"Three Defensive mid-fielders" Formation was not Starnage and Stupid After All!!

[Hajagha]

Just for the record in Football +:

Real played today with 3 defensive mid-fielders against Barcelona at home. I think it's not hard to guess who came first with the idea and from whom Mourinho copied the formation.

They lost 2-0 and they didn't play good. Both goals came from the little magician. Messi's second goal, I guess, will stay in the media for a long long time.

The three defensive mid's were Lass, Xabi Alonso and Pepe. BTW, besides playing home, they had a victory just a week before. After all, they shouldn't be heartless, spineless, gutless, chicken or any other thing you like to add.

Who am I to blame it on the formation and game strategy? Or, do we have some members who thinks he knows better than "special one"?

Cheers,

[Doctor DOOM]

Har har....

great going. use a drubbing, AT HOME, by an injury-ridden and patched together rival while your team has a gazillion stars to make the case for the absurd "3 def-mids" or the feeble attempt to defend a charlatan!!! LOL .... now, this is new. lol



1- what did this 3 def-mid achieve?
2- what did real create in terms of offense?
3- werent they playing at home, therefore enjoying home advantage?
4- and finally what was the score?

next time we see someone throwing himself down the well, we ought to pause a bit and maybe ask others before we jump after them


"special one" my arse.
he's just a thug who transforms his players into bullies and thugs and makes them play negative and distasteful football, not to mention like idiot animals . nothing "special" about this
no wonder his players keep getting yellows and reds in each game

[Kasra.]

real and mourinho = no go

main reason is because they lack a good defense. U dont win the CL with Arbeloa and Raul Albiol... U need defenders like Pique, Lucio, Samuel, Vidic, Terry, Puyol.

[Hajagha]

Har har....

great going. use a drubbing, AT HOME, by an injury-ridden and patched together rival while your team has a gazillion stars to make the case for the absurd "3 def-mids" or the feeble attempt to defend a charlatan!!! LOL .... now, this is new. lol



1- what did this 3 def-mid achieve?
2- what did real create in terms of offense?
3- werent they playing at home, therefore enjoying home advantage?
4- and finally what was the score?

next time we see someone throwing himself down the well, we ought to pause a bit and maybe ask others before we jump after them


"special one" my arse.
he's just a thug who transforms his players into bullies and thugs and makes them play negative and distasteful football, not to mention like idiot animals . nothing "special" about this
no wonder his players keep getting yellows and reds in each game

I am sorry, I missed your point. Are you trying to say the "highest paid coach in the world" and "the most decorated coach in the world" knows sh!t about formation, football and how to win a game? And I have to believe you?

Send your resume to Real, they may look for a coach.

Cheers,

[Hajagha]

در مورد بازي نيز گفت :" در طول بازي شرح وظايف متفاوتي داشتيم . هدف اصليمان گل نخوردن با ارائه يك بازي فشرده بود و قرار بود كه سه مهاجم سرعتي كار را تمام كنند . وقتي حريف خسته مي شد مي خواستيم براي برد تلاش كنيم

''We had the intention to keep the game at 0-0, then bring on a striker, then a third phase with a No. 10 behind three forwards. But the ref didnt allow it.''

[Doctor DOOM]

hehehe

[Ali Chicago]

Payman Jaan;

I really would like you to elaborate on this game and your initial post. I am trying to understand and god be my witness, this isn't about "I told you" attitude.

So in your opinion, Did Moriniho make a mistake? If yes, do you think their win in Cope Del Ray was just a lucky bounce their way?

In general when you play against a stronger team in this case Barca, where you know you don't have a shot, what will you do? Please be specific?

If Morinihio was wrong to play with three def mids, then what would be the right approach in your opinion.

I am not being sarcastic, I am genunily interested to find out what you think? I humbly request we keep the reply focused on this three questions and be specific. I don't want this thread will be dragged to other topics and we loose focus.

Thanks in your advance and looking forward to read your reply to my three specific questions.

[Ali Chicago]

Haji;

I wanted to open a thread about the game but u beat me to it I guess. Thanks for such a nice thread.

IMHO this was a no win situation for Real. This was damage containment. They could have got lucky and win like Copa Del Ray. But the red card was the End of the STORY.

This Barcelona team is the best footballing team I recall. I have vague memories of Ajax in 70 and Holland national team in 70 and 80s and to me they were the best. This Barca team has surpassed them even.

[Babak agha]

I'm not giving my opinion here:

I don't know how it's in the US but here in holland there are 3 football-talkshow a week on tv. Where football analysts, active & ex (national team)coaches and players give their opinion/arguments/etc about.....well footblll.

The approach of Moriniho has been branded by all (player, coach or analyticus) idiotic and anti-football. And that's the soft polite version of it. Nobody has, and it's being discussed for a couple of weeks here, defended the 3 DM formation. Nor has anyone called it logical and necessary. Not one person.

The only positive thing one or two people had to say about it was that Muriniho can get the maximum effort out of his players and that he has a good record as a coach. But they all call him a "prize fighter" and not a tactician.

Regarding the Copa del Ray question: everybody said the same thing. You've to lose one or two games here and there after so many wins like Barca had. And it was just luck that Real won that game. It wasn't based on tactics or formation or football know-how. And all of them predicted Barca going to the finals.

Now once again this wasn't my opinion, but it has has been said numerous times by many well know coaches and players during this talk shows. And feel free to disagree with them, as I'm not one of those people who is of the opinion that just because a coach does or says something it automatically overwrites the logic of us "normal" people. Especially since it's a very well known fact that among sporters, who are not the smartest people around (if one was to believe the streotype), footballers are one of the least intelligent bunch (well you've got boxers and darters too ).

[Hajagha]

Haji;
I wanted to open a thread about the game but u beat me to it I guess. Thanks for such a nice thread.
IMHO this was a no win situation for Real. This was damage containment. They could have got lucky and win like Copa Del Ray. But the red card was the End of the STORY.
This Barcelona team is the best footballing team I recall. I have vague memories of Ajax in 70 and Holland national team in 70 and 80s and to me they were the best. This Barca team has surpassed them even.

For the record, I love such a football. I like Arsenal but love Barca. Not because they win, because they satisfy me while I am watching it. It's like a good movie, you don't want to be finished, you don't care much if the main artist is alive or dead at the end.

This thread is not about the end-result. Mourinho set his formation with 3-DM at home when he beat the very same team a week before. There is a lesson to learn if one will.

Mourinho proved day in day out how to win a game. That's why he is hired, he delivers the result. He brought trophy to Real after a decade (well, too long that they forgot how to keep it and throw it under the bus ).

You, I and any body else for that matter may not like him, his strategy, his personality, ... but you can not question him whether he is "the best coach in the world" right now or not. The salary, and trophy already proved it. If he plays with a 3-DM formation, it means such a formation exist and are used by the best of the best. You put the strategy BEFORE the game and not after. Those ones who sit some where and comments, they do it AFTER the game. The first one is paid millions, the second one is paid hundreds (if not for free).

Or one can dig a hole for himself and stay in denial.

Cheers,

[Ali Chicago]

This thread isn't about we like Morinihio or not, this is about team X plays team Y. Team Y is stronger, how the coach of team X tries to maximize the chance of winning by team X (granted very slim that chance be).

I don't like Morinihio, I disliked the way Real played. 71% possession by Barca tells it all. But I can totally understand why Morinihio did what he did and would like those who believe otherwise , give me specific suggestion (what else he cold do).

Mornihio probably still remembers 5-0 loss in Newcamp where Real went and tried to play toe to toe against Barca. Again, it isn't enough to say Morinihio was wrong, please be specific and say what he should have done?

[Babak agha]

^If we would know what Mourinho should've done, we'd be earning a lot of money now..
I don't think it's up to us to figure out how to beat Barca, none of us has the know how to be saying stuff like that. But I think that we all agree that with the players Real has, it could play the same way Shaktar played against Barca and not get its ass whooped again.., I won't say that they would've won or that it's the right strategy, but I think they'd atleast make a chance.. The way they're playing now, chances of them getting a red card is higher than chances of them scoring.

[Ali Chicago]

No one expects anyone here to coach Real, but at least if I criticize method X, I better have an alternative at a very high level. Replacing our wishes and dreams with reality on the ground is called wishful thinking.

As I said in an earleir post in this thread, I love Barca (not as a fan, as a person who loves Joga Bonita). In this day and age of not so beautiful football Barca and to a lesser degree Arsenal play Joga Bonita. I personally am a fan of Chelsea in England but admire the way Arsenal plays. I said all of this to say how much I hate the approach Morrinihio chose, but because I don't like it, doesn't mean it isn't a logical approach by Morrinihio in this specific moment in time.
I like to point out that Real beat Barca 1-0 only 1 week ago, I think they went down to 10 man in that game too. So this strategy worked only one week ago. This game, if Pepe didnt' get the red card, who knew? Before Pepe's red card, Barca despite having possession, didn't have not as much space to move around (especially Messi). After his red card!!!??? Another story.

One more lesson to be learned, now success has a thousand sub factors. In this case a disputable call by the ref (red card vs. Yellow) changes the faith of a well thought (to me at least) strategy.

[Doctor DOOM]

There are some ways to halt or counter barca's game that many teams have indeed demonstrated. closing down their spaces before they get the ball to the midfield, by a high press is one way. but this takes a lot of energy and almost no team is capable of sustaining it for the entire game. but this has been attempted nevertheless. however, you dont have to be an animal about it the way Real players, especially pepe, marcelo, arbeloa, carvalho, xabi, ... have been.

if you have watched the recent games you'd know how animalistic they behaved with all the rough stuff and stomping on ankles and thighs and kicks at sheens and ... they got away with.

another way to hurt barca (who are one of the shortest teams there is ) is to use the height advantage as well as pacey counter-attacks against a slow back line. Real is one of the tallest teams in la liga as well as great in counterattacking tactics. so they do have all this AND A MILLION STARS & SKILLED PLAYERS, EACH CAPABLE OF BEING A GAME CHANGER ( ronaldo, kaka, higuine, ozil, ...).
SO WHY BEHAVE LIKE A FREAKING RABID DOG AND TARGET ANKLES AND SHEENS AND ALL THE STOMPING AND UNSPORTING STUFF?

answer: Moan-rinho

he has a knack of turning perfectly regular team into a bunch of hooligans and thugs, even if the team has a truck-load of skillful stars who can do it in perfectly sane and cleaner ways. did it in chelsea, in inter and now, in Real!
(it's like having a precision gun perfect for marksmanship, but using it like a sledgehammer to bludgeon ppl!!!!)

he's the kind of coach whose IDEAL player would be Matterazzi. that shd explain everything.

but Moan-rinho takes the cake as he demands animal behavior ( I'm sure all those stomps and kicks are direct orders from him) from his players, but somehow gets surprised when they get yellow and red cards they deserve! and actually moans about it in press conferences!!!!
freaking ridiculous.

he may be successful against regular teams. but when he falls short against great teams and then has to resort to such tactics, then he wont have the respect of me and ppl like me.

[Babak agha]

He has played 3 games now, has scored two goals and got 3 red cards (which could have been more.). If he thinks he can beat Barca with even 10 men, he must continue playing like this.
Yes sometimes you have to be realistic, when a team like PSV plays against Barca all it must do is to play like Real is playing. But Real with players like Ronaldo, Kaka, Ozil, Higuain, Benzema, Di Maria isn't PSV. When Arsenal could win against Barca (not with the most attacking game, but still more attacking than what Real is playing) and when Shakhtar really made it difficult for Barca (wasn't it for their chance wasting strikers, they'd be 3-0 up front), then Real definitely could put up a better show than this animal like type of football. The same Real that pressed Barca back and got one goal back with 10 men, when they brought on Ozil instead of Pepe. They already have proven that they definitely have a chance against Barca if they play a little more football and that with one man down.
Even Osasuna played better against Barca, it's not impossible.

P.S. On top of all this.. Pepe isn't even a DM, he's a CD. If he would be playing with Khedira, Xabi Alonso and Lass it would have been more understandable.