Mbappe may be headed to EPL

futbol_bill wrote:Good luck in EPL!

That’s Literally starting over again to build team and throw out the recruitment that’s been done last 5 years. It makes zero sense, especially how good they already are, just missing a few pieces. As I said, we don’t need him. At this point, I hope your speculation is right.

Before you say that, let's see how the team performs in the 2nd half of the season and in the elimination rounds of CL.

This "we don't need Mbappe" thing is emotional IMO. Everyone who can get him will want him... hence why Madrid keeps trying. Also, you need that killer scorer that can win games where you're coming out second best... as Benzema did last time we won CL and CR7/Bale/Di Maria before him.

Imo, Madrid is going to get eliminated in the quarter-finals of CL and come up just short in La Liga because of the lack of a killer forward.

The big difference when Ronaldo came is Flo looked to build the new team in a single summer, I think it was 8 new players, all of them contributed.

This time around it has carefully been done a piece at a time thru very efficient costs. Adding one of the final pieces that would necessitate substancial changes makes no sense, let alone what that changed approach would cost!

sportsczy wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:Good luck in EPL!

That’s Literally starting over again to build team and throw out the recruitment that’s been done last 5 years. It makes zero sense, especially how good they already are, just missing a few pieces. As I said, we don’t need him. At this point, I hope your speculation is right.

Before you say that, let's see how the team performs in the 2nd half of the season and in the elimination rounds of CL.

This "we don't need Mbappe" thing is emotional IMO. Everyone who can get him will want him... hence why Madrid keeps trying. Also, you need that killer scorer that can win games where you're coming out second best... as Benzema did last time we won CL and CR7/Bale/Di Maria before him.

Imo, Madrid is going to get eliminated in the quarter-finals of CL and come up just short in La Liga because of the lack of a killer forward.

You’re just showing how little you have watched them. I’m going to remind you of this post in a few months!

Have you heard of Bellingham, Sports?

futbol_bill wrote:Have you heard of Bellingham, Sports?

He's had 1/2 a great season... and the "non-money" half.  He's also a CM.  Once we face elite teams (Barca with its injuries is not) in CL, we'll know.  I don't think he can keep it up at all in terms of scoring.  At some point, it will come down to Vini and Rodrygo.

Reminds me very much of the year Lampard had in the late 00s. It's an anomaly. Jude will continue to be great and contribute around 15-20 goals a season at best. That's the expectation for me.

Even with his great start this season and 17 goals so far... i don't think he finishes with much more than 25.

I think a lot of RM fans are a bit sour how much resistance Mbappe has given them and did not just immediately bow down to their end of the deals and demands, therefore statements like "we dont need him" have been quite prevalent since then. There isn't a single attacker within the squad at the level of the guy and I dont have any allegiance to him bar respect won over the last World Cup and being proven wrong how he handled situations. Once again he is the best player in the world and launch RM into the best club in the world again, by that acquisition.

Arquitecto wrote:I think a lot of RM fans are a bit sour how much resistance Mbappe has given them and did not just immediately bow down to their end of the deals and demands, therefore statements like "we dont need him" have been quite prevalent since then. There isn't a single attacker within the squad at the level of the guy and I dont have any allegiance to him bar respect won over the last World Cup and being proven wrong how he handled situations. Once again he is the best player in the world and launch RM into the best club in the world again, by that acquisition.

Since I know football, grass was always the greenest at the Bernabeu and Camp Nou. Every player wanted to be there and would take every chance to go.

However, the grass doesn't seem as green anymore, Barca fans have accepted this and Real Madrid fans are still too proud to admit it.

Mbappe has been dragging Perez by his nose for years and this is some unusual power play. Real Madrid need Mbappe more than he needs them, it seems.

He would need Real Madrid to chase some Ronaldo/Messi level legacy, but he doesn't seem to be chasing it that hard.

Its part of where my respect for him has grown that he hasn't given into the usual RM fishing rod and Real Madrid fans are absolutely seething about it



"We never wanted him anyway we have Vinicius"

There is basic reasoning behind our resistance. We would love to have Mbappe (or Haaland) to complete the squad. the team has won CL, 4 times in past 7 years with a weaker and thiner lineup. This year, already cruising along despite missing half of the starting lineup including the best striker on team. We are already one of the top teams in the world. For this summer the plan was to add a CF and Davies at LB, filling two holes in the lineup. That leaves only RB and CB to be filled in coming years as we will have some retirements in those positions. In other word a very competent team built in past 5 years with note worthy economical purchases.
Plus the fact that we have very promising talents in Güler, Endick and Nico Paz in lineup.

And saying we don’t have a killer scorer when we have Bellingham is just wrong. His number of goals may drop, but he regularly makes things happen in the box late in games. If he doesn’t score, he sets up others to do so.

Sure Mbappe (or Haaland) will enhance team, but if the cost of it is, he won’t play CF and we need to sell Vinicius and maybe others, all of whom have been given contracts for 3 or 4 years, it doesn’t make sense. We are better off to go without him, get another CF and wait for Endick to develop.

I will admit that we are pissed the way Mbappe has jerked around Flo. I do accept that he is entitled to sell himself for a higher offer, but it is also Flo right to ask for a commitment now, given he is willing to pay him what he wants, as Flo doesn’t want to left without signing a CF for next season as happened last year.

It’s Sports’ repeated statement that Mbappe will demand that he has to play on left that is the problem to me.

If that statement is true, then I see Flo willing to pay City’s exit clause, (it’s not much more than what is being offered to Mbappe) which would be of real interest to Haaland particularly if City goes after Mbappe.

There is no City exit clause that is unilateral Bill...  Haaland's agent has already said it.  The only clause that the media is speculating about (not confirmed) is one where he could leave if Pep leaves.  Well, Pep isn't leaving until the summer of 2025 at the earliest.

I don't understand why that's still out there lol.

And Bellingham is not a striker, will not score 30 goals a season, and teams will adjust to how Madrid is playing him after his great 1/2 season.  I'm predicting all this.  He is a great CM though and will get his 15-20 goals a season (25 in this one) just because of the way Carlo is positioning him.  Ideally, however, you want him to feed the strikers and not end up all the way up front.  Why?  he can't recover defensively.  Once Madrid play elite teams, his positioning will be exposed unless Tchou and Cama are able to somehow erase the gaps. I don't think they can. City, for example, would eat us alive. So would Liverpool frankly. Heck, Bayern too. Just too much real estate for 2 CMs to cover especially with Rodrygo and Vini who cannot play defense to help either.

STOP using pronouns we and us when referring to Real Madrid. You are much more an anti fan!

We’ll see in coming months who is right re your predictions!

As to elite CL teams, there are only 3 remaining, RMad being one.

And again, you are showing you don’t watch games. Bellingham despite being a initiator of goals is playing great defense. He has almost unbelievable range and able to get back.

Against teams that have no midfield (Atleti) or are injured (Barca)!

Wait until Madrid plays a team with an elite midfield.  That advanced position that Bellingham plays will be exposed.  It's imbalanced.  But so far, the opposition hasn't made Madrid pay for it.

To me, Madrid should go after Osimhen if not Mbappe... because Naples will 100% sell for the right price.

Also, I don't need you to tell me whether I'm a fan or not.  Who are you?  The Madrid fan police? So unless you blindly approve of Flo and his minions, you cannot be a fan? Please.

You’re ignoring that this season, there are three other very good mids besides Bellingham

futbol_bill wrote:You’re ignoring that this season, there are three other very good mids besides Bellingham

Oh for sure. But here's the thing: You can allow a CM to "cheat" on the attack with a combo of the following 3 factors:
- You have a great defensive mid, which Tchouameni is. Cama... maybe. The rest, not so much.
- The defensive is great, especially at CB. With Alaba and Militao both out, I don't think this holds true. It did for the first half of the season.
- You have a talent advantage. Not going to be the case starting in QF stage of CL.

To allow Bellingham to play that far forward, you need to compensate. RM did in the first half of the season. My contention is that it won't be able to in the 2nd half of the season UNLESS Carlo plays a 442 diamond.

So at some point, Vini and Rodrygo are going to have to carry the scoring load because Bellingham will nee to play more the CM role as opposed to the 10 if we play a 433.

I still think you are missing the point. They are playing with FOUR midfielders. Bellingham being caught up front is no difference than Benz not getting back. There are three Solid midfielders in behind Bellingham.

Oooh onto next point ……….

sportsczy wrote:There is no City exit clause that is unilateral Bill...  Haaland's agent has already said it.  The only clause that the media is speculating about (not confirmed) is one where he could leave if Pep leaves.  Well, Pep isn't leaving until the summer of 2025 at the earliest.

I don't understand why that's still out there lol.

And Bellingham is not a striker, will not score 30 goals a season, and teams will adjust to how Madrid is playing him after his great 1/2 season.  I'm predicting all this.  He is a great CM though and will get his 15-20 goals a season (25 in this one) just because of the way Carlo is positioning him.  Ideally, however, you want him to feed the strikers and not end up all the way up front.  Why?  he can't recover defensively.  Once Madrid play elite teams, his positioning will be exposed unless Tchou and Cama are able to somehow erase the gaps. I don't think they can. City, for example, would eat us alive. So would Liverpool frankly. Heck, Bayern too. Just too much real estate for 2 CMs to cover especially with Rodrygo and Vini who cannot play defense to help either.

I missed this first time around. Don’t know if you are confused or simply delusional! Liverpool didn’t make it to CL this season. As I said of 16 teams remaining there are only 3 elite teams remaining; City, Bayern and RMad! I don’t know why you think an elite team will eliminate us in qtrs or even semis? Bayern for example has issues and City so far has not been as strong as last year. Luck of draw will determine who gets to final, but IMO it would be a foolish bet that RMad would be eliminated early.

Where in that paragraph did i mention CL.  I was just talking about teams, CL or not, that would theoretically beat Madrid because of gaps created by Bellingham's advanced position. Liverpool are very direct and have defenders that have the technical skills of midfielders besides being excellent defensively. Those guys can find the gaps and get the ball forward quickly.

It been such a long trail of your negativity. Before you were saying we would get eliminated by an elite team in CL!

I'm not negative.  I'm saying that it will take Vini and Rodrygo becoming bonafide scorers for RM to have a chance at CL this season.  Bellingham is going to slow down in terms of scoring because he actually has to play CM against elite teams...  so it then comes down to the forwards.

All this because of the inane "we don't need Mbappe... we have Vini, Rodrygo and Endrick" line.  Well ok, let's see if those 3 can do it.  I'm predicting, not this year at least.  Maybe next year.  But the smartest move, if Mbappe doesn't come, is to sign a bonafide scorer and the only available one is Osimhen.

And why does he have to a CM role when there are 3 very competent midfielders behind him.

futbol_bill wrote:And why does he have to a CM role when there are 3 very competent midfielders behind him.

Because a CF is extremely important against elite defenses... otherwise the CBs and holding mids on those teams can get very aggressive since they don't have to worry about a CF making proper runs.

We can play a 442 and hope that it works... but I am predicting it won't in CL.  No width + No real scorer = Big defensive advantage to the opponent

But what choice do we have until the summer?  I am hopeful this season, but i do not expect us to win CL.  City will eat us alive.  Bayern as well IMO.  Opponents will also adjust to our lack of CF and play Bellingham a lot closer generally. I refuse to believe that opposing managers will defend RM as if we have a CF, which is what's been happening so far. They will get more aggressive with their CBs.

That said, La Liga doesn't have any elite teams due to Barca injuries so we have a good chance there.

Anyhow, back to Mbappe.  Post game quote today:

"We are happy to start the year with a trophy.  I am very motivated for the rest of the season and it is very important.  We have more trophies to play for.  Now we have one.  I haven't made a decision (about my future).  I haven't made a choice.  With the agreement I made with the president this summer, my decision doesn't matter much as we protected all parties, including the interests of the club for the future, which is the most important.  We can say that (my decision) is now secondary.  In 2022, I didn't decide until the month of May.  If I knew what I wanted to do, why would I delay?  It would make no sense.  The most important is truly winning.  We have a young and motivated team that wants to win trophies.  At the club and in the locker room, we don't talk about my personal situation.  it's not relevant and doesn't really interest anyone right now."

https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/football/trophee-des-champions/direct-trophee-des-champions-suivez-le-match-psg-toulouse-en-live-pour-le-premier-titre-en-jeu-de-2024_LS-202401030276.html

Mbappe today about his positioning (he's been playing CF, a good omen if he comes to RM):

"The coach arrived with a clear philosophy, but with a lot of ideas. The time we assimilate all that, no matter how good the players are, it takes time. I think we begin to see interesting things. It's much more structured. We see at the level of the offensive organization, we see the patterns, we see that something is emerging, right? Afterwards perhaps that I'm crazy. (…) When I talk to him (Luis Enrique), he says that a good player can play several positions. I think I'm a good player, not bad. So I played several positions this year. Today, I played in the center. The good thing is that no matter what position you play, it adapts according to the qualities of the player, which means that you are not out of place. So, he wants me to play in the middle, that I play on the left, that I play on the right, I will play. And I think that I would have no problem performing well."

https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/football/ligue-1/psg-pas-de-probleme-a-etre-performant-mbappe-tranche-le-debat-sur-son-positionnement_AV-202401030807.html

Julien Laurens remarked that Mbappe mentioning that he has an agreement with the club where all parties are happy and content if he leaves... was not an accident. Mbappe is angling his eventual departure. Otherwise, why would he mention it? Laurens feels that Mbappe is starting to pave the road for PSG fans as opposed to just shocking them with his departure.

And so the soap opera continues. january 15th can’t come soon enough.

Will never happen by January 15.  Whenever PSG has no more trophies to play for... which is late April at the earliest with Ligue 1. PSG only has a 5 point lead. So it could easily be May.

You’re talking about public announcement!

Flo has to begin looking at alternatives if he can’t get acknowledgment from Mbappe. He can’t afford to go 2 seasons without a strong CF. He may not necessarily pull out of Mbappe pursuit, but he has to have an alternative in place by May.