Athletic Bilbao Vs. Real Madrid | La Liga Fixture 16 | Estadio San Mames | 04/12/24 21:00 CET

lol yes that makes complete sense, on another note no thoughts on the LB today?

 

Well, that was a nothing half on offense.

Defensively we were pretty sound outside of Vazquez and Fran unforced turnovers. Otherwise we held Bilbao well in check.

Hopefully they tire in the 2nd half and we start finding some holes in their shape

 

Fullbacks are utterly useless. So is Ceballos. Allows the opposition to double Jude, Mbappe and Rodrygo. There is no other threat so they can just pinch in. You can't expect the attackers to go 3v6

 

One positive is Athletic Bilbao attack looked pretty lethargic at San Mames in this first half. We looked clueless whenever we got into final third as well.

 

Dross first half.

Take off Tchoumeni and LV.

Bring on Diaz and Modric.

 

Remove Tchouemeni for Diaz.

Double pivot with Cebellos and Fede.

Mbappe Diaz Bellingham and Rodrygo

 

To add to this, there is no space... nowhere to dribble and nowhere to pass. Everything is clogged since the defense only needs to cover 3 using 6 players.

 

I can't overstate how atrocious Fran and LV were that half.

 

Ceballos has been excellent. With Cama back we might have found a working midfield finally

 

Ceballos has been our best midfielder. 8 recoveries, no bad giveaways, 2 interceptions and 94% passing.

 

The sad part is that Rudigger made a run at the end that either Fran or another CM needed to make.

 

No risk passing is useless. He's not doing anything. His passes always put his teammates in a difficult situation and he never sees any runs.

 

That's a fair enough observation, however on the other side of that coin, if players the calibre of Rodry, Jude and Kylian can only create if drilled to do so by the coach then i worry about the supposed quality, technique and brains of the players themselves, if what i've seen in the first half is all they can do because of the coach ......... i have to worry about their individual quality, i hope for better in the second half

 

We’re unbalanced with no real game plan.

 

He's helping us keep the ball in a tough stadium where Bilbao is pressing high while Fran, LV, Tcho has bad giveaways.

 

Tchouameni offering nothing on the field. Not winning balls back, not creating anything for the offense. He's been invisible. Turns like a carrier ship as well.

 

More about triangulation concepts. You need the CMs and fullbacks to triangulate a lot more actively around the ball holder and keep moving. Not many options.

 

It’s looking more likely that he might make an unexpected pop (mistake) and score an own goal

 

There is no way Fortea is worse than LV. No way. I sincerely hope Vasquez's contract isn't renewed.

 

The plan is pass to Vini but he's injured..

 

Well he's compensating for that lazy French midfielder we have aswell. So he is doing something.

 

Outside the 10 min period where Fran had a couple of bad giveaways he's done well. Both Inaki and Nico have tried to target him but he's defended them very very well.

Offensively we lack direct players. Need to see the attackers trying to create something themselves instead of waiting for passes from others

 

True. But I think we're expecting something from Tchou that he can't do. Same issue with France NT, where he's highly criticized. He's an old school destroyer and very little else. I'd put him at CB and bring in Modric.

 

when was the last time we had a game plan?