Barcelona v Real Madrid

"again its the visionery genius of leonel messi in the precise weight of the pass that opens the white shirts up like a FRESH FISH"

*?

 

Mourinho needs a rethink now.

Barca's away record (in arguably the best league in the world) -

Played 6, Won 6, Goals for - twenty-one, Goals against - three.

Just...

 

i think la liga is underrated in england tbh, think its because barcelona and real madrid always break ahead, but put any english team in the ring with barca, in all honesty, i think they'd get beat comfortably, and i think if man utd and chelsea played in spain, they'd be 3rd and 4th in the league, not winning it

 

How he thinks of that * on the spot is beyond me

 

You'd have to live in England mate to get an accurate representation of that. Maybe they would get beat, but a Chelsea (the one we know) and Man U could still stand a sizeable chance of beating them without being favourites. I think Utd and Chelsea would be ahead of Real but behind barca

 

You should have seen his press conferences when he was a coach in MLS. That's basically how he got that job, he got fired as a manager but GolTV was like "that manager always says crazy *, let's hire him and let him say crazy * on air." And it's worked, probably the most popular commentator in the States.

 

I dont think this barcelona side is the best of all time , club wise, but thats a debate for another thread, and ultimately it comes to personal taste. Teams like sacchi's milan are in a different league IMO. What flatters this barcelona team is the level of opposition they've encountered, not a single great team neither in spain nor europe, and yet they've only won 1 CL with this team.

Mourinho has all the means and structure to challenge and beat this barca side, if he cannot then its his fault, or like I think, the job is too big for him. He'll have to keep a lower profile and not be so antagonistic coz you dont want to have as enemy some of the characters that write for sports papers, or his fellow managers who can be extremely tough at times, particularly with foreigners. Tough men like heynckes, Sacchi or Toshack have left Real humiliated by press and fans, Mourinho is leading for the same path if he doesnt adjust to the spaniard's idiosyncracies, and *, they have a few.

Its great to visit their country, eat and party at night, enjoy the sun, but if you have to work there, their work enviroment can be really filled with traps. I know it because I worked there for a few years, and I know their country and culture, perhaps too much and Im doing some personal projection on the mourinho case :icon_mrgreen: , but to be honest thats not only my experience but the same from everyone who has gone and worked with locals in spain. They're extremely jealous of foreigners and very unforgiving. Mourinho is at the epicenter of spanish nationalism, and the most fickle club and environment in the world, after barcelona, I can't see him doing anything other than struggle.

But beyond personality issues, his tactics have always been for clubs like chelsea or inter who arent supposed to play well while winning. If you go to United, Real or Ajax, you're expected to challenge for every title, while keeping in tune with the club's tradition of playing attacking football. This latter demand was what killed mourinho today/yesterday. He knew he had to play to win the game, and not only to defend like he did with Inter. He went out of his comfort zone and he crashed, big time. Ultimately this result can't be erased and probably has marked the begininng of the end for him at Real

 

"xavi as cool as jimi hendrix at woodstock"

"orgasmic finish....a malange of magic"

"messi could follow you into a revolving door and still come out first"

"barca turnin mourihno into a pinata"

http://www.theoffside.com/world-foo...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

one about Messi surely wins

 

the guy does all la liga games shown in the US. always says about cristiano ronaldo, "flashing the blades like a combine harvester" when he does the stepovers. i think he said once that xavi is "braver than a matador with no knickers on". every week theres a new crop of them

 

I think chelsea and United, possibly arsenal because of their possession football, would do extremely well in spain. Barca are a better side than any of them though, but on their day they'd give Barca more of a game than real did today. In fact reading the catalan press in european games the only team they're concerned to face is chelsea.

Personally I think the EPl is a far more interesting league, in many regards, certainly this season has been fascinating with great games, pretty exciting league table and very good standard of football, while la liga has only had occassional good games and frankly theres not much competition. But Im not going to win this argument on a scottish forum, thats for sure, and I admit its a very subjective matter

 

If you're talking about Pep's teams, well that's a little unfair because he's only been a manager for two years. 1 CL out of 2 is pretty decent I think, and they were only barely kicked out in the semi-finals by the eventual winners last year. And if you're including Rijkaard's years then you're wrong, because they won it in 2006. Also they've beaten some pretty good European teams, they outclassed Manchester United in 2009, destroyed Arsenal last year, regularly trounce Real Madrid (who are greatly improved this year).

 

la liga is the SPL on steroids

 

You say that but Real Madrid were hardly "on their day", they were * horrible today. Arsenal didn't really do any better last year but I'd suppose for that one you'd use that as an excuse (but not an excuse for Real)? To be honest, I hate reading Spanish or English accounts of the others' league. Both the media and the people, they both are fundamentally incapable of understanding the strengths of the others' league with a few exceptions (Jonathan Wilson, Guillem Balague). The EPL this year is more interesting, but over the past few years it was every bit of a two-horse race as La Liga was.

 

no doubt they are a good side, I think very overhyped by press and fans because they havent encountered the caliber of teams other good sides of the past played against. Sacchi's milan had to play and beat a great Juve, Bayern and Real Madrid sides. This barca side played a good united side but far from greatness who were missing a key midfielder and hadnt quite reached top form, their Real Madrid rivals havent been very good, and you can corroborate this by the lack of good results in Europe in their last 5 years.

But beyond numbers I dont get the same excitement watching them that I got from past teams, like van gaal's ajax, sacchi's milan, united's treble team, platini juve, and even toshack Real Madrid side

Theres one thing though in which I think they stand up there with the very best, their defensive pressing. Absolutely superb.

 

spot on

and itll probably break into a 2 horse race eventually


i like the EPL, watch it everyweek,but just think spanish football isnt valued at all in britain

 

I would say the EPL is very much like the SPL on steroids - i.e. the quality of the star players is much higher, but the basic approach to football and technique is the same. The British approach.

In La Liga, the basic level of technique among the Spanish players is so much higher than among the British players, it's almost like watching a different sport.

I agree that the EPL is more interesting, in that there are more teams who could genuinely challenge for the title, but that's just because Barca and Real ain't in it.

If you put the two of them in the EPL, then the EPL would be a two horse race, just like La Liga is just now.

 

When I say the EPL is better, I don't mean the actual football (though I do think it is more entertaining even if it isn't as technical). It's the overrall package, the fans travelling in numbers accross the country, the humour, the incidents, the physical side of the game, the fact that a low level game can be fantastic- just like the top level ones are. I think people need to watch some live in the ground to give a viewpoint, rather than just on tele.

 

thts my view too, madrid clearly went at there best tonight, nowhere near infact, barca real chelsea man utd at their best imo it would be

1.Barca
2.Real Madrid
3.Chelsea
4. Man Utd

only my opinion of course

 

Real are a good side, but my gripe with la liga is that beyond those two theres not much more, certainly you dont get as many unpredictable results in the spanish league as you're getting this year in england. Wenger, Fergie and many others have said that this year there isnt any easy game and the league is the most competitive has been in decades. Last weekend for instance was the first weekend in 20 years where every premiership team scored, and this translates into the fact that its hard to get a boring EPL game without at least a couple of interesting aspects to immerse in. Its funny because in AS forums, the biggest sports newspaper in spain, they were saying just this past weekend how the english league this year has definitely become the best and most exciting to watch.

As for strengths of la liga, I think they're a technically superior league, with more skill, better passing game but less pace, attacking football and excitement than in england. These are the cliches and i think there are for a reason because there are actually true. I dont hold it against anyone if you prefer the spanish league, its understandable, but its also understandable the opposite without being a matter of someone not "getting" the other league's strong points. You can get them and still prefer the other.