The xcx wrote:

shaven wrote:

The xcx wrote:

shaven wrote:might be replacement for gago and lass but not as a DM role imo

What was Gagos and Lass roll in madrid again?

DM that always leaves their position LOL.....

Still, Coentrao has an awesome haircut, thats atleast worth of half we paid for him to get him.

still waiting for his new nickname based from his hairstyle.


hope mou will used him as our midfielder though instead in the backline

Sahin and Alonso starting, with Khedira and Granero rotating (mostly Khedira). Pepe or Varane to come up as DMs if necessary, Kaka can come down too reportedly. Altintop when he recovers.

About Coentrao, it is an idea to switch Marcelo to RB, then Ronaldo to RW, so on the right you have the Ronaldo-Marcelo partnership, and on the left the Di Maria-Coentrao partnership, with only Marcelo having to adapt to a new position. His right foot aint bad either.

let's keep gago, i dont trust Granero...

gagos as good as gone.. willing to take a pay cut to leave for boca

is it really far fetched to have alonso benched by sahin and ozil playing in a 4-3-3 in the mid?

ozils work rate is not nearly good enough to play in the midfield 3 imo, either hes a winger in a 4-3-3 formation or the CAM in a 4-2-3-1

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:let's keep gago, i dont trust Granero...

you serious nick???




i still wonder how will our midfield will looks like next season




xxxxx----xxxxx
-----xxxxx-----


or

-----xxxxx-----
xxxxx----xxxxx

Our starting midfield will be Alonso, Ozil, Coentrao.

Sahin will be eased in gradually, but unlike what I said earlier I think Coentrao gets the starting position with Sahin being mostly reserve this year. There will be some games where he could start in place of Ozil. Kaka also will get some game action in place of Ozil, but I see him mainly as an attacker this year with Ozil the prime CAM.

Khedira and Granero are reserves this year but I expect Mou to give both of them sufficient action.

This midfield is the area that is our weakest point thus far and will have difficulty with Barcelona, particularly if they play Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc against us. Our midfield has to first get healthy and then to begin to show we have the talent to control the midfield.

futbol_bill wrote: Our starting midfield will be Alonso, Ozil, Coentrao.

same thought bill.

im thinking xabi and coentrao doing the double pivot

coent simply replacing gago/lass role.

we just have to wait and see..... its bet khedira and coentrao fighting for the spot besides xabi

futbol_bill, you are making conjectures out of the fact that Sahin got injured and couldnt play in the us tour. If he was the one playing instead of coentrao next to alonso, you would have reached a different conclusion. I dont see why coentrao should put Khedira on the bench, and i dont think it's gonna happen.

Khedira has been the better midfielder so far (judging by Coentraos US games and Khediras season)

I know we haven't seen much of Coentrao but I can't expect him to beat Khedira. Khedira was really good against Barca too, where he played as a DM and our CM

ill be a bit shocked if mourinho keeps ramos as RB to be honest...

alonso will keep on playing with Khedira and Sahin will be thrown in there, we are still underestimating that kid, he is just as talented if not more than Ozil imo. Too bad he got that knock and we couldnt see him. If you have seen him destroying bayern twice you know Sahin is no joke, and he kind of football he plays is too sensible for us to have him on the bench more often than not.

Why in such a shock? The problem is the experience is needed there, we have seen Pepe without Carvalho and he hasn't looked as calm imo

I'm not surprised that we didn't replace Carvalho fully. I knew Mou wasn't ready to replace him yet, although this season will be his last me thinks

im all for ramos at the RB with pepe and carvalho at CB. and more playing time for varane at CB to gain more experience.

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:futbol_bill, you are making conjectures out of the fact that Sahin got injured and couldnt play in the us tour. If he was the one playing instead of coentrao next to alonso, you would have reached a different conclusion. I dont see why coentrao should put Khedira on the bench, and i dont think it's gonna happen.

We all were assuming Coentrao was going to become a RB, but he hasn't even practiced there. Just a wrong assumption on our part. Mou has made it pretty clear that a. Coentrao is an important addition and b. that his prime role will be MF. I am still waiting to how Sahin fits in, but I say the battle is Sahin and Coentrao to start with Alonso. I feel Ozil has a lock on the centre MF (or Cam) role. I like both Khedira and Granero (I know you don't like him, Nick, but I like what I've seen so far this year). But both are a step behind the other 3. BUT .... Mou will be giving more playing time to all players this year. He is going with a smaller squad and everyone of them is showing they deserve playing time.

So expect all 6 of them (plus occasional time to kaka and pepe) to play. The issue isn't so much as to who plays but rather establishing a passing controlling style of play. So far, we haven't seen it and that will be a problem when we play Barcelona.

I dont like what i have seen from him as RB towards the end of the season tbh.

I know mourinho keeps him there to play as a 3rd CB with pepe and carv when marcelo goes up, but i have grown less of a fan in the last couple of months.

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:I dont like what i have seen from him as RB towards the end of the season tbh.

I know mourinho keeps him there to play as a 3rd CB with pepe and carv when marcelo goes up, but i have grown less of a fan in the last couple of months.

Ah Nick, I used to think we agreed on most things. I still think Ramos is one of best RBs in world. Yes he had a few issues last year, mostly requiring a little more focus and maturity. This can be fixed. You can't make a judgement on games so far this year, plus he has been hurt for a week or so. With Varane showing so well this year, it puts Ramos continuing at RB. i.e. there isn't the need to make him a full time (or near full time) CB.

Mou wants his FBs to make overlaps this year and Ramos is best at that. Look at how destructive Marcelo's runs were against LA. He is the one that has to adjust his playing style (from overlaps instead of runs into MF).

Btw, there is still a chance Marcelo will move to RB, he is pretty good on using both feet.

futbol_bill wrote:

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:I dont like what i have seen from him as RB towards the end of the season tbh.

I know mourinho keeps him there to play as a 3rd CB with pepe and carv when marcelo goes up, but i have grown less of a fan in the last couple of months.

Ah Nick, I used to think we agreed on most things. I still think Ramos is one of best RBs in world. Yes he had a few issues last year, mostly requiring a little more focus and maturity. This can be fixed. You can't make a judgement on games so far this year, plus he has been hurt for a week or so. With Varane showing so well this year, it puts Ramos continuing at RB. i.e. there isn't the need to make him a full time (or near full time) CB.

Mou wants his FBs to make overlaps this year and Ramos is best at that. Look at how destructive Marcelo's runs were against LA. He is the one that has to adjust his playing style (from overlaps instead of runs into MF).

Well, i think otherwise, he isnt winning me over with his performances as RB. he might look different with la roja, but even Arbeloa attacks with them and he looks impressive. based on the past two seasons bill, ramos has struggled with his duties as RB.

Let's give time to varane to compete with us first, he looks promising, but we need to see him keeping up with the hellish rhythm and pressure of a season at madrid first. Canales couldnt handle it.

When we play double pivot the midfield will be Khedira+ Xabi/ Sahin. When we play 4-3-3 then all of the above mentioned are first choice. Coentrao in CM is 4th choice. He is no central midfielder, one look is enough to see it in preseason games. If Khedira is injured,Xabi+Sahin will play together. People who think that Sahin/ Coentrao will bench Khedira know little about defensive balance in midfield
Khedira will always play unless injured :lol!:

omarish wrote:Btw, there is still a chance Marcelo will move to RB, he is pretty good on using both feet.

have to agree with you on this at first i thought it would be coentrao but the kid is way too left footed. marcelo, though he is also very strong with his left foot, has a lot of skill with his right foot so i am hoping he makes the change even though ill miss the cr7-marcelo link up.

in my mind it is impossible for coentrao to start over khedira and sahin
also in my mind it is impossible for coentrao to sit the bench with a 30m price tag
and in my mind it is also impossible for marcelo to sit the bench with the amount he has played and given for madrid. he is the VC, he is 23, he is playing.

so with all this it has to mean that coentrao and marcelo will be playing as wing backs, alonso and sahin or khedira will be playing in the midfield.

german bias :lol!:

Kaka should be sold and Canales should be first choice backup to Ozil/Sahin in a 4-3-3.

deezydeez wrote:

have to agree with you on this at first i thought it would be coentrao but the kid is way too left footed. marcelo, though he is also very strong with his left foot, has a lot of skill with his right foot so i am hoping he makes the change even though ill miss the cr7-marcelo link up.

in my mind it is impossible for coentrao to start over khedira and sahin
also in my mind it is impossible for coentrao to sit the bench with a 30m price tag
and in my mind it is also impossible for marcelo to sit the bench with the amount he has played and given for madrid. he is the VC, he is 23, he is playing.

so with all this it has to mean that coentrao and marcelo will be playing as wing backs, alonso and sahin or khedira will be playing in the midfield.

hehehe it really sounds like that our midfield is very complicated which is true

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:german bias :lol!:

Bias? Not really, I really like Sahin but in double pivot I prefer Khedira, you can think of the reasons why...

deezydeez wrote:

omarish wrote:Btw, there is still a chance Marcelo will move to RB, he is pretty good on using both feet.

have to agree with you on this at first i thought it would be coentrao but the kid is way too left footed. marcelo, though he is also very strong with his left foot, has a lot of skill with his right foot so i am hoping he makes the change even though ill miss the cr7-marcelo link up.

in my mind it is impossible for coentrao to start over khedira and sahin
also in my mind it is impossible for coentrao to sit the bench with a 30m price tag
and in my mind it is also impossible for marcelo to sit the bench with the amount he has played and given for madrid. he is the VC, he is 23, he is playing.

so with all this it has to mean that coentrao and marcelo will be playing as wing backs, alonso and sahin or khedira will be playing in the midfield.

Ronaldo will have to move to the right becouse we all saw how Ronaldo plays without Marcelo (lyon 1-1)
Their linkup is really important him and Marcelo help each other alot