La Liga 2018/19

That was okay from Real, imo. Did enough offensively (still too many crosses) and mostly defended as a team. Bale the best player for me, dangerous in offense and worked hard against the ball. Celta Vigo weren't serious competition today, though.

Will be interesting to see how Zidane fares building a team without Ronaldo.
 
Synco said:
That was okay from Real, imo. Did enough offensively (still too many crosses) and mostly defended as a team. Bale the best player for me, dangerous in offense and worked hard against the ball. Celta Vigo weren't serious competition today, though.

Will be interesting to see how Zidane fares building a team without Ronaldo.
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They did that a lot under Zidane.
 
SCP said:
They did that a lot under Zidane.
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Yeah, that's what I'm referring to. Ronaldo made it work to a large degree, Zidane now has to make better use of the center. He has the players to do it, so let's see what he can do.
 
Synco said:
Yeah, that's what I'm referring to. Ronaldo made it work to a large degree, Zidane now has to make better use of the center. He has the players to do it, so let's see what he can do.
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Its a interesting point because its recurrent to read its very negative these days the top managers who use this style of play when their team is on offensive organization but after rewatching Juve vs Atletico it was a effective tool.

Of course having Ronaldo helps, and having a team like Atletico with 10 to 11 players almost inside their box either.

I am still puzzled with Simeone reactions on the touchline and the Atletico players approach, they almost seemed they didn't know what to do with the ball. Not taking nothing from Juve here.

Regarding Zidane, he doesn' seem a purist or dogmatic, but honestly Solari is as bad as it gets.
 
SCP said:
Its a interesting point because its recurrent to read its very negative these days the top managers who use this style of play when their team is on offensive organization but after rewatching Juve vs Atletico it was a effective tool.
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I think it should be situational. Hitting a cross can be a good decision under the right circumstances, but in my view it became a generic move for Real over time. A lot of the time the ball predictably went out wide early in buildup, despite having the means for more attacking variation with players like Isco, Modric, Kroos, James, Benzema.
 
Synco said:
I think it should be situational. Hitting a cross can be a good decision under the right circumstances, but in my view it became a generic move for Real over time. A lot of the time the ball predictably went out wide early in buildup, despite having the means for more attacking variation with players like Isco, Modric, Kroos, James, Benzema.
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And on this your opinion on Zidane is? Only won what he won because relied on the individual quality of his players or did he actually had the ability to improve his players?
 
Deserved goal for Bilbao. Atletico haven’t picked themselves up after that Juve defeat at all.
 
I think Atletico miss the influence of Gabi this season, pretty gutless at times. Attack not clicking at all either.

Williams played well in parts of game I saw, still think he can improve a lot.
 
SCP said:
And on this your opinion on Zidane is? Only won what he won because relied on the individual quality of his players or did he actually had the ability to improve his players?
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He obviously did great, all things considered. Especially when looking at the dire situation after the Benitez disaster. I think that group of players had certain characteristics in terms of footballing traits and mentality, and he understood it to make it all click. He also managed to mask crucial weaknesses of that team (addition of Casemiro first & foremost). To rely on individual quality you have to enable these players first, and I think he managed to get the best out of his key players.

The upsides of that style outweighed the downsides, and you can't possibly argue with 3 CL and 1 La Liga. But without Ronaldo this team is a different one, and I think different answers are needed. A different footballing environment has to be created for other kinds of players to shine. I'm open to see what he does, but even if it shouldn't work out, it'd take nothing away from what he already achieved.
 
Synco said:
He obviously did great, all things considered. Especially when looking at the dire situation after the Benitez disaster. I think that group of players had certain characteristics in terms of footballing traits and mentality, and he understood it to make it all click. He also managed to mask crucial weaknesses of that team (addition of Casemiro first & foremost). To rely on individual quality you have to enable these players first, and I think he managed to get the best out of his key players.

The upsides of that style outweighed the downsides, and you can't possibly argue with 3 CL and 1 La Liga. But without Ronaldo this team is a different one, and I think different answers are needed. A different footballing environment has to be created for other kinds of players to shine. I'm open to see what he does, but even if it shouldn't work out, it'd take nothing away from what he already achieved.
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Only two points behind Atletico now
 
That meltdown in Turin left some deep scars for Atletico. It's gotta be hard getting knocked down a few pegs like they did and getting over that kind of performance.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47363312

Getafe might not be the most progressive club - they only launched an official Twitter account in 2015 and their official store is a tiny corner shop below an apartment block - but their reputation is rather unfair.

The club's Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium, nestled between apartment blocks and a motorway, is a tidy, well-kept and compact venue, and the club's president Angel Torres - a hard-nosed local businessman - deserves credit for keeping the team in the top flight for 14 of the past 15 seasons despite operating on a small budget.
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How many teams go down? Is it three or four? The bottom three are getting detached. Villarreal could help themselves with a win today and Rayo Vallecano could be doomed.
 
Another game passing Rayo by. :(

If results hold then will be 4 point gap between 17th and 18th. Finally the bottom half is starting to balance out.
 
Betis - Barca next. Suarez & Messi in attack; Rakitic, Vidal, Busquets and Arthur in midfield with usual defence behind them. Dembele is injured, Coutinho is on bech. Betis seem to have pretty much everyone available.

prediction: 2-2.
 
Betis were great at Camp Nou. Been very hit and miss since but they have creativity to open up Barca.

Can see them winning 3-1 particularly as defeat wouldn't hurt Barca much with regards the league.
 
4-4-2? Interesting, barely been done this season. It would be the occasion to use Coutinho - guess not...
 
I hope Ole will be watching this match to get an idea on how to approach our Barca tie. Betis' match at Camp Nou is one of the best tactical performances I've ever seen by a team that's an underdog for a match. Hopefully we see the same again.
 
Peyroteo said:
No rotation for Barca yet again
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It’s the last game before the international break. If they can win and get a 10 point lead for the league I’m sure we will see a lot more rotation moving forward.
 
FootballHQ said:
https://www.soccerstats.com/attendance.asp?league=spain

Here it is. Getafe have 17 500 ground yet highest attendance has been 14k (I imagine v Real, Atletico or Barca) and been as low as 6k.
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When they got into the Europa League a few years back, attendances were so poor for those games that it was reckoned they lost money on it. Of course, the finances are very different now, especially in the CL, so it would be hugely significant for them.
 
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