Village Idiot

Benítez has always been the kind of manager that makes a team better than the sum of its parts. He made a champion of Valencia with a bunch of "who?" players that never went on to have that big of a career after he left. They overperformed last year given their limited squad but admittedly they don't seem to be clicking this season so far.

Not as good as the previous ones, but still some very funny moments. Loved the Hughes bit.

Yeah, it has been quite stupid and they have quite the right to be angry at the federation. They even wanted their 3rd choice keeper! (who ended up starting for Atlético last week due to their problems). Thing is, FIFA shouldn't be having a million different youth cups, and all should be played outside the regular season.

It's mandatory in Spain.

My boys (out to Italy 1-3)

He's dead isn't he? Bah, I mix all those Al-Fayeds, I'm not British afterall. Also, Barça and Real's presidents don't put a single penny of their own, and Laporta in particular isn't wealthy at all (Florentino is very rich and connected, but Real have had a lot of presidents that weren't)

Fulham are heavily subsided by Dodi yet still manage to be very average.

Our World Cup songs are pure shit and I feel embarassed every time they are played (which is 24/7 during WC time).

Spot on. That's kinda what makes World Cups exciting. I really hope Brazil doesn't win. Nothing against them at all, just too predictable.

Thing about international competitions is that they span so little time that are more about form than real class/manager talent. I don't think Spain's *that* good, but when I look at the classic or modern powerhorses (France, Italy, Germany, Argentina...) most of them seem to be in a transitional state at best, so that gives us a shot. Still Brazil for me, though.

You are starting to remind me of the Spain of old, that bigged itself up after mauling their qualification groups like that meant something

The curse of Spain's midfield, and the reason I don't rate our coach, is that he seems to be trying to shoehorn them all in the same lineup, and that just won't work against decent opposition. Alonso, Iniesta, Cesc and Xavi can't play together. The way we worked in the European Championship, with Cesc as an impact sub, was perfect.

This is like Star Wars (yes I'm a geek) and the Force. The Dark Side is faster, easier, quicker... but stronger? No. I expect many tears at City and Chelsea in the long term, when billionaires get bored (Chelsea will be pretty screwed in a couple years)

Casillas has won more trophies for the white cunts than Zidane.

Xavi and Iniesta play together whole year round, that automatically gives them an edge over Gerrard and Lamps, who - while being quality - step at one other's feet when lining up for England. Also, players like Rooney may have a shite patch of form, but you know that they have that something that can turn a game at the highest level.

Yeah, I agree that your defence might be better. But Ferdinand is on the down and Terry isn't as good as he used to be either. Johnson still puzzles me. World class or liability, still can't decide. Casillas, and it pains me to say it, is the best keeper in the world ( )

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.