Sevilla is in a tough spot. They lost their 4 most important players (Krychowiak, Gameiro, Banega, Coke) and the replacements lack talent. They´ll struggle in the league and Sampaoli needs to work wonders to stabilize them. I really hope that he can do it.
La Liga 2016/17
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Below a level it could be with say Xavi in his prime? Absolutely.
As it is though, I like the depth in midfield: Gomes, Iniesta, Rakitic, Busquets, Rafinha, Suarez, Roberto & Turan (I intentionally left Mascherano out since he isn't Barca level in midfield). The areas of concern recently had been a similar profile to Iniesta, especially on that left side but Denis Suarez is going to fill in nicely there IMO - someone to play between the lines in that last third like the Don. Gomes can cover for Rakitic, can cover for the fullbacks as they push forward (As he did last night for Digne) and even come deep to receive and help deal with high pressing - although he looks like he still needs time to adapt to Barcelona's style. Rafinha & Roberto are cantera conveyor belt midfielders that can play anywhere in midfield
Xavi is unique, hard to imagine anyone coming close to him again so normal that his absence will be palpable. Of course, this is Lucho's vision of Barcelona which is different to that of Pep (My preference) - he focuses on the quickest transition to move the ball from deep to the attacking players who will rely on their talent to score, marginalizing the midfield play.
The big difference though is that more & more it looks like Messi is going to settle into the playmaker in midfield rather than playing wide or as a forward and where the other midfielders work for him
Who are the replacements? Anyone with genuine quality?
Happy with the Barca squad this season. Really surprised we got deals done so fast, and all players of 22 years age. Digne is real deal, Alba should be very very careful now. Munir had a amazing pre-season and glad that Arda playing better on the wings. Denis showed glimses of his class.
If we get like 25m for Bravo and Alves as 2nd keeper for 8m, good business overall.
If we get like 25m for Bravo and Alves as 2nd keeper for 8m, good business overall.
I don´t even know many of them, which is probably not a good sign. They certainly don´t have the same quality of those 4 guys. Not even close.
I don´t know their 4 “top” signings. Franco Vazquez (palermo), J. Correa (Sampdora), Ganso (sao Paulo) and Wissam Ben Yedder (Toulouse). Ben Yedder scored fairly consistently in league1 and is probably the replacement for Gameiro; I think he´ll be crucial. Vazquez is more of a second striker, but his numbers aren´t particularly great. Ganso is one of those FM wonder-kids that you never really see in real live. Correa – no idea. Kiyotake is a okay squad player for them. A hard-working team player, but not really enough quality to start for a club like Sevilla. They loaned Vietto and Kranevitter from Atletico. I rate Vietto, but I don´t think that he is a great fit. Maybe Sampaoli gets him going, but I don´t really see it. Kranevitter is not a top player, but I see him as a good fit for the DM (given their limited budget). I hope he can surprise a few people and become a starter. Sarabia is a back up option at best.
So overall they really lack quality in all parts of the team. It is the least exciting squad that they have had for quite some time.
Vitolo needs to step up, but he is a bit too inconsistent. Ben yedder´s goals will be crucial. I don´t really rate Konoplyanka, but he is sadly now one of their best attackers. The hope is, that Sampaoli can create a system similar to Chile, where the team looks a lot better than its parts. He has decent depth and options so maybe he finds what he needs to make it work. I wouldn´t expect wonders so.
I think you lot will be fine Pedro, it's just naturally going to take some time to integrate all the changes that took place in the summer - not the same squad or coach but I am confident the same old Sevilla will be a threat to everyone soon enough
And technically they didn't really lose Banega, he was out of contract and didn't extend - I am surprised about that one but perhaps he got his last payday in Milan
I am curious what will happen with Tremoulinas because it seemed clear he wants to join Emery in Paris. Him & Mariano form the best fullback duo in the league, IMHO
And technically they didn't really lose Banega, he was out of contract and didn't extend - I am surprised about that one but perhaps he got his last payday in Milan
I am curious what will happen with Tremoulinas because it seemed clear he wants to join Emery in Paris. Him & Mariano form the best fullback duo in the league, IMHO
Vazquez is at the level of Banega if not better. Massively underrated.
that good to hear; I am not 100% convinced yet, but maybe he is a late bloomer and you certainly know him better than I do. He never really caught my eye when playing for Rayo.
That's high praise, I am skeptical as Banega was a special character...but I have read good things of Franco. For me, I thought Sevilla looked extremely good at times and disorganized at other times - pretty normal with the change from Emery to Sampaoli
I don't think i know more than you mate. It's more of a gut feeling, just a personal opinion. I could look pretty stupid by the end of season.
I think that Banega is a better midfielder. He can play no.10 but also drop down and hold his own against the best. I don't think Vazquez can do that but as a playmaker upfront he can do anything that Banega can imo. I think Gameiro and Krychowiak are much bigger losses.
Every summer it is the same deal with my team (Sevilla); losing the key player/s, and then reinvent ourselves, and still manage to maintain our position as 'just beneath the top 3' or at least play a few finals every season. Therefore I am usually not worried that we lose 1-2 stars every summer, because this is how the club always been, in order to reinvest the cash and come back stronger.
However, this summer has been ridiculous. Losing Krychowiak, Banega, Coke, Gameiro and Emery is equivalent with Real Madrid losing Cristiano, Carvajal, Modric, Kroos and Zizou in one summer. Or Barca losing Messi, Rakitic, Mascherano, Iniesta and Enrique. I admit that sometimes, the logic with our ambitions are very frustrating; we go to CL -> everybody leaves and we have to start all over again. Just for one summer I wish my club could dare to take a risk, to invest lot of cash in keeping most of the stars and still bring in reinforcements to the squad. But as usual we start the season at zero, or even below zero. Building a whole new team again. The fact that we managed to create a tradition in playing finals every season (more or less) and winning EL 5 times in 10 years should give Sevilla some kind of recognition - no only in Football - but even from the Nobel Prize comitee (maybe we redefined science when we won the EL trophy for the third consecutive time?
).
But kidding aside. Now we have 9 new signings, and all of these 9 players are suppose to compete for a spot in the first eleven, some of them are already occupying positions in the first eleven. On top of that we have a new coach, who is trying to implement a whole new system (some kind of psudeo-guardiola-tiki-taka football that I do not like at all, but if it will bring us good results, who cares), all of these changes in one summer.
So far, only 'El Mudo' Vazquez and Mercado seems interesting, the rest have either had too little time to adapt or been 'meh'. Except for Vietto, who have been straight awful. We also have a 10th signing on the way, probably Diego Alves from Valencia, since new coach Sampaoli wants a keeper that is good with his feet; once again: this guardiola philosophy makes me sick, even if Alves is pretty good, the signing seems unnecessary when we have Rico.
The key for us is patience. Obviously, if Sampaoli starts poorly in the first five games then it would probably affect rest of our entire season and ruin it.
When it comes to other spanish teams:
I think Atletico is a potential treble winner this year. Their signings have been great and perfect puzzles for Simeone's style. Although, Real Madrid seems to be stronger than last year. Zidane's coaching skills are surprisingly great; he is tactically concious in the sense that he adapts to the opponents when it is due. Thanks to his status players like Cristiano takes defensive order's from Zizou (as in the final vs Atletico), and he usually rests some stars, despite what the player/s would feel about it, something that Ancelotti (for instance) was lousy at, and played the stars unconditionally no matter what. Yet, the players in the squad seems to be ready to die for Zizou. And he is probably the first coach that the madrid press don't dare to critisise or throw shit at, which has given the club a sense of calmness that they never had before.
Even though Barcelona spanked the sh*t out of Sevilla, without actually putting a 100% performance, I am still not sure about them. Maybe the fact that they won't be playing any club world cup in december/january will help their season, because it almost ruined their league title last year. Still, it feels like if Barca wins the league again it would be because Atletico or Real couldn't stay consistent. Sure, their squad is bigger this year, in terms of quality, but...I am not sure, losing Dani Alves will have a huge impact and losing Bravo as well. Never been convinced of Ter stegen, but sure, he is very young, could always get much better.
Another interesting team to keep an eye on, except for Bilbao, Celta Vigo, Villarreal (who are in chaos at the moment),Valencia (who also are in crisis) is Espanyol. A rich investor took over the Barcelona side this summer, and they have done lot of signings of experienced players and brought back Quique Flores to La Liga. Could maybe make the catalunya derbies slightly more interesting.
I apologies for any misspellings that I may have in this ridiculously long post, and also for any grammatical mistake. English is not really my native language
However, this summer has been ridiculous. Losing Krychowiak, Banega, Coke, Gameiro and Emery is equivalent with Real Madrid losing Cristiano, Carvajal, Modric, Kroos and Zizou in one summer. Or Barca losing Messi, Rakitic, Mascherano, Iniesta and Enrique. I admit that sometimes, the logic with our ambitions are very frustrating; we go to CL -> everybody leaves and we have to start all over again. Just for one summer I wish my club could dare to take a risk, to invest lot of cash in keeping most of the stars and still bring in reinforcements to the squad. But as usual we start the season at zero, or even below zero. Building a whole new team again. The fact that we managed to create a tradition in playing finals every season (more or less) and winning EL 5 times in 10 years should give Sevilla some kind of recognition - no only in Football - but even from the Nobel Prize comitee (maybe we redefined science when we won the EL trophy for the third consecutive time?
). But kidding aside. Now we have 9 new signings, and all of these 9 players are suppose to compete for a spot in the first eleven, some of them are already occupying positions in the first eleven. On top of that we have a new coach, who is trying to implement a whole new system (some kind of psudeo-guardiola-tiki-taka football that I do not like at all, but if it will bring us good results, who cares), all of these changes in one summer.
So far, only 'El Mudo' Vazquez and Mercado seems interesting, the rest have either had too little time to adapt or been 'meh'. Except for Vietto, who have been straight awful. We also have a 10th signing on the way, probably Diego Alves from Valencia, since new coach Sampaoli wants a keeper that is good with his feet; once again: this guardiola philosophy makes me sick, even if Alves is pretty good, the signing seems unnecessary when we have Rico.
The key for us is patience. Obviously, if Sampaoli starts poorly in the first five games then it would probably affect rest of our entire season and ruin it.
When it comes to other spanish teams:
I think Atletico is a potential treble winner this year. Their signings have been great and perfect puzzles for Simeone's style. Although, Real Madrid seems to be stronger than last year. Zidane's coaching skills are surprisingly great; he is tactically concious in the sense that he adapts to the opponents when it is due. Thanks to his status players like Cristiano takes defensive order's from Zizou (as in the final vs Atletico), and he usually rests some stars, despite what the player/s would feel about it, something that Ancelotti (for instance) was lousy at, and played the stars unconditionally no matter what. Yet, the players in the squad seems to be ready to die for Zizou. And he is probably the first coach that the madrid press don't dare to critisise or throw shit at, which has given the club a sense of calmness that they never had before.
Even though Barcelona spanked the sh*t out of Sevilla, without actually putting a 100% performance, I am still not sure about them. Maybe the fact that they won't be playing any club world cup in december/january will help their season, because it almost ruined their league title last year. Still, it feels like if Barca wins the league again it would be because Atletico or Real couldn't stay consistent. Sure, their squad is bigger this year, in terms of quality, but...I am not sure, losing Dani Alves will have a huge impact and losing Bravo as well. Never been convinced of Ter stegen, but sure, he is very young, could always get much better.
Another interesting team to keep an eye on, except for Bilbao, Celta Vigo, Villarreal (who are in chaos at the moment),Valencia (who also are in crisis) is Espanyol. A rich investor took over the Barcelona side this summer, and they have done lot of signings of experienced players and brought back Quique Flores to La Liga. Could maybe make the catalunya derbies slightly more interesting.
I apologies for any misspellings that I may have in this ridiculously long post, and also for any grammatical mistake. English is not really my native language
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@SfcNervion
I agree with much of what you say, with the difference that I rate Sampaoli. I really liked Emery but I have my doubt that he would have had success this season with this squad. So Sampaoli trying something different might be a blessing in disguise. I don´t think that he wants to play tiki-taka like Pep. He puts a stronger focus on work pressing without the ball and vertical movement. We´ll see. He might need some time.
When it comes to the other teams:
Barca: I think they improved quite a bit already. Umtiti and Digne are imo great transfers. D.Suarez and Gomes add depth in midfield. They could make good use of another winger, but Arda might help out in this position. They are a lot stronger than last season and I fully expect them to win the league this year.
Atletico: I agree with you. Gameiro is perfect for them and Gaitan might be another functional winger + 2 interesting players. They should be slightly better. Not sure if that is enough to challange barca, but I expect another deep run in the CL and I think that they´ll finish ehead of Madrid.
I expect Bilbao and Villarreal to continue where they left last season. Celta without Nolito could struggle; I don´t expect them to repeat their last season. He was way too important for them. Valencia seem to be in crisis again, so I don´t expect anything. No clue about Esplanyol. They look a bit like the go-to club for rather average/old players who earn too much money (Piatti, Fuego, Jurado, Reyes, Demichelis)
transferred players that might be worth keeping an eye on in smaller teams: Mauricio Lemos (las Palmas), Sanabria (Betis), Angulo (Granada), Keko (Malaga), Jose Naranjo (Celta), Andone (Depor)
I agree with much of what you say, with the difference that I rate Sampaoli. I really liked Emery but I have my doubt that he would have had success this season with this squad. So Sampaoli trying something different might be a blessing in disguise. I don´t think that he wants to play tiki-taka like Pep. He puts a stronger focus on work pressing without the ball and vertical movement. We´ll see. He might need some time.
When it comes to the other teams:
Barca: I think they improved quite a bit already. Umtiti and Digne are imo great transfers. D.Suarez and Gomes add depth in midfield. They could make good use of another winger, but Arda might help out in this position. They are a lot stronger than last season and I fully expect them to win the league this year.
Atletico: I agree with you. Gameiro is perfect for them and Gaitan might be another functional winger + 2 interesting players. They should be slightly better. Not sure if that is enough to challange barca, but I expect another deep run in the CL and I think that they´ll finish ehead of Madrid.
I expect Bilbao and Villarreal to continue where they left last season. Celta without Nolito could struggle; I don´t expect them to repeat their last season. He was way too important for them. Valencia seem to be in crisis again, so I don´t expect anything. No clue about Esplanyol. They look a bit like the go-to club for rather average/old players who earn too much money (Piatti, Fuego, Jurado, Reyes, Demichelis)
transferred players that might be worth keeping an eye on in smaller teams: Mauricio Lemos (las Palmas), Sanabria (Betis), Angulo (Granada), Keko (Malaga), Jose Naranjo (Celta), Andone (Depor)
True, Denis Suarez is a great signing for Barca. But I can't see Gomes be in the first eleven, except for when Rakitic needs a rest. The rest of their signings will either need some time to adapt to la liga, in which I doubt they will be given since none of them are first eleven players. But time will tell if my doubts are righteous.
I didn't mean Sampaoli is exactly like Guardiola, hence psudeo-guardiola football not pure guardiola football. But true, I am maybe unfair. The way Chile played under him was different, however, the way we tried to play vs real madrid in the super cup was not fun to whatch; as if whatching elephants trying to behave like tigers. Elephants should play like elephants!
I admit that I enjoyed the way Chile played under Sampaoli, but keep in mind that South American players always tend to overachieve when they put on their national shirt. Not taking credit from Sampaoli, Chile's high pressure and intense football was (and still is) great. But there is no doubt that his intentions with Sevilla is towards more possession based football and high pressure. Hopefully Sampaoli tries to convert Sevilla into what his Chile was, and not as the tendencies we saw in the Super Cup vs. Real Madrid, or anything near tiki taka. The big issue right now is that we aren't a team yet, and it will take time until the players play more united, and it is all due to the fact of so many signings and such. I believe that is the reason of why the positioning in the defence been so awful vs real and barca (espacially since real madrid were not playing good at all), and could also explain why the team have struggled to get some shots towards the target in these 3 games.
Celta will definately be much worse without Nolito, however, can't count them out as being that 'annoying team that you always lose points against' for all the clubs in the league
, and they got just as much potential as Villarreal I think (yes, I am aware that I am praising Celta very much now). With that said; it is important that players like Guidetti and Beauvue takes further steps this year. Yeah, Espanyol got the oldies, you expressed it quite nicely
but those signings would not have been made if it wasn't for the investor. They are right now in the same position as what Malaga was before the andalucian's CL campaign; they try to build a top-10 position this season, and then aim fot Europe season after. Although, wouldn't surprise me if the investor loses interest, or would turn out to be a fraud, halfway through the project - exactly as the case was for Malaga, and as it is for Valencia with Peter Lim. I have no idea about the players you mentioned, except for Sanabria and Keko. But I will keep my eyes open!
Betis are doomed no matter what they do, or who they sign, feels like they are changing their chairman every week, lot of issues in that club. Las Palmas were great in the spring and will probably continue to be annoying to be up against during this season, and Deportivo hired Paco Jemez as their new head coach (speaking of Guardiola). I really don't get why he got such good reputation, I think he is crazy, not bielsa-crazy, but ridiculously obsessed with high defence. Because there is courageous managers, then there is plain stupidity, I see Jemez to be part of the second group. I think he did a poor job with Rayo and I expect another year of relegation battle for Deportivo, espacially because the hired this guy.Definitely, Gameiro & Krychowiak are big changes to recover from - but remember this team will look & play differently too. On the flip side both are going to really provide something great to their new respective clubs, Atletico & PSG
Except these new signings aren't/weren't intended to be first choice additions but rather depth so that they don't run out of gas at the worst possible time of the season, like last year. In that regard, this is the deepest team I've seen at Barcelona since I started watching nearly 20 years ago.
I didn't mean Sampaoli is exactly like Guardiola, hence psudeo-guardiola football not pure guardiola football. But true, I am maybe unfair. The way Chile played under him was different, however, the way we tried to play vs real madrid in the super cup was not fun to whatch; as if whatching elephants trying to behave like tigers. Elephants should play like elephants!
This is the question many ask of Sampaoli, is he suited to be a club coach since his experience outside of the NT has been fairly unremarkable.
Paco is an excellent coach who has never had a budget but Granada (Not Deportivo) should provide more resources to do better than he did at Rayo with all that cash Chinese investment should eventually provide
This is embarrassing, and all these 3 months I took for granted that he was Deportivo's manager ! Nevertheless; I disagree, I see him as the Roberto Martinez of La Liga.
Fully aware of why barca bought those players. Umtiti, digne or Gomes are better subs than the bench of last year, although atletico have also strengthen their squad, real madrid have extended their sub alternatives as well. I honestly believe if atletico avoid the slow start as they had last year, then the league is theirs. I would have said real madrid, but the club world cup will probably take its toll.
And now you are exaggerating slightly bit in terms of depth
; the team guardiola had 2008/09 - 2011 had more depth on every department, and similar quality trio up front in Eto'o, Messi, Henry. Possibly best depth barca squad had for 5 years, but similar statement goes for real madrid and atletico.Umtiti and eventually even Digne have the potencial to become starter. Gomes and Suarez will only be for the roatation, but they free up Arda to play further up front. Additionally I don´t rate Sergi Roberto in central midfield and he doesn´t need to play there with those two guys as alternative. They have just no weakness in their squad unless two of Messi, Neymar and Suarez are getting injured.
I am not sure about Paco. He clearly made some crazy decisions last season and paid the price. They shouldn´t have been relegated. Not sure if that makes him a terrible manager.
I am not sure about Paco. He clearly made some crazy decisions last season and paid the price. They shouldn´t have been relegated. Not sure if that makes him a terrible manager.
Or we could say you don't really know Paco much less where he's coaching
You say fully aware yet you said it would be difficult for Gomes to get into the first XI? Kinda contradicting yourself
Barcelona won the Club World Cup, in December when there aren't any Primera matches and it's only 2 matches. So if 2 extra matches takes it's toll on RM in late December, well then they're weaker than even I believe they are
And now you are exaggerating slightly bit in terms of depth
Pep's 08-09 team had Bojan as a backup striker and as good as Samu, Henry & Messi were MSN is the best attacking trident ever, IMO. Rafa Marquez & Sylvinho were the defensive depth. Today they have legitimate backups 2 deep for the back line - Pique, Alba, Digne, Umtiti, Mascherano & Mathieu...plus, I think Marlon Santos will move up to the first team based on what he has shown in preseason. Yaya rotated with Busquets or Keita, when he wasn't playing as a central defender otherwise there was Hleb who never played else it was Xavi & Iniesta in midfield. Comparing that to today where Lucho has Denis Suarez, Gomes, Roberto, Rafinha, Arda, Rakitic, Iniesta, Busquets & potentially Samper - it's incredible depth in midfield that they have not had in any time I've been a fan. Pinto was a terrific backup but Bravo/Mats better but we'll have to see what they replace Bravo with. They've simply never had this much depth in every position other than perhaps forward and while Munir is promising he is likely going to make way for a more experienced goalscorer to give a rest to the starters.
Villarreal are fcked, Bailly and Denis Suárez are huge loses (the steel and creativity of last season, respectively), Soldado out for half the season and to top it off they fired "miracle-worker" Marcelino less than a week before a crucial 1st leg of the CL play-off, which they then duly lost (1-2 at home to Monaco)... even though they generally played pretty well they got countered to death thanks to some catastrophic errors by their new signing N'Diaye (at CB, but was a MF at Betis, I thought). They brought in loads of new players as well, a very interesting one in Pato who could perhaps re-flourish in Villarreal's system... Roberto Soriano, a solid MF from the looks of it, and Sansone, forward, will need to break the curse of Italians in Spain (and vice versa).
Sevilla is 50/50, so much new players, new coach, new ideas. Impossible to predict, but safe to say that their impact in the CL will depend hugely on the luck of the group stage draw.
Celta w/o Nolito will struggle for goals, he was such an integral part of their offense, build-up, final ball, finishing...
Valencia are a mess, again, still, take your pick.
Athletic are ridiculously dependent on Aduriz' form, hope they do well.
The fight for the 4th CL spot is looking as unpredictable as ever. On a semi-related note, I think this will be a poor season for La Liga in Europe apart from the Big Three... by the time that Villarreal and Sevilla have come to terms with their new situation it will already be too late in my opinion, mostly because of the change in managers.
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@Skorenzy It looks like Villarreal are already out of Europe after losing 1-2 at home to Monaco i can't see them turning it around. They're done. Really unfortunate that on top of the last minute managerial change they are also missing key players like Bakambu, Cheryschev, Soldado, Jonathan to injuries. Just a terrible terrible start to the season.
Yes, fully aware that the purpose of this signing is not intented to put him in the first eleven. Gomes is suppose to play when the ideal players (Rakitic, Iniesta, Busquets) needs some rest. The reason of why Umtiti, Gomes, Digne and so forth, were signed is to increase the depth of the team, and to not find yourself in the similar situation as in mid-spring, when the team was tired and you had no quality to bring in from the bench, quality to rotate the ideal first eleven players with, which you had to pay for in the run of Villarreal, el clasico, valencia, and atletico in cl in between those games.
I rate MSN higher too, BUT. Comparing MSN with what Henry, Messi and Eto'o accomplished would be like splitting hairs. As if comparing Baresi with Maldini; whoever you'd pick at the height of their career, you would still get a world class defender - in this case world class tridente. My point is that Pep also had a world class trio up front, and the team backing up that trio had more depth than what Enrique has got. Does not necessarily exclude the fact that Enrique's Barca got depth now, (in fact the opposite, it got depth), but I believe Pep's team had more depth, espacially in leaders. For instance; the core and spine of barca today is Messi, iniesta, Busquets, Mascherano and Pique. Same spine core was back then (the squads pep had 08/09 until 2011, as mentioned in my original post), and add Xavi and Puyol to it. Although, Mascherano did have a slow start, but came back extremely well. Marquez, Gabi Millito and Sylvinho were all characters with leadership skills (the 08/09 squad) who were benched or rotated in, Toure was stepped aside for Busquets during his last spring for Barca, Caceres entered Barca after proving himself at Recreativo (I think it was Recre), and Keita was Sevilla's best player the season before he paid to join Barca, whereas Dani Alves, Sevilla's captain at that time, also joined in, and Abidal was a character as well. The team Barca got now is interesting, and Enrique's team have been interesting ever since the beginning, but I rate Pep's material a bit higher than what Enrique got today. With that said, lets agree to disagree. I can't help but to feel that we are possibly splitting hairs about these different generations of barca as well.
You are allowed to believe and think anything; you are entitled to have your own opinion, which brings me to following segment;
We? Are there two of you?
My opinion is based on his period at Rayo. I had no idea it would provoke you to the point of being condescending, whether you have a personal relationship with Paco or if you just having a bad day; at some point you have to realise that people are entitled to have their own opinon on opinion based matters, and accept that not everyone will have the same opinion as you.
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why did they sack Marcelino and do they already have a new manager?
Injuries and the whole chaos with the manager might take its toll in the short run (e.g. missing out on the CL and dropping some points) but they´ll be okay in the long run. Their squad is pretty solid and at least they tried to replace the players that they sold (compared the Celta/Sevilla).
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@SfcNervion I already like you. Keep on posting
Match 1 | 20/21 August
Arda with the 1st goal.
he already looks like a different player this season.
he already looks like a different player this season.
Rubén Castro with a beauty of a fk. 1-1
Bravo could've done better, watching the replay.. he got done by the power of it but on his side
Bravo could've done better, watching the replay.. he got done by the power of it but on his side
You know he'll do it but you can't stop it
Brilliant goal by Messi
Brilliant goal by Messi
Also hit the post once and few more of his signature passes. He looks angry this season.
Suarez at his best
Suarez at his best
He's been poor that marvellous finish aside... struggling to trap a ball or complete a simple five-yard pass.
Sergi Roberto doing well getting up and down the wing, making a good case for making that spot his. (Not that Aleix Vidal has so far made that decision difficult for Lucho in any way).
Messi's goal was good. Powerful curler.
Not unusual for him. His touch/passing is not the best of his skills. Seen too many matches where he would simply suck at normal stuffs, then suddenly finishing with an outrageous goal. I kind of expect him to have bad touches/passes in almost every match.
His trademark goal... he used to do them all the time until a few years ago. He's got (at least) 40 goals in open play from outside the box for Barça, more than Cristiano who is more renowned for long shots in popular belief.
Yeah, but today it was noticeably worse I felt. In the end it doesn't matter that much right now but when he has a relative dry spell (like in March-April last season) it can't happen.
Nice!
Woooooo!!!
5-1. Messi
5-1. Messi
Oh look, another thrashing by Barca.
Suarez again, and then another from Messi
Messi is unusually active/enraged for the first game of the league
Messi is unusually active/enraged for the first game of the league
Wow Messi
Disgraceful league.
Banega is a level above Vazquez, IMO.
Messi looking great today.
Oh look Danny with his usual pish posts about La Liga, should be banned from La Liga threads, boring as feck.
Messi looking great today.
Oh look Danny with his usual pish posts about La Liga, should be banned from La Liga threads, boring as feck.
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