And that is why I say Benzema is the only one with the attitude the whole team needs. He sees this and tries to make himself a viable option for the midfielders; he moves into space when a Madrid player is surrounded and has no choice but to play back. But he can only do it so much. A change in formation is also needed. I would like a 3 5 2 If he wants to keep Casemiro and Kroos in there, then have 3 midfielders that know what to do with the ball and take the responsibility away from those 2 when it comes to building plays. Have Benzema and someone else up there
Players absolutely have too much power but why renew and double down when you know they are a problem?
That is Florentino's problem. He likes or dislikes players and disregards what they are actually doing for the team either positive or negative, then keeps them or lets tem go
Because the moment we let go of a Ramos for example, people automatically attack the club for treating it's legends badly. Iker was three to four years past his best and people still felt it was insulting to replace him. There's plenty of people that are saying that Courtois is getting all this heat by the press to protect the decline of players like Carvajal and Ramos who have great connections with the press. Ramos could score an own goal and AS and Marca would put it on Courtois the next morning.
Lucas could get a goal anulled because he is a moron and walked back into a play he had no business entering... and they will still put Benzema on the cover as the symbol of failure. Wait.. that did happen. Two days ago.
I get what you are saying, but Ramos at least shows courage every game and that is what we all like from him and it is hard to replace a player that pushed the team forward. I guess with Iker, it was all he had achieved with the team and still left in bad terms. Courtois sucks. Those first 2 goals against PSG.I feel Navas would hace caught them. The first in particular left me sl angry as the ball went literally between him and the post at a preferred height for any keeper. And his expression from the shot...
The biggest issue with goal is we didn't sign a clear improvement. Really shocking, because Courtois doesn't save anything you wouldn't expect him to, if anything he doesn't save things you would expect him to.
On paper, we made the right move getting him instead of Kepa and keeping him instead of Navas. What the hell happened to this guy though, who wouldve thought he would turn out this bad?
Again though Seems like he has always have a strong and organized defense in front of him in Chelsea and Atletico. Belgium also had a good defense and usually controlled the games. He has never been under fire like this. I think a shot blocker like Navas is better suited for our leaking defense.
I think it was obvious after last season that Courtois wasn't the answer and if there lingering doubts preseason should have been enough
Do you sell him after a season? That would've been harsh, and benching him for a soon to be 33 y/o would seem short sighted. It's a shitty situation to be in, but now that we have him, its probably best if we utilize him and hope he regains form. I think theres lots to criticize about our recruitment strategy (like the Lunin debacle), but this isn't one of them. If anything, I would've sold Navas last year. Maybe itll take him a season or two to sort himself out like Ter Stegen did.
I tried to give him benefit of the doubt but its run all out at this point. Lunin being 2nd option on his 2nd loan team fcks everything up because we could have has a smooth transition from Courtois rather quickly next summer.
The answer is use Areola so that Courtois steps his game up if he ever does. Bench him and have him earn the place. If he never does, sell him.
There's no way I'd sell Navas until Courtois situation was sorted. I mean Navas sort of made the decision to leave but I think that was after it was made clear to him that he was a backup with nothing to win back. I just don't think Courtois is the right sort of keeper for this club. But to be fair to him I think the way we play makes anyone in defense look worse than they would in most teams that have a bit of organization.
the defence needs to sort out before we can talk about Courtois i gather start with the manager first because of training method some play a great role in player performance 1. Get a Manager and Sporting director (a person like Sacchi) 2. Start with the short team need first 3. expect new manager and sporting director motive and mobilise the existing players - and address immediate need first 4. Prepare the list of players that may form part of the long term replacement like age performance and according to plan second line of the team -
Valverde available for Sevilla. If we're smart we "rest" Kroos and Varane for Militao and Valverde. We instantly have more intensity, workrate and concentration in defense...
Its funny because when we had Iker the claim was we should try for a taller keeper, Capello reeeeeeally wanted Buffon here. This team just never had a consistent style of play so maybe if we get a different coach next year Tibo all of a sudden is exactly the guy we need
Without meaning to sound pessimistic, that's -9 points for me. Getting 3 or 4 points out of these 3 games would be a very good result.
You picked the worst case scenario. We could get 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or -9 points. This won't last. At some point James, Hazard and Vinicius are going to break the duck and be scoring for fun.
Courtois was a pointless and meaningless signing, because one month before signing him, we just signed Lunin who's a 19-years-old talent who got called to the national team. So, if you sign a young keeper like him, when did you plan to integrate him to be your main keeper? It's when Navas gets older by 2 or 3 years and starts his decline, during those two years, Lunin will be your second keeper who's your choice for Copa del Rey and few games in LaLiga. Then, he becomes the first keeper, and Navas your second until he retires or leaves. Now, you sign Courtois, age 26. That means he's your first choice for keeper, what does this mean? Lunin has no chance to be your first keeper for at least 7 or 8 years. Imagine what Lunin would feel seeing keepers his age like Donnaruma and Kepa having constant play time, while he's warming the bench. Look at what's happening to him now, he rarely plays for Leganes and Valladolid. Two years wasted from his career. The thing is, Perez bought Courtois just because he was chosen WC2018 best GK, and a ballon d'or nominee, something Perez likes to brag about (which he did when he sacked Lopetegui :"We have 8 ballon d'or nominees").
Just wanted to say this about Courtois: yes the defense is weak and a bit taller keeper than Navas is alway preferrable, but he is just not doing it. A lot of shots should be blocked ny him or any average keeper.
I'm starting to understand the mystery that is @fierro You're just against popular opinion, no? Since most of the posters have turned against Zidane and most of the players (leave Courtois and Kroos aloooone! ), you're now positive about the team and try to speak sense instead of panic and exaggerations.