La Liga BBVA Thread

[kp41]

RCD Espanyol for second division .

Btw, It looks like I was not wrong about Betis' fluke run.

 

[Mandieta6]

Because they lost one match in which they were more dangerous throughout?

 

[kp41]

Because they lost one match in which they were more dangerous throughout?

Betis, they lost two in a row .

 

[Mandieta6]

Still in the top 8, though.

 

[kp41]

hahahaha, yes. We'll see .

 

[Sevillista]

Nobody claimed Betis would go undefeated.

Btw, if De Gea is Spain's future keeper, Javi Varas is his future backup!

 

[Arnau]

Shame he's 29 already.

 

[Sevillista]

Three spectacular goals from last weekend's action:

Baptista game-winning bicycle kick vs Getafe:


Earlier in that game, Pedro Leon self-volleys from outside the box into the top corner:


Inigo Martinez with a goal from his own half:

 

[Mandieta6]

Watching the Spain - Scotland match because of the draft (Fletcher, Adam and Bannan are all playing and it's a good chance to see them work together against very good opposition). My hopes for this one are that Scotland get the lead, Bannan has a great showing to repay my faith, and Torres and Mata come on in the 2nd half and work together to score 2 goals, win the match, and let Cech's Czech Republic advance to the play-offs.

 

[Mandieta6]

Bannan's first touch of the match is a great pass which no one sees coming/ thinks he can pull off. A shame that Adam's first touch nearly set the ball loose in the area. Bannan playing on the right in a 4-2-3-1 with Fletcher and Morrison as the double pivot and Adam in the AMC slot, although the initial formation was announced as Adam and Fletcher in each other's position.

EDIT: Aaaaand Spain score. Hutton (I think he's the R is not concentrated and Spain have got a goal and chance from it, and Bannan can't cover the right, he's not gonna offer much in defense, especially since I assume he's going to wander inside a lot. His 2nd touch has been to send a cross in for Naismith who couldn't direct it goalwards. Dangerous cross, though, I'm just afraid his contribution in attack won't make ujp for his defense frailties.

EDIT: Looks like Bannan's been instructed to focus on crowding the players in the middle and just half-cover the right side, since he's keeping his distance from Alba, and goes to cover any central player who comes close. Again Hutton's been dragged inside and Spain have space on the left, although Bannan won the ball excellently considering he was at a disadvantage.

EDIT: Yeah, Bannan's been instructed to only worry about Alba if he has the ball, which makes sense, and would be fine if Hutton was playing with more awareness, but he's not, and Spain know they can exploit the space on the right. Bann yet to lose a ball or play a bad pass.

 

[Arnau]

Silva is having a good match in a similar position to Messi, i wish Spain's attack in Euro12 it's Villa, Cesc and Mata/Pedro.

LB spot it's perfectly covered with Jordi, José Angel and José Enrique.

 

[Mandieta6]

2nd goal, Silva's simply stunning today, there's no way Scotland can beat this Spain, even though they've managed to hold them off quite decently.

Bazza yet to do a thing wrong, and it's a shame he's not playing centrally.

 

[Mandieta6]

Bannan's been taken off after 60 minutes (alongside Adam), so I'm really losing interest. With no posession these two never got a chance to shine, although I think Adam was decent and Bannan was good, he really didn't do anything wrong, misplacing just one pass which was a first-time incisive through ball that no one expected. Considering his age, the fact that he's carrying a slight injury, played on the wing, against Spain and saw little of the ball because Scotland rarely had the ball, it was pretty impressive.

Had Morisson not sliced his cross, he might've even scored, but oh well, good showing.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Silva is having a good match in a similar position to Messi, i wish Spain's attack in Euro12 it's Villa, Cesc and Mata/Pedro.

LB spot it's perfectly covered with Jordi, José Angel and José Enrique.

So... that makes it all Barca except for the fullbacks and keeper? Ughhh. Casillas should retire and they can just play as Catalunya.

Mata and Silva both deserve to play. To be totally honest those two might be the 2 best players on the team aside from Xavi and maybe Casillas. In terms of ability and skill right now, Mata-Pedro and Silva-Iniesta IMO are both decided in favor of the guys in England.

 

[Mandieta6]

I'd say all 4 players fulfill different functions, while falling under the wide branch of 'good passer'.

With everyone fit, I'd say Spain's best lineups are:

Casillas
Ramos-Pique-Puyol-Enrique
Alonso-Busquets
Silva-Xavi-Mata
Villa

or

Same GK and DF
Busquets
Xavi-Iniesta
Silva-Mata
Villa

Pedro and Cesc being the main guys to challenge those selected.

 

[Arnau]

I hate the double pivot in a possession football proposal.

----------Casillas---------
Ramos--Piqué--Puyol--Jordi/Enrique
--------Busquets/Alonso---------
------Xavi--------------Iniesta-
----------Silva/Cesc------------
-Mata/Pedro--------------Villa-

no 9.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

It makes me angry that there's still no one better than Ramos.

 

[Arnau]

Overrated but great player, i like him more as CB, he is really great on the ball.

BTW, there are 2 Spanish promising fullback youngsters, Montoya and Hugo Mallo, i guess Ramos will end up playing as CB with Piqué and one of these guys in the RB.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

He is too error prone to play in central defense at that level in my opinion. Real knucklehead.

 

[Arnau]

Not in a team with 70% of possession and Ramos is only a disaster when his team doesn't work.