Still not convinced they're as good as that record suggests. Time will tell in the latter half of the season, regardless, impressive from Carlo.
La Liga - 2014/15
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
I was referring to the save which I thought was great. Overall he did well but he does not inspire calmness or confidence like he used to sadly. I am worried about what will happen when we face the strongest teams (although coincidently he played well vs Barca and made a match determining save against Messi). That said Barca do not rely on crosses in to the box or using a physical player up top and that is what I feel Casillas will struggle against.
More and more records are being broke these days by teams and players due to the monopoly at the top and big clubs having international players on the bench as well as in their first team. Not only does this strengthen your own team but it weakens the opposition. As for why Madrid and the likes are scoring so many goals and why so many players have ridiculous goal records (and not just Ronaldo and Messi) is due to the way the game is going with defenders focusing more on technique and passing than defending, teams being set up to play more attacking and attractive football (employing a high line etc) because their fans demand it(including those of lesser teams) resulting in them conceding more, the monopoly at the top with big clubs having overloaded squads full of internationals which also results in smaller clubs being left more depleted, the referees booking players for almost every foul or bit of contact with an attacker etc I would be very surprised if in the future there are not some players and teams with similar enough stats (and eventually better stats). Especially as those factors I mentioned will become even more prominent, giving even more advantages to the attacker. Madrid and Barcelona have benefitted from it in the league and CL over the last few years and so have Bayern in the CL and league too. Premier league clubs have not due to poor management (Mancini, Pellegrini etc) but now with Mourinho in charge at Chelsea with a great squad we are seeing similar results with a team picking up win after win after win. Not due to them being better than Premier league teams of the past but due to them benefitting from the factors I mentioned earlier which creates an unbalance and makes leagues top heavy. Madrid and Chelsea are on equal points in the same games played. Madrid have scored much more but that is due to Ronaldo. If we swapped Ronaldo for Hazard then it would be Chelsea scoring so many goals and Madrid would not have scored near as much as they have done.
As for your point about Madrid not being as good as the record suggests, I am not sure what you mean? Not good enough to win the league or not good enough to win the CL or not good enough to win both? They have shown that they are good enough to win the league (so far) and also that they are capable of going far in the CL. Whether they could overcome the likes of Bayern, Dortmund or Chelsea etc is unanswerable atm. It takes something different to win the CL than it does to win the league. We have not shown that we have what it takes to overcome such a challenge (beating Bayern, Chelsea, Dortmund etc) because it has not being presented yet and that goes for Bayern, Barcelona and Chelsea as well (among others also). Right now I think that Madrid, Bayern and Chelsea all look to be very strong in different ways and they are all capable of beating each other. Atletico and Dortmund will always be difficult to overcome and are in with a chance and I think Barcelona will come good and would not be surprised to see them have a strong finish to the season.
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I think they are. He's managed to build a great team and it's evident from the results they are getting and the way they are playing. It's great to watch them at times. There is a different feeling to this Madrid team in my opinion.
Good post @Raul Madrid
Real Madrid looking really good this year.
Most consecutive wins in Real's history - Scott Minto mentioned right after the match that they're already better than Jose's team, a notion Guillem Balague quickly shot down, and I agree.
Great counter attacking team, but I think that midfield is very suspect.
Well the reason that record is broken is a largely down to the factors that I mentioned in my previous post. As for whether this team is as good as Mourinho's team (I assume they mean the 11/12 team which was the best one) is much too early to say (its always silly when people say in November or a similar time that a team is better than one which completed a full season, especially if that team won a trophy). I actually think this team is more dangerous on the counter than that one as Benzema is a better player than he was back then and Bale is much better than Di Maria was back then on the right wing. As for the midfield I assume by suspect you mean that it is weak defensively which is true but that is being made up for by the whole team working very hard by tracking back and pressing (Isco, Benzema and James have been exceptional in this regard) and it was tested against a top team in Barcelona and a relatively tough challenge against Liverpool at Anfield and passed with flying colours imo. When it comes to being in possession I think Kroos, Modric, Isco and James is very fluid and comfortable as well as quick on the counter. I think they are better than Khedira and Ozil although Alonso would have gotten into this team. The form since the end of September has been great imo both going forward and defensively (only conceding three goals) but it is much too early to jump to conclusions and the latter stages of the CL will tell us more about this team than anything they have come up against so far. Mourinho's team was a great one and this team has to play at this level for longer than it has before such comparisons can be made.
They were flying around this time last year too. Up until Feb and they lost momentum, probably concetrated in CL more.
Just like I keep saying for Chelsea in our league, lets see what happens when they dip in form.
Just like I keep saying for Chelsea in our league, lets see what happens when they dip in form.
Atleti are playing Deportivo at home right now. Super early timing.
They've unsurprisingly went 1 goal up from a set piece.
Probably wrapped it up now.
Not really how I recall it. They didn't really start playing well as a team until after the Christmas break. That was when Ancelotti changed the formation and put Di Maria in the midfield three. They then got into a real run of form, moved from third place to first by the end of February and looked (briefly) on course to win La Liga.
Losing to Barcelona and Sevilla in consecutive games in March killed off their momentum in La Liga and their minds seem to shift to the CL, particularly once Ronaldo started missing games. That said, they were still only 3 points behind Atletico in the end.
As to this season, they've got a lot of games to play and there aren't many points between the top three. Plus, we have the information from Marca's tarot reader.
There was fighting in the streets near the ground before the Atletico-Deportivo game. They're reporting that a couple of hundred people were involved. Around 20 arrests and a number of people injured, including one in a critical condition.
A man in his 40s, had to be rescued by divers having fallen/been pushed into the river. He apparently has head injuries and had to be resuscitated by the emergency team.
A man in his 40s, had to be rescued by divers having fallen/been pushed into the river. He apparently has head injuries and had to be resuscitated by the emergency team.
since the best barcelona this is the first time i think that there's a team that can win the CL for a second time in a row
they are that good
Barcelona starting 11: Bravo, Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Alba, Busquets, Masherano, Xavi, Messi, Neymar and Suarez.
Valencia starting 11: Alves, Barragán, Mustafi, Otamendi, Gayà, Javi Fuego, Parejo, André Gomes, Feghouli, Negredo & Rodrigo.
On the bench for Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Bartra, Adriano, Rakitic, Rafinha, Pedro & Munir.
Valencia starting 11: Alves, Barragán, Mustafi, Otamendi, Gayà, Javi Fuego, Parejo, André Gomes, Feghouli, Negredo & Rodrigo.
On the bench for Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Bartra, Adriano, Rakitic, Rafinha, Pedro & Munir.
Mascherano, Busquets both starting in midfield. Double-pivot by Barca for 1st time recently??
Something they should do in away games in the CL.
Wet and windy day in Valencia. Dry and calm now, but the storm could come back.
That's the official forecast by the way.
That's the official forecast by the way.
Amunt Valencia!
Barca looking pretty in (fluorescent) pink. Maybe fuchsia.
Absolutely agree on that.
How the feck is Busquets still in the side?
Barca kit is hurting my eyes!
why is barcelona dressed in tutti frutti buble gum?
Mathieu started well against his ex club.
Mathieu was bound to get booked.
Mathieu will get sent off today.
suarez
How did Suarez miss that oneSuarez has to score that one.
Phew, good save Alves.
Wtf Negredo...
Ffs how shit are Valencia's attacking players?!
Alves
What is going on
Scenes!!!!!
Let the shenanigans start!Hit the ref, Pique!!