La Liga

He got three piss easy draws in the Champions League and then won the final on penalties in a game they should have lost.

Barcelona have been muck so far this season which is why Madrid are ahead in the league - Zidane is only doing the bare minimum that should be expected this season given the quality of his players.

He appears to adopt a hands off approach to tactics and team preparation and that can work alright for a while but not in the long run.

Luis Enrique did something similar with Barcelona over the last couple of years but has a bit more tactical nous in my view.

I don’t watch them often enough to know whether he is that good, I’m just saying that he must be the luckiest manager ever if he has nothing about him as a manager

Zidane has a certain standing with the players due to his own legendary status as a player, and given that the Real Madrid players didn’t appear to take kindly to Rafa Benitez’s style, the conditions were good for him to come in, take a hands off approach, create a happy dressing room etc, and get short term benefit. Such is the quality of his players that it shouldn’t take much to get them playing to their potential in the short term. Doing it in the longer term is more difficult and he’s still pretty much unproven.

Roberto Di Matteo also had success with Chelsea when he came in, but like Zidane, he was coming into a team that was underperforming and unhappy with its previous manager, and he had status as a club legend as well as being a nice guy, which meant the players took well to him. But he was winging it as well - it was almost comical how lucky Chelsea got in the Champions League semi-finals and final in 2012.

Sociedad winning 0-2 away to Malaga. Moyes really left this club in good shape.

The No7 here for Malaga appears to labour under the name Juankar

2 Likes

Barcelona have let in an equaliser at home to some diddy team. Shit goalkeeping by Ter Stegen.

1-1 with 73 minutes gone.

A certain chap who managed Man United.

A Messi penalty after 89 minutes should mean another disastrous result for Barcelona is avoided.

Ronaldo pulls one back away to Valencia just before halftime, Real had conceded twice in the opening ten minutes.

For some unknown reason paddy power already paid out on Valencia.

They’re doing that with a while. Bets paid if you go two up. What price had you?

5/1. I assume I don’t get paid out a second time if they hang on?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H2J-5H-L3s

Great goal from Zaza.

Finished 2-1 to Valencia.

Real Madrid remain a point ahead of Barca and still have a game in hand.

You don’t ask for much fella, do ya?

He even did a mini-version of his little dance on the spot, the one he did before his ridiculous penalty over the top in the shoot out against Germany last year, before banging it in.

Redemption for Zaza, redemption for his dance.

And a mugging off for West Ham

Woofters 1 Catalan Pigs 1 , 72 mins

Messi scores.

1-2 mythi 86 mins