La liga part II

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Could be? Lool but those are certain calls on Madrid? Yeah, typical.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Could be? Lool but those are certain calls on Madrid? Yeah, typical.

Quit being such a cry baby.

 

[Savi]

Spanish reffing at it's finest again, although I do think the Sergi Roberto red was correct

Entertaining game for the most part and I'll take the tie considering the circumstances

I thought Rakitic had a massive game

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Quit being such a cry baby.

Crying? I'm laughing my ass off... against 10 men for 50 minutes and you couldn't get a lead.

 

[Live in the Now]

Yeah, but I get called an EPL homer when I said this multiple times the past seven years here.

La liga is ref poorly as is serie A and EPL? This new to anyone

Officials everywhere are terrible. How the hell can anyone think there are more than like five good refs? They don't pay them enough first of all and second of all they need video help to begin with. I'm sure refs make loads more money by retiring and going on TV.

 

[Corto]

I was wanting to watch Barca vs Real.

I saw Hernandez vs Hernandez.

If there's one league in the world that needs VAR, it's La Liga. What. A. S**tshow. lol...

Lucky for everyone game decided absolutely nothing.

 

[hatterson]

Officials everywhere are terrible. How the hell can anyone think there are more than like five good refs? They don't pay them enough first of all and second of all they need video help to begin with. I'm sure refs make loads more money by retiring and going on TV.

Or doing what Clattenburg did and going to some random country to be a ref consultant for probably 10x what he was making in the PL.

 

[Live in the Now]

Or doing what Clattenburg did and going to some random country to be a ref consultant for probably 10x what he was making in the PL.

Yeah seriously. Why the hell would anyone bother? Fans send death threats too. The games are eventually gonna have to be officiated by video and administered by one poor bastard who goes out on the field.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Has to be said Iniesta looked awful. Holding on the ball far too long and missed passes everywhere. Only reason he want subbed off before Coutinho is because it's his last year.

Also Dembele is in the dog house for Valverde. He's completely lost his trust

 

[Power Man]

Lmaoooo

 

[Savi]

Also Dembele is in the dog house for Valverde. He's completely lost his trust

I don't think that's it. It's more that he doesn't have enough of his trust yet to be put in, in these type of games. For all the talent he has, he is still so raw, especially in terms of team play and team defence. He'll get there but I think Valverde knows he needs a lot more work than they probably anticipated.

 

[kov]

You were saying? Great goal by the player who should have been sent off.

Great strike by Bale but the space was created by Benzema and the pass was excellent. RM are anything but a one many army.

 

[Corto]

Great strike by Bale but the space was created by Benzema and the pass was excellent. RM are anything but a one many army.

Their play is one thing. It's a team of world class players, 9 out of 11 are certainly top 1-2 in their positions (Benzema and Isco/Asensio are not IMO). They also have fantastic depth (though nowhere near last year with James, Morata and Danilo gone)

But their scoring IS Ronaldo. Without him, they just don't look as dangerous and they don't score. They hardly even look like scoring.

 

[Corto]

Also, I forgot to mention, but Rakitic's had a phenomenal year in his new role (a slightly more offensive Busquests-role) and has probably been the most important member after Messi (though MaTS had an amazing year as well) - and tonight was no different, he was great.

 

[Ivan13]

All in all this was a clown show as per usual in these games. A lot of despicable characters on both teams and these games bring out the worst in them all. I hope one day football players will act the same way rugby players do when talking to the ref.

 

[les Habs]

Not that Sergio Ramos is to be taken seriously in the first place, but he's claiming Messi had a real go at the ref in the tunnel. He also claimed that there wasn't an incident between Pique and Nacho in the tunnel because something like "Spanish NT players get along and they wouldn't do that." Well in the case of the former, even though I wouldn't be surprised, there's nothing to show that. In the case of the latter however there was a clear exchange between Pique and Nacho.

I have yet to see the match and it's proving difficult to find a good replay, but I have seen the first twenty minutes and Varana pushed Sergi over in the box with no call and I'd have booked Rakitic earlier. I don't doubt the ref made mistakes that affected both sides as is always the case, but the key is the amount and the level of degree.

Also, I forgot to mention, but Rakitic's had a phenomenal year in his new role (a slightly more offensive Busquests-role) and has probably been the most important member after Messi (though MaTS had an amazing year as well) - and tonight was no different, he was great.

He's not been the most important player after Messi. Probably not even top five. That's not to slight him or his performances as he's been better this season and more consistent, but other players have been more important and it's also a result of many players having excellent seasons.

Also Dembele is in the dog house for Valverde. He's completely lost his trust

I think it's more of a tactical decision, one I don't agree with, but I will say it's somewhat difficult with the talent we have to make it work the way I want.

Their play is one thing. It's a team of world class players, 9 out of 11 are certainly top 1-2 in their positions (Benzema and Isco/Asensio are not IMO). They also have fantastic depth (though nowhere near last year with James, Morata and Danilo gone)

9 out of 11? No. They do have very good depth though. Still some of their depth players have some proving to do.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Well first Madrid have to settle on a starting 11... I'm assuming Bale is not included? If so, then definitely not 9 out 11.

There's Navas,Casemiro,Benz, Ramos,Kroos and Bale?Isco?

 

[Corto]

Well first Madrid have to settle on a starting 11... I'm assuming Bale is not included? If so, then definitely not 9 out 11.

There's Navas,Casemiro,Benz, Ramos,Kroos and Bale?Isco?

Assuming everyone's healthy, it is (and has been for 2 years now):

Navas - Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo - Modric, Casemiro, Kroos - Ronaldo, Benzema, Isco/Bale

If Isco is in, it's a 4-4-2.

 

[Evilo]

9 out of 11 are top 2 at their position? What?
Navas, Varane, Ramos, Casemiro, Kroos, Benzema, Isco. Those are not top 2 by any means. That's already 7 that are not top 2.
You're left with Carvajal, arguable given the lack of depth, but is a decent case.
Marcelo, I agree.
Modric, likely.
Ronaldo OK.

At best 4 are top 2 at their position.

 

[Corto]

9 out of 11 are top 2 at their position? What?
Navas, Varane, Ramos, Casemiro, Kroos, Benzema, Isco. Those are not top 2 by any means. That's already 7 that are not top 2.
You're left with Carvajal, arguable given the lack of depth, but is a decent case.
Marcelo, I agree.
Modric, likely.
Ronaldo OK.

At best 4 are top 2 at their position.

Meh, top-2 was silly wording as I should've known better... My mistake.

Fine, lets rephrase it from "top-2" to "absolute world class, top-tier players".

Navas... Actually I don't know. He ranges from "surely Madrid could do better" to "holy crap, those are the best reactive saves I've ever seen".
You're probably right, on the whole, there are goalkeepers out there who are just that little tier above him.

Varane and Ramos are, for my money, the best CB pairing in the world - especially if you take into consideration how high the fullbacks play. No other pairing (IMO) is as complete, and what makes them so good is their mobility, among other things. Varane is stupidly fast for his size and Ramos (who was originally a RB) is almost as fast. Both great in the air, both good with the ball, both great instincts, great positioning, etc.

Modric is widely regarded as the best midfielder in the world for the last 4-5 years. There's nothing "likely" about it.
Kroos is absolute world class, the brains behind so much success for Bayern, Germany and Madrid, winning everywhere and everything, but he plays a quiet game - and he'll always have his nay-sayers because of it. The only other midfielder other than Modric who I might take over him at this point is KdB. Defensively underrated and stupidly consistent, but he'll rarely get the credit for it.

Casemiro is a top DM - but there are more compete players out there. His biggest flaw is his play under pressure, but Real mostly deal with that with rarely giving him the ball in pressure situations as Modric and Kroos open passing lanes. His long balls are underrated, are are his offensive instincts when he pushes forward. He's no peak Busquets, but he is a top DM.
Are there better players, more complete, in his role? Not many, but yeah. But I don't think many (if any) would necessarily work better with Modric and Kroos.

Carvajal and Marcelo are the world's best fullbacks, I really don't see any real competition.

So, I'd say, "absolute world class top tier" - 7/11 (without counting Casemiro, who I think is underrated):
Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo, Modric, Kroos, Ronaldo

 

[les Habs]

I pretty much agree with Evilo here. Very concise yet well worded.

Changing from "Top 2" to "absolutely world class, top-tier players" is convenient, but the latter is still a matter of definition if you ask me. I personally have a difference between "World Class" and "Top Tier". I don't equate them and out of the seven left I don't see all of them as "Top Tier".

 

[Ivan13]

Modrić likely?

I'd like to hear how he isn't a top midfielder in the world.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

All elite teams have world class players...

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Modrić likely?

I'd like to hear how he isn't a top midfielder in the world.

He said likely to be 1st or 2nd best midfielder... not a top midfielder. It makes more sense.

 

[Ivan13]

He said likely to be 1st or 2nd best midfielder... not a top midfielder. It makes more sense.

The point is that he is a surefire top 1 or 2 midfielder in the world. Likely means that there is something to argue there, do tell who in their right mind is going to argue against Modrić not being at worst the 2nd best in the world?