Vinicius with more touches [34] and better pass completion rate [82.6%] than either Benzema or Lucas V in first half, acc to @WhoScored stats. Amazing how well he's settling in really.— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) January 19, 2019
Marcelo will not improve defensively. He maybe the greatest offensive left back of all time. But we're left exposed so much on that left flank with him. We were able to paper over his flaws with our scoring output in previous seasons, but his weakness has become even more glaring this season.
Good game. Sevilla had their chances in the first half (and probably a PK) but had the same problem as us on the last touch. Much different story in the second half, and wow like magic- take Vasquez out, put Isco in and BAM goal.
I didn’t realize this game was being played this early , I caught the last 40 minutes though, Modric looked like the Modric of old, he completely dominated the midfield and drove play forward with ease. Ceballos and Casimero has a great game as well with the latter scoring a screamer. Was LV a non factor the whole game or just the 2nd half ? All in from the little I’ve seen the team looked great, actually kept the ball, moved it around well and as result choked the life out of Sevilla completely, that’s how you do this, not with 26% possession. I’d have to rewatch this game to see how we were in the first half but this looked like a very satisfying win.
But this is very good because now Toni needs to raise his game.. He sees that Marcelo has been benched
Reguillon was fantastic! going forward, good in defense. Player like Navas was invisible because Reguillon was solid in his position. Top stuff.
Because there are 0 alternatives at the moment. Isco isn't going to be effective in that role, so we might as well twiddle our thumbs and wait until Asensio comes back.
One of the most satisfying matches of the season. Attitude, effort, from everybody top to bottom. Amazing the difference between the CdR match and this one.
Nothing but positives today. Great team football, great mentality, the team went out there to win. It does wonders when your team is recycling the ball, pressing up high and winning it back in the opposition's half, and taking the initiative and creating chances. You hide your defensive deficiencies when you do that, and it also doesn't hurt to take out the black hole on the left and replace him with a capable defensive player. The left side was great with Vinicius and Ceballos, all our attacks went through that side, which speaks volumes about them. VJ at 18 is not afraid to lead the attack of the biggest club in the world. He has what it takes to become great, now all he has to do is work hard to keep improving, especially his shot. Ceballos and Modric ran the game, and they were our best players. This was a great game to watch for a change, I hope Solari is taking notes and this is a turning point in how he sets this team out to play.
plenty of alternatives in different formation. Solari will just never do that. biggest problem is when Bale is healthy again it will be V who will go to the bench, not LV.
I'd sign up for this, especially if you bring in a coach like Pochettino who has a history of developing young players.
Yes I totally agree this idiot goes to the wing pointless I think we should bench Benz and just play Isco or someone else in the middle they are just likely to score anyway
If anything, Marcelo's little twistaround in formation int he Copa match showed that the players don't want a change of formation. They want to play what worked for them in the past 5 to 6 years. You can talk about experimentation a lot, but the way Marcelo, a team captain, handled an experimental lineup spoke volumes about how this would work out midseason.
Bench Benzema no one else deserves it but him. He don’t do his job even. What’s the point him playing if the midfielders are scoring our goals.
This. We all felt it in that second half, that excitement that we haven't felt in some time. We've won some matches, even some late wins, but the energy today has been missing. Really great performance and something to build on. But yeah, we need a proper winger and a striker to really take a step up. Props to the backline and mids for the impressive effort.
We found out that are our defence was better without Marcelo. Ceballos is a must in midfield from now on. Vinicius made some great runs however no one in the box as usual to help him.
I agree that how he behave was disrespectful to the club and the coach, however, that formation was a clear 5-3-2 and I think that is what caused a lof of the confusion (and my guess it came from Solari not wanting to get into trouble with a club captain so he got this weird formation). what I suggested was a clear 4-4-2 where Marcel understands the role.
Besides being clearly talented, he also looks to be so confident, which IMO is the most important attribute for a player to succeed in Madrid.