La Liga 2017/18

Draconifire said:
Ya, he seems to be not mentally fit and it does reflect when he's on the pitch. Doesn't help when the crowd boos him (which is despicable), at least the team and the manager is actively behind him. Hopefully, he bounces back, or else this is just the start of the end of his career here in Barca.
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he just confirmed what we all see when he is in the pitch. He looks stressed. He seems to be more aware of not messing up than of playing football.
Regardless of this interview he should leave in summer.
His situation reminds me a bit of Illarramendi
 
Didn't Portuguese users say he's pretty good for the NT (something on the lines of "currently our best midfielder")? Or am I mistaken there?
 
He's just playing at a club above his skillset.

He never particularly impressed me at Valencia tbh.
 
Betis are in contention for a place in the Europa League after beating Alaves away. Their style of football is finally paying off :D
 
Migo said:
Iniesta back to training with the group and has a very good chance to play against Chelsea.
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How though? He is surely going to be playing through a hamstring injury, hopefully he doesn't wreck himself even more.
 
Twiggy said:
How though? He is surely going to be playing through a hamstring injury, hopefully he doesn't wreck himself even more.
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Not sure, maybe his injury was not that serious after all. They need him against Chelsea, he really dominated the midfield for the 30 mins he played against Atletico Madrid.
 
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Synco said:
Didn't Portuguese users say he's pretty good for the NT (something on the lines of "currently our best midfielder")? Or am I mistaken there?
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You are mistaken.
 
PedroMendez said:
Dunno. Usually the team plays terrible, while the defense is a clown-show. Yesterday, Sevilla played better than Valencia, but the defense still fecked up. Valencia was bad but efficient.

The results actually hide how terrible this team is. Surviving the CL-group, reaching the copa final and sitting as 5th in la liga are hardly reasons to be concerned. Yet usually the performance on (and off!) the pitch is genuinely awful.

Does anyone have faith, that Montella is the right manager? I don't think so.

Additionally the transfers business is baffling. Why did Arias sign Arana during the winter-break for 11m? Whats the point of Roque Mesa (fortunatly only a loan)? Layun is hardly the answer to any problem either. And whats the point of Sandro? Did Arias talk to the manager before signing any of those players? Montella clearly doesn't fancy Arana and Roque Mesa (who is a fine player) while Sandro is not useful starting out wide. All of these transfers and the signing of Montella are so random. I was very much in favor of signing Berizzo last summer, but it turned out that his tactics didn't work with this squad at all. A competent DoF could have and should have figured this out, when meeting him. Not every manager is a good fit for every club.


Whats happening on the pitch is the consequence of a haphazard decision making from the board&the DoF. I am not confident, that they have learned from their mistakes.
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Hope Montella was taught a lesson. Muriel over Ben Yedder? Pff..
 
Peyroteo said:
Benzema's and Ronaldo's average position on the pitch is pretty much the same so far this season, Benzema being a 10 and Ronaldo a striker is a myth. Cristiano as a lone striker doesn't work and Madrid need forwards that can actually score goals. Ronaldo will be 34 next season, if he's rested for a few games or if he goes on a slump without scoring there needs to be someone else that can actually put the ball in the back of the net.

I'm a fan of Benzema actually, I think Madrid would be making a mistake by spending loads of money on Kane and putting Benzema on the bench but the guy seriously needs some competition. You keep claiming Morata was a disaster with Ronaldo but he scored a bunch of goals and they won the league and the CL, someone like Morata to rotate with Benzema is exactly who they need and not replacing the goals he scored last season was the stupidest thing they did.
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It's true that Cristiano isn't capable to play with his back towards the goal (a requirement to play as a target man), but that doesn't automatically mean that he can't be defined as a #9. Cristiano is usually the most advanced player in Real Madrid and his anticipation/movement inside the box to score one-touch goals is absolutely outrageous good. Cristiano is no longer a winger, but has successfully transformed into a fenomenal poacher.

Regarding the bold sententence, I'll just leave this...

There are some intriguing stats from last season that shows that attacking duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata didn't quite have the same effect as the partnership of Portuguese and Frenchman had.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the main threat that Real Madrid possess against the opposition when going forward. For an attacking player to do well at Los Blancos, it is vital that he links up well with the four-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Spanish international played 43 matches (19 starts and 24 appearances as a substitute) for Real Madrid in 2016-17. He was able to score 20 goals and provide 2 assists in these fixtures.

Morata scored 11 goals in Cristiano's absence while attempting 39 shots towards goal. Whereas, when Morata and Ronaldo started together (8 games), the Spaniard was able to net only 2 goals while trying 14 shots.

Surprisingly, Ronaldo also scored just 3 goals when he played alongside Morata in 8 of his starts. So, the pair scored 0.625 goals per game. These are unquestionably some poor numbers which not only insinuates that Morata failed to link up with the Portuguese, but even the Madrid number 7 wasn't really at his best with Morata by his side.

Over the past few years, Cristiano Ronaldo is cherishing the central role at Real Madrid. Due to a slight drop in his pace and dribbling efficiency, the 4-time Ballon d'Or winner has started to spend most of his time inside the penalty box, so that he can keep on scoring goals at a brisk rate. He certainly plays like a striker nowadays, so a traditional striker like Benzema and Morata has to drop onto the wings on certain occasions.

For a traditional striker like Alvaro Morata, doing that sacrificial role might have proved to be difficult. However, we have seen in last few seasons that Benzema doesn't mind doing that. Not only does he enjoys that role, he also does it while having an enormous impact on the game.

It might be cruel to judge Morata, who apparently had less game time with Cristiano than Benzema did to form such sort of a connection. Although, like most of the strikers, the Spaniard wants to be the key player for his side.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/the-reason-why-real-madrid-kept-benzema-and-sold-morata
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People should keep in mind that Benzema is more of a service man for CR7/Bale rather than having the main task to score a tons of goals.

9 years and counting...
 
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El Pasillo said:
It's true that Cristiano isn't capable to play with his back towards the goal (a requirement to play as a target man), but that doesn't automatically mean that he can't be defined as a #9. Cristiano is usually the most advanced player in Real Madrid and his anticipation/movement inside the box to score one-touch goals is absolutely outrageous good. Cristiano is no longer a winger, but has successfully transformed into a fenomenal poacher.

Regarding the bold sententence, I'll just leave this...
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Cristiano isn't a poacher or a striker and you can check their average positions on sofascore. Benzema and Ronaldo average about the same positions on the pitch. Ronaldo plays as a striker when Benzema isn't on the pitch.

Morata and Ronaldo didn't work very well together as a partnership but Real Madrid absolutely need a player like Morata, that's what I'm saying. Ronaldo is out of the team or he goes a few games without scoring and what happens? The current striker can't buy himself a goal. Benzema has 17 goals since the start of 2017. Seventeen. Most of those in easy games or at unimportant times. That's not bad, that's beyond horrible. And I realize I'll never convince you of that and you'll go on another tangent but come on... They need another good goalscorer in the team regardless of how him and Ronaldo play together.

I'm one of the minority who actually thinks Benzema should keep his place as a striker, I am very aware of how important he is.
 
Peyroteo said:
Cristiano isn't a poacher or a striker and you can check their average positions on sofascore.

Morata and Ronaldo didn't work very well together as a partnership but Real Madrid absolutely need a player like Morata, that's what I'm saying. Ronaldo is out of the team or he goes a few games without scoring and what happens? The current striker can't buy himself a goal. Benzema has 17 goals since the start of 2017. Seventeen. Most of those in easy games or at unimportant times. That's not bad, that's beyond horrible. And I realize I'll never convince you of that and you'll go on another tangent but come on... They need another good goalscorer in the team regardless of how him and Ronaldo play together.
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He definitely is. Cristiano is hardly being involved in the build-up procces for Madrid nowadays since there's other players who can take care of that area. Obviously, Cristiano doesn't move outside the penalty box for 90 mins but he usually stays there when Madrid have the possession.

I'm not sure why you still keep that when I've already pointed out that Benzema has been RM's joint best assist provider and has been indirectly involved for many, many more goals. Besides, Benzema has only taken a grand total of 40 shots (1.8 shots/game) in LaLiga alone according to WhoScored and we're at the end of this season. Which is ridiculously low for someone who's claimed to be a "striker" whereas Cristiano, Kane, Lewy etc. averaging 5+ shots per game.
 
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El Pasillo said:
People should keep in mind that Benzema is more of a service man for CR7/Bale rather than having the main task to score a tons of goals.

9 years and counting...
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This is true but that shouldn‘t exclude him from being questioned. Even if we accept Ronaldo continuing at Madrid as premise, which I wouldn‘t btw, then there must be other strikers capable of forming that snythese with him. Kane for instances has all the abilities needed in him, hold-up play, movement, passing and intelligence question is whether he can and more importantly whether he wants to transform his style of play in that direction. Who else can I come up with, Griezmann? Firmino? Max Kruse? (just kidding)
 
K2K said:
Congrats

As painful as that is to type.

You were the better side tonight. Get rid of that Muriel guy though.
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Thanks:) Muriel, Vazquez, and several more needs to leave our club; but Montella is unfortunately in love with them. Can you imagine Muriel is the most expensive transfer in our history? :wenger:
 
SfcNervion said:
Thanks:) Muriel, Vazquez, and several more needs to leave our club; but Montella is unfortunately in love with them. Can you imagine Muriel is the most expensive transfer in our history? :wenger:
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Thats shocking.

He doesn't look good enough at all. The guy that came in for him looked decent.

Anyhow, all the best for the next stage. If you face Liverpool, please embarrass them again.
 
K2K said:
Thats shocking.

He doesn't look good enough at all. The guy that came in for him looked decent.

Anyhow, all the best for the next stage. If you face Liverpool, please embarrass them again.
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It sure is. Ben Yedder has the habit of being vacant during most games - but he scores, which is his job. He has been in form when it comes to the Champions League - yet Montella prefers the players from Serie A (Vazquez and Muriel) instead of the players that make points, such as Ben Yedder.

Haha, I am not sure if I'd like Sevilla to face Liverpool again. It feels like the world tries to set up opportunities for them to finally get their revenge :lol:

But to be fair, it doesn't matter who we face, we are the worst team in the quarter finals. So we got nothing to lose...Although, avoiding Bayern, Barca or City would save us much embarrassment...
 
SfcNervion said:
It sure is. Ben Yedder has the habit of being vacant during most games - but he scores, which is his job. He has been in form when it comes to the Champions League - yet Montella prefers the players from Serie A (Vazquez and Muriel) instead of the players that make points, such as Ben Yedder.

Haha, I am not sure if I'd like Sevilla to face Liverpool again. It feels like the world tries to set up opportunities for them to finally get their revenge :lol:

But to be fair, it doesn't matter who we face, we are the worst team in the quarter finals. So we got nothing to lose...Although, avoiding Bayern, Barca or City would save us much embarrassment...
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Yet you were confidently a better team that us. Says a lot about this United side.

You guys have little to lose. Enjoy the ride.
 
Synco said:
Okay, thanks. Was unsure because I somehow remembered it, but it seemed, well, out of character.
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No worries. He usually begins in the starting XI but as the tournaments progress he ends up on the bench not being used at all. Fernando Santos likes him but he doesn't translate that trust in good performances on the pitch. André Gomes does look like he has ability, he showed that at Valência but mentally he looks like weak player who sometimes gives up too soon. Maybe he can adress those issues now that he talked about it in his last interview. At least the Barcelona supporters who usually boo him, gave him some support last night.
 
SfcNervion said:
It sure is. Ben Yedder has the habit of being vacant during most games - but he scores, which is his job. He has been in form when it comes to the Champions League - yet Montella prefers the players from Serie A (Vazquez and Muriel) instead of the players that make points, such as Ben Yedder.

Haha, I am not sure if I'd like Sevilla to face Liverpool again. It feels like the world tries to set up opportunities for them to finally get their revenge :lol:

But to be fair, it doesn't matter who we face, we are the worst team in the quarter finals. So we got nothing to lose...Although, avoiding Bayern, Barca or City would save us much embarrassment...
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We were truly terrible. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the CL, I wish it was us in your position :(.
 
SfcNervion said:
It sure is. Ben Yedder has the habit of being vacant during most games - but he scores, which is his job. He has been in form when it comes to the Champions League - yet Montella prefers the players from Serie A (Vazquez and Muriel) instead of the players that make points, such as Ben Yedder.

Haha, I am not sure if I'd like Sevilla to face Liverpool again. It feels like the world tries to set up opportunities for them to finally get their revenge :lol:

But to be fair, it doesn't matter who we face, we are the worst team in the quarter finals. So we got nothing to lose...Although, avoiding Bayern, Barca or City would save us much embarrassment...
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It cracks me up that this Jekyll and Hyde Sevilla managed to reach the quarters, during the Alves and Kanoute days, you guys had a much better side.

It's a bit like Lyon never really made a dent in the CL during their Ligue 1 winning days but were somehow in the semis in 2010, when those league winning players like Juninho were well past their prime
 
I didn't know that Real are going to eliminate the running tracks.It will be much better,with an atmosphere as the old Atocha
 
Depor-Las Palmas coming up in five minutes, you with me Yagami? ;)

Pretty much the last chance for both with Levante unexpectedly winning their last two so they're now 7 points clear of bottom 3.
 
Halihovic (remember him) with a nice goal.

Early lead for las Palmas.
 
Aboutreika18 said:
It cracks me up that this Jekyll and Hyde Sevilla managed to reach the quarters, during the Alves and Kanoute days, you guys had a much better side.

It's a bit like Lyon never really made a dent in the CL during their Ligue 1 winning days but were somehow in the semis in 2010, when those league winning players like Juninho were well past their prime
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@Aboutreika18 Yeah, it is kind of Sevilla in a nutshell, really. We are a good roller coaster in every season.:):lol: Last season we over-achieved during autumn - then during spring the players were suffering from intrigues, clash with fans, and a coach that openly was longing for leaving Sevilla - and on top of that the players were physically out of shape before February ended. What I am trying to say is that we had worse team last year, compared to this season. On paper, this team has better depth in every position in the midfield, and wing back positions, whereas the other positons are as poor as last season. But, we have had a lousy season despite being on fifth place - this team should perform much better. The only bright thing this season has been beating Atletico in the Copa del Rey and reaching the quarters in CL, for the first time in 60 years. Else, we are just waiting for this shit season to end...

@haram
Thanks :)

@PedroMendez
Buddy, do you think we will be able to keep our dignity vs Bayern?:lol:
 
I think the distance with Levante is too much.
Depor would need a miracle.
Depor were considered in the past a "equipo ascensor"(an elevator team),jumping from primera to segunda in a short time,but this time will be really difficult.
Hopefully they won't collapse in segunda, ending up like Hércules, Elche or Murcia.
I think I would sack Seedorf to try with someone like David Vidal
 
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