what do madrid fans think about the performances of young madrid defender alvaro meija at CB this season, does he have a future as a starting CB with madrid or is he really just filling in? what qualities does meija posess to play CB for madrid i wonder, perhaps madrid will replace him and sell him? please discuss...
Comparing to Pavon and Bravo he is much better, has done well in big games (this season) but i doubt he will be given a chance next season if we sign a new CB. IMO he can make a good CB in a few years
Fast strong central back i think he is a better blocker than S.ramos, good passer that can connect the midfield with defense. If he had been No.1 for a season he'd would of been a spanish international. Hes 23 and 184 he scored 2 goal this season throughout headers. Unlikely Meijia who was the second best player yesterday (against Getafe) was solid and stable throughout the whole game had a goal against him but it has R.carlos mistake where he marked Contra but left alone ready to header the ball. The frist leg against Arsenal Meija came in as sub to injured Woody and played better than Ramos where he left Henry alone when CiCi and R.C where out of position and Ramos was screwed up that game so Meijia the only one with Henry,Ljunbeerg, Cesc ,Reyes alone and done great job.
nothing special but better than laurel and hardy (helguera and pavon). he should be replaced in the summer with an experienced cb to help bring ramos on. hopefully he'll stay asback up to ramos tho.
Mejia has not been that special, Ramos has been far better and so has Bravo for a while. Yes i do not think he will get a chance if we sign a new CB next season.
i think mejia has performed well and has gotten the chances to prove hes a good defender. against farsa he did awesome, and i think he should remain on that position for next season. remeber that we have to promote our cantera, without it were just buying,buyin,buying,buying.
exactly. 1 CB is all I really think we need this summer, and thats as cover in case Ramos is injured. I hate seeing people say we need to buy more CB's, when Mejia has performed very well this season. Raul Bravo and Ramos also seem to have a good partnership going, so if we were to have Ramos, 1 Summer-Purchase CB, Mejia, Bravo....................and Pavon way down here, we should be ok. And Woodgate may play a game or 2 here or there as well to add to that. Lets's stop saying we need to buy players in positions where we have actually been decent this season. Our defense as of late has not been bad at all, we suck at set pieces but are good at most other things, especially with Casillas.
All our defense really lacks is an experienced CB. Someone to help guide the rest. Woodgate could be that CB but hes never there, but pair Ramos next to a Nesta or Terry and you'll see him do wonders. But if hes having to worry bout what Salgado is doing, the man he's marking and Helgueras man then no wonder hes gonna make mistakes. Oh and DM would ease their headaches as well. Its hard enough to mark the attackers but having them worry about the midfielders moving up or taking long range shots doesnt help much.
Good conclusion... Nesta is too old i think he 28 and close to 29! I would like to have King or Toure they are both good players and i would not mind Alex or Chivu.. I'd keep Mejia as frist choice sub over Bravo who would be second choice but frist choice at LB. I'd sell Woody cause of his injuries. Keep Diogo as a sub for CiCi and our new Dm. Of-course we have to find replacment for Carlos who'd be No.1 LB and i'd ask A.cole for that.
dooda, I couldn't agree with you more. Alvaro has improved greatly this season alone. More experience in games and he may become something special.
I think that with Woodgate (i'm jinxing it, i can feel it) coming back eventually, and having Bravo as a backup, Ramos, Mejia and Woodgate will be able to cover out CB spots just fine. I really like Mejia, he's improved so much, and is still very young. I don't think we need to buy a new CB at all, i think we should allow the three of them to develop. Might be a tough year, or two, but with Casillas behind them and a good new DM (yes, we need a new one, offload Helguera, Garcia and Gravesen PLEASE, they all suck) they will be good. And just think in a few years what a combo they will be.
Keep Gravesen as a DM. We need a CB, like I've been saying for a year now. Kompany, Terry, Maldini, Nesta, Cannavaro, Ferdinand, they all look attractive at this point to Real.
Kompany great defender but has a shoulder injury which seems worst than Woodys injury and hes only 19 Terry is 25 and amazing too but well chelsea let go of him? Maldini Noways he 37 and would not leave his soul team Milan i dont think he can run as good as Helguera Ferdinand had drugs, bad history, and 27 . Cannavaro is 32 and worst than Pavon nowonder he does'nt start with Juve. NEsta old but good. Do they look for madrid? I like Meijia more than all these players I'd go for Toure 22 amazing CB who made us critisize the R9 as he did not make go into the box. Oh Andrade is great thoughs hes 26. Pablo seems to be rock solid alonngside S.ramos in the Spanish squad.
I would take these center backs over Mejia any day. You can't stick Mejia and Ramos together and tell me we're going for the Treble, because you need experience and judgment in the back before all else.
Cool so expect Maldini to last long we have Helguera who has experience who told that Kompany who is 19 and injured at belguim the whole year has experience.
Anyone in the 30 range is o for me. All we need is 2 years in this transition period so wecan develop our own backs like Ramos, Mejia, etc so they can grow into the role instead of ********ing a whole season over. Look how well our defense played with Woodgate in the back. Kompany and Vanden Borre are more of long term options, I'm sorry if I mis-stated that in my previous post. I figured they'd be excellent signings either way, a definite plus for any defense. My ideal defense would be where Helguera is rested long-term, reconditioned, and played with Castilla (with Pavon) to help him regain his form. Lopez Caro's wrecked him, turning him from one of the best players in defense for 2004-05 to an idiot who doesn't even sit on the bench. Having an experienced CB like Woodgate will help us in heaps and loads for at least a season or two, just like the effect of signing Roy Keane will give us a temporary stopgap defense. Assuming we could afford 10 million for a pretty good center back, or even 5 million for an out-of-form one like Cannavaro, will rejuvenate our center defense and give it the game-reading capability we had in 99-02 with Hierro. Then, in 2008 or so, when Ramos has matured and Mejia has shown to be a long-term option, we can have our ideal CB pairing. But until then, we need to stop the rot and have experience to counter all those goals scored off set pieces and headers against us.
Yep, experience to complement the youth of Ramos. Andrade or Gallas are my favourites. So we have a back 4 of CiCi (Diogo) , Ramos (Meija) , ? (Woody) , ? (bravo) salgado, helguera, pavon - shut the door on your way out will ya.