People were getting so pumped up after we beat Chelsea and the likes in pre-season but in that first game against Betis that little dude Cedric tore us to pieces. We were lucky not to be down 1-3 at the break. It took for Casemiro, of all people, to come on and bring some balance to the side. The play was poor but with maybe 4 key players not with the squad and our mega crack just getting his first minutes of the pre-season then these results don't come as much of a surprise. One major plus about playing teams such as Roma and United is that the team gets a good workout and the matches are still pretty competitive due to the quality of players on the pitch. I'd rather be loosing to Roma and United than be beating 2 or 3 Chinese teams 10-0 every few days. No more false 9 shit. Bring someone in even if it hurts poor little Karim's feelings.
I agree w saying Isco isn't a false nine (especially in a 4-4-2), but that's not on him. I don't understand criticizing him for not passing more when the only one consistently working to combine with him was Bale. Oh well. The way this preseason played out isn't too surprising. Last year was different: a new coach, more rest over the summer, a different motivation to play in Guinness ICC final, etc. Most of the squad doesn't look physically ready yet - which is to be expected. Not looking to make excuses because some players look like they don't belong. Oh, and Van Gaal is right. I'm sure we didn't want to lose this game. And they did deserve to win. Fair statements. Still doesn't change reality - but fair statements.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm giving up on this season due to these pre-season games where we are missing half our squad and are playing against teams for whom winning against us in meaningless games is a bigger prize than any they could possibly win next season.
Me too. Losing the Guinness Cup or whatever the ******** is unacceptable. And losing to Manchester United of all teams. Just give back the CL trophy. Fire Carlo. Hire Luxembergo and start from scratch.
The back line can't do much when there isn't collective defending from the entire team. Once we pushed forward and lost our shape, the defenders were always goingto be all over the place with last ditch tackles. I agree Isco isn't the false nine we're looking for. James is. Either way, a false nine will never do well unless its the middle part of an attacking trident. That wasn't our system yesterday and playing Isco as a strike partner for Bale will never work out. We also needed Di Maria yesterday.
So, next preseason will be in Asia. Same thing, same organisation, same tournament, different place. Next stop: China! Marca
I must say im impressed with Bale's performances so far. It's a plus side to not having him in the world cup. Hope he can sustain this. Also, i know it's a pre-season game against another major club, but it would've been nice to win. Record crowd gets treated to a win by the best club on the planet, rather than a non-champions league playing team this year.
In all fairness we only played with Benzema up front last season, because Morata didn't really have any impact on the team.
Well can't really get any conclusions from the first two games, except maybe which second team player is ready for a spot on the bench of the first team. Third game, not a lot of creativity up front, and bad defending. The behaviour in front of goal annoyed me more than the defensive blunders though. Very few decent attacks. As soon as uniteds defense was settled players just didn't know what to do. A few good fast "counter" attacks via Bale (also nice bycicle kick). It was the same "relying on individual moments of brilliance" as in the beginning of last season. I hope it will be fixed faster this time for a good league start.
If Casillas isn't starting, the armband goes to the next most tenured person. I think Pepe is still ahead of him. It's seniority with Real Madrid (tenure), not seniority in age.
Benzema isn't far away from being a captain. Only Iker, Pepe and Ronaldo in front of him and they'll be gone in 2 years...