# Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City Postgame Reaction

An episode of [The Real Deal: A Real Madrid Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1807821669), 11 Dec 2025, 51 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/103607aa8/podcast/play/112460271/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-11%2F414164261-44100-2-bbe1af21e7be9.mp3

Sid and Jarod Hector discuss the loss to Manchester City. Is Xabi Alonso done at Real Madrid? We react to Endrick finally getting game time, Gonzalo Garcia, the lack of press resistance in the team outside Carreras, Vinicius up front, Rodrygo's goal and more.

## Transcript

[0:01] Welcome to The Real Deal, a Real Madrid podcast with me, Gerard
[0:05] Hector. I'm joined by Sid Ramsen.
[0:07] Dog. What's up Sid?
[0:09] You know, this is the least mad I've been after a loss.
[0:13] I was telling you before in a long time.
[0:15] I'm normally kind of mad. I'm like, what are they doing?
[0:17] But I just feel like the chips kind of fell in a way where A,
[0:20] the players tried B, they realize you can't scapegoat
[0:23] Mbappe. Like fanbase kind of saw that,
[0:26] like the guys just missed one shot on target the whole game
[0:28] without Mbappe. So I think a bit of the
[0:30] narratives cooled down. It's like, hey, we have to back
[0:32] the coach. Look what the team did like so
[0:35] wasteful in front of goal. And like, I feel like the
[0:38] weaknesses were things what we need to work on.
[0:41] And you can't misconstrue this in a way where you screw our
[0:44] club with the decisions or conclusions you take like clear
[0:47] weaknesses, like clear fallacies put to bed, clearly obvious that
[0:52] if they try, things work better. Even Andrick got some minutes,
[0:56] man. Like that.
[0:57] That was an Alonzo mistake. And that's finally like the
[1:00] dressing room power, so to speak, is tilted where I believe
[1:03] the loan might be over too. The Leon loan.
[1:05] I think he might be playing. I I saw some stuff around that,
[1:07] yeah. So I'm I'm actually happy.
[1:11] I don't know why I'm mad that between the Classico and today
[1:15] all this bullshit has happened that led us here.
[1:17] The fact that the players need to see this much evidence for
[1:20] the fact that their way doesn't work pisses me off.
[1:23] But I think today was just great in that regard.
[1:27] Like a loss that doesn't make you lose belief in the coach.
[1:31] Yeah, I mean, I, I, I couldn't have said it better myself.
[1:34] Sid. It's funny.
[1:36] Like you, I'm not angry after the loss.
[1:41] I'm like you, I'm like, that was a that was proof positive, right
[1:45] to what we think and what we've been saying should have been
[1:48] happening all along, right? First of all, the fact that we
[1:51] have to say, oh, look what happens when you try right?
[1:53] Like that, That is wild, right? This is real fucking Madrid
[1:59] trying should not that should be an automatic not even that just
[2:03] goes without saying. And I said this to you before we
[2:07] started the ethos of the club and the constant prioritization
[2:13] of the Champions League over all else.
[2:14] And look, I'm not the Champions League is awesome.
[2:16] I love that we had the most storied club in all of world
[2:18] football on one the most and no clubs going to catch us.
[2:21] I love all that. But when you constantly have
[2:25] that be the mindset and guys don't care about regular La Liga
[2:30] games, this turn on and off the switch.
[2:33] That is also a fallacy, Sid, this idea that you can just flip
[2:36] it on and off whenever you want. Like that's not how sports works
[2:40] because you have a team and opponent, you are playing bad
[2:43] guys who are trying to also win the game.
[2:46] So this idea of like, let me just flip it on when we're
[2:48] ready. Like, no, you can't flip it on
[2:50] when you're ready. And to me, where it was proof
[2:53] positive was the amount of wasteful chances in front of
[2:57] goal, right? And that's because you're not
[2:59] sharp. Why are you not sharp?
[3:00] Because you're not always trying with the requisite effort,
[3:02] right? And you're not doing what is
[3:04] necessary. You know, in this match, Sid, I
[3:08] saw as the game got out of hand. And by the way, two things that
[3:14] need to be noted. Real Madrid still are terrible
[3:19] at set pieces, at defending set pieces, still fucking awful at
[3:22] that, like these restarts. And especially if you're going
[3:25] to play these elite teams, especially in the Premier
[3:28] League, who are masters at set pieces like you can, this is how
[3:33] you lose games, right? You know, a low margin sport,
[3:36] you screw around and you're not doing what you're supposed to do
[3:38] on set pieces. This is how you lose, right?
[3:40] It was a one, one goal margin game and we wasted chances in
[3:43] front of goal. So that's another area
[3:45] obviously, of improvement for this team.
[3:46] Yeah, so but. I think why, why don't we start
[3:49] with a quick recap of like how the game went for people who
[3:51] might not might not have tuned in or kind of want our view.
[3:53] It's like the the game from an open play perspective,
[3:57] defensively went really well. Like in open play, I was not
[4:00] afraid of Man City at all. We start the game pressing
[4:04] really high man to man and we go up one nil with that Rodrigo
[4:09] goal, which was a little fluky. But at this point I guess he's
[4:12] due a fluky goal. Whenever he plays Man City.
[4:14] It's fluky in the sense that you're like, wow, like that.
[4:16] He he doesn't score that against any other team, doesn't run
[4:19] that. Angle against any other team.
[4:22] But and I will say this about Rodrigo.
[4:24] I thought he played well today, like and so in that way he
[4:27] deserved what whatever deserved me, and I hate using that word
[4:30] in sports because you deserve whatever that fuck that means.
[4:33] But that was a great pass by Jude, a good angle and Rodrigo
[4:37] struck it with confidence and you know it went in so good.
[4:40] Good for him and good for us. And big call, big moment because
[4:44] a lot of people have been criticizing Alonso.
[4:45] Why Rodrigo? Why Rodrigo?
[4:47] And he comes in, he actually justifies his selection in a big
[4:52] game where we need speed, which shocked me like anytime we've
[4:56] needed burst on since Man City last time we beat him in 2020,
[5:01] He he just doesn't feel like he's there.
[5:03] But he cooked his fullback today.
[5:06] He he, he was constantly like his burst when he was moving
[5:10] past someone was ridiculous. And I thought he vindicated
[5:13] Alonzo's choice in him because some people say Alonzo doesn't
[5:16] mind a right footed right winger who kind of like stretches the
[5:19] pitch, dribbles wide, like not always coming inside.
[5:22] And Rodrigo doesn't have the athleticism for that.
[5:25] But I feel like Rodrigo's scoring and Edrick getting some
[5:29] time and Gonzalo getting some time, we kind of got the best of
[5:32] everything. The biggest Alonzo mistake was
[5:36] Enric or Garcia. And today he starts Gonzalo up
[5:39] front. He gives Rodrigo the run next to
[5:42] him and they look great. But going back to that first
[5:44] half, so I feel like we were pretty close to flawless up till
[5:50] when we went up one nil and then the set piece stuff happens.
[5:54] So where do we start with that? Like obviously Cortois makes a
[5:58] mistake and Rudiger gives up the penalty.
[6:00] Rudiger also falls over on the goal and in general, like we're
[6:06] bad at set pieces, but like the individual where a lot of the
[6:09] breakdowns came from today was Rudiger, like not great
[6:12] defensively. So you know, one of the things
[6:16] that happens, I feel like for this club sit is that and it's
[6:19] not just, you know, indicative Real Madrid, but a lot of clubs
[6:21] do this. A lot of trecanery and
[6:25] tomfoolery that goes on inside the box on set pieces, right,
[6:29] guys trying to trick the referees into giving them calls,
[6:34] right, throwing themselves to the ground, like all kinds of
[6:36] things like that. And to me, it's one thing to do
[6:39] it when you are a player bursting into the box with the
[6:43] ball at your feet and a guy touches you when you and you go
[6:45] to the and you go to the ground that that makes sense because
[6:48] you're likely going to get the penalty there.
[6:50] But when you are defending a set piece, this like fooling around
[6:54] and falling on the ground, shit like no, like you cannot like
[6:58] stand up fucking man, mark your man or whatever the OR whatever
[7:02] the the coach's instructions were and execute and do your job
[7:06] again. Because in a low margin sport, a
[7:09] spill by Corto on front. Our center back is down on the
[7:12] ground. He can't get up and clear the
[7:13] ball away. O'reilly's right in front and
[7:16] Riley scored that right for from strip city.
[7:19] I think it was. He's right in front.
[7:21] Easiest goal he'll ever score in his life, right?
[7:23] Like it's just too many things can go wrong inside the box on
[7:27] set pieces. Yeah, and, and so Rudiger is a
[7:30] mess. And I also feel like Fede was
[7:32] not that good, like just moving the ball wasn't great.
[7:36] Defensively he worked, but I I just feel like the guy has lost
[7:41] so much. And, and both of these guys were
[7:43] guys we predicted would be running to the ground when they
[7:45] were they were kind of holding Carlo's team together last year
[7:48] for no reason, a team that wasn't going anywhere.
[7:51] And now it's crazy because we have a system and we need guys
[7:54] who can play and these guys are subpar now not holding it
[7:57] together. We're we're trying to hold the
[7:59] team together in spite of them. And I do feel like the in
[8:04] possession was a big issue after we gave up the two goals.
[8:08] So we gave up to, I liked our defense before we gave up to we
[8:12] were. Mid block, mid block was
[8:14] compact. When we when we when we dropped
[8:15] into that mid block, I thought city had like nothing to do in
[8:18] the middle, in the middle of the pitch.
[8:19] It was like, well, keep going outside the Doku if you want,
[8:21] which I mean, was was it their best option?
[8:25] We were able to sidestep a couple things, a couple good
[8:28] interventions late, but I thought we clogged the middle of
[8:30] the pitch really well and we sat in that in that mid block.
[8:33] Yeah, and, and a big part of that was like the way Gonzalo
[8:37] and Vinnie double teamed the middle of like Gonzalo obviously
[8:40] initiated better than ibappe, and together they were able to
[8:44] close down Nico Gonzalez and just force the ball wide again
[8:47] and again. Yeah, City looked nervous.
[8:49] And yeah, I wasn't too threatened by them, which is
[8:51] what makes conceding two goals so disappointing.
[8:54] Like they did not look like they could protagonistically hurt us.
[8:58] Well, because they scored off set a set or two set pieces,
[9:01] right, stoppage a a penalty and a set piece.
[9:04] They didn't do anything in open play, right, But we were able to
[9:07] really stop the middle pound. They had chances of course, but
[9:09] I think when you look at the XG for the marks, that's bots.
[9:12] It was 2.59 for City, 1.71 for us, and I have to believe that a
[9:17] big part of that 2.59 was the penalty shot, right like.
[9:20] Yeah, no, I checked I believe like 1.4 of their, their two
[9:25] chances were 1.4 and they got everything else from they kind
[9:30] of tacked it on. They created more than us.
[9:31] But like the last, I guess like looking at the chart, I'll just
[9:35] pull it up onto the screen. The first half after they scored
[9:38] the first one, we really start falling apart like we're we
[9:42] start pressing a little like going for another.
[9:44] We give up spaces in behind and. A little disjointed.
[9:47] Yeah, it wasn't looking good and you can see on the chart.
[9:51] Whoops, wrong setup. There we go.
[9:52] So on the chart, first half we get our chance.
[9:56] They don't create anything till their goal.
[9:58] Their first two goals are their first two shots on target and
[10:01] both from set play situations. This was so infuriating.
[10:04] Oh my God, it's a Javi Alonzo supporter.
[10:06] We got it right. That was madding.
[10:08] OK, fine. That happens at that point.
[10:10] Like, listen, all our teams, our our 3P teams, they would go down
[10:14] like all the time and just keep coming back.
[10:16] So do we have the agency to go do things after that?
[10:20] So we give up Another chance from Holland.
[10:22] Courtois double save goes dummy. Oh my God.
[10:25] Oh yeah. Listen, he made-up for that
[10:27] mistake immediately after. So we we're half time, we're
[10:30] down to 1 and I see now on the chart, they do get a couple
[10:35] chances and we get a little bit Vinnie feels a little wasteful
[10:39] at the start, but I feel like at some point once they went up,
[10:43] Gerard, they started defending us the way we did them.
[10:46] And we don't even have a Nico Gonzalez.
[10:49] Like we don't even have that. We don't have Nunez.
[10:52] Like Nunez is better than Fete Valverde on the ball way better.
[10:57] And and what were you seeing there?
[10:59] Like for me, I thought like the start of the second-half and
[11:02] we'll get to the Subs, but people were criticizing the
[11:04] Subs. I just thought the start of the
[11:05] second-half, once we went down to one, City just realized like,
[11:08] hey, they can't play either. Like, like, and I saw a good
[11:12] tweet from someone on on Twitter, basically City kind of
[11:16] hurt themselves by having to play with the ball against us
[11:18] because if you give us the ball, we're a shit show.
[11:21] Correct. Correct.
[11:22] Because you, you will, we will misplace passes and then you can
[11:25] crush us on the counter. You know, that's exactly what I
[11:30] saw, Sid, and I think it's indicative of this idea of like
[11:37] when in the second-half City decided to because possession
[11:41] changed. I think it took towards the end
[11:42] of the game, I think it went 5545 US, I think.
[11:45] Yeah, yeah. What were the final, final stats
[11:47] when City and Pep realized this? I'm sure it was like, oh, just
[11:51] sit in the low block because this team can't do shit when you
[11:53] sit in the low block, so it's fine, right.
[11:55] Like and we had chances, but we're not able to convert them.
[12:01] And see the reason why I think we're not able to convert them
[12:04] is because it it was that thing that happened under Carlo, which
[12:08] is we're down. A player individually has taken
[12:12] says I'm going to take it upon myself to score and get us out
[12:17] from the situation as opposed to wait, if I just move the ball a
[12:22] little bit, someone's open, it's going to be an easier goal,
[12:24] right? I think we saw Gonzalo twice in
[12:26] front of goal being like on the Rodrigo one.
[12:28] OK, fine, Rodrigo squaring, it didn't matter.
[12:30] But I'm on the Jude Digger. He's like I'm I'm watching right
[12:33] here. It's an easy tap in right?
[12:35] Like. Jude was maybe right at the
[12:36] start, second-half, right at the start, OK.
[12:38] Yeah, pretty close, sucker. I think the both halves were
[12:41] interesting because the first half we didn't create and I
[12:44] thought we were wasteful. Honestly, like Vinicius, some of
[12:47] the decision making was so far off what he used to be at his
[12:51] best. And this is where like it's been
[12:53] bad for so long. I don't know.
[12:55] And when you combine it with the underlying numbers, I just don't
[12:57] know how you justify making him the number one option who can
[13:00] give the ball away whatever he. Wants you don't.
[13:02] Yeah, you don't. You know there's no you just
[13:04] don't. Right.
[13:06] And he made so many mistakes. Rodrigo is releasing the ball
[13:09] way faster in the first half to him and Gonzalo is literally a
[13:12] role player. He doesn't.
[13:14] His touch can be bad. I think Gonzalo's touch is
[13:16] limiting and I'll say this, I think Gonzalo's touch, even
[13:19] though he plays a role and creates the dynamics being
[13:21] limiting and Vinnie being like a bad decision maker the way he's
[13:26] playing right now killed a very good spell of play.
[13:29] We had in the first half. We, we could have made it 2.
[13:31] And if you see the expected goals, we created nothing.
[13:34] We were so wasteful from some of the danger we had.
[13:37] And the second-half, I'll say this, you can say we missed it,
[13:41] blah blah blah. Vinnie missed that volley, which
[13:43] was .33 expected goals late in the game.
[13:46] Well, first like the 1st 10 minutes of the second-half, we
[13:49] get those chances, but I feel like we start losing our
[13:51] foothold on the game because we don't have anyone who can turn
[13:53] out of pressure. Sidi kind of know this and they
[13:55] kind of start Yup. And Sid and also Gonzalo.
[13:59] I do believe after a certain point on the pitch, teams
[14:03] realize that he is limited in build up to he's kind of like
[14:05] Victor Gioceres. Like OK, he can pin some guys,
[14:08] but when when it's like a one-on-one situation in the box,
[14:10] sometimes his touch or his overall qualitative advantage is
[14:14] not quite as high as these other guys.
[14:16] So I think what happened was Jabi saw the team losing like
[14:20] unable to keep the ball. He's like, OK, we're not going
[14:23] out sad. I'm bringing on my ball
[14:24] handlers. So he brings out brings in
[14:26] Brahim and Arda, who has struggled defensively.
[14:28] But the idea is like against the City team that's actually really
[14:32] weak defensively, you can afford to sneak him because you're not
[14:36] worried City will create that much, which was proven right by
[14:38] the way. City did not create anything
[14:40] once Arda came on. So Arda and Brahim come in, Jude
[14:43] moves higher up and I just feel like the only mistake job he
[14:46] made. I'll say there was 10 minutes
[14:48] when Gonzalo was off and Endrick wasn't on and Chuameni was
[14:51] playing midfield, Ascencio and Rudiger at the back.
[14:54] That 10 minutes, City got away with it because if you look at
[14:56] our chances, you're odd. At the 75th minute, once
[14:59] Endrick's here, they start again.
[15:00] If we had 10 more minutes of those, we might have got it.
[15:03] I'll be honest, I I don't look at that second-half and blame
[15:05] the players. I think that's when you create
[15:07] an expected goal worth of chances.
[15:09] I think why couldn't we create 2 like every and we have reasons
[15:12] for that, But I do think fundamentally I can't say the
[15:15] game plan didn't work. Those last 25 minutes.
[15:18] Like City were pretty much defending their box.
[15:20] They were like we were getting the ball there.
[15:23] They were scared. I I just feel like that
[15:26] second-half, it's too easy to nitpick and we were missing and
[15:29] bop it now where I criticize the players, Why is Rodrigo's shot
[15:33] on target the only one drawn in the whole game?
[15:35] They they just did not put the ball on target.
[15:37] It it it was mind blowing to me. Sid did the did the enrich post
[15:42] that that counted right? The the enrich header off the
[15:44] post that count. That I guess that's the second.
[15:48] That's the only other one then that's if that, if that counts,
[15:51] if that counts, I'm not. Sure, I'm glad that's the second
[15:53] one. And that made me realize wow,
[15:56] like not just because of that, but just again, he's such a
[15:58] chaos agent, like right, Like why isn't he on the pitch?
[16:02] Like he can? He adds so much width to that
[16:04] size, right? He you can't if he's on that
[16:06] side and Vinny's on the left or Abrigo's on the left and Vinny's
[16:10] in the you can't just focus on one side of the pitch because he
[16:12] might do something wild and crazy over there and he has goal
[16:16] scoring and a strikers instincts it like that.
[16:20] It's just in his he's wired that way.
[16:22] And sometimes those instincts are all you need because they
[16:25] pull because the gravity pulls a defender with you.
[16:29] It caused the other team to get out of shape.
[16:31] And now we're doing what we're doing, right?
[16:33] So yeah. So look, we've been very clear
[16:35] that Chabi has not been perfect. And this is one of the areas
[16:38] where he has not been. It's like, bro, you gave Arda a
[16:42] lot of rope and chance. And I'm not saying you shouldn't
[16:44] have, but why didn't you give Andrick at least some of the
[16:48] minutes you gave to Mesa Antuano?
[16:49] And when Mesa Antuano went out, why don't you put him in, like,
[16:53] right. Like because again, he provides
[16:56] something that Brahim doesn't. Brahim much better, of course,
[16:59] the ball at his feet and like keeping possession in that way.
[17:02] But in a game where we need a goal, I don't know that we
[17:05] necessarily need another person to keep the ball at their feet,
[17:07] right? We have a bunch of players who
[17:09] do that, right? I need someone to get their ass
[17:11] in the box and cause something crazy to happen like we saw.
[17:14] And again, in a low margin sport, not half an inch lower,
[17:19] that's a goal. Donald Roman was beat, right?
[17:21] Like he was beat. That's a goal like and we were
[17:25] two, two we and we're talking about a, a, a tie as opposed to
[17:28] a loss. Or 10 more minutes of him when
[17:31] Gonzalo went out. I I get though that though he he
[17:33] didn't want to spend like more than 15 minutes with just Chua
[17:37] many and another center back is like the guys back there.
[17:39] That was a lot of attackers. 65th minute is a little early to
[17:43] take off. Like all the it's a little.
[17:45] Early yeah, because it could have gotten really ugly right
[17:47] like on the counter like if because all all city needed was
[17:51] like 1 counter in that scenario and they are probably especially
[17:54] with Holland wasn't taken off yet at that point he I mean they
[17:58] are very much more clinical than we are finishing in front of net
[18:01] right like that guy gets a chance it's he's burying that
[18:04] sucker right so or Doku. Yeah.
[18:08] And for sure they were. It's not even the clinicality.
[18:12] I just feel like the fact that they like make the right choice
[18:15] sometimes, like Pass Doku was doing that.
[18:18] It's funny that you mentioned that, Sid, making the right
[18:20] choice in the right path. So pass.
[18:22] So, and I want you to bear with me on this because and I, you
[18:26] saw this, I tweeted out this morning, as many of our
[18:30] listeners know, I work for Troop.
[18:32] I cover the NBA as well as Real Madrid and our CEO Henry Abbott
[18:38] put out a great piece about the Oklahoma City Thunder, who look
[18:41] like they are the burgeoning dynasty in the NBA right now.
[18:45] And Sam Presti in the Oklahoma City front office was just named
[18:47] the top front office in the in the NBA.
[18:50] Not just because they won the title, but because of what Sam's
[18:53] philosophy and mindset is as he's thinking about not just who
[18:57] I'm going to bring in on the on the roster, but when I look for
[19:00] a coach, these are the things that we're thinking of.
[19:02] So and Presti and the and the Thunder are notorious for being
[19:06] tight lipped and not saying shit, much like Oklahoma's, much
[19:09] like Real Madrid is. But beginning the season, when
[19:11] he was asked about hiring Mark Dignal, who does the Thunder
[19:14] head coach, this is what he said.
[19:16] We talked clearly at the time, you know, when he was hired,
[19:18] about why he was hired, how he would help us create the kind of
[19:21] play style that could be scaled upon.
[19:23] And we'll continue to adapt the mentality of discovery.
[19:26] The challenge is maintaining that mindset once you've had
[19:29] some level of success. And I think I'm not talking
[19:31] about the fact that we happen to be fortunate enough to win the
[19:34] title last year. But once you find a formula,
[19:36] human nature is to fall back on that.
[19:38] And I think ultra competitors, their default is to improve and
[19:41] challenge their own standards versus we know this works.
[19:45] Instead, I think that's so, so much of that is the heart of
[19:49] what is hurting Real Madrid right now, right?
[19:51] Like, and we saw it kind of bear out in this, in this instance,
[19:56] Chubby is antithetical to what has worked right for this club
[20:01] over the course of his history, which is we have managers who
[20:04] are less tactically disciplined, all those that don's much more
[20:07] tactically discipline the people give him credit for.
[20:09] And so is Carlo. But we want guys who.
[20:13] Freedom right and let players do more control on that end, right?
[20:18] And the the push back we often gets it is that.
[20:20] But we've won 6 champion leagues in 10 years with that
[20:22] philosophy, right? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
[20:25] The point, the point we've been saying is nobody is broken,
[20:28] right? Like that's The thing is broke.
[20:30] Also like you're not far from drinking so much of your cool it
[20:33] that you go another 30 years without winning one like we did
[20:35] before. Like I'm not here for 30 years
[20:37] without winning one. Real Deal Pods is over if that
[20:39] happens. 30 years. I might be dead in 30 years
[20:43] about like. Oh, yeah, yeah.
[20:45] And so the level of complacent. And so I think it's important to
[20:48] like recognize, yeah, you have to change.
[20:51] And that's where I go back to like, you have to survive too.
[20:55] And we are commercial entity. So of course, so when you get
[20:59] when you win the Champions League and you get a chance to
[21:02] get a player who scores 50 goals a season on a free transfer, you
[21:05] get them. It doesn't matter if he doesn't
[21:07] fit you if you unless you have one or two guys who already do
[21:11] that, which we did not. It's correct.
[21:12] If if we had prime Cristiano and Benzema already, fine, you'd
[21:15] maybe think do we need him. But we didn't have one guy
[21:18] producing on that level. Vinnie was a number one option
[21:20] who played thirty 90s that year, like did not play the whole
[21:23] season. So, yeah, I, I think the idea
[21:27] that we need to go back to who we were, and I think that was
[21:30] dispelled today 'cause we saw the shooting without him Bop.
[21:32] It's like, hey guys, like what if we just had someone who's
[21:35] obsessed with shooting, who works on that, who might do it
[21:37] to a fault to the point where he doesn't combine well with you,
[21:40] But you can't go wrong with someone obsessed with shooting
[21:43] like people. Are that point you that point
[21:46] you made right there is perfect, right.
[21:47] So we talked about Benny and some decision making and some of
[21:49] the the the wastefulness of the whole team, right, with just
[21:53] that final third, right. And so I'm going back to that
[21:55] article because this is Sam talking about Chet Holmgren now,
[21:58] who's on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
[22:00] His Chet's instincts to drive winning are unique, extremely
[22:03] unique. And he's extremely ambitious,
[22:05] but his ambition never crosses over into agenda.
[22:08] And we want ambitious players, but you know, you just don't
[22:11] want that ambition to bleed into an agenda.
[22:13] And we have not had that, obviously, because he wouldn't
[22:15] have been able to be the type of success we've had and if that
[22:17] was the case. And so that's what I think part
[22:20] of the problem is it is that we have players whose ambition has
[22:26] turned into agenda, right? And this is our issue, right?
[22:29] Like because I have to score these goals because I have to
[22:32] get this thing to make no man, we need to score these goals
[22:36] right now to win this game. Not you, right?
[22:39] Like. And I think, you know, it's an
[22:41] the old adage, right, of like a player who would rather lose 4-3
[22:46] but scoring the hat trick then win 2 nil having not scored,
[22:51] right? Like, no, we want the ladder,
[22:54] right? We we want the ladder.
[22:56] Like it's got to be about what's best for us, not what's best for
[23:00] me, right? Like, yeah.
[23:01] And I think that's that was what we saw on display a little bit
[23:05] with some of the the late chances like, Oh my God, if we
[23:07] just lay it off one more and like just pick your head up or
[23:10] tilt your eye like it's right there.
[23:12] I actually thought today we saw a little bit of nerves from
[23:16] those guys. It's like, Oh no.
[23:17] And Boppe, we got to show up, we got to score, put it in the back
[23:19] of the net. And Jude and Vinny felt just a
[23:22] little nervy. Vinny sometimes like Vinny's a
[23:25] high volume guy. He gets on the end of a lot.
[23:26] Jude doesn't always. So when he misses something like
[23:29] that, I'm I am more curious. It's but I I would say 1
[23:33] interesting thing what you said on goals and agendas.
[23:36] That feels like because Florentino is so obsessed with
[23:40] like the commercial portfolio, he brings in a bop it and
[23:42] doesn't worry about balance. These players just start
[23:45] thinking that way too. It feels like a reflection from
[23:47] the top down. And that's where I do blame
[23:49] Florentino a little because like, of course, he he's like
[23:53] setting the tone that Hey, I like it's all commercial.
[23:55] It's a commercial vibe. And it's like, OK, Vinny's then
[23:58] trying to optimize for 30 million or volandor of.
[24:01] Course or. Some or or a contract worthy of
[24:04] someone who should have won the volandor.
[24:05] Now that's his stop process. And then you have and BAPE has
[24:09] always been like this. And I, I just want to reiterate,
[24:12] he just shoots so much that you can make it work for the team.
[24:14] The agenda of wanting to shoot is OK.
[24:16] It's like if you can shoot 7 * a game like he does.
[24:20] But it's funny because Jude's game has and Fete's are actually
[24:24] the ones that I feel like have changed.
[24:25] And Fete, you know, it's one of the rheometer accounts retweeted
[24:28] the ESPNFC tweet from a few years ago.
[24:31] Fete has his eyes on the prize with the Bollandor that looks
[24:35] and that that timeline is long gone.
[24:36] That that was another timeline. And and I think, you know, part
[24:40] of it too, is like, look, these guys are human.
[24:42] We say it all the time, right? When Jude came to Real Madrid
[24:45] his first season, Carlo wanted Harry Kane, right?
[24:49] Because he's like, we're losing. We're losing Benzema.
[24:50] I want a nine Florentino's like no figure out how to make it
[24:55] work without without that. All right, well, fuck it.
[24:57] I'm going to all make Jude into a false 9.
[24:59] Because now, dude. Because he had no choice.
[25:01] This. This is what you gave me.
[25:03] OK, Now Jude's. Addicted.
[25:05] Now he's addicted, correct? And now?
[25:06] Jude's like, well, is this who I am?
[25:08] Because again, think about it, what would Jude be like now,
[25:11] Sid, if Carlo would also gotten his wish and gotten Harry Kane
[25:15] that year? Jude would honestly be more of
[25:18] what we need for sure, like for this team.
[25:20] But I see The thing is like I I think that's just unfortunate
[25:24] because like I'm saying, because I'm I'm glad we got like what we
[25:28] got. We were never going to get in on
[25:30] the other situation, but I think it's got yeah.
[25:34] I just think it's interesting that we've reached like Jude is
[25:36] not as comfortable too, just playing deeper too.
[25:38] I think that also just changed fundamentally, like even beyond
[25:41] his mindset, he's just become like a little like, I feel like
[25:45] his Bill is just a little more suited to like playing upfront,
[25:47] like a little stronger, less about pure agility and movement,
[25:51] box to box. And he defends so hard for this
[25:55] team. So I think then it's like, how
[25:57] much more like ground coverage do you want while progressing?
[26:01] But but yeah, the the idea is like Dortmund Jew disappeared
[26:04] because of goals and Bape is worried about his achievements.
[26:07] And well, today I think that's where I'm not sure how far we're
[26:11] past everything because today without him, Bape, you lose some
[26:14] of the like goal scorers and you get more role players in when
[26:17] everyone's there. We still have the same issue
[26:20] because as someone pointed out in the comments, this all
[26:23] started when we were winning and Vinnie just got mad for getting
[26:26] taken off. Correct, we were up, we want to
[26:29] win the win the match like we, and we said it on our post game
[26:32] show, right Sid, we understood any player gets mad when they
[26:35] get taken off. We, we all understood that.
[26:37] But to do that in that manner right in front of everybody and
[26:42] for there to be no repercussion, that was that's when the simply
[26:45] the slippery slope started, right?
[26:47] If he was punished and you know me, Sid, I'm basically all these
[26:51] things are, or what I view are management versus labor issues,
[26:55] right? That that's what all this stuff
[26:56] is. And in, in most cases, 99.9% of
[26:58] the time I am pro labor. That's just who I am as a
[27:00] person. But in this instance, right,
[27:03] that was wrong. He needed to be punished for
[27:06] that because if he was, it would have said a clear tone, like,
[27:10] Oh, well, if you do this, this is what happens.
[27:12] All right, We may be resisting the change because it's
[27:15] uncomfortable to us, but we know this is the way we got to roll.
[27:19] Once that started, it was like, oh, well, maybe if IA sort of
[27:23] little bit of aggression and agenda like I can get my way
[27:26] too, right. Like once that happened right,
[27:30] that we were on the other side of the scale much different to
[27:33] how it was Club World Cup and early in the season when he when
[27:36] he wasn't playing them right, like that was the mind.
[27:38] That was what we needed to see. I wonder if Junior Calafat's
[27:42] camp is happier now. Hendrix loan is closing.
[27:44] Rodrigo played well and like this point, the Vinnie situation
[27:48] is not going anywhere. They got to deal with that.
[27:49] But I, I wonder if they're a little happier and things have
[27:52] cooled off to an extent. And Fete is the last one I want
[27:55] to just touch on. This guy is not Real Madrid
[27:58] captain caliber player. I just want to stay that right
[28:01] now. I hate to say it because I
[28:02] really love what you sacrifice. Fete Mina Bonino, if you're
[28:04] listening to this, I'm sorry to say this about your husband, but
[28:08] first of all, Mina, your tweets are unacceptable.
[28:10] Like the I saw some of the tweets she's tweeted about like
[28:13] how my husband's a midfielder. Mina, like just stick to your
[28:16] day job. Like please leave this to the
[28:18] people who are paid for it. It is deeply disrespectful.
[28:21] Like stick to stick to whatever you do as your job.
[28:24] Like honestly. And I think like Fede's
[28:27] technical level, like you don't hear true MN saying I have to
[28:30] play as a CDM and like exerting pressure.
[28:31] He's like defending the coach. Here's the thing too many will
[28:34] say I prefer playing CDM, but if I need to play center back, I,
[28:39] I, I do what's asked of me, right?
[28:40] And he does it and he, he doesn't leak or like whatever
[28:43] I'm AI do I do what's asked of me, right?
[28:46] Like. Yeah, and listen, he he can get
[28:48] let the RG can make mistakes, but Fede is like vying for
[28:50] midfield place as like and that's the thing.
[28:53] There's no way we have room for both of y'all in there.
[28:55] And at the point, at this point, I'm taking the guy who's not
[28:57] going up, up against Chubby, who's not starting locker room
[29:00] issues, whose wife is not saying all sorts of random shit to the
[29:03] media, that I just think that was disgraceful that a captain
[29:07] of Real Madrid who can't turn and beat a press is coming and
[29:11] like trying to call his shots on the position.
[29:13] Like that's where I lose respect for Florentino as well.
[29:16] I'm like, bro, are you looking at this like, who are you
[29:18] standing behind? Like who are choosing to let
[29:20] your coach go to war against these bums for this?
[29:23] Like that pissed me off. In a in a midfield to your point
[29:27] said where he is not technical enough, he being Fede Valverde
[29:32] like you can't be demanding these things and I'm sorry, but
[29:36] at right back you're much better there, right?
[29:39] Like it's, it's just much better for us when you're there versus
[29:42] when you're in midfield. And I will say this, I will say
[29:46] this, we maybe it's just his wife though, saying that I will
[29:48] give it to him. You know who, who, who knows who
[29:52] it is, but it it's and look, I get it.
[29:54] Like, and to me, if you're going to be a captain of this team,
[30:00] you have to, it's OK to have a disagreement with a coach and,
[30:07] you know, be on the side of your guys.
[30:10] But in the locker room that politicking and all that, like
[30:14] you can't be starting camps and dividing like that as the
[30:18] leader. You've got to be above camps,
[30:22] right? Like you, you have to be like,
[30:24] no, I, I, I am camp less because the reason why I have the the
[30:27] captain's badge is because I value the club over individual
[30:32] people's feelings and camps, right.
[30:34] And clearly this year that has not been that has not been the
[30:37] case with Bette as he is obviously one of the players who
[30:40] is upset with Javi Alonzo in this in this tug of war and push
[30:43] pull. I think.
[30:45] And you know, again, I want to go back to Jude really quick.
[30:48] Jude did have some really nice runs from deep by the way, in
[30:51] this. Game.
[30:52] And so he I do think he can go back to that.
[30:55] I just think to your point, Sid, the, the, the profiles have to
[30:59] readjust themselves on this squad so that he can do that,
[31:02] right? We need them to get back to a,
[31:05] a, a balance, right? Look, everybody, you know, when
[31:08] Carlo kept saying the team lacks balance scheme lacks balance,
[31:11] those of us who are in tune and we knew what he was saying, but
[31:14] I think a lot of people just kind of dismissed it.
[31:15] Well, this is this is what he was saying.
[31:17] It's like his team is imbalanced the way it is right now, right?
[31:20] Like we can't have these profiles don't fit, right?
[31:23] Like we lack we lack certain things, right.
[31:26] And so I think that if we get that situation fixed, which I
[31:29] hope we do, I think I think we can, we can, we can see Jude
[31:34] again as that box, that that box, the box, right as that six,
[31:38] that eight, right? Like, I think he can really do
[31:40] that. Phenomenal at like Lecante was
[31:42] pointing it out and I saw it too.
[31:43] He kind of like bullied their sixes, played side to side, made
[31:47] passes and also was very patient trying to attract defenders
[31:51] towards him. He releases the ball slower
[31:53] sometimes but like Vinnie was a lot more egregious for me, not
[31:56] than Jude. Like, like a lot.
[31:59] Jude was trying to, again, there were sequences where he took a
[32:02] while, but he was just trying to make the City players come near
[32:04] him. And then just, yeah, which is,
[32:06] which is what you want. Right.
[32:07] When you are in sport, the goal is to force the defense to
[32:11] commit first, right? That that is the goal.
[32:14] Because once they do that, right, Domino's then fall behind
[32:17] them, right? It's what you want.
[32:18] You want them to break their shape, get out of their rhythm a
[32:20] little bit. OK, now I can turn right.
[32:22] I've got, If I've got two or three guys around me, what does
[32:24] that mean? There's acres of space
[32:26] everywhere else on the pitch, right?
[32:28] Somewhere this, this space. Right now it's our job to get
[32:31] into it for me to find it right. This is just fucking all one O
[32:34] 1. So Jude is aware of that, but.
[32:36] All of our defenders, the only one who could do that today was
[32:39] Carreras. Oh, can we?
[32:41] Can we talk about Alvaro? Who has had a run of
[32:44] performances that, you know, let's be honest, right, had been
[32:48] poor, but he played so well today.
[32:51] I thought he was phenomenal. And again, it's not about piling
[32:54] on Vinny that I don't understand how Vinny, because and I blame
[32:58] him, ignores him, ignores him. I'm just.
[33:00] Like bro, like you, It's this is not Fran.
[33:02] Garcia or Furlan Mendy making overlapping runs like you have a
[33:06] capable person Like come on. He literally just no.
[33:12] That was infuriating. The.
[33:13] One where Carreras is overlapping and he has no other
[33:16] option and he just goes and shoots into the middle.
[33:18] I'm like, Oh my God, bro, you have an ego and a half.
[33:20] Like you got to learn and I'm sorry.
[33:22] Now that's what I want to say. Like I like Vinny and I hate the
[33:26] way Mbappi moves off the ball Sometimes I just want to and I'm
[33:28] hedging with sometimes because I still think it's a question of
[33:31] us just having a controller who releases everyone.
[33:33] But at the end of the day, I'd rather a guy who shoots a lot
[33:37] than a guy who over dribbles. Like honestly, like a guy who
[33:40] shoots for himself still does more for your football team than
[33:42] an over dribbler. Like over dribbling is one of my
[33:45] biggest pet peeves. Jerrod.
[33:46] I hate it. I hate it from the bottom of my
[33:48] soul. Like it's just the worst thing.
[33:50] It's just amateur playground shit.
[33:52] How did we like you won so much and you've let your ego and the
[33:56] contract get to your head to the point where you're not willing
[33:59] to pass to the overlap? I defend Vinny for missing that
[34:01] ball like .33 XG. Give him two more of those.
[34:04] You'll hit one and and mathematically you do need three
[34:06] of those to guarantee you score. There you go, that's what. .33
[34:09] is yeah, yeah, so. Where I don't forgive him is the
[34:13] first half actually with some of those passes of like, not all of
[34:16] them, but some of the easy ones where it's literally obvious
[34:19] just an overlap. Some of the others you might
[34:20] think, huh, maybe if I take a touch the situation will change.
[34:23] Situation was going nowhere there.
[34:26] I was really sad watching that. And however, I do think like the
[34:31] way we lost with Vinny leading the attack now like again,
[34:36] obviously Florentino doesn't take a stance because he's weird
[34:38] and worried about his investments or whatever.
[34:40] But you could, if you're a serious club, you can go by
[34:43] like, hey Vinny, fucking pass, what the fuck were you doing?
[34:45] I don't know if that combo is happening now.
[34:47] That's my worry because of the way Vinny is.
[34:49] I mean, how do you when? They sit in film session
[34:51] tomorrow or whenever they watch them.
[34:53] How? I mean, if I'm Jabby, I have
[34:56] nothing. Literally my video guys.
[34:58] I just cut up all the time. He made shitty decisions.
[35:01] Turn the ball over. I said this is you yesterday.
[35:03] The offense ran entirely through you and this is what we got.
[35:06] And I'll say, oh, look, look, look at Alvaro making this
[35:09] overlapping run. Here is the by the way, remember
[35:13] it was the Valencia game. I think he scored the fourth
[35:15] goal when Alvaro put that Galazzo from from just outside
[35:18] the box and we're like, yo, we know he had that in him.
[35:21] He this kid has game and some talent, but Jesus Christ, if you
[35:25] don't let him fucking do something with the ball.
[35:28] And here's the thing to what I said about ambition versus
[35:31] agenda. Alvaro's not selfish.
[35:35] If Vinny passes him the ball and runs, Alvaro will give it right
[35:40] back to him like he will. He will pass it back to him in a
[35:43] more advantageous position like. No, there's no combination play.
[35:48] And it's like it's a disgrace to anyone who watched Ronaldo and
[35:50] Marcelo. Don't pretend this is
[35:52] justifiable. Don't don't justify Vinny.
[35:55] Like, yes, we won twice and so he learned to play away with
[35:58] Ferland Mendy, who just doesn't get up there.
[36:00] But doesn't mean when you have the option, you don't have to
[36:02] take it. I think that was a lot of it
[36:05] though. You know, we, we, we, we've
[36:06] learned things. There's a long way to go going
[36:08] forward. We need more Endrick, Les
[36:10] Rudiger. We're screwed, by the way.
[36:11] I guess I think we have. We have no choice because we got
[36:14] to know we. Have no fit center backs.
[36:15] By the way, there is no timeline on Dean Housen's return.
[36:18] Zero. Yeah.
[36:19] So I think the season I just want.
[36:20] To say I think the season is over.
[36:23] I love that you put the graphic up, in case anybody didn't know.
[36:27] Like, listen guys. I've been here too many times.
[36:30] We survived the first time, 24 each other time.
[36:32] It's like a stupider version of the same scenario.
[36:34] We're clearly not going to make it the whole year just doing
[36:36] this bullshit. Rudiger is cooked.
[36:39] I don't, I just don't think Joanne Martinez is going to
[36:42] suddenly be able to start all these games and he's going to
[36:45] have some mistakes in him if he plays.
[36:47] You might like the I I think there's a reason the Castilla
[36:50] guys are not playing. I'll just put it that way.
[36:51] And and so if you do go play them because your senior players
[36:54] can't play, who knows what's going to happen?
[36:57] But I do think we have to have like a Raul Ascencio situation
[37:00] like last year. Someone needs to come through
[37:01] because at this point, all of us better than Rudiger on the ball.
[37:05] Rudiger's cooked. Militao's done.
[37:07] Yeah. Dean is indefinite.
[37:08] What is going on, Dean? Indefinite.
[37:10] There's no. Timeline for Dean's return.
[37:12] I was like, I'm sorry, what? OK, cool.
[37:15] Yeah. And that's why I think on.
[37:16] Some level like lack of play making Gonzalo being the like a
[37:21] limited Hosaloo if we're going there like a worse Hosaloo.
[37:23] Honestly way worse at many things who can just do the role
[37:26] things just because the profile's missing.
[37:28] The team looks perfect, but Guler still can't turn out of
[37:31] pressure. By the way, you saw that.
[37:36] Why Cooler and this is not about knocking Arda, but you saw why
[37:40] not starting him in these kinds of matches, like makes sense
[37:43] because when those first 30 minutes we were like pressing
[37:46] and winning the Arda just can't win the ball back like that.
[37:49] Like he just can't like I I'm sorry, guys.
[37:51] Like it's just not like he tried.
[37:52] I'm not saying he doesn't give effort.
[37:53] He does, but he cannot win it like at that at the level
[37:57] necessary, right? Like think about the Liverpool
[37:59] match, right, like Silvassa and who's the other midfielder?
[38:03] Like they were punking them like they were like, yo, bro, this is
[38:06] how you got to play the baseline level to play midfield in
[38:09] Europe. Like, and they punked them like,
[38:12] yeah, no, they. Pumped Arda and I think a lot of
[38:17] people are going to say like a counter argument that's
[38:19] reasonable is that and Bape was not here today as well, but the
[38:23] Classico with I guess all three of them did play the classic,
[38:27] but that's looking like a miracle now.
[38:28] The fact that we played a good defensive half against Barcelona
[38:32] with Gulerfini and popping on the pitch, because it's never
[38:36] happening. Again.
[38:37] Physicality wise. Bars's midfield technically like
[38:41] excellent, but no one in there is like, you know, knocking you
[38:45] off the ball, right? Like we still gave up a goal
[38:51] after that, but. I mean also Judy.
[38:54] And we still gave up. The goal, but well, I think I
[38:57] think that yeah, but that that timeline, that team that
[39:00] achieved that is never coming back.
[39:01] I think like, and I'm happy because yeah, just between
[39:05] Vinnie's reaction when he was subbed, not using Gonzalo Franco
[39:09] being phased out of the team. Those were weird, right?
[39:13] Franco? Franco is.
[39:13] Franco is pabalgia. I get it, but but just the
[39:16] general like the role player profiles being phased out in
[39:19] favor of the stars demanding where they play.
[39:22] Oh man, that was it's just been disgusting and I just have a
[39:25] feeling today could have brought the end of that because it's
[39:28] just knowing like a lot of pieces missing.
[39:29] He kind of got to do what he want.
[39:30] Fede you play right back. It was better and I I'm hoping
[39:36] that this leads to club to back him, but I think he needs to win
[39:38] the next two La Liga games Yeah and to your.
[39:41] Point so he needs to win the next two La Liga games.
[39:45] I agree. What are the?
[39:47] Chances that if he. Feels these guys again that they
[39:51] give the same level of effort against who we play on Sunday.
[39:55] No, not atafe somebody pull it up who we who we play on Sunday.
[40:00] Let me. Look it up.
[40:06] Real Madrid play against Olivez and then Olivez, Aloe Vera and
[40:11] the Coco del Rey. What are the chances that
[40:13] against? Alavez, we see that same level
[40:16] of intensity by these players. Not likely.
[40:19] Not likely. Now.
[40:21] So if that is a star, well, that's.
[40:23] Where that's where I'm. Going if that is likely going to
[40:26] happen, if they're going to be dog shit against Alavez if I'm
[40:30] again, if you're chubby, you're already on the hot seat, right?
[40:34] Fuck it. Like I'm going to put in the
[40:36] young kids who will try Massenciano and or Andrick will
[40:40] run their asses off, right? Gonzalo will run his ass off.
[40:43] Like yeah, that's what I'm saying.
[40:46] So you think Chabi makes it past this game?
[40:49] I think, I think if you sacked him at this game, I think the
[40:52] logical. I honestly think there are too
[40:54] many logical people around the club who are like, I'm out like
[40:56] this is stupid. Like what are you guys doing?
[40:58] Like if, if, if you sack him after this.
[40:59] Game you have made it very clear to the players that it's our
[41:04] way, whatever we want goes we'll bring in some substitute teacher
[41:08] babysitter to pacify them until the end of the season and
[41:11] they'll be running amok even more and then whoever we bring
[41:15] in in the summer because again Sid all these names I hear out
[41:18] there oh Jurgen Klopp this one that one you think Jurgen Klopp
[41:21] wants to deal with this shit? Oh, there was a report there.
[41:24] There was. A report that they had a talk in
[41:25] Mallorca in March. Jurgen Klopp asked for full
[41:27] control of transfers you team and Castilla and Riordan said
[41:31] fuck no and. And why do you and separate
[41:36] whether or not you think Klopp is good or not or whatever, why
[41:39] do you think you're going to ask for all that control?
[41:41] Because he fucking knows. He's like, I can't play my style
[41:45] with people who don't want to run or work work out of
[41:47] possession. So no, I have to be in control
[41:50] of all that. Yeah, yeah.
[41:53] And, and I think Alonzo needs to be bold and Perez needs to be
[41:56] bold. They both need to be bold
[41:57] together. Because I think it's obvious now
[41:59] that if Alonzo kept benching Vinny around the Classico, Vinny
[42:02] would go behind his back and talk shit about him and Perez
[42:05] just doesn't have the balls to push back on it.
[42:07] Perez fucked up. You did not punish him.
[42:09] You let Cristiano Ronaldo go. You.
[42:11] Let Sergio Ramos go. Fuck you.
[42:12] Let Raul go. Those are club legs, Ronaldo.
[42:16] Was better than Vinny. I don't want to hear shit about
[42:18] Vinny. We saw Cristiano play like.
[42:21] You got to be like, hey, man, if I let them dudes go, same thing
[42:24] you say, hey, if you can command a $250 million selfie, we will
[42:27] happily move you along. If not, whatever Chubby says
[42:31] goes. How hard is that?
[42:34] Yeah, and any. Serious coach will want to make
[42:36] the same choices as Alonso. Alonso will get a job anywhere
[42:38] else. That's the worst part you're on
[42:40] He's winning somewhere else. He's winning a dynasty somewhere
[42:43] where we and this is my fear is that he.
[42:46] This club does something stupid, lets him go.
[42:48] He a smart club is like this guy's going to be really good.
[42:52] They bring him along and then we have to face him in the
[42:55] Champions League and he because he's a competitor to cue the
[42:58] Jordan meet. And I took that personally.
[43:00] And every time he plays us, whatever squad he has, cooks us
[43:05] and works the shit out of us. It's going to be a battle and.
[43:09] Yeah, and like 100% that needs to change.
[43:12] And I just want to see Enrich, Gonzalo, Garcia, Franco and I
[43:16] want to see them paired with Mbappe.
[43:18] Like that's the thing. What pisses me off is this.
[43:20] This whole dynamic is preventing Mbappe from just playing with an
[43:24] Enrich or Gonzalo more, which is what would optimize him.
[43:26] The highest goal scorer it was you can fit Vinnie and Jude
[43:30] around that. People keep complaining Mbappe
[43:31] off of women. OK, put a nine up there, have
[43:33] him play off someone and then these guys have to then play off
[43:36] that, which they don't always do.
[43:37] So he's not even doing that. And that's the buy in that was
[43:40] there in the Club World Cup. And honestly, this started when
[43:43] he was gonna bench Vinny for the PSG game.
[43:45] This is I just feel like he's been ever since that day Vinny
[43:48] decided, hey, like I'm gonna I'm gonna be a victim.
[43:51] I'm gonna choose to say like when you bench me, I'm gonna
[43:54] choose to ignore the times I didn't track and try to make
[43:56] this about you instead of just doing what's needed.
[43:58] And I hate victim mentality and especially at a club like this,
[44:02] like again, like you, like you said, labor versus management.
[44:05] I think at lower level operations that are not being
[44:07] paid millions of dollars, you can make excuses for whoever,
[44:10] coddle whoever, be nice, build a family.
[44:12] This is Real Madrid. No room for complacency, like no
[44:15] room for lying, like no room for there's room for family if it
[44:18] helps everyone, like back Alonzo if it means getting the players
[44:21] in line. But there's no room for this
[44:23] family bullshit where you choose where you play and you can
[44:26] control the coach. I I should have seen more of
[44:29] this coming though, from that Club World Cup thing.
[44:31] That was a very that was that was very.
[44:34] Weird. And we lost. 40 with that shit
[44:36] and it still came out bro like what are you trying to adjust?
[44:38] Are you trying to say like you playing helped us like play
[44:40] better? You didn't defend well, correct?
[44:43] We we got cooked. Like where's your head putting
[44:45] that out? It it is and by the way.
[44:47] And none of this is Vinnie is losing leverage every second.
[44:51] It's like, bro, who in the world's gonna give you besides
[44:54] Saudi? He's gonna give you $30 million
[44:55] a season. You have to be high.
[44:58] Madrid definitely not doing that.
[45:00] Like, for what? The output's not there right
[45:03] now. I'm sorry.
[45:03] And you're not doing any other things.
[45:05] This is funny. In the chat here, Kevin Cake
[45:08] Eater might have brought it up. If, let's say, the club doesn't
[45:12] back chopping, he goes. There's chats saying that
[45:16] Liverpool's perfect squad for him.
[45:18] What would he do with that Liverpool squad?
[45:21] I think Florian Berts and all, and he's got Katika Isak.
[45:25] Like I mean he's this is I think he could cook.
[45:28] I still think that squad has the same.
[45:29] Issue as us the play making but and they figured it out finally
[45:33] they played a little diamond with Mac Allister Jones, Gravin,
[45:37] Birch and so those lie and then Mac Allister comes off for works
[45:40] that midfield diamond behind the front 2.
[45:43] And hey, if if they hadn't fallen out, Salah would have
[45:45] looked nice in that front 2 next tech detective.
[45:46] But now it's fallen out, so you don't get that option, which
[45:48] sucks. I think without Salah, they're
[45:51] lacking a little bit in width and also the play making.
[45:54] But I think like, yeah, like I think the problem is you would
[45:58] take someone like Alonzo there and he works in lock step with
[46:01] Michael Edwards, goes and buys the best players, figures out
[46:04] exactly what they need. And they are a juggernaut
[46:06] because he did it at Leverkusen. And listen, I don't know when
[46:11] the last time we, we, I know we had 95 points that year, but
[46:14] man, that was not as good as the 100 point year in the Marina.
[46:16] Not close. Like Marina was like final done,
[46:19] done in the 30th minute. Here we're looking at Jude, Jude
[46:21] winners like the first three months of the year, which was
[46:24] great. It was great that we ended up in
[46:26] the one timeline where Jude scores the winner every single
[46:28] fucking time. Like great.
[46:29] It was wonderful. It's and the timeline.
[46:32] Where literally like maybe the second chance he gets goes in,
[46:34] but you today you see why that's not always going to happen.
[46:37] Like it's not like every time he touches it goes in the last two
[46:39] years. That's why I think XG is so
[46:41] real. People say like missing chances.
[46:43] Listen, it's all down to XG. You created one XG worth of
[46:45] chances. One of your shots deserves to go
[46:47] in or and today we created 1.7 could have created more.
[46:52] But overall the plan wasn't bad though.
[46:54] I, I think I just want to just to end on the in terms of the
[46:57] performance and wrap it up here. Not a bad performance
[47:00] whatsoever, but very key flaws in play making and and just
[47:05] Rudiger being dead, Fede being dead.
[47:07] If we could solve the personnel like the system looks fine to
[47:10] me. Yeah, I, I, I, I think.
[47:13] I think Javi coached had a good tactical plan.
[47:17] I think the players gave the requisite effort.
[47:21] I do think that we had some wasteful moments and some poor
[47:23] decision making by certain players up front.
[47:25] We we we discussed all that we we gave shine to Carreras.
[47:29] We thought was great. Jill Jill Bellingham had AI
[47:31] thought played well played well. Also Rodrigo.
[47:33] All right, Courtois came up with some big saves.
[47:36] Chew him any as usual at at at the DM spot.
[47:39] I thought we saw a lot of good things.
[47:41] You know, the question is now Sid, as the board is watching
[47:45] this and Florentino's watching this.
[47:48] Are they having measured and rational conversation doesn't
[47:51] mean that they're not disagreeing Disagreements
[47:53] happen. It's fine, but ultimately are
[47:56] they seeing what we're all seeing?
[47:58] And it's like, no, this is the guy we got to back because he's
[48:01] got the right idea. And if these players, as we see,
[48:05] don't want to do the thing, well, they got to go because
[48:09] aside from imbabe, right, no one is out here producing at a level
[48:13] that I mean, well, imbabe Jude, we actually did this.
[48:17] You and I sort of I think on our last show, right, where we
[48:19] talked about everyone who stays, I mean, all in this club, if if
[48:23] I'm rebuilding, there's like 6 or 7 dudes who stay.
[48:26] Like if, if we're being fully honest, if we're being really
[48:29] honest, right. Like it's not that many.
[48:32] Yeah. And we're going to.
[48:33] End it here, Gerard. I don't want to get into this
[48:35] because it'll go forever, but yeah, yeah, for sure to end.
[48:38] One guy says the fucked up thing is the injuries won't stop.
[48:40] The squad is going to be all over the place all season.
[48:42] Rumor is that Perez thinks that Pintus is the reason things are
[48:45] worse physically. So buckle up, we're in for a
[48:47] long Pintus who still operates like it's. 1988 Well, here's the
[48:51] thing. That's the thing, Jerrod.
[48:52] It's, it's interesting, right, 'cause even though he does, if,
[48:55] if the new thing you implement isn't superior baseline to what
[48:59] Pintas did, then even 1988 works better if you're half assed
[49:03] implementing something that's not working.
[49:05] And that's, that's where the club is starting to wonder, like
[49:08] is this the Gregory DuPont situation where you try to go
[49:11] into the future and you go backwards with 60 injuries?
[49:13] Just go back to Pintas like look shitty and fall and and win in
[49:17] the spring again. Then I'm just saying, I hate to
[49:20] say it, but like when you're in a such a unique environment like
[49:23] that and you have so few people you can trust, you have no
[49:26] choice sometimes. Because it's not like Florentino
[49:29] clearly doesn't care about like owning the medical side of
[49:32] things as much as the commercial side, which is fine.
[49:34] Like not everyone's going to be passionate.
[49:36] Not everyone's like me who's obsessed with all that weird
[49:38] health shit. But but but but that that.
[49:40] Weird hell shit, as you call it, is critical for success.
[49:44] Oh no, that, that's that. Stuff is the that's the number
[49:46] one lever for winning like as we've discussed, it's the number
[49:49] one lever and is Paris being rational about who's betting
[49:53] hurt, who he can move? That's the question and you know
[49:56] and the other things the organization.
[49:58] So all these will be interesting to see, but no, no, we'll, we'll
[50:03] be here for five. Hours listen thank you guys as
[50:06] always for tuning in. Please like this video,
[50:11] subscribe to the channel, share it right with your friends.
[50:14] If you want to listen to this later, we'll have the audio
[50:17] versions on Apple and Spotify, right?
[50:19] Do that as well. Comment there, rate US five
[50:21] stars, all that stuff. Guys, we are independent and it
[50:24] helps us in the algorithm when you like and share and comment.
[50:28] And as you see, we engage in the comments under you.
[50:31] So. So please do that as well.
[50:32] And Sid, we'll see everybody again some point.
[50:36] Yeah. Yeah, we will.
[50:36] We will. Do a keep cell pod.
[50:38] We'll do a lot more. We're, we're just trying to
[50:40] optimize our, our holidays as well around this, but we will,
[50:44] we will be back. Thank you all for tuning in and
[50:48] see you guys on Sunday.

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