Courtois, Carvajal, Benzema, Casemiro. I don't count Mendy or the young guys we recently signed. Almost the entire old guard is out of a contract in 2023 including Kroos who said he'd like to retire at that point. That's why Ancelotti made sense. We didn't bring him in to lead a new project. He's a good choice to respectfully steer this team into their final couple seasons until we're completely unrecognizable.
Ok understood i was counting guys like Militao and Mendy as well as they are part of this team now and have been with us for more than a year just as long as Tbo no? one guy i would add to those 4 though would be Fede, he's been with us long enough IMO
If Benzema is still part of the core of this team in 2 years something went drastically wrong with the rebuild. It would mean we didn't sign Halaand, who won't be coming to play out on the wing either way, and while having someone like Mbappe might help prolong Benzema’s career I'm not sure this will become some instantly unstoppable combination or that it will raise Mbappe's level of performances because that certainly wasn't the case at the Euros. I know people are riding high off his form the last couple of seasons but I think we shouldn't plan around him carrying on like this at 34, 35... especially now that he's going to be a full time starter with his national team. If anything we should be expecting that with the national team breaks he's going to need more rest during the club season or risk him spending time out of the team with injuries or burn out.
So far I like what Im hearing from Ancelotti, he wants to play with intensity because according to him the game has changed and we have to adapt, whether the talks translate to on the pitch performances remain to be seen, I know for this to work though he can’t do what he usually does which is rely on 13-14 players all season. He has to incorporate some of the youngins. According to a report Ancelotti received, Alaba and Militão are 2 of the 4 fastest center backs on the continent. Ancelotti’s idea is for the team to press up and join lines in attack, which is why he needs fast CB’s. @defcentral #rmlive ⚡️— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) August 7, 2021
What good is running fast going forward if you can't dribble or cross the ball. Might be better utilized doing cleanup for Kroos/Alaba on the left than being the guy they send through balls to.
Ferland can dribble just fine, and constantly make runs in behind the FB's that we all keep asking for when attacking, the creatives need to trust him more IMO
His crossing is the issue for me. He can get himself into really great positions but he's just as likely to send the ball into the stands as he is to get it on target. We've been spoiled by Marcelo's service in the past but I think if Mendy can be more consistent with his deliveries there would be no need to even discuss the possibility of converting him to another position.
This is the biggest issue to me. He can actually penetrate when he wants to and gets out of trouble in the middle of the pitch pretty well to drive upfield. But his crossing is suspect as hell. Needs to work on it a lot.
agreed, unfortunately that's everyone on our team including the wingers with the exception IMO of Rodrygo and maybe...............Marco, lots of hit and hope, but yes, still doesn't make that any less a problem for him or us
You think his dribbling and crossing is just fine but I'm accustomed to watching Roberto Carlos, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Hakimi, etc., and he's just not up to par as an attacking fullback for Real Madrid IMO.
No i don't as far as his crossing is concerned, and IMO the only one of those players that is an outstanding technical dribbler is Marcelo, all the others were/are about speed more than dribbling, push and run mostly, just like Ferland
Man Ramos used to bust out the step overs like nothing, I remember there was a time people thought he might transition into an attacking player instead of a CB. As CB he was possibly the best in the world at playing out ifbthe back, nobody is suggesting Ferland should be a CB because if his calm presence with the ball at his feet or because if his superb diagonal long balls. Bale started getting linked to us while he was still a LB and even "average" fullbacks like Reguillon look a whole level better when they are in the opponents half. It is what it is but we've tended to have fullback who were better at attacking then defending or at least with Carvajal, Salgado, etc, it was an even split.
❗| Modrić will be Ancelotti's main man in the midfield, due to Kroos' injury the Croatian will have to play many more minutes. Isco, Ødegaard, Valverde and Ceballos will "fight" to replace Kroos. @diarioas— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) August 9, 2021
We just need to be more attentive to the fact that he is 35/36. It’s unfair to Luka to ask him to contribute how we did last season and end up running him into the ground. It’s time for Valverde to hopefully put these injuries behind and deliver consistently across the season. Time for Odegaard to once and for all show if he has the goods to deliver at a big club or he he just another talent who’s more suited to smaller expectation clubs.
It's also unfair to Luka for him to not play when he clearly is the best option available.I'm not saying start him at the cup vs a third division team, but the big games? Modric in the starting lineup every time for me.
It depends. Against Chelsea for example our midfield got evicerated and that's partly due to Modric not having the legs anymore to be able to handle fast players. That game confirmed to me that the midfield 3 is WC on it's day but don't have the legs anymore to be able to handle high intensity games. Valverde should be a started when he comes back from injury, not on the RW but as an actual CM
It's also attributed largely to the fact that we played with 3 defenders and Ramos was absolutely terrible in the first game (returning from injury too early) and Varane putting on the final brushstrokes in the second leg. We let Werner, who was considered a flop, look like prime Rivaldo out there.
In addition, in my view, we shouldn't overanalyze the Chelsea games, as our team was already run into the ground due to amongst others various injury issues. At times we couldn't even field 11 first teamers, and our best (and aging) players had to play in each and every game. Modric is the best midfielder on the team (and top 3 in the world, period). If he's fit and if it's an important game, he should start. That being said, we should (i) manage his minutes a bit better this season, in order to preserve him for the later stage of the season, and (ii) make an effort into integrating the younger midfielders. In that regard, Fede is my go to person to rotate with both Kroos and Modric. Odegaard should earn his minutes the hard way; show you're good enough, also from a mentality perspective. I rate him highly, but I didn't like how he ran away last season. It cost us, period.