From Basque Country with Love

GORE EUSKADI!!!!!!!!!!!

Bilbao just outplayed Osasuna unfortunate with Javi Martinez giving up a penalty at the end. Bilbao 3 Osasuna 1

EPIC bump Magricos.

Saw most of the game.

Gabilando the intelligent is in great form.

Munian is Munian and WILL be the future of Espana.

Llorente did every thing but score and even racked up an assist.

Things are picking up as I predicted. To bad another Basque side had to go down though.

Insane how Muniain is still only 18. Llorente played well also.

Magricos wrote: Insane how Muniain is still only 18. Llorente played well also.

Spot on.

He is the youngest ever goal scorer in the La Liga after all. Did it at 16!


He's not a striker anyway. The kid has it all, superb vision, reading, finishing, passing. I could go on.

With all the Real and Barca fans here, its sad they don't notice diamond in the roughs below there table.

I think some realize but many of them probably don't watch the other teams often enough. I think some of the teams have gotten better as well. It's just the TV deal holding La liga back.

Off character game by Bilbao as they were down 2 goals to Salzburg who seem like a very good team.

But The Lion King Llorente helped Bilbao to score 2 goals to make it 2-2 in the end.

Gabilando, Toquero and Ander and San Jose did not play today.

I hope Bielsa puts more effort and prioritization on the EL next time as even today he played an uncharacteristic 442 which did not suit them at all. Maybe he is experimenting.

BTW Llorente this season in total has 6 goals in 6 apps.

What are you waiting for Vincente? Start him

Arquitecto wrote:Off character game by Bilbao as they were down 2 goals to Salzburg who seem like a very good team.

But The Lion King Llorente helped Bilbao to score 2 goals to make it 2-2 in the end.

Gabilando, Toquero and Ander and San Jose did not play today.

I hope Bielsa puts more effort and prioritization on the EL next time as even today he played an uncharacteristic 442 which did not suit them at all. Maybe he is experimenting.

BTW Llorente this season in total has 6 goals in 6 apps.

What are you waiting for Vincente? Start him

El Nino > Lion King if 100%

babun1024 wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Off character game by Bilbao as they were down 2 goals to Salzburg who seem like a very good team.

But The Lion King Llorente helped Bilbao to score 2 goals to make it 2-2 in the end.

Gabilando, Toquero and Ander and San Jose did not play today.

I hope Bielsa puts more effort and prioritization on the EL next time as even today he played an uncharacteristic 442 which did not suit them at all. Maybe he is experimenting.

BTW Llorente this season in total has 6 goals in 6 apps.

What are you waiting for Vincente? Start him

El Nino > Lion King if 100%

No chance, without proper service Torres cannot perform at his best.

Llorente is better aerially, can use both feet better, stronger shot and better volleying, is a much better passer.

Torres is superb when 100% and overall has been reading and finishing, but Llorente has been carrying the front line on his back with a mostly physical midfield riddled with injuries, I'd like to see Torres do that.

For Espana, Llorente outperforms Torres and has been doing so for 3 years every time he comes of the bench.

His goalscoring ratio for Espana is also better.

The man just makes his team play better.

Llorente playing in a top club would show everyone how good he really is.

Plus, the man doesn't bitch moan and sulk when things are going his way.

He has the mentality of a norse god.

Arquitecto wrote:

babun1024 wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Off character game by Bilbao as they were down 2 goals to Salzburg who seem like a very good team.

But The Lion King Llorente helped Bilbao to score 2 goals to make it 2-2 in the end.

Gabilando, Toquero and Ander and San Jose did not play today.

I hope Bielsa puts more effort and prioritization on the EL next time as even today he played an uncharacteristic 442 which did not suit them at all. Maybe he is experimenting.

BTW Llorente this season in total has 6 goals in 6 apps.

What are you waiting for Vincente? Start him

El Nino > Lion King if 100%

No chance, without proper service Torres cannot perform at his best.

Llorente is better aerially, can use both feet better, stronger shot and better volleying, is a much better passer.

Torres is superb when 100% and overall has been reading and finishing, but Llorente has been carrying the front line on his back with a mostly physical midfield riddled with injuries, I'd like to see Torres do that.

For Espana, Llorente outperforms Torres and has been doing so for 3 years every time he comes of the bench.

His goalscoring ratio for Espana is also better.

The man just makes his team play better.

Llorente playing in a top club would show everyone how good he really is.

Plus, the man doesn't bitch moan and sulk when things are going his way.

He has the mentality of a norse god.

He looks like a lion, I'd give it to him. The only problem with Spain upfront is that they need a pacey guy to take defenders out of position. There's a reason why Spain looked like world beaters in Euro 2008 and a side grinding out results in WC 2010 An in form Torres makes the life for Villa, Iniesta and co. a lot easier In other words, El Nino= mobile, smart targetman with huge experience at top flight footy. That's his biggest asset

babun1024 wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:

babun1024 wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Off character game by Bilbao as they were down 2 goals to Salzburg who seem like a very good team.

But The Lion King Llorente helped Bilbao to score 2 goals to make it 2-2 in the end.

Gabilando, Toquero and Ander and San Jose did not play today.

I hope Bielsa puts more effort and prioritization on the EL next time as even today he played an uncharacteristic 442 which did not suit them at all. Maybe he is experimenting.

BTW Llorente this season in total has 6 goals in 6 apps.

What are you waiting for Vincente? Start him

El Nino > Lion King if 100%

No chance, without proper service Torres cannot perform at his best.

Llorente is better aerially, can use both feet better, stronger shot and better volleying, is a much better passer.

Torres is superb when 100% and overall has been reading and finishing, but Llorente has been carrying the front line on his back with a mostly physical midfield riddled with injuries, I'd like to see Torres do that.

For Espana, Llorente outperforms Torres and has been doing so for 3 years every time he comes of the bench.

His goalscoring ratio for Espana is also better.

The man just makes his team play better.

Llorente playing in a top club would show everyone how good he really is.

Plus, the man doesn't bitch moan and sulk when things are going his way.

He has the mentality of a norse god.

He looks like a lion, I'd give it to him. The only problem with Spain upfront is that they need a pacey guy to take defenders out of position. There's a reason why Spain looked like world beaters in Euro 2008 and a side grinding out results in WC 2010 An in form Torres makes the life for Villa, Iniesta and co. a lot easier In other words, El Nino= mobile, smart targetman with huge experience at top flight footy. That's his biggest asset

Of course, Torres when on his liverpool form is just world class.

But my point is Llorente just never really got that chance that Torres did in Espana, as everytime he came off the bench, he changed the game and lead the line better then anyone in the team.

People get the impression that Llorente is slow and cumbersome because he is tall as Ibra and is built like a tank, but the truth is he is so mobile for his size its amazing really.

Torres is better at reading the game, but Llorente is no slouch either as he would bring more versatility and does do that for Espana with his better touch (imo), hold up play, and ability to lead and adjust the line.

He is one of those players who you just know would succeed even more at a top club with his mentality, clutch ability and always performing in big games.

Torres at the moment (Genk does not count) is nowhere near good enough to lead Espana's line.

Plus he has lost that pace and cutting edge that made him torres. But in fairness he can recover the latter as confidence is low.

Arquitecto wrote:
Of course, Torres when on his liverpool form is just world class.

But my point is Llorente just never really got that chance that Torres did in Espana, as everytime he came off the bench, he changed the game and lead the line better then anyone in the team.

People get the impression that Llorente is slow and cumbersome because he is tall as Ibra and is built like a tank, but the truth is he is so mobile for his size its amazing really.

Torres is better at reading the game, but Llorente is no slouch either as he would bring more versatility and does do that for Espana with his better touch (imo), hold up play, and ability to lead and adjust the line.

He is one of those players who you just know would succeed even more at a top club with his mentality, clutch ability and always performing in big games.

Torres at the moment (Genk does not count) is nowhere near good enough to lead Espana's line.

Plus he has lost that pace and cutting edge that made him torres. But in fairness he can recover the latter as confidence is low.

Meanwhile, two years ago...


A striker with low confidence and lost form...
Torres isn't 30+

P.S. I'll stop posting in gen section for a while The drama queens call for my head

From The Guardian.

The fascination when Marcelo Bielsa took the Athletic Bilbao job was always the extent to which he could shape the team to his philosophy. After all, this is a side that finished sixth last season; stripping it apart and starting again is far from necessary. Not that Athletic, with its Basque-only policy, is a club to which the usual rules of the transfer market apply; Bielsa is, to a large degree, stuck with what he's got.

More than that, Athletic is a club with a clearly defined style of its own. The bowler-hatted figure of Fred Pentland, the Englishman who coached them through the glory years of the 20s and early 30s, still looms over the club, as an exhibition in the museum at San Mames makes clear. He first instituted a direct approach, favouring a robust, "English-style" centre-forward, a tradition that endures in the shape of Fernando Llorente, a remarkable combination of finesse and muscularity.

That preference for vertical football – put simply, getting the ball forward quickly without necessarily resorting to aimless long balls – means there is a potential complementarity between the philosophies of Athletic and Bielsa, but it is not an exact match, and to an extent the football they play this season will always be a compromise between the two schools.

Bielsa's game, with both Argentina and Chile, was largely based on 3-3-1-3. He has tried that with Athletic, but in the past two games, which brought both his first home win (2-0 in the Europa League against PSG a fortnight ago) and his first win in La Liga (2-1 at Real Sociedad 11 days ago), he preferred a 4-2-3-1, in which Oscar de Marcos broke forward from deep positions and the highly exciting 18-year-old Iker Muniain dropped deep from the attacking trident.

There were spells against PSG, especially in the first half, in which Athletic were genuinely thrilling, when they seemed to produce a distillation of Bielsa's famed "vertical football". The ball was shifted rapidly from front to back, Javi Martínez and Muniain usually acting as the conduits, and had the delivery of the right-winger Markel Susaeta been better, Athletic could have had four or five before half-time.

As it was, they had two, both of them goals that encapsulated the Bielsa model. The first, in particular, was a thing of beauty: Javi Martínez played a typical low ball forward – a precise pass of maybe 30 yards; Muniain dummied, pivoted and sprinted on; Susaeta helped the ball on and Muniain crossed to the back post where the left-winger Igor Gabilondo hooked a volley into the top corner. The second also stemmed from the rapid transfer of the ball from front to back. This time it was the overlapping left-back Jon Aurtenetxe who crossed, and Susaeta turned in a half-volley at the back post.

Athletic's pressing, as you would expect from a Bielsa side, was exemplary in effort, if perhaps not yet in execution. There was one moment in the first half when Fernando Amorebieta, one of Athletic's centre-backs, paused with the ball, perhaps 20 yards inside his own half. The deeply disappointing Javier Pastore dawdled a few yards from him, as though nothing could be further from his mind than closing him down. When the ball was played forward, Llorente was caught offside. As Siaka Tiéné, the PSG left-back, knocked the ball into the centre for Sylvain Armand to take the free-kick, Llorente was on him immediately, instinctively pressing even as he realised the free-kick had not yet been taken.

The sending-off of Momo Sissoko seven minutes into the second half rather killed the game but, while Athletic were well worth the win, the weaknesses of the Bielsa method were also apparent. Hard-pressing is a gamble; if it breaks down, or if an opponent despite being under pressure can measure a pass over the top, the space behind a Bielsa defence can be exploited by a rapid forward. It happened twice in the first half: after 28 minutes when Clément Chantôme's long diagonal pass turned the Athletic defence only for Mevlut Erdinc to snatch at his shot, and again two minutes later, when Athletic's goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz was lucky not to be sent off after charging from his area and handling as a simple ball over the top left Erdinc through again.

Against Sociedad, Bielsa recalled the club captain, Carlos Gurpegui, to midfield, leaving out Borja Ekiza and pushing Javi Martínez, who captained Spain's Under-21 side to the European Championship in the summer, to centre-back. Bielsa has a habit of playing midfielders in defence, which makes sense in as much as their positioning often takes them high up the pitch into areas usually occupied by midfielders. The problem comes when the opposing side gets on top and Bielsa's team is forced to defend, and that was evident in San Sebastián.

What seemed slightly odd was De Marcos's positioning early on, as he kept breaking forward and running up against Sociedad's two holders in their 4-2-3-1, Asier Illarramendi and McDonald Mariga. The vulnerability of a 4-2-3-1 is often in that channel in front of the full-backs and to the side of the holders (think of Robinho for Brazil in the first half of their World Cup quarter-final against Holland last year); Athletic exploited that as early as the second minute, Susaeta finding space there and sliding a pass through for De Marcos, whose initial shot was saved, Muniain's follow-up being deflected against a post. When they probed there again, 11 minutes before half-time, De Marcos overloading on that side and then crossing, they found the opener, Llorente turning superbly and prodding a deft finish past Claudio Bravo.

One of the features of a side that presses high up the pitch is that its goalkeeper must also be prepared to leave his line and often his box, sweeping up. Iraizoz did that against PSG effectively if fortuitously, but it does leave him susceptible to long-range lobs. As Johan Cruyff pointed out when he instituted the sweeper-keeper idea at Ajax, if the opposition are reduced to shooting from 60-70 yards, then you know you're on top. The problem is that, every now and again, those long-range efforts go in, as Iñigo Martínez's did after 61 minutes.

It followed a slightly odd series of events: Javi Martínez went down after an aerial clash and required treatment, but Iraizoz seemingly missed touch as he tried to put the ball out of play.

Sociedad put it out, Javi Martínez was attended to, and Athletic threw the ball back to Sociedad. They then seemed to stop, almost as if they thought Sociedad would then return the ball to Iraizoz, although there was no reason for them to do so. As a result, no pressure was applied to Iñigo Martínez – showing exactly why pressing is a twofold process: not only must the line be high but the man in possession must be hounded precisely so he can't measure that kind of shot.

While the manner of the goal was freakish, it had been coming, Sociedad having spent the first quarter of an hour of the second half hammering on the door. Antoine Griezmann then hit a post before, quite unexpectedly, Llorente gave Athletic the winner, applying a jabbed volley to Amorebieta's long diagonal. Bielsa insisted the win was "just", but given Sociedad, as well as hitting the woodwork twice, could also have had a late penalty for handball, that was perhaps stretching things a little.

What is true, though, is that there are recent signs that a happy synthesis is beginning to develop between his ideas and the side he inherited. It will, of course, take time: nobody can adapt to Bielsa's idiosyncrasy overnight, and he himself has admitted to errors in his first couple of months in the job.

What is notable is the support he has had from fans and club, and the comparison to the reaction to Gian Piero Gasperini's radicalism at Internazionale. Bielsa's decision to turn down Massimo Moratti looks increasingly wise, while his reign in Bilbao is becoming increasingly interesting.

Alfred!

What a superb article! Thank you so much for bringing this here as it will bring new light to Bielsa and his Bilbao project.

Best thing about Bielsa is that he is not trying to completely change the Basque philosophy 180 degress to his own.

Bielsa through his words and actions is simply trying to blend, fuse and create a new philosophy/system with his own and the famed Basque philosophy.

But these projects of such ambition take much time and can be from 1-2 years to fully take effect.

From what I have heard, the people in Bilbao have been warming nicely to him and so is the club as they understand the time it will take.

Surprisingly, it has taken effect faster then we all expected.

This is a great sign as us Basque are usually very impatient and stubborn as I am glad to see Bielsa getting the time and respect he deserves.

bielsa needs to come coach valencia...

Arq have you heard about Bielsa's "secret messages"? I tried finding one in English to post it here with no success. You should have no problem with the spanish one, however:

http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/liga-bbva/los-mensajes-secretos-marcelo-bielsa-1189010

more on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ8OzHN1sv4&feature=player_embedded

Muniain.

Magricos wrote: Muniain.

My thoughts exactly

Definitely going to be checking out more Athletic Bilbao.

I was also very impressed with Fernando Llorente

Atletico was outclassed in the 2nd half the good new is that Ander is back.

Alfred. Thanks for posting that as I've seen some strange methods being applied from Bielsa in these forms as it pretty much sums up the Bielsa we all have come to know.

BTW: A Bilbao team that has spent less money then anyone in the Liga has outclassed a team that spent sums of money on Diego, Falcao and turan etc.

Llorente>>>>Falcao.

And so a Bilbao already qualify on top of their group with 10 points containing Slovan Bratislava, Salzburg and Qatar St. Germain.

Bilbao beat Salzburg at their home with the superbly talented and U-21 Cup winning Ander scoring the only goal.

Euskadi youngsters>Catalan

we'll see about that this Christmas.

Ander is barely basque to be honest.

And I doubt basque youngsters are better than catalans comprising the likes of Bojan, Deulofeu, Isaac Cuenca, Romeu, Fontàs, Montoya, Alvaro Vazquez, Jordi Amat, Marc Bartra, Alejandro Grimaldo, Sergi Roberto, Marti Riverola, Ruben Miño, etc.

I thought Ander was born in Basque so how is he barely.

bilbao is one of the most impressive and admirable clubs thanks to their transfer policy and the fact that not only have they never got relegated but always remain insanely competitive.