La liga 2021/22

Red the Bear

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So amateurish.
Real should just park the buss now , they have it in their pocket.
 

RG77

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The Mendy-Vinicius pairing reminds me of the Evra-Ronaldo combo on the left.
They have 0 chemistry though.

Mendy isn’t good tbh, need better backs. Or put Marcelo in a time machine.
 

#07

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That wasn't a bad watch. Barcelona played some good stuff. However, they were vulnerable to the counter from the off. The more they chased goals the more vulnerable they got. Definitely stuff Xavi can build on. Still, Ancelotti knows his players, knows his squad, knows how to set up to their strengths and they executed their game plan perfectly.
 

It's B Rubble

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Vinicius is an absolute problem. Him an Benzema have to be the top attacking duo in world football at the moment. Modric is always class. Dembele looked like he was playing for that 400k/pw contract. Very entertaining match. Ancelotti was coaching Everton before and he couldn’t get a tune out of them but my word RM look dangerous on the counter.
 

giorno

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Ancelotti is not good enough of a coach for this level anymore, we still have some ridiculous players that can solve everything anyways, and barcelona showed they're actually a good side, flawed for sure, but good. They just spent half the season without forwards. With Pedri and Ansu Fati back i expect they will start getting much better from here on. They were always good at pinning teams back and winning the ball back quickly with their counterpress, just lack attacking edge. Defensively they desperately need to drop Busquets for De Jong, and Xavi needs to get Dest back into his plans. As it stands they can't defend in transition at all
 

Red the Bear

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Ancelotti is not good enough of a coach for this level anymore, we still have some ridiculous players that can solve everything anyways, and barcelona showed they're actually a good side, flawed for sure, but good. They just spent half the season without forwards. With Pedri and Ansu Fati back i expect they will start getting much better from here on. They were always good at pinning teams back and winning the ball back quickly with their counterpress, just lack attacking edge. Defensively they desperately need to drop Busquets for De Jong, and Xavi needs to get Dest back into his plans. As it stands they can't defend in transition at all
He's doing just fine , ancelotti's teams were never full on dominating wherever he has gone, he has always managed star laden teams and credit to him he seems to be a good man manager. Its just that this real side isn't as good as the 13/14 side
 

De Portago

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The fact that Busquets is starting every game at this point in his career is mind boggling. Every Real Маdrid counterattack he's 20 meters behind the play scrambling to get back, but it seems at this point that he's literally unable to run at full tilt. Even if his offensive game was still at peak level he'd probably be a net negative, this way he's more of an albatross. And he keeps playing 90 minutes game after game?!
 

giorno

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He's doing just fine , ancelotti's teams were never full on dominating wherever he has gone, he has always managed star laden teams and credit to him he seems to be a good man manager. Its just that this real side isn't as good as the 13/14 side
There's a difference between not being as good as 13/14 and being overly reliant on the heroics of 3-4 players to grind out results

And i'm not basing that on this one game, but rather the whole season. Barcelona actually still have better advanced underlying numbers in the league than we do
 

Red the Bear

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There's a difference between not being as good as 13/14 and being overly reliant on the heroics of 3-4 players to grind out results

And i'm not basing that on this one game, but rather the whole season. Barcelona actually still have better advanced underlying numbers in the league than we do
Real need an overhaul and even then you'll be quite a distance from competing in Europe again. Football is cyclical and laliga is facing a downward trend , your midfield is composed of dinosaurs and some your biggest singing have been flops. All things considered he's doing a decent job even if he is no longer a top 5 coach.
 

giorno

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Real need an overhaul and even then you'll be quite a distance from competing in Europe again. Football is cyclical and laliga is facing a downward trend , your midfield is composed of dinosaurs and some your biggest singing have been flops. All things considered he's doing a decent job even if he is no longer a top 5 coach.
Kroos and Modric might be dinosaurs but they didn't go extinct. Still easily 2 of the very best midfielders in the world. With Vini's explosion the attack is finally back to our minimum standards, and we can still defend when we put our mind to it. Biggest issues are Casemiro, the wingbacks and the third attacking spot. But a better manager than Ancelotti would have this team a lot closer to, say, Liverpool, than it is

This should be a great team, not a team of great players
 

Acrobat7

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There's a difference between not being as good as 13/14 and being overly reliant on the heroics of 3-4 players to grind out results

And i'm not basing that on this one game, but rather the whole season. Barcelona actually still have better advanced underlying numbers in the league than we do
It started earlier. What you describe is how his Bayern side played as well. He seems like a genuinely nice guy but I am afraid he is no longer up to managing at the highest level. It’s man management without a modern tactical approach.
 

giorno

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Why are there four squads in the Supercopa this term? I don't recall this in past years.

And why in Riyadh?
Been that way since 2019/20. It's an unabashed and unrepentant money grab
 

Red the Bear

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Kroos and Modric might be dinosaurs but they didn't go extinct. Still easily 2 of the very best midfielders in the world. With Vini's explosion the attack is finally back to our minimum standards, and we can still defend when we put our mind to it. Biggest issues are Casemiro, the wingbacks and the third attacking spot. But a better manager than Ancelotti would have this team a lot closer to, say, Liverpool, than it is

This should be a great team, not a team of great players
Not doubting their quality as they would embarrass our midfield week in week out but the clock is ticking and they don't have much more left and it's not an easy task to replace those players.

I'd attribute some of visits improvements to carlo as it seemed Zidane was failing to get a tune out of him despite his best efforts, same with your defense as it seemed very unlikely to be this good after varane's departure.

Yeah a good coach would go a long way to modernize the team and rejuvenate it but im pretty sure that'll take some time , and for what he's given to work with as transitional manager he's done just fine, so I really think you're underselling carlo right now.
 

Morty_

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Not much in it between the two teams today, but if i would point out the reason we(RM) won is that we don't have obvious weak links like Barca does, they can become a decent team fairly soon again, but they have to ditch the likes of Busquets and Alba to get there.
 

Daysleeper

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Not much in it between the two teams today, but if i would point out the reason we(RM) won is that we don't have obvious weak links like Barca does, they can become a decent team fairly soon again, but they have to ditch the likes of Busquets and Alba to get there.
I’d say your defense could definitely use some work but yeah, we need to get rid of the old guard
 

AussieDevil

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Ancelotti is not good enough of a coach for this level anymore, we still have some ridiculous players that can solve everything anyways, and barcelona showed they're actually a good side, flawed for sure, but good. They just spent half the season without forwards. With Pedri and Ansu Fati back i expect they will start getting much better from here on. They were always good at pinning teams back and winning the ball back quickly with their counterpress, just lack attacking edge. Defensively they desperately need to drop Busquets for De Jong, and Xavi needs to get Dest back into his plans. As it stands they can't defend in transition at all
I think he is a very good manager still, but he isn’t overachieving which is the requirement to be a coach of a super club these days. He has worked wonders with Vinicius, it’s not a coincidence that both Calvert-Lewin and Vinicius Junior suddenly turned into refined players when they played under Ancelotti.

Surprised your club hasn’t been linked to a Ten Hag like coach, potentially the young sporting coach could replace Ancelotti in the near future ?
 

Morty_

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I’d say your defense could definitely use some work but yeah, we need to get rid of the old guard
Our defense is mostly fine, i think, but we need a new RB.
What i do think we need more is to update our midfield, yes i know "everyone" thinks its still amazing, but i frankly think the trio is becoming overrated.

They still look good in most games, but frankly, Modric and Kroos lacks mobility, and will get exposed at the highest level, much like they did against Chelsea last year.
 

PepG

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Real Madrid fans should be grateful to Max Allegri who decided to return to Juventus back in May because according to his agent it was all done and he only had to sign his contract with Real. Things would have been even uglier with him in charge and he is still rated as a modern and in his prime coach.. But its true that what we are seeing now is the ceiling of Ancelotti as a coach and he is past his prime. Real Madrid is not as good as his 2013/2014 side and he can't make them better. Let him win his missing La Liga title and let him go managing Roma after the inevitable sacking of Mourinho there... And if its true that Florentino wants to create another Galactico era with signings such as Mbappe and Haaland he needs a better coach..
 

kouroux

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Real Madrid fans should be grateful to Max Allegri who decided to return to Juventus back in May because according to his agent it was all done and he only had to sign his contract with Real. Things would have been even uglier with him in charge and he is still rated as a modern and in his prime coach.. But its true that what we are seeing now is the ceiling of Ancelotti as a coach and he is past his prime. Real Madrid is not as good as his 2013/2014 side and he can't make them better. Let him win his missing La Liga title and let him go managing Roma after the inevitable sacking of Mourinho there... And if its true that Florentino wants to create another Galactico era with signings such as Mbappe and Haaland he needs a better coach..
I find it next to impossible to judge a manager like that, for a player it's easily doable but for a manager ? I don't know as there are so many more parameters impacting him more than players individually
 

VanDeBank

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Classic comments from Barca "we were the better team" :lol:

Dominate possession and get smashed on the counter. Typical Dutch/Ajax/Barca nonsense they hide behind "Cruyff"

Vinicius is an absolute problem. Him an Benzema have to be the top attacking duo in world football at the moment. Modric is always class. Dembele looked like he was playing for that 400k/pw contract. Very entertaining match. Ancelotti was coaching Everton before and he couldn’t get a tune out of them but my word RM look dangerous on the counter.
Dembele always reaches this level. Looks promising, but can't finish to save his life. Maybe he could have improved on that were he not injured all the time, but he doesn't seem to have that top mentality.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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And i'm not basing that on this one game, but rather the whole season. Barcelona actually still have better advanced underlying numbers in the league than we do
According to Understat, Barcelona should have won the league last year and should be tied with us this season.

Past a certain point, "underlying numbers" don't mean anything compared to actual numbers.
 

giorno

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According to Understat, Barcelona should have won the league last year and should be tied with us this season.

Past a certain point, "underlying numbers" don't mean anything compared to actual numbers.
They're good indicators of overall team performance over time. The better they are, the more likely you are to win. Barcelona of the last few seasons are a bit of an aberration, because Ter Stegen has been bad, their inability to defend in transition means teams always get BIG chances against them, and that combination plus bad luck with oppo's finishing turned into a ton of goals. And at the other hand everyone bar Messi and Ansu Fati couldn't finish their dinner. They're actually a good case study for advanced stats and xG VS player quality
 

NoPace

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Good game. General observations:

-Barca might be better off playing 3 at the back so Nico and De Jong can sit in front of defense and control games better than Busquets can at this point. They don't have the wingbacks, but while Pedri is good defensively, Gavi is just not there yet physically and doesn't seem up for it and playing as an 8 in a 4-3-3 is still a lot of work. Nico-DeJong with Pedri freer in front of them could really control games. Wonder if that will be a major part of the plan going forward. Torres and Fati playing with a partner up front might suit them too. If they buy Gaya I could see this becoming their big game lineup next season. No idea who would play out right. Suits Dest but Xavi doesn't seem to rate him.

-Ferran Torres made some good runs on the right in behind in a manner similar to Callejon has turned into a fine career. I wonder if in the 4-3-3 he'll have a similar role and success with Fati as the main man in the middle like Mertens was for Sarri's Napoli.

-Araujo is such a good athlete. Why are Uruguay not doing well? They have a good midfield on paper too and better fullbacks than usual.

-Busquets and Alves made mistakes that ultimately cost them the game. Busquets weirdly fell asleep in possession but he's been having these lapses regularly now for a while. Aging seems to be affecting his preternatural ability to never make a mistake on the ball. Recovered well to have a decent game apart from that though. Alves was simply dribbled too easily after picking up a yellow, which is the life of a fullback, but yeah they need to buy a RB. Their fans hate Semedo and they got a good price for him, but they didn't replace him with an actual RB in his prime.

-Kroos, Modric and Casemiro dominated the first half and then faded. Modric in particular was excellent and then couldn't seem to get a touch in the 2nd half until he went off. Be interesting to see if Valverde comes on sooner in big CL games.

-Did Vicinius do something to piss off Tite's dog or something? He's fantastic.

-Asensio's lack of pace (he's decently fast on the ball because his control is so good but slow for a winger off it) seemed to kill some of their counter-attacking potential. Mbappe will make them a terror playing on the right and if teams park they can always try moving Vinicius out right to play as more of an old school winger and play Mbappe out left where he and Benzema seem to have a decent understanding up front.

-Madrid not upgrading Nacho as their 3rd CB seems like poor squad planning. He wasn't at fault for the goals but he can certainly be bullied in the air. Seems like if he's gonna play at this high a level it should be in a 3 at the back system. Sort of like Lindelof with his good reading of the game but below average strength. Has no margin for error unlike most top CBs.

-Will Carvajal will start over Azpilicueta at the World Cup? Didn't get up to much going forward and Dembele had him in trouble. Maybe Llorente will end up there again if it's too soon for Porro or whoever is the next guy.

-Benzema's touches were fantastically economical. I remember the same quality when he played us while at Lyon and he didn't have room to maneuver so played some wonderful one touch stuff.

-Ridiculous the game is played in Saudi Arabia. There was a shot of the idiotic Saudi Royals immediately followed by an incredible pass from Valverde that juxtaposed the profane with the sacred. Humanity is a mid-table side.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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I can't really make an argument without knowing what numbers you are actually referring to.
 

RoyH1

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Not doubting their quality as they would embarrass our midfield week in week out but the clock is ticking and they don't have much more left and it's not an easy task to replace those players.

I'd attribute some of visits improvements to carlo as it seemed Zidane was failing to get a tune out of him despite his best efforts, same with your defense as it seemed very unlikely to be this good after varane's departure.

Yeah a good coach would go a long way to modernize the team and rejuvenate it but im pretty sure that'll take some time , and for what he's given to work with as transitional manager he's done just fine, so I really think you're underselling carlo right now.
I agree with this. Modric and Kroos are phenomenal players and replacing them is going to be very, very difficult. Valverde is decent box to box but I don't see him ever reaching their level. And while Camavinga has a really high ceiling, he's much too young to start taking over from them. The pressure players are under in Madrid is something else.

I don't know if the press talking about Haaland to Madrid has any basis in reality, but if I was Pérez, I'd be looking at investing in a couple of midfielders with that money instead of blowing it all on a striker (I'm assuming that Mbappé will be a Real player when I say this).
 

Red the Bear

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I agree with this. Modric and Kroos are phenomenal players and replacing them is going to be very, very difficult. Valverde is decent box to box but I don't see him ever reaching their level. And while Camavinga has a really high ceiling, he's much too young to start taking over from them. The pressure players are under in Madrid is something else.

I don't know if the press talking about Haaland to Madrid has any basis in reality, but if I was Pérez, I'd be looking at investing in a couple of midfielders with that money instead of blowing it all on a striker (I'm assuming that Mbappé will be a Real player when I say this).
Perez has an obsession with trying to get the biggest name out there so while their interest in halland may not have any basis in reality, they're definitely going to go all in on mbape .

I also like to mention that both modric and kroos were in their peak when they came over to Madrid and both were world class at that time in fact kroos had already a world cup and a treble to his name.

The pressure to perform in Madrid is astronomical i don't think that's very conducive to players developing at all , so I would be very surprised if the likes of camavinga were to grow in to their potential.