La Liga 2017/18 Superthread

ThunbergsAreGo

Zidane is such a winner with none of the pretentious ****e that comes with other managers.

One of my favorite ever players and delighted to see him succeed

Jelle1880

naughtb4 wrote: »

Zidane is such a winner with none of the pretentious ****e that comes with other managers.

One of my favorite ever players and delighted to see him succeed

It's why I warmed to Real since he took over. I never really liked them, but he's one of my heroes when I grew up.

Also seriously impressed with how Real have changed from their Galacticos era to what they are doing now, singing young, promising players like Ceballos, Theo Hernandez,...

Barca sign Paulinho.

MisterAnarchy

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Also seriously impressed with how Real have changed from their Galacticos era to what they are doing now, singing young, promising players like Ceballos, Theo Hernandez,...

Barca sign Paulinho.

Strangely enough even during the Galacticos era and the last decade Real had a huge amount of players registered to them .
In La Liga they had and have the highest number of registered players in the league but most of them were loaned out to other clubs as they weren't given a chance in the first team ,it was all about buying big names.
Their academy ,La Fabrica,has produced a huge amount of talent .
The difference nowadays is that talent is getting a run in the first team instead of being loaned out.

Barcelona's transfer policy over the last few years has been very hit and miss ,they seem to be doing the opposite of Real ,buying big names instead of trying to bring through talent.

Turtwig

M!Ck^ wrote: »

http://i.imgur.com/Tf0ZnLe.jpg

Ah jeez come on that's one of the worst cherry picking I've seen this week - and I agree Suarez ran into the contact.

Why not take a photo of an offside decision from an angle that shows the offside player is onside? Or a leg breaking tackle from an angle that shows no contact?

klose

Jelle1880 wrote: »

It's why I warmed to Real since he took over. I never really liked them, but he's one of my heroes when I grew up.

Also seriously impressed with how Real have changed from their Galacticos era to what they are doing now, singing young, promising players like Ceballos, Theo Hernandez,...

Barca sign Paulinho.

That and Pepe is gone, couldn't stand watching a game football with that eejit on the field.

GavRedKing

Barca signing Paulinho and starting a player like Deulofeu shows the gulf in class bewtween themselves and Real at the moment.

Until the replace their CB, who masquerades as President, replace Neymar with some quality and strengthen their bench, they're going to be left for dead by Real this year, Messi or not.

Andersonisgod

GavRedKing wrote: »

Barca signing Paulinho and starting a player like Deulofeu shows the gulf in class bewtween themselves and Real at the moment.

Until the replace their CB, who masquerades as President, replace Neymar with some quality and strengthen their bench, they're going to be left for dead by Real this year, Messi or not.

He's the best centre back in the world, he's fine where he is.

Delofeu a temporary measure, useful impact player, obviously not the long term Neymar replacement. Still a few weeks to go in the ttansfer market and some players to return.

inforfun

Andersonisgod wrote: »

He's the best centre back in the world, he's fine where he is.

Delofeu a temporary measure, useful impact player, obviously not the long term Neymar replacement. Still a few weeks to go in the ttansfer market and some players to return.

Some of us are having coffee at this time of the day.
Some of us have to clean their monitor now.

pjohnson

inforfun wrote: »

Some of us are having coffee at this time of the day.
Some of us have to clean their monitor now.

Dont forget us tea drinkers.

GavRedKing

Andersonisgod wrote: »

He's the best centre back in the world, he's fine where he is.

He is in his hoop. Ramos has been a superior CB to Pique for as long as I can remember.

He was at fault for all 3 goals last night, I'd be seriously worried if I was a Barca fan, hes going to cost them this year against the better sides this in Spain and in Europe.

Granted he wont be as exposed as he was against Madrid but they have to play them again in a few days and twice more in the league at least.

If he wasnt President elect, he'd be out on his arse and replaced.

GavRedKing

Even if Ronaldo gets anything between 4 and 12 game ban from last nights push on the ref, Real dont rely on him as much as Barca do on Messi at the moment.

Reals bench can more than carry the burden of Ronnie being in the stands for a few games.

Brendan Flowers

Andersonisgod wrote: »

He's the best centre back in the world, he's fine where he is.

Delofeu a temporary measure, useful impact player, obviously not the long term Neymar replacement. Still a few weeks to go in the ttansfer market and some players to return.

Pique is a top CB, similar to Sergio Ramos in that both are often grossly underrated. However I wouldn't consider either to be among the very best in the world. For me, if I had to pick the 2 best CB's I'd be going with Toby Alderweireld and Leonardo Bonucci.

Andersonisgod

Cant imagine being a person who thinks Pique isn't the best cb in the world. Top notch at literally every aspect a cb must excel at and a real leader too on top of that. He's has been the best around for years. The cbs mentioned don't have half as tough a job as Pique who defends huge spaces, often having to defend in the rb zone because Barca's right wing back must be high up the pitch, starts the attacks, often playing out under extremely high pressure and is superb 1 vs 1. His positioning and penalty box defending are about as good as you'll see in modern football too.

GavRedKing

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Cant imagine being a person who thinks Pique isn't the best cb in the world. Top notch at literally every aspect a cb must excel at and a real leader too on top of that. He's has been the best around for years. The cbs mentioned don't have half as tough a job as Pique who defends huge spaces, often having to defend in the rb zone because Barca's right wing back must be high up the pitch, starts the attacks, often playing out under extremely high pressure and is superb 1 vs 1. His positioning and penalty box defending are about as good as you'll see in modern football too.

He was one on one twice last night and gifted Real two goals, hes default defending style is to back off at the edge of the box, he was scared to engage either Asensio or Ronaldo who would have turned him inside out and by doing that both punished him with their quality.

Its an indictment to the omni shambles that Barca are at the back that you mentioned that he does the job of the RB too but ya, I cant imagine anyone thinking Pique is the best CB in Spain, let alone the world, players like Pique go from being vastly under rated to wildly over rated, hes a good CB, no more.

The Talking Bread

Andersonisgod wrote: »

He's the best centre back in the world, he's fine where he is.

Delofeu a temporary measure, useful impact player, obviously not the long term Neymar replacement. Still a few weeks to go in the ttansfer market and some players to return.

Best centre back IN YOUR WORLD. Boateng, Bonucci, hell even Godin are more reliable options over the last two seasons

Mr.Nice Guy

Isco was so good that even the Barcelona fans were purring on more than one occasion. That moment where he nabbed Iniesta in possession and spun away, it was almost like a changing-of-the-guard moment.

irishman86

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Best centre back IN YOUR WORLD. Boateng, Bonucci, hell even Godin are more reliable options over the last two seasons

Hummels, Ramos, Pepe, Varane
Hes not even the best at Barca

Andersonisgod

irishman86 wrote: »

Hummels, Ramos, Pepe, Varane
Hes not even the best at Barca

Can't even begin to explain how far off that is.

GavRedKing

The return leg being on at 11pm local time is pretty mad.

I think the 3rd goal was a killer and the 2 goal win probably wasnt justified, it was a very even game, Barca created more but Real took their chances when it mattered.

Losing Ronaldo wont effect them all that much when you see their other options and I cant see Barca over turning a 2 goal deficit, not with that defence.

dfx-

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Isco was so good that even the Barcelona fans were purring on more than one occasion. That moment where he nabbed Iniesta in possession and spun away, it was almost like a changing-of-the-guard moment.

He was very good as he has been lately. He was their sole attacking threat first half and was turning Vidal inside out.

Though Iniesta is still king:p

NIMAN

He's been very good for about 4 years now.......when he's given the chance.

castletownman

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Can't even begin to explain how far off that is.

Yeah your right. Hummels stopped being one of the top CB's when Pep left Bayern, while the other three are Real so should be immediately discounted

kingtiger

5 match ban for Ronnie

kingtiger

kingtiger wrote: »

5 match ban for Ronnie

Can't put hands on the ref. Rules are rules so ban justified. It was silly to do so but can see why he was aggrieved with the decision especially after Suarez and his embarrassing dive.

castletownman

Will the five-match ban effectively scupper his Balon D'Or?

Can't remember anyone winning it before after being banned, particularly for pushing a ref.

NIMAN

He'll get the award, doesn't matter.
He deserves it.

5 match ban do no harm, rest his aging body.

Madrid outclassed Man Utd and Barca without Ronnie starting, they have enough quality now to survive without him for a few games.

inforfun

GavRedKing wrote: »

The return leg being on at 11pm local time is pretty mad.

I think the 3rd goal was a killer and the 2 goal win probably wasnt justified, it was a very even game, Barca created more but Real took their chances when it mattered.

Losing Ronaldo wont effect them all that much when you see their other options and I cant see Barca over turning a 2 goal deficit, not with that defence.

Have seen those late kick offs in other years as well early in the season.
Think it has to do with the temperature.

MisterAnarchy

kingtiger wrote: »

5 match ban for Ronnie

He is getting off lightly ,Di Canio got 11 matches for something similar years ago .

inforfun

Yeah.... but this ref didnt fall flat on his arse like some drunk twat

GavRedKing

inforfun wrote: »

Have seen those late kick offs in other years as well early in the season.
Think it has to do with the temperature.

Makes sense, it has been close to 40 degrees in Madrid in recent times.

GavRedKing

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

He is getting off lightly ,Di Canio got 11 matches for something similar years ago .

I assumed he'd get 4 games, it was a nothing push.

Di Canios push was much more forceful, 2 hands and he had a meltdown at the time too going for Winterburn and a few other Arsenal players.

MisterAnarchy

inforfun wrote: »

Yeah.... but this ref didnt fall flat on his arse like some drunk twat

Yeah that was very funny ,the ref went down like a sack of spuds .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XvGd-q064w

Call Me Jimmy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Isco was so good that even the Barcelona fans were purring on more than one occasion. That moment where he nabbed Iniesta in possession and spun away, it was almost like a changing-of-the-guard moment.

He put in a performance reminiscent of an older zidane. Sublime passing mostly, but with some beautiful dribbling to make space.

Giggsy11

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

He is getting off lightly ,Di Canio got 11 matches for something similar years ago .

I would say he got off lightly, he should have been jailed to few years and made to clean Barca toilets after match days.

The_Kew_Tour

To be honest I would have no complaints if he got 10 match ban. You dont touch official its that simple and in my opinion he is lucky unlucky

inforfun

inforfun wrote: »

Yeah.... but this ref didnt fall flat on his arse like some drunk twat

:pac:

irishman86

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Can't even begin to explain how far off that is.

Thats proving my point :pac::pac:

irishman86

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

He is getting off lightly ,Di Canio got 11 matches for something similar years ago .

Ah come on, they arent similar
Ronaldos push is more similar to what Messi did in 09 i think

Turtwig

Correct me if I'm wrong but..

I think people are being harsh on Pique if he pushes "up" it incentivises the player to speed past him. He needs to stall the player as long as possible to slow their stride so the team can get their defensive structure back and the player requires more than one touch to knock the ball past him, be that a shot, pass or dribble.

Remember, it's worth pointing out these were exceptional quality shots. Even Ronaldo or Messi won't produce those unstoppable shots in that situation most of the time. Statistically if Pique was closer initially both Ronaldo and asensio would just had breezed past him and been 1v1 with the goalkeeper. The problem was he didn't get tight enough after their first touch. Given the quality he is up against that's a lot harder than it seems.

All that said, it was truly delicious that he scored the own goal.

pjohnson

Turtwig wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but..

I think people are being harsh on Pique if he pushes "up" it incentivises the player to speed past him. He needs to stall the player as long as possible to slow their stride so the team can get their defensive structure back and the player requires more than one touch to knock the ball past him, be that a shot, pass or dribble.

Remember, it's worth pointing out these were exceptional quality shots. Even Ronaldo or Messi won't produce those unstoppable shots in that situation most of the time. Statistically if Pique was closer initially both Ronaldo and asensio would just had breezed past him and been 1v1 with the goalkeeper. The problem was he didn't get tight enough after their first touch. Given the quality he is up against that's a lot harder than it seems.

All that said, it was truly delicious that he scored the own goal.

This is true Barca's lack of defensive structure (as AIG highlighted by pointing out Pique has to try and cover the RB) always means they are never far from a disaster. I just think in years gone by Pique WOULD have got tight faster after thier first touch. Its not that Pique was always a poor defender he is just not the force he was. This decline is natural when players get older. Barca just dont have the depth to allow for this decline.

tastyt

Pique is not the best centre back in the world but I do agree he has a way tougher job than most defenders.

He is left to cover huge areas as barca push forward and gets exposed when teams break at pace but a lot of top centre backs would be destroyed in his position.

A bit like what carragher was saying about liverpools defending, it wouldn't matter if baresi was at the centre of their defence because they are exposed and outnumbered so often

blueser

inforfun wrote: »

Yeah.... but this ref didnt fall flat on his arse like some drunk twat

Are we allowed to use language like that? Or is it a different rule for mods? Just looking for clarification, that's all. If we are, great.

Andersonisgod

Barca signing Paulinho for 40 million for the personal gain of the President and letting Samper leave is the epitome of everything that is wrong with this board. They must be removed.

NIMAN

I don't remember Paulinho being a world beater in the EPL.
Seems like a lot of cash for him.

clubberlang12

Re: Pique having to cover the right-full area

I thought one of the aspects of Busquets game in that deeper role(an not just him, but alot of players who play as an anchor in a 3 man midfield), is the intelligence to come across and cover some of the space left behind by a marauding full-back?

MisterAnarchy

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Barca signing Paulinho for 40 million for the personal gain of the President and letting Samper leave is the epitome of everything that is wrong with this board. They must be removed.

It's looking like Gampart all over again.
A President completely out of his depth ,trying to panic buy players in a scatter gun approach after selling one of the clubs superstars.
Barcelona's transfer policy over the last few years has been pretty appalling especially in the defending department.

Re: Pique having to cover the right-full area

I thought one of the aspects of Busquets game in that deeper role(an not just him, but alot of players who play as an anchor in a 3 man midfield), is the intelligence to come across and cover some of the space left behind by a marauding full-back?

Busquets is a shadow of the player he was in his prime ,his legs have gone I'm afraid and its a similar story with Iniesta .
Rakitic is left to do the bulk of the legwork but he cant cover enough ground with the result teams like Real can get joy on the break like we saw last night.

Agent Coulson

Levy the man who can get blood out of a stone when it comes to transfers sold Paulinho to China for €14m and for him to do nothing in China and be sold to Barca for €40m you wouldn't have to be thinking to hard that something fishy is off with that transfer from China to Barca.

Then Barca set his release clause at €140m

irishman86

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Levy the man who can get blood out of a stone when it comes to transfers sold Paulinho to China for €14m and for him to do nothing in China and be sold to Barca for €40m you wouldn't have to be thinking to hard that something fishy is off with that transfer from China to Barca.

Then Barca set his release clause at €140m

Well hes hardly done nothing in China
Hes been the best player since moving there and that includes over the other superstars
Yes i agree hes a shock signing but lets stick to that, hes also been really vital to Brazil

~Rebel~

CSF wrote: »

You don't get penalties because someone would have caught you if you didn't jump out of the way. That isn't how it works.

Are you sure though? I recall after the Fowler/Seaman incident years ago, that the official line after from Gerald Ashby was that even though Fowler jumped over the contact, that a penalty was the right call, because he was impeded by a movement from the goalkeeper, in which the keeper failed to make any contact with the ball. That since contact was only avoided by the player actively avoiding it, the keeper still gets punished.

GreNoLi

Cristiano will be relieved to receive a 5 match ban. he looked out of shape, probably helped himself to a bowl of meusli over the summer.