i dont see any reason for ronaldo's reaction there. it was a nothing comment from SAF's part. 2 ronaldos, come on, certainly there must be an adjective or 2 to distinguish between the 2. older and fatter seems ok to me.

ronaldo on the left is really the weakest link. you can see dortmund overloading real madrid's left due to the space ronaldo vacates. ozil doesnt do tracking quite as good as di maria.

you compare real madrid to bayern:
1) bayern has strikers (muller/gomez) who readily press with high octane energy. mandzukic coming back will be even more difficult for barca. real madrid's case, benzema/higuain dont press that much although i think higuain press a little better

2) real madrid and bayern's wingers are totally different. you can see robben and ribery doing the defending without the ball. it takes a lot of discipline to do so. real madrid on the other hand, have ronaldo who leaves a lot for coentrao to do. ozil too, but not that noticeable because dortmund prefers attacking madrid's left. this has to be corrected.

3) central of the park - press alonso and real madrid will be nullified in the attacking sense. modric is more of a possession and just behind the attackers kind of player, much like a david silva or iniesta. khedira is the only who has all the energy. bayern has javi martinez who runs up and down and harass like there is no tomorrow. look at how quickly he gets into the penalty area too vs barca. schwein is a very able midfielder and then muller, who is so mobile compared to what madrid has. dortmund has similar players i would say, i cant confirm that, but the ease at how they passed the ball out of the midfield is quite simply astonishing.

i would say that, for real madrid to work well, ronaldo needs to be moved into the central role. give di maria one flank coz he does track back efficiently, and maybe use callejon on the other flank although he is not quite the player like robben or ribery. and i think kaka should play as the highest of the midfield trio and let khedira and alonso do their thing. this might just help to complete with dortmund, but scoring? real madrid needs ronaldo to be in demolishing mood.

varane on the right? right then......

it looks as if real madrid is playing at home, but consider this, the home and away fans are split 50-50, correct me if i am wrong.

he always cooks up something whenever he wants to leave a club, doesn't he? we all enjoyed the entertainment he provided, the approach to the game and the real madrid he created which is like a machine romping away compared to the team of flair in the zidane era. but the way he wants to leave a club is leaving such a sour taste in everybody's mouth. he seems to be saying something along the line like "i will leave, but you must sack me so that i can run with the money. i can also stay, but come next season, i dont know what will happen to the team". THAT is not professionalism.

ancelotti forcing his way out of psg to come to real madrid. best bet is him at the moment.
heynckes could be in it, if ancelotti could not come.
zidane will handle sporting affairs from now on. i do trust him.
karanka might be out.

morata staying, jese rodriguez staying.....isco comes, carvajal back.....final piece, and i love this, asier illaramendi......

higuain should go.....so should kaka, modric/ozil, di maria? callejon?

i dont think he's that much of a concern. RM seems to be keeping morata and jese. the both of them could cover for callejon.

this is a real good signing........no 2 ways about it

khedira must stay......
having seen ancelotti's milan, quite likely di maria, ozil and i agree on albiol.....

squad is too bloated if everyone's staying. between modric and ozil, i think the staff should only take one. then there's kaka as well. too bloated.

modric plays deep and that is why i think madrid will keep him. acquisition of isco and promotion of jese could spell the end for ozil. i dont know how real madrid sees ozil now, maybe carlo has some plans for him. between the 3 of di maria, ozil and kaka, i think kaka and ozil should be shipped out. di maria, has a slightly stronger case because he offers width, which none of the promotion or signings bar carvajal, but he doesnt count because he is a full back, can provide.

di maria offering width will give real madrid more options if they want to stretch the play, depending on how ancelotti wants to use him. he could be the option provider.

i think this squad bloatedness headache real madrid has right now is a good headache for them because they have options everywhere. but nevertheless, it has to be trimmed down. dont be surprised to see some players leave. possibly di maria as well, seeing that maybe carlo is no del bosque who keeps a wide player at his disposal for more options.

i think signing suarez or any other strikers is least important now. morata and jese could cover for benzema, assuming higuain is leaving and i hope he does. my preference is for morata to have a more starring role because i think this kid is a potential having seen him play in the u-21s. illara and isco should have regular playing times too and these 2 can really play.

i thought both higuain and benzema were quite on the same level. perhaps higuain is a better finisher, but benzema is better at movement. both are not likely to initiate press like suarez or mandzukic of bayern.

but i thought either one had to go. too bad it was higuain.

sevilla's moreno is being looked at. high possibility of coentrao leaving.

with the current formation ancelotti uses, full backs are a priority. they will be the ones marauding the flanks now that cristiano is deployed centrally. may still change.

and bale is a waste of money at 80million or whatever the sum is.

adan's case is a sad one

This post has been edited by kevraul: Jul 30 2013, 11:11 AM

i've got a really bad feeling about this one. might turn out to be a costly mistake.

especially now with AVB wanting morata in the deal plus 100million.......if madrid does this deal, its not going to be worth it

This post has been edited by kevraul: Aug 2 2013, 01:46 AM

superb goal from raul.....
gave me chills and had me reminisce about the past when i used to watch raul

what a price to pay for a player who has had only 1 good season so far.....

bale has been confirmed. 6 years deal.

you got isco and modric in the wrong positions bro.....
and morata as well as jese are really good players......i think aside from finishing, morata is overall better than benzema......6 ft 3 and he is fast
but i believe benzema would be sold since higuain left, leaving benzema as the only big name striker, and also zidane who rates benzema......
ozil leaving was a good deal/thing......i was always adamant he should/could leave if when isco arrived, and bale mooted to arrive.....he doesn't offer as much work rate as angel di maria......
i think, this season, with the players who have come in......di maria staying and could potentially be the unsung hero ..... watch out for him and his work rate.... just my opinion