The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Leif 6,006]

Only in Serie A would Borini be moulded into a right back.

[El P. 1,354]

2 hours ago, Leif said:

Only in Serie A would Borini be moulded into a right back.

I still cannot believe how Montella is shaping that team. Rodriguez at LCB, chaos in midfield, mostly playing wrong players. And I don't see what anyone sees in that Chakanoglu guy. Free kick is all he got. Bonaventura and Suso are both better than him.

[Leif 6,006]

I really think this thread needs to be closer to the main page where we discuss CFC. Encourages more posts, and 'football banter' it isn't. 

This is potentially the most interesting, least-moany thread. And it's almost hidden, considering you expect all the football talk to be contained to one area.
There's 1,000+ topics in this sub-forum - 3 of them active (all other-team related). Kill it. Kill it with fire.

We already have the 'English Football' thread; I'd make that the a) to a b), being 'All Other Leagues' thread.

I feel like this thread we're in right now has built up an image of Champions League & Europa League talk. So, 3 threads total, in their own section, no other threads in that section but for those 3, right below or-so our main Chelsea sections. Pretty please? 

[Leif 6,006]

Valencia with another dominant win; 3-0. Amazing what reshuffling the board can do, *ahem*. I think this was their 8th win in a row, and their last game, the 7th win, is their longest La Liga winning streak in history.

1 point behind leaders Barcelona. 7 points ahead of Real Madrid. And this is a team which for 5+ years has been roughly the same level as Sporting Lisbon.

They don't have the 'family bond' of Atletico; they have none of the funds of Madrid; they lack the decades-long consistency of Barcelona; yet with just the board reshuffle, a few loan players in, and their veteran Parejo stepping up, they're instantly amongst not just the most attractive, but effective teams in Europe. I wish we could play them to get a true measure of them. They really deserve a bright future.

[Leif 6,006]

This La Liga season is pretty much showing me why I don't want Simeone here. Defend first, attack second. Draw first, win second, lose 3rd. The priority isn't to express themselves as a team, but stop the other team expressing themselves. Honestly not too dissimilar to how we do things, only less effective, despite better players. So, given all that, maybe Simeone isn't that great. Maybe he's the one who needs a plan B.

It's kind of sickening to have all the amazing young players they have yet not letting them out of shackles. Self-expression is the point of football. We watch for the players and their inventiveness, not the manager (most of the time).

19 games of theirs so far this season (including CL); 15 games of scoring either just 1, or 0 goals.
11 draws, 7 wins.

Edit: Though of course they just scored in the last minute. 0-1. Terrible game. Headache-inducing. Might never watch Atletico again if i can make it so.

[Leif 6,006]

He didn't play today, but the scoreline caught my attention and got me thinking: Neymar, having played with Brazil, having played with Messi and Barcelona, isn't near as impressive in Ligue 1 surrounded by the best players in the league compared to what we saw from Hazard before he joined. Perspective. Has Neymar been a stat bloater?

PSG's bench is surprisingly weak this season too. I'd no idea so many no-names played for them still. 

[El P. 1,354]

20 hours ago, Leif said:

He didn't play today, but the scoreline caught my attention and got me thinking: Neymar, having played with Brazil, having played with Messi and Barcelona, isn't near as impressive in Ligue 1 surrounded by the best players in the league compared to what we saw from Hazard before he joined. Perspective. Has Neymar been a stat bloater?

PSG's bench is surprisingly weak this season too. I'd no idea so many no-names played for them still. 

People are wrong to already put Neymar in top 3 players. Most of people thinks: 1. Messi, 2. Ronaldo, 3. Neymar

I think Neymar has to prove himself a lot, he is no finished product nor good enough to be considered 3rd player of the world permanently.

Also, CR will fall out of top 3 after this season, most likely.

[Leif 6,006]

15 minutes ago, El P. said:

People are wrong to already put Neymar in top 3 players. Most of people thinks: 1. Messi, 2. Ronaldo, 3. Neymar

I think Neymar has to prove himself a lot, he is no finished product nor good enough to be considered 3rd player of the world permanently.

Also, CR will fall out of top 3 after this season, most likely.

Agreed, all of that. 

Who will the top 3 players/forwards be next? I wouldn't know where to start.

[Leif 6,006]

Napoli are really struggling vs. little Chievo. 

We're not even in December yet, but Mertens has probably played just about every minute of every game for them. That alone is enough to say they don't have a top manager. The XI may play pretty football, but that is no measure of squad management.

[Leif 6,006]

Napoli being investigated for some reason relating to Mafia involvement. Something like giving a faction hoards of tickets for them to go and sell for themselves.

I have to say, the American mob many decades ago, despite being motivated by selfish reasons + killing people, outside of that, they had class.

But the factions in Sicily & South Italy? They're disgusting. They set cats on fire and release them into the woods, burning both the cats and trees to death, since it creates opportunity for mafia-owned companies to swoop in for a massive pay-day for clearing everything up.

I really can't stand animal abuse, and if i knew specific Ndrangheta members by name who personally condone such, i'd have to pay some people to go on holiday and remove them for sport. You can kill as many people as you want, but killing cats crosses the line.

 

In case such comment backfires somehow some day, let me say this is entirely fictional & i'm practicing for a novel

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[Leif 6,006]

In around 2 weeks should be the biggest Roma / Lazio game in over a decade.

[Beigl 1,387]

In around 2 weeks should be the biggest Roma / Lazio game in over a decade.

I hope Napoli win the league, Juventus have won it too often now in the last few years.

[LAM09 6,547]

27 minutes ago, Beigl said:

53 minutes ago, Leif said:

In around 2 weeks should be the biggest Roma / Lazio game in over a decade.

I hope Napoli win the league, Juventus have won it too often now in the last few years.

Their squad is too lightweight to survive injuries. Only see Inter going the long haul with Juve

[Leif 6,006]

You know if we go by trophies, Toni Kroos is literally the most successful player of all time? (I think..)
No hyperbole.

11 years, 22 trophies. Played in 4 of the last 6 Champions League finals, winning the competition 3 out of those 4 times. His only CL loss due to us

[Leif 6,006]

I don't like calling the Premier League the best league, since we have such a lack of tactical nuance & technique here, but we have to call it that, because it's simply the 'biggest' league and in a way, the most entertaining from an adrenaline POV.

So with that said, and the PL being #1 due to some technicalities, surely now, Serie A is back to being number 2? 

Atletico are nothing this season. Real Madrid are nothing this season. They're both useless in the Champions League this season. Barcelona aren't great this season, yet are trotting to the title nicely. Sevilla have fallen. And that's pretty much La Liga.

Serie A? People all over the world now are excited to see who will win this season - thinking it could literally be any of Juventus, Roma, Napoli, Inter, Lazio (though Lazio/Napoli don't rotate, so will burn out. Roma on the other hand keep getting results, with different players on the pitch.) 
Nevermind the fact that Napoli, from Serie A, play the best football in the Champions League this season - and Roma, from Serie A, spanked the English champions.

Ligue 1 isn't watched by many outside France; people just check the scores to see how the PSG/Monaco players are doing. It's a slugger of a league.

Bundesliga is the Bundesliga - everything in place to be great, but so, so far from it. It's a yo-yo league with teams finishing 4th one season, 15th the next season.

If we judge purely on a football level, nothing to do with media/'shock' results/'history', Serie A is top dog.

And that's with a fraction of the funds the Premier League clubs get thrown at them by sponsors etc. Maybe it's because of that.

[Leif 6,006]

Roma derby today, featuring dejected players following Italy's situation. I think Roma's Italians will be more rocked by it, but Immobile may have come crashing back to reality after being pathetic for Italy. That said, I believe today will be the day that casual viewers who take Roma's 'success' at face value learn that their midfield is inferior to their neighbours. Inzaghi's turning out to be a special manager for Lazio too (remembering this isn't Pippo, but his younger brother who played the bulk of his career with Lazio. That just adds to the stars aligning in their favour.)
Stat-wise, Lazio are more clinical this season with less shots per game than Roma, so you can theoretically dominate them all game yet still lose.
Then count the fact that they're having players explode with confidence (Luis Alberto, Savic, Leiva, Bastos) in a world where Roma's newest additions (Under, Schick, Defrel) are useless; add on top, this is Nainggolan's first average season, Strootman's now just trying to hold his value before being sold, and Roma's best player is a 32 year old full-back. Roma should be counting on Florenzi. It's his chance to become the new face of Rome.

If Roma win, it'll be big. If Lazio win, it'll be big, but nobody cares about Lazio, so not as big 

Cost £65 to attend this game, in some of the best seats. Wish I could've gone.

https://www.thesportsman.com/articles/lazio-v-roma-the-changing-face-of-the-derby-della-capitale

[Milan 17,835]

Mike Dean still one of the worst refs, Spurs players still soft and nice divers. Nothing changed.

Ah wrong thread.

[Leif 6,006]

Jordan Lukaku is so threatening.