Most managers would. We're still a dream job for 99% of managers in world football - a massive club that pays well and offers loads of potential. It's only the elite (Pochettino, possibly Jardim) who would tell us to do one.
Real Madrid need to get ready for a terrible season | It’s happening
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
He was a very good player, remember wanting us to sign him
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Didn't they just get their hands burnt hiring a manager with no major club honours but was doing well with a national team? Seems strange to repeat it again.
I could see Lukaku interesting Martinez as well tbf.
You clearly don't understand how Florentino works
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Yes, the heir is already prepared to take the crown. Now we do not need to remember the Portuguese. Get ready now to see Vini score 50 goals. You're going to sweat to defend that we should not have sold him kidding!!
I know you're joking but despite obviously not being able to replace the goals or performances, he'll bring excitement back to the Bernabeu that you've missed this season. Hopefully he actually starts getting chances in some serious matches.
Ramos - Varane has to be the weakest CB pairing at any of the more famous clubs right now. Smalling would improve Madrid's backline and even Lindelof might get a chance with their current form.
That said its not just about them. Are they being helped out a lot by Casemiro, Modric and Kroos? Against Barcelona Kroos won 5 tackles and 2 interceptions - thats a lot of defensive work. Although it doesnt tell us how well he was tracking back and marking runners from midfield. Winning that amount of the ball is always going to help. Casemiro and Modric? I dont know. I wouldnt say they are being particularly helpful defensively to the CBs at present.
Nacho at right back was maybe a bigger problem against Barcelona though as Madrid couldnt deal with Jordi Alba's overlaps.
In the end I think this season we're seeing the reality of some of Real Madrid's players levels that were papered over by having such a productive player up front in Ronaldo. Some are just in slumps and will hit form again. Some others might just have been found out and will need to be replaced as their inflated reputations are popped.
That said its not just about them. Are they being helped out a lot by Casemiro, Modric and Kroos? Against Barcelona Kroos won 5 tackles and 2 interceptions - thats a lot of defensive work. Although it doesnt tell us how well he was tracking back and marking runners from midfield. Winning that amount of the ball is always going to help. Casemiro and Modric? I dont know. I wouldnt say they are being particularly helpful defensively to the CBs at present.
Nacho at right back was maybe a bigger problem against Barcelona though as Madrid couldnt deal with Jordi Alba's overlaps.
In the end I think this season we're seeing the reality of some of Real Madrid's players levels that were papered over by having such a productive player up front in Ronaldo. Some are just in slumps and will hit form again. Some others might just have been found out and will need to be replaced as their inflated reputations are popped.
We get this hot take on a daily basis.
Last year we lost the league by 17 points with Ronaldo, maybe he was part of the problem as well? Look, players like Modric (who has been our most important player in the last few years), Kroos, Ramos, Varane etc. playing like crap has no relation to Ronnie whatsoever.
What did you win? And are you going to win it this year without a player scoring lots of goals?
I understand its easier to blame players who are no longer around. But its not very honest and doesnt help.
If 26 goals in 27 league appearances from a striker isnt enough to help your team have a good league season, there are some big problems that arent you.
Of course it doesn’t, they were playing like crap last year too with Ronaldo there.
You lost the league by 17 points with Ronaldo there and you would have lost it by 30 without him, it’s also a skewed number as you ended up losing lots of points in the league due to resting for the CL... which you won’t win this season.
The problem was there were actually people that believed Modric was your most important player in the past few years, maybe Perez started believing in it too.
Martinez wouldn't be a bad shout actually. @carvajal might think differently but he's the sort of guy who'll know how to manage the players' egos and won't try and crack the whip too much. Can't help thinking it's a short-term appointment though.
Interestingly, he's Catalan but I don't think he's like Guardiola in his political views.
I'm sure Real Madrid will invest heavily winter.
After all, what is a terrible season there? Champions League semi-final and 3rd of La Liga?
OMG
After all, what is a terrible season there? Champions League semi-final and 3rd of La Liga?
OMG
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The problem about Ronaldo isn't Modric. It never was, it isn't and it will never be.
The problem about Ronaldo isn't his level in past years. He was extraordinary, he always was, and that was never in doubt.
The problem about Ronaldo is that he wanted a 4 year contract, from 33 years old until 37 years old getting very huge wages in all of them, and forcing Florentino to have one more motive to renounce to some other interesting players in his same position (Neymar, Hazard, Vinicius development etc). Thus, conditioning the sports model of the next 5 years.
That's the whole thing, not what might happen in September and October this year, or even the whole season.
I always say the same, every club dreams of signing players just before they start to shine, and selling them just before they start to decline. Is Ronaldo starting to decline just right now? No, quite probably not, but the alternatives were 4 years or nothing, and that's what the whole thing should be about.
Roberto Martínez would be fine, but imagine you're Florentino. You've been wrong with the coach. The next time you have to hit. I'm not sure he would be my first choice.
The advantage that Solari has now is that the players have to respond. They do not have the trainer's shield anymore. Now the criticisms are going to be directly addressed to them.
I think there would be positive answers with almost any coach, who would also benefit from the physical improvement.
I think Solari could end the season. In that case Florentino could negotiate with Mourinho, Pochettino, Low ...
But you didn't bring anybody in to replace Ronaldo so what exactly was he blocking?
Madrid fans need to wake up quite frankly, all this we will sign Neymar etc in the future is pie in the sky at this point
I spoke about the next five years and also about two very clear options.
What was he blocking? I don't know, because I don't know if Vinicius is going to look as good as I think he's going to be after his game yesterday, I don't know if Asensio is going to keep on developing or not, or the players Florentino is going to sign in January and when the season is over.
Wasn’t he shit at Everton or is my memory failing me?
Sure, he didn't believe what he was paying would be worth it for 4 years. Especially at an age where an injury could mean it's all over, that's fair enough. But after making a call like that then he needs to get everything else right and it's started by being pretty much the opposite.
Although I disagree and believe he underestimated the impact on the team, I still believe selling Ronaldo for 100 million at 33.5 years old is in no way a terrible deal. Not replacing him at all is a beyond awful decision though.
Unreal.Martnez should be nowhere near a job at a club the size of Madrid. He isnt good enough for a job at Sevilla let alone Real.
That's bollocks, in the same period during last year -unlike this season- the team was playing pretty well but Ronnie, among others, couldn't convert them, and the gap got out of hand very soon... Ronnie was part of the problem, like anyone who has watched last years' 3rd Clasico (after battering them 5-1 in SuperCup) would know that the 3-0 loss was in no way how the match went on the pitch, unlike this year, where it was totally deserved.
The thing -that a Ronnie fanboy would never understand- is we needed one if not two high calibre attacking players already during last year (main reason why we lost the league early, while when we won it the year before we had James and Morata, or in 2012 we had both Higuain and a much better Benzema, on top of Ronnie), but we let Ronnie go as well, so him leaving is just a small part of the problem.
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Yep. Dunno what's up with Perez and his scouting every international manager. But I suppose they need to appoint someone in 2 weeks. Maybe if Martinez agrees to a provisional contract till June, as was rumored to be rejected by Conte, he could be the only choice they have.
He probably did.
He probably expected Benzema and Bale to lead the attack much more than they had done before and Asensio to take a step forward. He probably thought Vinicius would play many more minutes than he has so far, as well.
But at the same time I also think he tried to sign a few experienced elite players but saw the price was too much for the quality at disposal, so that's why he has changed his strategy. So it turned out to be about Vinicius, Rodrygo, Ceballos, Odriozola etc, and also about Kroos, Courtois, Hazard in the last year of their contracts.
In any case, strategies have to be modulated by the results. If results keep on being terrible, he will no doubt invest heavily in the next transfer windows.
If Atlético and Sevilla were reliable (too many draws and unexpected defeats), and perhaps a strong Villareal or Valencia thrown in there for good measure (instead of Alavés or Espanyol), I'd say Madrid would have serious difficulty to reach the 4th spot this season.
It's clear by now that Barcelona are aiming for their third triplete and will end up as 18-19 Champions.
I think this will end like this: 1 Barça / 2 Atlético / 3 Sevilla / 4 Madrid / 5 Alavés / 6 Espanyol
It's clear by now that Barcelona are aiming for their third triplete and will end up as 18-19 Champions.
I think this will end like this: 1 Barça / 2 Atlético / 3 Sevilla / 4 Madrid / 5 Alavés / 6 Espanyol
I think man city and Liverpool would beat Barca over two legs in CL sadly
Wow, quite the opposite. Maybe in 90 min, and only if Pique and Busquets are in awful mode (which has happened quite a lot of times after 2015).
I think Juve is Barça's main ChL rival this season.
Cristiano's gentleman's buyout clause excluded PSG and the PL. Selling him last summer with Neymar/Mbappé unavailable wasn't the plan. Flo was blindsided by juventus. That's why there was no succession plan in place
Busquets has been awesome lately, not worried about him, and Arthur was an absolute gem of a signing. Pique has been very up and down (mostly down). Would rather Umtiti and Lenglet be the CB pairing.
Yeah this is what I think could happen too. If Mourinho goes to RM on a huge contract it could be great for him and United.
Not sure Poch will fancy the pressure at Real tbh.
Why was there no succession plan in place given how it was definitely possible for someone to match that gentleman's buyout clause? Surely the club needed to be ready in the eventuality it happened?
You just know perez would fix things up in the summer.
Madrid fans should be excited for next summer.
Madrid fans should be excited for next summer.
Because Florentino didn't think anybody could do it. Nobody expected juventus, it was unthinkable that they could afford him until they signed him. The belief was that only China and Qatar/Emirates could afford him, and he wouldn't leave for those destinations.
Interesting to hear a lot in the press referring to to Madrid’s inability to compete with PL clubs in terms of ability to spend on players - especially with £400m to find for improving the Bernabeu.
Different model for Spanish clubs owned by the fans. They’re rich, but no longer richer than anyone else. They’ll still have the “pull” other clubs might not but with Madrid needing to rebuild an ageing team it’ll be interesting to see who’ll take the job on.
Different model for Spanish clubs owned by the fans. They’re rich, but no longer richer than anyone else. They’ll still have the “pull” other clubs might not but with Madrid needing to rebuild an ageing team it’ll be interesting to see who’ll take the job on.
If that's true it would be big bolted job from your side.