Village Idiot

Or midfielders who work as well together as Xavi and Iniesta. Was about to point out that. I also agree that Bent should be there.

I don't rate him that much, but there aren't many Spanish holding mids playing at the top level, and he is decent. Senna is much better, but aging. Regarding the fourth striker, absolutely. But Madrid sycophants want Raúl back into it Let's see if Negredo has a good season, his style of play is pretty diferent to Torres' and Villa (more classic centreforward that plays with the back to the goal and feeds on scraps), so he could be useful as an alternative. Navas is reportedly taking psychiatric help to overcome his problems, since he is dying to play at the WC. IF he is able to get into the squad soon he has a chance, since he's on great form. But our coach won't be making drastic changes to the team at this point.

Just for comparison's sake, I'm going to post Spain's squad: Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) José Manuel Reina (Liverpool F.C.) Diego López (Villarreal) Defenders: Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid) Joan Capdevila (Villarreal) Andoni Iraola (Athletic Club) Carlos Marchena (Valencia C.F.) Ignacio Monreal (C. A. Osasuna) Gerard Piqué (F.C. Barcelona) Carles Puyol (F.C. Barcelona) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid) Sergio Busquets (F.C. Barcelona) Santi Cazorla (Villarreal) Cesc Fábregas (Arsenal) Xavi Hernández (F.C. Barcelona) Andrés Iniesta (F.C. Barcelona) Albert Riera (Liverpool F.C.) Marcos Senna (Villarreal) Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia C.F.) David Silva (Valencia C.F.) Forwards: Dani Güiza (Fenerbache) Fernando Torres (Liverpool F.C.) David Villa (Valencia C.F.) Villa got injuried yesterday, though, and his sub has yet to be named. But our WC squad should be something close to that. Honestly I think we are equal or better than England in almost every position, but I rate Capello more than our coach.

I think you still lack the grit to get stuck in nasty games like the one against ManU, and a real world class striker to complete your great midfield (Eduardo doesn't cut it, in my opinion). But would be happy if you won the thing instead of Chelsea or ManU (well, that means Cesc would probably stay though...)

The Nacho González business always looked very shady, many eyebrows were raised when he signed for Valencia, and Emery - while never saying openly - has never wanted him there. Same agent represented a couple of players Valencia wanted rid of, so it's said it was a compensation. I hate agents. Cancerous leeches.

Spain goes through as the top scorer and not having conceded a single goal yet. Let's see if they do like the grownups (and lose the first knockout game against Italy)

By the way, the Real Madrid loving c*nts at Marca.com have started to post comprehensive video footage from the different La Liga games. Right now in their front page there is a reel with all the goals of the weekend (under "ANALISIS/LA BANDA DE LA LIGA")

How do Athletic survive in the modern age of football? No foreign players and they only recruit Spanish players of a certain region. I've said it before, but I'm amazed that they continue to thrive. Well, they have mostly been a lower midtable team since the arrival of the modern era, when they used to be the third giant in the Spanish league. But I'm also chuffed to see them hanging on there, and managing the odd good run (playing in Europa League this season after making it to the Cup final). Basque country has always been one of the most fertile places for football in Spain (there aren't many basques in the Spanish NT right now, but they used to be the backbone of the team), so they do have talent available, their youth setup is great. They also take (deservedly) great pride on their selection rules, and I haven't met any Bilbao fan that wouldn't rather see his team relegated that signing a non-basque player. I just checked and they are still third in the all-time La Liga table, although Valencia will probably overtake them this season.

I don't particularly care who wins the EPL, maybe Liverpool since it's a club that doesn't win titles often and it's always nice to see underdogs win.

Looks like the guy that edits the El Mundo Deportivo website got a bit carried away... http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3500/mundod.jpg (they have corrected it now)

Athletic's forward Muniain became today the youngest player ever to score in La Liga with 16 years and 289 days. His goal was also worth a point for Bilbao

Well... it's not going to be easy for us to win on that stadium either. But it's a game where they could reasonably drop points, and they did. Now we have to do the business against Valencia, but I'll enjoy the international break

Five draws, surely a record amongst the top leagues.

I know we are beating a dead horse at this point but... Milan 0-0 at home against Bari

Van der Vart coming in... I think that's the first time he takes the pitch this season.

He's great, should be automatic first choice really.

Benzema out and Higuaín coming in... Benzema looking not worth all that money so far. He should had taken off Raúl though. That guy's status at Real is mindnumbing, no manager has dared to bench him. EDIT: I wonder if he still has that clause where he has always to be the highest paid player in the squad.

God, I hate Casillas, and he isn't even a twat like Cronaldo to justify it.

How's Eto'o looking so far, now that he's got some more games under his belt? Always feared that Serie A defences play too deep to exploit his pace.

Need to look up "It's a f***ing disgrace" in Norwegian.

Well, I never count Real out of anything. But Cronaldo's been big for them and looks like they are missing him a lot today. I'm not watching the game in full but Kaká seems to be playing on the right? Seems a bit wasted to me, particularly if you're playing Raúl on the hole... heck, how Raúl keeps Higuaín in the bench is something I'll never understand. Guti's a clogger too. Benzema's hasn't done anything to impress me yet. EDIT: Casillas as usual showing he's the best keeper in the planet

You put money on them? Against one of the most in form sides in La Liga and with Cronaldo out?

Like Inter played at San Siro against us, you mean? We were pretty complacent against Almería, hopefully Guardiola will give them a good bollocking. And play Touré instead of Busquets. We look so much better with Touré in the side.