Fantastic backheel flick by Benzema to put Casimero in on goal there.
La Liga 2019/20
- Thread starter carvajal
- Start date
Hats off to Karim Benzema.
Benzema, man. What a player.
Hazard pretty bad. All the team quite imprecise.Fantastic Karim
Valverde and his assistant are looking for house in Valencia
I wonder if Benzema's incredible turn of form over the last couple of seasons has anything to do with his weight. He seems to look considerably slimmer and lighter than he did when Ronaldo was at the club. He seems a lot more agile and slicker on and off the ball than back then as a result.
Not judging his weight, but he is finally „allowed“ to score goals again.
Hasn't he already managed them?
Valencia is like a soap opera for managers. Get bored and sack the really capable ones like Nuno and Marcelino and replace them with novices like gary Neville, Pako Ayesteran and Albert Celades.
They were hopeless tonight. It's a decent squad aswell.
That was amazing
Who knew that getting in an inexperienced manager wouldn't work out for Valencia. Have they learnt nothing since 2015?
Barcelona's away form this season is shocking and this is why Real Madrid will end up winning La Liga, I don't think Real will win all their remaining games, they still have a few tricky games and so do Barca but it's Barca's pathetic away form that will cost them. Imagine coming back to your ex club at the height of a crisis and winning them the title. Zidane has to go down as one of Real Madrid's all time great managers.
Even if he does win it, I feel many will still view it as "lucky" or "Barcelona lost it". Incredible career, and massively underrated as a manager.
Remember Courtois and a couple of saves he had. Since he recaptured his old form, he's given Madrid so much security back there. Madrid has had some amazing big game keepers and shotstoppers over the years, but a solid, all round keeper like Courtois is a rarity for them
Hasn't he already managed them?
Valencia is like a soap opera for managers. Get bored and sack the really capable ones like Nuno and Marcelino and replace them with novices like gary Neville, Pako Ayesteran and Albert Celades.
They were hopeless tonight. It's a decent squad aswell.
Valencia have always been very toxic, even in good times they were always protesting against Benítez and Cúper.
I think Murthy, Lim's supervisor, said months ago that they were looking for a coach to execute Lim's orders as an official. I don't know if this is why the players want a change. The feeling that their coach is a puppet
I have never been the biggest fan of Courtois but yes, he is at a great level, all season (except for those mistakes at the beginning of the season).
Anyone following Marcelino had a gigantic mountain to climb. He finished two times as 4th and won the copa (first title in 10 years). Yes, he didn't play the prettiest football, but Valencia are tough place to manage and struggled quite a bit before he took over. The team loved Marcelino and hate Lim for sacking him/falling out with him. Anyone following him had a heck of a job on his hand to convince the players. Celades had no experience as first team manager and is only there because Lim picked someone who can't question him. Lim not accepting his offer to resign just shows how weak he is. Thats almost unheard of. He was doomed from day1 and the players humiliated him already at the first press conference in the CL, where they refused to join him. When he kicked out Maxi Gomez from the match-day squad, the team forced him to walk it back and reverse the decision. I feel a bit sorry for him, because I don't think he did much wrong. At the same time I understand the players to some extend, even so its probably not a good idea to throw qualification for EL/CL away. In the end all of this is on Lim.
Yesterday again there was a tense meeting in the locker room. According to Catalunya Radio, Messi and Suarez do not like the manners of Sarabia(second coach) and want to speak directly to Setién.
And this comes from this video, where Messi doesn't care about what he is saying
or Rakitic
A delightful soap opera
And this comes from this video, where Messi doesn't care about what he is saying
or Rakitic
A delightful soap opera
No offense but nonsense.
Valverde: 3 seasons in a row top of the table, 0 losses to Madrid (except preseason Supercopa in his first season), handing out 5-1, 3-0 and 3-0. Well liked by the dressing room.
Setien: Out of Copa del Rey in quarter finals for the first time in a decade, first league away defeat to Real Madrid in like a decade, already looks like losing the dressing room in under 20 games.
Playing better only in Real Madrid dream land.
Valverde was without Messi at the beginning of the season + preseason tour across the world so a slow start. Valverde did not have Démbéle, he was injured the whole time except 1 or 2 games after which he relapsed again. At some point he had to use 16 year old Fati AND Carles Perez upfront and beat Valencia 5-2 like that.
I think you couldn't expect any progress under Valverde. The team looked dull, Valverde himself proclaimed in a in depth report I read about the club that he prefers to trust individuals to find ways to overcome defenses instead of giving instructions, etc. I think his sacking was also due to the feeling that he couldn't improve the team any further than what he had accomplished - and what he had accomplished was not enough to get them into CL contending form again, as proved at multiple occasions.
Setien IMO was worth a try. Going back to a philosophy that was the basis of the best phase your club has ever had is at the very least an understandable thought. Sure, there were more than enough question marks behind his name and being a fan of Cruyff's concepts alone doesn't make you a top coach but at the moment of Valverde's sacking, there was nobody better available who followed this tactical approach. After this season, they can sack without further ado and then can trust someone like Ten Haag, Xavi or even Sarri, if he's available again. Possibly even Guardiola.
I mean, the Barcelona board really does a terrible job, currently, if you ask me but the Valverde sacking/Setien appointment was IMO there best controversial decision in quite a while, even if it turns out badly.
Some posters were saying that Zizou is a shite manager and will soon get found out. Nevertheless, Real are doing well without CR7 and are close to winning La Liga. Little did the doubters know.
IMO the manager is pretty much irrelevant at this point for Barca in terms getting results today with this edition of the club. They have a squad problem with some major weaknesses that will always show up no matter who is in charge. The biggest blame comes to whoever is responsible for all thoses record setting purchases that have absolutely no impact for them. Out of the major transfers only Frenkie they got right. Their biggest issue is figuring out who to purchase and ultimately who to entrust with that responsibility going forward.
season defining game for La Real this evening against Getafe. If they win, they are back in the mix for the CL, but if they lose even the Euroleague is going to be tough. Getafe couldn't win since the restart and has some tough games ahead, but they are tough to play against.
Cesar Sanchez looks like he is stepping down from his sporting director role at Valencia as well
Voro is back again!!!
Voro is back again!!!
Good old Voro, he always does well in the caretaker position.
Would Valencia bring back Marcelino or are those bridges burnt?
So Real Sociedad have lost against Getafe.......it would be a real shame if they wouldn't play european football next season.
Getafe win. La Real were starting to look like their old selves from 1-1 and then they fall asleep from a throw in...stupid goal to give away.
There's still the cup final....mind you they want to play that next season so not sure how it works with euro qualification. Do they give up that place for extra one in the league?
Yeah the final without fans would be really shit but i guess at least one club wants the final as soon as possible.
Since the restart, they drew the first game and lost 4 in a row now. The corona break killed them. They are still not completely out, because most teams seem to drop a few more points than usual, but they have to get at least 7 points out of their next 3 games and beat their direct rivals (sevilla and Villarreal) afterwards.
They are lucky the other clubs around them are struggling too since restart.....but no win against Espanyol will surely mean the 4th place is out of reach.
He is definitely massively underrated as a manager I do feel. When Real Madrid won 3 Champion Leagues in a row, many attribute this to Ronaldo and his team of galacticos, yet he came back to Real supposedly at its weakest without Ronaldo, yet he still won them the Copa Del Rey this season and looks set to win them a second La Liga in 3 seasons.
3x UEFA Champions League
2x UEFA Super Cup
2x FIFA Club World Cup
2x Copa Del Rey
1x La Liga
One more and he would have won 11 trophies in less than 4 seasons. He joined Real in 2016. That is an average of 2 per season. Incredible record.
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spanish supercup
Zidane hasn't won the CdR. It's the only trophy hr hasn't won yet
Zidane hasn't won the CdR. It's the only trophy hr hasn't won yet
I only care about your opinion on Ferland Mendy after a year? You better start loving him.
Looking at what they've achieved, all the criticism that Valverde and Zidane got is quite ridiculous.
Oh and Valencia are such a mess.
Oh and Valencia are such a mess.
wrong thread? I do like him btw. Works his ass off every game, very good defender and he clearly cares about the shirt a lot. I still don't think he's good enough to start for us going forward, if the goal is to be the best in the world. Hopefully he improves in attack. That's the big limitation right now. If not he'd still be a very useful squad player
So after finishing 19 points behind Barcelona last season, Zidane came in and has this team two points ahead with 6 games left. His CV prior to coming back was insanse, and it looks like he has Madrid looking like a solid team again. When will Zidane get the credit he deserves? To me he is probably the most underrated manager of our times.
Is it his tremendous reputation as a player that keep people from viewing him as a tactical genius? I believe it is part of the reason. Specially because his playing style was that of an artist. But anyone who looks at his Madrid teams objectively will see an incredibly well oiled machinery that is very tactically sound in most phases of the game. Yet, when people talk about Zidane the coach they talk about "the motivator" "man management". Of course these are great strengths, but the proof really is in the pudding. People need to wake up to reality.
Is it his tremendous reputation as a player that keep people from viewing him as a tactical genius? I believe it is part of the reason. Specially because his playing style was that of an artist. But anyone who looks at his Madrid teams objectively will see an incredibly well oiled machinery that is very tactically sound in most phases of the game. Yet, when people talk about Zidane the coach they talk about "the motivator" "man management". Of course these are great strengths, but the proof really is in the pudding. People need to wake up to reality.
Not really a fair way to look at it tbh given Barcelona are much worse and are having their worst season in over a decade. Although I agree Zidane doesn't get enough credit.
If we win our remaining 6 games we finish on 89 points
With Hazard injured for most of the season, no Asensio, and having to rely heavily on two brazilian teenagers
I'd say whatever barcelona's problems, Zidane is doing a great job