@MiamiNative0722 mentioned the word "Revolution" and inadvertently raised expectations for the summer transfers to an almost unprecedented level. Now that it is over, I thought it would be appropriate to start a new thread. 7 new arrivals, €160.4M net spending. For me, I still feel we needed two midfielders to take the place of Kroos and Modric. James is good but I am not too sure he'll be fit enough for most of the season. We fixed the areas that needed fixing but now have a squad way too big. We didn't even sell Mariano (who I rate but needs to go for his own sake).
Great thread @Nathanial Essex I would like to rebut one point. It was not inadvertent. As Madridistas, we must always have the highest expectations. We must always demand more glory. Anything less is unacceptable. We can never become the Man U’s and the Arsenal’s of the world who have forever altered their expectations and tolerance of mediocrity. That being said, I am pleased with our summer moves. I expect to compete. If we do not, we must hold everyone accountable and have ourselves a bigger Revolution.
I do think this was step 1 of a 2 year re-build. We address key areas with real young talent that have already competed in high level European competitions. Not the Asensio's who needed 2 loans etc to contribute as an impact sub. But guys who will play this year and have a chance to lock down some spots for years to come. We acquired a legit building block in Hazard too. We really needed to add a Pogba etc but I hope to add another legit galatico next summer. Missing on Felix stings tho....
Mendy, Hazard and Jovic have been injured. Militao too, I think. I cannot make a decision until we actually see our real starting lineup. When everyone is healthy, we probably will have a better idea what Zidane is trying to do with this new team. Yes, I criticised Perez for not selling on the transfer thread. Okay, I am confused. Seriously, who else can Zidane start in the first two games? He did start Jovic and Mendy on his third game.
Overall it was a good summer we addressed a lot of the issues we had but the bummer is we didn’t address the biggest ( or 2nd biggest one depending on whom you ask ) one. These players have had struggles with finding their motivation does anyone believe that a lack of competition for their position would help in that aspect? Not to mention we needed to bring mids with different characteristics. Having said all hope isn’t lost, if we have a relatively injury free season we might still do well. Carvajal Ramos Militao Mendy ...............Casemiro ........James .......Modric Bale/Rodry ............Hazard ............Benz/Jovic . This line up with the right tactics and discipline should be able to do very well.
Many hundred years ago to be exact; 5th of May 1789. How many soccer stars were available? João Felix - no idea why Real Madrid did not try to sign him, but they decided to go for Jovic. After some brief scout vids João Felix looks very promising as well, and A. Madrid started strong in this new LA liga season so it will be exciting to watch against Real Sociedad after the break. Who else should Real Madrid sign who are better players than the current squad? Barcelona refuse to sell anyone - Man. City & PSG keep their future stars like the world oil bank, and Man U. prize out Pobga. Eriksen is probably not good enough for Real Madrid.
Absolutely atrocious transfer summer. Acquisitions first. Mendy too expensive for a rotation fullback at best. Okay player, but not going to be too useful against parking the bus defences. Hazard bought a few years too late, at the age of 30 and fat and for 100 million in last year of contract. Jovic is just a limited striker, Mariano is more or less as good as him. 60 million for him is a total ripoff. Militao is going to ride the bench for Varane, and he's not much better than him either. The only truly exciting signing Rodrygo probably won't get to play, even though he's better than Vinicius and Lucas Vazquez. Sales. Got rid of young guns Ceballos, Kovacic and Llorente. These guys could have been the foundation of our new midfield. Lost one of the best players last season Reguillon. Didn't manage to sell washed up veterans like Bale and Modric. Kept over the hill players like Marcelo, Kroos and Benzema (and to an extent Isco) as key starters. Sold the better keeper out of the two, and for peanuts. Finally, despite trying for so long, we didn't even get close to buying either Pogba or Neymar who were pretty needed since the acquisitions and sales went terribly. Didn't even try for Mbappe who was giving signals in the beginning of the summer, because friendship. Missed out on studs like De Ligt, Ndombele and Felix, all of which would have been game changing signings. Imagine buying these three instead of the players we bought. Would have costed the same. Sheesh. Literally the only good thing to come out of this transfer window is bringing James back from loan, and even that was because of Zidane and Florentino's ineptitude. I love both of them, but this was the worst transfer window in the history of transfer windows, maybe ever.
This is absolutely spot on. I don't understand how anyone can be chuffed with this summer's transfer dealings. An absolute horror show.
I believe Militao has just as much potential if not more than De Ligt. But the grass is always greener on the other side, which is why one is painted as a "stud" while the other is painted as a "bench warmer." That 'stud' was torched by Chucky Lozano the other day. I believe Mendy has the potential to be one of the best left-backs in the world. He may not have Marcelo's unpredictability or technique, but he's got plenty dynamism of his own and compared to other big name left-backs, I don't see what he lacks. We have Hazard coming off arguably the best season of his career.
You’re pardoned, Btw Militao is a better defender than De ligt and Mendy is an excellent full back sure he is no Marcelo going forward but he pretty skilled in his own right. Calling this summer atrocious is beyond ridiculous, we’ve addressed many areas the team was lacking we’re about two signings short for this to have been a perfect summer.
Blatant falsehood lol, as if I missed by a decade. He will be 29 in January ffs. No he isnt, but I'm sure the Napoli performance holds much bigger weight than last season in your mind. Mendy is a 50 million euro signing where we had an equally good if not better player for free (Reguillon). His strong side is pace, which won't be of much use when we prefer a slow buildup. We addressed nothing beyond signing Hazard who has fitness issues and wont have a very long Madrid career for the money that was paid for him. Jovic is meh, Benzema will keep playing anyway, and midfield and defense stayed the same. We did nothing significant in terms of personnel change, so I only hope Zidane can change the attitude of the players.
The other two La Liga giants have issues on their own. Barcelona might have a better team than us this season, I admitted, but we might have better young players. Messi, Suarez, etc are not getting younger. They brought in Firpo, De Jong and Griz, but we bought in Hazard, Jovic, etc. Dembele and Bale are still around. Bale seemed to have turned arud, but Dembele is much younger. We failed to get Pogba and they failed to get Neymar.... both of us might be better off without them. So basically, Barcelona is just liked us. The difference would be whether Odagaard, Rodrygo, VJ an Kubo could turn thing around for us in the future. Atletico Madrid, I thought, started a revolution. They sold off their old guards, Lucas and Grizmann. Felix is a 120 million gamble which no one knows if they find their next "El Kun". I hate to say it.... I like Llorente. They are doing what I hope Perez would have done, but why do they sell Lucas and Grizmann? Are they doing better than us? Let me repeat myself. The difference would be whether Odagaard, Rodrygo, VJ an Kubo could turn thing around for us in the future. Bayern bought in Lucas which I like, but I know nothing about the rest of the new players. Coutniho will contribute, but they will not activate the buy clause. He isn't 120 million transfer. Perisic is 30 years old. We areprobably doing better than them. Juvnetus' plan is probably different. They want to win now while Ronaldo is still around. They bought n De Ligt. Rabio and Ramsey will be role players, but they are free. Their situation is different from us.