Re: The Official Real Madrid 21-22 Match Day Thread

[sportsczy]

So here's the thing with Carlo:  At PSG, he did give time to Verratti and Rabiot.  However, it wasn't consistent minutes.  That's normal if you have regulars...  the issue here is that he put a whole new team in at once.  For example yesterday, you had Nacho/Rudiger/Vasquez/Tchoua/Cama all come off the bench and start.  That's 5 new players out of the 7 in defense and midfield.  There's no way that was going to work.  No cohesion and rightly so.  You're setting them up for failure.

I'd prefer if Carlos would keep 7-8 of the regulars in there and then bring in 2-3 newcomers.  And preferably, not all on the same line.

When i saw yesterday's lineup, I was expecting a struggle unless we scored first and early.  Half these guys never played together in a real game.

[halamadrid2]

Tbh we wouldn't have struggled this bad if Rudiger hadn't been in no mans land during their first attack. It became an uphill battle quite early. It felt like one of those homegames where we pepper the opposition goal and still go away with a draw or a loss. Glad we got the win. We may be looking back at this game at the end of the season and be grateful that we came out with the win. It's usually the smaller teams (esp newly promoted ones) that we throw away points against.

[sportsczy]

I saw literally no chemistry back... defenders had no idea what the other defenders were doing. Midfielders weren't spacing themselves well and finding gaps to create passing lanes.

It didn't look good.

[Doc]

Modric yes, just a lovely midfielder. Meanwhile, Valverde having one of those matches where nothing you do works out, poor fella.

Cama having a nice match and Aspas needs to just retire and leave me alone.

[halamadrid2]

Decent first half. Celta have come out guns blazing. We are playing in 2nd gear, need to do alot better

Valverde with one of those games

[halamadrid2]

Tcho with a marvelous second half. Absolutely amazing. Now continue in this vein

Cama is such a talent. The sky is the limit for this kid

Valverde with a MOTM level performance in the second half

Modric

I don't know but I feel sorry for Hazard. He dug a hole for himself when he turned up fat to preseason and he can't seem to get out of it

Asensio with some minutes. Hoped Carlo would ignore him

[Doc]

Yeah, whatever Carlo told those guys honestly settled them as that 2nd half was way better.

As one of Mendy's few defenders, every time I see him dribble or misplace a pass, I question if I really wanna die on this hill.

[The Demon of Carthage]

I feel bad for Rudiger. He didn't renew with Chelsea were he was an undisputed starter to come to Madrid, only to realize later that Alaba will remain at CB and he will just be his back-up. Meanwhile, Mendy is having the time of his life with no competition

[Perucho21]

Excellent by Tchouameni today. Very Satisfied with what I saw

[titosantill]

Benz' first freekick in a Real madrid shirt if I'm not mistaken

[Doc]

Excellent by Tchouameni today. Very Satisfied with what I saw

I like when he is paired with Camavinga a lot. Seems to be a better understanding with those two.

Outside of that, this match looked difficult as Espanyol never stopped running. Geez.

[futbol_bill]

High marks to everyone today, except possibly Militao for getting beaten by ex cantera, Joselu. All midfielders, especially all 4 youngsters were fabulous, and forward line made most of their chances. And what a difference Alaba at LB makes. And good on Carlo, finally putting out the right defense and every one of his subs made contributions. Would have liked more goals, but that late first half goal gave new life to Espanyol.

[futbol_bill]

I wonder how Vallejo felt? Here he is sitting perpetually on bench, with a probability of getting less than 30 minutes playing time this entire season at age 25, when he could be playing full time for a surprising Espanyol for a coach that actually had confidence in him.

I think someone should be advising and giving a good shake to the likes of Mariano, Braithwaite, Asensio and Vallejo!

[halamadrid2]

Good game. The goal was a failure on a few players, firstly why is that Espanyol player left totally on his own in midfield, where is everyone? Secondly, why is Rudiger in no mans land, either come out or stay back and unlucky bounce on Militao's back gave Joselu an easy tap in from a great save by Tibu. Apart from that, Militao had a really good game. Can't say the same for Lucas though who played like an u12 player. Probably best to only play him at home against relegation fodders

You can tell that there are a few flaws in Rudiger's game but he's still much better than Alaba there.

Thought Valverde, Benz, Modric and Kroos were quite poor or uninvolved. When there is a high intensity game like this Modric and Kroos can't keep up. Dissapointed in Valverde because this is the kind of game he thrives in but he was fairly poor.

Vini excellent as he has been all season. Needs to keep it up. Just wish he keeps it simple sometimes instead of overcomplicating things but that'll come with time.

I am starting to understand Tcho alot more as a player now. He isn't fast, but still faster than KCM, he doesn't like to slidetackle, he tends to leave balls that are 1 cm away from his zone (maybe because he doesn't think he'll get to it) which reminds me of Kroos who also does that, he doesn't have the luck of the ball bouncing to him when he intercepts instead it goes to another opposition player which is a shame because he does alot of those. Casemiro was an expert at that. Modric-Tcho-Kroos doesn't work. He needs agile, faster players next to him.

[Perucho21]

Couldn't watch the game as I'm on vacation surrounded by Caribbean beaches and women, but glad the boys made it 3 out of 3 AND with those being 3 away games

Couldn't ask for a better start to the season

[halamadrid2]

Glad you're enjoying yourself

Camavinga might become as big a bargain as Kroos, Modric, Benz etc. He has so much quality. Tcho needs to be paired with him rather than Kroos etc. He has a few flaws that Camavinga covers the same way KCM covered eachother's flaws

[halamadrid2]

Tchouameni vs Espanyol:

• 83 touches.
• 94.5% pass accuracy.
• 3 chances created.
• 1 big chance created.
• 1 assist.

The standard. pic.twitter.com/O8QqyI47fy

— TC (@totalcristiano) August 28, 2022

We are blessed with absolute top quality

Time to phase out Kroos.....

[sportsczy]

The not slide tackling part is pure french academy teachings.

If you slide and miss, you're out of the play or prone to getting yellow/red cards. It's considered a lazy and mistake-prone tactic unless you're 100% sure to get the ball. So you're taught to intercept and take balls while on your feet.

Tchou is showing maybe 60% of what he's capable of. Playing far safer and simpler than he did at Monaco. Once he feels confident, you'll see the real version of him.

[futbol_bill]

I heard yesterday that the main reason Carlo has been hesitant to use Alaba at LB is he is the vocal leader of CBs. Thus far the others have been timid to take that role. That kind of explains the lack of coordination we have seen at times! I would hope that Rudiger can assume that role as he clearly was at Chelsea, at least in the few Chelsea games I saw.

Btw - I don’t get the criticism of midfield! I think all 7 of them are great. In the constant criticism if Kroos, it is missing his calm leadership plus his free and corner kicks ability.
Plus we are only 3 games into season, it does take time for the team chemistry to kick in.

[sportsczy]

Yeah to me, midfield has been the best part of our team lol... not unsurprisingly. That's the deepest part of our team.

Only criticism is lack of creativity in attacking 1/3 other than Camavinga. Nobody other than him make runs with intent. Maybe Valverde too... but he's too limited technically.

[farfan]

The future is a double pivot of Tchou-Cama. I can't think of a better setup for them.

[halamadrid2]

The not slide tackling part is pure french academy teachings.

If you slide and miss, you're out of the play or prone to getting yellow/red cards. It's considered a lazy and mistake-prone tactic unless you're 100% sure to get the ball. So you're taught to intercept and take balls while on your feet.

Tchou is showing maybe 60% of what he's capable of. Playing far safer and simpler than he did at Monaco. Once he feels confident, you'll see the real version of him.

That's one thing Cama needs to improve on. If he has a yellow card you're almost sure he'll get a red card because he can be alittle ill disciplined especially with tackles. But he's excellent at tackling, I really like it

[halamadrid2]

I heard yesterday that the main reason Carlo has been hesitant to use Alaba at LB is he is the vocal leader of CBs. Thus far the others have been timid to take that role. That kind of explains the lack of coordination we have seen at times! I would hope that Rudiger can assume that role as he clearly was at Chelsea, at least in the few Chelsea games I saw.

Btw - I don’t get the criticism of midfield! I think all 7 of them are great. In the constant criticism if Kroos, it is missing his calm leadership plus his free and corner kicks ability.
Plus we are only 3 games into season, it does take time for the team chemistry to kick in.

Kroos hasn't put a decent corner in for absolute ages. I think he should stop taking set pieces for a while.

In a game like yesterday current Kroos brings more negatives than positives imo

[futbol_bill]

My God Hala. It’s like you are watching different games!

[halamadrid2]

The future is a double pivot of Tchou-Cama. I can't think of a better setup for them.

433 is the best set up considering the quality we have. Carlo said in his presser that Tcho will be allowed to attack alot which will mean he'll need midfielders to stay back and cover him. Slowly when we get a set midfield they'll develop an understanding with eachother like KCM. We just have to start phasing out the old guard and play the new guys regularly. This is the one season we'll be allowed to flop in after the season we had last year

[halamadrid2]

My God Hala. It’s like you are watching different games!

most of his set pieces these days doesn't clear the first man. We had 15 corners against Almeria and quite a few against Espanyol and I could probably think of 2/3 decent ones.

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