Season Results and Grades

With the season over, I thought it best for us to grade the season, why you chose the grade and name your top 3 players this season.....no honorable mentions, just 3. i don't think i've ever started a thread in this section before, so if there was some protocol or format i was supposed to follow, i apologize for my ignorance.

Team Grade: B Minus
Reason: We fought till the last day of the season, had a good run in the champions league knockout stages getting to the semi final, as disappointing as the loss was, the semis isnt anything to cry about considering my expectations. And for these reasons, i couldnt consider it a C nor a full blown failure

On the other hand, we finished without any trophies, so i couldnt give a 75 percent nor higher. A disappointing (and embarrassing) exit in the Kings cup, and a slow liga start really cost us....its a marathon, u cant be trash in the beginning and hope other teams do u favors. injuries are no excuse either, you need depth and competition to win the league....when the squad is worn thin, due to lack of depth or no competition for spots, injuries happen.

And the football was super boring; in the last 4 seasons, our style of football is so boring, there are very little talking points, like goodness. watching madrid has slowly become like a chore

Best Players
1. Benzema- gave us goals, if he didnt nobody else would or can score on this team
2. Kroos- we had problems through the middle, guy brought in killer crosses and set pieces when we needed them. i have him as our second best player after benz.
3. Casemiro- aka Mr. Reliable

I won’t bother with a rating. I find season and team disappointing, but at same time I give some credit to Zidane, with a very depleted squad made up primarily backups for getting to CL semi finals and if not for Suarez in final minutes of two games, to almost grabbing another liga title.

Players are Benzema, Courtois, Casemiro, in that sequence.

I would like to shed Marcelo, Odriozola, Isco, Asensio, Hazard, Vinicius, Mariano, but knowing about financial issues, some of them will stay. But none of them will fetch much to add to the already low transfer budget. Plus there is the looming issue of Bale returning. Bottom line I’m not only very optimistic about next year either regardless of who the coach will be.

I'm disappointed of course. I think the league was given to us on a silver platter, probably the easiest league to win in the last decade, but we didn't take advantage of it which is a shame really.

I'm glad we reached the semi-final of the CL though. Started to get some Calderon vibes when we got knocked out from the round of 16 two years in a row. So it's really nice to get back to the latter stages of the competition.

Other than that, I really have no expectations for the next couple years (at least). The club is broke and Florentino, in my humble opinion, is no longer the man to lead this club. So don't expect a global overhaul or WC signings any time soon.

As for Zidane, the man is great and I have nothing but respect for him. If he stays, I won't complain, and if he goes, I wish him all the best.

The thing here, it doesn't matter who the manager is at this point. The club is in a very bad financial shape and can't make the transfers needed to get this team back to where it should be. So you can fire and appoint ten managers in a row if you want, as long as your team is not good enough, there's only so much the manager can do for you.

So all in all, we need to be patient guys. The dawn will come eventually, but there's a very long, dark, cold night ahead.

My three players:
Benzema, Conetois and Militao.

Rating: C+. Management made some rather odd decisions with player personnel i.e who to keep and let go and it backfired this season as we relied way too much on a core group that could sustain their levels consistently.

The embarrassing CDR exit did not go unnotice either. Speaking of noticing, Vini and Asensio have regressed particularly the former. Really not seeing proper development from him (though I put that squarely on our coaching staff) while Marco is, well, just there. Maybe a new manager/coaching staff could find a way to get him to actually utilise his talent.

All in all, trophyless season but the bitter fight to the end was very much appreciated. Going out in the UCL semis isn't shameful either.

A C is a solid rating for the season. Anything above would need to be backed up by actual success.

My top 3 is Benzema, Courtois and a controversial pick but ill give the 3rd to Militao. Some will say Kroos or Modric but Militao has seriously stepped in big matches in place of our main starters.

Overall, making it to the last day of la liga and getting the job done against Villarreal was good but it wasn't enough. Im not mad about losing La Liga as it was out of our hands for a while. Making CL semis is also a decent finish. The CDR is a big problem and i think the team and fans should stop looking at the CDR as some chump cup. We are Real Madrid and we want to win everything.

There's a lot of dead weight in the team and it's all been said already. Everyone bar Benzema in our offense are just atrocious and if we really want to win competitions (we will always compete, but it's a matter of winning) then changes have to be made in offense. Vini has completed 3 years at Real and hasn't progressed as we hoped. I understand that he is only 20, but he has given way more than enough chances to prove that he should be a starter and he hasn't. There's no end product to his game and constantly makes the wrong decisions. Asensio as Doc said is just there and offers nothing. Hazard enough said. Rodrygo I would keep as backup for another season. One of Vini and Marco will have to go. Hazard won't leave unfortunately. We have financial issues so im not expecting a big money signing but we do need help up front. Get someone that is affordable and a solution.

Midfield is fine I'm sure KCM will stay for another season. Valverde is solid and Blanco/Arribas have been solid and I would have them as backups. Isco can go. Give odegaard another shot too.

Defense it all comes down to the contract negotiations between the club Vasquez, Ramos and Varane. I've said it before that renewing Varane is our best option as he is in the middle of his prime. Ramos unfortunately is bearing retirement. If Alaba is signed, my ideal scenario would be Varane, Militao, Alaba and Nacho. That's solid imo. If Vasquez renews then Odriozola should leave as he would be 3rd choice RB. Gutierrez replacing Marcelo should already be a given.

GK: Courtouis, Lunin
RB: Carvajal, Vasquez
CB: Varane, Alaba, Militao, Nacho
LB: Mendy, Gutierrez
Mids: Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Fede, Arribas, Blanco, Odegaard (maybe)
Forwards: Benzema, Hazard, Rodrygo, Mariano/Jovic, New winger signing, New ST if Mariano/Jovic are sold.

Out: Ramos, Odriozola, Isco, Asensio, Vini