Asensio's blast got me out of my seat. Laser! I liked the overall movement and the willingness to shoot from outside the box. Still lacking confidence, it's clear. But a step in the right direction. Hakimi looks a talent but give me Nacho at RB right now every time. Vallejo being fit helps us quite a bit, so we don't have to rush Dani back. Ramos had a bit more Fire today which was needed. Casemiro solid. Ronaldo frustrated but is playing fine. The goals should come soon. Lastly, some of you are reveling a bit too much in the negativity and making these threads pretty crappy to read. I understand the frustration but the almost continuous downer posts from a good chunk of you should ease up a bit. Especially if you've made your point or feelings known already. Move on. ******** the Int'l break, always. Solid win.
He hit the post again a today with a great effort. Hes hit the post multiple times this season, hes been unlucky not to have more goals.
For all the luck that Ronaldo doesn't have, sometimes he really tries to force it too much. That turn in the first half when he hit the side of the net was 100% frustration.
Good to see Asensio making world-class rips again Solid overall. Modric got a day of rest. Yellow card accumulation avoided for those that were at risk. Hopefully, we will get our injured guys back after the break. It seems all of them are soon to return. Bale, Kovacic, Varane, Carvajal. Much needed return of depth.
Now if Asensio can produce these golazo's in the CL against opposition that matters. He turnt up in the CL last season towards the end. He's more likely to get us a goal these days than Mr.Injury Gareth Bale.
This is definitely Gareth's final season here. We can't afford to be down a superstar half a season, every season. We could afford that luxury in the past, but it's well past due to move him on and get some fresher superstar who has more durability. I'd say Benzema needs to go but we all know better than to wish for that with Florentino and Zidane at the helm.
glad for the win, 2 things just dont make sense 1-) Why is Benzema still in this team ? bench him, maybe he needs a shock ? 2-) Why is CR taking all the Free Kicks?
Vallejo just confirmed my thoughts about him in this game. He is gonna be a world class defender if he stays fit. Has everything, he had a few very important interceptions just because he read the ball, good instinct. Apart from him players were meh, Isco imo again only one who is creating something and Bezhit missing the usual sitters again. Asensio with a golazo, has a great shot apart from that I didn't notice he was on the field. Needs to work on his apart aspects of the game, his shooting is sick tho.
I'm very happy with how we came out in the second half. Sharper passing, more confidence... just looked like a different team. Hopefully we can build off of this. Long season ahead and still time for this group to make its mark.
Just watched the game, seemed a decent performance, as has been mentioned before Vallejo did a great job and Nacho at RB please until Dani returns, happy with the win and the three points Apparently without him Ronaldo can’t perform and the team does not function well, or some such nonsense Still very concerned that neither of our strikers got on the scoresheet again, a worrying trend
I'm surprised how quiet this thread has been. I guess we should take that as a good thing. Not many complainers. I'm just waiting for our main man CR7 to find his shooting boots and Zidane to right the ship. I hope Real Madrid comes out hungry like a pack of wolves against the thugs that are Atletico Madrid. We really need a confidence builder, and nothing is more therapeutic than beating a rival!
Vallejo looked very good. To be fair all our signings have. As well as Llorente and Hakimi. Not perfect, but very promising. And Zidane is doing a good job with them. The problem is obviously the lack of goal scoring options. We could all see it in summer. It’s a shame as unless we pull something out the bag (like la Undecima), this would be a wasted season.
First half wasn't that great, but we picked it up significantly in the second half. A lot more intensity and the football was at least aesthetically pleasing. Still concerned with how easy teams are getting from their third of the pitch to ours. I didn't think Casemiro had a particularly good showing, and while all the negativity has been around certain players, Casemiro has quietly reverted to old habits of giving up the ball in his own half time and time again. On the positive end, Vallejo was outstanding, by far our best defender, and made plenty of last ditch efforts to bail out his teammates. High IQ player that was directing the line most of the time, and essentially played as a sweeper. Really reminds me of a young(er) Varane. Aside from injuries, there isn't really anything stopping him from being our 3rd CB. While Nacho is good, he doesn't have the natural instincts that Vallejo has at CB, and Nacho has looked much better at FB anyway. The finishing was atrocious yet again, particularly from Benzema. Ronaldo looks like a matter of time from breaking away, he had some really good efforts. The stupidity of him continuing to take free kicks is beyond me. Looking forward to having Bale and Kovacic back post break. Bale will probably walk into the starting line up at this rate. I'd move Ronaldo to the center, Bale out left and Asensio or Isco out right depending on how you want the midfield to shape out.
I think Benzema has to effectively be directly related to us losing a trophy before he'll be sent off packing.