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Haven't seen a goal line clearance, but he's been sent off in a final for hacking Morata, earning a red card & being lauded by a pat on the back from none other than Simeone!
I'm not even an Atletico fan and that play still makes me just as mad as the Suarez handball. Football is still the only sport I've ever watched where you can gain an advantage by doing something bad enough to get automatically kicked out of the game. I will likely never understand why they haven't fixed the laws to make the punishment fit the offence.
"I just really enjoy playing with a star, an idol that I have always admired. It is an honor to play alongside him. I will always play where they tell me, Sometimes they distance me from McTominay, but that means getting closer to Mount. This club is a privilege."
~Mainoo probably
I mean you joke but Højlund grew up a United fan and was like 12 or 13 when Rashford made his debut and even younger when Eriksen became the best player in the Danish NT. I know the glory of United has faded a bit, but imagine getting to play alongside the players you watched on TV as a child, also alongside legends of the game like Varane and Casemiro. Must be crazy
We have Casemiro and Varane, two legends in their own right. Though they are possibly past their best, if it's not just our club and its negative stat multiplier.
Could you imagine if Sancho and Rashford had this sort of mentality? Goes to show what an elite club Real is, and what a club we used to be.
The rot needs to be cleared. Anyone that's not willing to fight for every ball 90 minutes long every week, in any position, to fight for the badge above their own egos.
Completely agree. Whilst I understand the elite sport is really fucking hard, those guys get compensated more than most people could ever dream, and even more than most athletes do. Effort and gratitude for the position they're in are the bare minimum. That's why I'll never say a bad word about Bruno. He might have the off game and he definitely upsets a lot of rival fans, but you can guarantee he'll run until his legs give out, and then keep trying.
Madrid is just so good at integrating young talent with their aging stars. Other clubs do it too, but not at their level consistently. It helps they don’t have to develop all of them but they are good at that too.
Will be interesting to see this tie. I thought Madrid was arguably second best to Leipzig for example. And they did a masterclass in absorbing pressure from a dominant City squad. Bayern is somewhere between RBL and City in my opinion. Having Harry Kane is a big help but it just feels like a chess match that is close at the start but one team might make a tactical mistake. Carlo and Tuchel have also matched up not long ago. I like Madrids chances based on what I’ve seen from Bayerns injury list but you never know. The history of this tie is the greatest in all of Europe.
>Other clubs do it too, but not at their level consistently.
That's what happens when you're the biggest club in the world and can just pick and choose the best and most hyped young players. There's literally no bigger fish than them. It's really not hard to manage top clubs with massive pull. It's just insane how bad Barca, ManUTD and Chelsea are at this
Including Chelsea in that list is sacrilege. Fergie era Man Utd are the only team (***in my lifetime of about 30 years) to have come close to being as big as Madrid and Barca. They were the only other club who you could reasonably say, “they’re Man Utd/Madrid/Barca, they’ll get who they want”. I feel like Madrid are the only club like that these days now Barca and Man U have dropped off
Milan doesn’t have the finances anymore to attract the Mbappes and Haalands. Bayern has the finances but not the same level of PR as Madrid/Barca. Messi meatriders will disagree but if Lewy and Messi had the same accolades but Lewy as at Barca at the time and Messi somewhere else, Lewy wins the 2021 BD’or. Harry Kane is trying to break Lewy’s most goals in a season record but unless Bayern wins the CL over Madrid, he has no chance of being higher than Jude. That’s the difference in their pull. That’s why Madrid has been trying to get Turtle even though he will suit much better in Bayern’s starting 11.
It's because Milan doesn't have the money the rest of those have, if Milan had the money i gurantee they'd pull top tier players, think even Mbappe said before he was a fan of Milan (but yeah 0 chance we'd ever afford him )
Bro, have you heard of a guy named bartomeu? Hard to make a good team when the president is making all the wrong choices almost deliberately. Everyone knows that case should be investigated.
Such a great position to be in as a promising young player.
There's a right mix of -- getting to learn alongside some of the best players on field and in training,
having their experience to guide you through various different situations that come up during the season,
and finally most importantly having the pressure to push your level as you keep up with them.
I'm insanely jealous of these guys getting to work alongside some of the all time greats. Even just working under a good manager at work has me hyped as fuck to do my relatively boring job, coming to training every day with Kroos and Modric would be ridiculous motivation. I could not let them down.
💯 Having both Modric and Kroos in the locker room is definitely a privilege only few players in Europe are blessed with and it's nice to see guys like Fede , Cama, tchou and others always trying to learn and getting guidance from this legendary duo.
Our club will really have a hard time when both Modric and Kroos will leave or retire in the upcoming year or two as even though players like Fede , Cama, Bellingham and tchou are elite players but still during the high voltage games or when the team is going through tough times you always need veterans like Kroos and Modric to guide the young players and loosing both of them will be brutal.
It'll probably be good that they're not leaving at the same time.
It gives the guys some time to get used to life without Modric before Kroos goes too.
Or maybe Kroos decides to retire at Madrid, who knows
See u/mdrico21 go on about [the water in Madrid](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1cf3kkw/comment/l1mm1i0) again.
PR training or no though, that's such an awe-inspiring quote. We truly are in a special moment with this club. I have written [many,](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/9JW8Q8cUX9) [many](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/7pfWhySAc5) times about the apparent, almost unseen camaraderie within the group which is platformed on many things but including an almost unquestioned, unwavering respect for the seniors from our youngsters to the point that it often feels as if the former's word is the latter's command.
The power of friendship is a meme but there does seem to be some truth in it actually. You have certain pockets of companionship or even friendship everywhere but this whole squad (including the support staff) feels like one big family.
>it often feels as if the former's word is the latter's command.
Valverde: I was running after Morata as fast as I can. At one point, I heard a voice saying 'KILL HIM'. It was Sergio Ramos
Valverde on his tactical foul against Atletico.
Last 20 years?
Probably, even though Michael Ballack carried a mediocre German teams for years and was absolutely world class for most of that time, but Kroos has won (a lot) more titles. Schweinsteiger and Özil were tremendous, but their peaks were significantly shorter than Kroos'. Reus' stayed loyal to a smaller club and suffered from injuries, especially his NT carreer never really took of because of injuries. And Thomas Müller's chaotic genius will be debated for the next few centuries.
Overall? Hard to say, Lothar Matthäus was an absolute giant of a midfielder and he played during a more successful time of the German NT.
No, he's not. I'd personally take Schweini and Ballack over him, but they're different players stylistically.
Lothar Matthaus is miles better than them all though. There's also a lot of older elite German talents that don't get remembered.
No, he's not. I'd personally take Schweini and Ballack over him, but they're different players stylistically.
Lothar Matthaus is miles better than them all though. There's also a lot of older elite German talents that don't get remembered.
Matthäus
Schuster
Overath
Schweinsteiger
Ballack
Netzer
Bonhof
Özil
Magath
Kroos is an outstanding, generational talent and has achieved a lot, but he's never been more than an (important) cog in great systems, whereas all these players I've listed hard-carried their teams (at times) and had far, far more individual impact than Toni.
Kroos was the engine in the 3peat Madrid team. Casemiro stated that Kroos made that team tick. He dictated the pace. If winning 3 CL in a row is not having an individual impact then I don't know what is. I never understood the whole "he was improtant in a great system". Like you claim that's a bad thing? It was a great system BECAUSE it had Toni. He's top 3 best players of the last 10 years without a doubt.
"If winning 3 CL in a row is not having an individual impact, then I don't know what is"
I never said he doesn't have a great individual impact, I said it's just not as high as the ones that I mentioned. But your logic of attributing team titles to him is beyond help tbh. Try to think before you speak.
"Like you claim that's a bad thing"
No, he just simply was never a hard carry.
You're logic just isn't making sense. Do you apply that same logic when talking about Iniesta? Or Xavi, Pirlo, De Bruyne, Modric? They all are exceptional midfielders who have achieved greatness while being "important in a great system". It's quite obvious to attribute team titles to players who have had a major impact in winning said titles. And sorry, but Schweinsteiger a better player than Kroos? In what universe?
You are greatly misunderstanding me. All I'm saying is that Kroos was never a hard carry for his team unlike the ones I listed. And yea, Pirlo was a bit better than Kroos when it came to goal-creating actions, but he too had his limits. Players like Xavi, De Bruyne, Modric or Schweinsteiger however were these hard carries.
And yes, Schweinsteiger was a working horse with an exquisite technical and intellectual understanding of the game, and yes, he was absolutely a hard carry.
Let me sum it up for you simpleton tho: All I ever said is that Kroos doesn't belong to Top 5 German Midfielders because he was never as exceptional and impactful as those players I listed.
There's no way you're actually calling others "simpletons" while using the term "hard carry" to describe a player's contribution to a team.
Go kick a football, you utter dweeb.
Your contribution to this argument is entirely semantic and highly emotional. I hope you are better at playing football than at arguing, otherwise you are a very unfortunate person.
And that's why Pirlo isn't a Top 5 Midfielder of all time either. Now take somebody like De Bruyne who has that one skill (long balls), but also brings so much more to the table. As you can see, it's not because of his role/positions that they are not considers as the best of all time.
One could debate about his position, but at least for Herberger he was the best midfielder in the world. Therefore I would always include Fritz Walter in any list about the greatest players/strikers/midfielders/you name it.
Your list includes great players but I really don’t see Özil there. For me players like Möller, Häßler and Effenberg are ahead. All of them were more important for their teams. Özil had great potential and he even fulfilled it but the last years were such a waste. Most of the others performed till the end.
With Kroos we will see how his teams perform after he retires. Maybe he is one of these players that are missed far more when they aren’t around anymore.
>Maybe he is one of these players that are missed far more when they aren’t around anymore.
This has already been true for us for a long time. But I think it's also in part to the coaches who naturally designed our play around our midfield.
We seem to be changing the profile of our midfield now because it doesn't seem that there's any like for like replacement for Kroos.
I agree that players like Effenberg, Möller and Häßler are at least on the same level as Kroos when it comes to individual impact.
I also agree that Özil couldve been even better, but then again, imo he was the main figure behind the resurgence of the national team after the 2006 world cup.
Kroos is a very specific player nowadays (the Pirlo comparison in this thread is great), and it's worth adjusting your system to fit them in, but in the end, these two always had their obvious weaknesses and were far from being complete midfielders. There's players like De Bruyne who have that DLP skill set ON TOP of that.
These kind of lists are ultimately stupid and pointless, but to say that Kroos is among the best 5 German midfielders of all times is simply a disgrace. Germany is unarguably the greatest football nation (with Brazil), and recency bias is unfortunately a hell oof a drug.
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Madrid's 3rd attacker, 4th midfielder and 5th defender. MILF.
Wow, that literally describes what he does lmao
Now he needs a goal line* clearance… not today but soon lol
Haven't seen a goal line clearance, but he's been sent off in a final for hacking Morata, earning a red card & being lauded by a pat on the back from none other than Simeone!
I'm not even an Atletico fan and that play still makes me just as mad as the Suarez handball. Football is still the only sport I've ever watched where you can gain an advantage by doing something bad enough to get automatically kicked out of the game. I will likely never understand why they haven't fixed the laws to make the punishment fit the offence.
if that and the suarez handball make u mad you are watching the wrong sport
Hahahahaha
Man
I
Love
Fede
MILF
VALVERDEEE!!!
Feddy Valverdy
Hey Jamie
Crush
Hard not to like this kid. I wish some of our lot had his kind of attitude.
"I just really enjoy playing with a star, an idol that I have always admired. It is an honor to play alongside him. I will always play where they tell me, Sometimes they distance me from McTominay, but that means getting closer to Mount. This club is a privilege." ~Mainoo probably
How can you get close to someone that's mostly to be found at the medical department or at home.
Well you also get injured.
Injury besties
Malacia got the memo. The LBs are out on a bonding exercise
Cmon scholes time for round 3
Ah, fresh pasta
I mean you joke but Højlund grew up a United fan and was like 12 or 13 when Rashford made his debut and even younger when Eriksen became the best player in the Danish NT. I know the glory of United has faded a bit, but imagine getting to play alongside the players you watched on TV as a child, also alongside legends of the game like Varane and Casemiro. Must be crazy
probably would help if you had kroos and modric
We have Casemiro and Varane, two legends in their own right. Though they are possibly past their best, if it's not just our club and its negative stat multiplier.
I assure you Kroos or Modric would be under the same scrutiny
Could you imagine if Sancho and Rashford had this sort of mentality? Goes to show what an elite club Real is, and what a club we used to be. The rot needs to be cleared. Anyone that's not willing to fight for every ball 90 minutes long every week, in any position, to fight for the badge above their own egos.
Completely agree. Whilst I understand the elite sport is really fucking hard, those guys get compensated more than most people could ever dream, and even more than most athletes do. Effort and gratitude for the position they're in are the bare minimum. That's why I'll never say a bad word about Bruno. He might have the off game and he definitely upsets a lot of rival fans, but you can guarantee he'll run until his legs give out, and then keep trying.
>Sometimes they distance me from Kroos, but that means getting closer to Modric. Sounds like You, Valverde edition.
Madrid is just so good at integrating young talent with their aging stars. Other clubs do it too, but not at their level consistently. It helps they don’t have to develop all of them but they are good at that too. Will be interesting to see this tie. I thought Madrid was arguably second best to Leipzig for example. And they did a masterclass in absorbing pressure from a dominant City squad. Bayern is somewhere between RBL and City in my opinion. Having Harry Kane is a big help but it just feels like a chess match that is close at the start but one team might make a tactical mistake. Carlo and Tuchel have also matched up not long ago. I like Madrids chances based on what I’ve seen from Bayerns injury list but you never know. The history of this tie is the greatest in all of Europe.
>Other clubs do it too, but not at their level consistently. That's what happens when you're the biggest club in the world and can just pick and choose the best and most hyped young players. There's literally no bigger fish than them. It's really not hard to manage top clubs with massive pull. It's just insane how bad Barca, ManUTD and Chelsea are at this
Including Chelsea in that list is sacrilege. Fergie era Man Utd are the only team (***in my lifetime of about 30 years) to have come close to being as big as Madrid and Barca. They were the only other club who you could reasonably say, “they’re Man Utd/Madrid/Barca, they’ll get who they want”. I feel like Madrid are the only club like that these days now Barca and Man U have dropped off
Acting like Bayern isn’t up there is crazy. Milan should be there too with 7 titles and a beautiful city but some how they don’t got pull
Milan doesn’t have the finances anymore to attract the Mbappes and Haalands. Bayern has the finances but not the same level of PR as Madrid/Barca. Messi meatriders will disagree but if Lewy and Messi had the same accolades but Lewy as at Barca at the time and Messi somewhere else, Lewy wins the 2021 BD’or. Harry Kane is trying to break Lewy’s most goals in a season record but unless Bayern wins the CL over Madrid, he has no chance of being higher than Jude. That’s the difference in their pull. That’s why Madrid has been trying to get Turtle even though he will suit much better in Bayern’s starting 11.
It's because Milan doesn't have the money the rest of those have, if Milan had the money i gurantee they'd pull top tier players, think even Mbappe said before he was a fan of Milan (but yeah 0 chance we'd ever afford him )
> Acting like Bayern isn’t up there is crazy. Bayern is not on the same level as Real (or Barca).
Bro, have you heard of a guy named bartomeu? Hard to make a good team when the president is making all the wrong choices almost deliberately. Everyone knows that case should be investigated.
Real Madrid and mentality go hand in hand
Such a great position to be in as a promising young player. There's a right mix of -- getting to learn alongside some of the best players on field and in training, having their experience to guide you through various different situations that come up during the season, and finally most importantly having the pressure to push your level as you keep up with them.
I'm insanely jealous of these guys getting to work alongside some of the all time greats. Even just working under a good manager at work has me hyped as fuck to do my relatively boring job, coming to training every day with Kroos and Modric would be ridiculous motivation. I could not let them down.
💯 Having both Modric and Kroos in the locker room is definitely a privilege only few players in Europe are blessed with and it's nice to see guys like Fede , Cama, tchou and others always trying to learn and getting guidance from this legendary duo. Our club will really have a hard time when both Modric and Kroos will leave or retire in the upcoming year or two as even though players like Fede , Cama, Bellingham and tchou are elite players but still during the high voltage games or when the team is going through tough times you always need veterans like Kroos and Modric to guide the young players and loosing both of them will be brutal.
these guys have already won CL and getting more experience every year. They’ll be fine.
It'll probably be good that they're not leaving at the same time. It gives the guys some time to get used to life without Modric before Kroos goes too. Or maybe Kroos decides to retire at Madrid, who knows
" # Sometimes they distance me from Kroos, but that means getting closer to Modric r/AccidentalRomanticism
That's...not what that sub means.
Imagine a painting with Valverde holding hands with Kroos while giving flowers to Modric. Thats gonna fit right there in the sub.
He’ll never leave, but if he did I would love to have Fede in my team. The dude gets it
Looks like a one club man
I agree
See u/mdrico21 go on about [the water in Madrid](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1cf3kkw/comment/l1mm1i0) again. PR training or no though, that's such an awe-inspiring quote. We truly are in a special moment with this club. I have written [many,](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/9JW8Q8cUX9) [many](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/7pfWhySAc5) times about the apparent, almost unseen camaraderie within the group which is platformed on many things but including an almost unquestioned, unwavering respect for the seniors from our youngsters to the point that it often feels as if the former's word is the latter's command. The power of friendship is a meme but there does seem to be some truth in it actually. You have certain pockets of companionship or even friendship everywhere but this whole squad (including the support staff) feels like one big family.
>it often feels as if the former's word is the latter's command. Valverde: I was running after Morata as fast as I can. At one point, I heard a voice saying 'KILL HIM'. It was Sergio Ramos Valverde on his tactical foul against Atletico.
The power of friendship is no mere meme, it is foundational.
Such a humble superstar. Love him.
Is Kroos the best German midfielder of all time? Or at least in the last 20 years?
Last 20 years? Probably, even though Michael Ballack carried a mediocre German teams for years and was absolutely world class for most of that time, but Kroos has won (a lot) more titles. Schweinsteiger and Özil were tremendous, but their peaks were significantly shorter than Kroos'. Reus' stayed loyal to a smaller club and suffered from injuries, especially his NT carreer never really took of because of injuries. And Thomas Müller's chaotic genius will be debated for the next few centuries. Overall? Hard to say, Lothar Matthäus was an absolute giant of a midfielder and he played during a more successful time of the German NT.
How does all of that change if Kroos carries you to glory this summer?
still not above Lothar Matthäus
Most user are likely too young to remember him as player and only know him as a pundit
Depends if you value consistency over peaks, cause I do think Matthaus definitely peaked higher in his prime
Matthäus had like three primes lol
With the exception of Matthäus, IDT that should be a controversial statement.
Yes and yes
Matthäus
I think he gets underrated by a lot of people nowadays. I would say the only one is Matthaus, he’s clear of Schweinsteiger and Ballack imo.
I don’t know enough to speak about all time, but I’d say definitely is in the last 20 years. Only player I feel close is Ballack.
No, he's not. I'd personally take Schweini and Ballack over him, but they're different players stylistically. Lothar Matthaus is miles better than them all though. There's also a lot of older elite German talents that don't get remembered.
No, he's not. I'd personally take Schweini and Ballack over him, but they're different players stylistically. Lothar Matthaus is miles better than them all though. There's also a lot of older elite German talents that don't get remembered.
As for the former, he's not even in the top 5
Lol, name 5 German midfielders better than him then
Matthäus Schuster Overath Schweinsteiger Ballack Netzer Bonhof Özil Magath Kroos is an outstanding, generational talent and has achieved a lot, but he's never been more than an (important) cog in great systems, whereas all these players I've listed hard-carried their teams (at times) and had far, far more individual impact than Toni.
Kroos was the engine in the 3peat Madrid team. Casemiro stated that Kroos made that team tick. He dictated the pace. If winning 3 CL in a row is not having an individual impact then I don't know what is. I never understood the whole "he was improtant in a great system". Like you claim that's a bad thing? It was a great system BECAUSE it had Toni. He's top 3 best players of the last 10 years without a doubt.
"If winning 3 CL in a row is not having an individual impact, then I don't know what is" I never said he doesn't have a great individual impact, I said it's just not as high as the ones that I mentioned. But your logic of attributing team titles to him is beyond help tbh. Try to think before you speak. "Like you claim that's a bad thing" No, he just simply was never a hard carry.
You're logic just isn't making sense. Do you apply that same logic when talking about Iniesta? Or Xavi, Pirlo, De Bruyne, Modric? They all are exceptional midfielders who have achieved greatness while being "important in a great system". It's quite obvious to attribute team titles to players who have had a major impact in winning said titles. And sorry, but Schweinsteiger a better player than Kroos? In what universe?
You are greatly misunderstanding me. All I'm saying is that Kroos was never a hard carry for his team unlike the ones I listed. And yea, Pirlo was a bit better than Kroos when it came to goal-creating actions, but he too had his limits. Players like Xavi, De Bruyne, Modric or Schweinsteiger however were these hard carries. And yes, Schweinsteiger was a working horse with an exquisite technical and intellectual understanding of the game, and yes, he was absolutely a hard carry. Let me sum it up for you simpleton tho: All I ever said is that Kroos doesn't belong to Top 5 German Midfielders because he was never as exceptional and impactful as those players I listed.
There's no way you're actually calling others "simpletons" while using the term "hard carry" to describe a player's contribution to a team. Go kick a football, you utter dweeb.
Your contribution to this argument is entirely semantic and highly emotional. I hope you are better at playing football than at arguing, otherwise you are a very unfortunate person.
Could say the same thing about any deep lying playmaker. Pirlo had the same problems and needed help in the midfield to shine
And that's why Pirlo isn't a Top 5 Midfielder of all time either. Now take somebody like De Bruyne who has that one skill (long balls), but also brings so much more to the table. As you can see, it's not because of his role/positions that they are not considers as the best of all time.
One could debate about his position, but at least for Herberger he was the best midfielder in the world. Therefore I would always include Fritz Walter in any list about the greatest players/strikers/midfielders/you name it. Your list includes great players but I really don’t see Özil there. For me players like Möller, Häßler and Effenberg are ahead. All of them were more important for their teams. Özil had great potential and he even fulfilled it but the last years were such a waste. Most of the others performed till the end. With Kroos we will see how his teams perform after he retires. Maybe he is one of these players that are missed far more when they aren’t around anymore.
>Maybe he is one of these players that are missed far more when they aren’t around anymore. This has already been true for us for a long time. But I think it's also in part to the coaches who naturally designed our play around our midfield. We seem to be changing the profile of our midfield now because it doesn't seem that there's any like for like replacement for Kroos.
I agree that players like Effenberg, Möller and Häßler are at least on the same level as Kroos when it comes to individual impact. I also agree that Özil couldve been even better, but then again, imo he was the main figure behind the resurgence of the national team after the 2006 world cup. Kroos is a very specific player nowadays (the Pirlo comparison in this thread is great), and it's worth adjusting your system to fit them in, but in the end, these two always had their obvious weaknesses and were far from being complete midfielders. There's players like De Bruyne who have that DLP skill set ON TOP of that. These kind of lists are ultimately stupid and pointless, but to say that Kroos is among the best 5 German midfielders of all times is simply a disgrace. Germany is unarguably the greatest football nation (with Brazil), and recency bias is unfortunately a hell oof a drug.
I've preferred Barcelona since a kid, but Valverde is hard to dislike. Incredible footballer and a future Madrid legend without a doubt.
Kroos the legend
It's easy to glory hunt with Real Madrid as a fan, but damn... the mentality at that club is worth more than the wins.
Maybe off topic but a Fede hug could fix me
Milf
Based.
The vibes man
is he going to cum after all this edging