ATHLETIC BILBAO vs REAL MADRID | La Liga Jornada #18 | 22.01.23 | 21:00 CET

Cama, Ceba, Asensio, Militao, Fede, Nacho and Rudiger were excellent.

Benzema improved from the last 4 games, great finish when it mattered.

Vini was pushed off the game and offered nothing tonight.

Mendy proving once more that he doesn't belong at RM.

 

MENDY?? Bro..

 

Probably meant to say Militao.

 

Don't know about flawless but a good performance by the team, everyone struggled at some point as a lot of pressure was applied by Bilbao, but we pulled it off in the end

 

🎙| Ancelotti: "Vinicius? He's a great player and a very sensible person. The truth is everybody disrespect him. The rivals, the referees and the rival fans. We want more respect."

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 22, 2023

 

I did actually mean to say Militao

But I thought Mendy was solid too.

 

Carlo calling out the referees for disrespect towards Vini is a power move but also long overdue at the same time. The way they react to fouls committed on him vs by him is uncomfortable to watch. It’s probably having a big effect on his mental state this season.

 

Nacho can play anywhere across the back 4 as we all know but I've been saying for like a decade now that Nacho's strongest position is and always has been RB. I never understood the Danilos and Odriozolas considering we've had the Carvajal backup here all along.

 

Mendy's always sort of been this way but in the past he could makeup for it given his speed and power. He isn't aging well, don't know if it was that hip injury or what but he's definitely lost a step.

 

Professional performance. We probably should have scored one more given the chances.

Thank God the defence was mostly great today!

Also very happy for Camavinga, Asensio and Ceballos. All worked super hard. Good intensity.

When Camavinga's footballing brain improves, he's going to be ridiculously good. We should have him constantly shadow Kroos and Modric.

 

Not as a CB though. I've seen enough of Mendy.

 

We need him back but not at CB right now.

 

The thing that stands out to me was having the midfield of Fede, Ceballos and Camavinga all hustling on defense and when needed, Asensio/Vinny dropping in to help.

This goes a LONG way for us to help the D and get a clean sheet for a change. It helps Militao and Rudiger read the attack and make better decisions on covering and Nacho is still a valuable player who should be getting our minutes for RB as a starter.

I think Modric and Kroos are just too much of a liability now when trying to get them to help with defense. Any strong team is only as good as the spine, and we can’t carry both of them at the same time. Kroos especially. Modric can still put a shift in but not for 90 really.

 

Nacho comes back to remind us just how good he is. In his later years I've preferred him at CB but he's still good at RB.

Let's not forget it wasn't so long ago he had that monster second half of a season that saw us almost get to the CL final.

 

Nacho is like putting Led Zeppelin 1 back in your music rotation, it's easy some times to forget how good a reliable classic can be

 

That' why i was calling Nacho to start. Dude warrior! Always with good performance, need Lb, CB or RB? Call Nacho. Always giving his all.

 

With Alaba, his time at CB is coming to an end.

He either moved to LB or the bench.

We signed him on a free so if he’s unhappy with both, we’d likely sell and return a nice profit.

 

I think you'll find that that won't be the case, another player to hate on top of Mendy because Carlo won't do what the fans want, i haven't seen anything yet that makes Rudiger so much better than David, just the other day it was, we expect too much he's only played a few games, now, one game later, sell Alaba, weird, let's win a title or two first perhaps, some consistency would not go amiss like is being demanded from everyone else

 

Remember that peach he scored for Spain at the world cup 2018? And I think 2017 was it, he was the unsung hero of the ucl charge.

 

I agree but here's the thing, Mendy is bad. Really bad.

It's not a blip, he's just awful both defensively and in attack.

Until we get a proper LB, Alaba has to play there, it shouldn't be his call to decide otherwise and I've seen nothing remotely acceptable from Mendy for Carlo or Davide to "like" him so much.

I'm not calling for Alaba's head though.

Reports have suggested that the staff wanted to Alaba at LB this season but the Austrian didn't feel like it. Wtf.

CB partnerships take time to formulate and crystalize, Militao and Rudiger only just started playing together consistently as a duo and only because Alaba is out injured.

And it's not like Alaba hasn't had his fair share of errors and poor positioning this season as a CB

 

I never understood why Carlo keeps insisting on Alaba at CB other than personal feelings.

The team has Rudiger who is also good at ball progression and is much more physically imposing defensively and at set pieces.

Mendy is is MEHndy.