La Liga 2017/18

Vato said:
No idea mate, my memory is awful aswell for these things. I know that by the end of his career he had the supporters pretty much divided.

I was glad when I saw him have a few good seasons at Schalke04 afterwards.
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Yeah, well that's why I've asked, i'm always amazed when people remember details of games played nearly twenty years ago. To me it just seems a blur, there's no way I could discern that stuff from this distance. I just remember Raul being considered a butt of all the jokes as a footballer for a prolonged amount of time.

There was a book i read at some point that actually claimed it was a masterstroke for Aragones to drop Raul, as far as i can recall the writer cited that he was at a different wavelength football wise with his teammates, and also some questionable off field behaviour was involved. Whether that was true in reality is anyone's guess.
 
De Portago said:
Wasn't there a quite prolonged period (say 2003-2006 or whereabouts, my memory might be failing me) during which Raul was playing very badly, and nowhere near a level that a club like Real would expect? Spain played two games against my home country in qualifications for WC 2006 and i remember being positively amazed at Raul scoring a great goal with a diving header, from the club games i watched during that period i have literally written him off as a player, he seemed he'd be better off taking a leave of absence. For my money he looked nowhere near the great player i remembered from say 1999-2002. Someone that actually watched more games of Real Madrid than me could give his opinion....
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During those years that you say Madrid was in a quite turbulent era, with many coaches coming and going. The pure era of galactic Madrid.
There were many systems and Raul delayed his position a bit. He lost a bit of speed and seemed for a time to be driven more than anything by his self-esteem. Keep in mind that like many players who debut very young (in his case with 17) he was a bit burned with 27/28.

During the last years he took care of himself (cameras, low temperatures and all those new systems), to try to prolong his career , he was also a very smart striker, which allowed him to face the whole competition.
 
carvajal said:
During those years that you say Madrid was in a quite turbulent era, with many coaches coming and going. The pure era of galactic Madrid.
There were many systems and Raul delayed his position a bit. He lost a bit of speed and seemed for a time to be driven more than anything by his self-esteem. Keep in mind that like many players who debut very young (in his case with 17) he was a bit burned with 27/28.

During the last years he took care of himself (cameras, low temperatures and all those new systems), to try to prolong his career , he was also a very smart striker, which allowed him to face the whole competition.
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I'm hardly in a position to doubt his quality, during the period in my life i watched most football games (98-02, coincides with high school period) he was great undoubtedly. I was somewhat annoyed at him for pipping Rivaldo two times for the Best league goalscorer title (i thought it'd be great for a winger to end up as being the best league goalscorer, but Raul was a goal ahead both times).

Afterwards it just seemed he'd dropped off a cliff, but there was a limited basis for that conclusion from my side (majority of RM games i've watched were in the CL). It was a big surprise for me that he eventually rebounded for that, and i give full credit to him. Someone like Torres for example didn't manage that.
 
He was great up until the final stages of 2003/04. Had a dip in the next two seasons (the "galaticidio" proper), then bounced back in 06/07 and 07/08(a loose definition of bounce back. He just wasn't as inconsistent and iirc by that point he'd already began being baùl for a section of fans) then fell off a cliff the final two seasons with us.

I was pissed at aragones for excluding him in 2006 and laughed when france dumped his ass out of the world cup. By 2008 it was the right decision though :(
 
15minutes for the final,Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Isco; Cristiano y Benzema.
 
Watched 15 minutes of city during half time. Holy fecking shit. Why aren't we playing like that :mad:
 
giorno said:
Watched 15 minutes of city during half time. Holy fecking shit. Why aren't we playing like that :mad:
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Because your coach's name is not Pep Guardiola. Anyway, you will win at the end I think. I doubt Gremio is better today than Las Palmas or Alaves.
 
giorno said:
He was great up until the final stages of 2003/04. Had a dip in the next two seasons (the "galaticidio" proper), then bounced back in 06/07 and 07/08(a loose definition of bounce back. He just wasn't as inconsistent and iirc by that point he'd already began being baùl for a section of fans) then fell off a cliff the final two seasons with us.

I was pissed at aragones for excluding him in 2006 and laughed when france dumped his ass out of the world cup. By 2008 it was the right decision though :(
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Thanks for clarifying, it seems my memory isn't that bad after all.
 
Alaves doing very well again, 0-0 at half time at Atletico Madrid.

Atletico really have seemed to regressed this season. I know they've obviously been a stingy outfit under Simeone but thought in recent years they were starting to steamroller bottom half clubs while obviously being more defensive against likes of Barca and Real.

Now they just seem to win 1-0 again with a late goal. Guess the move to the new stadium hasn't helped either.
 
Stuani at it again, 9th of the season for Girona.

Boro should've used him more last year.
 
Ha ha ! Las Palmas were 2-0 down at home to Espanyol. They draw level in the last 10 minutes and get a penalty in the 94th minute. They miss it with the last kick of the game! :lol:

It was a rubbish peno!
 
Great finish.

Quique would've been fired if that had gone in, even a draw may not be enough.
 
Let's see how Schär plays today, maybe he earns a move to Barcelona in a couple weeks :lol:
 
Suarez is just absolute and complete trash. Ruins every single attack.
 
Literally 3 things Suarez does in a match. Foul, stand offside, misplace a pass.
 
Barcelona are no better to watch than us nowadays in terms of aesthetics.

If they didn't have Messi, I think they'd struggle to hit top 4 in La Liga.
 
Suarez 1-0. The tap in is one thing he can still do.
The ball from Iniesta there :drool:
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
Barcelona are no better to watch than us nowadays in terms of aesthetics.

If they didn't have Messi, I think they'd struggle to hit top 4 in La Liga.
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What?!? They're playing some absolutely beautiful stuff here with Iniesta and Messi. Their play in 30 mins has been better than anything we have produced in ages.
 
Iniesta is absolutely turning it on today. His upturn in form this season after the last has been quite something.
 
Suarez heavily contesting Cristiano Ronaldo for the Tap'on d'Or 2017
 
wr8_utd said:
What?!? They're playing some absolutely beautiful stuff here with Iniesta and Messi. Their play in 30 mins has been better than anything we have produced in ages.
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They've played well today, but for the majority of the season, it's been bland imo.
 
it's been a while since Barca actually destroyed someone at Nou Camp. maybe they can finally score 4 or 5 tonight.
 
wr8_utd said:
Ronaldos overall play isn't even close to as bad as Suarez though.
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My overall play isn't even close to as bad as Suarez this year, and I'm getting fatter by the minute.

2nd post for Messi today :mad:
 
Iniesta and Messi hitting form jut in time for the clasico
 
Throwback fun fact: Ruben Martinez, Deportivo's GK today has a past in Barcelona, where he probably was born by black magic as a clone of Victor Valdes

ruben_martinez_deportivo_barcelona.png
 
I don't think Suarez is in the kind of form to justify tricks, just hammer it into the roof of the net, you clownshoe!
 
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