UEFA Super Cup 2022 - Real Madrid vs Eintracht Frankfurt - Olympic Stadium Helsinki

Eintracht lost 1-6 to Bayern last weekend so..

@Art Morte @Harmonica are you there?

Courtois is so annoying

Decent half but it shows that the teams are coming off preseason recently eventhough Frankfurt have played a competitive game already.

Can't fault their defending but Carlo's ingame management has been excellent. He's tucked Valverde in and had Alaba as a midfielder meaning Frankfurt can't outnumber us in there

Anybody knows why does Carlo keep on playing Alaba at CB even though he has Rudiger now?

It seems to me a back four of Carvajal-Militao-Rudiger-Alaba is a lot more solid and balanaced than Carvajal-Militao-Alaba-Mendy.

I hope this is just temporary.

I believe he is playing last year’s starters as they earned the right for this cup. He’s also making the new guys earn their way. Nothing wrong with this approach as long as he rotates!

That’s the first cup! 5 more to go!

Solid win and another beautiful trophy to add to Madrid's glorious cabinet

Nice comfortable win. I'll be livid if Carlo continues playing Alaba as a CB and not as a LB

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Anybody knows why does Carlo keep on playing Alaba at CB even though he has Rudiger now?

It seems to me a back four of Carvajal-Militao-Rudiger-Alaba is a lot more solid and balanaced than Carvajal-Militao-Alaba-Mendy.

I hope this is just temporary.

Why would Rudiger come in and instantly be a starter in a CL winning team?

Myesyats wrote:

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Anybody knows why does Carlo keep on playing Alaba at CB even though he has Rudiger now?

It seems to me a back four of Carvajal-Militao-Rudiger-Alaba is a lot more solid and balanaced than Carvajal-Militao-Alaba-Mendy.

I hope this is just temporary.

Why would Rudiger come in and instantly be a starter in a CL winning team?

Because we have an average LB that is quite easily replaceable. We could have a scary left wing by pairing Vini with a real LB, instead we have this loaf  who shits himself in possession. But who am I kidding. We've become too nice, if Varane hadn't done us a favour by asking to leave we would've been stuck with him too having diarrhoea whenever he faces an attacker. I expect Mendy to be a starter while Rudiger plays everywhere else imaginable

That's what I'm afraid of actually; Carlo sticking with Alaba at CB and playing Rudiger out of position. Or worse, keep Rudiger on the bench and sticking to playing Alaba out of position and Mendy at LB.

Like I said, I hope this is just temporary.

Mendy is the undisputed starter. Rudiger was added for depth

Rudiger is the better addition though versus keeping mendy. Mendy is very limited offensively and does not allow us to play the football we should be playing. He can dribble but that’s about it. Alaba at left back is a completely different level to mendy at left back. The contrast in dynamism and technique is clear.

I personally believe that Mendy is limited by design rather it being his own shortcomings.

He was very offensive under Zidane. But having to cover the left for an unathletic Kroos and Vini who is hot/cold in his defensive contributions means Mendy needs to stay back.

Also, Alaba has reportedly and I believe this to be true, that he does not want to play LB. I mean we rarely seen him play LB last season even when Mendy was out. Nacho was the one playing there. And now in preseason Rudiger came in at LB rather than Alaba. This can't be a coincidence

If Rudiger is going to replace anyone it's Militao. But he just played a heck of a game today. Healthy competition all around