So where is Modric rated in best CM’s of all time ?

GinobiliTheGOAT said:
and yet I have given you countless examples of the refs giving some of the worst calls against Barca of the entire season. Just give up with your bias. For a team “paying off the refs” no way do all those blatantly terribly calls happen.
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We are not saying Barca didn't get affected by refs mistakes (positively and negatively) like every other team. Mistakes happen.
We are not saying Barca payed off the refs (there is no proof).

We are saying Barca payed 7.3M€ to the ref VP (there is proof). Also during that time Barca is related to some refereering anomalies, like not getting a pen against them in La Liga for more than to years, which is ludicrous.

And that should be taking into account when comparing Xavi and Iniesta's domestic success vs Modric's


Edit: Barca had exactly 746 days without a pen against them in La Liga. From February 14th 2016 to March 1st 2018.
 
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GinobiliTheGOAT said:
and yet I have given you countless examples of the refs giving some of the worst calls against Barca of the entire season. One example after another. Just give up with your bias. For a team “paying off the refs” no way do all those blatantly terribly calls happen. I could find one for all the ridiculous calls in favor if Madrid that season but you’d say they were all legit
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If you want to analyze the possible consequences of paying the vicepresident of the referees association for almost two decades analyze every match, not the ones you pre-select because you are interested in. This is called selection bias or cherry picking, but you should know this by now.

Also, if you quote me to counter my points, make sure those points are mine to start with. I never said any team was paying off the referees. We do know though the vicepresident of the referees association was being paid to keep things neutral though, which is a funny way to justify the move.

I hope Barcelona does not mind the procurator fiscal pays the judge 7 million euros to keep things neutral during the trial then.
 
GatoLoco said:
If you want to analyze the possible consequences of paying the vicepresident of the referees association for almost two decades analyze every match, not the ones you pre-select because you are interested in. This is called selection bias or cherry picking, but you should know this by now.

Also, if you quote me to counter my points, make sure those points are mine to start with. I never said any team was paying off the referees. We do know though the vicepresident of the referees association was being paid to keep things neutral though, which is a funny way to justify the move.

I hope Barcelona does not mind the procurator fiscal pays the judge 7 million euros to keep things neutral during the trial then.
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But it’s okay when Perez pressures a
for neutrality?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ccused-pressuring-ex-LaLiga-referee-2010.html

If Barca are genuinely guilty they should be punished to the max. But if it’s jsut paying 500,000 a year for ref reports then there isn’t much to it; but hopefully the court cases handles it
 
GinobiliTheGOAT said:
But it’s okay when Perez pressures a
for neutrality?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ccused-pressuring-ex-LaLiga-referee-2010.html
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We don't know any case of any player or director telling a referee to keep things balanced during or just after a game. So that's a huge scandal indeed and equal to paying the VP of the referees commitee 500K per year.

If Barca are genuinely guilty they should be punished to the max. But if it’s jsut paying 500,000 a year for ref reports then there isn’t much to it; but hopefully the court cases handles it
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Yeah, referee reports for 500K. That's the salary a CEO of one of the biggest companies in Spain would earn. I'm pretty sure that was the reason of the payments.
 
I don't know why people are comparing Modric with Zidane and Iniesta!

One funny guy even compared him with midfielder Maradona. Apples and oranges.

Crazy, this thread.
 
FreckBarca said:
One thing I have noticed about Madrid over the years is that they never had a truly fixed system.
They had an adaptive quality to the other teams strenghts and weaknesses and could play both possession and counterattacking football with equal success.

Of course, as a club this means shit. All that matters is that you win trophies, doesn't matter if trough this method or pure Barca possession, etc.
But I think it speaks volumes for the midfield players specially. Modric-Kroos-Casemiro.
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Madrids calling card in their modern dominance is that they always have technically brilliant players that can adapt to the game. It’s almost the exact opposite of how many modern teams approach with endless systems, but it’s why they’ve been unbeatable in knockout competitions as they can adapt and improvise better than any team in history to win a single big match.
 
GinobiliTheGOAT said:
only deluded one is you.

as a matter of fact other la liga teams were paying him as well:

https://barcauniversal.com/enriquez...m-many-teams-apart-from-barcelona-report/amp/
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Where is that fact??

That article comes from a page called "Barcauniversal" so I am guessing not very trustworthy on this matter. For this info it is quoting a El Mundo article that does not say that other La Liga teams were paying Negreira so... Yeah, good try.


Valencia Shin Crosses said:
Madrids calling card in their modern dominance is that they always have technically brilliant players that can adapt to the game. It’s almost the exact opposite of how many modern teams approach with endless systems, but it’s why they’ve been unbeatable in knockout competitions as they can adapt and improvise better than any team in history to win a single big match.
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Yes, I agree. It also makes it interesting to watch them. You can never be sure of what they are gonna do. Remember that Clásico last year where Modric was playing as a false 9?

It obviously didn't go well for them but it was hilarious
 
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GinobiliTheGOAT said:
as a matter of fact other la liga teams were paying him as well:

https://barcauniversal.com/enriquez...m-many-teams-apart-from-barcelona-report/amp/
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Barca Universal claims that "Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira’s environment has revealed that several teams apart from Barcelona from the first and the second tier paid money to the former vice-president of Spain’s referees’ committee."

Their source is an article from El Mundo, which is behind a paywall and in Spanish.

I broke the paywall, you can read the article here.

But it is made up. In the article, Enriquez Negreira's "environment" says no such thing. The claim comes from 'sources close to former Barcelona presidents.' The claim is contradicted by the letter Enriquez Negreira sent to Barcelona in which he claims he works exclusively for them (at their request) and by the news reports that the majority of income in his companies came from Barcelona. In fact the claim isn't even that anyone else paid Enriquez Negreira, it's that "similar payments" have "been made in the past" i.e. vague horseshit.

Barca Universal is assuming its readership does not read Spanish and will not go through this paywall.

Anway there's a thread specifically about Barcelona's malfeasance, you can take it there.
 
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I would guess that's the last time we see him in the CL? Father time has bested him I think.

Pretty remarkable career. The best player ever from the ex-Yugoslavia countries IMO.
 
He still has some left in the tank.

We can't hardly draw any conclusion from a game were Madrid were so thoroughly outclassed. And he was also coming back from an injury.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
Have you watched him play this season?

He's finished at the top level. He's about to be 38 next season.
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Yes. But I'd take him to ease some of the pain of missing out on him. Still better than Fred when he loses his head and McTominay. Can be rotational player especially if he comes for free.
 
Looked his age all season but tonight he looked like he's done. I think he could still do a job at a big club but not playing the number of games Real have dumped on him. As a rotation option for a CL club is where he's at now. He's too old to become top dog at a smaller club and needs to go where his minutes are managed. Still classy just hasn't got the legs to be a main man at a big club. No shame in that, dudes an absolute legend and up there with Xavi and Iniesta.
 
He plays at testimonial pace now. Still an excellent technician, his numbers there are still good. But if Paul Scholes got fit he'd probably put up passing numbers. At some point you just don't have it any more as physical force and are more of a hinderence than your passing is a help. Him and Kroos together looked quite odd against a boisterous City at home.
 
He was good in the first leg. Yes he's 37 and has looked it at times but he's been far from finished this season

Don't read too much into him being bad against the best best team we've ever faced(in terms of one game performance)
 
He is done and should leave Real by end of the season, and let the younger midfielders starting their own era,
 
Thought he was great yesterday. I didn't expect to celebrate his goal as mad as I did but the guy is just class.
Shame Croatia couldn't hold on.
 
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