La Liga/Spanish football 17/18

He is that good!

I think I'll literally be greetin if Chelsea somehow manage to beat them on Wednesday. They are just so much better to watch.
Mind you if tragedy strikes tomorrow I'll still be crying on Wednesday no matter what happens. We are so much better to watch!

That Alba cross to Suarez was very KT like and the header like Dembele. It seems as if there is a load of excellent players called Dembele suddenly appeared on the scene.

Liverpool could have done with Coutinho this afternoon, total class.

Jesus. that was a nasty challenge ffs ooooouuuuuch he should be banned for a long time. There was one game I felt like doing that to Alba in 2012 though. Hate players who deliberately try to injure others, well out of order.

 

Genius from Coutinho.

 

Malaga down to 10 now.

 

That was a bad one on Alba, looks like the stud actually cut through his skin also as well as the sock. Lucky not to have a broken ankle.

 

Dembele's played really well in this game, i've always thought he had great talent, he is a bit hit and miss and seems to go from good to bad a lot(or did at Dortmund) but his weight of pass and his dribbling and final ball and stuff has all been superb in this game.

 

Aye I've not seen much of him but he did look good tonight although I guess we'd have to acknowledge the opposition but he looks young enough to be able to progress.

Coutinho didn't take long to fit in and it'll be quite exciting to see him when he builds up an understanding and relationship with the forwards.

I thought it was really strange when Turan looked so out of place considering he was excellent with Atletico.

 

Coutinho with another great goal for Barca.

 

I know it's a bit late but just seen the crucial league game between Barca and Atletico. It's amazing how Barca's defense is as good as Atletico's now, I mean how the * did he manage that with the attacking force they have? Atletico mainly relied on the counter but Barca seem to be mixing up solid defence while still keeping 99% possession.
What is Messi like. About 10 minutes in he tried to take on two players and lost the ball to the second defender and I was wondering if this was us watching him start to gradually slow down.
Then 10 minutes later he's surrounded by 3 Atletico players, possibly the world's best pressing team?, and I'm thinking he's going to get fouled or robbed here cause they're too close. Then suddenly it's just 3 Atletico players standing beside each other wondering what it was they went up the stairs for again. I liked the pundit "I know I'm here to explain the game but I can't tell you what just happened there sorry."

That free kick * *, that's one of the world's best defences and keepers.

I think they said that's 4 he's scored this year, more than any team in the league. But what was amazing the pundit said is, it's that every one of them has been different. He'll hit it keeper side, wall side, underneath the wall, I wouldn't be surprised if one just went through the wall and keeper.

He got booked though! I think I've only seen that once before. And that was for being cheeky.

Coutinho's body language is uncannily a little Messi like at times. He was hot and cold but when he's hot wow what a player. Poor Suarez called offside wrongly again, he's just too good at timing the line. If they get Greizmann for £100m in the summer they are going to be fearsome. We'll no fear them but everyone else will.

Was amazed to read Girona are 7th? Brilliant. I thought it was Eibar who were the ones punching way about their weight. And Valencia, * happened to them, they were doomed last year, no hope most folk said. Quite a transformation, good to hear.

 

if I were Barcelona I'd be looking to go for another highly skilled CM like Marco Verratti. As much as I rate Griezmann, where would he be playing? Is Suarez about to be dropped?

Suarez and Griezmann up front with Messi being right behind them? You still have Dembele, Coutinho, Busquets, Rakitic, Paulinho, Iniesta etc.

 

Ronaldo is in some * form, 4 goals tonight..

 

Ronaldo has been on fire lately. Real Madrid are getting back on track and will be hard to beat in Europe.

 

They have increased their chances to regain the title dramatically in the past 2 months. One of the two top teams to beat imho.

 

How many times did you *?

 

Ronaldo is essentially a glorified Kris Boyd.

 

Dembele and Messi seem to be getting on well. Must be a great mentor for the lad but good to see he's capable of stepping up to that level.

Coutinho keeps coming so close to scoring amazing goals, it's only a matter of time.

 

If I was them i'd actually go for Griezmann instead. They don't really have much pace going forward and he would add that, and he's another goalscorer who would probably get 25-30 goals a season and if Suarez was injured then they'd have someone capable of playing up front which they dont really have now.

They mostly only play 2 centre-mids now and they have enough people to play there Busquets, Rakitic, Paulinho and even Roberto then if they had to.

Their thinking may be as well that Griezmann is actually a pretty decent defensive player as well, he is always roaming round the pitch and back in his own half chasing people and closing down. Currently the Barca players who play wide or in the attacking midfield position like Dembele, Messi, Iniesta and Coutinho don't really do anything defensively or put in that kind of work-rate - only Vidal and Paulinho are solidish defensive wide players. Also having 2 goalscorers again would allow them to rest Messi more, currently if they leave Messi out Suarez would be under heavy pressure to score since all their other players dont score too much.

Would give them better options, could play like that at home in the League

Rakitic Busquets
Messi Coutinho Griezmann
Suarez
​

Play like this in big games to keep it tight, with the options of Dembele, Coutinho and Iniesta on the bench if needed

Paulinho Rakitic Busquets Griezmann
Messi
Suarez
​

They could probably even get away with resting Messi and Suarez in home games to teams like Eibar and Girona etc as well as they'd still have

Rakitic Busquets
Dembele Coutinho Iniesta
Griezmann
​

Another top centre-mid would improve them as well but I think the way they play now their main concern would be another goalscorer and someone for the left who can do a defensive job and Griezmann is both.

 

I think if they signed Greizmann it would be like when they signed Suarez, they'd turn into league and UCL favourites straight away.

 

@ILoveTheCeltic personally I'd rather spend that money on somebody who's about to replace a CM. the way Barca play they don't really rely on pace. still, Dembele gives them some extra speed if needed.

Griezeman would be a nice to have option, but imho overpriced. plus I don't know what would happen if Coutinho and Dembele are benched regularly. you don't pay over 100m $ for each and have them dropped occasionally. Not sure if they would accept that role.

However if the rumours are true and Iniesta is set to leave it's gonna be a different story.

 

Barca rely a lot on speed, Alba must be involved in 50% of their goals and Suarez uses speed to makes runs behind then Messi the human Cheetah can go from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds while changing direction. Like he demonstrated so beautifully against Chelsea while they looked to be off the pace haha that was so funny.

Wait, you think Griezmann is overpriced at £100m? That is a total bargain.