Real Madrid post match thread

The problem with Pep is that he only plays one young player he leaves the others out of the side.

The worst young player we have too.

Controversial I know but there is is.
It's not controversial at all.

Leyton Orient were bumming him as the weak link on Saturday.

I think a few of us had the same sinking feeling at half time.

The club must be putting the Uzbeck assassin on an intensive English course to get him upto speed as that's the only reason I can think of him not coming on last night?
 
It's not controversial at all.

Leyton Orient were bumming him as the weak link on Saturday.

I think a few of us had the same sinking feeling at half time.

The club must be putting the Uzbeck assassin on an intensive English course to get him upto speed as that's the only reason I can think of him not coming on last night?

Fans constantly use the excuse our team is old so can't compete but the real problem is that the manager wont play young players even when the old (Some really old) players can't make it up a flight of stairs without the odd thigh strain :)
 
Got to agree. We’ve been poor recruiting since the treble. The issues were obvious and we spent circa £200 mil in Jan and didnt address any of the main issues. GK, RB, LB, DM (Gonzalez is really an 8), Winger or 2 that can score, AM (Marmoush is a Striker)…

Why we bought 3 inexperienced Centre Backs for £70 mil when we had 6 Centre backs in the squad already, and huge issues elsewhere in the squad is barmy…? We had a chance to address some of the issues and try to rescue the season to some degree and we’ve probably cocked that up aswell… ffs

The Rodri problem should have been resolved long ago and after Phillip's mistake we still did nothing

From a city fan view, We have a making of a great team Rodri Haaland Foden Gvardiol Savinho Dias Doku González Khusanov Marmoush, all young enough to have another 5 years, But what we need is full-backs another centre-back midfield power and a keeper. Stones Ake Akanji gundogan KDB Kovačić will leave leaving room for 6 new signings
 
It's absolutely criminal how our tactics are neglecting Haaland. Especially when we are in such dire straits.

I think even the most staunch fans of Pep's possession based tactics would have to admit that if we had been more direct to Haaland this season, we would probably still be in the title race and already qualified for the latter CL stages.

It borders abuse what we are doing to the guy. He's taken pelters from many people for lack of involvement in games, as if more touches out of the box would somehow result in more goals, when the reality is, more through balls to him would ABSOLUTELY result in more goals.
Haaland gives 100% every game but you can see his disappointment when he’s let down time and again by our lacklustre awful error strewn defence and none existent midfield, Or he’s making runs behind the defence but the pass never arrives. Like you say it’s criminal to have such an incredibly talented player and not playing to his strengths. The passion he has for the club and supporters is amazing, if Pep or whoever comes in after him can’t make use of his talent I would rather he flourished elsewhere. Obviously not at a cartel club though.
 
The Rodri problem should have been resolved long ago and after Phillip's mistake we still did nothing

From a city fan view, We have a making of a great team Rodri Haaland Foden Gvardiol Savinho Dias Doku González Khusanov Marmoush, all young enough to have another 5 years, But what we need is full-backs another centre-back midfield power and a keeper. Stones Ake Akanji gundogan KDB Kovačić will leave leaving room for 6 new signings
And a new keeper.
 
It's not controversial at all.

Leyton Orient were bumming him as the weak link on Saturday.

I think a few of us had the same sinking feeling at half time.

The club must be putting the Uzbeck assassin on an intensive English course to get him upto speed as that's the only reason I can think of him not coming on last night?
or/and a few of the lads who'll play as his links out, and his pairs on the pitch could learn a couple of useful (in/away left/right short/long) phrases and it's a BINGO!
 
Pep and his ruthlessness. this is a big problem. I remember him shouting with Sterling or Jesus for a misplaced pass upfront costing us an attack or a crossing chance etc. these days the players doing 10x the mistakes in our own half, and Pep kind of accepts it.
 
Pep has been too loyal to an ageing squad who achieved unrivalled success which in my humble opinion is a choice/ decision most decent humans would make in similar circumstances. Couple this with some poor recruitment choices and we are where we are.
Pep will not make the same mistake twice and in terms of recruitment let’s see what Viana brings to the party.
As an aside on recruitment we will probably never know if the 115 charges impacted our activity either through player choice or financial contingency planning
 
Probably felt we needed more than a one goal lead to take away with us.

They had 4 midfielders at the back. Valverde at right back and, after Jack came off, Savinho didn’t take him on ONCE. Their centre halves likely wouldn’t have lived with Erling in a foot race and yet we never moved the ball quick enough to test that out.
As I said in another post, there are different ways to win a football match and if we’ve not got the personnel to play how we want then surely we’ve got to try something else?
Madrid came last season and barely had a shot, played 9 behind the ball for most of the game and got out with a 1-1.
The fact that we’ve been ‘found out’ by every team we play, particularly the later a game goes, save for Ipswich and Salford, suggests we need a plan B.

We could have thrown one or two extra defenders on at 2-1 and said well take that and, if we get chance to hit Erling or Marmoush quickly, we will but it seems that is somehow beneath us!!
We didn’t need to though. We weren’t getting battered at that stage. We were playing conservatively enough. We pushed up for the keeper to launch it up towards the big striker like Everton would at the end of the game. Only for him to do one of the worst kicks he’s ever done. You just can’t legislate for that. Same shit so many times from us this season. Inexcusable individual errors that mean tactics don’t come in to it.
 
Pep and his ruthlessness. this is a big problem. I remember him shouting with Sterling or Jesus for a misplaced pass upfront costing us an attack or a crossing chance etc. these days the players doing 10x the mistakes in our own half, and Pep kind of accepts it.
The game against Feyenoord kind of encapsulates where Pep is, at 3-0 he made substitutions that immediately cost a goal, but at 3-1 we were still in a commanding position against a fairly modest opponent, instead of steadying the ship Pep put his head in his hands. We all know the rest.
 
Pep and his ruthlessness. this is a big problem. I remember him shouting with Sterling or Jesus for a misplaced pass upfront costing us an attack or a crossing chance etc. these days the players doing 10x the mistakes in our own half, and Pep kind of accepts it.
It’s a major problem. He can’t seem to bring himself to criticise the senior players because they delivered so much in the past.

We need them to move on badly for everyone sake. The boss needs to find his mojo again or have a frank conversation with himself.

The mistakes every game is being ignored. The ruthlessness is gone.

ATM the boss is accepting mediocre standards. So it’s no surprise the club in return is mediocre.

No excuse for the collapses at all. Sorry he has plenty of players to choose from and went with the tried and tested who again collapsed. Kova, Gundo and Rico? It was only asking for trouble.
 
So we lost because of Lewis? Come on.
I'm not saying that but Vinicius had Rico & number of times which they could have scored from. As for the attempted tackle leading up to their 3rd goal, it was shocking!
 
Got to agree. We’ve been poor recruiting since the treble (both in and out - Alvarez/Palmer). The issues were obvious and we spent circa £200 mil in Jan and didnt address any of the main issues. GK, RB, LB, DM (Gonzalez is really an 8), Winger or 2 that can score, AM (Marmoush is a Striker)…

Why we bought 3 inexperienced Centre Backs for £70 mil when we had 6 Centre backs in the squad already, and huge issues elsewhere in the squad is barmy…? We had a chance to address some of the issues and try to rescue the season to some degree and we’ve probably cocked that up aswell… ffs
The issue is it would've been preferable to commence our rebuild when on top & under little pressure. The problem now is we don't have the time for another Rodri who needed a season or two to bed in.

We need players for now to rescue our season, & trying to get those players in January was always gonna be an uphill task. As the failed bid for full back Cambiaso showed, what we want & what we need are totally different to what we can get mid-season when we're desperate.

The errors with Philips & Nunes has meant we'd rather wait until the summer than panic & make any more long-term future mistakes. Normally the additions of Moose, Khusanov & Reis would be with an eye to the future. The fact we don't have the luxury of thinking like that is totally on City. We fucked up big time with our succession planning, hence why I don't blame our legends or the new recruits.

Last night was a case in point. Where was Pep's weird big match selections, tactics & his over-thinking? Nah, when he didn't have the option to tinker in a big match, he went for the best of the trusted guard he had available. This alone shows the unmitigated mess we've gotten ourselves into.
 
Remember his guiding principle of if you lose the ball you have 10 seconds as a team to recover it , whatever happened to that?
 
Looking back, I'm not even that disappointed about last night. We were beaten by a younger, fitter, better team. Wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if they went on to win the competition. Even if we'd have held on and gone to the Bernabeu with a one goal lead, they would probably have comfortably overturned it next week.

We played pretty well, but this team is at the end of their cycle. The minds are willing, but the legs less so. The midfield needs a huge overhaul in the summer, and some difficult decisions need to be made. No one would begrudge De Bruyne or Bernardo moves abroad, whilst Gundogan's contract obviously shouldn't be renewed. Kovacic could possibly leave too. Don't know whether such a turnover of senior players, all in the same position, is realistic but drastic surgery is required to get us competitive again in that area.
Spot on, there are some comparisons to be had with Liverpool, they replaced their old guard midfield who were on the wane and now have 4 good midfielders in the ideal age range of 23-26 or so. It’s helped transform their side.

We may need a first choice keeper, a flexible full back such as Cambiaso, we have Rodri to come back plus Nico. Get two more in including a KDB replacement of top quality (A Wirtz or similar) and I think we will be a different beast.

We are set with defensive options in the main, up front and on the wings. Do 4 good signings and 4 of the current squad moving on will undoubtedly have a transformational effect on the squad. Will add pace and energy which we’ve been struggling for all week.

In respect of last night I agree with you, we would find it difficult to get through this tie even if we had a 1 or 2 goal advantage given how good they are in the final third.

Last night has got to be the confirmation sign that as hard as it will be, a few legends need to be phased out this summer. Regroup, ensure a competitive end to the season and CL qualification, maybe an FA cup challenge and be ready to go for the CWC and next season.
 
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So what ? I'd rather we lose with Khusanov and give him experience than play a guy who is obviously not a defender.
If we lose, we lose. I'd rather not unnecessarily affect the confidence of a new, young future Superstar because of a situation of Manchester City's making.

Khusanov's time will come. Unfortunately for him, we don't have the usual luxury of bedding him & the other recruits in over a couple of seasons.

City previously fielding a young or more senior squad player would have had a lesser effect on our performance because they'd be surrounded by world class players at the peak of their careers. This is no longer the case & highlights the danger of signing squad players like Nunes & Kovacic, when your Superstars are ageing & waning.

One of Kovacic, Nunes, McAtee, Lewis, Gundog & an out of form Grealish we could usually get away with, but when we're forced to field the lot of them, we're no longer an elite team, as none would make our strongest starting eleven.

This is our issue. We've lowered the quality of our squad's gene pool & we're now suffering the consequences. Moose, Khusanov & Reis won't change this fundamental issue.
 
It’s a major problem. He can’t seem to bring himself to criticise the senior players because they delivered so much in the past.

We need them to move on badly for everyone sake. The boss needs to find his mojo again or have a frank conversation with himself.

The mistakes every game is being ignored. The ruthlessness is gone.

ATM the boss is accepting mediocre standards. So it’s no surprise the club in return is mediocre.

No excuse for the collapses at all. Sorry he has plenty of players to choose from and went with the tried and tested who again collapsed. Kova, Gundo and Rico? It was only asking for trouble.
Indeed its strange. yet he managed to let Kun Aguero go when he was thinking he aint use for us anymore despite we didnt know if we can get the services of Harry Kane that summer which we couldnt.

with Walker, KDb, Gundo he couldnt do the same...
 

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