Last time we endured a poor result (6-1) we recovered instantly with a good 0-2 win. Playing in La liga is Caro's main strength and I do not think the events of the Arsenal defeat will have to much bearing on this game. Mallorca have been struggling a lot this season and are lingering just above the relegation zone. They recently sacked Hector Cuper as well but their newly confirmed manager did record a good 0-2 win at Malaga. Mallorca's main weakness is attack so I do not expect them to offer too much against us although we must see this game as an opportunity to redeem ourselves. Pus Barca have an away fixture with Zaragoza which could cause an upset. We need to keep winning our games and hope to seize upon a Barca set back. Here is what I hope for. -----------Casillas----------- Cicinho--Ramos--Mejia--Carlos ----------Gravesen---------- Beckham-ZZ-Baptista-Robinho -----------Cassano----------- We all know Woody is injured and therefore I think Mejia will play. He has been fantastic of late and he is really capitalising on his given chances. Both our full/wing backs need a good game after a poor display midweek so here is the chance. Gravesen was fantastic on Tuesday so I see no need to drop him as we have limited cover any way. Guti needs some time on the bench because of late he has disappointed. He generally plays his better games when he comes off the bench but right now I am want to give Baptista another chance. For a start he tries 100% every game as although he has been unfortunate in terms of goal scoring he always gives his all for the shirt. Robinho, Beckham and ZZ were scarcely involved in the midweek game so I do not see reason for them to be tired and once they are in their favoured enviroment (la liga) then I expect them to be explosive. No suprise to see that I have left out Ronaldo. Reasons? Firstly he has been so bad of late that he no longer deserves to start. Secondly Cassano has waited patiently from the bench and now is the time for him to get a chance from the start. Finally he deserves to be punished for his ridiculous outbursts on Monday. I doubt Ronaldo will be benched though but here is to hopeing!
I would like to see the three worst players from the last game benched: Guti, Zidane & Ronaldo. I would go with your line-up but put Diogo in.
There are no "worst" players. These are our players and we should stand behind them and give them our support. I don't want to hear any whistles on the stadium even if we are losing 0-9. Because a defeat is bitter but hearing your own crowd booing is worse. Hala Madrid.
Eh? This isn't recreation soccer. The players on the bench are just as much RM players deserving support as any other. Hala Madrid.
You misunderstood me, of course the players who show the abilities should play and those who did not have a good day should be rested. I was talking about the negative air which surrounds most of the posts here.
and please, if RM beats Mallorca 4-0, let us not come to this forum and say "oh, RM played so well. excellent football, we are finally getting our act together..." and blaah and blaah and blaah.... i have myself done it so in the past, but i am not gonna do that mistake again....facing alaves, mallorca, bilbao etc etc is one thing. facing arsenal, chelsea, juventus is another thing. so please, heap your praises when we win against a quality opponent.
So true, I could care less if we beat them 10-0. I will start believing again, when we actually beat a quality opponent this year, which we have so far failed to do.
WB while I am enjoying your goody two shoes, fairyland vision of our club, the truth is we do have "worst" players. We are the club, not them, they play for us, we support the club not them as individuals. While I'd love to share your rosey view, the fact is, if I see players pulling on the white shirt and not trying, I will whistle. If I hear players saying they may leave unless we're nice to them, I say grow up or leave. When I am told how to support the club I've supported since childhood, by a player who's been here 3 years and shows as little understanding of Madridismo now as he did then, then I'm going to post my rants on here. Why do we love Raul? because he is one of us and understands this. The same is true of Guti, Casillas, Ramos and (before I'm accused of racism) Cincinho , Roberto Carlos and others. I'm glad you're supporting the team BUT don't forget we are Madrid, the best club in the world...not the Harlem Globetrotters.
how can you say ronaldo was one of the worst players in the arsenal match? He had no service becoz guti and ZZ went missing (as you rightly point out). Even without the service, he still set up our best chance (which beckham missed). Yeh it was an easy pass, but at least he was there to make the pass. If we had scored from it, (as we should have done ), then it would have been a vital play in the match. Personally i think beckham was far worse: >his crosses were awful; he wasted the ball so many times; he had the best two chances and missed them both; and i know you all praise him for trying to go forward and score, but thats not his job! He should have helped cicinho on the right wing, but he abandoned him, and cicinho got tortured by Reyes all match. Im sorry, but you cant abandon your responsibilites just becoz you want to go and be the 'hero'
go post in the all ronaldo forum. i think lockjaw is dead right. if a person is not getting service, he should try getting some service by himself. A striker should not just troll in the penalty area expecting to be spoonfed. that being said, i think ronaldo is not the player who should play alone as a striker. but with the poor form ronnie is in, i doubt if another striker wld have helped him
my post is a response to lockjaw's post where he says that Guti, zidane and ronaldo were the worst players against arsenal, and therefore shud not play against Mallorca. I think the worst players were guti, zidane, and beckham, for the reasons ive listed, and so they shud not play against Mallorca. Its directly relevant to this thread. Why shud i post it in another forum?
I think asterix doesn't want this to turn into another thread about Ronaldo and his play, which this (and every other thread on this board) has been degenerating into. Now back to the game Mallorca is not tough competition, we should use the game to maybe try out some other formations/combinations. The idea was floated on other threads to use Cassano alongside Ronaldo. I would like to see that happen, I think a floating Cassano, who has great ability to pass and hold the ball, linking up with Ronaldo, would give Ronaldo the service he so desperately needs. Cassano's finishing hasn't been that good since he joined, but if he and Ronaldo were playing 1-2's with each other any defence would be scared.
Yes. That's why I made an all-purpose Ronaldo thread, because every ********ing thread on this board for the past three months has turned into a Ronaldo thread. Moreover, at one point this week we had four Ronaldo threads on the first page. This needs to be about the relevant topic, which is our impending visit to Son Moix to take on RCD Mallorca.
read my post again and think carefully about the criticism i make of beckham's performance against arsenal... if you cant accept the criticism then you're wasting your time posting on a forum. And by the way, my criticisms are actually based on the football and what went wrong on the pitch... unlike some of you who are obsessed about a man's appearance (p.s Lockjaw... dont assign my name to things that i did not say. That called false attribution, and its against the law. )
Sounds like Guti and Ronaldo are doubtful for Sunday - especially Guti. The press is speculating that Baptista and Raul will start. As some of you have said, I'd like to see Cassano get more of a chance. This is an important match b/c we then have Atleti, Arsenal, Valencia, Deportivo... tough run coming up.
The next 4 games after this one, will truly test Caro's worth as a manager to the team, with the exception of Seville, and Celta (lucky win), all we have beaten thus far are dead beat teams. It'll be interesting to see how Caro handles the pressure. Also Caro needs to let Cassano start playing, with enough playtime, i'd love to see him Spearhead our attack for the next game against Arsenal, if anybody knows how to score against them, it's him.
I wouldn't mind to see again a duo Cassano + Raul, but if Guti isn't there we'll need a playmaker and my choice would be De la Red.
Raul can play AM well enough for Mallorca. That would let the team stay with the 4-1-4-1 as I am not in favor of constant formation changes.
Yup, that's what I had in mind (Raul and Cassano can exchange positions as well), but we still will need someone to link the defense and the attack. ....................Gravesen Beckham....Raul.......De la Red....Robinho ....................Cassano