La Liga 2009/2010

[Sevillista]

Here goes nothing. La Liga threads have historically been a failure, but with all of the new faces on the SG forums, I thought maybe it was worth another try. It would be nice to discuss what I consider to be the best league in the world outside of just the Real Madrid and Barca threads.

I would love to include fans of other leagues in here and attract their interest. Don't be shy . Even if you aren't invested in any particular team in the league, surely you have some interest in the players La Liga now has.

We've just reached the halfway point in the season. Here are (arguably) the best goals of the first half, followed by the current standings.



1 Barcelona 49
2 R. Madrid 44
3 Valencia 39
4 Mallorca 34
5 Deportivo 34
6 Sevilla 33
7 Getafe 30
8 Athletic 30
9 Villarreal 26
10 Sporting 24
11 Atlético 23
12 Osasuna 23
13 Racing 23
14 Espanyol 20
15 Almería 18
16 Málaga 17
17 Valladolid 17
18 Tenerife 17
19 Zaragoza 14
20 Xerez 8

 

[Sevillista]

I'll try to kick things off by saying that I think Cristiano Ronaldo is a despicable player and he deserves more scrutiny for the foul play he has committed this season. Evidence:




How have these not made any headlines?

 

[Arnau]

Manzano deserves a monument in front Son Moix, every season the club must sold their best players (Ibagaza, Jonás, Güiza, F.Navarro, Cleber, Jurado, Arango...) because they have a huge debt and his numbers are better and better. I'm also very glad Athletic aren't kittens anymore, the lions are back.

 

[Arnau]

Now its oficial, Cristiano punished with 2 matches, the funny thing is that madrid show Messi video against Sevilla as a defense... this one:


Demagogues.


Btw: Sevilla's coach Manolo Jimenez has been very critic with the medias today at press conference:

"There's a player with a broken nose and all of you only care about the poor Ronaldo"

 

[Arnau]

Marc Valiente: "I grabbed Messi and he lets go of his arm, but he always gives me in the chest and never in the face, its not comparable to Ronaldo action"

Caverna mediàtica espanyolista: zas! en toda la boca.

 

[Coruja]

Im not taking part of Ronaldo, but when he does something wrong, all the newspapers falls arround him! For me he was trying to release from the player's arm, but accidentaly hit the face and made that broken nose. He already said he's sorry.

But hey, it's Ronaldo so we have to multiplicate the broken nose problem by 10.

He did, and he got punished. fair and square, let's move on.

 

[Dytza]

Im not taking part of Ronaldo, but when he does something wrong, all the newspapers falls arround him! For me he was trying to release from the player's arm, but accidentaly hit the face and made that broken nose. He already said he's sorry.

But hey, it's Ronaldo so we have to multiplicate the broken nose problem by 10.

He did, and he got punished. fair and square, let's move on.

no. If you watch the video you can clearly see that after the first 2 attempts of releasing the hand he hit the guy's face, intentionally I think! Anyway, I always considered Ronaldo a disgrace.

 

[Arnau]

No, its instintive, when someone catch you from the jersey you always hit with the arms but deserved red card because he breaks Mtiliga nose. I was talking about the medias manipulation, its shamefull.

 

[vitu]

C. Ronaldo has and will always be a cheating/disgraceful bitch. Fair and square. Accept it and move along.

 

[Sevillista]

I'm more appalled by the first red card where he clearly hacks a player in the back of the leg. If it'd happened *against* a Madrid player, we never would have heard the end of it. Instead, I'll bet most on the board haven't seen it.

 

[Arnau]

 

[Coruja]

The Almeria one was shameful, hot headed! He needs to temper himself!

I follow him since his days in Sporting, and he isn't that "cheating/disgraceful player" that Vitu said. He really works hard and it isnt for nothing that all the managers and a big group of players always praise him for that. When i see this expulsions, the only thing that comes to my head is some stress, since the day that he went to Spain, the press its always surrounding him (more that the days in Manchester U. ) and i think that in this moment he's having some difficult forgetting that kind of things. I know that in M.U he did some similar things but not as frequent as nowadays. It's my opinion, because he isn't as bad as most of the people thinks.

 

[Mandieta6]

No, its instintive, when someone catch you from the jersey you always hit with the arms but deserved red card because he breaks Mtiliga nose. I was talking about the medias manipulation, its shamefull.

Consecuences should not affect punishment, intent should. Ronaldo's and Messi's intent is the same, Ronaldo is simply stronger, taller and the victim is shorter. Frankly, I don't care if he gets a red or a yellow or nothing. If he wasn't Ronaldo you wouldn't be making such a big deal out of it.

 

[Dytza]

I wouldn't defend a Barça player if he would had done one of these. But can you give me the newest example of such a reaction by a Barça player?

If you consider Messi's reaction the same with ROnaldo's then you're blind. Watch the video in Madrid thread

 

[Mandieta6]

I did, and both players use their arms to hit the person holding them back. The Sevilla plalyer was just closer and more blatant about it than the Malaga one, so it looks like Messi is more justified. If Messi were taller/further away the exact same thing would've happened.

Neither Ronaldo or Messi are trying to hurt their aggressor, and if it's not malicious there's a case for it not being a red, and if there's a case for it not being a red, then there shouldn't be any witch-hunting.

At least don't masquerade this as anything but prejudice against a player you hate who plays for a club you despise just as much.

And someone compared Messi's hand of god incident to this one, and I think bybuti asked which is worse. Well, it's the HoG. Why? Because it's intentional, this isn't. This is without getting into the whole sportsmanship issue, since the HoG isn't what's being debated.

Btw, I hope SOME team starts performing in La Liga. I don't mind Barca and Madrid dominating the league every year, but no other team is even getting close, and there seems to be little progress. Valencia are nowhere near close enough to challenge, and they will be weaker for the next few seasons because of debt forcing them to sell their players. Villarael and Atletico are a moot point. Depor and Mallorca obviously aren't going to last. Sevilla is the only club capable of doing anything, and even they're far behind.

Bext league in the world? I don't think so. 2nd best? Sure.

 

[Sevillista]

Bext league in the world? I don't think so. 2nd best? Sure.

The Premier League has a more interesting title race, but if that is the criteria then you'd have to name the Bundesliga best in the world

I think La Liga has better teams overall (not just at the top) and more homegrown talent. And now they've got most of the best players in the world.

At least don't masquerade this as anything but prejudice against a player you hate who plays for a club you despise just as much.

The card and suspension were a non-issue until the Madrid media blew it up. They caused the circus, not the people outraged by it. Elbows to the face have always been a red card and two game suspension, except when a Madrid player has committed the foul. Like this example I posted in the Madrid thread. Two elbows to the face, one bloody nose and one broken cheekbone requiring a plate and 19 screws. No card, no foul even called, and no suspension.

 

[KingPaulV]

Humm, so you want a 'La Liga' Thread so you can talk about Real Madrid, and how evil their players and their institution is?....Go to the Madrid thread they already do that quite well there....what a joke..

 

[Pogba4Now]

I think there WAS some intention in the Ronaldo incident. But I don't think he wanted to hit him that bad, and I don't think he wanted to hit his face. He didn't even look at the player before throwing his elbow at him.

And if you look at the Messi incident, his elbow was VERY near from hitting the face as well. Had he been taller it would have been the same scenario as Ronaldo's.

Anyway that doesn't change anything. They both deserved what they got.

 

[Mandieta6]

I think La Liga has better teams overall (not just at the top) and more homegrown talent. And now they've got most of the best players in the world.

Really? You think Atletico, Villareal, Mallorca, Depor etc are better than Spurs, City, Villa, Everton, etc? That's up to you, but I've been following both leagues this year and the Prem is far more entertaining IMO, at every level. A bunch of clubs are facing relegation, 3 clubs are fighting for the title, 4 clubs are fighting for the CL and another 4 for the UEFA spots, and it's a hell of a battle at every front. But that's subjective, just like every argument here, really.

Actually, what's the point? You hav more invested in La Liga so you find it more appealing and vice versa. No argument I could make would be objective, quite like none of yours have been.

Enjoy your league, I'll enjoy mine. (which is better)

Btw, I do watch Spanish news, and I think the issue, although overrepresented in all the media, has been blown out of proportion more by the antimadridistas than the madridistas. This from someone who hates both sides.

 

[kp41]

thanks sevillista.

so we don't need to create new thread for big matches, we can simply discuss them here.

but please update the league table (every week) with top scorer and possibly top assister (if you want any help, count on me),

I hope fans argue more with each other here and post their favourite team topics in those threads.

keep going guys.