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blueduck
Guest
Spain are the new Scotland. Except it's Barca and Real instead of Rangers and Celtic.
State of La Liga
- Thread starter shadows
- Start date
Beast
The Observer
it's true that atm other liga teams hasn't done much.. but it's about fame at the end.. during the first galactico era and with Dinho move to barca liga was the league to be.. it was a dream for every young player to be in Spain..
last couple of years the EPL rightfully took the helm .. but this season the constant success for Spanish football on every aspect will change that with ease.. Spain are the no 1 team in the world and Europe best. Barca triumphed in Europe in an amazing way and now Serie A & EPL top dogs moved to the liga... all this contribute to the interest of the liga..
Seville are still Seville.. sadly they kept the idiot in charge but they were never about big names.. Seville is a team player no stars .. they came third this season but i suspect they will lose momentum .. Villarreal made an excellent signing by bringing back Valverde .. he is an excellent manager and i believe they will come third
Atletico need 2 things.. easier sell and reinforce or reinforce and keep your stars.. they have Europe to milk and Valencia have good players even if Mata-Silva and Villa leave.. they still have Zigic and the new guy Pablo Hernandez who i believe will be a big thing ..
it's a butterfly effect Eddy.. the money thrown to Milan and co will generate a motion in the transfer market.. club like Real will/can offload good quality on the cheap and overall it will benefit the other small clubs.. to make it a bit clearer.. say Villa move to Real for the acclaimed 30 Mil + Negredo... it means Valencia got a great striker for free and 30 Million to pay their debts... it never works one way
however i guarantee Barca & Real will cause fear in next season CL for everyone .. Barca earned it and we (on paper so far) can be the team to beat along with the Catalan outfit ..
last couple of years the EPL rightfully took the helm .. but this season the constant success for Spanish football on every aspect will change that with ease.. Spain are the no 1 team in the world and Europe best. Barca triumphed in Europe in an amazing way and now Serie A & EPL top dogs moved to the liga... all this contribute to the interest of the liga..
Seville are still Seville.. sadly they kept the idiot in charge but they were never about big names.. Seville is a team player no stars .. they came third this season but i suspect they will lose momentum .. Villarreal made an excellent signing by bringing back Valverde .. he is an excellent manager and i believe they will come third
Atletico need 2 things.. easier sell and reinforce or reinforce and keep your stars.. they have Europe to milk and Valencia have good players even if Mata-Silva and Villa leave.. they still have Zigic and the new guy Pablo Hernandez who i believe will be a big thing ..
it's a butterfly effect Eddy.. the money thrown to Milan and co will generate a motion in the transfer market.. club like Real will/can offload good quality on the cheap and overall it will benefit the other small clubs.. to make it a bit clearer.. say Villa move to Real for the acclaimed 30 Mil + Negredo... it means Valencia got a great striker for free and 30 Million to pay their debts... it never works one way
however i guarantee Barca & Real will cause fear in next season CL for everyone .. Barca earned it and we (on paper so far) can be the team to beat along with the Catalan outfit ..
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blueduck
Guest
I agree with most of that, except Real still have the same defence that got whooped by Liverpool. So they can be beaten.
FInd it funny how NOW EPL fans go on about them never comparing England and Spain leagues, never saying their league is better etc...yet over past 2 years when you go on their teams forums it was pretty much ALL they did, putting down La Liga, going on about the Premiership being the best in the world etc...but now there appears to be a momentum shift they cover their tracks.
Also find the "new Scotland" remarks ironic considering England has 4 teams far and above the rest, which the way Arsenal are going will soon be 3...La Liga isn't a "new Scotland" it was always about Barça and Real for years with other teams coming and going. Comparing the Scottish League quality to the Spanish league shows how much of a prat Quacky is.
For all the EPL lot go on about Premiership dominance it was never a leagues dominance, only 4 teams...the rest of your supposed "tough competition" for the big 4 went out to smaller European teams in the UEFA Cup...It isn't like you've seen the EPL dominating the UEFA Cup is it with their self annointed "superior teams" is it? I just laugh so hard when they try and say that the Stokes, Hulls and Bolton's of their league put up more fight...it is a baseless and ignorant assumption.
Also find the "new Scotland" remarks ironic considering England has 4 teams far and above the rest, which the way Arsenal are going will soon be 3...La Liga isn't a "new Scotland" it was always about Barça and Real for years with other teams coming and going. Comparing the Scottish League quality to the Spanish league shows how much of a prat Quacky is.
For all the EPL lot go on about Premiership dominance it was never a leagues dominance, only 4 teams...the rest of your supposed "tough competition" for the big 4 went out to smaller European teams in the UEFA Cup...It isn't like you've seen the EPL dominating the UEFA Cup is it with their self annointed "superior teams" is it? I just laugh so hard when they try and say that the Stokes, Hulls and Bolton's of their league put up more fight...it is a baseless and ignorant assumption.
Beast
The Observer
Real problem with liverpool & Barca games was simply the midfield couldn't hold the ball to take it from point A to point B ..
i still remember in Liverpool game when Sergio Ramos took the ball and kept moving trying to look for any player to pass the ball to (and he found none ) suddenly Torres came from behind him took the ball and started an attack..
that's the state of Real Midfield.. solve the midfield you solve the state of defenders... letting your midfield overrun every time will expose (and it did expose ) Real Madrid defense & goalie .. that's why our best signing is Kaka not CR.. cause he is someone u can give the ball to and you are sure he won't lose it like a pussy (enter Guti Hernandez .. who was another example of poor midfield.. i can count at least 10 times he mis-passed the ball & lost it so pool can counter attack )
i still remember in Liverpool game when Sergio Ramos took the ball and kept moving trying to look for any player to pass the ball to (and he found none ) suddenly Torres came from behind him took the ball and started an attack..
that's the state of Real Midfield.. solve the midfield you solve the state of defenders... letting your midfield overrun every time will expose (and it did expose ) Real Madrid defense & goalie .. that's why our best signing is Kaka not CR.. cause he is someone u can give the ball to and you are sure he won't lose it like a pussy (enter Guti Hernandez .. who was another example of poor midfield.. i can count at least 10 times he mis-passed the ball & lost it so pool can counter attack )
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Esteve
Guest
Real Madrid aren't contenders for the CL because they have Kaká & Cristiano Ronaldo. What about their defence? As things stand, Barça are lightyears ahead of Madrid. I'll compare them after a few more signings.
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blueduck
Guest
Barcelona and Real have been dominating La liga for years. (with the odd exception of Valencia)
I wasn't saying they are the same in quality. They are the same in the fact that 2 teams completely dominate their leagues.
beef-supreme
Senior member
Virtually every country is like that in the world. Guardian did a great post putting the main title contenders for each league on a regular basis.
And believe it or not, it's the same for the premier league. Manchester United and Chelsea. It's as much a two-horse race as it is in the Spanish league. Finally Liverpool did something but I wouldn't be so confident about them doing it again.
The EPL is the new Scottish League
maz
I walk the line
There have been more winners in spain than in england since the premier league was introduced.
beef-supreme
Senior member
maz
I walk the line
Firstly, a league's dominance is based on the performance of its representative clubs in europe. This season the #1 representative of spain taught england a lesson. And in fact those aren't my words, those are the words of epl disciples jamie redknapp and andy gray. You are right that this season the challenges to the big 2 weren't anything special. But given the names that spain is attracting, given that some of the most marketable players in the world are in spain (plus if ibra comes to fcb it will be the two highest earners of 08/09 in spain - kaká and ibra), given that of all the key players Spain used bar THREE to win Euro 2008 and be hailed as the first team in ages to win it by playing the best football came from la liga ...it shows that we are seeing a turning point for la liga. And that's the key phrase. Turning point.
You said that sevilla always sell their players and cannot have success like they had in 05/07. If you have followed la liga intensely for for 10 years then you would know that monchi has been at sevilla for 9 years and in that time (as they have been a selling club) they have gone from being a newly-promoted side to winning back to back UEFA cups. For them to be a selling club (losing the likes or reyes, baptista and ramos) and continue to go on to win those titles speaks volumes. They have had baptista who had a record of more than 1 goal in 2 games, they have kanouté (pichichi two season ago) who they have managed to tie down to the club and they have fabiano who was almost pichichi last season had it not been for the phenominal run of form by guiza in the last few weeks. Manolo jímenez is learning, but i see potential in him. They are a project team and i have huge faith in them continuing to improve. Perhaps they take one step forward two steps back at times, but in the long run i see them moving further than they have before.
Also, you forgot to (or rather chose not to) mention atléti who have been slowly but surely improving. They now have two-time pichichi (and the same player who scored enough goals this season to earn him the golden boot...even though la liga was so bad outside the top 2, right?), one of the hottest young strikers in the WORLD, a decent midfield, and are no doubt going to continue to strengthen this summer. Not to mention they have abel resino who replaced the mediocre aguirre.
Spain's problem has been the way the league is run. They need to remarket it. They need to have deals in place whereby it is the league that sells the TV rights, as opposed to individual clubs negotiating their own terms. It needs to confirm fixture days for TV months before they take place. It needs to improve its refereeing standards vastly. Those are the places where la liga is miles behind the epl.
The names that are arriving at la liga, the football being played, the dominance of fcb in europe this season, the potential different teams show...as i said we are seeing a turning point.
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