"Yes, the Standard Buy-Back Clause is Included" - Real Madrid Loan Watch Thread

Not surprising. It's been discussed to death we have 7 mids for 3 spots and all are young and need playing time.

I'd prefer if Ceballos was the one loaned and Marcos was a straight swap for Casemiro, but Kovacic's versatility makes things difficult for Zidane. Good problem to have.

 

We don't have 3 spots in midfield with the diamond 442. Last season one of our weak points was a lack of backup to Casemiro, it meant Kroos had to play too many matches.

Llorente staying is a no brainer for me.

 

As much as I love Mateo, and he is steadily growing into an amazing player, I can't help but remember the spring clasico where we had to sub out Casemiro out of fear he was going to be sent off. We subbed in Kovacic and they were getting through our midfield much easier. I still don't see him as a viable replacement at the 6 in the big games. I see him in Luka or Toni's spots.

 

Yeah but we still switch to 433 quite often, especially late in games which accommodates Asensio and Lucas. As of now Llorente is at the very bottom for minutes. I wouldn't mind him staying either but if the minutes aren't going to be there then he should go out on loan.

 

In any case one of the Ceballos / Llorente will be hitting the stands, in case of healthy squad. This should be considered carefully, because Llorente and Ceballos are both top prospects who will be future of this club, and they need minutes to develop.

So who to keep and who to send on a loan? Llorente for example has shown fantastic performances in Alaves and is ready for substantial role in the team. Besides he represents what we lacked before - a replacement for Casemiro. While on the other hand you have Ceballos, player who plays higher up the pitch and also has incredible potential. But we already have Kovačić and Isco if needed to cover in case of injuries.

Hard choice indeed.

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I think this is one of the reasons that we need to ensure a deep Copa del Rey run this year. If we are in the semifinals of the Copa that would mean 8 extra games for players like Ceballos and Llorente. Toss in 8 substantial runouts in la Liga when we have injuries/rotations (and hopefully a few more shorter sub cameos) and maybe 2 substantial Champs League appearances and 2 at the WCC and that's 20 games or so. Probably half of what they would get if they were loaned and they get to train every day with the first team and hopefully benefit from the best in the world competition.

 

I do understand your point but to be frank, Kovacic played the last match and we were solid defensively. That was our first clean sheet vs Barcelona since 20.4.2011. That's over 6 years. And the one before that was in 2007.

We had 2 clean sheets vs Barcelona in 10 years. We got 1 with Kovacic last match. And the match before that we woulda also kept a clean sheet if it wasn't for the bs dive penalty.

 

If one of the two needs to go out on loan, it should be Ceballos. He's younger and Llorente offers something different than the other midfielders. I'm still not convinced about Kovacic's suitability as a DM against certain opponents.

Maybe Ceballos only agreed the transfer if we didn't loan him out, though. I remember some reports about that when we signed him.

That said, if Zidane thinks he won't be able to provide enough playing time for the both of them, I suppose we should loan one of them out to optimize their development. I have high hopes for both players.

 

Well it's only two games, small sample size and I'm not arguing for one or the other, but if Mateo can do a reasonable job as DM against Farca, I can't think of any other team that can cause us more problems than them in that area to be honest

 

DM = Defending Messi

He did that role perfectly, but i don't expect him to develop much in that position.

 

Maybe, but with him on the pitch we can "keep the ball" more, dominate possession, less of a need to "defend" in that position if you get what I mean, and if we can "keep the ball" more than Farca who probably did it best, well it can be a viable option/ alternative to an out and out defensive player , with all three midfielders capable of good defensive work as well, just a thought, I have zero problems with adequate cover in Llorente for Casemiro, and I agree with that too.

 

Odegaard is enjoying himself as right winger. Made it into leading football magazine Voetbal International team of the week! He's part of the right side flank that really clicks together.

Het VI Elftal van de Week van Speelronde 3

 

We need him and Vinicius to come good. Good signs so far.

Anyone have news on Sergio Diaz?

 

Very short youtube highlights of the Heerenveen match with Odegaard on the wing:

 

You can tell his confidence has grown.