Possession is different from passing the ball around sideways. You can have a lot of the ball and still be direct in the final 3rd. This team was almost scared to lose the ball, whenever they got into tight situations, they would just pass it back.
True. And the build up was too slow. You need to pass the ball faster to not let the defence take the desired shape. Then you can open up space.
Not sure if you had a chance to watch Spain vs Argentina and Germany just before the WC, they were a very different team to the one today. Fair enough the WC itself is naturally a different animal but Spain tonight reverted to their old selves during Del Bosque’s demise and Hierro did nothing to inspire any shift in play until the very end.
I watched Spain Argentina but Argentina was very bad. They left so much space. Real Madrid's opponents in the league will probably be more like the Russia's organized defence than that loose back line.
But Hierro was not suddenly going to change how they were playing overnight. Is not like he is an established coach with a defined philosophy. He was there just to pick up from the mess created by the federation but not to change the team.
I think we can't expect him to be a starter yet. He doesn't really influence a match and tbh he is producing as much as Lucas or less. He goes missing for 80% of a match. I'm not having a go, i really want him to succeed but it's looking less and less likely. I still see them both as bench players.
The odd thing about Asensio's performances is just how good he looks off the bench. In a lot of the games he came in, he looked like the best player on the pitch. But then when he started, he never had a stretch looking that strong. Are slightly fresher legs the key to his magic? I don't know, but I hope he learns to be able to do the same when starting.
I personally think Asensio plays better through the middle behind the striker/s rather than stuck out on the wings, another young one with talent who will grow in time
Whether it was changes he made or the players reverting back to old habits or lack of direction in general, I'm not sure, but it was a different team all together.
He's mostly starting in B Team kind of situations, i don't have the numbers, but we've rarely started him in a A team +Bale or Benzema with him in the lineup instead.
Asensio is going to be a very good player and he'll be around Madrid for a while. I didn't think he was nearly as bad as everyone thought he was during the first part of the season. I don't think he'll end up as one of the greats. Just very very good.
This is set to be a defining season for Asensio. How much responsibility can he carry? His first season, we hyped him as Galactico level quality. Since then, the hype has dwindled. Can he rejuvenate and the guy to being an integral part of Real Madrid?
He has the talent to be world class players, we've seen it time and time again. The problem was consistency and i hope that will be minimized with more playing time. He's performed really, really well against very big clubs in very big games and when a young player can do that you know there's something there. I expect big things from him this season.
Except those games have been so few and far between that it may just be coincidental. He scored in all those debut games but then he ran out of competitions to "debut" and the all the momentum faded. I find him very similar to Morata except shorter, fatter, and slower. Morata had his moments under Carlo and Mou (the B team classico win). He moved to Juve and scored important goals in the CL (semifinal and final). Then he came back and pushed Benzema to the limit, I think any other manager than Zidane would have made the switch. The difference is I think Morata at the same point in his career was the better player and he couldn't break through.
Talent and consistency wise he might not reach Mbappe level but he definitely can reach Dybala/Hazard level I believe.
I think Asensio is substantially more talented than Morata in all material (for their respective positions) respects. In my opinion, Morata was never going to be Madrid #1 CF while Asensio is definitely able to break through and become a genuine star. Not comparable at all IMO. The clubs thinks the same, as they have put a lot of faith in Asensio and never looked like doing that for Morata..
If he were that talented you would think there would be clubs offering 100ME and a place in the starting lineup and there would be stories linking him with such a move. What Asensio has on Isco is size, strength and speed but compared to Bale and Morata he's kinda ordinary physically. Compared to Isco, Dybala, and Hazard he's not that great of a dribbler either.
Everyone knows he's not for sale. As i said, he's performed very good against some of the best teams out there (PSG, Barca, Bayern etc) and honestly he's done it pretty consistently vs those level teams, he just needs to step up his consistency vs smaller teams too. Let's see what he can do with much more minutes.
Thats not how you decide a player is talented or not. Dybala is not been linked to any teams either doesnt mean he is worse than Morata. Nobody heard of vinicius before we signed him... And I believe there were teams interested in him and the club quickly pointed at his buyout clause..
Umm? https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/footba...rpool-make-150m-marco-asensio-bid_329048.html There were 150 million rumors that we supposedly rejected
He lacks the consistency. I think those crazy golazos he scored has led us to believe that he was going to be a phenomenal player. I think in reality he is more Solari, Lucas, Pedro kind of level. Great option from the bench.
I am not saying you or others having doubts are wrong. I just feel his incosistent performance was due to him not having a fixed role and also the team he was part of being poor on most of the ocassions. Just feel he will hit the next gear under Lope.
I see people coming around to the fact that Asensio is not the second coming of Jesus, rather a rich man's Lucas Vazquez, as I said a while ago. Time and time again. First they ignore you, then laugh at you, then fight you, then you win