Saturday, December 23, 2006

La Liga news round-up

  • The winter break has come at a good time for Barcelona, as it has been revealed that - as I suspected - some of the 'rested' players during the draw with Atletico were actually sitting out because of niggling injuries. In addition to Edmilson (not injured but sick, poor guy), Marquez, Gio, Sylvinho, Oleguer (and the already injured Zambrotta), Thuram will now be out for a month, as he torn a muscle in the game during the move that lead up to Atletico's equaliser (so we'll know not to blame the poor man now). What's with the muscle injuries?

  • Oh yeah, Deco was yellow-carded in that game for calling the ref 'crazy' repeatedly. I was so mad at Deco when it happened, but now I just want to giggle madly.

  • Villarreal president Roig has laid into star player Juan Roman Riquelme for his attitude and (lack of) contribution so far this season. I feel really bad for Roman. He was dropped last week and Villarreal lost, which is fairly predicable because they can't put together a move in attack without him. That said, they did lose 4-1 to Osasuna with him playing - the match that led to him being dropped. Still, no one ever said he was consistent. Roig knew what he was buying from Barcelona wasn't the happiest player in world football. Sadly, Roman's depressive personality has always affected his level of play.

  • Javier Irureta has quit as coach of Real Betis. Again, I feel bad for him. He did so well with so many clubs in La Liga, and this is his first 'sacking'. It's not his fault his club sold players from under him and then proceeded to undermine everything from his selections to team morale.

4 comments:

derek said...

Oh, does Barca ever need a break. Yesterday's game airs over here tonight, so I'll finally watch it. Difficult days await us, but if Eto'o manages to make it back before the Liverpool match, we'll have a better chance. How long is Zambrotta out for? And now Thuram? Damn.

Last week's loss to Internacional was so disheartening. But it was also one of the most exciting matches I've seen in awhile. So close . . . so close.

Onward!

Linda said...

Derek: the funny thing is, we're actually not playing that badly. Maybe you can give your opinion after you watch the Atletico game, but I thought we were pretty good, considering everything.

Zambrotta is out for 4 weeks, and Thuram for 6 weeks (following club tests). He really is a professional - he'll stay in Barcelona instead of jetting off on holiday for the whole duration of the Christmas break to concentrate on recovering.

Re: the CWC final - ah well, you win some, you lose some. I'm happy with the team, considering how this year has gone.

derek said...

No, you're right--they've been playing well indeed. And the game against Atletico could've gone either way, I think. But we got the point, and we're only three behind Sevilla, so I can't complain.

Deco. Deco, Deco, Deco. It was pretty funny watching him lose it--luckily I knew about it beforehand, otherwise I would've been screaming.

Strange that Rijkaard never subbed in Saviola near the end. I like Ezquerro, but thought the Rabbit's quickness could've served the team well at that point. Oh well.

Linda said...

We could have won the game against Atletico if only there was some proper finishing. Guddy Offsidesen's first touch is starting to bother me again - great attitude, great work-rate, but at a time when Giuly can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo despite his overall great form, Ronnie can't be scoring all our goals.

I'd rather Saviola started, to be honest. Poor guy was doing so well when he got injured. Ezquerro is a good player, but he's far too wasteful to be a center-forward.