I get goosebumps when I think of the potential our young players have and are already showing. Our future is bright.
So, who’s our right back next year? Because I’m sad to say that Dani isn’t good enough anymore. And Hakimi isn’t ready.
I mean do you want to engage with the substance of the point instead of calling me a “hater”? You’re not at all concerned with how often Carvajal gets totally beat one on one?
Yes well this is for UK viewers only via La Liga TV. I mean what do most the American commentators know anyway
Needlessly divisive, no? Ray Hudson is from Tyneside and Phil Schoen has been calling football games for at least 25 years. And I generally find Bein commentators much better than some of the schmucks that Fox has run out over the years when they've held broadcast rights to either the CL or the Bundesliga (good riddance to them because they won't air the Bundesliga after this season ends). Not saying I'm the most enamored with many American commentators and not saying I don't also have a bit of a subconscious bias telling me that a British accent sounds "correct" to me when I'm watching a game. But there's nothing stopping any American from knowing and appreciating this game any different than anybody else from anywhere else.
Just shit commentators don’t worry we had Andy Gray Back in the 90s, biased prick. I prefer Gerry Armstrong for Spanish Football.
Carvajal has had some issues but IMO it’s all a bit overblown, as I always say, no player is perfect and certainly not every single game, and some even have dips in form for a season but the overall quality remains , he’s certainly improved his form from last season we’ve got one of the best defensive records out there this season and in our history, no one is going to tell me Carva is “not” a part of that, I’m far from ready to dismiss him as a player capable of playing for us, my view
I call 1-3 months a dip, but he is underperforming for almost 2 years now. He has his moments, but overall he is very very weak. Poor decision making, bad defending (1 on 1) and especially very bad crosses.
I'm concerned with how he's been tasked to command the entire right flank for years now. If Bale isn't having that 1 out of 20 nights where he's decent, Carvajal is often playing for two. We're putting miles on that engine.
This. He is asked to cover too much ground, and surely that affects his stamina and positioning on the defensive end. He has no one to really work with that STAYS on the right, other than whoever that right mid is. Get a better solution at right wing, not Bale, not Asensio, not James, not Isco. Help Dani out.
I actually don't think that is necessarily always the case. When teams get tired and space opens, its easier to open up a defensive team and score. The weaker team can swap out tired players and maintain their form. I think it just improves the quality of play. Although I am just waiting for Mourinho to perform the ultimate park the bus move and sub out all his attackers for 5 additional defenders. I also think you would see more games do 180 degree turn arounds. Growing up, I use to play in leagues that had more subs and I found the play just better.
To defend, you don't need a great squad. You need fresh players. I played on underdog squads, and we preferred having more subs because we could apply the defensive pressure for 90 minutes. It just means a different game plan and tactics. If you know you are only playing 60 minutes, you just kill yourself applying defensive pressure int the midfield for 60 minutes and then sub out. We use to keep a fresh player on the other team's best player, basically man marking them out of the game. And you still can't dispute that the quality is better. If you watch two mid-table La Liga teams, or even the bottom dwellers head to head (which I do often), it dramatically improves the quality of play for these games. These games are sometimes horrible to watch in the final 20 minutes.
Jokes on you, in Mourinho's next press conference he's going to read out all the matches he's had five or more attackers on his match day starting XI and bench. Will probably last half a minute
Carvajal has been fine in my view. Maybe not last year but again that's a wash for me. As others have said he's tasked with commanding the entire right flank. His defensive and offensive duties were more efficient when we had a prime Bale who was still threatening and a left flank of Ronnie and Marcelo at their heights pulling and shifting the defense their way. Get him a proper right flank player coupled with Valverde and an intermittently playing Modric and he'll be fine.
I might be alone, but I think you can replace CR but finding someone who lives for the club and truly is as passionate as Sergio is very hard. Before him, I say Raul was at the same level.
Woah there. I respectfully disagree. As a personality he would leave a huge gap, but how many would assume that he would be this much of a captain when he was being a wild man out there with Iker on the team? At some point people compared him to Guti the most.
I would say Raul was more of a diplomat. If I would compare them to other club legends and their possible future potential, I would say Raul is more of a Beckenbauer, a diplomat that avoids conflict and brings people together, while Ramos is more of an Uli Hoeneß, a shield and spear guy that leads with a sharp tongue and attacks when needed. Both can coexist in the same machine and can play an important role.