Litteray every player have their ups & downs. Cristiano is arguably the greatest player in Real Madrid history, almost everyone would be in his shadow. Benzema was an excellent foil next to him & Prime Bale, although it came at the cost of sacrificing individual glory & being massively underrated. I'm very sure Real Madrid wouldn't have won 4 Champions League in 5 years without Benzema.
I liked the set up as well, and that showed from how the team started the game. Valencia made adjustments at half though, and they were far more direct and pushing through the wings, and I don't think we reacted well. Isco got far too long on the pitch, and that's probably my biggest issue here. On the other hand, while Bale didn't have much of an impact, you have him there purely for his free kicks and headers and that's not a bad idea at all. And I loved the Jovic for Modric sub, added a lot more directness to our game.
Casemiro back will shift Valverde back to his usual role, which alone should add a significant boost to our team. Big decision is who to start with Benzema. I thought Rodrygo had a very good showing. He doesn't always make flashy plays, but he always makes smart plays, never over complicates a situation, his movement off the ball is top shelf, and he never cheats on effort; in a lot of these instances, he is the complete opposite of Vinicius. That leaves one spot open for me, and it's anyone's guess here. I'd go with Modric as some have suggested earlier.
Rodrygo wasn't as poor as Bale and Vinicius, however to me that wasn't a good display. The same issue of passive behavior he exhibited there he is showing here. He needs to press the issue some times. Everything can't be a cross or a simple pass back.
Pretty much what i expected,a loss or a 1-1/2-2 draw. We just cant take advantage of Barcas results.....this is the reason we cant win La Liga .Season after season it is the same thing. The first half we played a piss poor tikitaka,coundnt create anything with the exception of few long shots.The second half was just terrible,we didnt create a single goal scoring oportunity......the subs were very late. Isco was terrible,so slow and no danger from him,Modric should not start game like this-his legs are gone it was so obvious in the second half. Rodrygo should have more freedom,he is wasted just sitting on the right. We got lucky in the end,but it is a disapointing game and result.....this is the worst Barca in a decade in the league and we are still doing the same thing over and over agains......we should be running away with this league but we are not
There was a time when Benzema was in the headlines more because of off the pitch drama than his performance. I've said it before, and I'm not sure it checks out, but since he became a father the guy has changed completely and I've experienced this with other people that had fatherhood completely change their life. Pepe also had a moment where he went from being record holder in yellows to going for like half a season without a booking and ranking number 1 in Fairplay ratings.
Ah, hitting Valencia in stoppage time really feels good. Reminds of a time when our rivalry with them was at its peak (2003/04) and Raul was 'fouled' in the last minute and a Figo penalty denied them a win. Snatching a win from them is the sweetest kind of draw. Hope we show up and give Barca a good game on Wednesday now. In other thoughts, Vinicius looks like he's at least 5 years away from being a decently effective La Liga player. Isco has been stealing a living with the kind of performances he's put in the last couple of games. Not sure who I'd start for the Clasico between him and Bale. I think I'd go with Bale who is more direct; and Rodrygo on the other flank, even though he has been pretty ineffectual as well recently. We really need Hazard back soon!!
I hate the bbc and eurosport We level on points with barca yet all they say is madrid with that draw go second and barca are league leaders Feck sake its same points only goal difference makes barca top but that dont count anyway
Cant wait for De Jong to come up against Valverde and Casemiro, i really hope we boss their midfield and beat them!
Yeah it’s a disappointing result on the whole given our first half but snatching away a victory like that from f****** Valencian twats is a decent silver lining. Eat shit Parejo
If we have hazard I think we win that game yesterday, we need him back ASAP. Rodrygo was pretty poor yesterday...
Eh, Benzema is still in the headlines regarding the on-going Valbuena sex tape incident. The only difference is Benzema now gets the headlines since he has been Real Madrid's best player in a landslide of the past 2 seasons. And I'm not sure where you get the idea about Benzema has been unprofessional at Real Madrid until he became a father. He's had some problems with his driving license and with that Valbuena sextape, but when it comes to Madrid he has been 100% professional. Especially during the Mourinho years, when Higuaín was injured and Mou said that he had to go haunting with the cat instead of the dog, people booed him. Also during the Morata seasons, I remember one time that Benz was going to kick a penalty and people were chanting "Morata, Morata, Morata!!!". Spanish press that year also was campaigning for Morata as a starter instead of Benzema, and he never complained about anything. If that's not a perfect professional, I don't know.
That wasn't praise when Mou said he couldn't hunt with a cat. Mou also alluded to laziness and unprofessionalism when he said that the team couldn't start training until after 10 a.m. because Benz is asleep at that time.
Street racing on an outdated driver's license, the list grows on. Benzema became a much more mature player than he was when he was young.
Are you sure about that, last I read just last week a court rejected the appeal to have the case thrown out and now he actually has to go to court to represent himself against the charges, the incident might have happened three years ago but as far as I know the court case is still ongoing
Wales, cup final, golf... Bale should be ashamed of himself, extremely unprofessional, put coach in bad situation and Zidane sticks up for him and this is was how Bale reciprocated....
If he would be, he wouldn't be playing for Valencia. Parejo has been through tons of drama with Valencia himself. But the grass is always greener on the other side. I find it incredible how people find a way to plug Bale into every discussion.
We paid considerably more, renewed despite Bale missing half the games, he's on ridiculous wages and shows more enthusiasm mocking the club than contributing to the league title efforts for 25 minutes, when a win would have drastically reduced the pressure on us in the classico. That's pretty crappy.
We also won considerably more. Parejo is a drunkard. Foh. If you feel like discussing the same old stuff with Bale take it to the Bale thread.