and thus a risky move. I did find out what Xabi Alonso has been up to. He coaches at same level as Raul at La Real and far more successful, 1st in their group by a large margin and advancing very well in promotion playoffs, where as Casilla was 3rd in their group and eliminated in early round of promotional playoffs. But IMO, both are too inexperienced at this stage. Just like players, it is best for managers to develop and get experience and expertise before jumping to 1st team.

by sportsczy Sun May 23, 2021 3:59 pm

Doc wrote:I've always gotten the impression Zidane (and most French managers apparently) are very stubborn as to what their personnel should be. If they do not have this particular set of players, it's difficult for them to adjust their already designed blueprint.

I'm not sure if Zidane is the right manager for an approach where he cannot get exactly what he needs.

It's more about team concept over individualism.

DD and Zidane want the players (all of them) to sacrifice for the good of the team. If you do anything that goes against the "group", they will ostracize you.

They will build a style that fits the best players and everyone else needs to fall in line and the job. Undisciplined players, which happens to be the younger ones who think they're the next pele, will not do well. Entitled players will not do well.

Some would call it stubborn. Others call it dogmatic. I just think that DD and Zidane were formed in the 90s Serie A and that's just how they learned how to win.

by halamadrid2 Mon May 24, 2021 1:24 am

Apparently Hazard is unhappy and wants to leave

Bye, don't let the door hit you on your way out

by Perucho21 Mon May 24, 2021 4:36 am

How much will we recuperate for him? I don't us getting more than 50 million

by futbol_bill Mon May 24, 2021 6:01 am

I think they should jump at a 50M opportunity. That likely the most we will get for any of them going on the market. Bottom line take whatever we can get.

by futbol_bill Mon May 24, 2021 7:05 am

I think we should hire Luis Enrique as a scout! To be frank, our scouting is and has been for a long time terrible.

Meanwhile many of our past NT players have not played much in past 6 months, mostly due to injuries like Ramos and Carvajal or their level of play has dropped off, like Isco.

However Luis Enrique keeps coming up with talent that was either forgotten about or undiscovered. Mind you the list today isn’t at the same level as France, but the way this guy continually finds new (to NT) talent (he’s been doing this now for 3 years) is absolutely incredible.

I am somewhat kidding about this, but you have to think there are others out there who could do a better job at scouting than what we have now!

by Doc Mon May 24, 2021 6:27 pm

sportsczy wrote:
Doc wrote:I've always gotten the impression Zidane (and most French managers apparently) are very stubborn as to what their personnel should be. If they do not have this particular set of players, it's difficult for them to adjust their already designed blueprint.

I'm not sure if Zidane is the right manager for an approach where he cannot get exactly what he needs.

It's more about team concept over individualism.

DD and Zidane want the players (all of them) to sacrifice for the good of the team. If you do anything that goes against the "group", they will ostracize you.

They will build a style that fits the best players and everyone else needs to fall in line and the job. Undisciplined players, which happens to be the younger ones who think they're the next pele, will not do well. Entitled players will not do well.

Some would call it stubborn. Others call it dogmatic. I just think that DD and Zidane were formed in the 90s Serie A and that's just how they learned how to win.

I don't think any coach can really tolerate an indiscipline player, regardless of level (amateur, professional, whatever passes as football in the Caribbean) but I like your last line.

Zidane is quintessential 90s Serie A, like, annoyingly so, like if Lippi passed down his thoughts to him and DD upon retirement. To which, the latter is extremely fortunate that France has a legit golden generation of talent because even when he picks "bad", it still works out because the guys he picks are still quite good.

by Mr Nick09 Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:29 am

Looks like Lucas Vasquez will renew his contract, well earned

by Doc Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:46 am

Yeah, totally earned and deserved, well done to him. Hopefully Madrid added a few higher digits on his contract.

by halamadrid2 Tue Jun 01, 2021 9:33 am

Our best RW

by Mr Nick09 Tue Jun 01, 2021 9:55 am

Luis Campos might also join the sports management side of the club

by futbol_bill Tue Jun 01, 2021 2:17 pm

I hope so, excellent move!

by halamadrid2 Wed Jun 02, 2021 12:24 am

This Ramos drama is becoming very ugly. Jeez

The leaks from both parties are coming out thick and fast

Rumour now that the original deal is off the table and that Ramos will leave at the end of his contract

by strugahimself Wed Jun 02, 2021 4:10 am

Perez working around the media again to make Ramos look like the bad guy...

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