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Now La Liga...

Gunna just start by saying Wednesday is a GLORIOUS day for La Liga football. I swear if we get more posts about a ******** cup elsewhere than a tired/banged up RM v. Undefeated Villarreal, followed by Barca v. their CL Eliminators Atleti, I'll be livid b. RM are also going for breaking Barca's W record, and this is one of those single days that will have implications on the table at the end of the season.

Brief thoughts on RM, but James and Isco both buying in is beautiful b. They've went from bad attitude disgruntled players to 2 ADM types with a chip on their shoulder and the desire to prove they're Madrid class on the pitch. And if successful, have the aesthetics for Flo to keep them.
 
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psk2310 said:
I can't imagine what would happen of United lose to Northampton and/or @HEGGSY FC...
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Northampton 
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How Monaco’s focus on youth could be undoing PSG’s dominance
Posted on 19/09/2016 by bootdeball

Two summers ago, embroiled in a legal battle with his wife following his divorce and faced with the prospect of losing half of his fortune, Monaco owner Dimitri Rybolovlev oversaw a shift in Monaco’s behaviour in the transfer market. This change in policy – also said to have been caused by sudden threat of FFP sanctions which had already come down on PSG, and the downturn in the Russian potash market from which Rybolovlev derives much of his wealth – marked a sudden halt to an ambitious project that could have promised French football another giant.

A project that began all guns blazing in 2013, following the club’s return to Ligue 1, with the arrivals of then-rising star James Rodriguez from Porto and Falcao – arguably the best finisher in the world at the time – from Atletico Madrid cooled down considerably a year on. Instead of bolstering a strong – albeit ageing for the most part – squad that narrowly lost the league to fellow New Money PSG, Monaco took advantage of James Rodriguez’s rise in stock from World Cup performances by letting him become Real Madrid’s summer marquee signing to rival Barcelona’s signing of Luis Suarez. The extent at which his injury sustained in a Coupe de France match would affect his overall level still unknown, Falcao would also leave the club on deadline day to begin his descent into mediocrity.A strong link with super agent Jorge Mendes was put to good use as Monaco brought in young players from Portugal to go with the newly-arrived Leonardo Jardim – first Bernardo Silva and Wallace, then Cavaleiro and Helder Costa the following year – as well as focusing on domestic talent – Bakayoko, Nardi. Overall, the summer marked a sharp turn in the club’s policy, and although this presented its clear benefits Ligue 1 fans were all too aware that this would signal the end – or at least a temporary halt – of Ligue 1’s main selling point, its blockbuster rivalry.

The next two years would see PSG comfortably consolidate themselves as French football’s behemoth whilst Monaco would duly qualify for the Champions League, though posing no real threat to the Parisians in doing so. Nevertheless, a reputation for being a strong defensive side grew under Jardim’s reign, and paid early dividends as Monaco qualified for the quarter finals of the Champions League in 2015 – making it 2 French clubs in the last 8 that year, while no English teams were present – and narrowly missed out on a semi final berth. While he was limited in terms of selection, Jardim effectively built up a squad that blended this influx of youth with the club’s more seasoned players – Ricardo Carvalho, Jérémy Toulalan and Andrea Raggi for instance – but domestically, PSG’s rampant spending proved too much to compete with. A rivalry that French football had welcomed with open arms, one that would propel it to the international stage, had evaporated before really beginning.

Come this summer, though, it was PSG’s turn to undergo a revamp with the departures of Zlatan Ibrahimovic – undisputably the face of the QSI (Qatar Sports Investment) era and one of the main reasons for the club’s crushing success – and Laurent Blanc, often unfairly criticised for his supposedly ‘easy’ building of a team that has won the domestic treble twice in a row. Once Blanc received his 22 million euro settlement on leaving, in came Unai Emery, followed through the door by Grzegorz Krychowiak and Hatem Ben Arfa in a fairly tame summer window by PSG’s -admittedly astronomical – standards.

While his European exploits with Sevilla were the main motivation for Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s decision, Emery’s average recent league record with Sevilla had seemed like a major sticking point in his appointment, not least exacerbated by his catastrophic away form : not a single away win in the league last season. It’s obviously far too early and unfair to make any sort of definitive judgement on the Spaniard after a handful of games at this stage in his first season, but there is an overwhelming sense that PSG have regressed this summer.

Of course, the likelihood is that Cavani will duly reach the 20 goal mark by the end of the season, and Emery will have put PSG back on the winning trail, dismissing this early season period as an acclimatisation to his new club. Business as usual, but is there any progression? By contrast, Monaco seem to be striding forward relentlessly, having already claimed a convincing victory over the champions and clawed out a win at Wembley against Spurs.

Monaco has always been an attractive destination for any cash-injection style takeover: the principality’s status as a tax-free haven made it ideal for attracting top players, especially when contrasted with France’s harsh tax laws on the rich – in this regard, Monaco have had the economic upper hand over the rest of the league (since June 2015, though, the club has had to comply with French laws after their agreement with the federation was deemed illicit). Whatever the motivation was for switching the club’s focus to youth, though, – and it probably wasn’t borne out of any noble sense to bring through football’s hopes for the future – it’s paid dividends for Dmitri Rybolovlev and has ensured that Monaco have a sustainable base from which they will be able to build on long after he pulls the plug on his investment, far more solid than any injection of big money signings could ever do. Monaco has always been a breeding ground for France’s elite, make no mistake – the likes of Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Lilian Thuram and Emmanuel Petit came through the Monegasque ranks (in fact, most Ligue 1 academies tend to do very well – Lyon and Lens for instance)- but this big a youth project is unprecedented on the Cote d’Azur.

Over the last 2 years Leonardo Jardim will have been able to compensate for the losses of Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and Layvin Kurzawa – who both emerged from the club’s youth ranks – and a handful of disastrous signings – arguably the price to pay for such a strong link to Jorge Mendes – by being given the tools to mould together a team orientated primarily towards youth, but with a host of seasoned players to effectively steer the team – the returning Falcao, for instance. The team’s roaring success so early on in the year is proof of his success in doing so. The likes of diminutive playmaker Bernardo Silva, defensive midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko, and versatile fullback Djibril Sidibé and the outrageously talented Thomas Lemar have already emerged as the main protagonists of Monaco’s season to come, and will no doubt be crucial if any title comes their way this season. Slowly but surely, Monaco are progressing and returning to the level they were reaching in 2013/14.

Monaco aren’t the only French team building for the future, though – Lucien Favre’s Nice have progressed from a solid 2015/16 with a team built around prospects such as Vincent Koziello, Alassane Pléa, Jean Seri and Yoan Cardinale who are already carrying over their good form form last season, and with the arrivals of Mario Balotelli and Dante the Aiglons are destined for a strong season. Along with Lyon’s promising start to life in their new stadium, it’s hard to see PSG dominate as emphatically as they did last season. If anything, it’s Monaco look to be the early favourites for the Ligue 1 title.
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Lucho said:
psk2310 said:
Good to see Carles Alena playing well with Barca B...
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I haven't really been keeping up with the kids lately. Might have to get back on it. 

Also, thoughts on the 3-4-3 that Barca played on Saturday?
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3-4-3 has been used by the club in the past (by several managers including Lucho). It's not something to use all the time but it sure yielded some scoring. If you have the personnel to do it, I like how you drop the deepest midfielder into the back three and push the two fullbacks up into more wingback-type positions.It allows you to throw seven men forward, four of whom are working in wide areas. It also challenges a narrow defense because you have 4 players wide.

Having said that, the team's play was a little sloppy especially in the first portion of the first half. It would've proly helped if the team had busquets. I know there were enough Culers & some writers (Like Sport's Lluis Mascaro & Cadena SER radio 's Gerard Romero) who didn't like it.

Lucho has used the formation before back in 2014 for a CL match vs PSG. Barca won 3-1 in much the same fashion as they did against Leganes. I don't mind Lucho trying out things against lesser sides in this part of the campaign. I don't mind him trying to establish a rotation either, these effers should've come to play better against Alaves. :rolleyes

You gotta watch Alena play. The pace in which he plays is fun to watch. He's so dagone thick & runs around a pitch like a mad man dribbling around & thru defenders.

Edit - It's funny, Culers & Barca writers complain about wanting the club to play more forward & when they do they complain about that... :rolleyes :smh:
 
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West Brom played major part in stopping late Real Madrid transfer, chance may be gone
By Sport Witness Team - 19th September 2016

West Brom’s desperate attempts to sign players, seemingly any players, at the end of the transfer window caused havoc at several European clubs.

The Baggies aren’t usually much covered in the European media but the week before the window closed, and perhaps more so the week after it, they were mentioned in stories all over the place.

Late West Brom moves for players were reported in several countries, and the story always seemed the same: The Premier League club really wanted a player but came in with too little money too late in the transfer window.

One player West Brom could have wrapped up with plenty of breathing space left was Ignacio Camacho. Malaga’s owner even publicly said the player was keen to leave, which seemed to suggest an imminent transfer.

The player has a €18m release clause, which is pretty good value, but West Brom wanted bonuses to be included and to deposit the money in staged payments, so the deal died.

Spain’s El Confidencial say that also killed Malaga’s attempt to re-sign Isco from Malaga on loan – because they planned to use the Camacho money to pay his wages and the loan fee.

Malaga may well have lost their chance to see Isco back at the club, if the player does leave Madrid then next time there’ll surely be wealthier clubs ahead of them.

So West Brom’s trail of transfer destruction just added another failed deal to the list, there could be a movie in this.
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Valencia are bottom and fast becoming the old lady who swallowed a fly
Sid Lowe

The day before Pako Ayestarán flew to Singapore to meet the Valencia owner Peter Lim and discuss becoming the manager at Mestalla, he phoned Gary Neville to ask for his blessing. Neville was the one who had taken him there in the first place, after all, the man who had publicly insisted “when I go, Pako goes”, and now Ayesteran was about to take his job. It was an “awkward” phone call but, if the Englishman wasn’t entirely pleased, he told Ayestarán to go for it. He also told Lim that his former assistant was the best man for the job. At the time, the new manager was grateful. He might not be so sure now. They might not be, either.

Six months on, Valencia are bottom of the table, the only side without a single point. On the eve of their opening game of the new season Ayestarán promised “we’re going to enjoy it” – but no one is enjoying this. Four games later, they’re the worst team in Spain, and he’s the worst manager in their history. That’s what the statistics say, anyway. Mario Kempes, meanwhile, says this: “What’s happening to Valencia is very worrying; there’s no project, no ideas, just pure footballing impotence.” Which would be bad enough anyway but Kempes isn’t just arguably Valencia’s best player ever; he’s also their ambassador.

Kempes represents the club, or is supposed to. If what he said was telling, the fact that he said it was even more so: a portrait of the way things sometimes are at a club where Neville admits feeling people greeting him with looks that said “you won’t be here for long”; where, if they did, they were right. On Sunday night Kempes backed the coach … and then made a pitch for his job. It is one he thinks might become available again soon, and he is not alone.

Ayestarán is under pressure for sure. Over the last seven seasons, Valencia’s position after four games reads: sixth, third, third, first, sixth, second, second. This time, they’re 20th, bottom of the pile. Played four, lost four, conceded 10. It is the joint-worst start in their history. The last three teams to start like this – Osasuna, Sporting and Xérez – all went down. Away at Athletic Bilbao is never easy but this time it was set up as the game they had to win; a “final” already, with 34 games still to go. As one paper put it, they were obliged to wipe out that zero by their name. They didn’t: two goals from Aritz Aduriz saw them defeated 2-1 at San Mamés.

This is Valencia’s joint-worst start ever yet, oddly, despite the results it hasn’t all been bad. Not that bad, anyway.

“It’s hard to know what’s missing,” goalkeeper Diego Alves said on Sunday. “In every game we have shown that we have the qualities to win, but we have no points,” Mario Suárez noted. Luck always feels like a desperately weak explanation for anything but it plays its part. Las Palmas coach Quique Setién admitted that Valencia deserved more when his side beat them 4-2 on the opening night; the week after they should have been four or five up by half-time against Eibar, but lost 1-0 to a Pedro Len penalty; and the week after that they came from 2-0 down to equalise against Betis, and could have won it before conceding a late goal. On Sunday, they went a goal ahead inside three minutes.

Yet again, though, Valencia were fragile; defensively they have been appalling, mentally they appear weak, belief slipping away. Mistakes are damaging them; more of them individual than systemic. Opponents find space too easily. It doesn’t take much to create chances against them. They do not compete: “Even their milk teeth haven’t come through yet,” as Cayetano Ros put it. Centre-backs Ezequiel Garay and Eliaquim Mangala arrived on the final day of the transfer window but they have not yet remedied their ills – Garay was injured on Sunday, while Aduriz destroyed Mangala. There is little real control in the middle, and up front they miss chances. Against Athletic it was just the one, but it was a clear one.

And so here they are; here the manager is, under pressure. It is not just this season, either. Valencia lost the last three games of last season too. Seven consecutive defeats is their worst ever run. Over the last eight games, Valencia’s record reads: lost seven, drawn one – their last win was back in April. It is not just the results that matter but the reaction they provoke; the instability is inescapable. That filters into the dressing room; Mestalla is treated as transient by many of them. There is something about the culture, the structure, that Neville believed was not conducive to sustainable success. Not yet, at least. The manager, certainly, is at risk of becoming a passing presence – and accepted as such, a short-term solution that is increasingly not a solution at all.

Kempes said that the manager should be supported, but then he tweeted: “To all those asking: I’d do it with all my desire if they asked me to.” Soon, Ossie Ardiles was offering himself as assistant: “I’ll go with you,” he wrote. The former striker Fernando Morientes called Kempes’s words “unethical”. Meanwhile, over at Super Deporte, they were running a poll. Was it necessary to sack Ayestarán? Not desirable, necessary; 90% said yes. “PaKO,” they called him. Valencia are looking at alternatives, reports say. Whether it’s actually an alternative is another matter. “It’s not about the manager,” the former goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares insists. “The situation disgusts me,” says the former captain David Albelda.

Valencia have had eight managers since Unai Emery departed in the summer of 2012 season. Since Lim took over in October 2014, they have had Pizzi, Nuno and Voro (as caretaker), then Neville – whose arrival was presented, damagingly, more as a favour to a friend than the arrival of the ideal coach – and then Ayestarán. Under him, Valencia have picked up 10 points from a possible 36; under Neville, the man he replaced, and the man who replaced Nuno, they picked up 14 from 48. That’s 0.29 points a game under Neville, 0.27 under Ayestarán. So much for his sacking solving things; so much for any sacking doing so. With each of the last three managers things have got worse, Valencia are becoming the old lady who swallowed a fly.

Like his predecessors, Ayestarán works with what he has been given and within an environment not entirely of his own making. “I didn’t say I was happy with the squad,” he pointed out last week. This summer Valencia’s best player departed early. Their captain and top-scorer left a few days after the president said he wouldn’t. The centre-back who was not for sale got sold. The centre-backs who were for sale didn’t. They tried to get rid of their goalkeeper but couldn’t – now he’s first choice again. Their former captain said he wanted to go too, but they wouldn’t let him. He was isolated until he apologised. Garay and Mangala arrived – two more Mendes men to replace the last two, who failed. And the starting centre-backs in the B team couldn’t be temporarily called up to the first team because they are over 23.

And yet, take a step back and the summer business actually does not look bad. Financial regulations forced them to sell and they sold pretty well; over €100m was raised and they managed to get rid of some players they saw as problematic. On the face of it, the squad is reasonably strong; there are good players there. The football has not always been bad, even if the defending has. It doesn’t look good, no – this is a team that should aspire to a Champions League place and it’s bottom of La Liga instead, one whose results have been poor going back five months now, and where the explanations don’t always convince – but then the last time they began with four defeats they finished third and reached the Champions League final.

After Sunday’s defeat the first question was direct: “Are you capable of turning this around?” Ayestarán’s lips moved but no words came out until the man sitting next to him flicked the switch. The microphone was on now, so Ayestarán repeated himself. “Totally,” he said. “Both me and the players.”
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Peter Lim should be ashamed of himself :smh:

Dudes were looking like a top 4 squad in Spain for years coming with the squad they had a year and a half ago
 
Man City, Feyenoord, Watford...

Things really went south for the greatest club in the world these last two weeks.
 
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So the Times said Luke Shaw was playing with a restricted physical capacity & that at the time the mistake Jose pointed out in his post game presser, Shaw reaggravated his groin injury. So it seems like someone is leaking this info to the Times from Carrington.
 
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^ The only decent puma kits are Dortmund's...


Flyeed said:
Any word on how Bayern has looked so far under the Don?
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Off to a perfect start (6-0) & looking ok to. They obviously don't control possession like they did under Pep but they're playing efficiently. Not as dominant like under Pep either though.
 
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Flyeed said:
Any word on how Bayern has looked so far under the Don?
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We look good. 6 matches, 6 wins. 23 goals scored. 1 goal allowed. Still waiting on Renato to gel with the squad. Douglas, Coman, Robben, Muller, and Boateng need to get fully fit. Carlo has Thiago and Kimmich playing really well. It's been a good start and can't wait til we get fully running, should be a fun season.
 
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mou is going to leave manchester worse than before he came....like every club he's been to
 
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I never understood why Man United fans wanted or were happy with Mourinho in the first place. His style is the opposite of what made Man United fun to watch during the Ferguson years and ends up backfiring most of the time unless he has an elite defense/defensive midfielders (which Man United are not even close to having). His conservative & counterattacking tactics make additions like Pogba and Ibra pointless. I know I'm not dropping any brilliant knowledge or anything, but I thought it would've been obvious.
 
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