Zinedine Iniesco

Madrid fan here, a bunch of shit has been thrown at Hazard for his first season but bottom line... he got a freaky injury against PSG in December and that's the ultimate catalyst for the season not going as well as it could have. With him healthy, Madrid would probably be well ahead in the league and who knows in the CL. Madrid needs two extra elite world class forwards to be back in the running for CL imo, Hazard prob has 2.5-3 elite years left.

There's no option to buy, Florentino Perez isn't stupid. I don't like what deals like these says about the club tbh. In regards to Kovacic, he seems like a good player who could possibly become great if he had any above average passing ability, which he doesn't really.

Coming from a Madrid fan, Morata is not considered by Madrid fans as anything special. We would never realistically consider him as a starter, only as a sub, but since the BBC is politically placed to play most games by Perez and since Zidane doesn't seem to like Morata all that much anyways, he's been noticeably ostracized. There's also the fact that Isco, Asensio, Kovacic, and Lucas are better options for multiple reasons as super subs and alternatives, so it's not that he doesn't play because he's terrible, it's not that. The belief going around is that the end of a cycle is coming at Madrid, BBC is coming to an end, Benzema's expiration date is here, he's turned sour, Bale is a fabricated myth that's often injured, and Mbappe is the future; James and Morata would then be used to collect 100 million euros or near that range that would be used in Mbappe operation (Mbappe is a Madridista and CR7 fan). Mbappe would be played as LF or CF interchangeably with Ronaldo while Benzema sits in the bench as a super sub, and Mbappe would probably have Galactico political privileges in the squad. Back to Morata, the good thing is that he is a hard worker, he will help defend, press, etc, he has an aerial presence, has great straight line speed, and will feel he has something to prove once he leaves Madrid permanently, once he gets playing to his maximum abilities he should be alright at the very least. Not elite but good. He is a bit stiff like a tree trunk though, so don't expect great agility when surrounded, or great ability to dribble himself out of problems. He can also pass and shoot quite well enough, but he's not particularly nimble or technically gifted. Adequate player if surrounded by a good team. Looking at current market situation, should cost Chelsea anywhere from 45ish to 55 million euros.

To those disparaging James arguably unfairly, this one's for you. James has largely been a "flop" in Madrid because Perez, as Football savy as he is... decided to purchase him without any truly justifiable grounds. Since BBC always plays in Madrid come hell or high water, James can't play in his best positions. There are some reasons that arguably come down to his attitude and work ethic, but that wasn't always a problem. When Bale got injured in late 2014 and Ancelotti played a 4222 with James and Isco on the sides, James was imperial. I remember his pressing and tracking back was very energetic, committed, and intelligent in movement, and the way he found passing lanes and looked and moved to become a passing option to his team mates was incredible, along with his passing itself. He was playing as a right midfielder of sorts. During his first year, especially the first half, James was impeccable in the sense that he was playing at the top of his abilities. Now, he has no real dribbling abilities (but he can handle the ball very well and has good agility), his right foot is non existant (and thus his left foot is extra prodigious to compensate) and can't beat players per say (he's not slow), but other than that he's very capable and can play RAM, CAM, LAM all very well. With Ancelotti he even played in a 433 as a LM competently. I suggest you look up his 14/15 matches against Atletico, Barcelona, Liverpool, Villareal, Granada for example to get a grip of how good he was everywhere.

I think Mourinho and Varane had a good relationship, and this is why Mourinho has maybe even called Varane to propose something to him, such as an automatic first team spot. But the only real doubt he has with Madrid i think, is the fact that he needs to know that he will start. He was injured in the beginning of 13/14 and when he came back the defense was set, so ideally 14/15 will be a fresh start for him, i'm pretty sure he understands this. He will probably talk with Ancelotti after the world cup. Option 1 - Madrid gives him reasonable monetary improvement with new contract and talks with Carlo to ensure a good progression for his career alongside his CL winning team mates. Option 2 - He says feck it and joins Chelsea. It might not be and at the same time might be as simple as that. Also, if Pogba joins, Benzema stays, and Zidane can't find club, even more reason to stay for him. Although Zidane will probably leave for a french club, and Benz might renew actually.

Not really when it comes to tasks. 4-3-3's how i see them have specific tasks for much of the game. A drop off doesn't mean true 4-3-3 at all. A midfielder in Hazard's place would have probably tracked the run. Defense was also quite stretched, to have an attacker defend a diagonal like that is a bit of a stretch.

I think one of the reasons Jose has stuck with the 4-2-3-1 is because you can have a more attacking counter setup, my point being that with a 4-3-3 you always have three midfielders, you have more midfield tools to pass, block, intercept, etc, with the 4-2-3-1 yes you can drop off but that also comes with a bit of a connotation that, that is not their main purpose, which is different with a 4-3-3. With 4-2-3-1 you can arguably notice the lack of forward tracking, something that was seen from hazard against atletico for example.

It is no doubt important to defend with 8 at the very least(important matches anyways), 4-2-3-1 implies a more complicated and less natural defensive scheme for attackers. 4-3-3 is prob the most fashionable formation atm as you have 3 midfielders which is one more that 4-2-3-1 while one of the three forwards can help from a little to alot depending on opponent.

It's not just about showing up "at the push of a button", the players obviously care and they give it their all, Atletico clearly defended very very well and did not make it easy on Real which were as noted, not as fresh as they were in encounters such as the Semi's. This is how football works. Whilst watching the match i knew that i was watching A Real Madrid that not only was not at it's most fresh, but an Atletico that was defending very well. Di Maria opened them up well with his individuality, as he has done plenty times before with other teams this season, he's a physical freak. Benzema barely made it into the final, he got injured and didn't even finish the last La Liga match, that is primarily why he was subbed out for Morata. So Benzema was not "obviously" going to be more ready, Costa's injury was more severe, but this doesn't translate to Benzema being inform at all. Same with Ronaldo who was expected to play last Liga match but was declared not fit just before it started, neither was at most fit, so it was not going to be easy to rip holes across the best Atletico side in history. Diego Costa was an important absence but he hasn't precisely been a dark horse against Madrid either, think he scored 1 goal against us in the 4 matches played before final. Bale had a bit of a shocker and both him and Iker would be crucified for their mistakes had we lost. (Which in a way signifies how the result was always more directly linked to our actions). At the same time if Bale had scored that one goal and had also had the one assist that comes to my mind, he'd be lauded as hero, and Iker would be looked upon as having done his job, so it's also a good reminder that the line between hero and villain is very very thin in football. Atletico were tired because they had to work hard to defend, in the end the team with more talent and momentum won. Diego Costa was actually a multi dimensional whammy for Simeone. The League season ended as a perfect trampoline to paddle when it comes to Atletico being tired and losing two of it's main players, but both teams were handicapped in their own way.

Third place is really more in part due to the last 3 matches given away for reasons already mentioned. The 2014 Madrid would have probably won the league. Real Madrid won the matches it had to win in the CL with the only slip pretty much being the match at dortmund, it was after that one that the 4-3-3/4-4-2, and the real cl winning side was able to be seen. The matches against Bayern and Barca after that dortmund match speak for them selves. Best Madrid since the Last Cl winning side. Atletico defended well and made it hard for us but they were only winning due to a Goalkeeper mistake, they were pretty poor in attack. Benzema and Ronaldo were not in shape, they were actually petty much doubts before the final, and Bale wasnt at his finest as he missed a very clear opportunity and also made bad decisions from which Madrid could have scored atleast one more. Khedira is also Khedira after all and was not fully fit. Carlo's subs were actually exactly what Madrid needed. Specially with Atletico on the ropes. Real Madrid played better, no doubt.

Carlo's work at Madrid has been Exceptional. He took a team that was drowned in controversy and brought calm into the team and club. With the players he was given, he was able to add a new layer of maturity (specially defensively) to Madrid. The season long tactical work consisted primarily of 1. Figuring out the correct formation 2. Improving team work and defensive mechanisms The mid point of this improvement/road was the 31 game undefeated streak that consisted of Madrid conceding around no more than 5 goals in about 2 months. This all Led to the final result, that being a strong 4-3-3/4-4-2 hybrid that beat Both Barcelona and Bayern 7-1 aggregate. This champions league trophy is definitely in great part due to Ancelotti's fantastic work at Madrid. The league was lost primarily because of the first half of the season, which is where Madrid was trying to find it's ground. There was then a dip with a draw against Atletico in league and loss to Barca but this led to Carlo and the team finding the last tweaks they needed. The last 3 or so league matches were "thrown away" for several reasons, but it can be argued that this bit of relaxation allowed Madrid for more energy for the final, which is one of the reasons everyone took it more easily during the last weeks of league. Next season will be the season where Real Madrid can truly be judged on league. Only improvements based on realistic transfer rumors i hear are Suarez and Pogba. Benzema, Morata, Khedira, Casemiro all out. Di Maria/Modric being untouchable, and Isco a Heir to their positions.

i hope u had a great birthday, flash i hope all the hugs u got resulted in a love rash but be wary you dont want your life to go in a dash what u do want is envelopes full of cash i bet u'd love that green mash chelsea might have lost today but theres always tomorrow theres no reason to live in sorrow thats a line you can borrow you only get one life make sure you give your self a high five as long as u breath there is no loss look at the sea of possibilities, go ahead take a dive swim flashy flashy swim, u know u the boss no one can catch you go at the speed of light as you keep growing u might even gain a little height imagine that sight keep thinking of the future, make sure it turns out bright face it with all your might be happy and let your soul soar like one of dem kites

I was playing around a little bit, but please, if i showed any viciousness it was probably seen in your eyes as far too much confidence, arrogance, and you cant tell me this place isnt filled with it, lol, afterall, behind these words u indeed talking to a human just like your self, maybe im talking so philosophically because im listening to benedict cumberbatch, ffs. Anyways, incase u didnt understand from my quick write up.. That 0-1 happened late last year when Carlo was still trying to find the right cards, building the lego death star, he had barely begun. Isco did not play the way he does now, we played in a 4-4-2 and we didnt do a good job with it at that time. This was when everyone was pointing fingers at madrid's defense and a few months later madrid went on a roll barely conceding, then carlo made tactical mistakes against barca, atletico, but he has learned and so has the team and everyone is performing at a very high level. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/09/30/real-madrid-0-1-atletico-madrid-diego-costa-leads-the-line-superbly-in-excellent-atleti-display/ Carlo and the team can go back and look at their mistakes but also at their victories and learn from them, this is why to me the 0-1 is irrelevant and the 2-2 was due to tactical mistakes but even then atletico needed a super goal from outside of the box, and another great shot from the left, and EVEN then barely held on in the end after we had also missed plenty of opportunities. The way i see it, madrid in theory both has plenty of stuff to study from, and also plenty of talent, equipment in their swiss army knife that atletico does not. Maybe we could have said atletico are warriors, but if recent showings say anything is that real madrid's men are vikings then, for how theyve looked super great in a defensive 4-4-2 and changed in attack to a 4-3-3. The madrid of late is not comparable to anything before the copa del rey. Things take their time to build, there is a saying that goes PERDER ES LO NORMAL it mean the normal thing is to lose, to win the team has to do exceptional work and thats precisely what madrid has done and what it needs.

Ima tell u why we will win sherlock u see we are taking la decima home we'll kill them in 90 mins keep an eye on the clock carlo is a real detective reminds me of holmes he's gonna make dem heads bounce he'll pull a trounce he wont have a bit of mercy not even an ounce his cognitive skills are reminiscent of dr house. << i suggest u go to google so u can browse if u pay close attention you will see we've been stinging our opponents like honey bees we beat both barca and bayern 6-0 aggregate we pound them so hard, to have babies they''ll need a surrogate carlo has fixed the team's issues finally got them to defend as eleven that is y we been slicing dem heads like honey melons everyone is confident, their energy is rising like a star they are setting a new bar playing the best footy madrid has seen in a decade this aint no crappy facade everyone is performing at their peak, working together, and carlo will have learned from his mistakes when he wins la decima he'll catch a well deserved break for all the bs headaches that the media can cause simeone will either sitback and counter or pressure like crazy incase of a sitback madrid has the ability to dig their balls into atleticos rack if they pressure we will counter it will look amazing