La Liga 2017/18

Annihilate Now! said:
Madrids defending this year is a joke... much is being made of their misfiring attack, but jesus, some of their defending would make Arsenal defenders laugh.
Click to expand...

Madrid's defending has been a joke for a long time (they were bad at keeping clean sheets last season and just outscored the opponent). The only reason it wasn't more obvious is because refs refused to give Casemiro the correct warnings and so he would often make several yellow card challenges before a card, and sometimes escape an obvious second yellow.

Last season Madrid kept 10 clean sheets in the league, A.Madrid got 20 clean sheets, Barcelona got 13. Alaves, Sevilla, Espanyol, Villareal, Bilbao all kept more clean sheets than them.
 
Last edited:
Seij said:
If Real wins the CL again, then I think he'll get to keep his job. You never know because they always seem to step up and grind out wins in the CL in the past few years.
Click to expand...
Aye, but think PSG have the beating of them. The wheels are slowly falling off, that squad needs rejuvenating.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Madrids defending this year is a joke... much is being made of their misfiring attack, but jesus, some of their defending would make Arsenal defenders laugh.
Click to expand...

Much has to be made of their attack, since 2009 which was Real worst recent year (Pre Florentino & Cristiano)

Real never failed to score more than 100 goals in a season for 8 straight years, they're on route to score ~70 goals right now, worse than that 2009 season they started with Schuster.
Real have been a ~1 goal conceded per game team for those same 8 seasons (bar Mourinho era, who lowered it a little), they're right now at 16 conceded in 17 games.

Defensively, their standard seems the same, I do believe that they were somehow better in the past, thanks to Pepe (who I regard highly) but stats prove otherwise, so I can't extend beyond a gut feeling right now, their attack is holding them down, right now Real Madrid are

1st in shots per game in La Liga (18.8) 3 more than the 2nd which is Barcelona
2nd in shots on target (6.9) 0.4 behind Barcelona

And we could think it's because they just shoot from distance and fail to get inside the area, but that's not true

MuMK6BK.png


Or the usual "well, that's because Ronaldo shoots a loot from outside the box", not anymore

4rqnf5t.png


Or the direct comparison between squads

BIoWNYO.png


End of the day Real and Barcelona show up in the enemy area around the same amount of time, but Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema and Asensio have failed to convert what Messi, Suarez and Paulinho do.

Mention to Isco too, who for all the amount of flak he gets from "slowing down the team" has the best conversion ratio in Real Madrid

CEF41BJ.png


And not only with Real Madrid, he's been on fire with Spain too lately, but somehow the idea of playing Isco as a false 9 has flown over Zidane's head for months, when it's something he did fairly good even in his debut with Real Madrid back in 2014. If a guy that's been in hot scoring form for almost 8 months doesn't get to play further in the pich with Zidane while Benzema gets minutes without converting and Ronaldo keeps shooting and shooting without success... then you can expect them to keep bleeding points until Ronaldo returns to scoring form or they sign the next hot thing.
 
Last edited:
africanspur said:
I love Poch but I don't think he'd be a good fit for Real at all tbh. Like, at all, it is potentially the worst of the super clubs he could eventually end up at.

Bayern, Man Utd, would be much better suited.

At Real? I think he'd be swallowed alive in the club politics and I also am not convinced that their dressing room would listen to him the way ours does either.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you are right. Can see him going back to Spain one day though.
 
Real underestimated the loss of Pepe (I think James' loss is overrated and Morata I still not sure if he would always work a simple sub) and the defence clearance he gives to defence mates.
Ramos is super error prone, Marcelo and Carvajal are attacking all the time and Casemiro is the only pure defensive player helping.
Real should have busted the bank for another WC defender to compete with Varane in the present.
 
Real's attack was build around the partnership of Christiano and Benzema. The later did all the dirty work, hold up, running, link up and chipped in a few goals, while CR7 scored for both.
Both fall off a cliff. Benzema is not only bottling it in front of the goal, but also lacks his overall contribution. Ronaldo isn't doing much when he can't score. The downturn of this partnership started a while ago.
For some time some quick fixes and adjustments regarding Ronaldos role allowed him to continue scoring, but now it's completely broken.
You never know in an on-off cup competition, but in the long run both need to be replaced/sidelined.
 
Camara said:
Real underestimated the loss of Pepe (I think James' loss is overrated and Morata I still not sure if he would always work a simple sub) and the defence clearance he gives to defence mates.
Ramos is super error prone, Marcelo and Carvajal are attacking all the time and Casemiro is the only pure defensive player helping.
Real should have busted the bank for another WC defender to compete with Varane in the present.
Click to expand...

Not just the level of the former players, their name carried weight, and that changed the flow of the dressing room.

If you benched Kroos or Benzema to give their spot to James/Morata they knew who those guys were, "Wait, this guy has been on fire at the top level, the press talk about him, fans love him, if he does well and I don't work harder I might lose my spot", that fuels a fire in players.
But now Benzema, Kroos or whoever won't feel like that "Oh, the coach benched me to put Mayoral in, way to go Zizou", they know its just a matter of time until they're back in the starting spot, even when Morata did better than Benzema he never got preference in the spot, and he was well regarded at continental level or even tore them a new one playing for Juventus, how is anyone going to believe that Zidane will bench Benzema 4 games in a row and give those minutes to the 2nd striker?.

Getting rid of Morata and Mariano without bringing someone famous enough to have a chance at the 9 spot will hurt Real for the rest of the season. Star power is everything in Real Madrid,
 
Ishdalar said:
Getting rid of Morata and Mariano without bringing someone famous enough to have a chance at the 9 spot will hurt Real for the rest of the season. Star power is everything in Real Madrid,
Click to expand...

It is a bit of a catch 22 situation. It is clear that for one reason or another Benzema basically has a guaranteed spot in the lineup. Morata has actually outplayed him for certain parts of last season, yet it was obvious come the crunch time who is going to be starting the games.

Thing is, the fact that Madrid had Isco, Rodriguez and Morata as bench options throughout the last season is an outlier, when was the last time something like that happened? It's easy to say, bring in replacements. Good luck finding a player of James' quality that is going to be content with 1400 minutes played, most of them either garbage, or used to pull chestnuts out of the fire when all else fails.
 
In Benzema's favour, he was amazing down the stretch last season. It was him who dug us out of a thorny hole at the calderon. He fully deserved his place

Problem is he's always been inconsistent, but in seasons past we had the continued brilliance of Cristiano to paper over the cracks, plus Bale and when Bale went down last season in stepped Morata to plug the hole. This season Cris has been almost as bad, Bale got injured and we had noone else to step up
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Madrids defending this year is a joke... much is being made of their misfiring attack, but jesus, some of their defending would make Arsenal defenders laugh.
Click to expand...
Sergio Ramos is an excellent footballer as a defender, but it's not very good at defending. I think it's the same with Varane. Dare to say that even with Smalling, their defence would be better.
 
So glad that Vietto had a good start for Valencia, there's no way this kid has forgotten to play football after that year with Villarreal.

Hope he destroys the league with Valencia, they pay the buy option (~13M) and Simeone gets exposed for the way he's unable to make these "flair" players shine
 
Isotope said:
Sergio Ramos is an excellent footballer as a defender, but it's not very good at defending. I think it's the same with Varane. Dare to say that even with Smalling, their defence would be better.
Click to expand...
Sergio when he's fully focused is one of the best defenders in the world, the problem is he has a tendency to switch off in "easy" games(and can't deal with the pressure in the clasico)

Varane on the other hand has not progressed as expected. He's also exceptional on his day but has too many mistakes in him and his tactical sense and decision making need improvement. Worse of all though, he's injury prone. Our biggest problem this season has been that too often we had to play with Nacho at CB, and he's simply not good enough there

Vallejo is also injury prone and still a bit too green, so he's not really an option as 3rd choice. We really need to sign a CB, De Vrij would be a good option given he's out of contract in 6 months, is solid, reliable, and a defensive leader. Alderweireld is another player we definotely should be looking at long and hard. Personally wouldn't have minded us splashing the cash on Van Dijk, but the muppet signing would be Koulibaly, who's been refined by one of the best tactical coaches in the world and is everything a big club needs in a CB
 
Ishdalar said:
So glad that Vietto had a good start for Valencia, there's no way this kid has forgotten to play football after that year with Villarreal.

Hope he destroys the league with Valencia, they pay the buy option (~13M) and Simeone gets exposed for the way he's unable to make these "flair" players shine
Click to expand...

To be fair he was pretty underwhelming with Sevilla too, wasn't he? But now with Marcelino again as his manager I can see him doing well at Valencia, he is clearly a talented player.
 
Pyroblazer said:
To be fair he was pretty underwhelming with Sevilla too, wasn't he? But now with Marcelino again as his manager I can see him doing well at Valencia, he is clearly a talented player.
Click to expand...

It's tricky, he barely got playing time since March the season before being there, he started playing with Sevilla and then after a bad streak he got benched, but he scored ~a goal every 2 games.

I think his problem is that he's not a really consistent player, he's streaky, really good when hot and usually got benched when cold, a guy like him could make use of playing 3000+ minutes after his breakout season, but now his progression has stalled for 3 years as I doubt he will be first option for the next months in a team with Zaza, Rodrigo and Mina.

In a way he reminds me of Ruben Castro (but better), you could see Castro's quality and that he just needed minutes and trust to reach his potential, but Deportivo deemed him as not worthy for 6 years, by the time Betis believed in him he was already 29, I fear Vietto will face the same situation for the next seasons and once he starts banging at 28 y/o someone would say "maybe we should've trusted this guy 8 years ago"
 
I know it didn't matter, but feck me, Real Madrid reserves can't even beat Numancia. Terrible form this season.
 
Barca vs Vigo on in the 2nd leg. First leg away finished 1-1.
Any idea when the draws and schedules for the next round are out?
 
MESSSIIII! 5 mins 2 goals. Both pretty much identical. Alba is absolutely brilliant! Really wish we'd signed him .
 
Messi makes it 1-0 , Alba with the the assist

Messi again 2-0 , Alba with the assist again
 
giorno said:
Sergio when he's fully focused is one of the best defenders in the world, the problem is he has a tendency to switch off in "easy" games(and can't deal with the pressure in the clasico)

Varane on the other hand has not progressed as expected. He's also exceptional on his day but has too many mistakes in him and his tactical sense and decision making need improvement. Worse of all though, he's injury prone. Our biggest problem this season has been that too often we had to play with Nacho at CB, and he's simply not good enough there

Vallejo is also injury prone and still a bit too green, so he's not really an option as 3rd choice. We really need to sign a CB, De Vrij would be a good option given he's out of contract in 6 months, is solid, reliable, and a defensive leader. Alderweireld is another player we definotely should be looking at long and hard. Personally wouldn't have minded us splashing the cash on Van Dijk, but the muppet signing would be Koulibaly, who's been refined by one of the best tactical coaches in the world and is everything a big club needs in a CB
Click to expand...
I agree, when focused Sergio is a hell of a defender. Physically strong, fast, good in the air, good on the ball, pretty complete if you ask me. But yes, he does switch it off from time to time. I agree with Varane too, the only thing lacking from his game at the moment is the tactical aspect. However when he does mistakes, he has the ability to recover and catch up to players so quickly. He's one of the fastest CB I've seen in a long time and practically unbeatable in a race for the ball.
 
Unbelievable how everything looks so easy for Messi. He is just on another level and his link up with Alba is fantastic.
 
Getafe 1-0 Malaga.

Didn't watch it but sounds as boring as the scoreline.

Seems to be that Spanish clubs are suddenly becoming more patient with managers than English ones. Everytime I watch Malaga I'm surprised when the camera pans on the bench and Michel is still there....seems like they've lost 100 games this season and their squad isn't that bad yet he keeps on getting game after game to try to turn it around.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
Malaga are surely going down this season. As last season, they do lack goals upfront.
Click to expand...

They have Borja on loan who was great at Eibar two years ago but his Swansea experience seems to have finished him off as a decent career. Other midfield options like Penaranda and Juanpi have stalled a bit or been injured.

Diego Rolan was a striker I liked at Bordeaux although he hasn't kicked on either.

I don't think it's a terrible squad compared to many in the bottom half, think they'd get some results if they made a managerial change so really surprised they've stuck with MIchel for so long.
 
Much too late I fear.

Looks like Las Palmas will be looking for another manager soon, they are dreadful.
 
Blimey Las Palmas. I was looking forward to seeing what Paco Jemez was going to do there (I loved his Rayo Vallecano side) but things aren't looking good. Hoping they turn it around as they have one of my favourite managers in Paco and one of my favourite players in Viera.
 
Girona beat Las Palmas 6-0, substitute Michael Olunga scored a hattrick, becoming the first Kenyan to score in La Liga. Think it was his debut.
Not looking good for Las Palmas
 
Yagami said:
Blimey Las Palmas. I was looking forward to seeing what Paco Jemez was going to do there (I loved his Rayo Vallecano side) but things aren't looking good. Hoping they turn it around as they have one of my favourite managers in Paco and one of my favourite players in Viera.
Click to expand...

Not a good fit. I follow Rayo and they were very unlucky to go down which hurt Paco's managerial career.

His sides are very open though in how they play (similar to Quique Setien teams) but Las Palmas already on a downward spiral and their defensive options are terrible.

Is Remy still there? They really should've picked up more points at the start when they had him and Vitolo upfront.
 
FootballHQ said:
Not a good fit. I follow Rayo and they were very unlucky to go down which hurt Paco's managerial career.

His sides are very open though in how they play (similar to Quique Setien teams) but Las Palmas already on a downward spiral and their defensive options are terrible.

Is Remy still there? They really should've picked up more points at the start when they had him and Vitolo upfront.
Click to expand...
I have to agree that, at this point in time, he wasn't the best choice. Last season I think he'd have done excellently with a confident squad who were already decent attack wise, but having him take over whilst sitting in the relegation zone was always going to be risky because his game, as you said, leaves them so open, and they aren't scoring enough to make up for that at the moment.

I believe Remy's injured at the moment. It didn't help losing Prince, Jesé and Roque Mesa pretty much all at once as well. Now Vitolo's gone, too.

I do agree that their defensive options aren't all that good but I've been very impressed with the young CB Lemos everytime I've watched them.

I'm hoping for the best but I think it's going to end with a Paco sacking and a Las Palmas relegation. :( If they do get relegated, I think plenty of clubs (including mine) could benefit from signing Viera and Lemos.
 
Can't believe Bonera is playing for Villareal.

He was playing in Seria A when I started watching it in 2001. Thought he'd retired ages ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.