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Expectations; Real Madrid 2008-2009

5K views 144 replies 35 participants last post by  Kiyan 
#1 · (Edited)
Goal; Casillas is elite. Dudek is a solid, experienced back-up option.

Central defense; Pepe is simply awesome, but his latest injury niggle is likely to have influenced our decision to pay Racing an extra 1M€ for them to transfer Garay's registration rights to us for this season. Pepe has to make far more appearences this season compared to the 19/38 he put up last year in the league; quality wise and performance wise he is outstanding. Canna is going to be 35 in September so we'll have to use him sparingly. It took him a whole season to adapt but I thought he was quite good for the most part last year, especially in the key moments. Heinze's best performances for us thus far have come in central defense, but like Pepe, injuries have limited him to half the games. Garay is a welcome addition and I like the fact we reinforced this position domestically as he is familiar with the league. Metzelder was solid in the EUROS but he's the German Woodgate. Garay and Metze are adequate but they could suffer against the elite, so hopefully two from Pepe, Canna and Heinze will be available at all times.

Fullbacks; I'd say that contrary to what is often obscured in his greatness, Sergio Ramos was better in 06/07. I want a significant improvement from him this year, especially offensively he needs to become much more decisive. He also needs to improve his single biggest weakness defensively - covering his man on the blind side, and I'd also like to see him considerably trim down his 20 bookings (17 yellow + 3 red) from last year. Salgado is a liability as his pace has gone which results in sheer recklessnes, so we're lacking a bit here but a solution could be M.Torres as Ramos' back-up. I'd like to see Marcelo confirm his development from last year that saw him take a sizeable leap in quality, especially defensively. Of course, there's room for improvement, certainly offensively with his skillset you feel there's much more to come from him in that regard. M.Torres is reliable defensively but a non-factor offensively, so we're lucky Ramos is dependable in terms of availability.

Central midfield; Diarra and Gago + the two canteneros DLR and Javi Garcia. Solid backbone with plenty of bite. I gave Diarra a lot of stick for his early season performances last year, but like 06/07, he improved tremendously down the stretch. His first touch, passing and general awareness is of a high standard at the moment and I'd like to see him play a full great season, not just for six months. Our best performances last season have been with Gago in the team and that's because of the silent subtle touch he brings to our football. Now with Sneijder out, Gago's organization is the DNA in our build-up...come back from Beijing in one piece, please.

Playmakers; Guti.HAZ, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael Van Der Vaart. Despite Guti leading the league in assists last year I feel he doesn't contribute enough on a weekly basis. I am not expecting much from VdV because he needs to adapt - although having said that, he's got a good set-piece and a vicious shot so a few assists plus some goals can be considered as short-term success and much-welcomed productivity. It's a huge shame that Sneijder's out, I felt he was going to be a gamebreaker for us this year. Still, we should have him available for the business end of the season so it'll be interesting to see if VdV capitalizes on this chance.

Wingers; Our most important area tactically. The simple fact of the matter is that we can not afford to lose Robinho, I think we should offer him parity with what's on the table at Chelsea and get him to sign ASAP. Not many players get a standing ovation from the Arsenal fans but Robinho received it because he's class. Pace, creativity, link-up and goals, he enjoyed his best season last year and is due for a breakout year. Robben is elite but his talent has never been in question, he needs to confirm his fitness. These two are absolutely vital because they're an injection of pace and penetration which are necessary ingredients to offset/ neutralize our slow forwards. Drenthe had a good spell down the stretch last year but fizzled out after a while. He's another one with bags of potential that we can only hope will be a factor this term.

Forwards; Raul looks in terrific shape, as always, and Ruud is Ruud. I just wish Schuster would realize that we're at a significant disadvantage as a result of the opportunity cost of fielding these two - primarily lack of pace and the general slow build-up of our football.

Higuain showed a huge improvement in his finishing last year and needs to rubberstamp his new-found finishing prowess this term. With Raul and RVN both on the wrong side of 30, he may end up with more minutes than he bargained for.

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All in all, our squad is very good. There's plenty of experience, talent and complimentary players. I expect Garay and VdV to be our only summer signings and when Sneijder comes back that will feel like a new signing also.

Liga - Too talented and too deep to expect anything less than a top two finish. I like our chances of securing the three-peat, Barca have made some impressive reinforcements but we're the Champions so we know what it takes and we're more secure defensively.

CL - As always, it depends on the draw. Barca had to dispose of Celtic and Schalke to reach the semis last year. I hope we'll draw teams that we match up well against when the going gets tough - teams like Liverpool, Inter or Chelsea. I feel Manchester and Arsenal are too mobile, so as long as we avoid those two teams until the Final we can dream of Rome.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
It may sound stupid, but I'm not happy with Ruud van Nistelrooy. I critisized him last season as well, because he seems to be degrading, he's not the superman from 06-07. A key factor will be if Ruud can stay fit and stay in top form and especially if Raul can keep his terrific form from last year.

I'm not happy with the midfield either, we have many good players, but few great ones. We'll have to see if Guti can keep his form as well, he's one of my favourite players, but what the hell are we going to do if he doesn't deliver. We don't have a single player with the creativity he offers.

I'm very happy with our defense, I just hope that Heinze and Pepe will be the CBs this season with Garay as their first backup. (very unlikely indeed)
 
#3 ·
I agree with almost everything you said. I hope Schuster gives Marcelo the vote of confidence. The guy could become something really special, I still remember his performance towards the end of the season, simply outstanding, especially the game against Barcelona.

Plus I took think we lack a "crack". We have many good players, but sometimes during the 60th minute of the game, you know we won't be able to score, theres no one in the team who could raise the performance of the team. Plus our attack. Raul and Ruud? Simply amazing, but its very risky, injuries won't be giving Ruud an easy time and Raul has his lapses. We lack that fast striker (please not Saviola).
 
#5 ·
great post Mo, about the squad im 100% in agreement.

as for the CL, at present with how things are shaping out, i do not think we have a chance. we have a chance yeah, but not in the same way as previous seasons. last year i said i dont expect us to do well in the CL and the team obliged by getting knocked out in the 2nd round.

we might have the 2 leading scorers, but i just dont see this team doing well in cup format games. we can grind out results on a weekly basis, but tell the team to show the same attitude in a random 90 minutes against a european team and we falter. we dont take our chances and we dont have hte individual brilliance to make up for that. i was hoping it'd be robinho this year, but no one needs reminding of what's going to happen to him.

at times we also field a very slow team. the slow team is also our most experienced team, so its a team you expect to be fielded in CL matches. they just dont step into the next gear when needed.

but positively this team will grow. we havent signed anyone and its the same team from last year. same grou of players. we should show a big improvement on the field in terms of cohesion and chemistry.
 
#6 ·
great post Mo - I believe la liga will be ours to lose but the Cl we will need Diarra and x-player to play above and beyond along with a good draw
 
#8 ·
am starting to beleive that when at the end of the season Calderon said that the transfer budget is only 60m for the season + the players we offload

looking at it we can see that
60m euros to start with
40m euros from selling Robinho (dont tell me they never thought of that)
15m euros from selling Baptista
10m euros from selling Balboa and Soldado
10m euros from selling Saviola and Cassano
that will give us a total of 135m euros

now calderon probably will keep 100m for CR7 and will give 35m to schuster and mija to play with, and its gone already with those deals
11m euros for garay
8m euros for javi garcia and DLR
and now 15m for VDV
 
#10 ·
We're selling Baptista as he is the only expendable commodity that holds any meaningful market value. There are several clubs interested in Saviola but unfortunately they're also unwilling or unable to match his annual 2,5M€ salary.

I expect Baptista and Soldado to be sold. Saviola is not going to accept a pay-cut to leave so he'll remain on our books.
 
#15 ·
Diarra - Gago

Sneijder/VdV/Guti

Robben - - - - - - Robinho

RVN/Raul​

-----------------------------------------------

Unless we field this team, in that order, we will not win the CL. Guaranteed.

Schuster is going to be just another puppet unless he has the balls to drop one of RVN or Raul so that we can field players that will speed up our game.
 
#17 ·
last 3 times we wont the CL we didnt have a fast striker, why now the panic for such a player? If Ruud Remains healthy he will give us the goals we need.
 
#19 ·
Pep announced today that Eto'o is staying at Barcelona. They're going to have a really strong base, but Barcelona always have a great team. It's going to be exciting in La Liga this year, I think with the additions they've made they'll come very close - it may come down to the two clasicos again.

I hope our obsession with the CL doesn't derail our league focus too much, so it was certainly refreshing to see Schuster state that the league is the most important title for next season. I suspect it may go down to the final day but thankfully where I feel we have an edge over Barca is the fact we have Casillas in the key moments and they have Valdes.
 
#21 ·
I dont think there weaker at all, they have cleared their benches of players who stop giving to their club and have brought in a breath of fresh air. at the moment they hang in the balance and especially laporta.

the current Barca need to have a fast start or their season could become another soap opera with management be force to the fore front
 
#26 ·
Dude, you replaced Ronaldinho with HLEB and Deco with KEITA.
C'moon man, Ronaldinho last two years was a SHIT player, so was Deco. They were horible the past two seasons. I know Deco had some injuryes problem, but that isn't excuse. He wasn't injured the whole 2 seasons, you know. Eto'o and Messi were injured to, but everytime they came back, they did their yob, on the other side Ronaldinho and Deco didn't.

If you would go and buy some average player to replace R10, you would get a better man and you would probably improve your team with this (x) player, because Ronaldinho the past two seasons was one of the most ofform players in La liga. I won't say one of the worse, but he was very close to be that. They didn't go and bought some average player, but they bought Alexander Hleb, one of the best Premiership midfielders. For Deco's replacement, they bought Seiydu Keita. Isn't he been voted for best midfielder last season or in season 2006/07? That say a lot how good player came to Barcelona. If you think he can't replace Deco's passing ability, vision, leadership...well, if this would be 2003/04 or 04/05 I would agree, but reality is, they haven't had this kind of Deco last two seasons, so this buy is more then good replacement for Deco and for the club. They offload UNMOTIVATED R10 and Deco and brought a HUNGRY Hleb and Keita. We all know this is one of the most importang things, to have that kind of players. Hungry to succes.

They will be much stronger, then last year.
 
#25 ·
Barca are much stronger than last year, because they had serious problem and now they will be a real team again. But it's fact, that they lost an amazing squad, they could have dominated world football for years with the talent they've got, but they didn't know how to handle all those superstars.
 
#29 ·
Not just that,it is impossible to play sich football for 4 years.Everyone loses focus because it is just too tiring physically anad mentally,more the latter.Rijkaard also had a similar coach in Sacchi who even made Van basten cry with the level of effort,even die hard legends like Maldini claimed the effort was too much.

But the Rijkaard was a lot self-motivated and commited as a player,he couldn't make the player push themselves to the limit.
 
#30 ·
Keita is going to be their signing of the season, they will be very hard to beat in the middle with him and Toure giving freedom to Xavi and Iniesta.

Dani Alves is also obviously a major upgrade over Zambrotta, should form a great duo down that right field line.
 
#31 ·
Keita is going to be their signing of the season, they will be very hard to beat in the middle with him and Toure giving freedom to Xavi and Iniesta.
Toure was already arguably the slowest midfielder in La Liga last year, and Keita does not address that. The issue with Barca was not the midfield being unable to tackle and break up plays, since Yaya did that well, but rather covering enough ground.

Keita, despite a higher work ethic, does not cover more ground than a Deco for instance. Even if he does more than the Deco we saw the last two years, I still feel their midfield does not have the pace to keep up. We saw many times that a team with quick passing through the middle would rip that team apart. Players like VDV, Sneijder, Guti, etc. who move the ball rapidly were tearing these dudes apart.

I think a quicker player other than Keita, for instance a Joao Moutinho, would've been the better fit. I am confident having us spring Robben, VDV, Robinho(?), etc. on the fast break against the slow midfield.

Dani Alves is also obviously a major upgrade over Zambrotta, should form a great duo down that right field line.
Indeed, it will, provided two things occur:

A) Messi learns to pass and use the overlap as something other than just a way to lose the double team.

B) Alves understands that Messi cuts in alot more than Navas, and thus Dani needs to stick out to the flank more and not all over the field.

If those two things occur, look out.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Calderón: "No habrá más fichajes y Robinho seguirá"

No more signings and Robinho will stay.

I am definitely happy with the squad which is certainly good enough to win trophies, but far from happy with Schuster's formation and team selection. Unfortunately, our captain and vice-captains will prevent us from reaching our full potential. At least in Guti's case there is a chance he may get benched once Sneijder is back, but we all know Raul is untouchable. Robinho should and will start most of the time because he's the best link between the AMs and the CFs - but placing Robben on the bench to accomodate Raul would be unthinkable at any other club in the World.

GAGO
VdV - - - SNEIJDER
ROBBEN - - - - - ROBINHO
RVN​

That is our best team, no doubt about it. Diarra can start against strong, physical teams, especially in the latter stages of the CL. He's our special teams player and very valuable. Gago brings cohesion and stability to our play, we're much more fluid with him mopping up in front of the back four and spraying passes to the AMs. I'd bench Guti in a heartbeat so we can have VdV and Sneijder as the engine and creative fulcrum of the team; they have a great understanding, they're both hard-working, both cover much more ground than Guti and both have plenty of goals in them - and goals from midfield is a must for a lone-forward formation.

If Schuster insists with this Raul and Guti nonsense I am going to lose it.
 
#37 ·
Why Raul is never benched? Is he a mobster or something? I mean back then when Camacho was in charge, he put Raul on the bench and couple of days later, he was fired. Apparently.

It driving me crazy to see one of Robben or Robson ALWAYS on the bench just because of Raul Gonzales! Just can not understand this nonsense. Do you remember when Schuster was in charge at Getafe, he said Raul should retire or found some other club and stuff like that and then when he came to the club, everything changed. Raul is a hard worker, true profesional blablabla, yeah like we don't know that! What's the problem Bernd!? I can't understand when he is having a BAD game, why he's not subbed at a half time, for example. Why he MUST play whole game or be subbed at 75-80min!? I will stop man, there are so many questions that I would like to know them, but...ah forgeret.
 
#38 ·
That's life, Ramos. There is nothing we observers can do about it.

Even so, I do hope that what Mo' suggested will be the preferred tactical selection and utilized often. I cannot tolerate Guti's long-term bouts with his irregularity and Raul's miserable tendency to ''disappear'', even if he is trying pretty hard to be useful. It is not their fault by any means . . . But, it is sensible to change for the future.
 
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