La Liga 10/11

Yes that's what I though Rei.

Although Negredo has been pretty good of late, but Torres?

Yeah, maybe not so much Negredo, but Torres definitely doesn't deserve a spot. Also, you'd think Del Bosque would go with some different players other than the usual Barca and Madrid rabble. There were so many Spanish players who had great seasons.

Torres is boss, be quiet

Goalkeepers: Casillas (Real Madrid), Reina (Liverpool) Valdés (Barcelona)

Defenders: Albiol, Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Capdevila, Marchena (Villarreal), Iraola (Athletic), Piqué (Barcelona)

Mid: Alonso (Real Madrid), Busquets, Iniesta (Barca), Cazorla, Bruno, Borja Valero (Villarreal), Del Moral (Sevilla), Silva (Man City)

ATT: Llorente (Athletic), Negredo (Sevilla), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Pedro, David Villa (Barcelona).

True, would of liked to of seem more of a shake-up really. Cannot understand why Soldado isn't in there though.

Jorge Valdano leaves Real Madrid.

Mourinho wins.

Fatality.

Spain U-21 squad, strong.

http://www.rfef.es/index.jsp?nodo=39&ID=3410

No Canales

Bullshit no single Madrid player? Well it's U-21, we have the best U-19 and U-18 generations.

Jeffren... wooooooww

how can the fa bend over for Barcelona all the time

Jeffren will sign for an English club I think, he has no chance at Barca.

Braad wrote:Jeffren will sign for an English club I think, he has no chance at Barca.

He has no chance at Barca? That's what they all said about Messi, Bojan, Pedro etc..

I bet you've never even watched him play. He's a quality player, huge potential.

[quote="Liverpool"]

Braad wrote:Jeffren will sign for an English club I think, he has no chance at Barca.

He has no chance at Barca? That's what they all said about Messi, Bojan, Pedro etc..

I bet you've never even watched him play. He's a quality player, huge potential.[/quote


I have watched him mate He doesent, who's place will he take? And I've always said he's not got a chance and he wont. He should go to like, Liverpool, or Everton, or Sevilla or someone.

Jeffren is shit

[quote="Braad"]

Liverpool wrote:

Braad wrote:Jeffren will sign for an English club I think, he has no chance at Barca.

He has no chance at Barca? That's what they all said about Messi, Bojan, Pedro etc..

I bet you've never even watched him play. He's a quality player, huge potential.[/quote


I have watched him mate He doesent, who's place will he take? And I've always said he's not got a chance and he wont. He should go to like, Liverpool, or Everton, or Sevilla or someone.

In a few years, he could easily be better than Pedro. At the moment, he's a young kid and still learning his trade over there. Why sell some of your best potential? That's just pure stupidness.

El Pipita wrote:Jeffren is shit

Well of course you're going to say that.

A) You support Real Madrid
B) He hasn't had the time to prove himself fully yet.

Liverpool wrote:

El Pipita wrote:Jeffren is shit

Well of course you're going to say that.

A) You support Real Madrid
B) He hasn't had the time to prove himself fully yet.

And he scored against them in their 5-0 win.

Danny wrote:

Liverpool wrote:

El Pipita wrote:Jeffren is shit

Well of course you're going to say that.

A) You support Real Madrid
B) He hasn't had the time to prove himself fully yet.

And he scored against them in their 5-0 win.

[quote="Liverpool"]

Braad wrote:

Liverpool wrote:

Braad wrote:Jeffren will sign for an English club I think, he has no chance at Barca.

He has no chance at Barca? That's what they all said about Messi, Bojan, Pedro etc..

I bet you've never even watched him play. He's a quality player, huge potential.[/quote


I have watched him mate He doesent, who's place will he take? And I've always said he's not got a chance and he wont. He should go to like, Liverpool, or Everton, or Sevilla or someone.

In a few years, he could easily be better than Pedro. At the moment, he's a young kid and still learning his trade over there. Why sell some of your best potential? That's just pure stupidness.

He's 23

[quote="Cameron."]

Liverpool wrote:

Braad wrote:

Liverpool wrote:

Braad wrote:Jeffren will sign for an English club I think, he has no chance at Barca.

He has no chance at Barca? That's what they all said about Messi, Bojan, Pedro etc..

I bet you've never even watched him play. He's a quality player, huge potential.[/quote


I have watched him mate He doesent, who's place will he take? And I've always said he's not got a chance and he wont. He should go to like, Liverpool, or Everton, or Sevilla or someone.

In a few years, he could easily be better than Pedro. At the moment, he's a young kid and still learning his trade over there. Why sell some of your best potential? That's just pure stupidness.

He's 23

Still quite young.

Even Juanfran's better

Rei wrote: Also, you'd think Del Bosque would go with some different players other than the usual Barca and Madrid rabble.

Especially since they can't beat the USA.

Jeffrén is pretty shit tbh. He breaks down as much as Hargreaves too.

Apparently Altintop wanted to move to Madrid to get more playing time.

El Pipita wrote:Apparently Altintop wanted to move to Madrid to get more playing time.

Lol

Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué are the original odd couple, two men who shouldn't be friends but have turned out to be the perfect partnership – good together and good for each other. Very, very good. So close have they become that Piqué recently took it upon himself to jokingly 'announce' that Puyol was getting married and ask if he was going to be the best man; so successful that of the 61 league games they have played together for Barcelona, they have lost just one. And that was more than two years ago.

If Puyol's influence on Piqué is immediately obvious and a little cliched – the serious, experienced old pro guiding the renegade, cocky young star – it is not a one-way street. Piqué has changed Puyol's career too. More than that: Puyol admits that Piqué has changed his life. But for the former Manchester United player, Puyol might be a former Barcelona player. Opposites don't just attract, they enhance – and these two could hardly be more different.

Piqué is the urbanite from a respected family with political, social and economic muscle in Catalonia, son of a prestigious doctor, grandson of a former Barcelona director, handsome, bright, eloquent and outgoing, engaging: the cheeky, self-assured kid who expected to inherit his father's business and says he would like to be Barcelona's president.

Puyol is from the tiny town of Pobla de Segur, in north-western Catalonia, towards the Pyrenees. Population: 3,200. He is serious, reserved, a little uptight, rarely venturing out. Until now.

As footballers they are polar opposites too: Puyol is Barcelona's very own Captain Caveman, playing with his heart on his sleeve and his hair in his eyes, screeching into challenges, never, ever letting up. Rough and rugged. Piqué is "Piquenbaur", elegant and technically gifted, more relaxed, bringing the ball out from the back. Smoothness personified. Each provides what the other does not have. Not only are they good players but they make each other better players too.

When Piqué rejoined Barcelona from Manchester United in 2008, Barcelona had come off the back of a terrible season. Puyol was contemplating a future away from the club. There was pessimism and subsequent signings suggested he might no longer be first choice. Like a little brother that comes back from a voyage of discovery, Piqué showed Puyol that there was life out there, teaching him to lighten up. Bit by bit, he did. It was a new lease of life followed by a new contract.

As for Puyol, he taught Piqué the opposite, on the pitch at least: to get serious. "I know when it's time for a laugh and when it's time for work," Piqué says. "I have shown that I am very focused. I like a laugh, going out and sharing jokes with the dressing room, but I think I have shown I am responsible too." And yet he admits that his partner's influence has been vital, especially during the games themselves.

In the Champions League final at Wembley on Saturday, Barcelona will be up against Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, of whom Piqué says: "I have never seen a player as powerful. The way he goes past people, the intensity, his shot; he is world class." The good news is that, following a chronic knee injury that has limited Puyol to 17 league games, seven in the Champions League and one in the Copa del Rey, he is fit and will surely be included, whether at centre-back or at left-back with Javier Mascherano in the middle. Either way, he is vital. As Piqué will testify, with Puyol it is not so much a question of position as presence.

"I can't imagine a Barcelona team without him," Piqué says. "He wears me out! I remember the day he came back [after the injury]. In the middle of the game I said: 'Puyi, I've missed you so much.' He told me to shut the hell up and concentrate. He never stops. One time, the game was stopped, someone was on the stretcher, and he was shouting at me. I said to him: Calm down, it's 4-0 and there are three minutes left.' He said: 'So what? Focus! I know you.' I was dying with laughter. Puyol keeps you on your toes at all times."

It is not window dressing. If anyone doubts Puyol's importance they need only look at the statistics. The man from Pobla de Segur went on a run of 18 successive victories this season, breaking the previous record held by Ferenc Puskas, and in his 17 league games Barcelona won 16 and drew the other – away at the Santiago Bernabéu. This season, Barcelona have lost only six games in all competitions. Puyol did not play in any of them. No wonder Piqué missed him. "Puyol," he says, "treats every game as if it was the Champions League final."

This time, it actually is. And neither Barcelona nor Puyol's perfect partner can live without him.



(Sid Lowe)

"so successful that of the 61 league games they have played together for Barcelona, they have lost just one. And that was more than two years ago."

Fuck that.

Now time to read the rest of this.

Good read, now time for number 2.

What are barca going to do when puyol retires? Hes just irreplacable, a true leader, I just hope Pique steps up and takes over from him but I dont see pique being like him.

They'll fade away back to the cave they belong

I think Sid Lowe has a Pique crush, but then again who doesnt