Don't think there will be any signings in January. Carlo will have to count on Rudiger, Tcho, Asencio, Jacobo and maybe Alaba later on.
I just remind people how much bayern spent last winter break and it was all nuclear tier bad options in hindsight.
We should all just hope at least one of them(preferably both) are unearthed as Madrid quality. That would be like hitting the jackpot.
Joan is the one everyone is raving about. Hope he has a smooth recovery from ACL and can get a spot few years down the line. Asencio/Jacobo turning out to be squad player quality would be great as well. We need some from new gen like Nacho, Lucas if not Carva level.
I don't know why you pay attention at this point. I sometimes hope the team drops out of the CL for a year just to clean house here.
I also don’t agree with this statement, surely the time to count on Castilla is by working out who should be promoted at the start of the season to have a legitimate role. Jacobo wasn’t that person because he was deemed not good enough, we had Tchouameni start at CB when Jacobo was fit to play. And now (by that I mean from January) we’re going to count on them when we’re desperate for options?
Full statement by Nacho: “I would love for them not to sign anyone and to go for homegrown players. In the end, you will know if the players from the academy are ready if they are given the opportunity. The other day Asencio had a very good game. The academy needs opportunities. If the club and the coach are brave, it is the perfect time.” https://as.com/futbol/internacional/nacho-me-encantaria-que-se-apostara-por-la-cantera-n/
This is Carlo's 6th season at the club. He hasn't given a debut to single Castilla player other than Odegaard (he bitched about having to do it in his book later on) and now Asencio. It's not his style to trust a Castilla player and promote them without first division experience. Mou is the one who gave debut to Nacho, Morata, Jese, Joselu etc. Zidane started Miguel in a few games where he impressed. Raul Asencio wouldn't have got the opportunity to play even against a 3rd division opponent in CDR if Carlo wasn't short of experienced CBs. Turns out he can do the job vs Osasuna in La Liga once he got an opportunity. Jacobo has been in squad list since last season ahead of Asencio, but never got a look in even in dead rubber games after we won La Liga. As for Tcho at CB, he was chosen to start there vs City at Bernabeu ahead of Nacho. Tcho got suspended for 2nd leg so Nacho got to start and won back Carlo's trust for the remainder of the season. Jacobo or Asencio ahead of Tcho as CB was never gonna happen when Carlo trusted him ahead of Nacho at CB in our toughest game last season.
We do need to sign someone, but I'll be all up for an academy player to be given a significant amount of minutes. Throw Asencio in and see how he does. If he does a decent job, there's little reason not to think he'll develop into a Madrid quality player.
I really don't know what team with ambitions will release their CB in the middle of the season and if they do it will for outrageous price. i prefer that Carlo will let more academy players minutes, you can't know how good or bad they are if you don't even let them play.
Oh yeah. Yap. Carlo genuinely doesn't build up youth well. I'm surprised Vini bumped up in form when he came hut i think it was an external factor of Vini himself pushing himself and getting tired of ridicule. In Bayern, Pep left him with a then inform Gnabry and Coman. When Carlo came he instantly benched them for Ribery and Robben who were really starting to show their age.
But Vini was a world class talent even in 2021. Coman and Gnabry are good but Vini is an elite level and probably Carlo could see it in training against his teammates. Also, there isn’t much wrong that a winger can do to lose you a game. Trusting youngster for a CB is way more risky move.
If we'd have world class youngsters they'd be world class elsewhere. It's pretty easy. The question is whether they can be decent squad players and plug and play options, but I think that's something you can't ask from a coach that's trying to win titles. Barca have it easier because eventually it's very integrated system between the academy and the first team.
We don't have a "system", the team defines it. Barca might not stick to the recipe 100% but certain building blocks are always present. It's something I said about Spain before. Play the game in a way that everybody can play it. That's why all Spain teams play the same kind of football from the U16s to the female national team.
He's Spain's clear 2nd choice at DM and now with Rodri injured he has made that spot his, terrible comparison. And it's not like quality DMs we can sign are dime a dozen.
Both are good players with high ceilings, but I always find that amount of money for a CB to be ludicrous. Also, neither will come in January.
World class youngsters in setting A don't always translate to world class youngsters in setting B. It's the nurture vs nature argument to a certain degree. I think sports psychology plays a big part here. Which, if I'm not mistaken, is kind of an area of your expertise, so I'd like to hear your take on it. Sometimes we'll have a player leave and look like a great talent immediately. Maybe these examples are not all "youngsters", but remember Sneijder in 2010? Or Robben after he left Real Madrid, Hakimi, Theo Hernandez, Odegaard? Hell even Mariano was pretty good in Lyon that one year when he left. He comes back and is just crap. It's like some players shrink after leaving, while others manage to step up. Not every player will work out for us, that doesn't necessarily mean they're not world class. DeBruyne and Salah were surplus in Chelsea. Yet they're world class now. At this point we won't be winning anything if we'll have to play Camavinga at CB or Mbappe at RB. So youngsters are a valid option in the short term. Even Carlo had to "capitulate" and call up Asencio, which shows just how bad we've been hit with injuries. As that's not something he'd usually do.
Kubo and Odegaard are sort of showing their level elsewhere right now. Llorente did at Atleti and arguably still does now. Brahim is for us the exact same player he was at Milan. It's not all that complicated.