I just love having Nacho around. He's our most reliable defender, and el canterano who became el capitán. Great story. Rudiger also very good. I agree with whoever said that's our best CB pair. Now with them on the pitch and Carvajal returning, we improve a lot. I get everyone who was feeling frustrated after the Atletico game. I was too. Barcelona will tear Sevilla a new hole on the weekend. So we must play a perfect game against Girona.
This is our best midfield. Only if Carlo would understand that for big games. Real Madrid have won & kept a clean sheet in every official match that Camavinga, Tchouaméni & Fede Valverde have started together in this season. pic.twitter.com/JPfpLe0xVX— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) September 27, 2023
Don’t let Carlo hear that, he’d bench them all next game.— Druchk (@andruchk) September 27, 2023 We literally have a manager who sabotages the team.
❗️Brahim played with a dislocation in his right shoulder. It occurred in the hard foul suffered at the Metropolitano. They had to inject him. He celebrated his goal in a contented manner due to the severe pain. The coaching staff are very grateful for his sacrifice.—… pic.twitter.com/OCAijVMP4V— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) September 27, 2023
Nice clean win. Finishing frustrations aside I enjoyed the game. Even then like others pointed out team was creating which was refreshing… hope it continues. Will just need to find a way to be more clinical and score by committee all season.
So Brahim barely gets 5 minutes as a sub and as soon as he gets an injury the coaching staff decides that is a good time to start him.
You know so he does well and is then "rested" indefinitely. Carlo needs a Arribas every year. Jokes aside, I'm just reading that he has a shoulder injury and played through it, a bit dumb from the player and the coaching staff tbh. But hey, our team is "complete" and we never needed reinforcements.
Apparently Rudiger is a "little hurt". Alaba will definitely miss the next game at least. I guess if Mendy farts and twists his hip again in the next 48 hours, our entire backline will be out vs Girona. Ancelotti: "Rüdiger está un poco tocado. Pensamos que es un golpe, él piensa que estará bien para el sábado. Alaba tiene un problema en el abductor, creo que no va a estar".@TheAthleticFC— Mario Cortegana (@MarioCortegana) September 27, 2023
How about Joselu huh? How many goals already? I think he will reach 20 goals this season, if Carlos allows him.
I thought our play after Joselu went off showed exactly why we need him, even if his shooting and offside discipline wasn't great today. Neither Rodrygo or Vini were making striker movements and our front line looked really static. When we were playing the ball out of our half, Vini kept looking for runs into space behind their backline (though we didn't make many attempts at that pass). When we got closer to that end, he was much more static between their defenders at the top of the box.
Some people massively under appreciate how important it is to have a focal point for our attack. Joselu is far from perfect but having him out there makes everything else work better.
❗️The young girl who was racially abused outside Metropolitano for wearing a Vini Jr. shirt, was invited to the Bernabéu today. The squad met the girl & her family. 🤍 pic.twitter.com/VdhDjTp6Am— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) September 27, 2023
I don’t understand why we are reluctant to play 4-3-3. What is the point of this diamond? Today we had a perfect opportunity to play Joselu as the 9 and Rodrygo and Brahim on the wings. Now Vini is back you can play him and Rodrygo/Brahim on the wings and use your best players to their full potential. Them being Vini, Modric, Kroos specifically and to a lesser extent Rodrygo. I hope it doesn’t happen but chances are we will persist with the diamond until we get drubbed. Just hope it’s not in a cup or high stakes game.
I suspect it's because Ancelotti sees his best players as Vini - then five+ midfielders and playing a 4-3-3- would mean having both Rodrygo/Joselu playing over players who he sees as better than them. I'm not totally sure that the diamond can't work, but I think we will know soon. To me, the issue at the beginning of the season was much more the lack of forward presence/chemistry from Vini and Rodrygo. I want to see the Bellingham, Cama-Fede, Tchou diamond with Joselu up top and Vinicius flanking him. Vini is a very different player than Rodrygo and is much more likely to stretch the game vertically (better allowing for cut backs to midfielders after the striker's initial run) and just uses more wide areas, which means he and Bellingham at the point of the diamond aren't as likely to be on top of one another. Now, I could be convinced that we should just go back to 4-3-3, but then it becomes tricky as to which midfielder you drop and where you play Bellingham.
Adorable. Glad such an terrible situation turned into something beautiful. Love see Florentino around the squad and kids. Seriously, he is like our sporting father; even though each of us have had our disagreements with him here and there over the years.
Kroos and Modric are not close to being our best players. They should be 5th and 6th choice in midfield. Them in 4-3-3 was a disaster vs City. We were lucky not to lose 7-0 or 8-0 that night. Barely saw the ball with that old midfield against high pressing City. Don't think we should drop a young midfielder for Rodrygo either. Fede should be RW if we switch to 4-3-3. That way we will have enough defensive balance without the ball and Rodrygo hasn't exactly outplayed Fede offensively in any season as RW.
å Great points. I would love the diamond to work too but I think we’d do much better if the midfield is Jude-Fede-Tchouameni; with Modric-Camavinga-Kroos respectively being their replacements. This means you essentially drop Fede/Cama in favour of Joselu which feels criminal due to the difference in quality but we are just so much more likely to score with Joselu I feel.
Good result. And more importantly, team goes above Barca and in position to go top of the table again. These are the type of matches expected against small teams. Plenty of chances before scoring a few goals. That's on the construction and injuries of the team and not the manager. As long as he doesn't mess up the personnel and tactics too much, he's good in my book. That being said, let's see if he defaults back to his homeboys against the elite. Happy to see Brahim score in place of Jude. Rodrygo needs to be benched once Vini regains full match fitness.
Rodrygo leads the league in total shots with 24 while Joselu has 11 shots. Perhaps, Joselu has the easier chances, but I don't know. https://fbref.com/en/comps/12/shooting/La-Liga-Stats According to transfermarkt, Rodrygo played 599 minutes this season with a single goal. Joselu has 377 minutes with 3 goals. As for the type of players, Rodrygo has a right wing forward, and Real Madrid has several players who could play there. Joselu is a striker, and the team has none other than him. So which player should be starter?
For me I would just embrace an augmented 433 with Fede, Joselu and Vinicius up front. Then have Bellingham roam with Camavinga playing pivot to Tchouameni. We use all four of our midfield stalwarts and to their beat abilities. Fede gets to roam up the right side of the pitch combining workrate and offense Camavinga plays pivot and goes box to box Tchouameni plays deeper, destroys and moves the ball forward Bellingham free role where he can be all over the pitch and even join in attack
Joselu scores a goal after 5-6 clear cut chances (not just vs LP), he's good with this head, awful with his feet. Unfortunately, due to Perez's refusal to sign a worthy replacement for Benzema and Carlo's compliance, Joselu is all we have and the team does look better with him than without him. Rodrygo should be benched. Personally, I'd revert to a 4-3-3, Brahim at RW. Fede/Cama at CM with Bellingham and Tchouameni. Fede had a commanding performances (MOTM) at CM in the 1H where he enjoyed and capitalized on the space provided by LP, in the 2H he played as a RW and he was less effective there.
Brahim/Rodrygo doesn't offer enough offensively to give up on one of Fede, Camavinga and their impact defensively. Not to mention Fede might have better end product than both offensively. If we had another Vini on the right, then yea, benching/rotating Fede, Camavinga might makes sense, but for Rodrygo or Brahim, it's a significant regression.