Real 3-2 Deportivo: Lass Bangs Them In, Justifies Number

Thanks again for selling Robben, finally Bayern Munich seems to be back on track.
And Ribery, Gomez, Robben, that's an attacking trio even Real Madrid could dream of :D

On Andres' Comment:

"ronaldo i thought he did a decent job there were a lot of times he beat his man and sent in crosses that no one got to due to the fact that raul is short and benzema almost always droppin back deep and that will be fixed with time and understanding"

I also agree that CR96 must be given a wing role... and perhaps while Ramos isn't back yet, he should be played on the right since Marcelo gives width on the left too.

>> This was the reason why keeping Negredo would've been a good idea. The need for someone to get on the end of crosses also gives credence to my theory that Ruud might actually win a few starts once he gains full fitness.

Ronaldo isn't the most likeable player but he did take one for the team. Most defenders would even turn their back to that.

Actually, I agree with Jose. Part of the reason I dreaded Ronaldo's arrival was based on the assumption that he wouldn't be a good team player, that he would be arrogant and selfish, and that his vanity would distract his play. That he put himself in a dangerous position for the sake of the team, took a boot to the face and DIDN'T then roll around and stop play - was significant. And I applaud him, and Jose for pointing it out.

Ronaldo may have just scored from the spot, but he took a boot to the face like a champ to prevent a goal! Give that 94M man props to get down and dirty like that!

lassana was the MOTM
benzema unlucky not to score
raul is still the man
kaka was good n will only get better

Torres is just one more reason why I'll be rooting Getafe on for 36 games this season. Not sure if any of you noticed, but Soldado opened the season with a hat-trick for los Azulones. I couldn't watch the game, but from the report it sounds like Parejo was an impact player as well (both he and Soldado started the match, though it looks like Michel favors Ustari to Codina).

Good luck with the neighbors, Miguel!!!

WOW, u'd fink wit Higuain, Benzema nd Negredo we'd ave enuf young talent but signin anofa young striker, pretty amazin for Perez standards..

we've signed a player from celta vigo
http://www.skysports.com/story...

Ohh Miguel, say it aint so, your breakin my heart.

sure fought we onli had 24 players now? we dnt need 2 get rid of any more do we?

Seems as if Miguel Torres is being sold to getafe with a 2 year buyback clause. Goodluck to him. He has always done his best for the club whenever he was called upon to play.

or we culd do wot we always ave dun nd just out score the opposition, 5-4 more fun den a 1-0.

James: Pretty excited for that read, Ill take a look after my classes today!

Ramzi: A defensive leader im not that worried about, because Pepe should be the man to step up, but then again Sergio Ramos is usually pretty vocal in the back line and Albiol can become a defensive leader with time. You right that there is not one until Pepe gets back from suspension though, as neither Metzelder nor Garay look likely to take up the mantle.

Evo: I personally do not like Ronaldo in a roaming role. I would much prefer him to just stick to the wings, mostly the right wing, because he is all of our width. I can not see him making as much an impact if he drifts in to an already crowded center of the park, and we can not over rely on Marcelo to push up on the left and Arbeloa to less effectively push high up the field on the right. When Ramos returns this may be a different story, but I would like to see more tactical rigidity from Pellegrini in terms of positioning Kaka and Ronaldo until they get a feel for the rest of the team.

Nikkev, Guti onli came on for lyk 15 mins i fink, didn't reli do much, Lass passin was beta den Guti's, can onli reli remeber him switchin the play 1nce nd over hit the ball.. some1 else mite b beta at answerin? nd i dnt fink we move the ball quick enuf 2 do dis passin fing, ronaldo just tkes 2 many touches nd does pointless step overs, fink we shuld go bck 2 dat 4,3,3 fing we had in pre season, much quicker passin, Granero shuld play 2 help dis.

That was way too long...sorry all haha.

Ramzi I pretty much agree with just about everything you said, your analysis was spot on.

In looking for a d-line leader, my hope is that Metz steps up into that role. Even though Canna wasn't as effective of a defender last season as he had been in the past, he did get the d-line on the same page (hahaha as I recall every single time Canna got his face on television he was yelling his head off!). Losing him meant losing that vocal presence to keep the defense organized, and it's going to be vital to Madrid's success to find a player to fill those shoes. I don't think that Ramos (talented/enigmatic as he is), even if he played CB, is that guy. Albiol is a good defender and a Spanish international. He's got experience, but being new to the squad, it's tough to step in and immediately assume a leadership position (in virtually any situation, let alone a group of 25 elite athletes) Not only that, but I don't see Albiol as that type of person. In saying that, Albiol may mature into that role, but I see a lot of similarity between him and our other two key central defenders, Garay and Pepe. Garay, like Albiol, is new to the squad, but still has a lot of learning to do. While Pepe is a physical, fast, and talented player; it's obvious he's got quite a lot of growing up to do. Maybe this whole incident will change his mentality a little bit, most of the time, these kind of things help a young player grow up and learn not to be such a dumbass. To a certain extent, it pisses you off to see your team struggle defensively and to know that you COULD be out there providing a lift, but you can't because you blew up and did something stupid (at least that's how it works for players who really aren't complete headcases; if they are, they'll continue to do the same stupid crap and destroy their careers (I love him, but John Daly anyone?)) Anyways, I've gone on a rant about Pepe when I should be talking about the virtues, experience, and ripe age for Metzelder to take that leadership role.

At 28, Christoph is the old man of the central defense. While he has suffered through a career blighted by injury, there's no denying he has the talent and the size to be an effective central defender (the German international team seems to agree, although he has been in and out of the squad lately). He's more of a stay at home type of defender, whereas the others in his position push forward more. He reminds me a bit of the old German sweeper types. Big and strong, Metzelder also exhibits the maturity of a player his age on the pitch. He keeps his cool, has a great workrate, and can be a vocal presence in times of distress. Now, don't get me wrong, the guy has got to stay healthy, and I'm not trying to say he's the second coming of Hierro or anything. He's not the fleetest of foot or the best in the air, but what he possesses are assets which our team needs right now. In my opinion, Garay, Albiol, and Pepe are all more versatile and athletically gifted than Metz. But as I've stated, they lack the experience and necessary respect of the rest of the squad (at least at this point). I'm just trying to say Metz COULD be the guy to fill that void, but we'll wait and see if he is given the opportunity and takes it when given. Otherwise, I think Ramzi is spot on when he says it's a serious threat, especially in the big games where the pressure is on and the other team puts us down a goal or two.

I agree we need more of a vacuum cleaner type player out there, and like Andres said, that big ugly mutt must be Mahamadou. He sure as hell can't pass the ball and doesn't have the field vision of the rest of our central mids. However, he's angry, big, and wins lots of tackles. He's just got to get healthy and work hard to earn his spot back on the pitch. I think if we're going to play double pivot again, and not leave ourselves as vulnerable to a counter on our 3 defenders (like Ramzi said, one pushed up for offensive support), we need a stopper with a stopper's mentality, not one who likes to push forward so much. God I miss De La Red!!!! Get healthy soon!

Anyways, I hope everyone just enjoyed seeing the whites back on the pitch as I did. Just a great feeling at the beginning of any season, no matter the sport.

As always, Hala Madrid all.

after re watching the game again im thinking that we didnt play badly at all cept for the defense we're already playing better football than last year so im confident that with time we'll be the team every madridista expects us to be
- ronaldo i thought he did a decent job there were a lot of times he beat his man and sent in crosses that no one got to due to the fact that raul is short and benzema almost always droppin back deep and that will be fixed with time and understanding
- lass and alonso when they each understand who is supposed to do what then we will be fine in midfield im sure pellegrini had talks with lass about staying home a bit to allow xabi to do what he does best , which orgnizing the game
as for needing a winger didnt pellegrini make it clear that he doesnt count on real wingers in his system?
so again besides defending set pieces and crosses we did ok
i get the feeling that some of you gents expect us to start winning games 5 nil already lets be patient for once

Ramzi mascherano? he is the last player we need we have M.diarra to do what he does and contrary to what many non madridistas think M.diarra is world class

Correction #2

(assuming that one full back will support offensively to overcome the lack of width).

Appologies. Must not write while in a hurry!

If the offense line didnt apply high pressure on the opponent in their own half, the structure will be stretched Vertically.

Its still early to judge team chemistry. Though:

- I agree with Corey, Lass and Xabi do not complete each other. I said it here before, it was better for RM to buy mascherano and play Lass infront of him rather than Buying Xabi. Buying Kaka with Lass and Granero operating behind him makes it less vital to have Xabi.

- Stay alert to see who will lead the defence after Canavaro departure. There is a serious threat that RM will face the same negative impact of Hierro departure. They bought world class defenders back then, but not leaders.

- If the offense line didnt apply high pressure on the opponent in their own half, the structure will be stretched horizontaly and their will be too many spaces for 3 defenders in the back to cover(assuming that one full back will support offensively to overcome the lack of depth). Especially that niether Xabi nor Lass is the type of "Vacumm cleaners" as a holding mid (again, Mascherano type). Lass is easy to tease out of position, and Xabi defensive attributes and workrate doesnot suit the back and forth transition pace required in this kind of situations.

- Ronaldo, no surprise.Still early to judge him, but he is the player predicted to be.

Corey,
Our required weekly reading is back on Soccernet! Hell yeah for Phil Ball!

How was Guti during the Deportivo match? I caught him in action during the MLS friendlies and wasn't impressed at all.

I don't see Kaka and Ronaldo re-creating the magic that was Zidane and Figo (due to their dependence on pace) but hopefully they can achieve greatness in their own right.

The team should achieve more cohesion and fluidity in attack with time but the defense must be improved. It may be early days but this is disconcerting to say the least. Even with two players out Ramos and Pepe, our defense should still be able to stifle Deportivo at set pieces.

Hopefully, we can find a way to stop conceding goals from set pieces or at the very least reduce the number of set pieces we concede.

On Defense: Let's admit it: had we won 3-0 and not conceded those stupid goals, we wouldn't hae our eyebrows raised as much at the moment.

On the tactics: if CR96 is allowed a 'free role', I do think he has the license to attack from the wing, but he doesn't have the ability of Robben to go from 0-95 mph in the flick of a switch (which makes the Robben sale so bad!)... so with most of the possession from us, and with the ball movement not yet fast and crisp (and opposing teams packing their half with numbers), he has no space to run to. We saw more runs from him in the 2nd half: where I suppose the Depor Defense was more tired. This is my theory, at least.

So I do think that once the kinks get ironed out, we will see quicker ball movement that can catch CR96 with a pass and space to run to. We also have to practice plays that hit CR96 with a pass immediately after absobing an attack in order to unleash a swift counter.

I don't expect much from VDV for the rest of the seaosn unless injuries or suspensions plague us. I also think it's totally possible for him to leave us maybe tonight in a 'clock strikes 12' deal.... or even during the winter market. Perhaps this is a trick to those who are faxing in transfers offers for 2m or something... Granero and Guti are ahead of him in the pecking order so I can't really imagine how he'll fit into the team.

Undoubtedly we are nowhere near CL standard yet, let´s hope things improve.
The bottlenecking through the middle is very frustrating to watch. The one time Ronaldo did get to the by line he provided a great cross to Raúl who unfortunately fluffed it.
Maybe Ramos will provide more width as someone says, well, it´s early days yet.
I preferred Kaká in the second half as a media punta I´m not convinced with him doing the Zidane role

We still win games based on individual brilliance rather than a team effort. We still seem to lack an identity and the team is still coming to terms with Pelligrini's style of play. This team will score goals..but can we keep cleansheets!? Defense will be a key compenent for success in the champions League - it would be suicidal for us to conced goals willy nilly once the knockout rounds come along especially at home!! But we can only improve...

the question remains regarding VDVs commitment to the club. He's probably not a happy bunny - couple that with the medical problems his wife is having and I'm not sure we can count on him.
This is his opportunity to show us what he's made of.

My thoughts on the game....
Pellegrini has setup a strange formation that looks very narrow and congested to me. With Ronaldo playing a free role and cutting in, only the full backs provide width which is why Marcelo had a good game going forward - it seems we are still missing wingers to me - we should try Drenthe or Marcelo in midfield.
Alonso often had no right winger to pass to and resorted to lumping it in the box - it will be interesting to see if Ramos solves this problem or will just complain about the same issue from last season.
Lass and Raul were brilliant with good moments from Kaka and Xabi.
I was dissappointed by the defensive performance on set pieces since we know this has been the weak spot for a long time and certainly throughout the preseason.
I have to say it again - Marcelo is great going forward and will provide much needed width, but defensively he cannot defend in the air which is a problem when the ball is crossed from the opposite side.

Higuain will make it back to the first XI soon. I find every season he has to deal with the bench role for a while before he starts banging in the goals.

Zizou, I'll be watching the defense more carefully too, to see who really is better in the back line.

i now also realise why granero was suddenly playing with nr 24 with vdv staying, should have been a hint..
im wondering how many people will be outraged by the stay of vdv following the sale of robben. cant say im too happy about it either

D game was o.k but wen do we stop conceeding on set piece.with pepe nd ramos bak we will be fine.
HALA MADRID

Not the performance we were all hoping for but good to get a win anyway

VDV will now be staying with real! i think its a good idea, provides pellegrini with a good option on the bench, and he wasnt going to be sold for a lot of money anyways.

CR96 needs space to attack effectively. When we have the ball for long periods and are probing the opposing defense, there isn't a lot of space for him to run at.

So far, it's been Kaka who has been really impressing.

We need to sort out that defense. It was jsut shambolic. Had we kept a clean sheet or only conceded 1 goal, we wouldn't be scratching our heads so much right now.

Bythway am a realmadrid fun bt i av 1 problem wt real funs, remember whn ac milan ws sell'n kaka the fun in milan had a demo 2 voice their concerns, bt wht happens whn robben we jst wtch n curse, seriously, i knw a demo wldnt stop the sell bt perez wld knw he is fuck'n up

Lots of worry 4 cr9, bt not 2 worry, my brothers r die hard manchester funs, so av wtchd enough games that cr9 playd wt em n ths guy always starts the season lyk ths bt after he hits top gear u'l b all druling 4rm hs shyn, so b calm n give the team tym 2 build chemestry

You lot paid 80 million for Ronaldo, get used to seeing his face everywhere, thats a lot of jerseys to sell to recoup the price.

i have to admit, garay was more than decent, he made a silly mistake which got him the yellow card, but that was it, with pepe next to him god knows how good they can get, marcelo was fantastic, sadly he was more of a playmaker, than alonso and ronaldo today, kaka just needs some games in hand but ronaldo, dont take penalties you haven't won, Raul was eletric!!! this is the best i have seen him in a while, full of life, one more thing:

Its disguting how much they glorify ronaldo on Real Madrid TV, listen i like the dude hes our player but its a Team not a player that defines real madrid.. Something interesting for you corey:

Real in arabic means "MEN OF"

Not dat i want 2 continue the discussion but c even Corey finks the defensive wit Garay nd Albiol wasn't as gd without Pepe in it. As for the game i dunno ow Higuain is gona get a game if Raul just keeps scorin, or even Van nisterlooy cuz Benzema has 2 play reli. Nd seriously Ronaldo needs 2 sort out his free-kicks.. the 2nd 1 he toke from far, left the stadium