Real Madrid C.F. 2009/10

The main reason why the football under Pellegrini has been "underwhelming" is because of the lack of width. CR69, Benzema, Kaka, Raul etc all play down the middle. This is why we should have kept Robben IMO.

I know the 4222 relies on the full backs going forward, but that hasn't really worked thus far. There's been glimpses of brillance, but few and far inbetween.

I agree.. And I think Pellegrini should switch to a 4-2-3-1 or whatever it would be called. I know you dont have that many wide players but if they start out wide and cut in it should allow Ramos and Marcelo a bit more space and at the same time not clutter the central midfield too much.

Hem fet un.. wrote:Well I think the ones that like the Capello "win it all no matter how" style, are the ones that say that just like Barcelona has a tiki-taka tradition then the pegada is the essence of Real Madrid. Going at 200 km/h and trying to overwhelm the other team like that.

I would prefer Pellegrini any day but I can understand the other perspective.

But having "pegada" is not the same thing as playing direct football, which is what yous seem to be getting at with Real Madrid's essence. "Pegada" has to do with the ability to score goals and effectiveness in attack. So yes, we still had this pegada with Capello and with Juande Ramos.

But yes, Real Madrid does have a history of playing in a more direct way than Barcelona, especially since the 80s. That's why "rematadores" like Hugo Sanchez, Zamorano, and Van Nistelrooy have thrived playing in Madrid. However, this has been while playing attractive football, just of a different kind than Barcelona.

So it doesn't mean that Capello would be a more suitable coach for Madrid because his teams had pegada but without playing attractive football, which still does not fit the "Madrid way".

Edit: Funnily enough, I would say Juande Ramos seemed to be a perfect fit for what Real Madrid's style generally is - direct, high-tempo football with a lot of attacks down the wings. But after the Barcelona/Liverpool humiliations it was clear he wasn't going to be kept.

I get what you are saying but a lot of the pegada has been due to high tempo direct football.. Juande did well for you, considering the dysfunctional team..

There is nothing wrong with the 4-2-2-2 if you have the type of players. The things is we don't and this was apparent after we bought Ronaldo and Kaka. That is why after the Kaka deal I really didn't want Ronaldo because it forced us to have two very direct players who are more forwards then midfielders. Somebody like Granero needs to play on the wing and then perhaps we can use Kaka on the other wing. I predicted some time ago that the 4-2-3-1 was inevitable for Pellegrin as the 4-2-2-2 was doomed to fail.

Regarding the game last night we were very poor and the shape wasn't that great. Pellegrini should have kept the 4-2-3-1 and played Diarra in midfield with Drenthe and Granero on the wings. BTW Drenthe was my Motm. Thought he did most things pretty well and he even closed down well.

Hem Fet Un
I much prefer the way we played with the galaticos which was the best football I ever saw and proberbly ever will see. But even then we were more direct then Barcelona and passing the ball around forever wasn't as prized as it is for the "Cruyff style". I can survive without wing play but the one two's and the through balls are needed for me to enjoy football.

The galaticos football was very good.. I was just trying to point out that most of the madridistas I know believe that Real never was a team meant for the kind of possession type football practiced by Barcelona.

The 4-2-2-2 never convinced me to be honest.. it requires an extremely well functioning team for it not to end up being exposed down the flanks and causing congestion in the centre.

Hem fet un.. wrote:The galaticos football was very good.. I was just trying to point out that most of the madridistas I know believe that Real never was a team meant for the kind of possession type football practiced by Barcelona.

The 4-2-2-2 never convinced me to be honest.. it requires an extremely well functioning team for it not to end up being exposed down the flanks and causing congestion in the centre.

That I agree with because I often find myself bored with Barcelona's play of keeping the ball for such long times. But we are really speaking relatives here because compared to the more defensive teams like say Inter/Juve/Chelsea/Liverpool we still want to keep the ball more. Both Real and Barca want to keep the ball more then the other team but the difference is how much. Real would be satisfied with 55%-65% while Barcelona wants even more.

What is interesting with the 4-2-2-2 is that it is really a manner of naming. What some call a 4-2-2-2 others would simply call 4-4-2. For example most refered to Villarreal's formation as being 4-4-2 when in reality it is exactly the same system that Pellegrini is trying to implement. The difference is that he players like Carzola who are more midfielders then forwards so they keep the ball better while we have players who are forwards and therefore it quickly becomes a counter attacking approach.

Brazil had the same problem at the 06 WC. They had Ronaldinho and Kaka and the only manner in which they could both play while Adriano-Ronaldo also played was a 4-2-2-2. And Brazil were terrible and only shined in games like the one vs Ghana where they could sit back and play on the counter against an offensive team.

I only saw the first half yesterday and while the play was a little disjointed I didn't think it was that bad. One goal, two efforts off the post, two clear chances to Benzema (although I guess the one was offside), a screamer from Kaka that was well saved. And this with players like Drenthe, Granero, and Garay that had not played in weeks and right after an international break, when historically we struggle anyway. There were moments of very nice play I thought but it was not consistent.

The 4-2-2-2 can certainly work. Brasil have been making it work for ages. Although last night I definitely thought it was more of a 4-4-2 (diamond). But it's like anything, you have to give it time. We are not even half way through the season and the press is expecting the finished product. If Schuster is given a year and a half Pellegrini deserves at least the same.

Polaroid back in training with the rest of the team Raul freaked Diarra out unfortunately

Considering I've never rated him before, I'm beginning to feel excited about Polaroid.

Laudable Laudrup wrote:Considering I've never rated him before, I'm beginning to feel excited about Polaroid.

My expectations for greatness is different, that is all. Mine would be close to Super Higuain than Dick Grayson.

Adriano and Cassano greatness?!

TM wrote:Adriano and Cassano greatness?!

TM wrote:Adriano and Cassano greatness?!

Don't forget B-A-N-E-G-A!

Sorry ton keep saying it but RM are a one man team, as confirmed by the past 2 pages here! and that one man is TRW!!!

I'm sure you've missed CR69 sorely.

Laudable Laudrup wrote:My expectations for greatness is different, that is all. Mine would be close to Super Higuain than Dick Grayson.

To the rest of you guys

Ronaldo is a world class player but 10 years from now I won't be talking much about when talking about great players. With that said we will need him against Barcelona. He can keep Alves busy allthough there is a flipside to that in him not tracking back which means Messi+Alves can combine which can be deadly. It is really about who fears the other the most. Also we need him back so we can settle on the 4-2-3-1.

Jaime
No doubt that we were playing a diamond yesterday allthough it was a bit unbalanced since Drenthe was a bit more on the left while Granero was tugged in alongside Alonso. In the start it worked well but we didn't keep the tempo which was good tempo but as always happens we aren't good enough at keep up the level untill we have closed the game.


Also Cassano was the player of the year in Italy last season and basically everybody is calling for him in the national team. He has settled a bit now and cut out alot of crazyiness. Adriano is also slowly coming back in Brazil and will probably feature heavily at the world cup.

To being right

Drenthe's interview with AS. I copied/pasted some hilarious bits:


Q: En aquellos momentos tan duros, ¿quién fue su apoyo?
A: Yo mismo. Hablo mucho conmigo cuando estoy en casa.

The reporter's follow-up question was brilliant:

Q: Suena un poco raro. ¿No necesitó ayuda?
A:Bueno, luego hay cosas que hago mal y mis padres me corrigen y me aconsejan.

I think the reporter meant "psychological" help here


Q:¿Si no tiene minutos hará como Van Nistelrooy, que ha dicho que quiere irse para jugar más de cara al Mundial?
A: ¿Van Nistelrooy quiere jugar el Mundial? No puede ser, él renunció a la selección.

Ruud is not going to like this answer


Can you guys imagine Royston talking to himself when he has a bad spell? This would definitely make a great Crackovia videa. Royston interacting with his own gangsta self.

Depressed Royston: Yo man, why them niggas in the Bernabeu always picking on me?

Gansta Riki: Nigga chill out, yo! Can't let any of them white boys bring you down!

Depressed Royston: But they keep whistling at me when I fall over! (begins to weep)

Gansta Riki: Nigga, you best quit acting like a bitch or I'm gonna smack yo ass! Yous got to represent. Yous from Rotterdam, bitch! Yous got to bring that shit back, yo!

Depressed Royston: You're right, yo. It don't matter if when I run I look like I'm skating on ice and I keep tripping on that bitch-ass muthafucking turf. I'm mothefucking Royston, yo! King Kong ain't got shit on me!

Gangsta Riki: That's the attitude, nigga! Now go make me another rap song you two-bit smelly mothefucka. And brush them fucking teeth nigga damn! You smell like somebody shit in your mouth! And it wouldn't hurt to cut some of that hair off bitch. You look like Whoopy Goldberg's long lost child, goddamn!

Double R!

Drenthe is a goon

Gago pidió irse a Boca si continúa sin tener minutos

SOS de Fernando Gago, al que la falta de minutos en el Madrid puede dejar sin el sueño de disputar el Mundial 2010 con Argentina. Maradona aún confía en él, pero... El centrocampista bonaerense ha sugerido al club blanco que le ceda en enero a Boca Juniors, club en el que se formó y del que llegó a España a principios de 2007, si continúa sin tener una ración considerable de minutos. Apenas 207, en Liga, ha disputado Gago, que sí fue titular en los dos encuentros de Copa contra el Alcorcón (donde se le notó la inactividad; en el descanso de la ida, con 3-0, le sustituyeron). En Champions salió 32 minutos en Zúrich y jugó completa la victoria (3-0) contra el Marsella. Pero siempre de teórico suplente o para cubrir ausencias.

Fernando ya sabe que tiene por delante a Xabi Alonso, a Lass y a Guti si está sano. Últimamente, incluso Diarra se ha hecho más imprescindible que él para Pellegrini.

La realidad es que el Madrid no pretende deshacerse de él. Se le considera un futbolista muy válido para cuando la temporada avance y haya cargado de partidos las piernas de los futbolistas titulares. En Argentina se especulaba, pese a todo, con que Gago se marchará cedido a Boca y que ello conllevará una rebaja en el traspaso de Muñoz, prometedor central xeneize sobre el que el equipo de Chamartín tiene una opción de compra.

http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-gago-pidio-irse-boca/dasftb/20091124dasdaiftb_48/Tes

Wouldn't be the worst thing imo.

Guti has been isolated from the team as he may have H1N1 flu.

Drenthe apparently lost a €6.000 diamond earring in training yesterday, he was out on the pitch for an half hour looking for it after everyone left.



LEGEND!

More on Gago...

El agente de Gago en Argentina: "Gago no es feliz en el Madrid"

Marcelo Lombilla, agente de Fernando Gago, asegura que el futbolista no se siente a gusto en Madrid y que desea dejar el club blanco para tener minutos y poder así disputar el próximo Mundial de Sudáfrica.

El representante del argentino pasó por varios medios de comunicación de su país, dejando muy clara su postura. "A mí no me sirve tener un jugador que no es feliz en su club, que no juega. Gago, cuando no juega, se queda llorando en casa".

Lombilla también lanzó un dardo envenenado a Florentino Pérez: "Entiendo que el titular en su puesto es Xabi Alonso, que es un jugador de jerarquía, pero que también es la gran apuesta del presidente. Y por eso tiene más minutos que Gago".

El intermediario, por último, aclaró que la opción de Boca es más que complicada: "Nadie me ha llamado de Boca. El dinero no sería problema para el jugador, pero habría que ver qué dice el Madrid, que es el dueño de su pase. Lo que Gago quiere es ritmo, porque se acerca el Mundial y para que Maradona lo llame tiene que jugar".

http://www.marca.com/2009/11/25/futbol/equipos/real_madrid/1259107322.html

This inspires me to write chapter two of Drenthe talking to his gangsta self, but I want to wait to see what happens first. I think there will be some big twist to this story.

And somebody should tell Gago's agent that Alonso is not playing because he is the president's signing, he's playing because he's world class and Gago's shit


It's also hilarious that in their cover Marca puts "Raul will start unless Pellegrini reads Marca", insinuating that last time they called Raul would start and got it wrong, it was because Pellegrini changed his mind What a pitiful excuse for a "sports paper"

Don Leo klopt aan bij Real Madrid

ROTTERDAM - Feyenoord zoekt op een creatieve manier naar versterkingen. In de zoektocht naar een kwaliteitsinjectie voor de ploeg klopte technisch directeur Leo Beenhakker aan bij Jorge Valdano. Don Leo hoopt dat zijn vriend bij Real Madrid de helpende hand kan bieden. Dat meldt het AD woensdagmorgen.

Het imposante netwerk van Leo Beenhakker moet Feyenoord verder op weg helpen. De technisch directeur van Feyenoord is al weken bezig om zijn contacten aan te spreken. Dinsdagavond onthulde Beenhakker dat hij ook Jorge Valdano, de technische baas van Real Madrid, heeft gebeld.

De voormalige Argentijnse topspeler werkte in het verleden samen met Beenhakker bij Real Zaragoza en Real Madrid en sinds Beenhakker in 1992 afscheid nam van de Spaanse topclub, is het contact tussen de vrienden gebleven.

,,Ik heb Jorge Valdano gevraagd mee te denken,'' vertelde Beenhakker in het AD. ,,Bij Real Madrid lopen spelers die nog niet aan het grote werk toe zijn omdat bijvoorbeeld Raúl op hun favoriete positie speelt. Die gasten zouden voor Feyenoord een versterking zijn. Ik heb dat aspect bij hem neergelegd.'' (AD)

Jaime wrote:Drenthe apparently lost a €6.000 diamond earring in training yesterday, he was out on the pitch for an half hour looking for it after everyone left.



LEGEND!

Meh! Whats 6k to Drenthe?! Nothing