Just finished watching the game. Stream wasn't doing good for me so I decided to shut myself off from all football till they delay telecasted it right after the match got over. Great stuff from Robinho. Guti after a so-so start started playing brilliantly later on. Some of the balls he picked out were . Another thing I noticed was that Guti probably took more shots in this game than the last 2 seasons combined. Eitherway, I hope he does this more. Salgado was undoubtedly PoTM for me. His performance was horrendous to the point that once he missed a 5-yard rolling ball on the touchline. I love his attitude and his love for the club to death, but I think he should seriously look at retirement after this season, atleast from a club as big as this. And lastly, Wow. What a save from Iker. The whole stadium hailing him and shouting "IKER!IKER!" after that was really a sight to see. If anyone has a picture of that, please please please please please please share it.
Other than the goal, I also think Raul was out of it. IMO he did not play bad in the first half, but in the second half he was not good at all. He should have been subbed out about 15 minutes earlier, IMO. BUT I do not really want to put him down much because he has been in great form this season and scoring! Casillas definitely saved us twice at the end of the match, and if it wasn't for him we probably would have never gotten the chance to score that last goal because they would have scored and it would have most likely ended in a draw. Robinho did not play that well before his goal. He was losing possession and giving passes away, but he is the MOTM because after the first goal he did so many great things and completely changed the match for us. He had that first goal, then got us a penalty, then scored again, and then still gave an assist to Balboa! Guti had a great game also IMO. He had some wonderful passes that created great chances and had shots as well. He also got back more and it looked like he was taking it a bit more serious this time. I hope he stays like this more often. Gago had a decent game too, IMO. He had some great passes as well and stole the ball many times. I think if we do not have Diarra and Gago gets more used to this position, he could be very good. Salgado..........Horrible. He should not play anymore unless we are winning in a Copa del Rey match by about 4 goals. Ramos was not as good as he usually is, but he is always giving 100% and that is why i love how he plays. Metzelder did not have toooo much to do but he did not do too bad. Our defense did look out of it many times, but we didnt have CANNA and surely missed him. Marcelo had a good match as well. He had some good runs up the field as always, and some good tackles. He was late, however, a few times getting back so he should work on that a bit more. Sneijder is still not playing that well. He did try hard and ran a lot, but was not really helpful. He is not the Sneijder we were used to seeing in the beginning of the season. RVN did not play well. Even though he is always running and playing very hard, I felt he should have finished a couple of chances he had. AND did anyone notice how his shots outside the box are just not good at all most of the time??? Overall i feel this match was not too bad offensively. We had many many chances and should have had about 7 goals, but still not too bad. Our defense was not great at all. Iker saved us and we definitely need to improve our marking. Cannavaro was missed tonight for sure. Still a good win 4-2. HALA MADRID
Huh? It wasn't us that played Rangers yesterday. This is not the Barca thread it's the Madrid one. Oh and I hope you weren't expecting 10 goals considering our current form and the way teams play 10 men behind the ball when they come to OUR house. First.... SELL Robinho!! Anyways, the game was a tough one. We started of strong then died out 20 or so minutes later. Thank God we had Robinho to come save the day! Key Points: - Robinho and Casillas with monster games. - Raul and Ruud with the exact opposite. - Schuster DOES have balls and he does gamble. - "El inconsistento" had a good game so expect 10 bad ones to follow. - Raul Bravo was clapped... yah. - Salgado was horrible, I feel really bad for him because he tried hard. Players: Ruud - Pretty bad, he at least was finding a way to get a hold of the ball but kept taking outside shots but to no avail. He muffed a penalty and seemed to lose his composure. He did assist Robinho though. Raul - I'll get stick/attacked for saying this but Raul played bad. Yeah, even though he scored that rebound he disappeared too many times and just didn't really have it today. Great pounce for the goal though. Guti - "El incosistento" bounced back with a decent game and this was much before he was moved behind the strikers. Why? He actually TRIED, which when he does play decently. Sneijder - Started of bad then took some shots one over two the keeper saved as his play improved. After that he disappeared and has been doing so his last four or so games. Hope this doesn't continue. Robinho - Started of great. He made the first goal possible by his play and hustle. Then he fell off losing the ball and making bad decisions. He bounced back greatly, scoring a header, a chip shot then assisting Balboa. He even drew a penalty which Ruud messed up. The guy had his hands in all 5 major attempts to score which we scored 4 and the penalty was missed. Great game and even better answer the the "sell Robinho" camp. Great response to the fans who make him the "excuse". He also showed our management his dedication with this "bounce back". Gago - Surprised at the flack he seems to be getting. He played really well at times and only seemed to strong because we had a chopped up backline. He moved the ball better than Diarra could ever dream to and although wasn't exactly the defensive force Diarra is, did well to track back on key counter attacks. Marcelo - Did well as it seems he always does well. Can't believe how blind Capello was not to see ability in this kid. Really glad Capello is gone, lol. He did well to beat opponents and although left holes did well to sure up his side. Most of the attack came away from him. Ramos - Didn't play too well but did some good things like the assist and a couple of his runs. However he seems to rush wildly into things at time which can be a liability. Metzelder - Struggled alot, considering how Ramos was play. Got beat a couple times which wasn't really impressive. Hope he steps his game up. Salgado - Utterly miserable. I really feel bad for the guy. He reminds me of a vet who was trying but wasn't getting the job done and just "died" out. Salgado was giving his all out their and tried to bleed for the shirt but he was falling way WAY short. He made bad passes, bad tackles (R.Bravo), and was out of place alot. I saw his frustration when the whistle blew for halftime he let out some uh.. choice words. Kind of sad. Casillas - Was on fire. Some of his saves were completely unbelievable. How can anybody deny him being one of the best keepers? Subs: Higuain - Got in Ruud's way and didn't really bring anything to the table. However if not fouled when he beat their CB, he could of brought something. He was no different than Drenthe would be, nice people aren't voting him "pavon of the match". Torres - I thought he struggled but mainly because our backline was basically in disarray. Balboa - Robinho gifted him a goal. He could of passed it off, but I don't blame him for getting selfish. He did made a couple of impact runs as well. Other notes: Schuster has guts. He made some shocking changes and moved to a 3-4-3 which astonishingly played more like a 3-1-5-1, lol. Casillas the "youtube" keeper kicked some ass. I lol at ZZR923 because Zidane, Rfatso and Becks are all youtube players. Messi, C.R, Kaka, the list goes on so Casillas is in GOOD company. Buffon isn't a youtube keeper though. Robinho who the media said should be sold in the summer a day later is now being glorified by that same media. Fickle. Like I said, Schuster handled the situation with Robinho PERFECTLY. Instead of going nuts on him ala Capello v.s. Diarra, Cassano, Robinho, Guti, Beckham, etc. He did well to give him confidence, not benching him like people wanted. Glad our fans remembered that Bravo was one of our own. Wow, what a game!
I think he was referring to the 2nd goal where robinho clicks his heels twice. Oh.. does anyone know what happened to Soldado? I was under the impression he was included in the squad for this match, but then his named was not listed. I think Schuster should have pulled Ruud for Saviola or Soldado. My one criticism of Schuster is that for all his rotations he almost always starts Ruud and Raul, Ruud looks absolutely knackered he should be given a rest and Soldado is due.
Just finished watching the game on a rebroadcast. My thoughts. 1. Despite it being sloppy at times, this game was a lot of fun to watch. With Olympiakos down to 10 men and Madrid playing from behind most of the game, it really ensured that we would go on the attack and we certainly tried. That was cool. 2. The defense was bad so the counterattacks that resulted from point 1 were really scary. I guess this is understandable though for the middle section of the game when Marcelo and/or Sergio Ramos were pushing forward and Salgado was out/useless, but still... 3. I couldn't believe how long I went without hearing Sneijder's name in the mid/late second half. Marcelo, a left back, seemed to be twice as involved in the attack. 4. Speaking of Marcelo, who would have thought that going into the year he would be the young Madridista whose future hear looks most certain. I can see him holding down our left side for years. Was it not for Robinho scoring two goals, helping to set up one, and earning a penalty that should have been a third, he would have been my man of the match. 5. I thought Castillas was solid, but wouldn't have put him on my MOM list until the last few minutes. Then...wow. 6. Boy was I surprised to see Balboa check in. Shocked. Great to see him score (though originally I was yelling at my TV telling him to let that ball through).
Who is this buffon you speak of? is it a brand of speakers? honestly...casillas a youtube keeper. well no shit sherlock with the saves he makes. did you see the bernabeu bowing and chanting his name. this is the first time ive ever see them do that...ever!
Robinho set up the 2 goals he didn't score, the steal and the through ball to Ruud is his (although Ruud missed and Raul tapped it in, he did set up the play), as is most of the counter and the cross to Balboa in the 4th, IIRC. Our whole game today was Robinho, literally from the 2nd through the 93rd minute.
He will be of great use to Tottenham or Arsenal. Well atleast that's what the English media is saying. You did my friend you did. I advise you next time to download it without seeing the score.
He obviously needs motivation. It happened last season as well. People was calling his head and he then began to pla well.
I agree with your comment on Guti, but I differ on gago completely. Time and again as i was watching the game, he impressed me with his aggressive passing, stuff that was completely missing from Diarra's game (a point which I have been repeatedly pointing for a while). Nay, I am very happy with the way Gago played. But one may wonder though how he would have fared had he been playing against 11 men. Had he been so aggressive? How would he have held up in defense? But still, he contributed to the attack very well. We should give him more games. Robinho was a revelation and Olympiakos got their game plan against Robinho horribly wrong. He was not marked at all and was allowed to make his runs, something in which he is very good at. I just hope he keeps up this form. And finally, Casillas a "youtube keeper". Nothing short of a blasphemous comment. Schuster's must flaunted 'best defense in Europe" is right now looking very shaky. Why in hell would Schuster choose Salgado to start? But I will give it to Schuster. After that all his subs made complete sense. He made the right changes and made things to happen. All in all, a very enjoyable game.
I can't, it would've made me even more nervous not knowing if they had won or lost before I went into my exam. Winning made me feel that much better. I'm thrilled Robinho silenced his critics, I was beginning to feel his attitude was getting in the way of his progress. Even since the partying fiasco I was beginning to lose my never with him as it seemed like he was suffering from Ronaldo-itis but he proved me wrong. I hope he can keep it up.
Is it true that whenever Robinho scores Real goes on to win? Some commentator kept on saying that after he scored the first goal.
After a long workday in media blackout mode, that was a pretty exciting match to come home to. Good game from the team (except poor Salgado....)
It was the commentator named Palmer I think. He said in the 20 games Robingol has scored... Real Madrid has won all 20.
If you are talking about the yellow card in the Espanyol game, I am not so sure. Revista De La Liga showed the play in slow motion & it appears RVN's foot was clipped when he drew it back. I do agree with the larger point that he is not as deadly as he was last year.
Silenced his critics Robinho. Salgado, a game to forget. Gago IMO did extremely well, since we were playing 1-1-8. Marcelo, this kid can go along way this season. Don't know where that leaves Heinze and Drenthe for left back. On the Australian broadcast of this game, the commentator had no idea who the players were. I can recall many times him calling Ramos Guti and Guti Ramos. And when Balboa was ready to come onto the pitch, he said Drenthe was coming on. Robinho has arrived, lets hope he can carry this momentum further.
Well do you agree with me then? I think my point was empahatically proved last night: An amazing acrobatic save which is good enough to be featured on clip sites like Youtube...but also some poor organising of his defence at set pieces which led to conceeding a goal. Hence the phrase Youtube keeper. But I don't want to swap him either, I just think he needs to improve a lot on the other important part of his game - communication and distribution. I like Rob Palmer's commentary- he generally calls it like it is. Would you rather listen to some biased sycophant dribbling on about how great RM are and ignoring the many poor passages of play? Perhaps you could apply for th job Besides, at least he gets the players names right unlike Gerry Armstrong! Raul -we'll see. Apart from a good poachers goal he did nothng but unsettle the balance of the team. Let's park this one and revisit at the end of the season.
As someone said on here last night Justic was given in the end. We were the better team by a long shoot. But we sufferd in giving silly goals away and really poor defending. The frist goal they scored should have been stooped before the Djordjevic could reach the box there was a point were Salgado could have just put his two feet out and stopped the ball but NO he keeps running back given the player the space. The second goal well the making should have been better Ramos should have been on Lua Lua. But never mind. Before the player review. I just wanna say that the save from Iker at the end was amazing it went slow motion for me. Casillas: Good game in all did not have to much to do but we need was on the good from he has been no for a couple of years now. Salgado: I thought he was poor i felt sorry for him in a way casue he really tried hard he is just low on confidance and looks a little past it. I still think he is good cover for the RB though. Did anyone see him swearing at half time? Great stuff. Ramos: Was ok but he was out of posstion. He is so so much better at RB. He is a little wasted at CB plus i dont think the Ramos Metz partenership works. Metzelder: Cleard some balls was ok looks strong and was marking well. He is good needs Canna with him though. Marcelo: Again was good. The thing with him is that he looks nervous on the ball and does not hold it too well. But i can see him being a star in a few years time. And he's only 19 Gago: I thought he was so so poor in the first half he was giving the ball away was not racking back was not on his man. I was a little unhappy with him. Bust second half i thought he changed was tackling hard holiding the ball and passing was good. All in all had a good game. Robinho: Man of the match for me he had a dodgy start but after that he was on fire taking people on geting round them the nice little toches and everyhing plus the two goals were class. Oh and his runs towards the box were amazing. Guti: After a poor start he was good the passing was good and the holiding and control was amazing. He is very important to this team. I feel he was holding the ball up real nice. Sneijder: Was ok he had some real good shots in the first half was make nice runs. I just find when the team plat poor so does he. Raul: Nice finish on the first goal he was making runs but was not really involed in the game much. Van Nis: He was ok but he has got a big dip in form at the mo. The pen miss was bad. But he was well of tonight. See how he goes in the games now. Subs: Torres: Was not on for long but looked ok. Balboa: Rocky did not do much but the clam in his finish was very very good. Higuian: Was ok but looked a little lost on the right wing. Looked good when he played behind the strikers for a bit. All in all i was happy not happy at half time but i was happy in the end. We have to improve and lets hope it happens this weekend against Depor.
Robinho's constant diving and theatrics drive me up the wall. He needs to be less egotistical on the ball and be more fluid and constructive with regard to passing to the forwards. He's got so much talent, he just needs his all-round game to be developed more by his coaches.