Posts Tagged ‘la liga’

How Joan Laporta Saved FC Barcelona

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

FC Barcelona is currently one of the greatest groups in the world, with a prize cupboard that's bursting with the silverware won over the course of the previous few years. While Bara may be extremely preferred right now, they have experienced kind of a transformation of the previous few years.

Actually it'd be correct to say they have experienced a renaissance ever since Joan Laporta became president in 2003, and after him his previous friend and now bitter enemy, Sandro Rossell.

When Laporta arrived at the club they had not won a major title since 1999 and the self-esteem of the squad had plunged. He brought on board Frank Rijkaard as team coach, who after a slow start started winning matches; and his right hand man (at the time, till they slid out and he resigned from the Barça board) Sandro Rossell used his contacts to sign Ronaldinho.

While the Brazilian player definitely had talent [*COMMA] he had not necessarily done much with it. However , he did show plenty of flare with FC Barcelona even when they were never making the turn-around needed.

That turnaround happened when Barça signed Edgar Davids for the second half of the season. Whether it was his arrival at the club, or whether his arrival coincided with everything coming together is very unlikely to point out. What is certain though is that the club started winning game after game. And at last the beaten down Barcelona rose up again and started to become the team it is today.

The club went from strength to strength after that, though Davids decided to revisit his old club after the half season loan. While he could have been missed, the fortunes of the club continued to boost and Barcelona won the second season under Laporta. After the team continues to go ever upwards and unde Pep Guardiola were the 1st tea, to win the treble – la liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey.

To buy Barcelona tickets for forthcoming matches check out Simply Barcelona Tickets, or check out availability of FC Barcelona tickets for La Liga matches at the Nou Camp.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Will Jose Mourinho survive the 2011-12 season at Real Madrid?

Saturday, October 8th, 2011

Jose Mourinho is famous for his psychological posturing against opponents in press conferences and often comes across as hardly in control of himself. Having won a major battle at Real Madrid in the dismissal of General manager Jorge Valdano, his harshest internal critic, and therefore securing more power for himself as Madrid’s coach this is the season he must deliver the products.

Nevertheless while Madrid started out well and we're simply a few matches in, his dream appears to have begun to disentangle. He has famously stated that his 2nd season in any club is when he delivers, but with his entire focus appearing to be on arch-rival FC Barcelona he has just had 2 gigantic reversals that he can barely afford.

First Real Madrid was beaten by Levante, a team that's the polar opposite to Real Madrid, with poorly paid players and a hardly functional team that is lucky to be in top flight Spanish football. And then they drew with Racing Santander, losing some vital points which they may need in the long haul.

A poll by Sporting newspaper AS which backs Madrid revealed that a lot of its readers laid the blame totally at the feet of Mourinho; while looking to shift the blame to referees and opposition players he has not been able to shoulder responsibility himself for what many consider a dismal start. And we're beginning to hear talk of another crisis year at Real Madrid.

But what quantity of a crisis is it actually, when a team such as Real Madrid comes second in the league after a much superior teams like Bara? While fans might be disappointed their side is still largely delivering the products.

Mourinho’s major difficulty will be the patience of Florentino Perez, Madrid’s president. While he has backed “the special one” so far in his career at Madrid there will be a time when he can snap. Mourinho is Real Madrid’s eleventh coach in seven years, so that the club does not flinch in making such changes. Can Real Madrid’s fortunes change before that happens?

For Real Madrid tickets and other sporting events see Euro Sports Events website.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Real Madrid’s true foe isn’t FC Barcelona – it’s the rest of the Spanish League

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

It is a funny old game is soccer, or “soccer” as it is more often known in North America. You simply need to take a look at some of the current ends in the Spanish League, where bitter rivals FC Barcelona and real Madrid are slugging it out, notwithstanding not essentially facing each other for the 1st time until December.

While both groups began well, FC Barcelona slipped when what should have been a reasonably cushty win against Real Sociedad turned into a draw. And just when they needed something to show they had not lost that special something that they once again drew, this time against AC Milan in the Champs League, thanks to an injury time goal before the final whistle.

Critics immediately laid into FC Barcelona, pronouncing they’d lost their touch; two lackluster results is all it takes to call a crisis. Nonetheless they responded with an 8-0 win against Osasuna, their best result since the 90s, instantly silencing their critics again.

While it looked rosy for Barcelona, things all of a sudden went extremely wrong for Real Madrid. While they'd won their first 2 matches and sat at the head of the classifications they then lost 1-0 against Levante, a team that should barely be in the first division such is its poor state.

This is supposed to be Real Madrid’s year, the second season under Jose Mourinho. But you can’t help thinking that his total focus on what Barcelona are doing is his best weakness. Fielding an under-strength squad against Levante showed huge arrogance, that’s for sure.

But what will lose Real Madrid the league again this season isn’t what FC Barcelona does or does not do. It is down to how many points Real Madrid can gain, making absolutely sure that they beat groups like Levante and all the rest of the clubs at the bottom of La Liga. If Mourinho is to bring the success that Real Madrid needs he has to shift his focus, fast.

You can order FC Barcelona tickets for la liga and get the latest FC Barcelona news from Simply Barcelona Tickets.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Soccer Superstars – A Look At The Best Players In Spain

Friday, February 12th, 2010

There are plenty of soccer superstars playing in Spain’s top division, and it is rightly regarded as the number one domestic league in the whole world. Below are the players who are widely regarded as the best of the best…

Messi : At the forefront of Barcelona’s treble winning team of 2008-09, Argentinean Lionel Andrs Messi dazzled Europe with his creativity and flair for goals. Even though he is just 22, he is FIFA’s current “World Player of the Year” and he well on the way to acquiring the legendary status of all time great Pele and Maradona.

Cristiano Ronaldo : Explosive power and blistering pace are what led to Ronaldo initially being signed by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.Now sporting the colors of Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo is hoping to make as big an impact for el Madrid as he did in the famous red shirt of Man Utd.

David Villa : Playing for one of La Liga’s less glamorous teams, Valencia, David Villa Sanchez (to give him his full name) boasts an absolutely outstanding goals to games ratio. He was the winner of the “Golden Boot” for Spain at Euro 2008 (which means that he scored more goals at the tournament than anyone else) and is expected in the near future to become Spain’s all time highest goal scorer. Villa has consistently attracts attention from Europe’s top clubs, who are all eager to sing-up the prolific striker.

Kaka : Brazilian midfield maestro Kaka, is a creative genius. Able to thread a pass through the eye of a needle, or dribble past several players in a row, Kaka was the darling of AC Milan and led them to “Champions League” glory in 2007. Now one Real Madrids so called “Galaticos”, he aims to bring the La Liga title back to the Bernabau (where Real Madrid play their home games) after a few years absence.

This article is brought to you by http://www.carhiremalaga.org.uk

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace