Real Madrid

DonAndres

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
Samper said:
He is holding Real back when he plays. If Real want to grow further and play dominate with lots of posession (that's what Ancelotti wanted to do when he got the job) they need to get rid of him. He's not good enough under pressure, fails simple passes and he thinks more defensively than offensively.
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They would fall hard in a possession based system. Ronaldo and Bale can't operate without space, Kroos slows down play, and the likes of Ramos/Marcelo etc. would be exposed for their undisciplined positioning against the counterattacks that they'd undoubtedly face. Their midfield would get owned by other elite, possession based teams if they attempted to play them at their own game.

I think Ancelotti will have to go back to a 4-2-3-1 setup to make the best use of his squad given that he can't and won't bench his big money signings (and even then, a double pivot of Kroos-Modric is easy to kill). The trio of Ronaldo-James-Bale playing behind Benzema is great in attack but useless defensively along with Kroos and, to an extent, Modric.

Counterattacking football without a balanced defensive pressing system leaves a lot of space between the lines and more gaps to take advantage of. If they play us, we'll obviously have a lot more of the ball but they won't have the defensive output to close us down and stop us from playing our game. For a tangibly similar example, look at how easy it was for us to dominate Manchester City. And I assure you that Kroos-Modric aren't even close defensively to Fernandinho-Toure. The conversation would be different if Alonso were to remain starter, in which case we might either be laughing at Kroos for being a bench monkey or at Madrid for benching Modric. In most scenarios without Di Maria and with Kroos/James etc., there's something to laugh about. Hoping Ancelotti stalemates himself with his team this season.
 
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Samper

New member
Semi-Neutral said:
Samper, what about Kroos? Where does he play?
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I would rotate him with Modric. Maybe it's stupid that Modric and Kroos are not both guarnteed starters. But for some reason I don't think a midfield with Illarra, Modric and Kroos will work. Don't ask me why, it's just a feeling. I'm not including Xabi at all because the same thing with Khedira, I think he is weak under pressure. Maybe even weaker than Khedira. Real really need someone likes Busquets who is prob. the best player when under pressure and almost always plays the ball forward when it's the right option.
 
KingMessi

KingMessi

SiempreBlaugrana
Samper said:
I would rotate him with Modric. Maybe it's stupid that Modric and Kroos are not both guarnteed starters. But for some reason I don't think a midfield with Illarra, Modric and Kroos will work. Don't ask me why, it's just a feeling. I'm not including Xabi at all because the same thing with Khedira, I think he is weak under pressure. Maybe even weaker than Khedira. Real really need someone likes Busquets who is prob. the best player when under pressure and almost always plays the ball forward when it's the right option.
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There is only one Busquets though. But if Real need a deep-lying playmaker, then they could bring back Borja Valero from Fiorentina.
 
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Samper

New member
DonAndres said:
They would fall hard in a possession based system. Ronaldo and Bale can't operate without space, Kroos slows down play, and the likes of Ramos/Marcelo etc. would be exposed for their undisciplined positioning against the counterattacks that they'd undoubtedly face.Their midfield would get owned by other elite, possession based teams if they attempted to play them at their own game.

I think Ancelotti will have to go back to a 4-2-3-1 setup to make the best use of his squad given that he can't and won't bench his big money signings (and even then, a double pivot of Kroos-Modric is easy to kill). The trio of Ronaldo-James-Bale playing behind Benzema is great in attack but useless defensively along with Kroos and, to an extent, Modric.

Counterattacking football without a balanced defensive pressing system leaves a lot of space between the lines and more gaps to take advantage of. If they play us, we'll obviously have a lot more of the ball but they won't have the defensive output to close us down and stop us from playing our game. For a tangibly similar example, look at how easy it was for us to dominate Manchester City. And I assure you that Kroos-Modric aren't even close defensively to Fernandinho-Toure. The conversation would be different if Alonso were to remain starter, in which case we might either be laughing at Kroos for being a bench monkey or at Madrid for benching Modric. In most scenarios without Di Maria and with Kroos/James etc., there's something to laugh about. Hoping Ancelotti stalemates himself with his team this season.
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All valid points. They will need to revamp almost their entire team because otherwise it won't work and it will be a long term process. I also said I would not play this midfield against teams who are better in possesion like Barca and Bayern. The midfield will get crushed against teams like that. Selling Bale and Ronaldo is the first step if they want to achieve it. But that will never happen.


KingMessi said:
There is only one Busquets though. But if Real need a deep-lying playmaker, then they could bring back Borja Valero from Fiorentina.
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Ye, Busquets is one of a kind.
 
I

iMmi

New member
Yugi said:
wow, and I thought we overpaid for Suarez...this is really insane
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The difference is that you know from Suarez that he will score > 25 goals each season which he has proven in top leagues as the Premier League. James has never played under pressure, only played for a couple thousand fans with Monaco and with Columbia nobody expected him to be the topscorer at the worldcup. At Real Madrid he now MUST shine and that 80M euros of transfersom will always be above his head. Nobody can tell if he can handle that pressure.
 
Semi-Neutral

Semi-Neutral

Sir Alupp Heynrguson
I feel things will be awkward with the Kroos signing, and even more so if they get James, I have no clue how they fit everyone in. Assuming all the rumours are true and they sell Khedira and Di Maria and sign Rodriguez, then I guess they should line up something like this:

---------------------Ronaldo/J. Rodriguez/Benzema------------------
----Ronaldo/J. Rodriguez------Kroos/Isco-----------Bale/Jese--------
-------------------Modric/Kroos-----------Alonso/Illarramendi--------
-----Marcelo---------Pepe------------Ramos-------------Carvajal----
--------------------------Iker/Lopez/Navas?-------------------------

To accommodate all of Ronaldo, Bale, and Rodriguez into the starting XI you would have to play one of them up top, either Ronaldo as a mobile striker or James as a false nine, because otherwise it's pretty much impossible to defend. Alonso or Illarramendi seem necessary because the Modric-Kroos pivot wouldn't hold up against strong teams. Against weaker ones however, they probably would be able to just outscore the opposition, and then play Rodriguez in the hole and Benzema up top. They would also have Isco from the bench who could either replace Kroos in the CAM role (in fact, I like Isco more there, but he's fallen out of favor recently), or he could even play farther back and give Modric some rest. They'll also have Jese, who can play on either wing or even up top, which will be great rotation wise. Real will have a lot of depth, for sure, but I feel like some players might be unhappy with playing time, and the midfield looks suspect, they really need to keep Khedira or sign someone else who is actually good at defending, since Alonso is old and Illarramendi is still raw. Still, it's a very interesting project.
 
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