La Liga Discussion 2017/18 part 3

Myesyats wrote:2 handballs in one play, no penalty

None of the two was a hand ball offence, both shot at inadvertently from a small distance

Can't believe that playacting dirty little bitch Alba just got a free kick for kicking an opponent in the shin

Gonçalo Guedes is looking good

Hapless_Hans wrote:Can't believe that playacting dirty little bitch Alba just got a free kick for kicking an opponent in the shin

Yeah it wasn't a foul. Montoya has had him in his pocket all night tbh.

*bleep* me what a save

Cilessen surely impressed ter Stegen with that earlier save lol

What a monster game from him.

RAKITICCCC GOOOOL

I've mentioned times and times again, Cillessen is way too good to be sitting on the Barcelona bench.

Valencia frankly had their half chances but just couldn't convert them.

I still don't get Gomes and Paulinho. Paulinho at least has some numbers to back his woeful performances up but he doesn't add anything to the game. He is tall but can't win headers, he is big but not physical. I can see him losing a 50-50 to Kanté. And technically he is one of the worst Brazilian players I've seen since Giovane Elber

Have to say Rakitic has been our best and most consistent player this season (along with ter Stegen). I'm thoroughly impressed although I've kinda chatted some shite about him last season. I take it all back.

danyjr wrote:I've mentioned times and times again, Cillessen is way too good to be sitting on the Barcelona bench.

Valencia frankly had their half chances but just couldn't convert them.

I still don't get Gomes and Paulinho. Paulinho at least has some numbers to back his woeful performances up but he doesn't add anything to the game. He is tall but can't win headers, he is big but not physical. I can see him losing a 50-50 to Kanté. And technically he is one of the worst Brazilian players I've seen since Giovane Elber

He's only 5'11"/181cm. He may be taller than Iniesta, but calling him tall is a bit of a stretch Anyway, your ability to secure wins even when performing sub-par to your usual standards is praiseworthy. I wonder how far this team will take you in the CL, though.

Barcelona has won the last 19 ties in Spanish Cup.

Thimmy wrote:He's only 5'11"/181cm. He may be taller than Iniesta, but calling him tall is a bit of a stretch Anyway, your ability to secure wins even when performing sub-par to your usual standards is praiseworthy. I wonder how far this team will take you in the CL, though.

I'm not Norwegian. Anything above 175 cm is tall to me

danyjr wrote:

Thimmy wrote:He's only 5'11"/181cm. He may be taller than Iniesta, but calling him tall is a bit of a stretch Anyway, your ability to secure wins even when performing sub-par to your usual standards is praiseworthy. I wonder how far this team will take you in the CL, though.

I'm not Norwegian. Anything above 175 cm is tall to me

My 12 year old sister is 173cm You actually do have a few relatively tall players in your starting XI compared to the past, nowadays. I definitely preferred the team that had Busquets, Pique and Valdes towering over everyone else, though. Somehow, it feels odd to see the likes of Andre Gomez, Paulinho and Rakitic running around in your midfield. I suppose the image of Xavi and Iniesta weaseling around everyone has been embedded into my brain to some extent

I will have to insist that 1.81m/5'11" is indeed to be considered TALL, for personal reasons

Hans has a good point

Nah those are midget numbers

In my defense he was neither that good nor consistent last season and deserved a fair share of criticism. I was of the opinion that he shouldn't be starting for Barca but I love how he bounced back and now I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong and that he's a key piece in the puzzle. I'm happy for him, more than anything.

Hapless_Hans wrote:I will have to insist that 1.81m/5'11" is indeed to be considered TALL, for personal reasons

I consider that exact height tall for personal reasons as well.

Also, I wanna give the credit to Rakitic's "revival" to Barcelona actually hiring a proper manager. Hindsight really is something as I remember reading quite a few Barca fans not only wanting the Croatian out but had serious issues with the hiring of Valverde. Turns out, he knows what he is doing.

Yeah I think we expected Valverde to do well domestically wise, the question is how will he do in the CL.

Doc wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:I will have to insist that 1.81m/5'11" is indeed to be considered TALL, for personal reasons

I consider that exact height tall for personal reasons as well.

Also, I wanna give the credit to Rakitic's "revival" to Barcelona actually hiring a proper manager. Hindsight really is something as I remember reading quite a few Barca fans not only wanting the Croatian out but had serious issues with the hiring of Valverde. Turns out, he knows what he is doing.

Rakitic played well under Luis Enrique, too. Until Messi stopped following instructions and just stayed in the middle. Without Dani Alves we had no offensive right wing and defensively Rakitic had to defend everything. The entire structure was gone.

Valverde would have the same problems if Neymar was still here. When MSN is upfront who is defending the right side? Messi? lol Messi only wakes up when he takes DEM Ls in Ballon d'Or ceremony then Barca rises up with 1 or 2 great seasons and Messi thinks "my job is done" and sleepwalks again.

The final of the Copa Del Rey will be held on 21st April at the Wanda Metropolitano with each club being allocated 22,000 seats initially… That means the following games will be postponed due to the final being held in Madrid:

Atlético vs Betis
Sevilla vs Real Madrid
Barcelona vs Villarreal

These games will now be played on Wednesday 9th May.

In 2011, it was in mid April because barca and Madrid faced each other like 4 times in 3 weeks or something. I don't know why sometimes it's in April or at the end of the season

Eibar bossing us around in terms of passing

What a time to be alive