La Liga - Week 36 Fixtures - 4-9th May, 2018

[Carnivore Chris]

Sevilla 2-0 Real Madrid at half time.

 

13 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Great game from Barça minus the goal against mishap where the foot was taken off the gas for a while.  Dembélé's best game in the colours of Barcelona and this is why he has to continue for next season instead of all that loan deal talk that's been banded around by some mediums. This Barcelona side is more pragmatic than others of the past but after what Valverde found in pre-season he has done a miraculous job not only to steady the ship, but also to break records in winning the club's 8th double. The team continue to remain unbeaten in La Liga and in La Liga there is no other team that comes close to the, so any criticism thrown around should be aimed elsewhere. 

Dembele was quality. Showed all the type of qualities tonight that Neymar was showed, minus the diving and cuntish behaviour of course...

Rakitic's assist was also brilliant, the second game was lovely team work and the Messi goal was brilliance.

[SirBalon]

14 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

Sevilla 2-0 Real Madrid at half time.

 

Dembele was quality. Showed all the type of qualities tonight that Neymar was showed, minus the diving and cuntish behaviour of course...

Rakitic's assist was also brilliant, the second game was lovely team work and the Messi goal was brilliance.

Iniesta also showed what will be missed in the first half especially.  But Dembélé was indeed very good tonight and maybe it has a lot to do with the pressure being off now and also El Clásico over and done with. He needs to get over that loner issue though which is something being plastered all over the media. It's not from the lack of the heavyweights doing everything possible to get him involved in things outside football where they all get together various times a week.

[El Profesor]

58 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

@El_Loco

 

 

Barça can´t give up on Dembélé. The [Barcelona move may have come too early for him, but he´s got so much potential. 

[El Profesor]

30 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Iniesta also showed what will be missed in the first half especially.  But Dembélé was indeed very good tonight and maybe it has a lot to do with the pressure being off now and also El Clásico over and done with. He needs to get over that loner issue though which is something being plastered all over the media. It's not from the lack of the heavyweights doing everything possible to get him involved in things outside football where they all get together various times a week.

Problem is, Dembélé is very young and single (?). The likes of Iniesta, Messi and Suárez are at least 10 years older and already have families, there´s not much in common in that sense. 

Much like the Coutinho signing, which didn´t make total sense to me, I still find the rumoured Griezmann deal strange as well. Dembouz first season was a disappointment, but you just don´t give up on that kind of talent. 

To expand on Coutinho, I don´t think he´s the kind of midfielder a team that has Messi needs. Coutinho is not a controller, he´s a guy who tends to finish himself the plays he start. He seems at times undecided, like asking himself: "should I shoot or should I pass?" I don´t think it´s easy adaption at Barcelona, where there are better options in Suárez and Messi to finish.  

[SirBalon]

21 minutes ago, El_Loco said:

Problem is, Dembélé is very young and single (?). The likes of Iniesta, Messi and Suárez are at least 10 years older and already have families, there´s not much in common in that sense. 

Much like the Coutinho signing, which didn´t make total sense to me, I still find the rumoured Griezmann deal strange as well. Dembouz first season was a disappointment, but you just don´t give up on that kind of talent. 

To expand on Coutinho, I don´t think he´s the kind of midfielder a team that has Messi needs. Coutinho is not a controller, he´s a guy who tends to finish himself the plays he start. He seems at times undecided, like asking himself: "should I shoot or should I pass?" I don´t think it´s easy adaption at Barcelona, where there are better options in Suárez and Messi to finish.  

I think with Coutinho they see versatility in his game. He is very technical and obviously as you said, he has a very good eye for goal. He does have to adapt though and the correct role has to be prescribed for him. This is something that has been debated time and time again since he joined and his first games he was positioned on the right by Valverde where he was very hot and cold.  Since then he's been put more central although again with many moments where he seems undecided in what he needs or should do.

In all honesty though, every single foreign player that's ever joined Barça has said its the strangest team to play for and not all of them have succeeded. It's not your run of the mill football and adaptation is required as Neymar and Suárez (just to name two recent names) found out in their first season. You also make a good point about Dembélé being young and single and that probably doesn't offer much in common with his teammates when they go out. But then again most of the players at Barça have been single at one point before settling down while at the club and they all managed to mingle. Sometimes there are certain characters that aren't all that sociable to be honest, or find it more difficult to do group things.

[Stan]

I saw that Sergio Ramos missed a penalty, got booked, scored an own goal last night.

Not the best return to have to your old club  

[Samuel Eto'o]

4 minutes ago, Stan said:

I saw that Sergio Ramos missed a penalty, got booked, scored an own goal last night.

Not the best return to have to your old club  

He also scored a penalty mate! lol!

Shambolic, him and his team.

[SirBalon]

3 minutes ago, Stan said:

I saw that Sergio Ramos missed a penalty, got booked, scored an own goal last night.

Not the best return to have to your old club  

Real Madrid's whole season has been this way but the local press (the all powerful Madrid based press where it comes to football) has masked it all the way with every single negative result being either a mishap or bad luck. I kid you not, that's been the general analysis on the whole season because the expectancy of the Champions League is hopefully waiting to be used in a more than just extreme positive sense. In reality this has been Real Madrid's worst season since the 70s and yet no flack or practically none has been given from any quarter.

[SirBalon]

Villarreal 

https://youtu.be/OG3vx5xTvwQ

[Carnivore Chris]

19 hours ago, El_Loco said:

 

 

Barça can´t give up on Dembélé. The [Barcelona move may have come too early for him, but he´s got so much potential. 

 

The guy is quality and I can't see the club giving up mate. He's too good for that and surely the club wouldn';t be dumb enough to give up? I would hope not atleast. You never know in football these days though, look at Chelsea getting rid of Salah, for example, or De Bruyne. Crazy things happen .

Personally I think the reason why he hasn't always been starting is because 1. Valverde didn't want to rush him and put too much pressure on him too son and 2. due to his injury, Valverde had already found his strongest line-up which then made it difficult to select Dembele in the important games(although that was a big mistake for me against Roma). But I can't see why he shouldn't be starting every week next season personally. He makes the team better to watch and more dangerous on the attack. While still not perfect when it comes to his final product, this can only improve with experience. Neymar got better and better after joining Barcelona and I think Dempele can as well.

 

[Cicero]

1 minute ago, The Rebel CRS said:

 

The guy is quality and I can't see the club giving up mate. He's too good for that and surely the club wouldn';t be dumb enough to give up? I would hope not atleast. You never know in football these days though, look at Chelsea getting rid of Salah, for example, or De Bruyne. Crazy things happen

 

Already been established it was Mourinho who didn't want them. 

[Carnivore Chris]

6 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Already been established it was Mourinho who didn't want them. 

To be fair, Mourinho probably wouldn't have even have wanted Messi and Iniesta when they were young players.

[SirBalon]

1 hour ago, The Rebel CRS said:

To be fair, Mourinho probably wouldn't have even have wanted Messi and Iniesta when they were young players.

If we think back without taking into account what both of those have achieved (I know it’s extremely difficult to do so), I have absolutely NO doubt whatsoever that when either Messi or Iniesta broke onto the scene and their physical make-up that they would not be part of a Mourinho side at all. There is no way that would’ve occurred with also taking into account that they were nobodies back then. That’s where Van Gaal and Rijkaard come into the reckoning. 

[Carnivore Chris]

 

1 hour ago, SirBalon said:

If we think back without taking into account what both of those have achieved (I know it’s extremely difficult to do so), I have absolutely NO doubt whatsoever that when either Messi or Iniesta broke onto the scene and their physical make-up that they would not be part of a Mourinho side at all. There is no way that would’ve occurred with also taking into account that they were nobodies back then. That’s where Van Gaal and Rijkaard come into the reckoning. 

It makes you wonder at times how many players us fans are "robbed" of due to being under the wrong managers at the wrong time which leads them to never reach their full potential. Then again, you could say the same for the other way around about how managers give chances to plays who go on to be great. Some managers could well have overlooked Messi when younger due to his size and lack of stamina which looked like they could go against him.

 

 

 

 

[SirBalon]

52 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

 

It makes you wonder at times how many players us fans are "robbed" of due to being under the wrong managers at the wrong time which leads them to never reach their full potential. Then again, you could say the same for the other way around about how managers give chances to plays who go on to be great. Some managers could well have overlooked Messi when younger due to his size and lack of stamina which looked like they could go against him.

 

 

 

 

 This is where Dutch coaching comes into of the reckoning mate.  We can talk all you like about many other and even Guardiola you could say is purely Dutch in his footballing make-up. Look at Van Gaal's final stints as a major coach for Man Utd...  Those young players getting limited protagonism from Mourinho were blooded by Van Gaal in his final moments as an elite coach.  People can laugh all they like, but Van Gaal kept to his principles and it didn't work out. But he can hold his head up high that he went about his job like when he first started it as a tutor of football.

@Panna King

[Panna King]

1 hour ago, The Rebel CRS said:

 

It makes you wonder at times how many players us fans are "robbed" of due to being under the wrong managers at the wrong time which leads them to never reach their full potential. Then again, you could say the same for the other way around about how managers give chances to plays who go on to be great. Some managers could well have overlooked Messi when younger due to his size and lack of stamina which looked like they could go against him.

 

 

 

 

Messi was overlooked at first, some Spanish coaches at Barcelona told Ronald de Boer That Messi is too small for the first team,  de Boer told Rijkaard who went to watch Messi in depth and couldnt believe what he got told, I think he put him in the first team squad a couple of weeks after he started to watch him,  Cruyff told the Messi story alot and its in Messi’s film as well.

[Panna King]

18 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

 This is where Dutch coaching comes into of the reckoning mate.  We can talk all you like about many other and even Guardiola you could say is purely Dutch in his footballing make-up. Look at Van Gaal's final stints as a major coach for Man Utd...  Those young players getting limited protagonism from Mourinho were blooded by Van Gaal in his final moments as an elite coach.  People can laugh all they like, but Van Gaal kept to his principles and it didn't work out. But he can hold his head up high that he went about his job like when he first started it as a tutor of football.

@Panna King

Age doesnt mean anything in Holland its about talent, its like that in all forms of sports and industries here.

 

you can see what a difference Van Gaal made with talents at Man Utd compared to Mourinho. I would never say Van Gaal was a failure as what he was trying to do would of took time and would of been successful bringing in their own talent through. The thing is the fans, the board are all to blame as they want a quick fix and success straight away to what they had under Sir Alex, that is why Mourinho is there now. Rashford, Shaw etc have gone backwards because of it

[Panna King]

There would be no Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc if it wasn't for Johan Cruyff.  There is an article somewhere i read  that he wanted small skilkful players in the youth as that would be the future of football. 

[Cicero]

4 minutes ago, Panna King said:

There would be no Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc if it wasn't for Johan Cruyff.  There is an article somewhere i read  that he wanted small skilkful players in the youth as that would be the future of football. 

There would be no Johan Cruyff if it wasnt for Rinus Michels 

[SirBalon]

Just now, Cicero said:

There would be no Johan Cruyff if it wasnt for Rinus Michels 

Without a doubt, but if you read all the books and listen to past Dtuch football masters, there wouldn't have been any Rinus Michels without Johan Cruyff either. Cruyff was part coaching at a relatively young age as footballer. 

[SirBalon]

8 minutes ago, Panna King said:

There would be no Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc if it wasn't for Johan Cruyff.  There is an article somewhere i read  that he wanted small skilkful players in the youth as that would be the future of football. 

It was down to Cruyff's advice that Carles Rexach made a contract on a restaurant napkin in Rosario, Argentina.

[Cicero]

2 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Without a doubt, but if you read all the books and listen to past Dtuch football masters, there wouldn't have been any Rinus Michels without Johan Cruyff either. Cruyff was part coaching at a relatively young age as footballer. 

I always thought Michels was the founder of total fooball. A system that has revolutionaised the game to what it is today. He passed that knowledge to Cruyff, who then passed it to Guardiola. 

[Panna King]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

I always thought Michels was the founder of total fooball. A system that has revolutionaised the game to what it is today. He passed that knowledge to Cruyff, who then passed it to Guardiola. 

Jack Reynolds was the founder. He was the Ajax coach when Michels played there. When Michels took over Ajax he used Reynolds tactics but modified them, its a bit like Michels and Johan.

[SirBalon]

2 minutes ago, Cicero said:

I always thought Michels was the founder of total fooball. A system that has revolutionaised the game to what it is today. He passed that knowledge to Cruyff, who then passed it to Guardiola. 

It was Michel's ideal without a doubt but if you read (just as a recent example because there's plenty more) the most recent Cruyff biography, Johan was very much involved in the evolution of that game and Cruyff himself had a lot of input on how games would be set up. 

[SirBalon]

4 minutes ago, Cicero said:

I always thought Michels was the founder of total fooball. A system that has revolutionaised the game to what it is today. He passed that knowledge to Cruyff, who then passed it to Guardiola. 

Actually as Panna just said, Reynolds did initiate things but it was very primitive with him.