And as for Balague, what a disgrace. Basically wishing the end of Xabi Alonso in game commentary, the ********ing moron.
Jude our best player today, secons Rodrygo...rest bad Guler and Vinni should not start until they get they grip together...
He doesn't have to owe me lol. Just don't perform that badly for his own RM career's sake. It wasn't like he tried so hard and failed to score. He was lethargic in a lot of those minutes. Xabi even started him at LW at the cost of rotating Vini which pissed off latter.
Jude was very good. 3 points, but overall meh. I said many times, but why the hell Arda/Jude both playing.. so many problems.
Wonder if Aleix Garcia will be available in January. Could be a good short term option. Played under Xabi too.
Valdepenas should start in midweek too. Give him another run out. I also expect Dean, Asencio, Cebellos, Rodrygo, Endrick and Gonzalo to start. We could also use a Castilla RB and rest Valverde
Rodrygo will score again against Talavera and Sevilla. Then he will disappear for another 6 months. This is cyclical. I'm not being harsh. We have the receipts. This is the type of player he is. We have the receipts.
Nah man, any manager that sees the filth for 65 minutes and does nothing about it doesn't deserve to be coaching RM. Not that it'll be different with the next coach that accepts the position. I feel sorry for Xabi but I somehow have no sympathy for his castrated ass. Jr. has 1 assist every 5-6 games but thinks he's on par with Cristiano and wants the same privileges and pay. What a farce. The great 15 mins or so Jr. had in the end proves JFD's article about him being "not fully fit" was a pathetic attempt to find excuses for the bad performances which continue to dominate his game time. But aside from Jr. some players continue to be shambolic. These are the same players that see themselves above watching videos on where they can improve and complained about it to the higher ups. I don't see castrated Xabi becoming successful with us long-term.
Happy for the win, and the players definitely fought to pull it out of the bag today despite the circumstances. I just want to grumble a little bit about the obvious lack of quality in this team. And by that I mean intelligence on the ball, clever touch in tight spaces, and pin-point passing through/around pressure. I don't think I have seen a Madrid team this bad at those things in literally decades. (Maybe 2008 pre-Florentino?) So much of the play in midfield is just grunt and punt. I miss our team having actual skill on the ball. Mbappe is great with it. Huijsen is a step in the right direction. Trent is definitely skilful. Guler could get there one day but far from it now - but that's about it IMO. And that coming from someone who loves Jude and Fede.
If everyone has the workrate and discipline of that kid who played leftback, we walk over every opponent. Put Fede to shame honestly, thats how stark the difference between them was in terms of running up and down the pitch on each side.
This squad is 'mutilated'. A cocktail of moody and unstable stars, washed players and individuals that are not RM standard not even as rotation/squad players.
There was a time when most just wanted youth , pace and power, i didn't agree then, i read it here a lot in the KCM days, well...they got it, the plan was to "overrun" all opponents with said "pace and power", doesn't seem like it's working
The kid put in 100 percent. If you can't put 100 percent what good are you. Especially if you don't have any kind of creative or playmaking game like Fede. If the only thing hes good at is running and hes too old for that already, sell him ffs
100% agree. I remember Youngstars complaining about Kross and Modric constantly and how these new athletic players were going to usher in a new era. People forget these things. Kross was shat on constantly by a lot of the fanbase. Youngstars was nonstop back in the day. Youngstars....damn did he ever get anything right?
Xabi can help himself by playing Valde instead of Fran whenever Carreras needs a rest. Fran not just is mediocre technically but lacks the composure to play for RM. Has been a headless chicken for all three seasons at RM.
Fair point. He's been supportive of Xabi in all the games he's commentated while doubting club will give enough him time ever since 3 La Liga draws in a row. Guess they have a friendship since when Xabi was playing for Liverpool. Balague was Benitez unofficial spokesman in British media those days.