La Liga 2017/18

4 games into the season 2 penalties to Barça, 2 against Madrid, 2 red cards to Madrid and you come here and have the balls to cry about it? Not only that but most of those decisions were wrong and Pique just literally dived and won you a penalty 2 days ago! :lol: It's just unbelievable how deluded you are. Did they brainwash you or something like that because you're actually a good poster on any other subject.

That video you showed could easily be a penalty too :lol: Parejo's right leg kicks Marcelo's right leg so it's not like Marcelo is diving like the the guy you have upfront who you have no problem supporting every week despite him being probably the biggest cnut in the history of the game. Madrid will most likely win the league because they're the better team and even Barça fans agree with that, so just stop crying about it and worry about your team instead of creating conspiracies and excuses. Fans like you have almost stopped football from being enjoyable in Portugal, I'm not even sure these fans like football or you just watch it because you like crying and conspiracy theories.

Marcelo dived. Don't go full Cal.
 
Has it been 10 years already?! Time flies.

What a sad moment that was for Sevilla and for Spanish football as a whole.
Yes, I thought the same, 10 years although Sevilla still keep him very alive.
 
Barca have problems in midfield and defence, naturally they spent all the money on another attacker.
 
He fell easily and it's probably not a pen. He still got kicked in the leg though. Dive means there's no contact right?

That last part is funny coming from you.

No, dive means he dived to the ground. The contact didn't make him fall. He decided to fall. If I touch you with my pinky you aren't going to fall to the ground are you? Contact isn't everything.
 
No, dive means he dived to the ground. The contact didn't make him fall. He decided to fall. If I touch you with my pinky you aren't going to fall to the ground are you? Contact isn't everything.

He got kicked in the leg though, not touched by a pinky.



Check the angle at 13:38 and it's obvious. Probably a bit soft for a pen but he hit him in the leg pushing it backwards and made him fall. It's definitely not a dive
 
He got kicked in the leg though, not touched by a pinky.



Check the angle at 13:38 and it's obvious. Probably a bit soft for a pen but he hit him in the leg pushing it backwards and made him fall. It's definitely not a dive


The contact didn't make him fall though. Marcelo chose to fall. That's a dive.
 
The contact didn't make him fall though. Marcelo chose to fall. That's a dive.
I agree that it's not a penalty but if you go by your statement, we would see very few penalties in football.

You don't have to hack someone down for it to be given. Bringing someone off balance or just obstructing him is also a reason for penalties to be given.

Losing half a second due to whatever reason and your goalscoring chance is gone.
 
The contact didn't make him fall though. Marcelo chose to fall. That's a dive.

Parejo kicked his leg backwards, if it was enough to make him fall down or not isn't clear at all as kicking the leg before it landed might have been enough for him to lose his balance. I think that was too soft to be a penalty but I wouldn't say it's a dive either. Let's just agree to disagree.
 
I think Marcelo exaggerated the contact but, in the great scheme of things, I don't understand why people are choosing to believe we have been benefited from the refs so far in the season. It's been a couple of games only but what happened in the super cup is affecting us so far, we haven't been conceded pens or haven't been playing against 10 men so I really don't get what are some of you whining about.
 
The contact didn't make him fall though. Marcelo chose to fall. That's a dive.
If it's a foul then the dive doesn't matter. A dive should be considered when a player goes down without there being a foul anyways.

Having looked at it I feel it was definitely a foul. The ball isn't even close, he's just trying to stop Marcelo there.
 
Good move for Sevilla. If Geis gets back to his best, they have a good player on their hands.
 
So a short Sevilla update. Geis joined the team on a loan (+option to buy). Imo a very good move. He is a cm who is good on the ball and we have only banega (and n'zonzi) who fit this description. If he gets his career back on track sevilla can buy him for little money, otherwise arias can send him back.
The team looks like that atm:

Nolito/Correa-Muriel/BenYedder-Navas/Sarabia/Montoya

Banega/Geis/Ganso/Borja Lasso - Vazquez/Krohn-Dehli/Geis

N`Zonzi/Pizarro

Escudero - Kjaer/Lenglet - Pareja/Carrico - Corchia/Mercado

Sergio Rico/David Soria

My thoughts at the moment (I don't like some of berizzo's choices)
- Mercado seems to be the starting RB. I don't rate him at all.
- we need kjaer to step up and organise the defence. He showed positive signs, which gives me hope. Still the other CBs are injury prone and/or inconsistent. Kjaer performing will be vital for the season.
- no backup for Escudero, who is becoming one of our best players. Hopefully Sarabia/navas can give him a pause from time to time.
- I don't like n'zonzi and Pizarro playing together. Both operate in similar areas. One is enough.
- ganso is shit and I don't see the point of him getting many games. Montoya is a mediocre workhorse. Both should have been sold but berizzo seems to like them. - Borja Lasso shouldn't start many games yet. I like him, but he needs more time.
- berizzo needs to find a midfield that works. He has many options and ganso, Montoya and Borja Lasso are not the answer to any question. N'zonzi (Pizarro), banega (Geis) + one of el mudo, kd or Geis should be the way forward.
- navas looks good, but nolito is off pace. Hopefully he just needs a bit more time after one year on the bench. Correa and Sarabia are imo good alternatives.
- one of the forwards needs to find the net. Muriel bottled a lot of chances, but he also showed some real quality. His overall game seems to be fantastic. So I am very hopeful that he'll come good with Ben yedder as solid option.
 
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@PedroMendez and @SfcNervion, what about Ganso? He has slipped a bit under the radar recently.

Sadly he slipped back onto the radar. Berizzo seems to see something in him. He can pick a good pass, but even after more than a year in la liga, he looks totally out of his depth. He just doesn't have the athleticism to compete in a major European league. He is so slow and so weak that anyone can just push him off the ball. Its pointless to be good on the ball when anyone can just take him out of the game by closing him down. The game is just too fast for him. Hopefully with Geis joining the team, his time in the pitch is going to be limited.
 
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Sadly he slipped back onto the radar. Berizzo seems to see something in him. He can pick a good pass, but even after more than a year in la liga, he looks totally out of his depth. He just doesn't have the athleticism to compete in a major European league. He is so slow and so weak that anyone can just push him off the ball. Its pointless to be good on the ball when anyone can just take him out of the game by closing him down. The game is just to fast for him. Hopefully with Geis joining the team, his time in the pitch is going to be limited.
Yeah, i do remember him being very slow to play football at a high level.
 
So a short Sevilla update. Geis joined the team on a loan (+option to buy). Imo a very good move. He is a cm who is good on the ball and we have only banega (and n'zonzi) who fit this description. If he gets his career back on track sevilla can buy him for little money, otherwise arias can send him back.
The team looks like that atm:

Nolito/Correa-Muriel/BenYedder-Navas/Sarabia/Montoya

Banega/Geis/Ganso/Borja Lasso - Vazquez/Krohn-Dehli/Geis

N`Zonzi/Pizarro

Escudero - Kjaer/Lenglet - Pareja/Carrico - Corchia/Mercado

Sergio Rico/David Soria

My thoughts at the moment (I don't like some of berizzo's choices)
- Mercado seems to be the starting RB. I don't rate him at all.
- we need kjaer to step up and organise the defence. He showed positive signs, which gives me hope. Still the other CBs are injury prone and/or inconsistent. Kjaer performing will be vital for the season.
- no backup for Escudero, who is becoming one of our best players. Hopefully Sarabia/navas can give him a pause from time to time.
- I don't like n'zonzi and Pizarro playing together. Both operate in similar areas. One is enough.
- ganso is shit and I don't see the point of him getting many games. Montoya is a mediocre workhorse. Both should have been sold but berizzo seems to like them. - Borja Lasso shouldn't start many games yet. I like him, but he needs more time.
- berizzo needs to find a midfield that works. He has many options and ganso, Montoya and Borja Lasso are not the answer to any question. N'zonzi (Pizarro), banega (Geis) + one of el mudo, kd or Geis should be the way forward.
- navas looks good, but nolito is off pace. Hopefully he just needs a bit more time after one year on the bench. Correa and Sarabia are imo good alternatives.
- one of the forwards needs to find the net. Muriel bottled a lot of chances, but he also showed some real quality. His overall game seems to be fantastic. So I am very hopeful that he'll come good with Ben yedder as solid option.


Mercado might not be great going forward but he's a fairly solid defender. In that regard you were spoiled with Mariano before.
Lenglet seems to be progressing nicely. Don't know how Kjaer will fare in Spain, but to be successful he'll have to cut down on his error-proneness.
Muriel never was and never will be a finisher like a Ben Yedder type so you should forgot about that line of thought already with him. He's not too prolific either but should get at least double figures still.
Nolito should be able to thrive in the conditions he has at Sevilla, but it seems to me the City adventure left him a bit less confident than before.

If Krohn-Dehli has fully recovered and can return to any sort of semblance of his previous form at Celta, you'll possess some fine and diverse MF options to pick from.
Only nitpick is I wasn't too impressed with Vázquez last season, knowing what he's capable of as a playmaker he just couldn't translate that to Sampaoli's system in the same way he did in Italy.
Am curious to see Geis in action.
 
Mercado is frequently struggling even defensively. Selling Mariano to use him would be a massive blunder. Hopefully corchia takes over after a couple of games. That said, I don't know him at all. Lenglet had some genuine shocker and his pre-season was hit-and-miss. He is progressing but he needs to cut out the games where he is just a walking error. He certainly needs someone solid next to him, so he can find consistency as well. He has potential and hopefully he can form a successful partnership a with kjaer (who had some good first games).
MKD had a very good pre season game and a stinker against getafe. First and foremost he needs to stay fit. Hopefully he doesn't get overburdened early in the season just to pick up injury after injury. Berizzo needs to limit his minutes during the first month.
With the system we play, the CF needs to score goals. Muriel is the record signing of the club. Hopefully they bought him for what he can become and not for what he did in the past.....otherwise that was a huge waste of money.

Vázquez was a playmaker in Italy? He didn't look like one at all for Sevilla. More like a player who excels without the ball.:confused:
 
So a short Sevilla update. Geis joined the team on a loan (+option to buy). Imo a very good move. He is a cm who is good on the ball and we have only banega (and n'zonzi) who fit this description. If he gets his career back on track sevilla can buy him for little money, otherwise arias can send him back.
The team looks like that atm:

Nolito/Correa-Muriel/BenYedder-Navas/Sarabia/Montoya

Banega/Geis/Ganso/Borja Lasso - Vazquez/Krohn-Dehli/Geis

N`Zonzi/Pizarro

Escudero - Kjaer/Lenglet - Pareja/Carrico - Corchia/Mercado

Sergio Rico/David Soria

My thoughts at the moment (I don't like some of berizzo's choices)
- Mercado seems to be the starting RB. I don't rate him at all.
- we need kjaer to step up and organise the defence. He showed positive signs, which gives me hope. Still the other CBs are injury prone and/or inconsistent. Kjaer performing will be vital for the season.
- no backup for Escudero, who is becoming one of our best players. Hopefully Sarabia/navas can give him a pause from time to time.
- I don't like n'zonzi and Pizarro playing together. Both operate in similar areas. One is enough.
- ganso is shit and I don't see the point of him getting many games. Montoya is a mediocre workhorse. Both should have been sold but berizzo seems to like them. - Borja Lasso shouldn't start many games yet. I like him, but he needs more time.
- berizzo needs to find a midfield that works. He has many options and ganso, Montoya and Borja Lasso are not the answer to any question. N'zonzi (Pizarro), banega (Geis) + one of el mudo, kd or Geis should be the way forward.
- navas looks good, but nolito is off pace. Hopefully he just needs a bit more time after one year on the bench. Correa and Sarabia are imo good alternatives.
- one of the forwards needs to find the net. Muriel bottled a lot of chances, but he also showed some real quality. His overall game seems to be fantastic. So I am very hopeful that he'll come good with Ben yedder as solid option.

Not true - we bought Lionel Carole on deadline day! Now Escudero got competition. And I am happy/hopeful about the Geis loan too. Think he could become important, especially since N'Zonzi is not motivated nowdays.

I agree though, with your summation on the whole squad...Especially on Ganso and Montoya. And our defence is really weak on paper, and we have defended quite awful as a team, in the previous games. But I guess it might look better when the team is starting to shape and puzzles are falling into right places.
 
El Mudo had one great season playing next to Dybala(it's easy to be good playing next to dybala) and one good season were the whole team was built around allowing as much freedom as possible and no defensive duties. He barely managed to keep them up. But yes, he was a playmaker, pretty good one too. Played as a creative, playmaking striker, with 8 other guys doing the running and defending and one guy who was supposed to convert the chances he created
 
There is an article in Marca about la liga losing quality. Although they could have written it in any other season.
They name the list of players that have left and the club spendings in the transfer market.
I guess that all the main leagues have spent more.
Atlético can't reach what Chelsea demand,Valencia fights until the last day to get a loan.And about Sevilla I don't know if they couldn't afford or didn't want to keep Nasri and Jovetic.
I would like to know what the usual viewers think after some weeks of competition.
 
There is an article in Marca about la liga losing quality. Although they could have written it in any other season.
They name the list of players that have left and the club spendings in the transfer market.
I guess that all the main leagues have spent more.
Atlético can't reach what Chelsea demand,Valencia fights until the last day to get a loan.And about Sevilla I don't know if they couldn't afford or didn't want to keep Nasri and Jovetic.
I would like to know what the usual viewers think after some weeks of competition.

I think that due to finances, we are and have been seeing a decline in the strength of La Liga.

Spanish teams do an incredible job with budgets between half and one-eight of their PL counterparts. But in elite sport, money is the key factor in the medium and long term.

Athletico's transfer ban reportedly stopped the league from losing one of its other gems, Griezmann (think he will leave next summer).

Real are the best team in Europe.

Barca, I think, have come back down to planet earth after a decade of greatness. I see them declining a bit. In today's market, it's incredibly hard to replace players like Iniesta and Neymar.

Those two eat too much of the pie in La Liga, financially. They should have much more even splits on the TV deal.
 
La Liga will be fine. The biggest asset in football is not money, but tomorrow's talent. What Spain should be doing is stop the way Spanish talent gets picked up by other teams from outside Spain. The laws are starting to work against Spanish teams and in favor of the ones who try to weaken them by getting their players.
 
Barsa and Real need to share more of the TV pie in order for La Liga to remain strong. There needs to be more competition at the top and the lower placed teams need help to hang on to their players.
 
There is an article in Marca about la liga losing quality. Although they could have written it in any other season.
They name the list of players that have left and the club spendings in the transfer market.
I guess that all the main leagues have spent more.
Atlético can't reach what Chelsea demand,Valencia fights until the last day to get a loan.And about Sevilla I don't know if they couldn't afford or didn't want to keep Nasri and Jovetic.
I would like to know what the usual viewers think after some weeks of competition.

Sevilla did not want to keep or buy Nasri, for reasons on and off the field, as well as his price. He had a good autumn, an awful spring. I am not sure why Sevilla haggled about Jovetic, because his price was not close to be as expensive as Muriel (for instance), I think it is also down to what Berizzo prefers (if the board asked him on his opinion between these two players). Despite Jovetic's great spring, I think they were still unsure what kind of an investment he could be in the long term, hence why Sevilla never went all in for him; while splashing the money on Banega, Muriel, Kjaer, Pizarro, etc.

Considering the 'La Liga is losing strength'... well, it is not wrong to claim that after Neymar gate. Real and Barca have weaker squad depths this year, no doubt. And other teams in Europe have taken huge important steps forward, which has made Champions League more unpredictible this year:) Although, Real's decrease in depth is deliberate, and instead they have planned for a long term approach. Evidenty however, the strength of La Liga is that the success of Atletico, Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Bilbao, have never been based on emuating Man City, Chelsea, or any other overly rich team. Atletico's transfer ban doesn't stop them to strenghten their squad, so don't let that fool anyone. Griezmann is staying, VITOLO(:mad:) is a great addition to their squad, and they did not go for 100% in the Costa negotiations, because they are unsure about how Costa's physical condition will be in January, since he is practicing on his own. So they are playing some kind of a wierd tactical game with Chelsea. They believe that the negotiations can might as well continue in January, it is not like Costa will be fully fit when he arrives either way. It is a bold game, and big risk that Costa ends up being the big loser here, if the ultimate negotiations falls down in January.

The dip La Liga may have in the future however, or this season, - as well as how long the dip might last - is purely based on the top (Real, Barca and Atletico). If the La Liga top decline, then naturally the league won't dominate Europe in the same manner, as all these 7-8 years (and for most of the 21st century). But the middletable teams will most probably remain around same level as they are now (both domestically and in Europe), in which the distance between the top and middle could become much more closer in La Liga, as it was around 2000-2007, as it has been in the Premier League post Fergie retirement (as the english top somehow became 'up for grabs').
 
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Sevilla did not want to keep or buy Nasri, for reasons on and off the field, as well as his price. He had a good autumn, an awful spring. I am not sure why Sevilla haggled about Jovetic, because his price was not close to be as expensive as Muriel (for instance), I think it is also down to what Berizzo prefers (if the board asked him on his opinion between these two players). Despite Jovetic's great spring, I think they were still unsure what kind of an investment he could be in the long term, hence why Sevilla never went all in for him; while splashing the money on Banega, Muriel, Kjaer, Pizarro, etc.

Considering the 'La Liga is losing strength'... well, it is not wrong to claim that after Neymar gate. Real and Barca have weaker squad depths this year, no doubt. And other teams in Europe have taken huge important steps forward, which has made Champions League more unpredictible this year:) Although, Real's decrease in depth is deliberate, and instead they have planned for a long term approach. Evidenty however, the strength of La Liga is that the success of Atletico, Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Bilbao, have never been based on emuating Man City, Chelsea, or any other overly rich team. Atletico's transfer ban doesn't stop them to strenghten their squad, so don't let that fool anyone. Griezmann is staying, VITOLO(:mad:) is a great addition to their squad, and they did not go for 100% in the Costa negotiations, because they are unsure about how Costa's physical condition will be in January, since he is practicing on his own. So they are playing some kind of a wierd tactical game with Chelsea. They believe that the negotiations can might as well continue in January, it is not like Costa will be fully fit when he arrives either way. It is a bold game, and big risk that Costa ends up being the big loser here, if the ultimate negotiations falls down in January.

The dip La Liga may have in the future however, or this season, - as well as how long the dip might last - is purely based on the top (Real, Barca and Atletico). If the La Liga top decline, then naturally the league won't dominate Europe in the same manner, as all these 7-8 years (and for most of the 21st century). But the middletable teams will most probably remain around same level as they are now (both domestically and in Europe), in which the distance between the top and middle could become much more closer in La Liga, as it was around 2000-2007, as it has been in the Premier League post Fergie retirement (as the english top somehow became 'up for grabs').

They don´t want to emulate them and I imagine that many fans would not want to see foreign capital either or at least to the point where fans have no control over the club.
The formula seems to work, a fairly good base of Spanish players, and a large number of South Americans, who usually perform very well, besides there is a good training/coaching system and a style of play that favors certain players. That is the good part, but it is also true that there is a constant bleeding of players which is very annoying for fans.
Maybe now people are scared because it has happened with Neymar, but every year many 7/10 level players leave la liga and I think a lot of them would prefer to play here if the clubs could match the wages, from stars like Alexis or Silva to others as Azpilicueta or Roque Mesa, although there are many examples.
As @KingMinger22 and @RoyH1 said maybe is time to do something with the tv deal, although I think that is a lost cause and I wonder if even sharing better the amount will be enough.
 
Barsa and Real need to share more of the TV pie in order for La Liga to remain strong. There needs to be more competition at the top and the lower placed teams need help to hang on to their players.

You should take a look at the TV pie before making ridiculous comments like the one you just did.

Firstly Barca and Real sell the league and secondly Barca and Real giving away 50 mil € each would add 5,5 mil € per season to each of the other 18 teams in the league. That wouldn't really help the other clubs but it would reduce financial strength of the big two, meaning it would reduce the financial strength of the whole league, which in the long run means the league would get less interesting because the best players would be playing elsewhere, which means the interest for the new TV deal would be smaller, which means all the teams would get even less money in the new smaller TV deal.

I know the whole football world is secretly hoping for it to happen so that maybe the rest can get a look in, but how about you try to get there on the football pitch for a change, because money game is the only game the EPL is playing at the moment.
 
You should take a look at the TV pie before making ridiculous comments like the one you just did.

Firstly Barca and Real sell the league and secondly Barca and Real giving away 50 mil € each would add 5,5 mil € per season to each of the other 18 teams in the league. That wouldn't really help the other clubs but it would reduce financial strength of the big two, meaning it would reduce the financial strength of the whole league, which in the long run means the league would get less interesting because the best players would be playing elsewhere, which means the interest for the new TV deal would be smaller, which means all the teams would get even less money in the new smaller TV deal.

I know the whole football world is secretly hoping for it to happen so that maybe the rest can get a look in, but how about you try to get there on the football pitch for a change, because money game is the only game the EPL is playing at the moment.
Grow up please. Ridiculous just because it doesn't fit your agenda? Im no PL apologist and I'm well aware of its fault and weaknesses, but the larger tv revenue available to small teams makes it more competitive than La Liga. La Liga's equivalent to Leicester could never in a million years win it. But it's precisely that unpredictability that is its forte.

It's obvious that it's Barsa and Real that sell La Liga,but you could say that it's the same for the PL just divided between 4 or 5 teams. It's not as if Burnley and WBA are the reason people tune in.
 
Grow up please. Ridiculous just because it doesn't fit your agenda? Im no PL apologist and I'm well aware of its fault and weaknesses, but the larger tv revenue available to small teams makes it more competitive than La Liga. La Liga's equivalent to Leicester could never in a million years win it. But it's precisely that unpredictability that is its forte.

It's obvious that it's Barsa and Real that sell La Liga,but you could say that it's the same for the PL just divided between 4 or 5 teams. It's not as if Burnley and WBA are the reason people tune in.

Another PL apologist.

Barcelona earns in TV money like Everton, and Real Madrid like Southampton (last season). In this century, there has been as many different teams winning La Liga as the premier league.

La liga money has 50% equally sharing, and 50% by position (five years with weighted accumulation (was it 30,25,20,15,10%? )).
Can be better, but by any means that unfair, like it was years ago.

The principal reason premier league win more than Spanish team is because premier league is worth more than double than the Spanish league (again, I remember something like 1.2 billions for la liga and 2.5 for premier).

To put an example, teams like Newcastle earns like 110 milion? In TV deals. Girona earned nearly 45. You double the quantity and you have 90 milions. 90 against 110. The PL is more fair, but not that much difference, eh?
 
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Another PL apologist.

Barcelona earns in TV money like Everton, and Real Madrid like Southampton (last season). In this century, there has been as many different teams winning La Liga as the premier league.

La liga money has 50% equally sharing, and 50% by position (five years with weighted accumulation (was it 30,25,20,15,10%? )).
Can be better, but by any means that unfair, like it was years ago.

The principal reason premier league win more than Spanish team is because premier league is worth more than double than the Spanish league (again, I remember something like 1.2 billions for la liga and 2.5 for premier).

To put an example, teams like Newcastle earns like 110 milion? In TV deals. Girona earned nearly 45. You double the quantity and you have 90 milions. 90 against 110. The PL is more fair, but not that much difference, eh?

Look at my posts in the past. Quite the contrary of a PL apologist. I've been vocal in saying La Liga has better football from top to bottom.
But even though the difference may not be as big as you say, it still ensures that smaller PL teams can hold on to players better than their Liga counterparts. The bleeding of medium level talent from La Liga is hurting them.
 
Look at my posts in the past. Quite the contrary of a PL apologist. I've been vocal in saying La Liga has better football from top to bottom.
But even though the difference may not be as big as you say, it still ensures that smaller PL teams can hold on to players better than their Liga counterparts. The bleeding of medium level talent from La Liga is hurting them.
I apologize as I haven't checked your other posts. However, the point is still the same. The economical bleed of talent in Spain is due to:
30% TV deal.
70% value of the league.

It would continue without a hitch with a better TV deal . Which is no excuse for a better deal, mind you. Heavy changes in Spanish federation are required, though, to change the value of the league.