DDA 9,941 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Still think we should take a punt on Ben White from Leeds. Blue Armour 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,208 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Raphael Varane will come back from Etihad nightmare, but will this Real Madrid? https://theathletic.com/1973562/2020/08/08/raphael-varane-real-madrid-champions-league/ Raphael Varane’s two very uncharacteristic but decisive individual mistakes were the initial headline takeaway as Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League at Manchester City on Friday night. Varane was distraught afterwards, and faced up on Spanish TV to take full responsibility for what had happened. “I want to show my face as this defeat is mine,” the France international said. “We had prepared well, but you pay for mistakes at this level, very dearly. I cannot explain the mistakes, it can happen in football, this is a difficult night for me. It has not happened to me very often before. You have to have character to come back even stronger.” Still 27, Varane has had an otherwise excellent season, and already has 19 career trophies, including four Champions Leagues and a World Cup. He will be back to add to that tally over the next few years, we can be pretty sure about that. The big problem for Madrid is that they cannot now make the serious changes elsewhere in their team as they were well beaten by City over the two legs. Los Blancos were deservedly eliminated from the competition at the last-16 stage, just as they were last season when Ajax shocked the then holders by knocking them out at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. And Zidane now is stuck with more or less the same squad again for 2020-21, and maybe even further. Losing both games against City — deservedly so — made it the first time Madrid had been beaten in each leg of a Champions League tie since they lost 1-0 at home and 4-0 away to Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool back in 2009. That disgrace was followed by Florentino Perez returning as Madrid club president, and over 300 million euros spent on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema the following summer. That was the response expected when Madrid suffered a setback — they would buy their way out of trouble. It did not work immediately, but alongside other very top players like Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos, the base of the team was put into place which would go on to win an unprecedented four Champions Leagues in five seasons from 2014 to 2019. Over that period Madrid were not always the best club team around, but they had so many big stars at the peak of their careers that they almost always found a way to win in the biggest European occasions. That is no longer the case. Madrid a decade ago were clearly world football’s biggest spenders, but a lot has changed since then. Most important was the entrance of billionaire owners elsewhere, such as those who have bankrolled City’s emergence and construction of a team which is now more talented, more motivated and much younger than Madrid’s. That was the case even before the €600 million Bernabeu stadium rebuild and COVID-19 pandemic both seriously affected Madrid’s finances. The current difference between Madrid and City teams was summed up by Kevin De Bruyne completely overshadowing Luka Modric as the most influential midfielder on the pitch at the Etihad. Modric’s frustration saw the almost 35-year-old booked midway through the second half for a tired hack at De Bruyne, after the Belgian had again skipped away from him in the centre of the park. It was quite similar to what happened as Ajax knocked Madrid out of the competition at the same last-16 stage last season — when Frenkie de Jong cheekily eased his way past the Croatian as part of a dominant midfield performance. Asked at Friday’s post-game press conference if Madrid now needed to spend lots of money this summer to strengthen the squad, Zidane preferred to talk up how well his current players had done over the course of 2019-20. “We have to be very proud of the team, of what we did,” Zidane replied. “This has been an excellent season. Today we are not happy, as these players always want to win. But sometimes you lose. We must remain calm, keep our heads up. As 95 per cent of all the players have done, all season, have been spectacular, excellent. And I will stick with that. We must be very happy with what we have done.” It was understandable for Zidane to look to protect his current players, but it was also just not true. Madrid have had plenty of bad moments all the way through 2019-20. They won just three of their eight Champions League games over the campaign, against Galatasaray (twice) and Club Bruges. They exited the Copa del Rey embarrassingly 4-3 at home to Real Sociedad. Their La Liga form before COVID-19 struck was very uneven, and while their 10-game winning streak post-lockdown was impressive in its seriousness and determination, all the chaos at Barcelona was also a big factor in Madrid winning the strangest of Spanish title races. Zidane’s message about his squad on Friday was also strikingly different to what he said when he returned as coach in March 2019. Then he spoke openly about a “second project” and the “changes” that would be made “for sure” the following summer, regularly mentioning publicly players he wanted to bring in such as Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. Circumstances — and Perez — thwarted that plan for a significant overhaul. Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez remained at the Bernabeu, while neither Pogba nor Mbappe arrived. The one big name who Zidane was given was long-time target Eden Hazard — who has scored just once in the whole season since his €100 million arrival from Chelsea, due to serial ankle problems which will not go away. Whenever asked about his plans for this summer’s transfer window, Perez has been very careful to keep everyone’s expectations under control. “There will not be any big signings,” he said during the La Liga title celebrations in mid-July. “The situation is very bad. It is difficult to ask the players to take salary cuts, and then sign big players.” Asked specifically about Paris Saint-Germain star Mbappe, with whom Zidane has already cultivated a very close personal relationship, the construction magnate suggested that this was not the right time, yet, to make that move. “That can wait,” he said. “Real Madrid will return to signing the best players around, when the situation changes, and these things can be taken on.” That fits with the strategy which has been leaking out of Madrid for some time now. Their transfer decision-makers feel that they are very well placed to be Mbappe’s next club, and that they can play a waiting game. The 21-year-old has just two years left on his current contract and has rebuffed attempts by the PSG hierarchy to extend it. If sources around the Bernabeu are to be believed, he is stonewalling any attempts to extend that to make an escape to Madrid next summer as easy (and cheap) as possible. What Zidane thinks of having to go into next season with the same squad, being stuck with Bale and James while having to wait for Mbappe, remains to be seen. After what was his first loss in 13 Champions League ties/finals as a coach, the Frenchman repeatedly dodged questions over his future at the post-game news conference at the Etihad late on Friday night. “We will have to see what we will do. We all need to rest a bit,” was his first response to the question. “We will have to see what we would need to have a great season,” he said when pressed to confirm if he would still be in charge when the new La Liga campaign starts in September. Differences of opinion between the president and coach over how much can be spent on new players do not appear to be resolved. If Perez cannot find the money to improve the individual quality of the squad, can Zidane improve as a tactician to make them play better collectively as a team? Is that a challenge he is keen to take on? Those questions were left hanging in the air as Madrid arrived back in the Spanish capital early on Saturday morning, with the longest season ever having finished earlier than they had expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiCFC 8,333 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Imagine pairing of Christensen and Stones Two pussies. Bosnian Blue, 11Drogba and Muzchap 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Armour 4,448 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Not sure why we're not even making an attempt at Soyuncu Now he's linked with Barca Is he too unrealistic a transfer target? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puliiszola 519 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 36 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said: Imagine pairing of Christensen and Stones Two pussies. What the actual fuck. While we are at it,get Luiz back too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOIRO 64 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 NoOne want to Jorginho even if 20m price-tag lol . SomeOne said Jorginho is 50m￡ worth LAMO .. She didnt know football-market .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puliiszola 519 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 2 hours ago, Blue Armour said: Not sure why we're not even making an attempt at Soyuncu Now he's linked with Barca Is he too unrealistic a transfer target? Probably. I mean I can see Leicester making unreasonable demands of 100m£ and the whole saga with us finally moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhead23 1,147 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 19 hours ago, Vesper said: that was a winter window piss take valuation by BHO, I think £25m to £30m (35m max, due to his age) would work, or toss in a turd from our fancy big turd collection for makeweight (although our turds come with back-and-bank-breaking salaries for minnows like BHO) Even for a Winter window or any window for that matter it cannot be 50m ... It is not that a WC player where the spike can be any ludicrous amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeboii 1,844 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 9 hours ago, Blue Armour said: Not sure why we're not even making an attempt at Soyuncu Now he's linked with Barca Is he too unrealistic a transfer target? Highly doubt Leicester will part with him for less than 70 mill Vesper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiCFC 8,333 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ulsterchelsea 3,221 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 5 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said: Quoting the daily Star so doubt it NikkiCFC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pizy 18,941 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 This Ben White dude seems to be very highly rated and sought after. Is he Chelsea level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDA 9,941 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 8 minutes ago, Pizy said: This Ben White dude seems to be very highly rated and sought after. Is he Chelsea level? He looks very good when I have watched him. He had abit of a shocker against us but he has the potential to be what people thought John Stones was going to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiCFC 8,333 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 26 minutes ago, DDA said: He had abit of a shocker against us When did Ben White played against Chelsea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo 21,751 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 44 minutes ago, DDA said: He looks very good when I have watched him. He had abit of a shocker against us but he has the potential to be what people thought John Stones was going to be. When have we faced him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milka 3,393 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strike 7,492 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 The rumors of going for alternatives at leftback could be true after all if we are actually negotiating for Rice and Ben White. These two will cost 80m+ easily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDA 9,941 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said: When did Ben White played against Chelsea? 1 hour ago, Tomo said: When have we faced him? When I typed this I did question myself if it was against us... I watched him before the lockdown play against somebody... i thought it may have been us but wasnt too sure and im too lazy to check lol. The lockdown has messed with my footballing memory. I cant for the life of me rememeber who it was against... must have been a prem team.. he had a shocker none the less. It was around the time he was first linked with us. Tomo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puliiszola 519 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Strike said: The rumors of going for alternatives at leftback could be true after all if we are actually negotiating for Rice and Ben White. These two will cost 80m+ easily 100m+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase 43,479 Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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