Real Madrid vs Juventus | UCL Semi Finals, 2nd Leg| 13.05.15| 20.45 CET

We know how this works out, we have seen it before from 2000-2005, then again with Pellegrini, if the coach isnt strong enough with his players, things will unravel eventually. If Carlo cant stand up to Perez and his stars then he isnt the coach I thought he was. I doubt someone with Carlo's name and reputation is powerless like he is made to be, but if he is, then we f*ck it, lets go back to the Mourinho's and the Van Gaals, because Perez and his stars sure as hell arent going to get any humbler anytime soon.

 

No, I'm not going to pull up primary source documents because it is a tired discussion, but Mourinho did not explicitly talk about the Xavi meeting. These were leaks. He did publicly talk about Casillas' form and alluded to issues in the dressing room (to teach him a lesson in other words).

Mou is insane. I agree. But he's a winner and one of the foremost tacticians in the world. He did not conduct himself with the class that the job demands (Carlo does a better job), was often needlessly confrontational, had no qualms publicly criticizing players, etc. It's not all sunshine and roses with the guy - absolutely agree. But some of the hate that he gets is not deserved man.

 

I was so pissed after the game last night that I avoided any form of social media for an entire 24 hours. Didnt wanna read or hear anything about the game..was that angry. Sad to see how this season has gone after it had started so incredibly with our 22 win streak and all but it was set-up for disaster from the start. The squad we came in with was just not good enough and if we had 1 or 2 big injuries (which we did) the results would have been calamitous (which they were). Our bench is no better than Getafe's. Arbeloa is in semi-retirement; Illara is sh#t; L.Silva is not good enough, Nacho should still be in castilla & Jese has sucked since his injury...absolutely no quality from those names and most of them wouldnt even make the bench at clubs like Bayern, Barca etc. which is why last night when we needed a goal and change in dynamism, all we could bring on was Chicharito smh. Our play was too predictable and we made it easy for Juve. We lacked so much intensity in the last 15mins that you wouldnt know we were on the verge of elimination. I genuinely believe Modric missing in midfield was one of the primary reasons for our elimination. The presence and control he brings is unmistakable. Last night we effectively played with 3 #10s in the middle of the park (as much as we try to make Kroos an Alonso type player he just isn't one and is exposed against the big teams). Signing a solid DM or even B2B at the start of the season would have greatly lessened the blow of Modric's injury. Furthermore, signing ABLE deputees for our starting XI especially those in attack would give us added dimensions and greatly increase our chances to win games like last night. Boy do i miss the days (like against City 12/13 home) when we could bring on Benzema, Ozil, Kaka etc from the bench and overturn a 1-2 score to 3-2. Heck even against United at Old trafford that season Modric, Benzema, Callejon etc were our bench options. It was Modric who came on and changed the game that we later won 1-2. We needed something like that yesterday. That injection of quality and energy. Having a quality squad also helps us rotate more and compete better for all competitions - ensuring particular players don't get fatigued etc. I blame Perez in all honesty. Hopefully we don't make the same mistake next season. We must sign Verrati, bring Back casemiro whilst getting rid of Illara. We also need to sign a top back up for Benz and a new LB if Coentrao leaves. Looking forward to 15/16...Hala Madrid!

 

Jurgen Klopp is perfect, he's used to succeeding with a team half as talented as the superpower in the league.

 

And he has a footballing philosophy that relies heavily of a work ethic and commitment to the team that every player must adhere to for the team to succeed. When the players stop believing in him or his philosophy and playstyle, you get the BVB disaster that they were suffering midway through their bundesliga season. It's the same reason Real Madrid can never have Diego Simeone as a manager (not that that'd happen, the guy is despicable). They rely heavily on a mentality that takes serious work and patience implementing. Real Madrid is more of a collection of individual talents than a true team. You have to play for each other for a team to succeed in their playstyles. I don't think certain players would self-sacrifice for the sake of the greater good of the team here.

I'm curious to know which Cristiano is more furious over? The fact that Real is going trophiless or that he's not winning any scoring awards/ballon d'or? Neither of them are mutually exclusive, but i wanna know what hurts him more?

 

So was Pelligrini and look how that turned out.

 

The two go hand-in-hand. He was always gonna need to win the CL to stand a chance of beating messi to it. He's still leading for the pichichi though but that usually means nothing. Plus, if messi wins the CL he'll only be 1 CL win behind Di Stefano our club legend at 27


CR cares a lot about this loss trust me.

 

Someone with his obnoxiousness, maybe not. But someone with his power I dont see why not. Perez still speaks positively about the Mourinho years, if it wasn't for the media fracas in his final year, he wouldn't have let him go.

 

This is an absolute joke, no offense but Messi has a 3rd Champion's League title like Pele has 3 World Cups. His role was so minimal and uneventful he shouldn't qualify for a medal or be labeled as a 3 time winner. His greatest contribution in the entire competition was a Del Horno red card.

I mean, Draxler is "World Cup Winner." Labels are rather disingenuous and misleading.

 

I agree with you but history will still have him down as a 3-time winner before this year.

 

I have to assume, he must prefer the goals and awards because if he was all about winning he would have transferred the hell away from Spain and Barcelona years ago. How many years can you tolerate scoring 50 goals a year and still being knocked out at the semi-final stage and finishing just short of Barcelona in the league if your true ambition is winning competitions?

He knows staying in Spain is the only way he is going to score those 50 goals a year and keep himself relevant in the conversation with Messi and challenging for Ballon D' Ors. Nobody who is out to win would stay in a situation where an entirely new attacking cast is coming in every year and you must partake in an annual transition period.

 

Ya, you are right. I wasn't attacking you personally but the idea that Messi is a 3 time winner in the eyes of history. It's just foolish yet he will ultimately be remembered a such.

 

This is altogether too cynical. I'll be the first to talk about how Cristiano and Messi play for stats, but there is nowhere to go but down after Real Madrid. The idea that he only sticks to Spain because of his inflated numbers is ridiculous imo. Where would he go? Who can afford him? come on man.

 

Klopp is a psycho and a Mourinho 2.0 clone, no ty. It works for small minded teams not for clubs like Real Madrid

 

When you start booting the Del Bosques, Mourinhos, and Carlo's of the world, you're not going to be left with much...

 

Well Klopp's name is being thrown around in the Spanish media tonight. I'm not against him but I'm not necessarily for him either.

The oh so familiar feeling of "who will be our manager next season" that came over me around this time during each season from 04-10 is creeping back to me.

 

I actually really like Klopp but I think he'd be extremely unsuccessful here. The high intensity pressing he utilizes wouldn't go over well with all the egos on this team.

 

Klopp would be a disaster. The culture of BVB and Madrid couldn't be more different.

 

Isn't that sort of a problem with the squad itself? In this era, I really think you need high intensity pressing to be super successful. Ultimately, it's okay to have a couple players that don't press super hard, but a team of players that refuses to press hard is not going to find consistent success.

 

Klopp? Oh god, I swear it will never end with this club. I would rather we kept Ancelloti. This is going to be the same thing all over again, he will be gone after one year.


I would rather we keep Ancelloti on, if not the only other option would be to take a chance on Zidane.

 

Klopp is around here cause he is 'free agent' now, that's it. so of course media wants some names to write about.

 

Ancelotti will and should stay at Real Madrid. As long as he learns to keep his squad fresher and not drop quotes like "BBC are untouchable", he could buy himself another year. But if he cant deliver a la liga by next year, he'll be finishing out his contract and moving on.