Stickied Spanish Football

[Stevencc]

“I don’t see anyone better than me. No player does things that I cannot do myself, but I see things others can’t do. There’s no more complete player than me. I’m the best player in history — in the good and the bad moments”

Ronaldo.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Is this a branding thing or is he really that delusional?

 

[JimJams]

Modest as fook...

 

[smat]

“I don’t see anyone better than me. No player does things that I cannot do myself, but I see things others can’t do. There’s no more complete player than me. I’m the best player in history — in the good and the bad moments”

Eboue.

 

[Super_horns]

Is this a branding thing or is he really that delusional?

Just his large inflated ego speaking..

 

[mistermagic]

Tbh I agree with him on the most complete player. His ability to use either foot is brilliant and so is his heading. Messi isn't as complete as him even though he's the better all-round player. Thin lines and all that but still.

Also, I don't like Barca.

 

[Super_horns]

Bit of a PR/PC own goal here ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42387727

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

fucking hell

 

[Super_horns]

Ruthless business .. maybe more to this than reported?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42462210

 

[mistermagic]

I get it. It's business. Seems a little tactless given that Sevilla aren't that far from the CL places though.

Classico day today. Who's giving the fingers to Everton/Chelsea and watching it?

 

[mistermagic]

Guess it's just me then.

 

[SALTIRE]

Tried to get up for it but didn't make it. Barca thumping Real in their own backyard again. Both sides seem to have better records at each others grounds.

 

[mistermagic]

The game kicked off at noon mate. You a late sleeper?

Horrible, horrible game. Barca look poor but Real didn't do anything even though they had midfield domination. This reminded of their 1-3 defeat at Wembley where the midfield was simply walked over by Spurs. The players are good but the finished article just looks weak. Kovacic let Rakitic go forward as he was marking Messi which led to Suarez scoring the opener. Carvajal then got rightfully sent off for a handball with the goal gaping. Messi clincially dispatched the penalty. Then I turned it off. It went from a rubbish game to finished game. Bring back the Guardiola/Mourinho days. At least, there was passion!

 

[Eaman]

Nice win against Levante for barca to start the year. Another great bit of linkup play between Messi and alba. It used to be alvessi down the right now it's albessi down the left

 

[Super_horns]

Real Madrid are a long way off the pace in La Liga - will Zidane be sacked unless they win the Champions league?

 

[mistermagic]

Real Madrid are a long way off the pace in La Liga - will Zidane be sacked unless they win the Champions league?

Given the performances I witnessed this season (against Valencia, Spurs and Barca), I can't see them winning the CL. There's a bit of carelessness given that they won the thing 2 years in a row for the first time since the late 80s but also the central midfield is complete and utter garbage. Zidane needs to invest NOW if he wants to keep his job. Hazard would not solve the problem. Real are in dire need of hardworkers in the middle of the park. Kroos and Modric are simply not doing anything at all.

 

[Benji]

They're closer to the relegation zone than Barcelona as of tonight.

 

[Stevencc]

Real Madrid are a long way off the pace in La Liga - will Zidane be sacked unless they win the Champions league?

Benitez was sacked for his poor points tally at the same point in the season while having more points than Real currently do.

 

[mistermagic]

Rafa didn't win them the CL though. He wasn't even close.

Wonder if Carlo would go back. He can't manage until July but I can't see anyone else if indeed RM decide to part ways with Zidane. I'm not liking this loss of form one bit. We're playing Real Madrid in a month's time and them being so shit puts even more pressure on us to knock them out. Just like every season since the takeover, we are playing our season on this tie while Real don't look bothered if they get knocked out. Which means that Real have nothing to lose while we have everything to lose.
God, 30 days to the game and I'm already bricking it!

 

[Gaz12321]

Zidane should be sacked imo, he's very tactically naive. For me, he inherited the strongest squad in the world by a distance and that showed in the early days of his tenure but my dog could have won trophies as manager of that squad! On paper, they probably still have the strongest squad in the world, yet are failing completely.

All I see from Real Madrid is they struggle to make the breakthrough or hold a lead, throw every single player forward in the last 10 minutes desperate to score but get hit on the counter and lose, time after time after time.

How long will it take Zidane to realise that piling everybody forward is more often than not going to end in a goal for the opposition on the counter? He's done very little to impress me, did make me laugh a couple of months ago when people were touting him as the best coach ever!

 

[Gaz12321]

Massive win for Las Palmas this evening, i'm surprised how much they're struggling this season as they do have some quality in their side. I'm also a huge fan of Paco Jemez as a coach so hope he turns their fortunes around. A win over Valencia is a great result so hopefully they can kick on from here.

 

[mistermagic]

I hear what you're saying and agree with most of it but how do you explain that he knocked Bayern Munich in last season's Champions' League who were then managed by Carlo Ancelotti? Even Barca under Guardiola failed to beat the side led by Carlo (which was then Real Madrid). I'd argue that his first CL was a lucky break as Atletico knocked out the real contenders (namely Barcelona and Bayern Munich) but last season, Zidane showed he could do it against anyone.
I think the club needs to be very careful with its treatment of him. He did get them 2 Champions' League back-to-back (Mourinho didn't come close to winning even one) which I reckon is why he's such a delicate position. What do you tell players who won the hardest trophy there is to win twice in 2 years?

What I do fear is that Real Madrid will sack him and will make panic buys (Hazard will be ok but he won't solve anything; Real Madrid's midfield is weak and lacks hunger) à la Galactico era.

We shall see.

 

[SALTIRE]

What a ball in from Suarez for Rakitic for Barca's opener.

 

[Gaz12321]

Real Madrid's midfield is weak and lacks hunger) à la Galactico era.

I wouldn't say weak but I couldn't argue that they lack hunger, the question is why do they lack hunger? Few would have argued at the beginning of the season that Modric/Casemiro/Kroos is the best midfield trio on offer in the world, so why aren't they performing? Also, how can Ronaldo become so ineffective overnight? What is Zidane doing (or not doing) for these players to continually fail to perform?

They won 7-1 yesterday, how can a side capable of that level of demolition be so far off the pace in the league? For me, clearly the players have the ability, I still believe they have the strongest squad in world football, so why isn't Zidane getting performances out of them?

 

[mistermagic]

I wouldn't say weak but I couldn't argue that they lack hunger, the question is why do they lack hunger? Few would have argued at the beginning of the season that Modric/Casemiro/Kroos is the best midfield trio on offer in the world, so why aren't they performing? Also, how can Ronaldo become so ineffective overnight? What is Zidane doing (or not doing) for these players to continually fail to perform?

They won 7-1 yesterday, how can a side capable of that level of demolition be so far off the pace in the league? For me, clearly the players have the ability, I still believe they have the strongest squad in world football, so why isn't Zidane getting performances out of them?

Isn't it obvious? They won 2 CLs back-to-back. Try and stay motivated after being on top of the world (ok, Europe) twice in the space of 12 months!
Also, Modric/Casemiro/Kroos the best midfield trio? Never thought it was the best at any given time.

Your second paragraph doesn't make much sense to me. Just because you trounced a poor side 7-1 doesn't mean you should be in the top spot. Or remotely close to that. Especially in Spain where decent defences are hard to come by.

 

[Gaz12321]

Yes they won 2 CL's back to back, so that shows they have a winning mentality throughout the squad yet suddenly this season they don't seem hungry, there has to be underlying reasons for that. It's almost as if they gave up on La Liga months ago, which is understandable I guess.

Who would you prefer to Modric/Casemiro/Kroos? You have one of the best midfielders in the world in Modric, one of the best passers in the world in Kroos plus Casemiro who can do a job but admittedly isn't the best. I can't think of many teams that have better central midfields than that.

I never said that they should be top of the league because they beat Deportivo 7-1, my point was about the lack of consistency, It's not like they're a couple of points behind, the gap is 19 points (albeit with a game in hand). Please enlighten as to the last time the gap between Barca & Real was that large?? I can't be arsed to look but i'd guess it's been a bloody long time.

By the way, I follow Barca so i'm delighted to see Real struggling, long may it continue.

 

[Lionel Messi]

Great news was that Sergi Roberto committed his immediate future to Barca (contract extended to June 2022)!

Roberto’s minimum release clause is now £440m so that may scare off any Premier League clubs from stealing our talented jewel

This kid can do everything and play anywhere

 

[mistermagic]

Yes they won 2 CL's back to back, so that shows they have a winning mentality throughout the squad yet suddenly this season they don't seem hungry, there has to be underlying reasons for that. It's almost as if they gave up on La Liga months ago, which is understandable I guess.

Who would you prefer to Modric/Casemiro/Kroos? You have one of the best midfielders in the world in Modric, one of the best passers in the world in Kroos plus Casemiro who can do a job but admittedly isn't the best. I can't think of many teams that have better central midfields than that.

I never said that they should be top of the league because they beat Deportivo 7-1, my point was about the lack of consistency, It's not like they're a couple of points behind, the gap is 19 points (albeit with a game in hand). Please enlighten as to the last time the gap between Barca & Real was that large?? I can't be arsed to look but i'd guess it's been a bloody long time.

By the way, I follow Barca so i'm delighted to see Real struggling, long may it continue.

It is quite common for squads that are almost unchanged for 3 seasons to just get tired of the same old shit every weekend and as a result, novelty wears off. I don't think you can find a scientific explanation for this.

At this moment in time, City's midfield pisses all over the trio you mention. I don't mind Casemiro. He's ok. I just find Fernandinho to be a much better player. I agree with your descriptions of Kroos and Modric but the point is that they just aren't doing anything this season. They got litterally walked over by Spurs and Barca this season. It's like they're expecting something to happen. Well, guess what? Football games are won in midfield. You can't just hope to lump the ball forward to CR7 and hope that he'll score a quadruple every weekend. Both of these players have been incredibly lazy this season (quite frankly, Kroos has been the same for Germany. In a time when Germany are looking for leaders, Kroos is doing his best to hide behind, well , no one because the rest of the midfielders are less experienced than he is. Maybe Toni isn't a natural leader.) which is why Real need to invest in midfield and not in attack. Buying Hazard won't solve anything.

I can't be arsed to look up the gap between the two sides either but is it really surprising? Given the weakness of La Liga, if you lose 4 or 5 games you can say goodbye to the title. Real lost it at home to Barca just before Christmas. Why should they be bothered in closing the gap when they know that a decent run in a couple of months will make them finish second (third at a push) which has happened half the time over the last decade?

Finally, Barca are evil. Real are too but at least they admit it. Barca have this holier than thou attitude which makes me want to vomit. Horrible, horrible club.

 

[Gaz12321]

Everything you say here clarifies my point, Zidane should have freshened things and kept this side motivated. They've gone from world beaters to being.bang average yet it's the exact same side, the manager has to take responsibility for that.

There's only so long previous accomplishments can keep managers in a job and for me, Zidane doesn't have much time left if he doesn't sort that mess out quickly, the Champions League could be his saviour, if PSG send them out of that it could be game over.

 

[Lionel Messi]

I have only seen Alex Ferguson beat the four season rule of how a team rises and falls. I do not think Zidane has the experience to revive, motivate and rebuild Madrid back to the heights they enjoyed. It’s only natural, a lesson he must learn this season.