La Liga 2013/14

[BlueHammer85]

It was a definite red although pathetic how the player went down and the reaction from others around the ref. something needs to be done to stop all this.

Also not sure if the few on here saying Ronaldo isn't actually that good and just scores tap in's are surely on the wind up

 

[dekabreak]

Also not sure if the few on here saying Ronaldo isn't actually that good and just scores tap in's are surely on the wind up

Either they are Messi nuthuggers or they just still hate him because he was a rag.

Was a bittersweet result for Real, San Mames is a hard place to get a good result (Barca lost there in the league), not the end of the world, since Barca do also have a tough away fixture against Sevilla next week.

IMO Ronaldo missing 1-2 matches could be a blessing in disguise since they can put Bale in his position and he needs the chemistry from his teammates.

 

[C Velz]

This isn't the first season that Real Madrid has been built around getting the most out of Ronaldo. It's been like this since Mourinho joined Real Madrid. Ronaldo wasn't even Real Madrid's best player in 2010 when Pellegrini was in charge.

There's a reason why Ronaldo used to complain about Mourinho's style when he would flop in big matches, because against regular opposition Mourinho didn't play his brand of bunker football.

Atletico going top tonight with 16 games left. Greatest achievement ever in football if they win the league?

How long have you been watching football?

 

[supercrystal7]

This isn't the first season that Real Madrid has been built around getting the most out of Ronaldo. It's been like this since Mourinho joined Real Madrid. Ronaldo wasn't even Real Madrid's best player in 2010 when Pellegrini was in charge.

There's a reason why Ronaldo used to complain about Mourinho's style when he would flop in big matches, because against regular opposition Mourinho didn't play his brand of bunker football.

Atletico going top tonight with 16 games left. Greatest achievement ever in football if they win the league?

How long have you been watching football?

Not much I agree with here.

Ronaldo's role in the team under Mourinho was no different than Di Maria's. They attacked down his side more, because he was better, but there was nothing special plans made to get the best out of him like say RVN at United, Bale at Tottenham or Messi at Barca or even Nolan/Carroll at West Ham. He could have been taken out and replaced with any other player and the tactics would have remained the same. The problem Ronaldo had with Mourinho was that he did not like the counter attacking style. Once Mourinho established his team Madrid dominated Barcelona in all their big matches and Ronaldo scored virtually every time. Even in the champions league Ronaldo scored.

Stats are not everything, but just look at who scored the goals for Madrid in La Liga during the 2011/2012 season.

Ronaldo 46
Benzema 22
Higuian 21

Now contrast that with Barcelona

Messi 50
Sanchez 12
Xavi 10

Or in the 2012/2013 season,

Ronaldo 34
Higuain 16
Benzema 11

Where as Barca only had

Messi 46
Fabregas 11

 

[NoahCity]

This isn't the first season that Real Madrid has been built around getting the most out of Ronaldo. It's been like this since Mourinho joined Real Madrid. Ronaldo wasn't even Real Madrid's best player in 2010 when Pellegrini was in charge.

There's a reason why Ronaldo used to complain about Mourinho's style when he would flop in big matches, because against regular opposition Mourinho didn't play his brand of bunker football.

Atletico going top tonight with 16 games left. Greatest achievement ever in football if they win the league?

How long have you been watching football?

Tbf, it would be pretty amazing considering the gap in money due to TV rights etc. They have made a lot of shrewd buys and are playing excellent football. Gonna be interesting to see how far they go in CL cause they will probably beat Milan.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

This isn't the first season that Real Madrid has been built around getting the most out of Ronaldo. It's been like this since Mourinho joined Real Madrid. Ronaldo wasn't even Real Madrid's best player in 2010 when Pellegrini was in charge.

There's a reason why Ronaldo used to complain about Mourinho's style when he would flop in big matches, because against regular opposition Mourinho didn't play his brand of bunker football.

Atletico going top tonight with 16 games left. Greatest achievement ever in football if they win the league?

How long have you been watching football?

Give me one better?

 

[C Velz]

Ronaldo's role in the team under Mourinho was no different than Di Maria's.

And that's where your argument is just completely wrong. I'm sure you know that Ronaldo has a vastly different role for RM in comparison to di María; if you don't it is startling news. The goal totals mean very little; it is very clear that Ronaldo is the first, second, and third option at the capital club. You can see it when he commands the ball in the final third and how he takes shots from ridiculous angles.

He shows very little football-IQ at times -- look at the match against Athletic Club yesterday, diMa was open on the left wing at one point but Ronaldo refused to acknowledge his presence -- and his insistence on scoring makes him an almost intolerable teammate at times:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ZopQxh8-U[/youtube]

I'm not one to look at statistics as a measure of judging a "one-man-team" or not; ask any perceptive culé and they will tell you that Messi bailed out Barça consistently due to Tito's (lack of) ability as a coach. Ask any perceptive Madridista about how often Ronaldo gets the ball in a promising position and takes a wild shot and you will see a standard response.

If I recall correctly, Ronaldo takes the most "out of distance" attempts in European football. He almost certainly takes more shots than all of his attacking teammates combined; I don't know the exact numbers, but I am very sure that Ronaldo takes more shots than Bale, Benzema, di María, Jesé, and Morata.

Since you're insistent on using stats, lets compare Ronaldo's shots in the 2011-12 season, and compare that total to Higuaín, Benzema, Özil, di María, Kaká.

Ronaldo: 264 shots
"The Rest": 272 shots

It's astonishing. If I do the same thing for 2010-11, I guarantee that you will see the same phenomena. This reeks of a player taking almost any attempt he can get, and seeing as how Ronaldo's dribbling has clearly devolved under Mourinho, you can see that Ronaldo isn't creating these chances by himself. The vast majority of his goals are directly assisted -- that is not a coincidence.

Ancelotti is playing nearly the same style as Mourinho was the previous season. RM can dominate the weaker teams but against a team with a good midfield they struggle. Look at Modrić for instance -- hailed as RM's best player this season, yet he has never played well against a good midfield with RM. No surprises.

Against well-drilled sides, Real Madrid are shown up. Barcelona in 2011, Bayern in 2012, Dortmund in 2013. Coincidentally they all target the capital club's weakness -- the left flank. And that leads me to the crux of RM's issues: their most recognised footballer makes them the most unbalanced "elite" team in world football.

-- Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:09 am --

Give me one better?

Although an Atlético success would be a true "child's tale" story, greater upsets have occurred in football. Some of them very recent; most people would look at Porto's 2004 European conquest but they would have never won it without ridiculous referee decisions throughout the entire knock-out stage.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

Ronaldo's role in the team under Mourinho was no different than Di Maria's.

And that's where your argument is just completely wrong. I'm sure you know that Ronaldo has a vastly different role for RM in comparison to di María; if you don't it is startling news. The goal totals mean very little; it is very clear that Ronaldo is the first, second, and third option at the capital club. You can see it when he commands the ball in the final third and how he takes shots from ridiculous angles.

He shows very little football-IQ at times -- look at the match against Athletic Club yesterday, diMa was open on the left wing at one point but Ronaldo refused to acknowledge his presence -- and his insistence on scoring makes him an almost intolerable teammate at times:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ZopQxh8-U[/youtube]

I'm not one to look at statistics as a measure of judging a "one-man-team" or not; ask any perceptive culé and they will tell you that Messi bailed out Barça consistently due to Tito's (lack of) ability as a coach. Ask any perceptive Madridista about how often Ronaldo gets the ball in a promising position and takes a wild shot and you will see a standard response.

If I recall correctly, Ronaldo takes the most "out of distance" attempts in European football. He almost certainly takes more shots than all of his attacking teammates combined; I don't know the exact numbers, but I am very sure that Ronaldo takes more shots than Bale, Benzema, di María, Jesé, and Morata.

Since you're insistent on using stats, lets compare Ronaldo's shots in the 2011-12 season, and compare that total to Higuaín, Benzema, Özil, di María, Kaká.

Ronaldo: 264 shots
"The Rest": 272 shots

It's astonishing. If I do the same thing for 2010-11, I guarantee that you will see the same phenomena. This reeks of a player taking almost any attempt he can get, and seeing as how Ronaldo's dribbling has clearly devolved under Mourinho, you can see that Ronaldo isn't creating these chances by himself. The vast majority of his goals are directly assisted -- that is not a coincidence.

Ancelotti is playing nearly the same style as Mourinho was the previous season. RM can dominate the weaker teams but against a team with a good midfield they struggle. Look at Modrić for instance -- hailed as RM's best player this season, yet he has never played well against a good midfield with RM. No surprises.

Against well-drilled sides, Real Madrid are shown up. Barcelona in 2011, Bayern in 2012, Dortmund in 2013. Coincidentally they all target the capital club's weakness -- the left flank. And that leads me to the crux of RM's issues: their most recognised footballer makes them the most unbalanced "elite" team in world football.

-- Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:09 am --

Give me one better?

Although an Atlético success would be a true "child's tale" story, greater upsets have occurred in football. Some of them very recent; most people would look at Porto's 2004 European conquest but they would have never won it without ridiculous referee decisions throughout the entire knock-out stage.

Had Greece in mind also Forest winning two european cups on the bounce but theres always luck involved with knockout competitions. To get more points than Barce or Madrid over a 38 game season would be much more impressive imo. Especially when you consider who they've sold over the past few summers.

 

[fablue]

It was a definite red although pathetic how the player went down ......

He went down like this...

 

[C Velz]

I'd respectfully disagree - and I apologise for my snide comment that I made earlier; in hindsight I should not have been rude.

Greece in my opinion is the greatest upset that I have ever witnessed, simply due to the quality of their players, the odds given against them, and the style that they employed throughout the competition. They were given odds of 250/1 to win the competition (as an aside, Galatasaray have 150/1 odds to win the Champions League this year). The most brilliant ideology that was used in their success was the use of man-markers everywhere in defence, especially considering how it had become almost obsolete due to advances in zonal marking.

Denmark did not even qualify for EURO 1992 due to their own merit. They qualified due to the civil war in Yugoslavia, as FIFA gave sanctions against Yugoslavia, disqualifying them from the final stage. Denmark did not have their best player (Michael Laudrup), outplayed previous winners Holland in the knock-out stages and had a stunning performance in the final against the reigning World Cup champions.

Verona in 1984-85 won the Scudetto in the first time that referees were assigned to matches randomly -- the conspiracy theorist's delight. It never happened again. They had the best defence in the league by a hood margin; Juventus who managed to win the European Cup finished in sixth place. They won the Scudetto in 1983-84 and 1985-86, making it an even more surprising standing in 1984-85.

Maracanazo lives in history. Even 64 years later it is still talked about.