La Liga 2013/14 Discussion

Many Spanish clubs have had to sell players in order to balance the books, and Tebas feels that although this is a good thing, it’s a shame to see so many players leaving for England and other leagues.

“Seeing players leave is a double-edged sword,” he claimed.

“Clubs need to decrease their debts, and it’s a shame that players have to leave, but it is good news because this is the path we have chosen. Spanish football clubs pay 120 million euros in interest each season, and just think about the players we could have had with that money and how much we could have paid them.

“If we can reduce our debts, in four or five seasons’ time we will have more money to invest in our football. We are on the right track, and the clubs know that.”

The Costa Rican born man also stated that if he were to truly even up the TV rights money, the league would be in danger of losing players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

“It’s not certain that a fairer share of revenue would mean more competition,” added Tebas.

“There are 20 clubs in the league, 12 whose intention it is to avoid relegation, while others aim to get into Europe, and others fight for the league.”

“The clubs that could challenge Real Madrid and Barcelona are fighting to reduce their debts and not sell players. We have to create a more equal share of revenues, but that occurred between 2010 and 2012.

“And we must ask ourselves, if we take away 50 million euros from Barça or Madrid, will we be able to hold onto Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi or Neymar? Will they be competitive in Europe? Will the star players stay here or move to Paris Saint-Germain? Will we be able to earn the same amount of money, in total? You have to bear in mind that there is a big correlation between those issues.”

che wrote:

if we loan out cissokho and play bernat and the stupid *bleep* [removed] at lb all season my hair will grow even more grey than it is currently

“In Spain it is difficult to win the League,” mused Simeone this week.

“It is not realistic that we can fight for the League with Madrid and Barcelona.

“Our idea is to gradually progress and to one day fight for the championship.”

GoonerJay29 wrote:Having watched Sevilla's last three pre-season games, I think they'll be an exciting side this season. Emery seems to be looking to play an attacking game with lots of passing and interchanging and as a consequence of that it looks like they'll be playing with a high-line. That worries me since they aren't the best side defensively, even with the new signings, and I think top four will be beyond them for that reason. At the same time, they should improve on last season's 9th place and finish inside the top seven.

I'm predicting a slow start. Their opening fixtures are tough, they've got to quality for the Europa League and their squad will still be gelling. I'm not sure if Emery knows what his best side is yet, but at the very he has better options now than he did last season. Losing Navas and Negredo is a massive blow quality wise, but the money's been reinvested wisely and the squad has better balance and depth than it did before.

So who have they bought and we are their vital players now?

GoonerJay29 wrote:

So who have they bought and we are their vital players now?

They've brought in: Beto (made last season's loan permanent), Nico Pareja (on loan), Daniel Carrico (on loan with option to buy), Marko Marin (on loan), Vitolo, Jairo, Raul Rusescu, Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro.

As far as vital players go, the midfield trio of Medel, Kondogbia and Rakitic is very important to the side, and Gameiro will be counted on to get the goals Negredo would have got.