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I saw the odds and seen Villareal were evens to beat a 3rd division team. What the fuck happened to Villareal this season? Betis are also good odds tonight. I havent seen any spanish football this season.

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How seriously will the teams take the Spanish cup tonight? Was thinking of having a flutter.

 

There's always bound to be one upset, but I don't expect any big gun to fail. Cronaldo has even asked to play tonight. Have in mind that after this weekend's la Liga game we start our winter break, so there isn't that much of a need to rest players.

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According to Spanish daily "El País", Valencia have finally sold Mestalla for €250m (they were looking for €400m a few years ago, but that's the real estate crash for you). They have borrowed an additional loan of €110m to complete their new stadium (work had been stopped due to lack of funds). Overall debt drops to "only" around €200m, at much more comfortable terms than before, and the new stadium should be completed in a couple years. It might be the end of the tunnel at last.

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I'd like to see Valencia back amongst the elite, loved them when they have Villa, Morientes, Albelda and the likes.

 

What do you think of Villareals chances tonight VI? bear in mind if I lose, my bet you will have the fact I'm down 2 quid on your conscience.

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I don't know, Mirandés are just a Segunda B team, but at the same time the only undefeated team in the Spanish pro football pyramid and playing at home while Villarreal are at their lowest point in their recent history and plagued by injuries. I wouldn't touch that bet with a barge pole.

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Sweet, I'll stick to Valencia and Real then.

 

Well, Villarreal choked as I feared. Sadly Valencia did too...

 

"El País" reporting today that according to Atlético's accounts they owe €215m to the taxman. One third of the overall La Liga debt to the state. They are easily the most indebted club relative to turnover in Spanish football (€550m according to a neutral estimation last year).

 

They really need to get rid of the Gil family, but who would want to take such a poisoned chalice?

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More potentially important news regarding Spanish TV rights. La Sexta TV, one of the channels that offers weekly league games, has been bought by rival Antena 3, who has said that will stop airing La Liga unless the fees are "significantly" reduced (they are currently paying around €60m-€70m per season to the main rights holder). That comes in addition of several regional channels making the same demands last month.

 

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Atlético will "rent" their shirt numbers to their fans, allowing them to "buy" a space in a number to have their face embossed in it until the end of the season for €15.

 

It won't be too taky if it's done like they do it at Sevilla:

 

http://l.yimg.com/a/p/sp/editorial_image/a5/a5313c66de9ec1834dab9d9025d5c4ca/sevilla_fans_paying_to_have_tiny_photo_of_themselves_on_players_shirts.jpg

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Scolari heavily rumored to take over, incidentally. Awful appointment if true.

 

Been very good in Brazil with the limited resources. Very good motivator, but not very good tactically and thats why he failed at Chelsea. Successful everywhere except Chelsea where he had a similar record to Ancelotti anyways in terms of losing.

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Scolari heavily rumored to take over, incidentally. Awful appointment if true.

 

Been very good in Brazil with the limited resources. Very good motivator, but not very good tactically and thats why he failed at Chelsea. Successful everywhere except Chelsea where he had a similar record to Ancelotti anyways in terms of losing.

 

He hasn't succeeded in any European club side. As you say, he's a very good motivator which goes a long way in international football, but he's too limited to manage a club.

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http://barcelonafans.org/2011/12/guardiola-key-to-barca-dominance/

 

The 4-0 victory over Santos was another demonstration of the dominance of Barcelona in the world game, two years after their first triumph in the Club World Cup, and in particular their style of play showed the crucial role of Pep Guardiola.

 

While the players have rightly been praised again for the quality of their play, their technique and quick passing which was taught in la masia, Lional Messi was congratulated for becoming the second player after Pedro to score in all the competitions in one year, this side has Guardiola’s philosophy stamped on it which has been vindicated once again.

 

When Guardiola arrived at Barca, the team had just finished second to Real Madrid and had more than a few problems on and off the pitch. Of course it was easier for Guardiola to come in to this complicated environment as he was first of all a Catalan and also because he had been the idol of Cruyff’s Dream Team of the early 1990s, but still the turnaround at the club has been amazing.

 

Guardiola hasn’t invented anything at Barcelona, he has maintained the principles of trying to beat the opposition by playing football and this means out passing them. He added to this an obsession with organisation and planning. He has also been incredibly lucky though to have inherited a side with amazing potential and a player like Messi that comes along only once a generation.

 

Guardiola has kept true to his philosophy throughout and as his mentor Johan Cruyff says, the team would not be where they are without him.

 

“To play with three defenders depends on the quality of the players but also you have to be brave enough to field them. Without Pep it would be difficult to see Barca playing this way,” he said.

 

Guardiola refuses to sign contracts longer than a year refusing to put pressure on himself or the club but Cruyff doesn’t think he will go any time soon.

 

“As long as he is happy then he will stay. You have to enjoy life and what you are doing,” he said. “Guardiola has players who sacrifice themselves for the team and you need to have that mentality.

 

“The difference between this side and my team is that this one pressures more and plays the ball at a higher tempo. This is a small squad but it has a lot of quality and it is important that each player has the chance to play.”

 

Cruyff was also full of praise of Messi.

 

“You cannot compare Neymar with him at the moment as Neymar is very young, a good footballer with a good head on his shoulders and Messi is the best in the world,” he said.

 

“The problem for Real Madrid is that they are in the same league as Barcelona as in any other they would be champion. Mourinho is a coach who is looking for his own personal glory as a trainer and very different to Guardiola. For Guardiola he wants to give all the praise to the players.

 

“Similarly for Ronaldo he plays a different style to that of Barcelona so I wouldn’t sign him. He looks to always show that he is very good and in Barca they are all very good. Messi is the best, he is humble and shows the kids the way to behave like Xavi or Iniesta. For his ability I would make him the winner of the Balon d’or but also Xavi as the director of the orchestra.”

 

:love:

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Living on a Guardiola dreamland myself right now, great way to head off to our Christmas break (after the cup game this thursday) :smitten:

 

Anyway the Madrid press now saying that Benítez is the new frontrunner for Atlético's bench.

 

In more amusing news, Sevilla's president Del Nido has been sentenced to 7 years of jail for fraud in his business as a lawyer. He can still appeal.

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Atlético are utterly bankrupt (they remind me a lot of you in your late Shepherd years, throwing money and more money in failed managers and players without real sense of purpose), they've been somehow papering over the cracks but truth is they don't have a pot to shit on. That makes it even more puzzling when they spend the entire Agüero transfer fee on a single player...

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