Hit and miss performances IMO. Not satisfied totally. Even when played in preferred position his defensive position and reactions seem off to me. Hopefully he picks up his Chelsea form.
You can’t just throw in a player who hasn’t started in however many games since joining and expect him to carry on his form from Chelsea. I’m convinced he’ll be a solid player for us when he gets going. He needs to be playing CB. None of this nonsense at LB to accommodate Alaba who sees his arse.
You can't? how long are you expected to wait for them to "get going", no one wanted to wait for Woodgate to get going, he was just ridiculed from the start, why break up a title winning partnership just to shoehorn this other player in there and then have to "wait" for him to perform, He didn't come to us as some inexperienced teenager like Vin who we had to give time, he came as a seasoned expensive addition, hopefully he get's it together soon, and people will stop blaming David for some of Rudiger's weaker performances, David was back in Madrid but he's still to blame for Rudiger not getting it right, we aren't Chelsea, ask Eden.
I’m talking about the performances at CB. Not up to mark and as digital said he’s a seasoned veteran, so acclimatisation and all shouldn’t be an excuse at his level.
The one thing that I'll note is that he's been terrible on the ball. But that was never his skill. You can't expect him to pass it out like he's Kroos. But what he can do quite well is dribble the ball out of your half and get you out of pressure. The coaching staff has to do better in utilizing players to the best of their abilities.
Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, a large proportion of the games where he's had a shocker have been in the fullback positions. Not all, but definitely one too many.
Maybe because the team needs offensive output from the player who himself hasnt been at all convincing at CB this season.
There seems to be a ridiculous amount of confusion over assignments with runners frequently getting by our midfield and then our fullbacks and center backs adjusting very late or not all. We also see very odd over compensation at times with centerbacks drifting higher up the pitch than midfielders trying to stop forward progression. I think the modern game requires a lot more athleticism than we get from our midfield and it really causes problems for our defense.
I don't think what people were expecting. He's a tough defender with a serious engine. Spanish press were blasting him for being "a danger to his own team with the ball" but that has never been the player he is. He's a no nonsense defender with a solid machine on him. Not more, not less.
Can’t say he has done excellently in that “no nonsense” solid defending aspect either. Gerard Moreno and Danjuma ran circles around him, he was dribbled past by both with ease in final few minutes of that game.
🚨 The heavyweights in the locker room are angry & do not understand why Rüdiger has overtaken Nacho in the pecking order. He has played only 642 minutes this season (1,435 for Rüdiger), which places him as the 16th in the squad. @Santos_Relevo #rmlive— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) January 19, 2023
Nonsense. These "lockeroom heavyweights" should be more worried about Alaba playing CB than Rudigier playing there.
Alaba and Nacho in the heart of defence would get bummed by any team that plays long balls. Those two should never be a CB pairing. Great servants for the club, both of them, but as a partnership it’s asking for trouble. You use one or the other and pair them with someone who can actually win aerial duels like Rudiger or Militao. But Nacho should be ahead of Rudiger as fullback option.
Without a transfer fee, you get a guy whose ceiling is an elite cb and whose floor is arguably the best 3rd cb in the game. Yeah he's been up and down, but the market opportunity was clear. Low risk, high reward. I don't know how we survived last season with just Alaba Militao and Nacho tbh. Oh yeah, Vallejo played against Manchester City in a Champions League semifinal
When we brought him in at the back of his performances against us , the idea perhaps should have been to start Eder and him as CB pair, with Nacho as 3rd CB option and moving Alaba to the LB position ?
Perez can always sell him for a profit. I know that he is not a young player, but any amount will be a profit for us.
🚨🎖️| Ancelotti is concerned about the defense. Rüdiger & Ferland Mendy have been the two most noted footballers in recent club meetings. @relevo— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 22, 2023