La Liga 2013-2014

jojojo said:
4-0 Isco. Copycats.

Meanwhile one website has just reported Ronaldo's injury as:
Bocadillo en la parte posterior del muslo izquierdo.
I'm assuming it's some weird automatic spelling correction - otherwise maybe Vato can explain how a sandwich got in Ronaldo's thigh :nervous:
Click to expand...
:lol: I didn't know this either, thought the commentator had gone nuts or very hungry.

Glad it's nothing too serious.
 
Jese looks like Ronaldo the way he runs with the ball (when watching on the tele that is).
 
Sixpence said:
I think Suarez would score 40-50 goals a season in La Liga playing in that team. Surely they will go for him, so long as they aren't worried about his reputation for controversy.
Click to expand...


Are you sure they'll want to break another transfer record in such a short space of time? ;)
 
crappycraperson said:
David Villa was really wasted in Barca's system. He had what? One good season with them?
Click to expand...


That's very harsh and lacks perspective. He had one great season where he was fully fit. In 11/12, he was injured for most of it, and 12/13 was about him getting back into shape after a horrific injury. MVP was amazing. Villa's 10-11 season was great, his general performances were very good and his understanding of the system was sound. I'm sure strikers knew that joining Barcelona means they are either going to play on the L/R fank and second best to Messi. (Right now, Barcelona are in a need of a centre-forward to open space up for Messi.) To get the best of him, yeah you're going to have to have him as a central figure, but he was a great buy for Barcelona.
 
BarneyLFC said:
Are you sure they'll want to break another transfer record in such a short space of time? ;)
Click to expand...


Madrid take great pride in breaking (their own damn) world record fees. They'll break it again soon, though obviously not for Suarez :smirk:
 
La Liga is a joke of a league for competition, the top 3 are so far above the rest its laughable. They have won a combined 16-0 today
 
barros said:
City 6 - Spurs 0 => a joke of a league?
Click to expand...


Yeah but how often does that happen?

You could say the 3 main title challengers this season, Chelsea Arsenal and City all won without conceding, but if you include Liverpool, Spurs and United in that then its not so predictable.
 
ItsEssexRob said:
Yeah but how often does that happen?

You could say the 3 main title challengers this season, Chelsea Arsenal and City all won without conceding, but if you include Liverpool, Spurs and United in that then its not so predictable.
Click to expand...

How can you compare the results of three teams in Spain with the results of 6 teams in England ? The results of the 6 teams will more than likely yield a bigger array of scorelines.
 
kouroux said:
How can you compare the results of three teams in Spain with the results of 6 teams in England ? The results of the 6 teams will more than likely yield a bigger array of scorelines.
Click to expand...

Ok never mind we're digressing a bit really. Barca, Real and Atletico regularly destroy the rest of the league by a thumping of goals. PL is lower is terms of quality but competitions is much better.
 
Incredible number of goals this week in La Liga.

Sevilla - Betis 4-0
Elche - Valencia 2-1
Rayo - Espanyol 1-4
Levante - Villarreal 0-3
Valladolid - Osasuna 0-1
Barcelona - Granada 4-0
R. Sociedad - Celta 4-3
Almería - R. Madrid 0-5
Atlético - Getafe 7-0

39 goals in 8 games and no draws. Miles away from normal, despite what people think of Liga defenders.
Malaga play Athletic tonight.

Elche beat Valencia - great for Elche, it still makes me smile that they're in Liga 1. A lucky win perhaps but a win's a win.

Dreadful for Valencia though. They're now on 17 points, 10 points behind fourth place Villareal. Yes, they've been stripped of their stars, but it's more than that. Maybe the selling club mentality has seeped into some of the players. I'd expected to see them come back fighting this year, having lost their usual CL spot, but they just don't seem to have that kind of fight in them. They're looking like the opposite of Atletico right now.

However I only saw the highlights last night. Djukic says it's the best they've played all season, and the stats seem to back him up. Maybe the results will start to come soon.
 
Ronnie O'Sullivan said:
It's going to be a huge conspiracy if Ronaldo doesn't win the Ballon D'or
Click to expand...

:lol:
Yeah, I don't quite think it would quite be such a huge conspiracy. I hope Scarface wins it.

crappycraperson said:
David Villa was really wasted in Barca's system. He had what? One good season with them?
Click to expand...

I dont think he was bad/wasted there at all. IIRC he was pretty damn good in his first season, appearing 52, scoring 23 and assisting 9, often playing wide left. The season culminated with them winning the UCL.

He broke his leg the second season and struggled for form/fitness (understandably so) since his return from his leg break and in season 3. Not many players would get over the leg break so soon.

His total record reads P116 G48 A17.
 
Ish84045 said:
:lol:
Yeah, I don't quite think it would quite be such a huge conspiracy. I hope Scarface wins it.



I dont think he was bad/wasted there at all. IIRC he was pretty damn good in his first season, appearing 52, scoring 23 and assisting 9, often playing wide left. The season culminated with them winning the UCL.

He broke his leg the second season and struggled for form/fitness (understandably so) since his return from his leg break and in season 3. Not many players would get over the leg break so soon.

His total record reads P116 G48 A17.
Click to expand...


I did say he had one good season with them. And wasted was may be too strong a word but kinda applies if he was not utilized to fullest of his abilities. He had more to offer if he had played in a central position or even if he had played as a pivotal player on the left. But that could never happen in that Barca system so he was redundant and was rightly sold
 
crappycraperson said:
I did say he had one good season with them. And wasted was may be too strong a word but kinda applies if he was not utilized to fullest of his abilities. He had more to offer if he had played in a central position or even if he had played as a pivotal player on the left. But that could never happen in that Barca system so he was redundant and was rightly sold
Click to expand...

Yeah, apologies, only noticed the "one good season" bit, which is actually true, though IMO the leg break had as much to do it with it, then Barca's system. He was actually very good for them in that wide left role up until that point.

But you're spot on, I think he's a better central/roaming forward as well, as oppose to playing predominantly as a wide forward.
 
Thought this was the best thread to raise this question.

Real are playing in the Champions league tonight and are carrying a few injuries with the biggest loss being Ronaldo. The likes of Varane, Fabio Contreroa and Khedira are also injured. Now, the first eleven they can field is still strong and they have a lot of depth in defence and central midfield.

What I noticed though and unusually for Real Madrid is that they really don't have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to attacking players anymore. Tonight they can field a front four of Bale, Isco, Di Maria and Benzema but after that there is no one who stands out. Perhaps I am underestimating the quality of some of their youth team players as I have not seen Real much this season and whenever I have Ronaldo is starting and scoring for fun.

It really does look like there is no obvious option for Benzema(aside from Ronaldo) if he gets injured with Higuain sold so despite bringing Isco and Bale they are down an attacking player with Kaka, Ozil and Higuain all leaving in the summer.

If I have missed someone I would love to know because it does not look like a normal Real Madrid squad when there is an embarrassment of riches with attacking options throughout the squad. Their starting players are top class, no doubt about it, but the depth that is normally there seems to have been foresaken. Like I said, there were one or two youth team players in their squad who had racked up some sub apps this season but no starts who could be tailor made for covering Benzema, so if that's the case fill me in.
 
They really rate that young striker they have. His name escapes me but he's meant to be a really big talent so I guess he's Benzema's direct replacement in the team.
 
On the Madrid forwards thing. In the CL, Real Madrid (Ronaldo injured) went with Di Maria Isco Jese and basically played Bale up front. So rather than trying out Morata in place of the rested Benzema, they gave a start to Jese. The Madrid holy grail at the moment is to try and get Ronaldo, Bale and Isco in the same team so when they've got room to experiment (like in the CL group) it usually involves resting Benzema.

If the rumours are correct Morata will go on loan to Spurs in January. He looks excellent for Spain's U21s. He even does OK for Madrid away from home. Play him at the Bernabeu and he keeps missing goalscoring chances. Whether he'll get enough playing time at Spurs to reach the level he needs, I don't know.

Incidentally Ramos is currently residing in the Madrid doghouse, after his red card in the CL, but he was pretty close to it even before that match. Ancelotti would prefer to play Varane/Pepe, but Varane's knee is still causing him problems. Otherwise according to the gossip columns and the body language readers :D if a good bid for him came in, Ramos is for sale.
 
jojojo said:
if a good bid for him came in, Ramos is for sale.
Click to expand...


Messi's knees like this :D

To be fair though, isn't Pepe just as much of a liability as Ramos? I'd rather have Ramos-Varane than Pepe-Varane if given the choice.
 
Friday 29th November 2013 (from the BBC, so all times are UK)
Getafe 1-0 Levante FT
Villarreal 1-1 Málaga FT

Saturday 30th November 2013
Elche V Atlético Madrid 15:00
Celta de Vigo V Almería 17:00
Real Madrid V Real Valladolid 19:00
Espanyol V Real Sociedad 21:00

Sunday 1st December 2013
Real Betis V Rayo Vallecano 11:00
Granada CF V Sevilla 16:00
Valencia CF V Osasuna 18:00
Athletic V Barcelona 20:00

Ronaldo's still out. Ancelotti says they're just playing it safe, he probably won't play until the next Liga match in two weeks.

Match of the weekend has to be Athetic - Barcelona.
With Messi and Valdes out, Athletic should make Barca work for the points. After Tuesday night, quite a few Barca players will have something to prove. We shall see.
 
Atléti showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon... overcoming a tricky away tie to Elche, 2-0. Goals by Koke and Diego Costa. The 1st goal was a bit controversial, mix of a GK blunder and a Diego Costa foul on the defender who wanted to clear the rebound, allowing Koke to tap it home. The 2nd a brilliantly lobbed assist by Adrián and decent short-range finish.
 
Raven Blade said:
From what I've seen he's looking a real class act for Madrid now. The goals and assists are starting to rack up.
Click to expand...

Since he shook off the injury and did his own personal pre-season he's been doing fine. They're still working on formations but he's looking the part.
 
I guess those who wrote Bail off when he moved to Real Madrid must look like proper doughnuts. It just goes to show that in his earlier games he was still trying to find his feet in another league, another country and another style of play, not to forget the language barrier. It is good to see that it is finally coming together for him and no doubt as the season continues, his form will get better.
 
Bale is only 4 goals behind Michael Owens total of 13 goals in 36 games...:eek: and he is only a winger. 8 in 10 la liga and 10 in 14 games in total. That is a brilliant statistic for a player that was written off as a failure only a few weeks ago.
 
Proud_Lyon said:
Bale is only 4 goals behind Michael Owens total of 13 goals in 36 games...:eek: and he is only a winger. 8 in 10 la liga and 10 in 14 games in total. That is a brilliant statistic for a player that was written off as a failure only a few weeks ago.
Click to expand...

There's been a lot of posters on this board who've been bitter about Bale for a while who will stick the boot in at every opportunity.

I don't know how he ll do at real long term but there's a good chance he ll shut his critics up, just like when people were laughing at his losing streak, when man utd fans widely said that Nani was already better than Bale and his highest level was several levels above that of Bale's and those who said he didn't have the technical ability to play in Spain.
Amongst many others.

Fair play to him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.