I don't like to rate young players too early, but Asencio seems to have it. Composed, and has cojones to play a direct pass when he sees it even though the passing lane is narrow. Will be good to see how he manages from now on. Unfortunately, I don't think he will be getting a lot of minutes once Alaba comes back. Much better game from Mbappe, more involved and lively. Still, pretty wasteful end product, but the goal he scored was great. I hope this isn't just one of those "one-off" games. He needs to build on this and keep his head down and work. Arda has been a bit of a letdown. This is a player our players were raving about a year ago, he obviously impressed in training. I think the lack of consistency is what is hurting his development. A loan could be the answer. Wins like these are important. It wasn't perfect, but we got the result. Even if it was 1:0 I would be happy with the win. Whenever we make the most out of Barca's slipups and close the gap it's a good day. On to the next one.
I like Raul too, so far he's been pretty solid, but on the other side of that coin most of you think Tchou is fine as a CB, i've read it over and over again, the thought is he should move there permanently, rather than play in the middle, if fans can see that from outside, why would Carlo not see it too, in the end he's a first team player, if there is a chance for him to play he will play before a youth team product i would imagine, it's only now that Raul has emerged that it "seems" that you would not like to see Tchou play as a CB. In the end it's easy to be a fan and just think things should be a certain way when you don't actually have the responsibility of managing the team and having to always win, it's a nice story but we already tried the Zidanes and Pavons, it did not go well Based on what, his performances vs teams in the depths of the third division of Spanish football? just because one player looks good doesn't mean they all will..... and we have to win, as demanded by the fans (you) and the management, experiments should be rare no?
Incredibly divergent takes on today's game. I think I'm somewhere in the middle, after that great first half and scoring a good goal I thought this might be the moment Mbappe and the team take a step forward or at least Mbappe figures out how to flat track bully hapless mid table teams. The team looked alot better with guys like Ceballos, Brahim, Fran, etc. all able to perform in their supporting cast roles. But Mbappe then went 0/2 in 1v1's, with one shot saved and the other shot slowly rolled out of bounce. Getafe had a shot go off the cross bar and post, if that goes in I think there would be alot more questions around Mbappe right now.
Its not our job, I used the watch Castilla with Lucas, Morata, Nacho, Carvajal, Juan Carlos, Jese, but I don’t have time for that now. It’s not crazy to expect that there are some talents in the youth in the biggest club of the world. It’s Ancelotti and his staff job to do that shit. If there is a Ascensio like player in the youth, don’t bother playing midfielders as defenders.
Ancelotti: "Fran García? A lot of quality, I liked him. But we have to remember we also have Ferland Mendy and we won 2 Champions League with him." ahhh, let’s play Lucas RW and Modric in Belli’s place. they have 12 CLs together.
Raúl Asencio vs Getafe:90 minutes played.92 touches.95% passing accuracy.9 clearances.1 interception.1 tackle.1 last man tackle.1/1 long ball completed.1/1 dribble completed.5/6 ground duels won.3/3 aerial duels won.SOLID. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/CX7euMKYBW— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024
🗣 Ancelotti: "Kylian Mbappé? He played very well, he scored a very important goal. Very active game. This is what we want from him." pic.twitter.com/gUdghQbHYc— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024 🗣 Ancelotti: "We have had many difficulties. But we are here, fighting. I'm more confident now because we have improved under many aspects." pic.twitter.com/za9t63u3aX— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024 🗣 Ancelotti: "We couldn't train on Thursday because we returned from Liverpool at 6 am. It's normal if we were a bit tired at the end of the game today." pic.twitter.com/5niNHj8lEy— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024 🗣 Ancelotti: "Rodrygo wasn't at 100% today. But he played one hour and I liked him. He will be better next game." pic.twitter.com/F4OI93sbwx— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024 🗣 Ancelotti: "Endrick? I didn't want to change things 2 minutes before the end because Mbappé was being very dangerous and Brahim and Arda were helping in defense." pic.twitter.com/O3RwjJuFpJ— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024
🗣 Courtois: "La Liga is not won in December." pic.twitter.com/9f8vD8mhKA— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024 🗣 Courtois: "Kylian Mbappé is a player with great quality. This is like a bottle that has liquid inside and it seems like it doesn't come out, but suddenly it all comes out. And that's what's going to happen to him." pic.twitter.com/RNNR462oK7— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024
Ceballos gave us much needed control today. Mbappe went with the flow of the game....didn't force too much. That's what he needs to slowly build confidence. Great finish. The more he understands how the team plays collectively, the better he will get. More work on his finishing needed.... Carlo only used 2 subs today. That's criminal for a squad with so many injuries and tired players.... he's nuts. Only Guler and Modric came on if my memory serves me right... Fede had no business being on that field for 90 minutes....do we have NO defensive midfielders in Castilla who could help out?
📲 Fede Valverde on IG: “MVP, Ceballos.” pic.twitter.com/soJkzSCCHt— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) December 1, 2024
Asencio has it all. You can see from his body language and actions. Of course no need him to play non stop, he still can make mistakes but he s playing now like already with at least some La liga decent experence
So again we have Ceballos playing deeper with Fede pushing forward. This has been a theme for the past few games, Ceballos/Modric deep and Fede/Cama pushing up. I think that’s the way forward for the rest of the season barring any injuries. Liked what I saw from Ceballos, his level dropped a little in the second half and I thought he’d be subbed out for Luka. Valverde wasn’t at his best today but still gave it his all. Kinda wanted to see Chema at some point. This was our easiest game on paper for the next month, was hoping we’d see some players subbed out earlier but I guess that’s too much to ask for.
This is his issue. We didn't need certain players to play 90 when we had a multiple goal lead. However Carlo never learns and we are at he mercy of "luck" that more key players don't physically break down.
No one mentioned Rodrygo. He did not score, but was very active on the right. In fact, the right side was better until Mbappe scored. Fede, Lucas and Brahim all did not have the best of game, but overall, the right side was looking good. Suddenly, Fran Garcia picked his game up. And i had not seen that type of performance since Roberto Carlos. I am not saying Marceloa never had that type of performance, but Fran Garcia's style is similar Roberto Carlos.
Salute to Ceballos. Been contributing a lot lately and just needs to stay healthy to not lose this momentum. I’m sure it’s all been said in this thread, but the Mbappe 1v1 misses are so big because it keeps us from creating a cushion. The cushion could then lead to earlier subs for some of our most utilized players and save them a bit of wear and tear in this congested schedule. This is what we needed him to bring to the squad. Hope we can see him sharpen up over the next few weeks and finish off 2024 strong. Solid win, glad no big injuries.