REAL MADRID vs REAL SOCIEDAD | La Liga Jornada #24 | 14.02.26 | 21:00 CET

Dean is utter garbage as a CB, we should look to use him as a rotation CM at some point.

Unless your first name is Paulo, and your surname is Maldini, then you can't hide behind this BS moniker of "Mr Chill".

 

Trent is invaluable. This guy must stay fit, it's absolutely critical.

Great 1st half. 2nd half was awful.

Our forward line simply does not want to link up or pass, each dude wants to play for himself. Just randomness and improvisation.

 

Dean is young and has much room to improve. So far, this has been a season to forget. He is not having a great first season. But that was the case for many players who went onto be legends: Benzema, Modric and Courtois to name a few. I think Dean isn't starter material for Real Madrid at the moment. He needs some time on the bench.

 

I bought Trent this.... long passing from the back, and he offered that big assist. VJ also got his two PKS, which should help his confidence. He was only 64% at the time of his first PK last night.

 

I agree with this but Huijsen makes the same mistakes over and over. That worries me.

This is why I think we need 3 CBs in the summer: two starting-level CBs.

Sadly, Militao is now broken goods, we cannot rely on him given his successive serious injuries + his style of play.

 

why’s he mad tho, damn 😭 pic.twitter.com/5l4qNVPWx6

— َ (@JB5Gold) February 14, 2026

 

Just saw the highlights.

Vinny was lucky he got those two penalties. Both times he’s going down intentionally before the contact occurs.

Alaba again can’t defend crosses. Carvajals temper tantrum worked, but he was lucky his error didn’t lead him to a goal.

Gonzalo should have finished at least two of those chances.

 

That’s captain leadership right there. Kicking the drinks cooler in front of the cameras with the poor staff cleaning it up while you’re up 4-1…. Because you came off early?

Ship the whole lot out. All of our “captains” are total garbage.

 

hes 20 years old, relax.

 

You can see it in the way we play. More teamwork, players happy and enjoying themselves pushing in the same direction.

Our press has been alot better since AA took over. More coordinated and clear signs of tweaks and improvements.

Would be incredible if we won the double considering what has happened.

I dont think it's right to boo Dean. The risk is that he starts playing it safe like our other defenders which would be a shame. Some of his passes and defensive headers are headscratchers though, needs to polish that part of his game.

 

Trent had a good game, but, lots of players this season have had "a good game", just like any other player i'll be looking for consistency in his performances both on and off the ball

 

🚨 Fede Valverde reacts to the video of him kicking the icebox on the bench: “Me every time I regret not shooting at goal.”😂 pic.twitter.com/jR6dW57B2q

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) February 15, 2026

 

Think our form is going in an upward trend. With the injured players back in defence we can start playing players where they should play. We have underperformed at times this seasons particularly in the CL but I see clear improvements. Just the fact that our press is getting better will do alot for our general play.

The teams in our bracket of the CL will give us a chance of redemption. We were flaccid in the CL league format in the big games. Void of ideas and just generally apathetic. I have seen a great change in attitude since the coaching change. If we lose i think it'll be because we lacked in quality and not attitude.

The main thing right now is focus and to really work for each other.

We will see if we've really improved on Tuesday. Going away with a win will do incredible for our confidence.

 

Playing better without Jude just like in the beggining of the season ,less pace and power midfiedlers and more ball playing players like Trent,Arda etc please .This makes the difference .

No more Gonzalo on the wing ,Mbappe on the right ,Vinicius on the left .

 

yeah forgot about Dean,horrendous player,this guy cant defend..........he has to be on the bench and play Asensio/Rudiger ,at best he is a rotation player

He can cost us the season if he countinue to play ,also i dont think he should be left sided CB ,he is so slow and lacks concentrarion, imo the left sided CB is the more difficult position ,play him as a right CB ,this doenst work he is awful

 

He was also great at San Mames and got injured in the same match. He's been world class on the ball for several years now. Undoing this season has been injuries.

 

Gap was massive during 2009-13 when individual TV rights really hurt 18 teams. I think Atleti was 3rd highest making 42 ME then while RM and Barca pocketed 140 ME each.

Relegation contenders were getting 12 ME or sth. That partly contributed to 100 point league titles in 2012 and 13 though RM and Barca teams were stacked with all time talents.

RM and Barca had great teams 2013-17 as well but rest of La Liga competed a bit better against them. Atleti were pretty good.

Current RM and Barca are not elite so a case could be made that La Liga depth is even worse than 2009-13 as both teams are winning majority games in La Liga comfortably despite playing drab.

 

We played well yesterday in spite of Arda who I thought was quite poor

 

🚨 Pellegrino Matarazzo, Real Sociedad manager: “Our plan was to cover the left to stop Vini Jr., but we couldn’t do that.” pic.twitter.com/bMb8hIUYjQ

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) February 15, 2026

How much did having Trent in there help

 

He’s the worst centre back we’ve bought that I can remember right now. As a back up in a more limited role he might be fine, gives him time to learn.

Yesterday he was being consoled by teammates after some guy had him on skates. Really poor.

 

I'm very cautios when it comes to judging any signing under 21. We had prime Walter Samuel look like Raul Bravo. Modric was deemed worst signing of the league after his first 6 months.

With everything going on this season and with how no individual defender impressing - its a wonder we have the 2nd best defense in the league. So I wouldn't pass judgement just yet. One thing I will note is I don't like how we shift our young CBs (left and right) mid game and within games. I noticed it alot with Raul Acensio and yesterday with Dean. I feel it just adds to the difficulty of their success.