The biggest problem is the coach. Xavi is not the answer, he is not the second coming of Pep obviously and is actually an average manager....
La liga 2022/23
- Thread starter carvajal
- Start date
And if Barcelona from 2001 to 2018 wasn't harmed by arbitration errors, depriving them of winning four leagues (3 against Real Madrid and another with Atlético), they could have won 11 titles in a row
And Sevilla win 2-0.
Valencia are utter garbage.
Valencia are utter garbage.
Valencia going down will be sad
He is a coach with his first adventure in Europe, of course he will have mistakes. A good coach learns and evolves over time, and that's what Xavi needs.
It is premature to say that he will be an average coach, the club is under construction and Xavi learning, both need time.
There is the example of Arteta, you just have to look for what was said about him 2 years ago and the opinion of the people now.
Messi potentially returning next season is an absolute disaster for Xavi, Laporta is making a huge mistake.
This is the worst la liga in quite a while. This is a pretty crappy era of la liga overall and has been for a few years.
barca are dropping a lot of points to teams they shouldn’t be as well since the WC but injuries have destroyed them unfortunately. They still should be playing better than they currently are. Pedri should be back next weekend.
I would share the responsibility with Xavi. He is insistently calling for Messi's return and calls him regularly to convince him.
From an economic and image point of view, especially with the Negreira case, it makes sense.
Sportingly it can be the tomb of Xavi. The team with him has been characterized by pressing a lot and well, with Messi the team will be decompensated defensively.
They will know what they are doing.
LaLiga is probably the weakest it has been this millennium behind the top 3 sides, Barcelona have had some incredible luck going their way most of the season while Madrid, well, bad luck and we fecked around a bit too much. In truth, the losses to villarreal away, barcelona away and the draws with osasuna and atletico madrid were fair. The rest boiled down to "it's barcelona's year/shit happens"
Sadly that's true. Much as I like the idea of the free to air matches on ITV - they're so occasional that I don't look out for them or see them as part of the routine. It's hard to feel involved enough to care about title races, referee decisions, player disputes etc.
I do keep looking at the Liga table hoping that Valencia will suddenly sort themselves out. I still can't believe how far they've fallen - but then again I'm not seeing them play.
They literally had like the most points achieved after 27 rounds in a decade and the 3rd most in 14 years - better than the Guardiola and Enrique era with the likes of Suarez, Neymar, Messi...
Here's a comparison of points after round 27 from 2009/10 season till now
They literally had like the most points achieved after 27 rounds in a decade and the 3rd most in 14 years - better than the Guardiola and Enrique era with the likes of Suarez, Neymar, Messi...
Here's a comparison of points after round 27 from 2009/10 season till now
cheers! Well they’re definitely over performing as when pedri doesn’t play the team goes down ten levels. Back to back 0-0’s is also the first time that has happened in 15+ years.
thank god for the cushion but we may see it get a bit nerve wracking if they don’t improve their play.
Madrid had the same “it’s madrid’s year/shit happens” in 2020
but barca definitely over performed this year. Next year their defensive stats should come back down to earth
to make it work Barca would need ten work horses behind Messi like the NT had…but if Busquet/alba/Roberto still start often enough…they will continue to get smacked in Europe
Messi can't sustain his WC level throughout an entire season, workhorse or not. It might be enough in La Liga since it's less physical than ligue 1 but in the CL, Barça will fall short.
He would need to treat his first season back as preseason amd then hit form for a few months the following season for some major tournament with Argentina and then carry on that form to Barcelona.
eeeh. It was more a case of barcelona just losing the plot honestly, though there was some of that too i grant youMadrid had the same “it’s madrid’s year/shit happens” in 2020
right on schedule too. The final quarter of the season every year Barca falls off a cliff. Oof
Just saw Joaquin announced his retirement, second on the list of appearances in La Liga. Was a pleasure to watch him back in the day, first at Betis, and then that free flowing team at Valencia. How will he go down in the annals of Spanish football?
Very entertaining player to watch, even if he never really hit the heights the expectations had in store for him at some point.
Overall, he had a good career, and also a FM-legend, fond memories of buying him at every club.
One of the most likable players, I would say he was beloved-cherished by most fanbases. His artistry will be remembered.
He was awesome in 2002 WC. A pity it was such a rigged tournament.
I always think of him as that generation of Spanish wide players that did well but never hit the elite level. Early 2000s and hit, Reyes and Vicente all came through and were expected to take the Spanish NT to glory.
All played regularly between 2002-07 but had been phased out by the time Spain won in 2008 and then it was more about inside wide players like David Silva and Mata.
Vicente was my favourite of the three, was electric when he first broke through at Valencia but endless injuries reduced his effectiveness over time.
He is close to breaking that appearance record just before his retirement
Pitch at the Bernabeu dosen't look great, that may hinder Man. City a little.
Was Asensio available in the summer? Remember reading somewhere that he was.
He has been immense tonight so far.
He has been immense tonight so far.
Said this many a time but Camavinga really is special
I remember Joaquin giving Ashley Cole an absolutely torrid time (might have been 2004 - I was very young!).
Vicente was ravaged by injuries.
He’s looking beastly. If he could add a few goals to his fans, he’d be pretty complete.
Fitness permitting he should do it before he retires.
What position is he actually playing? Is it some kind of LB and CM hybrid?
I watched a video the other day that analyzed Madrid tactics and at some point the journalist in it said Madrid was employing some 3-3-3-1 in attack with Camaving next to Kroos and Modric in midfield.
Kinda, when he plays on the left he tends to stay on the left though, so he's more of a classic wingback really. Yesterday he played in a double pivot in midfield which is where he is best at at the moment
People seem to be hyping up Atletico due to their good form, but that doesn't matter much today, Atletico has a completely miserable statistic against Barcelona domestically, something like 1 win in 10 years.
Barca will crush them 1-0
Barca will crush them 1-0
Yup, thats the Atletico i know, despite their recent form.
Barcs without pedri and dembele is beyond massive. Already looking better than they have in months since Pedri subbed on
Incredible that the VAR does not review Reguilón's play.
Bingo!!
Yeah, a clear red card. The ref was awful today. We had to score at least 3 goals today. Raphinha misses 1 meter in front of the goal, Lewy doesn't see Raphinha...
We have a hard time scoring the second goal in several games that we won 1-0. Also having very clear occasions.
Vinicius is unstoppable.
But Girona have the lead.
2-0
2-0