Real Madrid

Wolfe said:

He beat Real during a stint of complete shithousery. That Spurs team should have battered RM, but had no stones to take more risk with a team who would barely get a shot on target and, even if they did, their keeper would take care of the problem. 4 years in a team aspiring to improve and they are still at the stage of "we're a young team, we have to remain humble". That instills no confidence in the long-term at all and hence why they are where they are.

He may be at a big club i.e. Bayern, anywhere in Italy. But he is not that guy who is brought in to get a top team to European domination. Which is what Real is and will remain.

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DonAK said:

Pochettino might be more Van Gaal than anyone else. There to set a foundation which another manager improve and take advantage of.

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Wolfe said:

+1
[MENTION=6099]JamDav1982[/MENTION]
You Cules like dissecting things, right? How was his result vs Klopp last year when he arguably beat Pep? How was it this year, upside down much? How was his result vs Conte? Or even Wenger? Consistent, young, aspiring manager

The only manager out of that league good enough and on RM's level who would be open to the job is Conte, but isn't the long-term answer. Which is why Perez is likely to wait and take the heat.

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JamDav1982 said:

He has beaten all of those managers across the past season and a half. Cant really make out point you are trying to make.

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Wolfe said:

What does that prove? That he's better in a given game? He still can't make it count when he has to nor can he maintain regularity. Doesn't fulfil either of the two requirements RM would start the job interview with.

Beat Klopp once in 1.5 season, 2 draws, 2 losses.
Beat Conte once, 2 draws, 3 losses. Includes FA Cup semi loss.
Beat Mou twice, lost twice.
Beat Pep twice, 1 draw, 1 loss.

50% wins against Mou & Pep. Both are doing better than him at the moment.

Dude is young. So what, so is Nagelsmann. He's done the work of not letting the club sink after their biggest sale in history. He's about to lead to another one if he doesn't take that next step. And it's not looking likely in the slightest.

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Wolfe said:

Which is dumbed down and oversimplified =]

1) Isco thrives with the ball at his feet and scoring from his passes relies on strikers making good runs. Ronaldo and Benzema don't make them. The only one that does consistently this year is Bale.
2) Ronaldo always wants to have a go no matter how good he is positioned for it (4 goals from 94 attempts this season).
3) Marcelo has become lazy, was always prone to that, but ever since he doesn't even care about Theo being his sub, he has no threat and doesn't feel the consequence of mistakes
4) Carvajal has never been the sharpest of crossers, but his dedication will never go unacknowledged. Similarly suffers from lack of threat, but is still better. Sadly he was never coached out of the bad habits i.e. gets rinsed by better dribblers instead of using positioning to block them with teammate support.
5) Kroos has never had the habit of tracking back and is usually played for his sharp passing. His accuracy is what is important to distribute the ball across flanks. Occasionally he provides a good flat shot from a rebound, or a late run. He's the best at what he does and again, does not feel threatened by Kova. Mateo likes to run forward which is superb, but there is no visible benefit from his offensive game, because strikers aren't good enough in the way Sheva or Inzaghi were for Kaka.
6) Modrić is getting old. Can only play good 60 minutes every 2 or 3 games.

Basically a multitude of problems in a tactic that would otherwise work and all stem from one thing - lack of consequence and too much faith in a team getting increasingly washed up.

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Trickykid said:

What would you do if you were Uncle Flo? Sack ZZ and/or replace the current duds in the squad?
By now I think it's safe to say that this isn't just a prolonged bad run, but I wouldn't be surprised if you guys somehow manage to dig deep and make a serious run for the third consecutive ChL.

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Barcaman said:

My opinion of him is low. Picture of him eating boogers still haunts me.

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DonAK said:

Is Zidane ready to build a team though? He need to have a plan, vision for how the team will play and should be set up, with players signed accordingly. He woke up the fire in the Real Madrid players, but the younger players like Carvajal and Isco still have flaws that need to be addressed, that's where a coach comes in handy.

A rebuild from the bottom up is going to take some time.

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Wolfe said:

I hate the traditionalist approach by now and since ZZ was in the club I was hoping for a more meaningful change to club policy. He gained stature by bringing trophies immediately and I wish that gave him carte blanche for development for years to come. Problem is I don't think Flo changed that much despite ZZ being his pet project. He is still governed by the board decisions who see the waning popularity.

I personally would keep Zidane and replace 3/4 of the team, hope Zidane doesn't mind it and treats it as a new challenge. At least it provides philosophical continuity for the club and stops the tradition of 2-3 year managerial periods. Ferguson was there for so long because he recognised the flaws of becoming too close with the players. He recognised he is a manager, but not a friend. Zidane hasn't yet learned this and he still sort of thinks like a footballer. Sacking will give him the impulse to recognise it. That or a complete board-enforced overhaul, but this would degrade the trust between him & Perez.

So basically it's always been down to ZZ's ego - earlier he recognised the value of Casemiro and Isco. He needs to do the same here and take out the flops who are underperforming, and stop saying everything is fine when clearly it gets no reaction from the team, and there is nobody to provide the spark of difference.

If I was Flo I'd do the following:
Let Zidane crash and burn through the season, even if it means not being in the CL next year. It would gain huge heat from the board and would be downright unacceptable, but it's a necessary lesson if both Flo and ZZ want the project to go on. Then sit down with ZZ at the end of season and say "we're selling so and so, we're buying so and so - do you agree we need to do this?". If ZZ OK's it, he carries on. If not, he walks. Heads will roll no matter what. I just kind of hope ZZ redeems himself, because he's the closest we had to a club dynasty kickstarter. Not being in the CL is the dealbreaker here and ZZ should recognise that it's far more important than loyalty to the group.

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DonAK said:

Is Zidane ready to build a team though? He need to have a plan, vision for how the team will play and should be set up, with players signed accordingly. He woke up the fire in the Real Madrid players, but the younger players like Carvajal and Isco still have flaws that need to be addressed, that's where a coach comes in handy.

A rebuild from the bottom up is going to take some time.

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