La liga part II

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YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
34,543
2,560
He took the time for himself, Camp Nou after 1 AM:

image-1290501-860_galleryfree-oefq-1290501.jpg
Heartbreaking photo. Iniesta is and was an incredible player, and was a huge part of Barcelona being easily the best team in the world over the last decade. It must have been very emotional for him.

Coutinho will benefit a lot from the space he gets playing for Barca because of Messi and co. He's going to do well for Barcelona, but I don't think he's going to be someone they can rely on to fire them to continental trophies. Luckily they have Messi and Dembele though (potentiall Griezmann?). Really interested to see how they shape that team moving forward with Messi aging and Neymar gone now.
 

Corto

Faceless Man
Sep 28, 2005
16,085
1,004
Braavos
Really interested to see how they shape that team moving forward with Messi aging and Neymar gone now.

There's a meme going around with Busquets and Rakitic running themselves into the ground in a starting 11 featuring Messi, Dembele, Suarez, Coutinho and Griezmann. :D
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
32,511
17,901
Toruń, PL
Good riddance that Barca lost. Would've been a complete travesty if they somehow had a defeat-less season considering how meaninglessly it would be compared to The Invincibles. Especially considering how it would've been due to only money and actually not due to anything else. Thankfully, however, they got beat a scrub club to keep the true Invincibles record a record.
 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,747
4,175
Wisconsin
Good riddance that Barca lost. Would've been a complete travesty if they somehow had a defeat-less season considering how meaninglessly it would be compared to The Invincibles considering how it would've been due to money and actually not due to anything else. Thankfully, however, they got beat a scrub club to keep the true Invincibles record a record.

LOL. Jerry Lee says "whole lotta sephin' going on today."

  • Just because Arsenal didn't spend a lot on that side relative to what Barça has spent on this side, it doesn't mean they didn't bring in good players. In fact Arsenal have hardly been able to produce a worth-while homegrown player for a very long time and they're few and far between when compared to us. Messi, Busquets, Pique, Alba and Sergi all played big roles in winning the Double this season and that's not to mention Iniesta.
  • You can have your jammy "Invicibles" nonsense. I'll take a Double, and especially this one, over just an undefeated season all day long. Like I said then and like I've been saying now, for all the hype around the "Invicibles" there is very little by way of the trophy case to show for it.
  • Let's compare seasons shall we? Your precious "Invicibles" went undefeated, but had fewer wins, fewer points, fewer goals scored and only 3 fewer goals against. That's not to mention the 12 draws. Color me not that impressed as compared to the narrative. And again, that's not to mention the lack of a Cup.
  • Yeah, shitty Levante who held Madrid to two points this season and who also took points off of Valencia and Sevilla. Lord only knows what they'd do to Arsenal.

I get it. You started supporting Arsenal when it looked like they would rule the World for a long time. You're not the only one as a lot of people did. So I understand desperately clinging to an undefeated season, which also just happens to be your last league win from 14 years ago, since your club has done nothing much of note since then. I also understand your jealousy of Barça as it too is a common trait of the Gooner. After all we took that Invicibles side and beat them in the CL Final. Your best "homegrown player" for a very long time just happened to be more a product of La Masia instead. A lot of your best players consistently dump you for a chance to play at Barça even though few are wanted or good enough despite being some of the best you've got. And Arsenal were somehow supposed to be what Barça actually were in the 2000s. So again, I get it. Still you should do yourself a favor and not spout such nonsense publicly.
 

Moncherry

Registered User
Feb 5, 2010
5,961
1,173
Good riddance that Barca lost. Would've been a complete travesty if they somehow had a defeat-less season considering how meaninglessly it would be compared to The Invincibles. Especially considering how it would've been due to only money and actually not due to anything else. Thankfully, however, they got beat a scrub club to keep the true Invincibles record a record.

As if the reason Arsenal attracts foreign players, or any other Prem club for that matter, is for anything other than money.
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
32,511
17,901
Toruń, PL
LOL. Jerry Lee says "whole lotta sephin' going on today."

Just because Arsenal didn't spend a lot on that side relative to what Barça has spent on this side, it doesn't mean they didn't bring in good players. In fact Arsenal have hardly been able to produce a worth-while homegrown player for a very long time and they're few and far between when compared to us. Messi, Busquets, Pique, Alba and Sergi all played big roles in winning the Double this season and that's not to mention Iniesta.
Jerry Lee? Is that the guy who played the old dude in Jurassic Park? Agreed, which is why Wenger was let go and Emery who has a great track record with young players from youth squads was hired.
You can have your jammy "Invicibles" nonsense. I'll take a Double, and especially this one, over just an undefeated season all day long. Like I said then and like I've been saying now, for all the hype around the "Invicibles" there is very little by way of the trophy case to show for it.
Two trophies are always better than one, however Invincible was legendary and will continue due to the parity of the EPL at the time before money got involved. Barca simply overpower squads in La Liga with money alone and that factors in a lot with the aura and accomplishment. Winning in the parity of the 2000's is simply more meaningful than Barca doing the double. Excluding Barca fans nobody will remember Barcelona winning the double 15 years from now, but people will continue to remember the Invincible season.

Let's compare seasons shall we? Your precious "Invicibles" went undefeated, but had fewer wins, fewer points, fewer goals scored and only 3 fewer goals against. That's not to mention the 12 draws. Color me not that impressed as compared to the narrative. And again, that's not to mention the lack of a Cup.
Sure all of those are accurate points you bring up, but again you're not factoring in the money. Football's parity was much prevalent back when Arsenal had their undefeated season. Barca just bought a bench player for like 103.50 million pounds based off the records by Transfermarkt. 103 ****ing million pounds for a freckin bench player. Your team might have sustained more wins, but as I said above, your club's budget simply overpowers the rest of the league. You can make the case that a win in the early 2000's is more meaningful than Barca raining 4-0 beat downs to the likes of Celta, Leganes, Las Palmas, and Malaga.
Yeah, ****ty Levante who held Madrid to two points this season and who also took points off of Valencia and Sevilla. Lord only knows what they'd do to Arsenal.
I actually gotta give you guys some credit for not losing to Atletico, Real, or Valencia. Especially in that Godawful match at Camp Nou with the absurd red card and lack of one on Bale. That is quite impressive, but then losing to Levante the way you did sort of counteracts everything that was impressive on the season. Levante is a scrub club employing Moaninho tactics, you should've beat them.
I get it. You started supporting Arsenal when it looked like they would rule the World for a long time. You're not the only one as a lot of people did. So I understand desperately clinging to an undefeated season, which also just happens to be your last league win from 14 years ago, since your club has done nothing much of note since then. I also understand your jealousy of Barça as it too is a common trait of the Gooner. After all we took that Invicibles side and beat them in the CL Final. Your best "homegrown player" for a very long time just happened to be more a product of La Masia instead. A lot of your best players consistently dump you for a chance to play at Barça even though few are wanted or good enough despite being some of the best you've got. And Arsenal were somehow supposed to be what Barça actually were in the 2000s. So again, I get it. Still you should do yourself a favor and not spout such nonsense publicly.
I actually didn't cheer for the Arsenal because of The Invincible, the first season I started routing for the Gunners was a Godawful team that had the likes of Djourou, Gallas, Bendtner, Arshavin, Vermaelen, Walcott, and Squillaci which eventually turned into Chamakh, Song, Santos, and Park (the legend himself). Only good players we had were a prime Rosicky, RvP, and Fabregas who was pretty much rumoured to go back to Barca every single season. You can call me a true fan who came in at probably the darkest time since that was the beginning of the end. I also didn't become a plastic fan like people choosing United because they had Ronaldo or Barca because they were a five star team in FIFA as some of you did. Furthermore, you're cutting out some of the context here, Arsenal's best players left because the club along with Wenger were too cheap to pay aging players more than a one year deal. So because of that, we did lose our Invincible side to pretty much the poachers of Europe who get money from tax payers, so they have endless streams of funds.
 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,747
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Wisconsin
Jerry Lee? Is that the guy who played the old dude in Jurassic Park? Agreed, which is why Wenger was let go and Emery who has a great track record with young players from youth squads was hired.

Not sure why you're so excited about Emery. Seeing Wenger finally go only to get Emery in as his replacement seems like a letdown to me.

Two trophies are always better than one, however Invincible was legendary and will continue due to the parity of the EPL at the time before money got involved. Barca simply overpower squads in La Liga with money alone and that factors in a lot with the aura and accomplishment. Winning in the parity of the 2000's is simply more meaningful than Barca doing the double. Excluding Barca fans nobody will remember Barcelona winning the double 15 years from now, but people will continue to remember the Invincible season.

Like I said, it wasn't really legendary. We've seen better Premiership campaigns since then. And 12 draws? Before money got involved? Money was already involved back then.

To say we simply overpower squads in La Liga with money alone is really hypocritical considering Arsenal's squad compared to the majority of England. The Summer before the 03-04 season they spent a ton on Reyes. And as I already said, spending aside they had Henry, Vieira, Campbell (who they had to fork over a ton in wages for), Bergkamp, etc. They had World Class players compared to their opponents regardless of how much they spend to get them.

Fifteen years removed I don't just sit around and think about Arsenal's 03-04 season. I remember it in that I know it and lived it, but I generally need to be triggered to actually think about it. The only people who probably actually think about Arsenal's season are Arsenal supporters. And at the end of the day there's the context that there have been multiple better seasons, like Barça's this season, despite teams not being undefeated. Like I said, 12 draws.

Sure all of those are accurate points you bring up, but again you're not factoring in the money. Football's parity was much prevalent back when Arsenal had their undefeated season. Barca just bought a bench player for like 103.50 million pounds based off the records by Transfermarkt. 103 ****ing million pounds for a freckin bench player. Your team might have sustained more wins, but as I said above, your club's budget simply overpowers the rest of the league. You can make the case that a win in the early 2000's is more meaningful than Barca raining 4-0 beat downs to the likes of Celta, Leganes, Las Palmas, and Malaga.

So when will you be posting in the CL thread that Madrid spent about 100 million on a bench player? Anyway, the league back then wasn't easier than La Liga this season. You didn't have to face a side remotely close to Madrid and quite frankly there probably wasn't a side as good as Atleti either. Those are the respective CL and Europa League winners for the record.

I actually gotta give you guys some credit for not losing to Atletico, Real, or Valencia. Especially in that Godawful match at Camp Nou with the absurd red card and lack of one on Bale. That is quite impressive, but then losing to Levante the way you did sort of counteracts everything that was impressive on the season. Levante is a scrub club employing Moaninho tactics, you should've beat them.

LOL. So one loss which didn't prevent the club from winning a Double and where the club finished 17 points ahead of the CL winners and 14 points ahead of the Europa League winners "counteracts everything that was impressive on the season"??? Right. Well 12 draws, fewer points, fewer goals and fewer wins in a weaker league that didn't have the CL winner or the Uefa Cup winner easily puts Arsenal's undefeated season into context.

Like I said, Levante who held Madrid to two points this season and who also took points off of Valencia and Sevilla. And when you compare Levante to sides in the 03-04 season, Spurs are quite comparable. Spurs. So that's how good the competition was in the Premiership that season.

I actually didn't cheer for the Arsenal because of The Invincible, the first season I started routing for the Gunners was a Godawful team that had the likes of Djourou, Gallas, Bendtner, Arshavin, Vermaelen, Walcott, and Squillaci which eventually turned into Chamakh, Song, Santos, and Park (the legend himself). Only good players we had were a prime Rosicky, RvP, and Fabregas who was pretty much rumoured to go back to Barca every single season. You can call me a true fan who came in at probably the darkest time since that was the beginning of the end. I also didn't become a plastic fan like people choosing United because they had Ronaldo or Barca because they were a five star team in FIFA as some of you did. Furthermore, you're cutting out some of the context here, Arsenal's best players left because the club along with Wenger were too cheap to pay aging players more than a one year deal. So because of that, we did lose our Invincible side to pretty much the poachers of Europe who get money from tax payers, so they have endless streams of funds.

LOL. I've been supporting Barça for almost 20 years. When I started supporting the club they had 1 CL win. I've also lived through a lot of lean years and have actually been a paying supporter.

You lost a lot of the undefeated side because a guy like Henry was tired of the club being incapable of winning the CL.
 

Vasilevskiy

The cat will be back
Dec 30, 2008
18,267
5,059
Barcelona
LOL. Jerry Lee says "whole lotta sephin' going on today."

  • Just because Arsenal didn't spend a lot on that side relative to what Barça has spent on this side, it doesn't mean they didn't bring in good players. In fact Arsenal have hardly been able to produce a worth-while homegrown player for a very long time and they're few and far between when compared to us. Messi, Busquets, Pique, Alba and Sergi all played big roles in winning the Double this season and that's not to mention Iniesta.
  • You can have your jammy "Invicibles" nonsense. I'll take a Double, and especially this one, over just an undefeated season all day long. Like I said then and like I've been saying now, for all the hype around the "Invicibles" there is very little by way of the trophy case to show for it.
  • Let's compare seasons shall we? Your precious "Invicibles" went undefeated, but had fewer wins, fewer points, fewer goals scored and only 3 fewer goals against. That's not to mention the 12 draws. Color me not that impressed as compared to the narrative. And again, that's not to mention the lack of a Cup.
  • Yeah, ****ty Levante who held Madrid to two points this season and who also took points off of Valencia and Sevilla. Lord only knows what they'd do to Arsenal.

I get it. You started supporting Arsenal when it looked like they would rule the World for a long time. You're not the only one as a lot of people did. So I understand desperately clinging to an undefeated season, which also just happens to be your last league win from 14 years ago, since your club has done nothing much of note since then. I also understand your jealousy of Barça as it too is a common trait of the Gooner. After all we took that Invicibles side and beat them in the CL Final. Your best "homegrown player" for a very long time just happened to be more a product of La Masia instead. A lot of your best players consistently dump you for a chance to play at Barça even though few are wanted or good enough despite being some of the best you've got. And Arsenal were somehow supposed to be what Barça actually were in the 2000s. So again, I get it. Still you should do yourself a favor and not spout such nonsense publicly.

Savage
 

Hadoop

Registered User
Aug 13, 2002
5,606
634
Mississauga
I've been supporting Barça for almost 20 years. When I started supporting the club they had 1 CL win. I've also lived through a lot of lean years and have actually been a paying supporter.

As Vasilevskiy correctly stated above you are savage, but this part of your post has gotta be some kind of sick joke. 'A lot of lean years'?? Barca has 10 La Liga titles, 10 appearances in the semi-finals of the Champions League and have finished first or second in the league 16 times in the last 20 years. You sir are the personification of entitlement.
 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,747
4,175
Wisconsin
As Vasilevskiy correctly stated above you are savage, but this part of your post has gotta be some kind of sick joke. 'A lot of lean years'?? Barca has 10 La Liga titles, 10 appearances in the semi-finals of the Champions League and have finished first or second in the league 16 times in the last 20 years. You sir are the personification of entitlement.

:laugh: I'm anything but savage. Especially at the moment. I think @Vasilevskiy meant it as a compliment (kids and their slang these days) or he was trying to give me a subtle nod as to who I should draft in the Wrestling draft. Little does he know, much like with Sergio Ramos I don't like the Macho Man. Still he's a big fan of mine. (OK, that sounds very Trumpesque. Hopefully the humor here is noted). Who else does he know that calls him a Madridista with any regularity much less at all?

"A lot" was the wrong way to put it. Some would have been better. Perhaps it felt longer considering how bad the team was then relative to how good they should have been. Either way, 2000-03 were not very good seasons. 02-03 was quite dreadful in fact. Even Rijkaard's first season looked awful at the midway point of the season. Fortunately the club turned that one around. Thing is this was right after I realized Barça were my club and by the end of the 02-3 season I had seen more poor seasons than I had good ones. That's not to mention that van Gaal's first stint was unbeknownst to me at the time not even considered that good for the club despite the trophies. Fortunately I've had the pleasure of knowing Cules older than I and who supported the club before I did to help set me straight on what the team should look and play like.

Entitlement? Nothing you quoted suggests that. Not sure if you understand it or not. As for the 10 league titles, really should be 13, but I've also had to see some titles taken away too.
 
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les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
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Curious as to what others think about this and I am one who often times doesn't like messing with tradition, but the new head of the RFEF has mentioned the Supercopa going down a single match. My initial reaction is quite positive as I think the two-legged affair has a toll on it's participants. The only issue I see is finding a venue every year as there is no Wembley and when the Bernabeu should be hosting they're suddenly upgrading the urinals or what have you.
 

Savi

Registered User
Dec 3, 2006
9,368
1,967
Bruges, Belgium
Watch them sell the thing like France or Italy and play the Supercopa in Qatar or something

in Belgium the champions host the cup winner and I always thought that was the best thing to do
 
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les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,747
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Watch them sell the thing like France or Italy and play the Supercopa in Qatar or something

in Belgium the champions host the cup winner and I always thought that was the best thing to do

Well he also bemoaned the spending, so hopefully it doesn't got down that road!

That's actually a fantastic idea.
 

Duchene2MacKinnon

In the hands of Genius
Aug 8, 2006
46,772
10,067
The idea of the super cup, world club cup and the other fake tournaments or preseason tournaments should be scraped. Please and thank you.
 

Duchene2MacKinnon

In the hands of Genius
Aug 8, 2006
46,772
10,067
Where is the damn Unlike button! :laugh: I like the Super Cups. I suppose I could do with the World Club Cup though.

Agreed.

I can stomach the super cup but everything else is pointless. Especially the WCC going into another continent in the middle of the season to play 3 meaningless games. f***ing pointless and counterproductive.
 
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Ivan13

Not posting anymore
May 3, 2011
26,141
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Zagreb, Croatia
Barca reportedly caught negotiating with Griezmann without Atletico's approval. They could land a transfer ban spanning over 5 transfer windows for their transgression. Barca is highly unlikely the only one doing this, but at least the others don't have a complete moron for a president who at his own volition admitted they spoke to Griezmann's agent without approval from his club.
 

Duchene2MacKinnon

In the hands of Genius
Aug 8, 2006
46,772
10,067
Barca reportedly caught negotiating with Griezmann without Atletico's approval. They could land a transfer ban spanning over 5 transfer windows for their transgression. Barca is highly unlikely the only one doing this, but at least the others don't have a complete moron for a president who at his own volition admitted they spoke to Griezmann's agent without approval from his club.

Nope but other teams just make public statements apologizing for their actions regarding a transfer then pull the same crap the next window.

If this gets them FIVE windows banned it should be obvious as who's behind it.
 
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