The Choo Choo Train: Aurelien Tchouameni

So apparently we've signed him, hopefully this player thread is one of success and aplomb when we look back.

What are your thoughts on him? Especially from those who have seen considerable playing of his. I've seen a little bit and I feel a little iffy about him atm, looks a bit stiff (i.e. not too nimble, quick to the body turn, or particularly good in tight spaces under pressure or even too technical with the ball at his feet) and his passing range might turn out good but it doesn't look too out of the ordinary. Physical and a very good ball winner, reminiscent in profile as Casemiro from what I can tell. It's an inflated price, hopefully he turns out to be elite defensively and at the at least pretty functional with the ball. Seeing as Modric + Kroos don't have more than 2 seasons left in them, i'd say we could go for one more elite young midfielder, this next one a more dynamic, multifunctional, attacking centre midfielder perhaps, but that's for another thread.

Tchouameni should immediately put Kroos on the bench

Likely Casemiro actually. Camavinga should bench Kroos.

So if new midfield is Tchouameñi for Casemiro and Camavinga replacing Kroos, does than then not present a problem / dilemma for Valverde. He’s no match for Modric and his best position is where Kroos currently plays.

I anticipate we will see rotations next season, so
Is likely they will experiment with Camavinga on right and Valverde on left?

I think you can play a 442 diamond with Modric on one tip and Tchou on the other.  Vini and Benz as strikers.  Actually helps Modric as he doesn't have to cover as much real estate.

Sigh, anyone wanna put a better thread title? Choo choo train, sigh...

I second the other Doc's request to be honest.

So I was listening to Managings Madrid podcast on quick thoughts about the Tchouameni deal. They will go more in depth when it's official but some key points that I found intriguing:

1. There's no way Flo signs a possible 100m player to sit him on the bench. He's going to start. Question is who's he replacing in the 11? Fede will likely play RW. Cama will continue being rotated. Modric signed for another year and kroos mentioned he will sign for another year. That leaves Casemiro (more on that later)
2. Flo and Carlo must have made assurances about his playing time considering Tchouameni is a current starter for France and does not want to risk that. There's rumors Carlo personally called him explaining how important he will be to the team. Which leads to the claim that he'd be starting.
3. Although it's unlikely, this probably means end of Casemiro and it'd be extremely disrespectful to sell him without hesitation. Casemiro as said previously on here is often scapegoated for our midfield issues, as he isn't the flashiest of mids like Modric and Kroos. Nonetheless his defensive abilities is unmatched but Tchouameni can eventually reach that level. Casemiro is also one of the locker room leaders and beloved by his teammates.
4. While his fee is enormous and rightfully should be called into question, there's no doubt he's a future baller.

Time will tell what we will do 6 starting mids battling for 3 spots

One left footed, one right footed

Lord knows how we line up next season

Logically Valverde is ahead of both Cama and Tcho having waited patiently for 4 seasons to get that starting spot. Tcho on the other hand costs an arm and a leg and would not have come if he wasn't guaranteed playing time with the WC coming up. Cama will probably have his playingtime reduced while Valverde and Tcho get rotated. He has his age on his side.

Neither Valverde or Tcho are particularly good at giving the final pass ala Modric/Kroos therefore playing Cama against PTB teams will be essential if Modric is unavailable.

This is a WC year so that will go in our favour. I am sure we will rotate both Casemiro and Modric in order to not exhaust them. Kroos doesn't have that problem so he likely stays.

I know Valverde has worked on the right in some really big games but firstly the only reason we are doing that is because we have probably the slowest midfield in Europe and to help Carvajal and secondly because that RW has been up for grabs for the past 5 seasons. Rodrygo while he helps Carvajal hasn't really made that position his own. I really hope he takes that next step next season because he's is a much better goalscorer than Vini and is great with passing in tight spaces but he is found lacking in every other department.

All I know is with Alaba as LB and this new midfield trio we will finally be able to play predominantly in the opposition half with 3 midfielders not scared to get into the box considering they are fast enough to get back into position.

Finally we won't be outfought and outrun by every PL team we play (especially Chelsea)

Hala, you keep referencing Managing Madrid podcast . They are kids and I say not reliable.

There is no waiting time order, it’s based on talent. It’s already been stated multiple times that both Camavinga and Tchouameñi are already good enough to replace Kross and Casemiro. So that supposedly puts Valverde as the 6th.

Also bear in, this is a year of transitioning and all 6 will play plenty. Modric for example will likely be like Iniesta was like in his last year. Playing a lot less, but playing and likely starting in all important games.

Those kids are making issues out of nothing. If loyalty was a factor, Raul would still be playing! Remember Flo is not kind when it comes to DM.

first of all is anything official? or is this us just jumping the gun as per usual? secondly, all this talk about replacing kroos, i dont know that we have any consistent free kick/corner kick takers in our starting line up. alaba is good, i dont know that he is as consistent as kroos from corners or as dangerous on short ranged free kicks.

thirdly (i prefer an answer on this only after the signign is confirmed on realmadrid.com), how good is this kid? if there is a comparison, whose game can we compare his to? and for those who have watched him, what are his strengths and weaknesses? (btw if we dont sign him, just ignore this question)

He's between Pogba and Kante... but more like Pogba imo in terms of technical ability.  He has that motor though.  Elite ball winner. Really really good long range passer. Doesn't show that much on NT but that's because he's new and it's not his role. Deschamps wants him to play the Kante role on France NT. Monaco want him to be the "do everything" CM.

Look at this:

titosantill wrote:first of all is anything official? or is this us just jumping the gun as per usual? secondly, all this talk about replacing kroos, i dont know that we have any consistent free kick/corner kick takers in our starting line up. alaba is good, i dont know that he is as consistent as kroos from corners or as dangerous on short ranged free kicks.

thirdly (i prefer an answer on this only after the signign is confirmed on realmadrid.com), how good is this kid? if there is a comparison, whose game can we compare his to? and for those who have watched him, what are his strengths and weaknesses? (btw if we dont sign him, just ignore this question)

We haven't signed him officially and us fans can get egg on our faces easily.

futbol_bill wrote:Hala, you keep referencing Managing Madrid podcast . They are kids and I say not reliable.

There is no waiting time order, it’s based on talent. It’s already been stated multiple times that both Camavinga and Tchouameñi are already good enough to replace Kross and Casemiro. So that supposedly puts Valverde as the 6th.

Also bear in, this is a year of transitioning and all 6 will play plenty. Modric for example will likely be like Iniesta was like in his last year. Playing a lot less, but playing and likely starting in all important games.

Those kids are making issues out of nothing. If loyalty was a factor, Raul would still be playing! Remember Flo is not kind when it comes to DM.

i don't listen to managing Madrid

Valverde was already on his way to replacing Modric a couple of seasons ago then injuries derailed him. I can assure you he's the first one to enter the teamsheet to replace Kroos/Modric as he should because he's a damn great player.

My point Hala wasn’t to put Valverde down. My point was those kids that you quoted are making an issue when there doesn’t exist one. Right now we have 3 aging starts that are the starters and we have 3 replacements that are capable of taking the starting job now. We are going to see rotation and by end of the full transformation will be complete. The point about Valverde playing RW so much depends on who and when they get for RW.

Casemiro is 30. Hardly old for a DM. And at the moment Tchouameni isn't better than Casemiro in that position in my opinion

futbol_bill wrote:My point Hala wasn’t to put Valverde down. My point was those kids that you quoted are making an issue when there doesn’t exist one. Right now we have 3 aging starts that are the starters and we have 3 replacements that are capable of taking the starting job now. We are going to see rotation and by end of the full transformation will be complete. The point about Valverde playing RW so much depends on who and when they get for RW.

Valverde only started playing RW because we were being ripped apart in CL. Asensio started both home and away against QSG. Since those games Valverde became our starting RW, not because he was such a good RW but because we needed his legs and workrate to match the PL teams. Before those games Valverde was mainly coming off the bench to replace Kroos/Modric.

Perucho21 wrote:Casemiro is 30. Hardly old for a DM. And at the moment Tchouameni isn't better than Casemiro in that position in my opinion

Tcho can play as an 8 also right. Maybe we see Cama as Casemiro's replacement and Tcho as a CM b2b. Camavinga did mention he prefers playing just infront of the defence.

Here are some interesting pieces on Tchouameni, including his former coach's (Robert Moreno) opinion on him. And also the most impressive video I found on Tchouameni, this one from 20/21.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12629467/aurelien-tchouameni-to-real-madrid-robert-moreno-on-why-france-star-can-be-one-of-the-worlds-best-midfielders

https://theathletic.com/2937712/2021/11/12/introducing-aurelien-tchouameni-frances-latest-midfield-gem-tipped-for-greatness/

https://theathletic.com/3297178/2022/06/07/tchouameni-real-madrid-transfer-scouting/



I think we still need one more elite midfielder with an ACM type of dynamic midfielder profile to complete the puzzle going forward, particularly since Modric and Kroos will be leaving soon, we will need more bodies and variety. Apparently Tchouameni might have a higher ceiling than Casemiro, he could end up coming good. From what I read he's a professional, invested in improving and analyzing himself.

Intrigued to see Valverde play as LCM in Madrid some day, the position i've always argued is the ideal one if want you him to be develop to be more than a jack of all trades right midfielder ala Di Maria work horse. That's where he plays for Uruguay, was more silent as an RCM against Mexico, got switched to LCM by the coach after 15 minutes, then he was more free. His long passing and shooting activates more.

halamadrid2 wrote:

Perucho21 wrote:Casemiro is 30. Hardly old for a DM. And at the moment Tchouameni isn't better than Casemiro in that position in my opinion

Tcho can play as an 8 also right. Maybe we see Cama as Casemiro's replacement and Tcho as a CM b2b. Camavinga did mention he prefers playing just infront of the defence.

That's what I was thinking too. I could see Carlo trying a Pirlo-Gattuso dynamic with Cama and Tchouameni. Cama would play in the middle and Tcohuameni would do the ball-winning on the side.

https://twitter.com/jwalker1221/status/1535353244221943810?s=21&t=IaKZTkklyxDEBF5oDEaoaw

feck me we paid 100M for this ?

for 100M you must get a technically astute player, not a casemiro

Thankfully he won't be the one doing the playmaking for us