Spanish La Liga 2023/2024

[Ethor]

Sevilla vs Real Sociedad early on today, might catch it.

@Ethor wake up and follow suit

Awake, unfortunately that match is on ESPN+, which I don't have

 

[dynasty27]

why would u waste time with that, if you can watch a superior match between Udinese and Salernitana?

Handa is at that game. We're scouting an unknown player from Sociedad.

 

[IM21]

Handa is at that game. We're scouting an unknown player from Sociedad.

where did u get this info ?

 

[dynasty27]

where did u get this info ?

Just a joke to a joke.

 

[Besnik]

Just a joke to a joke.

Problema muscolare

 

[thatdude]

Real Madrid down 2-1 away to Valencia currently.

Real Madrid are still a good team and will be dangerous in CL because of their mentality and quality in the forward line.

However, when I’ve watched this team this year and watched their recruitment over the past few years. This Madrid team lacks passing quality in the midfield. Their team is crying out for a Modric or Kroos type player (in their prime) and they used to have two.

I would say the Kroos - Casemiro - Modric midfield was more responsible for those CL wins than any other area of the team. They could pick you apart with probing passes and barely ever coughed up the ball.

Compare that to what they have now in midfield. Valverde and Camavinga are runners first. Tchouaméni is playing CB today but he is primarily a defensive player. Bellingham is a great goal scorer for a midfielder but he doesn’t dictate tempo. All great athletes, some good on the dribble, some good at finishing.

Who would you look at and say is a top level passer? Who would you say is excellent at ball retention or circulating possession? Who would you say is creative?

It’s still Kroos and Modric who are aging, or the 18 year old Turkish kid. That’s a problem.

 

[IM21]

ugh, bad injury for Diakhaby...

 

[NimAraya]

What a thriller

 

[IM21]

seeing real players cry like bitches is a joy to watch.

 

[pupivn]

Not sure why they’re mad, he whistled before Diaz recovered the ball, no rule that you have to let attacking team finish the play.

 

[IM21]

this aint basketball, dumbass

https://twitter.com/x/status/1764055639255396743

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Real Madrid down 2-1 away to Valencia currently.

Real Madrid are still a good team and will be dangerous in CL because of their mentality and quality in the forward line.

However, when I’ve watched this team this year and watched their recruitment over the past few years. This Madrid team lacks passing quality in the midfield. Their team is crying out for a Modric or Kroos type player (in their prime) and they used to have two.

I would say the Kroos - Casemiro - Modric midfield was more responsible for those CL wins than any other area of the team. They could pick you apart with probing passes and barely ever coughed up the ball.

Compare that to what they have now in midfield. Valverde and Camavinga are runners first. Tchouaméni is playing CB today but he is primarily a defensive player. Bellingham is a great goal scorer for a midfielder but he doesn’t dictate tempo. All great athletes, some good on the dribble, some good at finishing.

Who would you look at and say is a top level passer? Who would you say is excellent at ball retention or circulating possession? Who would you say is creative?

It’s still Kroos and Modric who are aging, or the 18 year old Turkish kid. That’s a problem.

I've had these same discussions elsewhere, your views are completely the same as mine. I understand that finding Kroos or Modric-type players isn't easy, but they began the season trying to launch their next gen midfield with Bellingham-Cama-Tchou-Fede, and it didn't take long for Kroos to find himself back as a regular XI player. (Modric has been more spotty in his appearances, mostly starting either rotationally or when their midfield had an injury crisis in Nov-Dec.) They have some real two-play capability with Camavinga and Fede, really good players at playing in their own half, able to win the ball on challenges and tackles...I'm not impressed with their creativity.

Actually, I'll just pull up a comment I wrote elsewhere a little while ago, I feel like I'm just re-writing what you wrote in different words, might as well quote something I wrote with nobody's influence.

It's probably something Madrid will need, because if there is only one concern I have about their midfield moving forward - I stress "one" concern - it's that these guys might be very dynamic two-way players who can swap positions as needed, but I don't think any of these guys (except for Jude probably) have the same kind of creativity and passing range ability that Luka and Toni have. Those two are simply magical, able to see plays before they happen, and then execute the perfect pass to get the ball where it needs to get to. Their football IQs are insane. Jude is a sponge for this shit, I feel like he's going to absorb every last bit of information he can while those two are still around, but among the midfielders who have regularly played for Madrid this year, Fede's a tank and good at bringing the ball upfield but I don't often see him playing the switches, Camavinga a fantastic ball-winner and keeps tight gaps on players but in attack pretty much only uses his right foot for running which leaves him a bit one-dimensional (he did at least try a thru ball today [ed. note - this refers to the Atleti/Real CdR game] that nearly came off well, to his credit)...Güler seems to have that creative mind but he's extremely green still and low on the pecking order.

So yeah, lots of talent, but strangely feels incomplete at the same time. And I don't expect Güler to be with the club next season, I expect him to be on loan. Odds are, for 2024-'25, they're gonna to whatever they can to try and compel Kroos into sticking around for at least one more season. I personally expect him to retire - I think that's why he's coming back to Germany for the Euros being held there this summer - and Modric is strongly expected to be finishing his Madrid career as well this spring. It would be a hammer blow to them if they lost both those guys in the same summer.

======

Hugo Duro in the postgame commentary said that the referee said "the corner is the last play of the game", obviously that's Duro's perspective and take it with some perspective, but does the sequence end immediately after the header was stopped or whatever? I could swear I've heard the protocols in these situations are to not blow the whistle until an attacking sequence has ended or fizzled out. Obviously it hadn't fizzled out; Brahim still had the ball just outside the box and was looking for a cross. The whistle didn't blow until the ball was being played, either.

I dunno, bad day for the "Asi gana el Madrid" crowd. We would've lost our fucking minds if that happened to us.

 

[wera]

Morata and penalty antics

 

[NimAraya]

Morata and penalty antics

What did the clown do again? Saw the lame attempt he did in the first minutes to get a penalty when he could just use that chance to score the second goal.

 

[wera]

He had a penalty and couldn't score from a rebound. Love to see our opponents struggling like that

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Barcelona playing away at one of their trickiest grounds, but they're facing Athletic Club at the right time, with them coming off an emotional game on a short week Thursday night and Nico Williams being suspended for today's game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Catalan clubs narrow their deficits further this weekend.

 

[NimAraya]

Barcelona playing away at one of their trickiest grounds, but they're facing Athletic Club at the right time, with them coming off an emotional game on a short week Thursday night and Nico Williams being suspended for today's game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Catalan clubs narrow their deficits further this weekend.

Barca usually struggles away to Athletic, so there is a good chance they drop points tonight.

 

[IM21]

Both pedri and de jong injured for barca

 

[NimAraya]

Pedri injured again. What a surprise! Barca's Sensi.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Barcelona playing away at one of their trickiest grounds, but they're facing Athletic Club at the right time, with them coming off an emotional game on a short week Thursday night and Nico Williams being suspended for today's game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Catalan clubs narrow their deficits further this weekend.

The results:

Mallorca 1-0 Girona (-1)
Athletic Club 0-0 Barcelona (0)

As good a reminder as any for why nobody should listen to anything I say.