Re: The Official Real Madrid 23 - 24 Matchday Thread

[halamadrid2]

Poor game from an offensive point of view. We have 0 prescence in the opposition box. How can you look at that as a coach and think that's ok. Sevilla were there for the taking but as soon as we reached their box the passing options dissappeared completely.

Lunin is a very good goalie. I am glad he is getting his time in the limelight.

[futbol_bill]

Why did Milan let brahim go?

Milan didn’t have a say in it. He was on loan and Madrid ended the loan.

[Cyborg]

This Arda Guler is such a tease.

He was about to come but the team scored and Ancelotti had to change the subs.

Really excited to see him play consistently.

[halamadrid2]

Our form is concerning. Leipzig the better team over the two legs.

The tactics in the first half was shocking. We are playing very lethargic atm.

[Pedram]

Absolutely undeserved, if we play like this again we are out next round.

And Viny needs to see a doctor, dude has the temper of a drug junkie on withdrawal. very lucky ref didn't send him off.

[halamadrid2]

We are hitting a drop in form at the worst possible time

[Doc]

We are hitting a drop in form at the worst possible time

Did your disdain for Mendy get any higher after this "performance" btw lol?

[Clutch]

Team played pretty bad and Carlo didn't put put the best lineup in the first half. But we know how to turn it on when we need to, I'm just not sure if it'll be enough for City. Plus we have til late April to get healthy and our form back. We haven't played this lineup together in awhile. #Calma

[halamadrid2]

We are hitting a drop in form at the worst possible time

Did your disdain for Mendy get any higher after this "performance" btw lol?

I think my confidence in him has hit rock bottom

[The Madrid One]

I'm about to go watch the match in full to get a better grasp of what happened (I was only able to interruptedly watch snippets) but from what I hear people are talking about players looking gassed, bad tactical management, and comparisons to other Ancelotti seasons where his teams have peaked in October-December and then fallen off a cliff. Also people harkening back to memorable Ancelotti blunders from recent seasons like the 0-4 loss to Barcelona in the league in 21-22 where he tried Modric as a false 9, the tactical and physical debacle against Man City, and what we saw at the Metropolitano in our only league loss this season. If some kind of debacle happens in Europe again (god forbid we lose the league) then I'd be bothered if Ancelotti stays without the board really giving the matter a good look. From the moment it was announced I thought that the two year extension was too much, and I don't know how necessary it was to announce any type of extension.

Imagine we get trounced from the CL in an embarrassing fashion again, the feeling of wasting the potential of our squad would be too high.

Are Ancelotti and Pintus up for the task here?

According to a The Athletic article from today:

"They are studying the players’ physical condition, which they divide into three sections: strength, speed and endurance. According to these sources, last week’s tests for the squad showed an overall improvement in explosive strength records — which they link to players’ speed.

Madrid are therefore set to focus more on endurance and plan to re-introduce CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) masks in training next week. These masks have been extensively used by head of physical training Antonio Pintus in recent pre-seasons to record and analyse players’ oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and personalise their training programmes accordingly.

Players will undergo a new CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) mask test next week — much like the one they did at the start of the season — to determine their endurance levels at this stage of the season. The staff will then decide whether they should prioritise endurance work or explosive training — consisting of speed, strength and power exercises."

https://theathletic.com/5323558/2024/03/07/real-madrid-training-plans/?source=emp_shared_article&access_token=4813249

[halamadrid2]

Interesting read, thanks for the link.

Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong yesterday. Don't think it's linked to peaking early but more to do with choosing the wrong line up and some players hitting a drop in form who were a large reason why we were so good defensively earlier in the season.

Another important point to consider if Carlo's insistance on using Kroos at CDM becaue he can pass us out of trouble. It didn't make a difference yesterday where we had difficulties passing out of trouble.

Carlo said in his presser that he chose 4 midfielders because he wanted speed and strength to press high up but instead saw us defend deep and without intensity. Either the team is exhausted or his assessment of some players are completely wrong. For example you cannot pair intensity with Tchouaméni, he is the opposite of that. Having Valverde play as an attacker resulted in him leaving the position of covering for Carvajal. He was ineffective offensively because he can't dribble and we passed at such a slow pace it would've made Biden sleep while standing.

Carvajal who's been so good offensively suddenly didn't leave the half way point and probably passed the ball forward once all game.

Nacho as we all know, can not stop anyone right now but he is a nervous wreck in possession. Having him and Mendy on the same side is like an automatic turnover. Thank God for Rudiger who put his body on the line literally and for Lunin who is starting to grow on me.

Offensively we were never going to create much with this many midfielders because they are not our creative players. Apart from Kroos' set pieces I bet they have a maximum of 3 assists between them all season. So playing them all was never really going to produce anything offensively. That leaves on with Vini and Bellingham all alone. Bellingham drops deep to get touches on the ball leaving Vini in his own island (reminds me of the Barca game). Valverde who is part of the attacking 3 is nowhere to be seen in attack and drops back instead leaving us so disjointed.

Thank God we still have guys who can create something out of nothing or we would never have scored yesterday.

[the xcx]

Vini has a temper problem for sure, he giving me sergio ramos vibes.

[futbol_bill]

well said Hala. I would add that the team demonstrated again yesterday that they still have it within them to finish with what was needed, despite what had been so horribly wrong. The other good news is that they now have a month before next CL encounter and the fact that Courtois and Militao will be ready for later rounds of CL. So Carlo will have full roster to make his best lineup.

The conditioning assessment and resultant training that MTO is mentioning, will help assess not only training, etc, it should influence Carlo's selections and tactics.

[halamadrid2]

Great game. Celta were never really in it minus a 10 min period at the start of the second half.

Arda gets his goal finally
Camavinga with a huge game, just missing a goal
Modric rolling back the years in style
Lunin with a clean sheet
Rudiger, my man. Our new Ramos

Couldn't have asked for more. Well apart from Rodrygo getting out of his funk.

Just one more game before the international break. It comes at a perfect time for once.

[The Madrid One]

I wonder what the stamina, speed, physical resistance tests in comparison to Kroos would say for Modric. Could he possibly still be counted on for one more year to mirror Kroos' role in particular pockets of games? My favorite player ever and the greatest midfielder we've ever had.

Was good to see the return of the 4222.

[Cyborg]

Valverde is so good.

Camavinga better as a holder.

If Bellingham can play as the other midfield, deeper. It'll be near perfect.

That means Brahim can start.

The team needs that player who can run at players closer to the box. Bellingham can do this, but I think Brahim is better when playing closer to goal.

[futbol_bill]

I disagree! I like Brahim, but he is no where near Bellingham’s level in that central position. His natural position is RW, something that Rodrygo is not and today his entourage is complaining he is playing out of position. I think at this point, given Rodrygo continued less than impressive performances, Brahim should replace him at RW. Although in long run it will more than likely be either Endick or Güler. And as to next season, who knows whether Carlo will, play 2 or 3 forwards.

As to Camavinga, IMO, he can play any position in the midfield, plus besides Tchouameni, it does look like Kroos will be back.

It really is shaping up as a wealth of talent in both forwards and midfielders.

My concern is why isn’t the offense more effective. We saw a few weeks ago against Sevilla with Bellingham out and both Vinicius and Rodrygo insisting on staying left practically the whole game, Brahim was ineffective at central position, the offense was horrible. That simply will not work against the better clubs in CL. We know, other than his emotions, Vinicius is our most effective forward and he and Bellingham can spark the offense. I feel the main reason for the offensive issues is Rodrygo. At this point,  I would play Brahim and then sub in Joselu or even Güler, before Rodrygo. With Militao and Courtois back,  I feel the defense will be ok and for sure we are strong in the midfield with almost any combination of Valverde, Camavinga, Tchouameni, Kroos or Modric, other than playing Modric and Kroos at same time and keeping Kroos away from holding position, the midfield is a strength.

[futbol_bill]

Vini vini vini! He will never reach the heights he’s capable of with his constant protests, whining, showboating and diving!

At least his predecessor, C Ronaldo knew when to draw the line with his whining and protests.

[futbol_bill]

Good game by all except Mendy and of course Vinicius ridiculous yellow card, his 5th and therefore suspension for next game, Bilbao, March 31.

[halamadrid2]

Vini will miss the game against Bilbao. Frustrating given he is getting alot of yellows for dissent. The referees don't like him so it was obvious he'd be getting a yellow. It's amazing how he suddenly is on his best behaviour after getting a yellow. He can but nobody is reprimanding him for getting all these yellows.

Rodrygo's form is worrying me. Will get to play in his favourite position against Bilbao. Let's see if it makes any difference

[futbol_bill]

Hala, it's pretty obvious by now, that Rodrygo is our next Asensio. Best off the bench.

As to Vini, he wasn't even in the play and went out of his way to ref. Yellow well deserved!

And re Mendy, you sure were right about him. He can't even make a forward pass without it going off an opposing player and his so called defensive strength is well hidden (and I'm being kind with that description).

Question with Bilbao game - Is Bellingham back for it? I would see Guler in that role.

[halamadrid2]

The referee gave him a yellow for "laughing" Vini did not hound thr referee. He did what any player do after a decision goes against their team. They voice their disagreement. Referees with their huge egos can't handle someone laughing at them. I thought it was a borderline yellow.

Vini obviously needs to restrain himself. He bickers with the referees far too much especially in plays he isn't even involved in. Now he'll miss a game. Let it be a lesson learned so that he doesn't do the same against City.

Bilbao are usually terrible away from home so we should win that game.

Bellingham should be back which is great. We have a few players that are in terrible form. Most of them have worthy competitors, Mendy unfortunately has not so we have to play him into some semblance of form before facing City.

If Camavinga starts the home game, it'll be a miracle if he isn't shown a yellow card. Man that guy is a yellow card magnet.

[futbol_bill]

Courtois return this season is kaput! He injured the other knee and may have to go under knife. Definitely kills any hope of a return this season. Thank goodness, Lunin has stepped up!

[halamadrid2]

Imagine if Kepa was still starting

[futbol_bill]

If you haven’t seen Güler’s play for Turkey yesterday, take a look! He had a very impressive performance displaying much of the same skills we see from Bellingham!

I can see a future midfield with both Bellingham and Güler playing forward as AMs and 2 deep playing midfielders. Not sure if it will be Camavinga and Tchouameni or Camavinga and Valverde. It would be 2 forwards would be the norm, unless it’s just Mbappe with the 2 AMs.

Have a look at his play and then let us know whether this 4-2-2-2 formation would work?

[sportsczy]

Impossible to play 2 AMs in the modern game.  He’d have to play a Silva-like role in a 433 on the right.  But that would mean Jude would move back to CM.

Brahim and Guler play the same role too.

I do think RM return to a 433 and Jude plays a more conventional CM role.  So there is an opportunity for Brahim/Guler.  

RM is going to lose a couple of great young players (notably a CM) because there just isn’t enough playing time.

[Sponsored content]