Keep saying this all the time. He'll lead you forward, has his moments, scores his goals but he's such an average actual defender. There's always someone who has to cover for all his mistakes.
La Liga 2017/18
- Thread starter Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87
- Start date
It's just 8 points with 2 Classico's to go
Barca dropped a 10 point lead with 8 games to go and only finally won on the final day 2 seasons ago.
La Liga is better than the premiere league, people really underrate the bottom ten teams in La Liga, Barca lost a ton of points to bottom ten teams last season.
La Liga was decided in the last two weeks of the season 3 years in a row, outside of Leicester season, PL is usually decided by February.
Sunny SPL were the top teams aren't dominating like City huh ?
Good to see that Real hasn’t closed the gap this weekend despite the refs giving them another open goal. 
La Liga not being loaded with foreigners is a big reason why the Spanish NT is so much more stacked than England’s NT. Then again, if the Premier League had no foreigners, it would be on par with the Portuguese League in terms of quality.
That’s because nobody knows the players of the bottom La Liga teams, so they automatically assume that they are poor.
La Liga not being loaded with foreigners is a big reason why the Spanish NT is so much more stacked than England’s NT. Then again, if the Premier League had no foreigners, it would be on par with the Portuguese League in terms of quality.
His goals mask his defensive qualities/composure or lack thereof. Only looks good to me when his team is completely on fire and dominant which reduces his exposure to risk.
La Liga isn't over. There's potential for Barca to drop a lot of points and for Madrid to vastly improve. But yes, it is extremely unlikely and I fully expect Messi and co to keep enough of a buffer to win the league although I can see them losing a classico and it being somewhat tight at times.
I agree Madrid will definitely play better as the season progresses, but so can Barca. Dembele coming back will help and they only got Sergi Roberto back the their day for the first time in a month.
Barca getting Dembele back should allow them to play 4-3-3 since they’ll have proper wingers as oppose to the defensive 4-4-2. Barca always looked more comfortable with a 4-3-3.
I’m not sure, Alba is shining in the current formation, he couldn’t do the same runs when Neymar was there, while logic dictates that Barça with a winger should be more dominant, Dembele coming back could screw their current form
Anyways I think Madrid hopes are over, it’s not so much the mathematical possibilities but how lackluster and poor they are. Haven’t seen Madrid playing this badly in years. Atletico or Valencia have more hope of getting the title than them
It's Cristiano and Benzema's fault. They just don't score their chances...
can't even fault them for the performance yesterday, both were actually good. They just kept missing their chances...(Kroos too)
He's certainly not on the level of those guys(except Blanc. Blanc?) defensively, but which of those guys scored a brace in munich and 2 key goals in 2 CL finals?
He's not. His problem is focus. When he's able to stay fully focused on the game, he's exceptional. Problem is most of the time he's not, and then has this tendency to just lose his mind and do stupid shit. He'd been great yesterday right until the red...
Had a bad game yesterday, but in the last couple months he's been half the team. Still don't think we get the best out of him, but his own shortcomings are infuriating...just too sloppy and soft. Needs to become much more direct and decisive in what he does, play with more fire...when he plays pissed off he's amazing...
I just wish he'd start consistently playing like he did in his first month with us back in 2013....genuinely looked like he was the real galactico signing, not Bale
Not joking. Having 3 babies at home might be causing Ronaldo's spell. Probably stress or sleepless nights.
Valencia can go 2 points off Barca today.
Ah, so scoring goals proves how good he is defensively. That makes a lot of sense.
Blanc was easily a better defender than Ramos. Not the Blanc of age 37 with United, obviously.
They had 1 good chance each and hit the post twice. Their finishing wasn’t that bad, it just feels like Madrid were very cynical last year and didn’t really need many chances to score and now this season it’s the opposite.
Both of them are definitely still getting less chances to score than they had last year so even though the finishing has been bad there’s more to it.
Gabriel Pires
Well done Leganes!
Well done Leganes!
Was my post not in english?
He's certainly not on the level of those guys(except Blanc. Blanc?) defensively, but which of those guys scored a brace in munich and 2 key goals in 2 CL finals?
The point i was making was that ramos wasn't as good a defender as Nesta, but he's certainly right there as a player
And no, Laurent Blanc was not a better defender than Ramos. He was however a similarly great player overall(though i'd take Sergio over him anyday)
Yet you had sneak in scoring goals in finals there as if it invalidated my point that Ramos isn't a great defender. Vastly overrated player and defender. Don't like it, so be it.
You rate Ramos over Cannavaro, DeSailly, Mattheus, Puyol, Thuram as well?
Pereira starting for Valencia.
I don't rate Ramos over those guys(and Matthaus certainly shouldn't even be mentioned along with those other guys. Matthaus was a better midfielder than defender for starters, and he's one of the 30-40 best players ever), i rate him on the same level, roughly. Not as a defender, but as a player certainly.
And sergio is a great defender. Not an all-time great defender, but a great defender nontheless. His problem is he tends to switch off mentally, especially against against weaker teams. In big games he's usually great, with the exception of barcelona, which he just suffers mentally
Arambarri sent off for Getafe. 2nd yellow. This quite a feisty game.
This could be quite a good game, but it is littered with fouls.
Confused about that. I know he had a yellow, but it looked like the ref gave him a straight red. Can't figure out what for. The tackle?
I am not sure myself, there were so many people milling about. Just seen it again. The tackle. He had just been booked and then went into a tackle and got a second.
What is the Valencia ownership structure?
Seems like a great club to invest in if one had unlimited wealth and wanted a great location with an established club.
Seems like a great club to invest in if one had unlimited wealth and wanted a great location with an established club.
Lim is there today. Must think it is now safe to show his head above the parapets as they are having a good season. There again they are away from home. Is Lim the outright owner?
Bergara has given Getafe the lead, even though down to 10 men. Deflected off Paulista.
Getafe lead!
Getafe are giving Valencia real problems.
Valencia lose so Barca go 5 points ahead.
Getafe look like they have weathered the storm. This will be some result.
Getafe have deserved this.
Yeah, because Ronaldo is your average Joe, he's living a nightmare having to raise three babies on a shit home with not enough rooms, taking turns watching over them with his wife who's on a part-time job to help pay the bills and without a chance to get a good sleep with his 6:00 to 20:00 working schedule.
Come on, you guys serious? Ronaldo and Messi have lost more sleep to their tax problems than all their sons combined, Messi has two kids and last week he basically said his biggest sacrifice with 2 kids (one of them a baby) at home is that the "siesta time" was over for him, such an impactful problem for his performances.
It kind of is for him, related to his growth hormone deficiency and its cure...
Another defeat for Betis.
Yes, a "chupón", as we say in spanish. As Giorno said he needs to be more direct.
He is the typical player who is motivated in the big games and seems disinterested in others.
Personally I think the World Cup will affect the performance of certain players.
He keeps the ball too much when there are moments of the game in which blocks the play, breaking the rhythm of the midfield. He has corrected it a bit, but if I remember well there is some video of Modric running to defend and complaining to Isco about some of this
Girona 2-0 Alaves.
Girona on course for 20 points if they win which would be brilliant stuff. Stuani scored his 8th of the season.
Alaves remain rock bottom. Munir and Bojan goalless upfront.
Girona on course for 20 points if they win which would be brilliant stuff. Stuani scored his 8th of the season.
Alaves remain rock bottom. Munir and Bojan goalless upfront.
One of the best games in La Liga this season that....anyone watching?!
Alaves turn 0-2 into 3-2 in twenty minutes and move off the bottom. Ibai hat-trick.
Maybe Aberlado is the next Guardiola after all.
Alaves turn 0-2 into 3-2 in twenty minutes and move off the bottom. Ibai hat-trick.
Maybe Aberlado is the next Guardiola after all.