La Liga - 2014/15

Suarez is not having a good time at Barcelona, I do think he'll come good, it took Bale a minute to get used to La Liga.
 
Yep. Suárez hasn't been good but Bale is hardly a brilliant example of a player who adapted quickly.

Bale's output is far better, but neither are actually playing anywhere near as well as they can or should be playing.
 
Enrique should speak to Moyes about his experience of managing an elite club. Enrique for me can grow into the job, he has dropped big names, however the pressure seems to be closing in on him. I think failure in the CL (QFs for Barca) will see him get sacked. Already talk that there are influential people turning against him.
 
Vato said:
Seems to be his catalan counterpart, yes. Either that or he's still an agent for us. Either way, I hope they keep him longer than a season.
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Barça fans were hoping for the next Guardiola, but he seems more like Pardiola.
 
Atletico will play Barcelona away next weekend, should be a cracker of a match.

They also have Madrid midweek for the Copa Del Rey.
 
Jaytay said:
Suarez is not having a good time at Barcelona, I do think he'll come good, it took Bale a minute to get used to La Liga.
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I would love it if he did a Ronaldinho now that gets a big fat paycheck from Barca for the next 5 years. :lol:

It wouldn't even surprise me if it happened considering how all of Barcas recent big transfers bar Neymar turned out.
 
If Manchester United were like the Barcelona fans when Moyes was our manager he would have been gone in October, in fact he would of quit himself because they would have made his job unbearable. The Barcelona fans are not happy with Lucho at all, even though they are still second and have the best defence in La Liga they are furious. They aren't really having a go at the players , they are very pissed off with the manager.
 
Zubizarreta has been sacked by Barcelona at last. Easy scapegoat for their board but he was a terrible sporting director all the same.
 
Jaytay said:
If Manchester United were like the Barcelona fans when Moyes was our manager he would have been gone in October, in fact he would of quit himself because they would have made his job unbearable. The Barcelona fans are not happy with Lucho at all, even though they are still second and have the best defence in La Liga they are furious. They aren't really having a go at the players , they are very pissed off with the manager.
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He would get around 10 years at Barcelona if they had the Barcelona way in the same mould as United way.
 
Messi missed open training session today. Officially he's suffering from gastroenteritis. Rumour is he's pissed at Lucho. I am not sure of credibility of this news (could be all bs), but his coaching days at Barca might be over soon if he's to piss off the great dictator :nono:
 
Puyol has resigned as assistant sporting director now too...
 
Bit weird for them to be complaining about not buying defenders when they appear to have the best defense in La Liga. Whatever horseplay they had going with Mascherano playing center back appeared to be working well. Real & Barca are nuts though, makes Newcastle look like a normal work environment.
 
Wednesday at Stoke said:
Bit weird for them to be complaining about not buying defenders when they appear to have the best defense in La Liga. Whatever horseplay they had going with Mascherano playing center back appeared to be working well. Real & Barca are nuts though, makes Newcastle look like a normal work environment.
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Getting humped in the bigger games against Madrid and against PSG will have a lot to do with it. Also an element of luck too, they still get sliced up regularly theyve just been lucky the opposition haven't been clinical a lot of the time.
 
Snake Plissken said:
Getting humped in the bigger games against Madrid and against PSG will have a lot to do with it. Also an element of luck too, they still get sliced up regularly theyve just been lucky the opposition haven't been clinical a lot of the time.
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I have been quite impressed with Bravo. He has pulled off a lot of great one-on-one saves and was the main reason they managed to go to the Mestalla and come out of it with three points, something that Madrid in their great form were unable to do.
 
Vato said:
Seems to be his catalan counterpart, yes. Either that or he's still an agent for us. Either way, I hope they keep him longer than a season.
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A bit like Moyes I think there was a lot of nostalgia behind his appointment. I was never convinced that he was up to the task. He did well with Celta but it's a different ball game at a club the size of Barca where you are expected to win trophies every season.
 
Barcelona fans need to understand the difference between a top side and a unique one. They just had a unique team that comes along once in a lifetime and they suddenly think that's the level they should always have which is ridiculous. They are a normal good side now. Competing at the top, losing the odd game and winning the majority. I don't see why that makes their fans "furious" unless they think that the 2009/11 period should last forever.
 
Theonas said:
Barcelona fans need to understand the difference between a top side and a unique one. They just had a unique team that comes along once in a lifetime and they suddenly think that's the level they should always have which is ridiculous. They are a normal good side now. Competing at the top, losing the odd game and winning the majority. I don't see why that makes their fans "furious" unless they think that the 2009/11 period should last forever.
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It's not that they expected it to last forever, it's that their own board handicapped them instead of building on their success. Their in-fighting and shocking transfer/managerial decisions has meant they're at a level below where they should be.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
It's not that they expected it to last forever, it's that their own board handicapped them instead of building on their success. Their in-fighting and shocking transfer/managerial decisions has meant they're at a level below where they should be.
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But what level is that? how many levels are there while we're at it? There are the unique teams that dominate and make everything look easy which is where they were and where Bayern are now. Then, there is a level of a top team that competes at the top, lose a few, but win most which is where Chelsea are for example and where I think Barcelona are at the moment. That is why expecting better for me is the same as expecting themselves to be where they were 5 years ago.

I understand the issues they have with the in-politics and so on but I don't buy it. Barcelona and Madrid ALWAYS had that, even under Guardiola. Their problem now is simply that they have lost that out-of-this world harmony they enjoyed in those years which resulted in a clockwork like movement and frankly insane levels of pressing. They lost that because players age, enthusiasm wane and you lose that consistency.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
It's not that they expected it to last forever, it's that their own board handicapped them instead of building on their success. Their in-fighting and shocking transfer/managerial decisions has meant they're at a level below where they should be.
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Sure the in-fighting hasn't helped matters, but it's a smokescreen. At some stage their rivals Madrid was always going to close the gap on them. One cycle ends, another begins.
 
CLARiiON said:
Messi missed open training session today. Officially he's suffering from gastroenteritis. Rumour is he's pissed at Lucho. I am not sure of credibility of this news (could be all bs), but his coaching days at Barca might be over soon if he's to piss off the great dictator :nono:
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He's done the same after being benched by Guardiola in the past.
 
Theonas said:
But what level is that? how many levels are there while we're at it? There are the unique teams that dominate and make everything look easy which is where they were and where Bayern are now. Then, there is a level of a top team that competes at the top, lose a few, but win most which is where Chelsea are for example and where I think Barcelona are at the moment. That is why expecting better for me is the same as expecting themselves to be where they were 5 years ago.

I understand the issues they have with the in-politics and so on but I don't buy it. Barcelona and Madrid ALWAYS had that, even under Guardiola. Their problem now is simply that they have lost that out-of-this world harmony they enjoyed in those years which resulted in a clockwork like movement and frankly insane levels of pressing. They lost that because players age, enthusiasm wane and you lose that consistency.
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The problem is though that they caused a large part of their fall from grace themselves. I agree that the decline/retirement of Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta etc. made it impossible for them to stay at the top, however, you can't argue that they didn't speed the process up by hiring idiot managers, by refusing to buy a top class defender, by letting go of their most talented youth player, by getting themselves transfer banned, by having a terrible B team manager.

There's been so much incompetence. If they were as well run off the pitch as Bayern, they'd still be the best side in Europe even if not at their 2011 best.
 
Raul Madrid said:
I have been quite impressed with Bravo. He has pulled off a lot of great one-on-one saves and was the main reason they managed to go to the Mestalla and come out of it with three points, something that Madrid in their great form were unable to do.
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Haven't seen all their games mate but I agree Bravo has been a great buy. Mathieu on the other hand, oh dear. In saying that he's not been any worse than Pique who keeps finding himself in awards lists with the elite despite the fact he's a pretty poor defender.
 
I doubt that Messi story is true at all, more mischief making from the press.

But he does have Barca by the balls if he wants because they're more reliant on him than ever, he could pull out his cock and slap Enrique across the face with it and he'd still be the first name on the team sheet.
 
Atlético have signed Cani from Villarreal on loan until the end of the season. That seemed to come out of nowhere!
 
Cristian Rodríguez maybe? I'm not sure, haven't heard anything.
 
They lost Cerci. Cani will probably take his place on the bench. Villarreal are probably getting someone and were looking to offload Cani and Atletico saw it as an opportunity to add some more width at low costs. He's simply moving from a bench to a nicer bench. Win for all.
 
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