La Liga 2013-2014
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Where is Herrera ?
While Athletic have been alright so far this season, there haven't really been any stand-out performers apart from Gurpegi and maybe Iraizoz and Ibai Gómez. De Marcos has scored some goals, Beñat has been on-and-off and dito for Ander.
That list is just players who have stood out to me (positively, duh) off the top of my head.
So, Someone rates Simeone, eh?
I didn't watch it, who was the one who walked off?
And why is everyone complaining about Courtois?
Coming to the last seconds of the game bale went for the ball and he didn't even touch Courtois and he started rolling around like he was on the verge of death.
Screw you RD, i freakin' love Atletico Madrid.
Atletico deserve so much credit here. They will be the only team who goes to the bernebeu and stop Real from scoring this season, and that is after conceding only 1 goal against Barcelona in 2 legs in the Spanish super cup. They limited Real to scraps pretty much all game until Morata came on and caused a few problems, and it really should have been more comfortable with the chances Atleti wasted (Tiago and costa the main culprits here). Plenty of feigning injury and surrounding of the ref by both teams but if you watch Spanish football regularly it's nothing out of the ordinary. Atleti broke the hoodoo of over a decade without wins v the rival and now have 2 wins at the bernebeu in the space of a few months. Superb stuff.
I never used to rate Costa but he has developed into an absolute beast. Keeping up with Messi in the goal stakes and a problem for every defender. He's not on the pitch to make friends and part of his style is to play on the edge. Arguably Atleti are a better team now than the one with Falcao, who's departure isn't really missed at all. Hope they can keep up with Barca and stay ahead of Real this time around.
I never used to rate Costa but he has developed into an absolute beast. Keeping up with Messi in the goal stakes and a problem for every defender. He's not on the pitch to make friends and part of his style is to play on the edge. Arguably Atleti are a better team now than the one with Falcao, who's departure isn't really missed at all. Hope they can keep up with Barca and stay ahead of Real this time around.
This happens in every Real Madrid match though. Even when they are winning, they resort to thuggery, cheating and feigning injury. It is something that seems to affect the top 3 la liga teams. If you cannot see this, then you haven't watched enough of Athletico, Real Madrid or Barcelona.
All players except Ronaldo shook hands after the game which is common courtesy. If a Manchester United player had done that, I'd be livid because I would like to think that we are the last bastion of fair-play, but walking off and not acknowledging the fans or the opposition is indicative of how childish he is.
As for Courtois, he didn't get the ball properly and it fell just in front of him and Bale took the chance of going for the loose ball and Courtois decided to roll around as if he had been hit in the abdomen with a Magnum .45 slug.
Not a good result, this. I don't care who wins the league but I'd at least like to watch an exiting title race in Spain.
Bale made little impression. I wonder how long before the Spanish media start to question he massive investment.
Barca have confirmed that Messi's got a thigh strain. Interestingly that's the same injury they denied he had two weeks ago. Out for 2 to 3 weeks.
My guess is that he's been nursing the muscle for the past month, but with the season progressing, Barca flying and Real Madrid to play in 4 weeks time, the timing's right for a rest.
My guess is that he's been nursing the muscle for the past month, but with the season progressing, Barca flying and Real Madrid to play in 4 weeks time, the timing's right for a rest.
Diego Costa and Villa are both more complete forwards than Falcao IMO, which would explain why the team as a whole is performing more fluidly. The only downside would be that they at one point might miss what Falcao offers, i.e. clinical finishing. As outstanding as he's been (and to me he's been the best performer in La Liga so far, slightly ahead of Cani, Koke and Valdés), I don't think Diego Costa can keep this kind of goalscoring form (basically 1 in 1) up for an entire season. Villa and Leo Baptistão aren't 20-goal/season strikers either at the moment. They have some options from midfield, Raúl García and maybe Arda, who could chip in with some goals, but at times I do think they'll struggle to score. They should still play better than they did with Falcao in the line-up; his best performances always seemed to come in the Europa League and the European Super Cup, and far more intermittently in La Liga.
Defensively they're still the best side in Spain (31 goals conceded in 38 games last season, earning Courtois the Zamora after all the Valdés domination; 5 in 7 so far).
Last season their record read: 3rd place with 76pts (9 behind RM, 10 ahead of Real Sociedad), 23W 7D 8L, 65-31 (+34), and they sat in 2nd for 24 weeks (!!). Their top scorer was Falcao with 28 goals (Diego Costa scored 10, he's currently already on 8). Their top assister, Koke with 9 assists (currently on 6). I do believe they can cut out some of those losses from last season (they've already turned one L into a W, away to RM), and even if they don't win those they're more likely to draw than lose IMO.
Others...
Sevilla have been really underwhelming I've got to say, Valencia doing better than I though they would actually, Real Sociedad struggling to find that awesome consistency from the 2nd half of last season again (what was it? only losing 2 games after the 10th Jornada, 2 losses in their last 28 games that season; Montannier seemed to get a lot of stick from Real Sociedad fans but he did get them playing outstanding football AND get incredible results at the same time).
Málaga actually don't look all that weakened, defensively they're equally (and possibly even more) sound than last season (in which they were headed for best defense until their late collapse following the Borussia Dortmund debacle), Schuster has been quietly excellent. Rayo are a prime candidate for relegation IMO, already 21 goals conceded in 7 games but even more concerning for them, only 5 goals scored. The overhaul has been too big and now they can't match the amount they concede with goals of their own anymore. Espanyol and Athletic are also looking stable and might challenge for European places, Betis have regressed a bit in that aspect but still might make it. Almería another one that I've been impressed with, although they're still to pick up a win they've been playing very good offensive football and aren't looking like the sieve they were last time out in La Liga.
Even considering what Atlético are doing, I'd still put Villarreal as the surprise of the season so far. Just how they ended up relegated two seasons ago is still a mystery to me, but they've started off brilliantly now. They remain unbeaten after 6 games (tonight big away game to Betis) and should've demolished RM. Cani is in the form of his life and the balance between offense and defense is looking good. The only concern would be that their squad is pretty thin, so far that reason I'm not sure whether they'll be challenging for the European spots.
Also, another quick thought on Diego Costa; that loan-spell at Rayo two seasons ago did him the world of good IMO... really people if you want to change a player into a goal machine just send them on loan to Rayo... Michu, Piti, Diego Costa, maybe this season Alberto Bueno, if they can get their act together that is!
My apologies for the rambling train of thought.
Courtois' dive against Bale was absolutely piss weak and pathetic. Bale didn't touch the guy... Huge bitch act.
That was really interesting to read Skorenzy, I don't keep up with any teams below the top 2 in La Liga but you explained the league brilliantly, much better than most of us could explain the EPL!
Do you reckon Atletico could challenge for 2nd this season? Or will Real be too much this season for them
Do you reckon Atletico could challenge for 2nd this season? Or will Real be too much this season for them
Nice post Skorenzy, helps keep me in touch with La Liga.
I'm still not sure how Villareal got relegated either. It came as a massive shock to me.
I'm still not sure how Villareal got relegated either. It came as a massive shock to me.
I haven't yet seen the incident, but I can confidently tell you that he's not really that type of player (or more accurately, wasn't before Simeone). Never saw any BS from him at Genk or for the NT. I suppose the opponent has a lot to do with it as well this time 'round. I can imagine that anyone outside the Big Two will feel they need to do anything and everything to avoid situations like the Elche farce. Basically what Simeone has done with Atléti is not much different from what Mourinho does, with this exception that Simeone was also like that as a player. Fierce, passionate and unscrupulous.
It's not outside the realm of possibility, but when you look at the way RM have managed to still get results over the past 3-4 seasons while often being 2nd best in games (this season alone I could name the Betis, Granada, Villarreal and Elche games where they "should have" drawn/lost) you just can't really see past them. The main problem for Atlético is what will they do when Diego Costa loses his current form or gets a long-term injury? Villa isn't looking like recapturing the magic from his Valencia days and Leo Baptistão is still relatively unproven (again Rayo!) and only 21 years old. Beyond that they're also involved in the CL, with a pretty straightforward group (Porto, Zenit and Austria Wien) but should still prove taxing.
IMO there's three types of games RM play on average in La Liga, 1. where they're just far superior in every aspect and demolish the opponent while having a decent control over the game, 2. where they're getting overrun or carved open on numerous occasions by their opponent, usually concede an early goal but then ultimately managed to overturn the result, also in part because of the opponent's profligacy and 3. basically the same as the previous one but where they don't overturn it and lose by the smallest of margins or draw.
Scenario #2 happens so frequently because RM (esp. under Mourinho) just didn't control their games enough, what often happened was that the opponents would take an early lead and continue to carve open RM but their own profligacy or Casillas/Diego López would stand in their way to increasing the score line. Eventually there would come a point in the game where the opponent wouldn't any longer be capable of sustaining their level of pressing and they would try to preserve the lead, which is mostly the "wrong" reflex against the big teams (I think if I did some research I could back that claim up statistically, but for now it's just IMO). So eventually RM would break through. In a lot of other cases though, the opponent would still be attacking to try and get that 2nd goal, and while IMO this is very positive thing to do, RM being probably the best counter-attacking team in the world over the past 3-4 seasons meant that they would inevitably score. If then these teams tried to sit on their (slimmer) lead or draw they still ran the risk of eventually succumbing under all that pressure.
Ancelotti has moved away from the counter-attacking scheme and so far it hasn't really been working, but still they squeeze out the results in spite of the performances (as any big club would). Them not only losing, but not even scoring at home to Atléti is quite significant though. Last season their home form was nearly impeccable (17 wins and 2 draws) and it was their away form that saw them gather only 9 wins (with 5 draws and 5 losses). If Ancelotti pushes through with his current gameplan (which I gather from his press statements he will) then I can see them dropping more points at home to great counter-attacking teams, the question is whether their away form will improve from last season.
A random thought that just occured to me is that when people try to gauge how RM and Barça would fare in the PL, there's one thing I'm fairly sure of and that's that they'd concede more goals IMO. It's a bit generalizing perhaps but my view on it is that; average La Liga team = better at creating chances (both in quantity and quality) vs. average PL team = better at finishing their chances (even though they create less). Don't know what others' views on this are?
I'm a bit scared of Atletico for Tuesday's game against Porto. I don't usually consider them a better team than us, but they're definitely in better form at the moment. Porto isn't playing well at all, despite winning all but one game this season, and this will be our biggest challenge so far. A lot of pressure on our new coach. Also they're a very aggressive team and the English refereeing is usually more lax with that kind of approach.
Baptistão looked very promising when he came on I thought. For all the talk about Morata making a difference I thought Baptistão looked more dangerous when he got on the ball.
good football expected in the Betis-Villarreal game
I guarantee you it won't match the football on show in this Roma game.
course you do
Seconded. Who knew Gervinho could actually score? Roma's games are usually a treat to watch. And yet, people have inaccurate preconceived notions about the Serie A.
I've only recently started watching and for Barca words fail me. I think Pedro is the one that gets to me the most and Mascherano. I partially blame the refs for letting them get away with all the antics but they're so good at acting I'm sure it's hard for the refs to know who's faking and who isn't. It's sad...really sad.
personally i love serie A xd... but seen enough this weekend.
Nosa just scored... good player this one. central midfielder, offensive though. Looks raw at times but in time can become quite good.
edit: Betis played some nice football this first half as expected. Villarreal having their moments as well. Good game so far.
How committed is Simeone to Atletico do we reckon?
Only joking
Only joking
I agree with you that there are Barcelona players who do playact a great deal, and Messi is a rare pearl who rarely feigns injury or tries to cheat. However, words fail me for Real Madrid when you have the likes of Pepe, Ramos, Arbeloa, Ronaldo, Di Maria, Coentrao and now Bale who are known cheats, who feign injury, who are generally cnuts and, if it wasn't for Real Madrid cheating and the referee falling for their antics, we would have got past them in last seasons Champions league.
Victory 1-0 for Betis. First defeat of Villarreal this season.
Good result for Betis... they have been underachieving in the league this season (more focused in europe) but always play nice football.
Good result for Betis... they have been underachieving in the league this season (more focused in europe) but always play nice football.
I wonder what happened to all the "shit league" and "only two teams competing" commenters.
Jordi Alba is the worst in Barcelona. Busquets and Alves come in second and third, although they haven't been behaving that bad lately. Not sure how much you've watched of Barcelona, but Pedro and Mascherano aren't really that bad.
The refs are actually the cause of the problem, because they don't seem to give yellow cards unless the opponent is acting like he's hurt. Messi gets deliberately kicked almost every game several times, but the refs rarely give any yellow cards because Messi doesn't roll on the floor for a few seconds after every kick.. Barcelona's game against Atletico Madrid was a good example.
All times UK.
TONIGHT (Friday)
Villareal V Granada 19:00
SAT 5 OCT 2013 - SPANISH LA LIGA
The best match is probably Athletic - Valencia. Sat in 5th/6th, level on points with 12 from 7 games. Valencia are just starting to find their form, Athletic have been up and down all season.
TONIGHT (Friday)
Villareal V Granada 19:00
SAT 5 OCT 2013 - SPANISH LA LIGA
- Elche v Espanyol 15:00
- Rayo Vallecano v Real Sociedad 17:00
- Levante v Real Madrid 19:00
- Barcelona v Real Valladolid 21:00
- Atlético Madrid v Celta de Vigo 11:00
- Sevilla v Almería 16:00
- Getafe v Real Betis 18:00
- Athletic Club v Valencia CF 20:00
The best match is probably Athletic - Valencia. Sat in 5th/6th, level on points with 12 from 7 games. Valencia are just starting to find their form, Athletic have been up and down all season.
Villarreal 3-0 Granada. Which puts them into 3rd place (for the moment). Cani with 2 assists. He's been one of the best midfielders in Spain so far this season together with Koke and Fàbregas.
Gio dos Santos been excellent as well this season.
Gio dos Santos been excellent as well this season.
Didnt watch today's match, but Aquino had been their outstanding attacker before today. Goes down a bit easy mind you
Aquino was rubbish against Betis last week and Dos Santos was the only one who offered any real threat.
He was quite poor today as well, still took a knock to the knee for Marcelino to eventually replace him. Giovani on the other hand was very lively throughout and together with Cani provided basically all the danger. Jony Pereira has been decent so far, but his finishing ability is possibly even worse than that of Alexis Sánchez.
Meanwhile, Osasuna are leading away to Málaga, didn't see that coming, in fact they're even dominating the 1st half...
Levante 0 0 Real Madrid at HT
From what I've seen, Madrid have the ball, but both sides are getting chances.
From what I've seen, Madrid have the ball, but both sides are getting chances.
We're being pretty shit again.
If it wasn't for Lopez....
If it wasn't for Lopez....
Lovely pass and goal. Levante 1-0 up
Lovely goal on the break there by Levante