Pre-season friendlies

Eric Garcia should be playing for the womens team. Grade A ballerina

Everyone on both sides forgot how to pass the ball, all of a sudden

Damn. What a shot by Tchouameni! Shame it hit the crossbar, the back of Ter Stegen's head, and then went out of play lol

Fermin Lopez

MoTM the goal frame

Mbapay contacting Pogbas witch so that we accelerate his purchase

How can you be this unlucky.

Barca were bad but defended well, we were good but made rookie mistakes at the back (as usual)

What a player! @Alhilal_FC @ittihad @AlShababSaudiFC @ALAHLI_FC pic.twitter.com/5n3X2UPn37

— TC (@totalcristiano) July 29, 2023

We need to buy Fresneda and Bernardo and then we'll be cooking

Not happy with the injuries, derailed our plan for the game. This was one of the craziest friendly game ever

28 shots for Madrid? WTF happened here

Vibe wrote:28 shots for Madrid? WTF happened here

We were unlucky tbh. It was one of those games where you know whatever you do nothing will go in. I am at peace with that. It was a good game to evaluate this new system.

Vibe wrote:28 shots for Madrid? WTF happened here

Physicality and long-shot merchants. Mou 2.0 as I said earlier

Myesyats wrote:

Vibe wrote:28 shots for Madrid? WTF happened here

Physicality and long-shot merchants. Mou 2.0 as I said earlier

Shots from inside the box: 17

You started preseason a day before us. What do you mean physicality?

Barca are ugly to watch. We didn't even want to keep possession today and Barca we hoofing the ball left, right and center. Poor Lewa, this isn't what he signed up for

Flashscore says 22 goal attempts for RM and 12 for Barca, considering that Madrid were shooting from everywhere it's not surprise

Myesyats wrote:Flashscore says 22 goal attempts for RM and 12 for Barca, considering that Madrid were shooting from everywhere it's not surprise

i dont know where thet got that from.

Final stats:

Barca 12 shots with 7 on target (7 shots from inside the box) 0.85 xG
RM: 29 shots with 5 on target ( 17 shots from inside the box) 3.2 xG

If Vini's finishing wasn't meme worthy today we could've scored double digits

halamadrid2 wrote: we could've scored double digits

Thankfully this is real life !

Cant wait for first Liga clasico, expecting 15-5 scoreline for Madrid

Myesyats wrote:

halamadrid2 wrote: we could've scored double digits

Thankfully this is real life !

Cant wait for first Liga clasico, expecting 15-5 scoreline for Madrid

Will never happen because we don't have clinical players. The RM YT channels loves showing us how gpod the players are at shooting practice but all shots hit the ankles in games. The videos are almost as pointless as Hazard's training montage

Hala, I haven’t been able to watch the pre season games! I see Vinicius was on right side. Was he there the entire game and how about the ManU game? And how did he do. I.e. is he adjusting. I did see a comment after first game he was playing more centrally.

Don't overthink this one. We're trying a new formation with the anticipation of Mbappe coming. So Vini is playing more centrally and even to the right somtimes.

Second, Kroos cannot play the holding mid position because he's too slow with the ball. He can't get away from any pressure.


Also trying a new formation generally with a 442.


It will come around.

Dunno how we always manage to luck our way to clean sheets tbh Real hit the bar 4 times, with Vini doing that with a pen also XD Too bad our luck are in pointless friendlies n vs minnows in the league Unlike Real who gets them in CLs XD

Anyway, I think Real definitely need time to adjust ti losing Benz the last elite goal scorer they've had in their last era. Vini, Rodroyo n Bellingham are all not 9s, so either Mbappe comes n solves this or the team will need to share the goal load, since Real are always gonna be top scoring teams, otherwise their fans wont be happy n they wont win stuff, but Im sure it wont be long b4 they click.

For us I see good points, but still some big issues... namely Kounde Ive concluded to be pretty much overhyped, hes too mistake prone n not elite, but decent. Romeu is decent but not elite, n I worry Xavi might stick with him in that DM role, I thought De Jong could do that but maybe physically he cant n so Xavi has gone for yet another decent but not elite player there now... no RB still, Dembele cold n hot as usual, Lewand continues to age... Gundogan is a big positive, but overall we got some top players but too many scrubs in there still, wtf is the likes of Eric, Roberto, Ferran still featuring... lucky we got Gavi who can play a number of positions... but it looks like another season of early CL exit (unless we draw an easy group) n luck our way to the league if Real cbf again (which I doubt), so maybe hope for a run in the Copa again

But a 3-0 is enjoyable always v Real Too bad these types of wins too often are in friendlies or minor meaningless games vs them...

futbol_bill wrote:Hala, I haven’t been able to watch the pre season games! I see Vinicius was on right side. Was he there the entire game and how about the ManU game? And how did he do. I.e. is he adjusting. I did see a comment after first game he was playing more centrally.

No was playing on the left of a 2 striker formation. Went back to LW in the last 10-15 as Joselu cane on and we reverted to a 433. Dropping deep and linking up comes more natural to Rodrygo than Vini so it's going to take time getting used to the new roles.

We are trying a new formation. Problem is it won't work with Mendy and current Dani aa it relies on the FBs to offer width which neither can. I don't understand why Fran didn't start.

Don't think Roddygo is starting calibre. And Valverde needs to watch over his shoulder now

halamadrid2 wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:Hala, I haven’t been able to watch the pre season games! I see Vinicius was on right side. Was he there the entire game and how about the ManU game? And how did he do. I.e. is he adjusting. I did see a comment after first game he was playing more centrally.

No was playing on the left of a 2 striker formation. Went back to LW in the last 10-15 as Joselu cane on and we reverted to a 433. Dropping deep and linking up comes more natural to Rodrygo than Vini so it's going to take time getting used to the new roles.

We are trying a new formation. Problem is it won't work with Mendy and current Dani aa it relies on the FBs to offer width which neither can. I don't understand why Fran didn't start.

Don't think Roddygo is starting calibre. And Valverde needs to watch over his shoulder now

I agree with all that you say Hala.

But reality is we are stuck with the FBs for another year. There is continuing chatter amongst socios that Perez is serios about Davies for next year. No talk yet about RB, although with Lucas contract expiring at end of this season, we can expect a RB to come in. Kind of depends on who might be a available. hopefully, with Mendy’s new injury, Fran can take advantage and establish himself as starter.

I see a lot of Carlo criticism in other thread. I think Carlo is putting a lot of myths to bed. He isn’t starting Modric / Kroos and is experimenting trying to use the talent he has, regardless of age. Injuries to Ceballos and now Güler also limit his options. This change in formation plus new players will not happen overnight as some seem to expect.

Up front, we have to expect another player being added!! i have been saying all along that Rodrygo didn’t come thru with the ”breakout” season last year, his biggest issue being what’s his position. I suspect he is actually in competition with Bellingham and Güler for minutes. And likewise Valverde fell off a cliff in 2nd half of last season and is way down the pecking order of midfielders.

I'm actually not that surprised by Valverde's drop in form. I've been really impressed by the performance level he's shown for us since making his debut, but the prime Liverpool- like work rate that he used to have never seemed realistically sustainable to me. Bernardo Silva seems to be able to do it, somehow, but that Terrier-like approach to football that very few players seem to have, almost always seems to lead to diminishing returns.

Man that first half was hard to watch... half B team vs Milan with Ferran leading the lines, again he was how do I describe him, a void, a fking blackhole up there loool... manages to break down all our plays n miss chances as usual n get dispossessed, must be one of the worst players ever to have wore Barca's shirt ffs Still we seemed the better team, just goes to show how bad Milan is atm... but I do like how Xavi has us motivated even now to defend n press as a unit all over the pitch. Missed half of the second half but seems we vastly improved once our main guys came on for the scrubs... that Lopez guy who scored last game was invisible lol...

There are some really great things Xavi contines to do with the team, but I guess the fact that we lack enough WC players n now losing Dembele would be disastrous n Xavi will have to make do with what he has Our depth is pretty bad already, with no money we might be stuck with youngsters like Abde filling again if he does? Fati scored again so I guess that would mean Xavi give him some starts in the season openings... but thats what u get with Fati, score on sight merchant n sometimes they go in n hes good... same goes with Ferran actually. Raphinha tried his best again but not effective.

Dembele plssssssssssssss stay....

What does Dembele staying change. He gets injured a few games in and misses the business part anyway, like clockwork

It was actually Raphinha last season who stepped up when it mattered to give us the lead in La Liga. However, he's a one-trick pony and every defense has him figured out already. I'd rather sell him as well but it's virtually impossible in one window. The transfer fee we get for the Frenchie is underwhelming, I hope we can at least do something with the salary space he frees up. They really have to try for Bernardo, he's a different profile but can occupy the same spaces. A new RB is a must, seems like it'll either be Cancelo or Fresneda

Joao Felix on loan with opzione is an option but I'd treat it as a last resort

How is Eric Garcia walking as a free man instead of serving a life sentence without parole. This man needs to answer for crimes against football and humanity

I have no idea who Spurs manager is

Lamine Yamal is so fucking good

16 years old ffs