General Weekend/Midweek Football

[Avinalaff]

Sunderland are 1-0 up against Newcastle.

[Guest Nikica]

I think strikers need to prove themselves in the Premier League before they can claim to be the best. Doing it in France or Spain, and doing it against the Prem defenders every week is a different kettle of fish.

 

No offence, but that's a premface post if ever I've seen it. The PL is filled to the brim with clogger, bruiser defenders - the level of defending is woeful for the most part and many of the league's defenders would look terible against the nippier La Liga attackers (look at the state of them when they come up against technical, intelligent players like Aguero, Mata, Suarez...). Look at the mistakes that are made every week ffs. Going by your comment Messi can't be all that great either. One of the better PL teams in West Brom were hopeless defensively yesterday. There's been loads of 6-0, 7-0 etc hammerings in the PL over the last five years.

 

In saying that, you're right that Ligue 1 is a far worse league. But La Liga is arguably better - I consider it a stronger league than the PL personally, and I think that despite all the talk of the 'big two', Atletico would have a very strong chance of winning the PL. The Bundesliga is the best right now though for me.

 

Look at the extensive list of players who've come from Spain and pissed all over the PL - Mata, Michu, Silva, Aguero, Cazorla, Torres. The La Liga imports have arguably comprised most of the best attackers in the league over the last few years.

 

I don't mean to be rude but do you even watch La Liga?

 

Zlatan and Falcao have both succeeded in Italy and Spain. Those are top leagues and far better than Ligue 1. The likes of Ibra, Falcao and Messi are well proven either in CL football or international football, but apparently they have to do it against the likes of Stoke to prove themselves? Come off it. Have you seen some of the shite strikers who've scored 20 goals plus in the PL?

 

Posts like yours are what leads to someone like RVP being rated more highly than Zlatan, when it's clear that Ibrahimovic is a far better player than Persie.

 

There's been a clear decline in the level of the PL over the last few seasons, so the old 'prem proven' line doesn't wash. Thinking like yours is why Man United have employed a guy like Moyes...

 

By the way, one player proves nothing, but the best defender in the world plays in France, ironically (Thiago Silva). On the other hand, the guy who's considered the best defender in the PL (Kompany) has been exposed constantly in the CL - I like him as a player but he's been woeful for City in Europe, for the most part. Food for thought.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Nikica

[Guest Nikica]

Sunderland are 1-0 up against Newcastle.

 

Case in point: Steven Fletcher, as mediocre and limited a striker you're likely to find, has a pretty respectable goalscoring ratio in the PL, and that's whilst playing for shit teams. Most defenders in the PL are all over the place and rely on brawn rather than brains.

[Matt]

No offence, but that's a premface post if ever I've seen it. The PL is filled to the brim with clogger, bruiser defenders - the level of defending is woeful for the most part and many of the lague's defenders would look terible against the nippier La Liga attackers (look at the state of them when they come up against technical, intelligent players like Aguero, Mata, Suarez...). Look at the mistakes that are made every week ffs. Going by your comment Messi can't be all that great either.

 

I don't expect to see little-Englander posts on here.

 

In saying that, you're right that Ligue 1 is a far worse league. But La Liga is arguably better - I consider it a stronger league than the PL personally, and I think that despite all the talk of the 'big two', Atletico would have a very strong chance of winning the PL. The Bundesliga is the best right now though for me.

 

Look at the extensive list of players who've come from Spain and pissed all over the PL - Mata, Michu, Silva, Aguero, Cazorla, Torres. The La Liga imports have arguably comprised most of the best attackers in the league over the last few years.

 

I don't mean to be rude but there's no other way to reply to your post, sadly. Do you even watch La Liga? I bet you don't and you're just taking your cue from the moronic English media who say that eighteen of the teams are shite.

 

Zlatan and Falcao have both succeeded in Italy and Spain. Those are top leagues and far better than Ligue 1. The likes of Ibra, Falcao and Messi are well proven either in CL football or international football, but apparently they have to do it against the likes of Stoke to prove themselves? Come off it. Have you seen some of the shite strikers who've scored 20 goals plus in the PL?

strange response, with a lot of nonsense and bizarre assumptions....

 

Of course it's a different kettle of fish, it's a different league, and the EPL is the best league in the world. If it wasn't, it wouldn't get the coverage or make the money it does. It wouldn't be the league that players want to play in, like Suarez, Mata, Aguero... They come to play at the highest level and test themselves against the best players.

 

La Liga is a 2 horse race, and saying Athletico could win the EPL is crazy talk - they would be mid-table. I'll agree on the Bundesliga, it's a great league and I much prefer the German football to Spanish/Italian because there's less fannying about and it's quite physical.

 

The likes of playing the likes of Stoke would be a very different challenge to any of the players you've mentioned, and there's no way to know if they would succeed - we'll never know unless they're signed.

[Guest Nikica]

strange response, with a lot of nonsense and bizarre assumptions....

 

Of course it's a different kettle of fish, it's a different league, and the EPL is the best league in the world. If it wasn't, it wouldn't get the coverage or make the money it does. It wouldn't be the league that players want to play in, like Suarez, Mata, Aguero... They come to play at the highest level and test themselves against the best players.

 

La Liga is a 2 horse race, and saying Athletico could win the EPL is crazy talk - they would be mid-table. I'll agree on the Bundesliga, it's a great league and I much prefer the German football to Spanish/Italian because there's less fannying about and it's quite physical.

 

The likes of playing the likes of Stoke would be a very different challenge to any of the players you've mentioned, and there's no way to know if they would succeed - we'll never know unless they're signed.

 

Fuck me, you have the audacity to call my post nonsense after the drivel you just replied with? There's nothing strange about my post unless you only watch the PL, which is evidently the case with you.

 

The 'EPL' (hate that term, by the way) is the best league in the world in your biased opinion. For many people it isn't. The likes of Mata and Aguero come to play at the highest level? Or perhaps they came partly because of a massive wage increase?

 

As for the 'money it makes and the coverage it gets' being supposed proof of it being the best - I've replied to that flawed argument before. Since when was there a positive correlation between popularity and quality? I suppose going by your logic the X Factor must produce the most talented musical acts because it's extremely popular? Most of the public are susceptible to marketing and hype, that's why the PL is the mos popular. Furthermore, English is the most widely spoken language in the world so that helps too. The PL is popular because markets which are new to football (Asia) are obsessed with it. Areas which have a much deeper and richer football history (South America) prefer La Liga. This is also because of colonialism i.e. countries with colonial ties to a nation generally watch its league the most.

 

Their name is 'Atletico', not 'Athletico'. They'd be mid-table in the PL? FFS, that is an absolutely ridiculous statement! They have a fantastic team and are ripping apart their CL section. Many people consider them one of the top teams in Europe, but because they're not Barca or Real Madrid they'd be mid-table in the almighty PL. I bet you were saying that Man United would thump Athletic Club too 18 months ago eh?

 

Unlike me, you prefer the Bundesliga for the wrong reasons i.e. you claim it's more physical and there's less 'fannying about'. Those would be quite far down my list of reasons for preferring it. It's clear that your preference for German football is more to do with being anti-La Liga than Pro-BL.

 

You think Falcao or Zlatan woul struggle against Stoke? Let's put it another way then - how would Vidic get on in a league where more football is played on the floor and his aerial dominance wouldn't be anywhere near as important? We all know how he struggles against pace and trickery and foreign leagues are full of those type of players...also Athletic Club over the last few years have been just as physical as Stoke, with a lot more footballing ability, so the insinuation that there's no physical teams abroad is a poor one. You're talking like Zlatan and Falcao have never played against a physical team in their lives. Ibra is a 6ft5 behemoth and Falcao is probably the best attacking header of a ball in the world alongside Ronaldo...how exactly would they struggle against shite like Stoke who even a vastly inferior player 'Little Pea' scores a ton against?

 

Calling my post nonsense and full of assumptions then replying like that :shaking fist:

 

Edit; Suarez, Mata and Aguero wanted to play in the PL, yes. But Zlatan, Falcao, Messi, Xavi, Ribery and Iniesta are all better than every player in the PL and have never expressed any interested whatsoever in playing in English football. The all-time legends of football have rarely played in the PL/First Division, so trying to talk up English football as the league where the cream of the crop dream of playing is strange in the extreme.

 

Pele, Maradona, Puskas, Eusebio, Garrincha, Gento, Di Stefano, Cruyff, Platini, Figo, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo etc...none of them ever graced English football.

 

We'll see how great the PL is when the world's most expensive player is an utter failure in Madrid.

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Premface

Edited October 27, 2013 by Nikica

[Guest Nikica]

"German football to Spanish/Italian because there's less fannying about and it's quite physical"

 

This bit also had me raising my eyebrows considering that Serie A is probably more physical than the current generation Bundesliga.

[Matt]

 

Fuck me, you have the audacity to call my post nonsense after the drivel you just replied with? There's nothing strange about my post unless you only watch the PL, which is evidently the case with you.

 

The 'EPL' (hate that term, by the way) is the best league in the world in your biased opinion. For many people it isn't. The likes of Mata and Aguero come to play at the highest level? Or perhaps they came partly because of a massive wage increase?

 

As for the 'money it makes and the coverage it gets' being supposed proof of it being the best - I've replied to that flawed argument before. Since when was there a positive correlation between popularity and quality? I suppose going by your logic the X Factor must produce the most talented musical acts because it's extremely popular? Most of the public are susceptible to marketing and hype, that's why the PL is the mos popular. Furthermore, English is the most widely spoken language in the world so that helps too. The PL is popular because markets which are new to football (Asia) are obsessed with it. Areas which have a much deeper and richer football history (South America) prefer the PL. This is also because of colonialism i.e. countries with colonial ties to a nation generally watch its league the most.

 

Their name is 'Atletico', not 'Athletico'. They'd be mid-table in the PL? FFS, that is an absolutely ridiculous statement! They have a fantastic team and are ripping apart their CL section. Many people consider them one of the top teams in Europe, but because they're not Barca or Real Madrid they'd be mid-table in the almighty PL. I bet you were saying that Man United would thump Athletic Club too 18 months ago eh?

 

Unlike me, you prefer the Bundesliga for the wrong reasons i.e. you claim it's more physical and there's less 'fannying about'. Those would be quite far down my list of reasons for preferring it. It's clear that your preference for German football is more to do with being anti-La Liga than Pro-BL.

 

You think Falcao or Zlatan woul struggle against Stoke? Let's put it another way then - how would Vidic get on in a league where more football is played on the floor and his aerial dominance wouldn't be anywhere near as important? We all know how he struggle against pace and trickery and foreign leagues are full of those type of players...also Athletic Club over the last few years have been just as physical as Stoke, with a lot more footballing ability, so the insinuation that there's no physical teams abroad is a poor one. You're talking like Zlatan and Falcao have never played against a physical team in their lives. Ibra is a 6ft5 behemoth and Falcao is probably the best attacking header of a ball in the world alongside Ronaldo...how exactly would the struggle against shite like Stoke who even a vastly inferior player 'Little Pea' scores a ton against?

 

Calling my post nonsense and full of assumptions then replying like that :shaking fist:

 

Ive got off the iPad because of the stupid auto correct. I dont like using the initialism "EPL" either (though I see youve repeatedly done the same!), but its easier to type on a touchscreen and I know how to spell Atletico, Apple dont.

 

For the record, I watch La Liga, Budesliga, Ligue 1, Swiss Super League as well as the Premiership. Get quite a lot of coverage over here in Switzerland, so I can usually have a couple of matches in the background most evenings.

 

Maybe I should've added "in my opinion" somewhere there. Yes, there are players that come here for big wages, much like that in Spain and now France, so that argument is defunct. Wont bother with the emerging markets, language, X factor stuff either...

 

Atletico are a decent team, and ok, I'll hold my hands up and say mid-table is an overreaction to your point that they could challenge for the title.4-8th probably. Do you really think their better than the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, City, Chelsea? I guess we might see in the Champions League. I wouldnt have said anything about Utd thumping them because Utd have been on the decline for a while. Not even sure why you mention it, pointless sentence!

 

The next incorrect assumption is that I like the Bundesliga because its anti-La Liga?! Not at all. I like the Bundesliga because its the balance between the Premiership and La Liga, offering fantastic football with both physicality and good passing and tactics.It takes the best of both leagues and has blended the aspects I consider important very well. Im not a big fan of Spanish football, I do find it largely boring. Nothing to do with media hype or whatever, I just dont like it. Nor do I like the 16 roll overs because some tipped a shoelace and theatrics. I still watch it though, I just love watching football. For me, football is as much a physical contest as anything else and that is lacking in La Liga.

 

I never said the likes of Falcao or Ibra would struggle, did I? I said it would be a different challenge for them and theres no way of knowing if they'd succeed. Honestly, those 2 probably would but again, we wont know unless someone signs them.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Matt

[Guest Nikica]

"though I see youve repeatedly done the same!)"

 

No I haven't. I make a point not to use that term. I use the term 'PL' which is completely different. I challenge you to find a single post of mine where I use the term 'EPL'. So that's another one of your lies.

 

"Wont bother with the emerging markets, language, X factor crap either..."

 

You're only saying it's crap because it doesn't suit your argument. If you knew anything about globalisation, history and sociology you'd know here's a ton of truth in it, and plenty of respected people see merit in it. You can't reply to it because you know it's true - anyone who claims that there's a correlation between popularity and quality needs his head read. The PL is extremely popular because of the glamorous way it is marketed, and the shoddy job other nations have done of marketing their leagues (not to mention the fact that until recently most Spanish kick off times didn't suit the biggest market in the world - Asia).

 

With all due respect, I don't believe for a second that you watch La Liga regularly. Any follower of La Liga would not think Atletico would be mid-table in the PL.

 

"Atletico are a decent team, and ok, I'll hold my hands up and say mid-table is an overreaction to your point that they could challenge for the title.4-8th probably. Do you really think their better than the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, City, Chelsea? I guess we might see in the Champions League. I wouldnt have said anything about Utd thumping them because Utd have been on the decline for a while. Not even sure why you mention it, pointless sentence!"

 

How magnanimous of you to call them a 'decent' team. I do think they're better than some of not all of those teams, yes, and I think they'd easily challenge for the PL as their brand of football would make mincemeat of many PL defences who are not built to cope with it. The top PL teams really aren't that great you know, they've been on the slide for ages and an average Manc team won the league by a landslide last season. Atletico are criminally underratd by those who can't see past the Clasico clubs. Also, it was Athletic who hammered Man U, not Atletico. They're two different clubs - I brought it up to make a point about your inability to rate any Spanish team not named Barcelona or Real Madrid. It was only a yar ago that Atletico hammered Chelsea (yes the Super Cup, but still) and Atletico are far better now and Chelsea are arguably worse, especially as Mourinho refuses to play their best player.

 

You say United have been on the decline (true), yet they still won the super duper best league ever TM by about 15 points. What does that tell you about all of the clubs who you're saying are indisputably better than Atletico?

 

It's abundantly clear that you prefer German football because you see it as more closely resembling English. For you, La Liga is too technical and the antithesis of what you're used to in the PL. I notice this a lot - British people thinking Spanish football is boring. That sort of attitude to the possession game will ensure England don't win the World Cup again in our lifetime. Also, there's a lot of playacting in Germany as well - it's hardly exclusive to those 'dirty Latins'.

 

Your comment about Zlatan and Falcao is completely pointless - I could easily say we don't know if Vidic, Van Persie etc could succeed in la Liga or the BL (and I did). Why do Falcao and Zlatan have to prove it in England, but Van Persie and Rooney don't have to prove it in Spain? Most players who leave the PL for foreign leagues look worse than they did in the PL, whereas most who come from foreign leagues to England prosper. The evidence is far from in your favour.

 

I wouldn't have replied in such an aggressive manner, but you called my post 'nonsense' when it wasn't. To compound that you then came up with ill thought out arguments which I've been arguing against for years. You're not saying anything I haven't heard from thousands of PL fans in the past.

 

I don't judge players on the league they play in (within reason), I judge them on their talent. That's why I rate Suarez extremely highly despite the fact he's not 'proven' in the CL or outside of the PL and international football (like it matters). That's because I believe in what I see and have faith in his ability to do it at the top levels of the game and for other clubs.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Nikica

[Matt]

First off, I'm going offline so will reply later. About this bit though:

 

"though I see youve repeatedly done the same!)"

 

No I haven't. I make a point not to use that term. I use the term 'PL' which is completely different. I challenge you to find a single post of mine where I use the term 'EPL'. So that's another one of your lies.

lies I didnt realise you had the objection to the E part, thought it was whole initiliaism. So, ok, I'll retract that bit

Edited October 27, 2013 by Matt

[Matt]

meanwhile, back on topic....

 

Borini just scored a cracker in the Sunderland v Newcastle derby. Yes, you read that correctly - Borini just scored a cracker

[Romey 1878]

I've always liked Borini tbh. He looked a really good player when he was playing for Swansea and I thought the shite had bought well with him. But it just didn't work for him there.

[Matt]

I've always liked Borini tbh. He looked a really good player when he was playing for Swansea and I thought the shite had bought well with him. But it just didn't work for him there.

I always thought he was shite, hence my disbelief!

[MikeO]

I always thought he was shite, hence my disbelief!

 

Speaking of shite....how bad was Helenius when he came on for Villa yesterday? He only had fifteen minutes admittedly but he was truly awful.

[Guest Nikica]

lies I didnt realise you had the objection to the E part, thought it was whole initiliaism. So, ok, I'll retract that bit

 

Yeah, 'lies' was way OTT - as if it's that sinister. Apologies for that. Yeah, the distinction is the omission of the 'E'. I can't even be bothered arguing about this any more so we can drop it if you like. It isn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

 

As for avinalaff - I apologise to you too . I shouldn't have been so aggressive there, but your post is the football equivalent of class snobbery imo. Sometimes I react strongly without taking time to chill myself out. I'm sure you'll reply in a similarly aggressive tone due to my provocation but meh.

 

I should learn to bite my tongue sometimes (or in this case, tape my fingers).

 

Matt - there's a few thinly-veiled attacks about your beliefs in my post above, I apologise. I'm just surprised that someone who watches La Liga regularly doesn't see how great Atletico have been.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Nikica

[Steve_E]

I agree with Nikica in that playing in the PL isn't some prerequisite for being top quality and English fans would be extremely lucky if players like Ibrahimovic and Falcao would move to the PL. Both have proven they're great (Ibrahimovic is the best striker in world football at the moment imo) in some of the top leagues in Europe, European cups and international games. In the same way, Özil was world class before he came to Arsenal too, as were Aguëro, Silva, Mata and whoever before their move to England.

 

I don't really care much for a debate about which country's league is best or whatever but I do want to point out a couple of things:

1. defending in the PL isn't remarkably better than it is in Italy, Germany or Spain. You can see godawful defending in the PL every week and great defending in Spain. Also, Southampton are by far the best defensive team in the league so far statistically speaking and they defend using tactics that are more common in continental football than in the PL.

2. Spain is a two horse race in general, but that doesn't mean the rest of the league is at the level of the Scottish Premier League or something. Barcelona and Real are just that good, they would both finish well ahead of the pack if they'd play in the PL as well. Still, Bayern are by far the best team in Europe at the moment.

[Matt]

 

Yeah, 'lies' was way OTT - as if it's that sinister. Apologies for that. Yeah, the distinction is the omission of the 'E'. I can't even be bothered arguing about this any more so we can drop it if you like. It isn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

 

As for avinalaff - I apologise to you too . I shouldn't have been so aggressive there, but your post is the football equivalent of class snobbery imo. Sometimes I react strongly without taking time to chill myself out. I'm sure you'll reply in a similarly aggressive tone due to my provocation but meh.

 

I should learn to bite my tongue sometimes (or in this case, tape my fingers).

Nonsense was too much too, so lets call it even apologies from my side too.

 

Just for the record though, I watch La Liga nearly every Sunday night, usually both the games that are billed, regardless who it is (though Im sure you can guess who is covered most of the time).

[Matt]

 

Speaking of shite....how bad was Helenius when he came on for Villa yesterday? He only had fifteen minutes admittedly but he was truly awful.

didnt get to see the 2nd half so cant say. BBC highlights were crap too...

[Guest Nikica]

I agree with Nikica in that playing in the PL isn't some prerequisite for being top quality and English fans would be extremely lucky if players like Ibrahimovic and Falcao would move to the PL. Both have proven they're great (Ibrahimovic is the best striker in world football at the moment imo) in some of the top leagues in Europe, European cups and international games. In the same way, Özil was world class before he came to Arsenal too, as were Aguëro, Silva, Mata and whoever before their move to England.

 

I don't really care much for a debate about which country's league is best or whatever but I do want to point out a couple of things:

1. defending in the PL isn't remarkably better than it is in Italy, Germany or Spain. You can see godawful defending in the PL every week and great defending in Spain. Also, Southampton are by far the best defensive team in the league so far statistically speaking and they defend using tactics that are more common in continental football than in the PL.

2. Spain is a two horse race in general, but that doesn't mean the rest of the league is at the level of the Scottish Premier League or something. Barcelona and Real are just that good, they would both finish well ahead of the pack if they'd play in the PL as well. Still, Bayern are by far the best team in Europe at the moment.

 

Great post, especially the point about Soton which is very perceptive of you.

 

I've been saying the same thing about La Liga for the last few years - Barca and RM make the rest of the league look bad, and they'd run riot in the PL too. Atletico have actually kept up with them both pretty well over the last 15 months. Agree about Bayern too.

[Guest Nikica]

Nonsense was too much too, so lets call it even apologies from my side too.

 

Just for the record though, I watch La Liga nearly every Sunday night, usually both the games that are billed, regardless who it is (though Im sure you can guess who is covered most of the time).

 

Fair enough - a great thing about you is that, even in the face of provocation, you don't get wound up. I respect that as I could learn from it.

 

Yeah, I watch a fair bit of La Liga as well. I apologise for doubting the validity of your comments, but do yo really think Atletico couldn't challenge for the title? I'm not saying they're the reincarnation of Van Basten's Milan or anything, but given the issues with most of the PL teams right now surely they would? If the PL teams were of the level they were in 2009, then I'd agree that this Atletico side may have struggled to make the CL places had they been transported into the league. However, for me the teams have been in decline other than Man City and Spurs (and the latter probably aren't as good as the 2009 top four were).

 

I'm not anti PL because back in 2008 and 2009 I'd have said it was probably the strongest league in Europe.

[Matt]

I agree with Nikica in that playing in the PL isn't some prerequisite for being top quality and English fans would be extremely lucky if players like Ibrahimovic and Falcao would move to the PL. Both have proven they're great (Ibrahimovic is the best striker in world football at the moment imo) in some of the top leagues in Europe, European cups and international games. In the same way, Özil was world class before he came to Arsenal too, as were Aguëro, Silva, Mata and whoever before their move to England.

 

I don't really care much for a debate about which country's league is best or whatever but I do want to point out a couple of things:

1. defending in the PL isn't remarkably better than it is in Italy, Germany or Spain. You can see godawful defending in the PL every week and great defending in Spain. Also, Southampton are by far the best defensive team in the league so far statistically speaking and they defend using tactics that are more common in continental football than in the PL.

2. Spain is a two horse race in general, but that doesn't mean the rest of the league is at the level of the Scottish Premier League or something. Barcelona and Real are just that good, they would both finish well ahead of the pack if they'd play in the PL as well. Still, Bayern are by far the best team in Europe at the moment.

Fair enough

 

The comparision of La Liga and the Scottish PL begins and ends with the top 2 (or at least, it did before the troubles of Rangers). I dont think anyone believes the rest of the league is shite, though there are some really crap teams in both leagues!

[Guest Nikica]

There's crap teams in every league though, whether it's a strong, average or poor league.

 

Coming from a guy who's actually Scottish, it's pretty obvious to me that nobody thinks the two leagues are being compared in quality - it's because of the size of the gap between the top two and the rest. Still, for a large part of the 1990s and 2000s the likes of Depor, Villarreal and Valencia were brilliant. The league has traditionally been dominated by RM and Barca, but over the last 15 to 20 years it's really only since Perez's second galactico era that the two teams have pulled away. It's good to see Atletico maintain pace with them but for how long they can keep this up I'm not sure, as they may lose more players. What we can agree on is that the individual TV deals in Spain and the organisation of the league is a mess. Bundesliga does the off-pitch stuff best imo.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Nikica

[Matt]

meanwhile, City vs Chelsea coming up.....

[Matt]

 

Fair enough - a great thing about you is that, even in the face of provocation, you don't get wound up. I respect that as I could learn from it.

 

Yeah, I watch a fair bit of La Liga as well. I apologise for doubting the validity of your comments, but do yo really think Atletico couldn't challenge for the title? I'm not saying they're the reincarnation of Van Basten's Milan or anything, but given the issues with most of the PL teams right now surely they would? If the PL teams were of the level they were in 2009, then I'd agree that this Atletico side may have struggled to make the CL places had they been transported into the league. However, for me the teams have been in decline other than Man City and Spurs (and the latter probably aren't as good as the 2009 top four were).

 

I'm not anti PL because back in 2008 and 2009 I'd have said it was probably the strongest league in Europe.

Honestly, no, I dont think they would be challengers. I think theyre a good team, but not better than the top 4-5 at the moment.

[Guest Nikica]

Honestly, no, I dont think they would be challengers. I think theyre a good team, but not better than the top 4-5 at the moment.

Fair play, I guess we will never know either way. Off to watch this now - talk soon.

[c1982]

Decent team...

 

Schwartzer

Aztacupeta (whatever it is!)

Kolarov

Richards

Luiz

Willian

Mata

Navas

Etto

Negredo

Dzeko

 

All sat watching Chelsea vs Man C from the bench currently!!!

Edited October 27, 2013 by c1982

[Steve_E]

Fair enough

 

The comparision of La Liga and the Scottish PL begins and ends with the top 2 (or at least, it did before the troubles of Rangers). I dont think anyone believes the rest of the league is shite, though there are some really crap teams in both leagues!

 

There's crap teams in the PL too though. And you do see disparaging comments by Englishmen about the quality of Spanish teams outside of the big two quite a lot on the internet in my experience which is rubbish imo. Atlético have a great team, Betis for example finished 8th in La Liga last season and based off our meetup in pre-season I'd wager they'd challenge for a similar league finish in England as well, Rayo Vallecano play great football, etc.

[Matt]

Good move by Torres, assist to make it 1-0 Chelsea

[Matt]

Now he's hit the bar with a great effort

[Steve_E]

He's looking good. That header towards Schurrle was great too, despite Schurrle being offside.

[Peter H]

Loved that Torres effort. (Cross bar)

 

Good match so far. Chelsea showing class. Goes to show how good Everton are this season.