Christiano Ronaldo going to Madrid

[Gnrfan]

Beckham has said this week that Ronaldo is a fool to move because Utd are the biggest club in the world. Van Nistelrooy has said that he isn't interested in Man City because his footballing heart is still with Man Utd.

Did Beckham really say that?  I'm not saying I don't believe you, it's just tht I find it hard to believe coming from Becks. He was one of the BEST and most repected professionals that Real Madrid's ever had and after 4 years with REAL, the Santiago Bernabeu crowd loved him cause he was much more than a marketing gadget. I never ever heard Beckham saying something disrespectful towards any team or anybody, so for me it's even harder to believe since all he's said about Real Madrid were and have been kind words.

Saying something like Ronaldo is a fool to move from Man U will imply he's a fool to move to Real Madrid...and I just don't think Beckham could say something like that.

Beckham has always maintained that Manchester United is the best club in the world. He's said it on several occasions. In fact i think in a book he said he never wanted to leave and tried to block his move to Real, until Ferguson told him he was no longer needed. Again he wasn't being disrespectful to Real he just said that Ronaldo is the player he is because of UTD and he'd be "crazy" to leave for any other club.

I think its hard to explain to anyone outside of England.... but English clubs have a real family about them. Something i think doesn't exist abroad. At Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and majority of others they don't change managers so often and that leads to players becoming part of the club easier. The Atmosphere is different as in England the Manager is No1 not players like Raul in Real Madrid's case. I think thats what Beckham means when he says "best club in the world". Its not about trophies is about the club and what it has done for football and Footballers.

Oh we are definatly the strongest team of the last 15 years. We play in the toughest league in the world where there are more than just two teams and have won 11 titles in 16 years (Pretty Much Double Real Madrid). We are definatly in Real Madrid's league and have been since 1993.

True to that, but the english league is the toughest league in the world NOW, not for the last 15 years.

Maybe not 15 but certainly the last 8 to 10 in terms of depth of club quality. I mean look at guys like Shevchenko, Crespo, Forlan, Kezman, Luis Garcia, Luque all players that scored goals for fun in the spanish and italian leagues that just couldn't cut it in England. Even Robinho has said that he never knew how good the English league was. The Spanish league has the "brilliant indiviudals" but there teams lack the drive that the British teams have and the work ethic. The English game has a frantic pace and hardness about it that teams from Italy and Spain struggle with and i think thats been the case for the last 8 or 9 years.

Its like the Nadal - Federer argument. Federer has won more titles but Nadal is the best... thats like Real Madrid and Manchester United. I'm not saying that Real Madrid are not a huge club coz they are and they have always been my favourite Spanish team. I'm just saying Teams like AC Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester United & Bayern Munich are all on a level playing field in history and when you only win 4 Domestic titles in 20 years like Real Madrid then you have to say thats not good enough in this climate of Football. Since English Football went into the Premier League and we finally got enough Money to challenge leagues like Italy and Spain we have been the best league to watch and i think its undisputed that our league has been the strongest for at least the last 6 years

Yes, good point, but it's difficult comparing NADAL - FEDERER and Madrid and Manchaster. You know, Nadal and federer could play each other every week if both gotten to the finals so the comparission is not spot on.  To me, we could use a better analogy. I know you watch NBA some so maybe Real Madrid is like the Boston Celtics and Manchester united could be like the Chicgo Bulls in the 90's...The Celts have won 17 rings while the Bulls won 6. They were the biggest team in the 90's and they are now one of the best and most prestigious teams in the NBA, but nobody comes close to the Celtics (well, the lakers will if they win this title).

Really Gnrfan, I like MAN U. They have dominated football in Europe and England for the past 10-15 years. Kudos to them really. But I believe it's just too early to put Man U and Real Madrid on the same level. Real Madrid is the world best club of the 20th century, they have more domestic titles, european cups, international awards...than any other team in the history of football, so it's also safe to assume that Real Madrid is the most prestigious club in the world.

It's true that as of recently (past 5 years) Real Madrid has not been as successful as other teams. This is simply because bad management, corrupt presidents, mediocre aquisitions...and that I'm sure has hurt Real Madrid's reputation around the world, but it's still the #1 team.

My point is that teams like Celtic have won 42 domestic championships and a European cup..... but they only have to beat one team. Since 1980 Real have won 11 domestic titles and 3 European cups. My point is much like Nadal-Federer your record is only as good as your competeition and i think for many years Real Madrid had no competition in Spain. It wasn't until Cruyff came along as manager and put together that super team during the late 80's / early 90's that they were seriously competing. 22 titles of the last 29 have gone to Barcelona or Real Madrid and thats understandable but in England there has been more teams that win things.

For Example in the history of the Spanish League only 5 teams have won the league more than twice and only 9 have ever won it (since 1928) at all. If you compare that to English league 13 teams have won it more than twice. Thats what i mean by level of competiton. Now maybe there is an argument that Barca and Real are so good that the others don't stand a chance, but i think its the other and that aside from the odd burst every so often when a team comes along and wins a title (Ath.Madrid in 96 & Valencia in 02 and 04) there is really only 2 teams in Spian. Then you look at Manchester United and we have had challenge after challenge in the last 15 years. We have the two richest owners in the world against us (Chelsea & Man City) as well as a host of challenging teams (Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton & Now Man City) and we keep coming back to win. I also think the level of competition in England makes it harder for English teams in Europe after a long season. And thats why i think we are in Madrids league because you have to take into account the competition the Premier League offers week in week out as where i regulary turn over to Spanish football and Madrid and Barca are walking away with it.

[Jim]

Right. I was with you up until 'Everton' !!

[Gnrfan]

Turning attention to next season's La Liga:

two questions
1/ Who do you think will win?

2/ Will Raul still get in the Real Madrid Team?

I think Barcelona will still win. They are a special team.

I've been looking Real Madrid's side and it seems they have signed Villa too. My question is what will be there team?

I'm thinking:

Casillas

Ramos
Pepe
Heinze
Marcelo

Gago
Diarra

Ronaldo
Kaka
Robben

Villa

Subs:

Huntelaar
Salgado
Raul
Metzelder
Higuain
Guti
Garay
Van Nistelrooy
Van Der Vaart

Not a Bad Squad. But i still say they are weak in Defence. The only defender that i consider "Madrid Quality" is Sergio Ramos. There is also a severe lack of height in that team. I'm thinking they could be taken apart at Set pieces

Right. I was with you up until 'Everton' !!

They may not be title contenders but they are definatly top 4 contenders now

[Alan]

Beckham has said this week that Ronaldo is a fool to move because Utd are the biggest club in the world. Van Nistelrooy has said that he isn't interested in Man City because his footballing heart is still with Man Utd.

Did Beckham really say that?  I'm not saying I don't believe you, it's just tht I find it hard to believe coming from Becks. He was one of the BEST and most repected professionals that Real Madrid's ever had and after 4 years with REAL, the Santiago Bernabeu crowd loved him cause he was much more than a marketing gadget. I never ever heard Beckham saying something disrespectful towards any team or anybody, so for me it's even harder to believe since all he's said about Real Madrid were and have been kind words.

Saying something like Ronaldo is a fool to move from Man U will imply he's a fool to move to Real Madrid...and I just don't think Beckham could say something like that.

wouldn't suprise me if it was paraphrased, but beckham advised kaka to go to madrid, so it's not like he is direspecting them.

[Gnrfan]

Beckham has said this week that Ronaldo is a fool to move because Utd are the biggest club in the world. Van Nistelrooy has said that he isn't interested in Man City because his footballing heart is still with Man Utd.

Did Beckham really say that?  I'm not saying I don't believe you, it's just tht I find it hard to believe coming from Becks. He was one of the BEST and most repected professionals that Real Madrid's ever had and after 4 years with REAL, the Santiago Bernabeu crowd loved him cause he was much more than a marketing gadget. I never ever heard Beckham saying something disrespectful towards any team or anybody, so for me it's even harder to believe since all he's said about Real Madrid were and have been kind words.

Saying something like Ronaldo is a fool to move from Man U will imply he's a fool to move to Real Madrid...and I just don't think Beckham could say something like that.

wouldn't suprise me if it was paraphrased, but beckham advised kaka to go to madrid, so it's not like he is direspecting them.

Yeah you're right. He wasn't saying madrid was rubbish. Man Utd is just Beckham's club and i think at Utd the team was built around Ronaldo and thats why he said he'd be "crazy" to leave.

[estebanf]

after what he did in this season, I cant see Higuain in Real Madrid's bench. I think Higuain is one of the most complete forwards in the world, because he can adapt to almost all positions from mid-field and forward, he can ''create'' football or help the midfielders if the match requires it, and he's a great striker also. He also showed he appears in the decisive matches. Why Maradona doesnt pick him for the argentine national team to play with Messi and Tevez is a great mistery to me. Instead, we have fuckin' Aguero which is like playing with 10 players all matches...

If I were Real Madrid's coach, my team would be

Casillas
Ramos / Pepe / Heinze / Marcelo
Gago / Diarra
Ronaldo / Kaka / Guti
Higuain

And Argentina's team should like like this:

Carrizo [Lazio]

Demichelis [Bayern Munich]
Samuel [Inter]
Burdisso [Inter]

Mascherano [liverpool]
Gago [Real Madrid]
Veron [Estudiantes]
Maxi Rodriguez [Atletico de Madrid]

Messi [Barcelona]
Tevez [Manchester United]
Higuain [Real Madrid]

[estebanf]

This is UEFA's perfect team from La Liga

http://elmadridista.com/articles/21203-casillas-e-higuain-en-el-once-ideal-de-la-uefa

Casillas; Alves, Puyol, Filipe; Navas, Xavi, Iniesta, Higua?n; Messi, Forl?n, Villa

[Ignatius]

Beckham has always maintained that Manchester United is the best club in the world. He's said it on several occasions. In fact i think in a book he said he never wanted to leave and tried to block his move to Real, until Ferguson told him he was no longer needed. Again he wasn't being disrespectful to Real he just said that Ronaldo is the player he is because of UTD and he'd be "crazy" to leave for any other club.

Ok, that clears it up. I never knew he didnt really want to leave MAn U, actually, all he said when he got signed for Madrid is how happy he was to be playing for Real. I know all players really say that when they are signed for a new team, but with Becks he really came accross as being sincere when he said it. I always thought playing for Madrid was like a dream to him.

I think its hard to explain to anyone outside of England.... but English clubs have a real family about them. Something i think doesn't exist abroad. At Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and majority of others they don't change managers so often and that leads to players becoming part of the club easier. The Atmosphere is different as in England the Manager is No1 not players like Raul in Real Madrid's case. I think thats what Beckham means when he says "best club in the world". Its not about trophies is about the club and what it has done for football and Footballers.

That's true. In Spain there's much more pressure from fans, media...everything is planned to get short term results. That's the main difference. As a coach, if you don't deliver good results in 3-4 months, you are out. Simple as that. I don't really agree with that cause good teams need more time to make things happen, but in our society where football takes half the time of the daily news on TV, is WIN or you are out.

Maybe not 15 but certainly the last 8 to 10 in terms of depth of club quality. I mean look at guys like Shevchenko, Crespo, Forlan, Kezman, Luis Garcia, Luque all players that scored goals for fun in the spanish and italian leagues that just couldn't cut it in England. Even Robinho has said that he never knew how good the English league was. The Spanish league has the "brilliant indiviudals" but there teams lack the drive that the British teams have and the work ethic. The English game has a frantic pace and hardness about it that teams from Italy and Spain struggle with and i think thats been the case for the last 8 or 9 years.

Shevchenko played in Chelsea way past his prime, Luis Garcia scored well in Liverpool, better than he's ever scored in Barcelona, Valladolid or Atletico...Forlan was a replacement for Man U so he didnt really get the chance. In Spain he got more opps cause he played for more modest teams; Villareal and Atletico...On the contrary, Torres never scored more than 15 goals in one season in Spain but then he gets signed for Liverpool and scores 28. I say it's both ways....first class players are first class players everywhere.

My point is that teams like Celtic have won 42 domestic championships and a European cup..... but they only have to beat one team. Since 1980 Real have won 11 domestic titles and 3 European cups. My point is much like Nadal-Federer your record is only as good as your competeition and i think for many years Real Madrid had no competition in Spain. It wasn't until Cruyff came along as manager and put together that super team during the late 80's / early 90's that they were seriously competing. 22 titles of the last 29 have gone to Barcelona or Real Madrid and thats understandable but in England there has been more teams that win things.

Well, in the UK is pretty much the same lately. Every year the top 4 are; Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Same in Spain; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla (and now Atletico) so in a way, the same 4 teams are the one that you know they will be fighting for the title. It's true that Madrid and Barcelona are always there on the money, but in the Uk, how many titles have the other teams have won in the past 15 years? I know Chelsea's won one, Arsenal another one...but that's about it, right? When was the last time Liverpool won the premiere?

For Example in the history of the Spanish League only 5 teams have won the league more than twice and only 9 have ever won it (since 1928) at all. If you compare that to English league 13 teams have won it more than twice. Thats what i mean by level of competiton. Now maybe there is an argument that Barca and Real are so good that the others don't stand a chance, but i think its the other and that aside from the odd burst every so often when a team comes along and wins a title (Ath.Madrid in 96 & Valencia in 02 and 04) there is really only 2 teams in Spian. Then you look at Manchester United and we have had challenge after challenge in the last 15 years. We have the two richest owners in the world against us (Chelsea & Man City) as well as a host of challenging teams (Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton & Now Man City) and we keep coming back to win. I also think the level of competition in England makes it harder for English teams in Europe after a long season. And thats why i think we are in Madrids league because you have to take into account the competition the Premier League offers week in week out as where i regulary turn over to Spanish football and Madrid and Barca are walking away with it.

Well..Im not sure about that. Like I said, recently the premiere has been the strongest competition, but that was not like that in the past. You say RM and Bar?a splitted titles cause they get away with it, I just think they win cause they are simple superior and they'll always be. Those two teams will always be the two references for spanish football and that's the way it is. In our case, it's ingrained in our political roots..,Barcelona and Madrid are the biggest and most important cities and the biggest rivals. As you know, they don't really get along for political reasons so it's normal than having our little inner issues between those cities the entire country is pretty much split into fans who cheer for Real and fans who cheer for Bar?a..,It's funny, but when you go to another city in Spain and you talk to the locals, they obviosuly root for their city team but they always say their second team is either Real or Barca. I don't think in the premiere you get that, simply because there's not any other factor involved (political, cultural) in rooting for one team or another as we have here in Spain.

So eventhough every once in a little while there's an outsider who wins something big in Spain, Bar?a and Madrid will always be the main forces. They are the teams with more money, more fans, more prestigious, more media coverage...thats' the way it is. But that doesnt mean the other teams are shit. It's actually the other way aroud, the other teams try harder and harder to compete against these two.

Turning attention to next season's La Liga:

two questions
1/ Who do you think will win?

2/ Will Raul still get in the Real Madrid Team?

I think Barcelona will still win. They are a special team.

I've been looking Real Madrid's side and it seems they have signed Villa too. My question is what will be there team?

I'm thinking:

Casillas

Ramos
Pepe
Heinze
Marcelo

Gago
Diarra

Ronaldo
Kaka
Robben

Villa

Subs:

Huntelaar
Salgado
Raul
Metzelder
Higuain
Guti
Garay
Van Nistelrooy
Van Der Vaart

Not a Bad Squad. But i still say they are weak in Defence. The only defender that i consider "Madrid Quality" is Sergio Ramos. There is also a severe lack of height in that team. I'm thinking they could be taken apart at Set pieces

I think you are underrating Pepe. He's a great defender...he would've had an amazing season had not been stupid to kick Casquero from Getafe as he did on that match..what the hell was he thinking? he got banned for 10 matches...but other than that, he had a pretty good season.

Ramos is good..but lately he's been busy attending bull fights and getting laid with pretty all the spanish celebrities and people in Bernabeu don't really like that.

As for the team, Raul will eventually get there. He always finds the way... also Higuain. The argentinian has had a great season...he's a clutch player, he scores big goals for Madrid this year. He's also young and motivated to prove Maradona he deserves a spot in the argentinian squad.

[Ignatius]

after what he did in this season, I cant see Higuain in Real Madrid's bench. I think Higuain is one of the most complete forwards in the world, because he can adapt to almost all positions from mid-field and forward, he can ''create'' football or help the midfielders if the match requires it, and he's a great striker also. He also showed he appears in the decisive matches. Why Maradona doesnt pick him for the argentine national team to play with Messi and Tevez is a great mistery to me. Instead, we have fuckin' Aguero which is like playing with 10 players all matches...

Yeah, Aguero is there cause he's got a kid with Maradona's daughter. I would pick "El pipa" instead even if he was limping...

[Gnrfan]

Well, in the UK is pretty much the same lately. Every year the top 4 are; Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Same in Spain; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla (and now Atletico) so in a way, the same 4 teams are the one that you know they will be fighting for the title. It's true that Madrid and Barcelona are always there on the money, but in the Uk, how many titles have the other teams have won in the past 15 years? I know Chelsea's won one, Arsenal another one...but that's about it, right? When was the last time Liverpool won the premiere?

Chelsea have won two, Arsenal have won three and Blackburn have won one in the last 15 years. But more importantly each year they are pushed super hard by teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. I maybe wrong but didn't Barca win this years title by 9 points and played their reserves for the last two games? And wasn't Sevilla 3rd but like 20 points behind? Thats not a challenge! Having said that i do agree that this Barca Team is special so maybe thats just it but having watched quite a bit of Spanish football this year it just seems that Barcelona never were under pressure this year which obviously makes it easier for them.

Well..Im not sure about that. Like I said, recently the premiere has been the strongest competition, but that was not like that in the past. You say RM and Bar?a splitted titles cause they get away with it, I just think they win cause they are simple superior and they'll always be. Those two teams will always be the two references for spanish football and that's the way it is. In our case, it's ingrained in our political roots..,Barcelona and Madrid are the biggest and most important cities and the biggest rivals. As you know, they don't really get along for political reasons so it's normal than having our little inner issues between those cities the entire country is pretty much split into fans who cheer for Real and fans who cheer for Bar?a..,It's funny, but when you go to another city in Spain and you talk to the locals, they obviosuly root for their city team but they always say their second team is either Real or Barca. I don't think in the premiere you get that, simply because there's not any other factor involved (political, cultural) in rooting for one team or another as we have here in Spain.

So eventhough every once in a little while there's an outsider who wins something big in Spain, Bar?a and Madrid will always be the main forces. They are the teams with more money, more fans, more prestigious, more media coverage...thats' the way it is. But that doesnt mean the other teams are shit. It's actually the other way aroud, the other teams try harder and harder to compete against these two.

Thats kinda my point. In England teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United & Arsenal have all had periods where they win nothing because other teams come through. It was only 35 years ago that Manchester United were relegated from the top division during one of our many re-building periods. That would never happen to Barca or Real because other teams just don't hold that threat. I mean when was the last time that Barca or Real Madrid didn't make the top 4? probally quite a while. Its natural that every 10 years or something "Big" teams should struggle.... it happens in every league in the world except for Spain.

I think you are underrating Pepe. He's a great defender...he would've had an amazing season had not been stupid to kick Casquero from Getafe as he did on that match..what the hell was he thinking? he got banned for 10 matches...but other than that, he had a pretty good season.

Ramos is good..but lately he's been busy attending bull fights and getting laid with pretty all the spanish celebrities and people in Bernabeu don't really like that.

As for the team, Raul will eventually get there. He always finds the way... also Higuain. The argentinian has had a great season...he's a clutch player, he scores big goals for Madrid this year. He's also young and motivated to prove Maradona he deserves a spot in the argentinian squad.

That's possible. I haven't seen much of him. However it doesn't matter who is playing in defence for Real Madrid it makes them look bad. Cannavaro was/is a quality defender and he looked terrible in nearly every match i saw last year. Thats because they don't all work back. with Robben, Ronaldo, Kaka playing none of them will defend so they need players like Gago & Diarra to play really well to protect that defence. I watched Liverpool destroy them and it could have been 8 that night and they played two defencive midfielders that day too. You can buy all the strikers in the world but if you don't have a good defensive record you'll win bugger all.

Yeah i saw Higuain last year and i was really impressed. And they have Huntelaar. Oh and Raul (Mr Over-rated himself). As a Utd Fan i'd like either Huntelaar or Higuain.

Aguero is also quality though.

after what he did in this season, I cant see Higuain in Real Madrid's bench. I think Higuain is one of the most complete forwards in the world, because he can adapt to almost all positions from mid-field and forward, he can ''create'' football or help the midfielders if the match requires it, and he's a great striker also. He also showed he appears in the decisive matches. Why Maradona doesnt pick him for the argentine national team to play with Messi and Tevez is a great mistery to me. Instead, we have fuckin' Aguero which is like playing with 10 players all matches...

Yeah, Aguero is there cause he's got a kid with Maradona's daughter. I would pick "El pipa" instead even if he was limping...

Really! He's married to Maradona's Daughter hahaha God that one way to get yourself picked. The only problem is you have to put up with Maradona as your Step-Father!

[Ignatius]

Chelsea have won two, Arsenal have won three and Blackburn have won one in the last 15 years. But more importantly each year they are pushed super hard by teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. I maybe wrong but didn't Barca win this years title by 9 points and played their reserves for the last two games? And wasn't Sevilla 3rd but like 20 points behind? Thats not a challenge! Having said that i do agree that this Barca Team is special so maybe thats just it but having watched quite a bit of Spanish football this year it just seems that Barcelona never were under pressure this year which obviously makes it easier for them.

I don't thing that's correct. It seems like Bar?a won easily but that's misleading. Barcelona won more points than any other team in Spain over the past 20 years, so it's not like the other teams were shit, it's just that barcelona was too good.

Also, don't forget Real Madrid really pushed Barcelona up until the match in Santiago Bernabeu. Real won 13 matches in a row and for 2-3 months there were only 4-6 points difference between the two. So I'd say Madrid really put barcelona under a lot of pressure. Just a fact, Madrid's total points as the second team in la liga this year woul've gotten them the championship in 9 outta the last 10 championships.

That's possible. I haven't seen much of him. However it doesn't matter who is playing in defence for Real Madrid it makes them look bad. Cannavaro was/is a quality defender and he looked terrible in nearly every match i saw last year. Thats because they don't all work back. with Robben, Ronaldo, Kaka playing none of them will defend so they need players like Gago & Diarra to play really well to protect that defence. I watched Liverpool destroy them and it could have been 8 that night and they played two defencive midfielders that day too. You can buy all the strikers in the world but if you don't have a good defensive record you'll win bugger all.

I don't really like Gago, he's a good player, but not the quality player Real Madrid thought he was going to become. He's still young, but he's billion miles away from Fernando Redondo (he's been compared to him), another argentinian midfielder who lead Real Madrid for more than 4 years. Actually you may remember him...he was the guy who dribbled the MAn U defender right by the out of bounds line and then fed to raul who scored the second or third goal against Man U in the europen cup quaterfinals in 2000.



Anyway, will Bar?a win the liga again? Most likely they will. Will Bar?a win the champions league? Not sure, he's a strong contender but then again, english teams would most likely be the main rivals to beat again this year. I'm curious to see which of the english teams (if any) will play Barcelona in the first round match ups.

Oh BTW, Esteban...what's going on with Argentina man? You'll lost against Ecuador 2-0 and looks like you are going to struggle to qualify for the World Cup.

[Gnrfan]

Chelsea have won two, Arsenal have won three and Blackburn have won one in the last 15 years. But more importantly each year they are pushed super hard by teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. I maybe wrong but didn't Barca win this years title by 9 points and played their reserves for the last two games? And wasn't Sevilla 3rd but like 20 points behind? Thats not a challenge! Having said that i do agree that this Barca Team is special so maybe thats just it but having watched quite a bit of Spanish football this year it just seems that Barcelona never were under pressure this year which obviously makes it easier for them.

I don't thing that's correct. It seems like Bar?a won easily but that's misleading. Barcelona won more points than any other team in Spain over the past 20 years, so it's not like the other teams were shit, it's just that barcelona was too good.

But thats subjective. Its back to the Tennis argument with the quality of competition. Maybe Barca were just that good, but the other way to look at it is that the rest aren't good enough. Its an opinion thing. There is no doubt Barca are a quality team, but i still say the competition is quite low in Spain at the moment.

Chelsea have won two, Arsenal have won three and Blackburn have won one in the last 15 years. But more importantly each year they are pushed super hard by teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. I maybe wrong but didn't Barca win this years title by 9 points and played their reserves for the last two games? And wasn't Sevilla 3rd but like 20 points behind? Thats not a challenge! Having said that i do agree that this Barca Team is special so maybe thats just it but having watched quite a bit of Spanish football this year it just seems that Barcelona never were under pressure this year which obviously makes it easier for them.

Also, don't forget Real Madrid really pushed Barcelona up until the match in Santiago Bernabeu. Real won 13 matches in a row and for 2-3 months there were only 4-6 points difference between the two. So I'd say Madrid really put barcelona under a lot of pressure. Just a fact, Madrid's total points as the second team in la liga this year woul've gotten them the championship in 9 outta the last 10 championships.

You mean the match where Barcelona won 6-2! That one! I think that just re-inforces my point that the nearest team to Barca are that far behind them. Thats poor! Liverpool came second this year and only lost 2 games all season and still fell short. Real Madrid lost 10. Thats what i mean for pressure. Manchester United and Liverpool kept changing places in the league. Barca were at the top all year.

I don't really like Gago, he's a good player, but not the quality player Real Madrid thought he was going to become. He's still young, but he's billion miles away from Fernando Redondo (he's been compared to him), another argentinian midfielder who lead Real Madrid for more than 4 years. Actually you may remember him...he was the guy who dribbled the MAn U defender right by the out of bounds line and then fed to raul who scored the second or third goal against Man U in the europen cup quaterfinals in 2000.

Redondo is the reason i became a Madrid fan. I idolised him, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes as a youngster (i play central midfield). I remember the game you are talking about. He was brilliant that day a bit like the final this year against Barca it was an honour to lose to that team. Also i remember when Ronaldo scored a hat-rick for Real Madrid at Old Trafford and when he was subbed all Man Utd fans stood up and applauded him coz he was just that good that day.

The Problem is Madrid at the moment is quite simply work rate. Ronaldo never tracks back, Neither does Kaka and Robben is maybe the most lazy player i have ever seen in the Premier League. If Madrid Play Villa up front on his own i'll assume that Kaka will play just behind him with Ronaldo and Robben/Higuain wide. That is fine if you have two solid full backs and two quality defensive midfielders. Now Lassana Diarra could not cut it at Chelsea or Arsenal so i'm not convinced that he is "Top Quality" and they have Gago who looks quite good to me. The Problem is they have Sneijder and Van Der Vaart who are good players in an attacking sense but not defensivly.

IMO they need a quality centre back to partner Pepe and play Heinze and Ramos at Full back rather than Marcelo who is lightweight. However i still think if i was managing against Real Madrid i would be attacking wide because their wingers won't track back and you can get your full backs forward and get 2 on 1 there. I just think that all great teams have quality defences and in recent times (certainly in England) defences have won the league rather than goals scored.

[Ignatius]

You mean the match where Barcelona won 6-2! That one! I think that just re-inforces my point that the nearest team to Barca are that far behind them. Thats poor! Liverpool came second this year and only lost 2 games all season and still fell short. Real Madrid lost 10. Thats what i mean for pressure. Manchester United and Liverpool kept changing places in the league. Barca were at the top all year.

If you have followed the liga you should know Madrid won 14 or 15 consecutive matches so Bar?a was put under a lot of pressure until Madrid and bar?a played each other. You said bar?a won easily but I dont' think it was that way and that's the reason why Bar?a won so many points cause Real was puting a lot of pressure. Then we had the 2-6 in Bernabeu and it was a piece of cake from them onwards.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Liverpool lead half the championship and then Man U got the half way through the championship and never looked back. I dont see that as they "kept changing places in the league" but  I may be wrong. I didnt quite follow the premiere to know how many days each team were on top.

The Problem is Madrid at the moment is quite simply work rate. Ronaldo never tracks back, Neither does Kaka and Robben is maybe the most lazy player i have ever seen in the Premier League. If Madrid Play Villa up front on his own i'll assume that Kaka will play just behind him with Ronaldo and Robben/Higuain wide. That is fine if you have two solid full backs and two quality defensive midfielders. Now Lassana Diarra could not cut it at Chelsea or Arsenal so i'm not convinced that he is "Top Quality" and they have Gago who looks quite good to me. The Problem is they have Sneijder and Van Der Vaart who are good players in an attacking sense but not defensivly.

I really don't think Robben will play that much. Higuain or Raul will probably in his position eventhough they are not natural attack wingers

BTW, now seems like Barcelona wants Villa too. So we've got Madrid, Barcelona and Man U fighting for the striker. I think Bar?a is going to get him. I've heard today Man U wants Eto'o. Do you hear that also?

[Gnrfan]

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Liverpool lead half the championship and then Man U got the half way through the championship and never looked back. I dont see that as they "kept changing places in the league" but  I may be wrong. I didnt quite follow the premiere to know how many days each team were on top.

Well it changed all the time because Liverpool for a long time were 2 games ahead of us. They beat us 4-1 at Old Trafford and that meant that we had to win all of our games. Then Liverpool drew with Arsenal 4-4 and then we had to get 7 points from 9 to win and we did just that. Liverpool were top with 5 games left of the season albeit with more games played. Despite Real's run they never got to a situation which made Barca "Have" to win.

The Problem is Madrid at the moment is quite simply work rate. Ronaldo never tracks back, Neither does Kaka and Robben is maybe the most lazy player i have ever seen in the Premier League. If Madrid Play Villa up front on his own i'll assume that Kaka will play just behind him with Ronaldo and Robben/Higuain wide. That is fine if you have two solid full backs and two quality defensive midfielders. Now Lassana Diarra could not cut it at Chelsea or Arsenal so i'm not convinced that he is "Top Quality" and they have Gago who looks quite good to me. The Problem is they have Sneijder and Van Der Vaart who are good players in an attacking sense but not defensivly.

I really don't think Robben will play that much. Higuain or Raul will probably in his position eventhough they are not natural attack wingers

BTW, now seems like Barcelona wants Villa too. So we've got Madrid, Barcelona and Man U fighting for the striker. I think Bar?a is going to get him. I've heard today Man U wants Eto'o. Do you hear that also?

I don't want Villa really or Eto'o. I think they are both quality don't get me wrong and if i had to choose i'd prefer Villa but i'd prefer someone who has other dimensions. I'd prefer someone like Ibrahimovic, Torres, Santa Cruz, Benzema, Pato or Huntelaar a striker than plays right at the top of the field and doesn't come too deep because we have Rooney and Berbatov that do that already. Eto'o seems like a moaner and i don't really want that. If i had my choice i'd have Ibrahimovic but we'll never get him.

I think at times we lack that threat in the air too. We need a player that has that threat when plan A doesn't work.

I think Villa wants to stay in Spain and i think he'll probally end up at Barca. I'm suprised that Barca want rid of Eto'o. I just hope we don't panic buy to replace Ronaldo. Our squad is still good enough to win the league and champions league without Ronaldo. I think we just need that Lethal striker who could get us 30 goals. We haven't had that since we decided to sell Van Nistelrooy.

[estebanf]

Oh BTW, Esteban...what's going on with Argentina man? You'll lost against Ecuador 2-0 and looks like you are going to struggle to qualify for the World Cup.

Yes, we are not in a confortable situation right now, but after all we are still in a direct-qualification position.

Argentina seems to have more problems than other teams to play in high places like Ecuador or Bolivia. And we are still re-adapting the team to our new coach. Anyway, there is no doubt Argentina will qualify to the world cup. There are not too much teams out there with the quantity and quality of players that argentina has got

is it already known what teams are going to be ''cabezas de serie'' for the groups in the next world cup? What's your opinion of Spain being one of them and nations like England (world champion in 1966) not?

[Ignatius]

There are not too much teams out there with the quantity and quality of players that argentina has got

Just eleven on the field right? 

is it already known what teams are going to be ''cabezas de serie'' for the groups in the next world cup? What's your opinion of Spain being one of them and nations like England (world champion in 1966) not?

The seeds are always controversial. Specially with football since it's a bit more difficult to stablish them cause there's only one major competition every two years. Back in the day when Spain was seeded for no reason I'd probably had agreed with you, but don' forget Spain won the last big football event last year.  So this time around is very well deserved. 

[axl_78]

Argentina's team should like like this:

Carrizo [Lazio]

Demichelis [Bayern Munich]
Samuel [Inter]
Burdisso [Inter]

Mascherano [liverpool]
Gago [Real Madrid]
Veron [Estudiantes]
Maxi Rodriguez [Atletico de Madrid]

Messi [Barcelona]
Tevez [Manchester United]
Higuain [Real Madrid]

Where is Di Maria??