Real Madrid need to get ready for a terrible season | It’s happening

[Bojan11]

Hazard alone isn’t going to save their attack. They need three attackers.

Hazard already is at a team who can’t score. Putting him in a white shirt isn’t going to change that because he’s never been prolific. I can see them going for Icardi.

 

[kouroux]

That missing 45 odd goals, that would be about the amount Ronaldo would be expected to score, wouldn't it?

45 league goals ? I don't think so. A big part is missing for sure

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Many people called their decline regardless of Zidane and Ronaldo. In fact Zidane himself seemed to see it coming when he decided to leave. So it's not just those two leaving. The squad has regressed as a whole which has been exasperated by the the man in charge leaving and a 40/50 goal striker not being replaced at all.

All in all, they brought this upon themselves. They were too arrogant in thinking with a declining squad that lost two big names managed by mediocre managers, they could just keep carrying on winning.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I don't remember what happened exactly in 2014 but when a country wins the Euro08, then the WC10, then the Euro12... the end of a winning cycle is necessarily a crash coinciding with a lack of physical and mental freshness.

That's exactly what's happening at Madrid.

A fantastic team is coming to the end of a cycle and has been grossly mismanaged to boot.

 

[Bojan11]

That's exactly what's happening at Madrid.

A fantastic team is coming to the end of a cycle and has been grossly mismanaged to boot.

But doesn’t this always happen in football.

I feel Madrid and Bayern are going to be heading into another cycle where they struggling in the champions league like they did between 2004-2009. Bayern are losing big players too. Bayern fans on here will be arrogant and say they not that important. Ribery was their best player vs Madrid last season.

I can see the champions league next few years being contested with English clubs, Barca and Juve. Just like it was between 2004-2011 but you just swap Juve with Milan.

Obviously Madrid management didn’t help themselves. But there was always going to be drop off. Modric, Ramos and Marcelo will be hard players to replace let alone Ronaldo.

 

[Kapardin]

Hazard alone isn’t going to save their attack. They need three attackers.

Hazard already is at a team who can’t score. Putting him in a white shirt isn’t going to change that because he’s never been prolific. I can see them going for Icardi.

Hazard and Icardi together in one summer would solve a lot of their problems.

I actually think they could do worse than getting Ramsey on a free. Would be a pragmatic signing under the circumstances to pad the squad.

 

[carvajal]

what do you think about Brahim?
From what I've seen he seems very skilled, with a lot of technique .
It reminds me of Messi, small, with bursts of speed before the dribbling.
It is purely a number 10 ?. I wonder where he will fit.
From what I've seen he is left-footed but I keep reading that he is ambidextrous.

Here being a ball boy in Málaga, with his bright eyes looking at Isco and imagining the highest peaks.A chosen to lay the foundations of la decimocuarta.

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[Skills]

I don't even get the logic of replacing Ronaldo with nobody. Surely they had to bring in someone?

 

[VorZakone]

How tough are the Spanish media on Real Madrid this season? If any English top 6 club was underperforming like that, they'd get slaughtered in the media.

 

[adexkola]

This team plus Ronaldo wouldn't be doing much better in the league (a competition they have been shit at over the past decade).

 

[redshaw]

Shame there's not an oil club or two to push them out of a CL spot for certain.

 

[carvajal]

How tough are the Spanish media on Real Madrid this season? If any English top 6 club was underperforming like that, they'd get slaughtered in the media.

They are being tough with the players but they obviate the responsibility of the board. There are hardly any articles addressed to Florentino.

 

[Don Alfredo]

what do you think about Brahim?
From what I've seen he seems very skilled, with a lot of technique .
It reminds me of Messi, small, with bursts of speed before the dribbling.
It is purely a number 10 ?. I wonder where he will fit.
From what I've seen he is left-footed but I keep reading that he is ambidextrous.

Here being a ball boy in Málaga, with his bright eyes looking at Isco and imagining the highest peaks.A chosen to lay the foundations of la decimocuarta.

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What the hell is la decimocuarta? Sorry I have no clue about spanish

I do love that photo though. Isco at Malaga was simply breathtaking, I still remember that 3-2 win against Madrid that he orchestrasted and scored in. Must have beem his best season in terms of goals scored until today.

I have no idea about Brahim, but what I‘ve heard it seems like a much better deal than spending 50m on yet another teenage brazilian.

 

[carvajal]

What the hell is la decimocuarta? Sorry I have no clue about spanish

I do love that photo though. Isco at Malaga was simply breathtaking, I still remember that 3-2 win against Madrid that he orchestrasted and scored in. Must have beem his best season in terms of goals scored until today.

I have no idea about Brahim, but what I‘ve heard it seems like a much better deal than spending 50m on yet another teenage brazilian.

It means 14th(C.L)
I am very happy with Vini, he has a lot of things to improve but he tries everything. Yesterday he played very well.
He has the conditions, simply needs the experiences

 

[Don Alfredo]

It means 14th(C.L)
I am very happy with Vini, he has a lot of things to improve but he tries everything. Yesterday he played very well.
He has the conditions, simply needs the experiences

Thanks
I think Real should focus on winning La Liga again, this could have been your season because Barca is not untouchable (unlike last season).


Vini is fine I have nothing against him. I just meant when you already have 2 brazilian teenage attackers worth 50m, you don‘t want to buy a third one

 

[Peyroteo]

This team plus Ronaldo wouldn't be doing much better in the league (a competition they have been shit at over the past decade).

They have 30 points and 26 goals after 18 games... what will it take before the obvious becomes obvious for everybody?

Madrid being shit in the league for the past decade had them hitting over 90 points and scoring over 100 goals pretty much every season.

Will they have to be playing in the Europa League or getting knocked out by the likes of Ajax in the Champions League for everyone to see it?

 

[Adisa]

They are on course for a <70 point season. They haven't been that low in ten years .

 

[Peyroteo]

They are on course for a <70 point season. They haven't been that low in ten years .

They'll barely make 60 points at this rate, they're lucky to have as many points as they do.

Courtois has saved them plenty of points already.

 

[carvajal]

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[coolredwine]

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terrible miss by that number 12.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

But doesn’t this always happen in football.

I feel Madrid and Bayern are going to be heading into another cycle where they struggling in the champions league like they did between 2004-2009. Bayern are losing big players too. Bayern fans on here will be arrogant and say they not that important. Ribery was their best player vs Madrid last season.

I can see the champions league next few years being contested with English clubs, Barca and Juve. Just like it was between 2004-2011 but you just swap Juve with Milan.

Obviously Madrid management didn’t help themselves. But there was always going to be drop off. Modric, Ramos and Marcelo will be hard players to replace let alone Ronaldo.

I still believe there's a lot of quality in that squad but the players/manager they truly relied on either left or have begun to decline. And as many have stated, the team /collective has overshot the end of its cycle. All this would have lead to a normal trophyless season but has been exasperated by replacing Zidane with average coached and Ronaldo with some young dudes from Brazil. That's why unlike the decline we faced when we sold Ronaldo, and kept winning, they're struggling so much.

Also with regards to the discussion on their midfield, theirs was the best in the world in recent years. People are rewriting the narrative as if the team was never that great. But the midfield (Modric Kroos Isco JAmes Casemiero) was the best around, Marcelo was top class and their depth was the best I've possibly seen with the likes of Bale, Isco and James being bench players.

It's not just the absence of Zidane or Ronaldo.

 

[Bola]

I've seen transfer rumours today that we are in for Casimiro, who thought looked an excellent defensive midfielder last season (Not followed them much this season).

If Real Madrid are looking to conduct a clear out, are there any other players we have a realistic chance of getting?

I've previously seen us linked to Bale and Varne. While there us no question of their talent, I think I'd want to stay clear given their injury record, particularly our list of sick notes at CB

 

[Peyroteo]

I still believe there's a lot of quality in that squad but the players/manager they truly relied on either left or have begun to decline. And as many have stated, the team /collective has overshot the end of its cycle. All this would have lead to a normal trophyless season but has been exasperated by replacing Zidane with average coached and Ronaldo with some young dudes from Brazil. That's why unlike the decline we faced when we sold Ronaldo, and kept winning, they're struggling so much.

United won nothing the season after Ronaldo left. That was after 3 Premier Leagues in a row and 2 Champions League finals in a row.

The Premier League became easier after that too as it stopped being the best league in the world, only took 80 points to win the league in 2010-11 and you had one of the easiest draws ever to get to a Champions League final. The team had clearly gone down a few levels by then too. By 2011-12 United were getting knocked out of the CL groupstages by Benfica and Basel. In 2006-09 United were twice the team they were in 2009-12.

The players are not playing worse than they were playing last season. They're just losing more, which leads to more criticism. Watch the performances and it's the exact same. The likes of Kroos and Marcelo are actually looking better this season than they were playing last year at the same time. 2016-17 is a different story completely but comparing it to last season it's the exact same except they actually strengthened by getting Vinicius and Courtois who have been two very good signings, if they hadn't sold Ronaldo they'd be stronger than last season.

Go back a year and the geniuses here and in the media found no problem with the likes of Modric or Marcelo and were blaming 3 people for the results: Ronaldo, Zidane and Benzema. Zidane and Ronaldo should rightfully be laughing their asses off at what's happening after the propaganda that happened last season. Only annoying things about this are that they should have left 1 year earlier and that Benzema didn't leave too.

 

[Shark]

United won nothing the season after Ronaldo left. That was after 3 Premier Leagues in a row and 2 Champions League finals in a row.

The Premier League became easier after that too as it stopped being the best league in the world, only took 80 points to win the league in 2010-11 and you had one of the easiest draws ever to get to a Champions League final. The team had clearly gone down a few levels by then too. By 2011-12 United were getting knocked out of the CL groupstages by Benfica and Basel. In 2006-09 United were twice the team they were in 2009-12.

The players are not playing worse than they were playing last season. They're just losing more, which leads to more criticism. Watch the performances and it's the exact same. The likes of Kroos and Marcelo are actually looking better this season than they were playing last year at the same time. 2016-17 is a different story completely but comparing it to last season it's the exact same except they actually strengthened by getting Vinicius and Courtois who have been two very good signings, if they hadn't sold Ronaldo they'd be stronger than last season.

Go back a year and the geniuses here and in the media found no problem with the likes of Modric or Marcelo and were blaming 3 people for the results: Ronaldo, Zidane and Benzema. Zidane and Ronaldo should rightfully be laughing their asses off at what's happening after the propaganda that happened last season. Only annoying things about this are that they should have left 1 year earlier and that Benzema didn't leave too.

We won the league cup the season after Ronaldo left and came 2nd in the league.

Hardly ‘‘nothing’’

 

[VorZakone]

Ronaldo must be immensely smug right now.

 

[SirAF]

Ronaldo must be immensely smug right now.

Yes

 

[Adisa]

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Jesus, Isco looks like a toddler chasing an adult.

 

[#07]

This thread could probably be renamed Real Madrid 2018/19. Although if/when Mou takes over from Santi Solari a thread title change would probably be warranted.

Solari's struggles show being a Champions League winning ex player doesn't make management as easy as a lot of the punditry about Ole Solksjaer's coaching might make you think...

 

[2 man midfield]

klopp to Real, Guardiola to return to Barcelona. Ole wins 3 titles in a row

 

[Ishdalar]

Yeah, they do. It just happened. Kroos and Casemiro weren't there in 2014 btw, with Di Maria they actually had a lot more danger coming from the midfield that season.

Modric-Kroos-Isco were incredible at recycling possession and setting the tempo to a game but they've consistently been awful at defensive transitions and chance creation. They aren't a creative midfield in the slightest. They are not good at playing the final ball or at creating problems to the opposing defense, that's why most of Madrid's offensive game had to come from the wings.

Defensive transitions?

You can compare them to other players of similar performance on tackling and interception stats, they don't strike me particularly worse than any other midfield in the competition except Atletico, that play with 4 guys being paid to do that role.

Chance creation?

Kroos was the midfielder with most key passes, Modric being 9th. No other team has a midfield combo with two players on the top 10.
Modric is 27th in interceptions, only 0.1 below Rakitic who basically plays most games for that, and above holding midfielder specialists like Fajr, Pizarro, Wass, Lobotka or Borges.

They're not creative in a tiki-taka way, but they've been the most complete midfield trio of the world for the past 3 years, if you add Marcelo to their mixup they become even better. Modric can recycle possesion and drive forward like no other in Europe except Hazard, KDB and Messi while having a workrate none of the past 3 display. Kroos is a distance maestro that can pass it short like the best in the game right now and a long ball that, as you said, opens any opportunity for Real Madrid, be it different wing, same wing or center.

Nevermind that all of them can bomb you from 35m range finding goal, how many teams have the luxury of fielding a 3 men midfield that covers every aspect of the game?. They only suffer when the ball goes above them.

United won nothing the season after Ronaldo left. That was after 3 Premier Leagues in a row and 2 Champions League finals in a row.

The Premier League became easier after that too as it stopped being the best league in the world, only took 80 points to win the league in 2010-11 and you had one of the easiest draws ever to get to a Champions League final. The team had clearly gone down a few levels by then too. By 2011-12 United were getting knocked out of the CL groupstages by Benfica and Basel. In 2006-09 United were twice the team they were in 2009-12.

Rio, Carrick, Vidic, Evra, Giggs or Scholes were 6 years younger too, the fact that United managed to get back into title winning form and reach a UCL final adding Bebé, Smalling, Valencia and Chicharito once Ronaldo left might tells us that it's not so black or white about a single player being the key difference between being good or bad.

First thing to address might be what kind of signal sends to the squad selling Ronaldo and bringing Mariano, everyone in that locker room might've thought from the start that the team wasn't asking from them a lot this season, and maybe that their time to leave will come in the next 1/2 years with the president not interested on spending the proper money to give this roster another go.

 

[giorno]

Take away the two SSC games and ignore the CdR and we've currently scored 7 fewer goals than a year ago. Scoring was an issue a year ago too. In fact we had many of the exact same problems. We're the same team we were a year ago, only worse.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Take away the two SSC games and ignore the CdR and we've currently scored 7 fewer goals than a year ago. Scoring was an issue a year ago too. In fact we had many of the exact same problems. We're the same team we were a year ago, only worse.

Ronaldo started firing in the second half of the season. There were glimpses of what was to come if he were to leave Madrid in the future.

 

[giorno]

They have 30 points and 26 goals after 18 games... what will it take before the obvious becomes obvious for everybody?

Madrid being shit in the league for the past decade had them hitting over 90 points and scoring over 100 goals pretty much every season.

Will they have to be playing in the Europa League or getting knocked out by the likes of Ajax in the Champions League for everyone to see it?

A year ago we had 33 points and 32 GF...

 

[Adisa]

Zidane saw it all.

 

[giorno]

Ronaldo started firing in the second half of the season. There were glimpses of what was to come if he were to leave Madrid in the future.

There were glimpses of what was to come regardless imho. We needed to start rebuilding regardless of Cristiano last summer. Modric has been really bad this season, part of it is the post WC fatigue, bur also? He wanted to leave last summer

Managing the end of a golden cycle is always difficult though, and even more so when you are technically accountable to the people who come to the stadium every other week. Still, it's a pity there's no chance Flo will lose his job over this. Then again, despite all of his flaws he's been by far our best president since Bernabeu...

 

[No Idea For Nickname]

klopp to Real, Guardiola to return to Barcelona. Ole wins 3 titles in a row

Only 3?? Not good enough, sack him.

 

[Dolf]

Real Madrid have the money to pay for the best managers in the world, and I would'nt be surprised if they soon (most probably in the summer), will try hard to get one of the 3 most attractive managers in EPL : Pochettino, Klopp or Guardiola.

Klopp will never leave Liverpool for Madrid. He loves being the underdog, having no responsibility or pressure to win anything and once he does actually win something it's considered a small miracle. It's very easy for him.

 

[André Dominguez]

They are taking too long to solve the interin manager problem, and it's taking the toll.

My guess is that they are getting NO's from a lot of managers.

 

[Don Alfredo]

There were glimpses of what was to come regardless imho. We needed to start rebuilding regardless of Cristiano last summer. Modric has been really bad this season, part of it is the post WC fatigue, bur also? He wanted to leave last summer

Managing the end of a golden cycle is always difficult though, and even more so when you are technically accountable to the people who come to the stadium every other week. Still, it's a pity there's no chance Flo will lose his job over this. Then again, despite all of his flaws he's been by far our best president since Bernabeu...

There is no way Perez should lose his presidency, he did an insane job in building this squad in the first place. It's not like he just threw a new record amount at every great attacker out there like with the last Galactico attempt, he made miracle bargains like Modric, Kroos, Varane, Casemiro, Ronaldo... The biggest flops money wise during his second tenure were Kaka, James, Danilo and Illaremendi, yet he did a fantastic job at selling players who were bought cheap, delivered most of the time and weren't needed anymore (Ozil, Di Maria, Higuain, you could also count Morata in a broader sense).

The "buying super talents" strategy looks dumb now because it hasn't delivered yet, but that was always to be expected. There was no way Real Madrid could have competed with the insane prices of Neymar, Mbappe etc during the last few summers. Barcelona bought Dembele and Coutinho for prices well above their true worth and both are good players, but it remains to be seen if Dembele for 150m is really the smarter move than Vinicius for 50m.

Of course his biggest faults has been in appointing managers (Benitez, Julen, Solari...), even if Zidane was a home run no one could have seen coming.

 

[youmeletsfly]

Take away the two SSC games and ignore the CdR and we've currently scored 7 fewer goals than a year ago. Scoring was an issue a year ago too. In fact we had many of the exact same problems. We're the same team we were a year ago, only worse.

Scoring was an issue in the past 2 seasons, especially in the 1st stage of the season. The 2nd stage was easier because Ronnie would score 20-30 goals from January till May.

I wonder this season who will cover those 20-30 goals from Jan till May.