España - Primera Division

As a barca fan im happy with the win, but there were no penalty at all, so the ref made a made decission, but in every match there is these 50/50! Lazio never gets them and barca does

I too support Barcelona but it was a very dubious and unrightfully given penalty kick. The only thing I am happy about is that the team played well as they usually do, created alot of good goalscoring chances and got the full points their performance deserved - even though the penalty kick goal was unfair and harsh on Espanyol.

Bobbi wrote:

I too support Barcelona but it was a very dubious and unrightfully given penalty kick. The only thing I am happy about is that the team played well as they usually do, created alot of good goalscoring chances and got the full points their performance deserved - even though the penalty kick goal was unfair and harsh on Espanyol.

I thought you said Real Madrid get dubious penalties like Manchester United?! LOL! Every team gets lucky decisions.

No problem. Barcelona won but still behind Real Madrid. Real Madrid not playing at their best but I still near the top. I think Real Madrid will win again but should be a lot closer then last season.

Villareal are having a good season so far - top in La Liga and first equal in their UCL with United. I wonder if they can keep it up all season. It would be great to see them win it or Valencia or Atletico Madrid but ultimately Real Madrid and Barcelona would be favourites for the title. But hopefully they keep it going for as long as possible, and the other teams aswell to make the race more interesting even though I support Barca and would love to see them get La Liga.

la liga is definitely more interesting because of the parody, i'm a valencia supporter myself, but i love seeing the likes of villareal and atletico madrid shaking things up at the top. who knows, madrid or barca could slip.

After 17 minutes, it was 4-1 Barca against Atletico Madrid.


Now it is 5-1 after 30 minutes.


Who knows how this one will end.

yeah and Messi missed two 100% chances :) Barca is making everything look easy...what if they were playing Lecce :)

Roman_Eagle wrote:

yeah and Messi missed two 100% chances :) Barca is making everything look easy...what if they were playing Lecce :)

Atletico is much easier than Lecce.. seriously... they only have 4 defenders... Lecce have 9 and sometimes 10...

Barca 6-1 over Atletico!!!! VAMOS!!!!

Trequartista wrote:

la liga is definitely more interesting because of the parody, i'm a valencia supporter myself, but i love seeing the likes of villareal and atletico madrid shaking things up at the top. who knows, madrid or barca could slip.

I am Real Madrid supporter and I like only Real Madrid doing well. Maybe Espanol and Real Betis a little bit as well.

Villarreal are doing extremely well and I can not believe many clubs have not gone for some of their better players. They have been achieving success very quietly. Very underrated. They are not spectacular team but their defence is amazing. Gonzalo is just amazing and I still can not fathom why the stupid Argentine coach does not ever pick him. Hienze over Gonzalo? Collocini over Gonzalo?!!! No wonder the Argentines have been doing really poor in the last decade. Their coaches are too stupid to even pick their best players. With Godin who is also very good Villarreal have the best centrel defensive partnership in La Liga in my opinion.

and a very good counter-attack when nihat and rossi are healthy. they have an abundance of playmakers as well with santi carzola, ibagaza, pires & cani. also, can't wait for altidore to get some minutes for them, really promising youth who i think will fit right into their system.

not sure i agree about "stupid" argentine coaches, but agree with your example about gonzalo.

Trequartista wrote:

and a very good counter-attack when nihat and rossi are healthy. they have an abundance of playmakers as well with santi carzola, ibagaza, pires & cani. also, can't wait for altidore to get some minutes for them, really promising youth who i think will fit right into their system.

not sure i agree about "stupid" argentine coaches, but agree with your example about gonzalo.

Do you think they can go for the title? They are a good team but I think the title is out of reach for them. They have mostly been winning by one goal margins so far. In some matches that might go the other way whent he opponant scores first and holds them out.

Stupid may have been harsh but certainly not good coaches. How many Argentines coaches do you know that are good?

hmm, that's a good question. i think i'll have to look up a list of their prior coaches.

Trequartista wrote:

hmm, that's a good question. i think i'll have to look up a list of their prior coaches.

I have watched four World Cups. 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. I will name you Argentina's coaches in that time.

Alfio Basile - 1994. Argentina lost in the second round stage to I think Romania??? I am not sure because it was very long time ago and I was to be honest watching the World only because of Italy. Someone can clear that up for me then great.

Daniel Passarella - 1994-1998. Quater finals lost to the Netherlands. I can not forget that one. Bergkamp wonder goal in the dying moments. What a classy player.

Marcelo Bielsa - 1998 -2004. 2002 World Cup Argentina finished third in the first round. Which is the group stage. Argentina was billed as pre-tournament favorites and imploded.

Jose Pekemen - 2004-2006. Quater finals. Lost to Germany. Well everyone watched that one I assume. No need to go into details.

Alfio Basile 2006 to present. And doing a crappy job.

Really do you think those are a great list of coaches. Argentina has had great squads. The 2002 squad in my opinion was the best one but have never progressed further then the quater finals in my time watching them. I can not think of any other good Argentine managers in my opinion in my time.

Brazil, Italy and Germany are the greatest national teams. All have appeared in 6 or more World Cup Finals and also in those four World Cups I have watched Argentina have never progressed further then any of them.

I agree that the 2002 World Cup could be well attributed to poor coaching. However, I'm not sure squad selection has been a consistent problem. Argentina has enough quality players to have a second team that may well compete with most nations. That being said, I think it's more a problem of having the players mesh on the pitch. I'm not sure this was the problem in 2006 as I thought Argentina played very well and going out on PKs to that Germany squad was not exactly shameful. Rather it's a lack of results in the recent World Cups.

As for your specific example, I agree that Gonzalo is an excellent defender and deserves a chance. However, not all club level form translates to the national stage, or vice versa. Look at Lucas Podolski, he is a completely different player in the national side then when he's wearing Bayern's shirt. Is this the case with Gonzalo? I don't think so. What I'm trying to say is that I can't say that I'm smarter than any coach. I'm not saying you're necessarily doing that, but I am very conscious of rash or abrasive judgments. Unfortunately, it does not always break down to: _______ is good call him to the national team. In some cases that's absolutely true, but I think coaches try to find a good mix of players and stick with them to develop chemistry. Some may get calls simply due to experience, or maybe some players are too good on the training ground to not give a second chance. I'm not sure exactly what the situation with Argentina is (or with any team for that matter).

So your question, are those Argentinean coaches great? Well, most of them I know little to nothing about so I'll go ahead and say, "No." In World Cups 1998 and 2006, I think they were legitimately beaten, if that makes sense. Maybe what I mean is those shouldn't be attributed to idiocy in pertinence to coaching, but that might well go without saying as I think you know that as well.

Trequartista wrote:

I agree that the 2002 World Cup could be well attributed to poor coaching. However, I'm not sure squad selection has been a consistent problem. Argentina has enough quality players to have a second team that may well compete with most nations. That being said, I think it's more a problem of having the players mesh on the pitch. I'm not sure this was the problem in 2006 as I thought Argentina played very well and going out on PKs to that Germany squad was not exactly shameful. Rather it's a lack of results in the recent World Cups.

As for your specific example, I agree that Gonzalo is an excellent defender and deserves a chance. However, not all club level form translates to the national stage, or vice versa. Look at Lucas Podolski, he is a completely different player in the national side then when he's wearing Bayern's shirt. Is this the case with Gonzalo? I don't think so. What I'm trying to say is that I can't say that I'm smarter than any coach. I'm not saying you're necessarily doing that, but I am very conscious of rash or abrasive judgments. Unfortunately, it does not always break down to: _______ is good call him to the national team. In some cases that's absolutely true, but I think coaches try to find a good mix of players and stick with them to develop chemistry. Some may get calls simply due to experience, or maybe some players are too good on the training ground to not give a second chance. I'm not sure exactly what the situation with Argentina is (or with any team for that matter).

So your question, are those Argentinean coaches great? Well, most of them I know little to nothing about so I'll go ahead and say, "No." In World Cups 1998 and 2006, I think they were legitimately beaten, if that makes sense. Maybe what I mean is those shouldn't be attributed to idiocy in pertinence to coaching, but that might well go without saying as I think you know that as well.

A good international coach is just not all about squad selection. I think everyone has their own different squad of 23 who they think is the best. Especially with Argentina when they have many quality players. Also true for some other countries as well. Squad selection is one part. Another major factor is tactics. Argentina have had coaches with no tactical nous whatsoever. It is the coach's job to organise the team in a way so that it will have the best chance of winning. In a a tournament the only thing that matters is winning. A mojor part of that is tactics. It seems that Argentine coaches play only one style and teams can quickly recognise this and adapt their teams to counter it. Argentine coaches have not shown they have no "plan B". Ie when intital tactics are not working. Looking back at a recent example when Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 in Copa America. It was obvious the Brazilians have got a game plan based on counter attack yet Argentina still persist and their only answer was to try plan A with different players. It seems to me that Argentine coaches play one dimensional stuff that works against the smaller nations but not against the bigger ones. It is all good and well beating Serbia 6-0 but 0-0 against Netherlands and 1-1 against Germany for example. Also 4-1 against Brazil in the Confedarations Cup Final.

As for your example of Podolski it does not work because Gonzalo is more better defender then Podolski is as a striker. In other words Gonzalo is one of the best defenders in the world. He is awesome. He is Argentina's best defender. Does Podolski really rank with the best strikers of the world? Not in my opinion.

Argentine coaches are not good enough. Look at them now. Basile was their coach in 1994. Since they had no decent coach available to take over when Pekermen resigned they had to go back to him. And they are shambolic. Yesterday they lost to Chile for the first time in a long time. If they had a good coaches they would not have had to turn back to him. Only hope for them is Simeone is looking good but still young and currently doing very poor with River Plate. If he had not won the Clausura he would definately be sacked.

Some interesting matches on this weekend in La Liga.... especially the Madrid derby but I also think the Espanyol - Villarreal game will be a good one, and Almeria - Sevilla too.

Atletico de Madrid - Real Madrid
Espanyol - Villarreal
Valladolid - Recreativo
Malaga - Getafe
Betis - Mallorca
Sporting de Gijon - Osasuna
Racing - Deportivo
Valencia - Numancia
Athletic Bilbao - Barcelona
Almeria - Sevilla

Taib wrote:

A good international coach is just not all about squad selection. I think everyone has their own different squad of 23 who they think is the best. Especially with Argentina when they have many quality players. Also true for some other countries as well. Squad selection is one part. Another major factor is tactics. Argentina have had coaches with no tactical nous whatsoever. It is the coach's job to organise the team in a way so that it will have the best chance of winning. In a a tournament the only thing that matters is winning. A mojor part of that is tactics. It seems that Argentine coaches play only one style and teams can quickly recognise this and adapt their teams to counter it. Argentine coaches have not shown they have no "plan B". Ie when intital tactics are not working. Looking back at a recent example when Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 in Copa America. It was obvious the Brazilians have got a game plan based on counter attack yet Argentina still persist and their only answer was to try plan A with different players. It seems to me that Argentine coaches play one dimensional stuff that works against the smaller nations but not against the bigger ones. It is all good and well beating Serbia 6-0 but 0-0 against Netherlands and 1-1 against Germany for example. Also 4-1 against Brazil in the Confedarations Cup Final.

As for your example of Podolski it does not work because Gonzalo is more better defender then Podolski is as a striker. In other words Gonzalo is one of the best defenders in the world. He is awesome. He is Argentina's best defender. Does Podolski really rank with the best strikers of the world? Not in my opinion.

Argentine coaches are not good enough. Look at them now. Basile was their coach in 1994. Since they had no decent coach available to take over when Pekermen resigned they had to go back to him. And they are shambolic. Yesterday they lost to Chile for the first time in a long time. If they had a good coaches they would not have had to turn back to him. Only hope for them is Simeone is looking good but still young and currently doing very poor with River Plate. If he had not won the Clausura he would definately be sacked.

Right, I acknowledged that my Podolski : Gonzalo comparison wasn't spot on in my original post.

I'd keep going... but I feel like we're both pretty off topic. But for the most part I agree with your conclusions.

Barcelona 5-0 Almeria HT

This team is just a little sick...

Barcelona 5 - 0 Almeria



VAMOS BARCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope xavi gets the ballon d'or, been a fan of his for as long as i remember him being a regular at barca. though, i'm not sure why iniesta hasn't made the same list.

Yeah Xavi is a brilliant player and IMO he deserves too. He has been outstanding both for Barcelona for several years now and for Spain a top player too, especially at the European championships earlier on this year. Forza Xavi!!!!


What at game at El Madrigal between Villarreal and Atletico Madrid eventually finishing 4-4
Atletico are always involved in high scoring games and I think last season didn't this fixture finish like 4-3 to Villarreal!?

One question though.... why did Aguero not even come on as a substitute? Is he injured or something?

Bobbi wrote:

What at game at El Madrigal between Villarreal and Atletico Madrid eventually finishing 4-4

01' Simao 0-1
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704077/
22' Diego Forlan 0-2
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704079/
48' Senna 1-2
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704087/
51' Joseba Llorente 2-2
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704096/
58' Javier Gonzalo Rodriguez 3-2
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704103/
67' Giuseppe Rossi 4-2
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704112/
83' Simao 4-3
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704118/
85' Raul Garcia 4-4
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1704120/

Oh God how much I hate Real Madrid

Secret_Samadhi wrote:

Oh God how much I hate Real Madrid

Why is that?

I support Barcelona I don't really hate Real Madrid but I definitely dislike them very much - I think I am bordering hate. I like some players they have (Raul, Casillas, Guti, Sneijder and Van der Vaart from their time at Ajax), and really dislike some (Robben, Ramos and especially Cannavaro that prick) but as a club I don't.

The thing that annoys me most is that they have been so over rated for the last few seasons yet they are still all made out to be some type of gods and more often then not they grind out results against below average teams or win by luck or unfortunately Barcelona basically hand it to them on a plate as they can't fricken get it right either. Then they boast about how 'great' they are and a majority of their fans annoy the frick out of me - except for my good friend Federico on this forum

Don't get me wrong, they have a great history, and I respect that very much but in recent years (maybe last 4 to 5) I have really grown to dislike them and think a majority of the players they have are not living up to the great club they are playing for. I used to like them (never as much as Barcelona though) when Hierro, Campo and Del Bosque were there but since then I have not.

They remind me of riomma how at the beginning of every season they talk about how they will win the UCL (or in riomma's case, the Scudetto) - as do their fans, and yet they play average and get dumped in the Round of 16 for example always brings a great big smile to my face. I hope they get done as soon as possible again this season.... thank you Juventus for beating them the other day. Gracias!