RealGM

Welcome to the La Liga discussion thread



Where twice a year we all tune into see two teams of European quality tough it out and the result is not a foregone conclusion.



The Golden boot award is slightly more tricky and we get to see two sublimely talented players trying to beat records that they set among themselves.



Occasionally featuring

and

Battle for 3rd place:



vs

Malaga and Team Dubai should be interesting to watch as well.

Notable Transfers:

Nuri Sahin- Dortmund to Madrid
Adil Rami- Lille to Valencia
José María Callejón- Espanyol to Real Madrid
Hamit Altintop - Bayern Munich to Madrid
Ruud Van Nistelrooy - Hamburg to Malaga
Jeremy Toulalan -Lyon to Malaga
Joaquín -Valencia to Malaga
Raphael Varane - Lens to Real Madrid

5DOM wrote:Malaga and Team Dubai should be interesting to watch as well.

Good call. I'm still waiting to see what big names they can buy.

Malaga have put together a decent amount of talent. One of those situations though where I expect many players have gone for the money and they may not be as successful as people think.

Real have pretty much signed Coentrao too, which is one of the best signings of this transfer window I think

So Barca have signed Sanchez and I read somewhere that Malaga have signed Santi Corzola for around 20 mil.

I wonder why Barca is after Fabregas when that Alcantra guy has the potential to be miles better.

I don't know about the potential to be "miles better", but I do think most can agree that Barca don't really need Fabregas regardless of Alcantara

Every forum I read Barca/United has been raving about him for weeks. Some even say he has the technical ability of Iniesta and trickery of Ronaldinho, so I think he can be better than Fabregas if he gets some games.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editor ... ona-should

Here's a short article of him but I expect him to get more rave reviews if he gets some good games.

Alcantara is going to be classy and a great player but he still is a prospect. I understand Barça going after Fabregas, even more considering that Xavi has maybe only 2 more years at a high level then is when they hope to have Alcantara ready.

About other transfers and teams, I see Malaga qualifying to CL now with the signing of Cazorla. Also you may not know him but they got Isco from Valencia, one of the best prospects in Spain in years, but without the whole publicity Real and Barça players have. He is in the U20 WC now.

The other CL place would be decided between Villarreal, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao. I dont see Atletico Madrid doing any better than 7th.

SlavaMedvedenko wrote:Every forum I read Barca/United has been raving about him for weeks. Some even say he has the technical ability of Iniesta and trickery of Ronaldinho, so I think he can be better than Fabregas if he gets some games.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editor ... ona-should

Here's a short article of him but I expect him to get more rave reviews if he gets some good games.

I've actually watched Alcantara quite a bit, and while he's class, it's hard for anyone to become miles better than Fabregas who is already a world class player.

^ Is that even legal?

buy out clause?

There's no player miles better than Fábregas.

I think it would be legendary to build a midfield with Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas.

5DOM wrote:buy out clause?

Ah, I thought that somehow Chelsea was going to give the money to Thiago's parents in order to terminate the agreement by themselves. Reading comprehension I guess.

I still don't see why Barca need Fabregas. From what I saw of Thiago at the U21's, he clearly has potential to be just like Fabregas.

I don't see a midfield of Fabregas/Xavi/Iniesta working all at once, as there's nobody to sit back and defend. Of course, Mascherano or Busquets could sit behind, but at the risk the midfield becomes overcrowded. More likely, Barcelona are buying Fabregas to alleviate some pressure from Xavi.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQHm5rPKyG0&feature=player_embedded#at=15[/youtube]

Barca's preseason doesn't seem to be going too well.

1st leg of supercopa is today I guess.