Liga Primera Team of the Year

Id use Vicente instead De Pedro, geez! even Riera has been playing way better than him.

and Marchena sits often in the bench Id put Puyol as centreback and Reiziger as right back (his 13 matches as starter in Antic's era validates my point )

 

Interesting selection. I'm not sure why you excluded the leading scorer, Makaay, though. Also, as Mario points out, Marchena is not even a starter. Plus he plays a lot of midfield. Perhaps you can put in Javi Navarro from Sevilla (Pichi would put in Pablo Alfaro )

 

Ok here's who I'd select:

GK: Iker Caillas (Real Madrid)

DR: Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
DC: Roberto Ayala (Valencia)
DC: Javi Navarro (Sevilla)
DL: Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid)

MR: Joaquin (Real Betis)
MC: Claude Makelele (Real Marid)
MC: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
ML: Vicente (Valencia)

FC: Roy Makaay (Deportivo)
FC: Darko Kovacevic (Real Sociedad)

Players who I almost put on the team: Xabi Alonso, Riera, Nihat and Raul.

 

I know you guys don't want to make it all Real, but Raul and Figo should be on there!

 

Merengue:

Casillas over Notario!? no way!!!

 

Yes way! Notario is good and having a good season but he plays on a very defensive team. Casillas' Madrid team attacks almost all the time and leaves him exposed at times yet he consistently comes up with big save after big save. Casillas is one of the best shot stoppers in the world and has become one of the top goalkeepers not only in Spain but all the world. Notario is good but is not at Casillas' level.

 

Im afraid to ask how many times you have seen Notario play this season cuz he really saves his team week in week out! Casillas has two hounds (double pivot) destroying everything in front of his defensive line and Sevilla plays a crappy defense (not that Im saying Madrid's defense is galactica!) it's kinda what happened to Brazil in '94 (Indeed, Taffarel WAS a crappy keeper ) the few chances the other teams got in the box their catenaccio style worked quite well.

 

Really Zidane hasn't been as good. Nor Joaquin. I'd rather add Figo.
Karpin deserves a Spot, IMO. I'm doubtful about Aimar. And Makaay should be in there, too.
Others that might deserve a spot: Raul, Xabi Alonso.

 

I'd like to split a couple of lines of your post:

A- Lets say it this way, he hasnt been consistant, in a couple of games he disappears in others play like the genious we are rating right now.

B- I think he shows sparks as ZZ does, he's recovering form as of late but the start of the season was awful for him.

C- Aimar had so many injuries, I think it was an atypical season for him.

 

I've seen Notario play 3 times this season. As I said he's good but he's not in Casillas class in my view. Right now I rate Casillas up with Kahn, Lehmann, Buffon and Toldo as one of the best goalies in the world.

Figo has had a poor season for Madrid. There's no way I'd rate him one of the top wingers in Spain this season. His game against Manchester United was atypical for him. Zidane, on the other hand, affects the outcome of many games for Madrid. He doesn't always dominate like he did vs Man U but he either scores or sets up a goal in so many matches.

 

Well Notario faces more shots than Casillas per game. Also Casillas is not as good as those keepers mentioned above, he just has too glaring of a weakness. Improve that and yes he could be as good as those but not right now.

 

Interesting discussion. I'd pick Casillas over Notario too. Notario has played well this year but Casillas has been excellent and comes up big in the big matches. I agree with merengue that he has moved himself up into the upper tier of goalkeepers worldwide. His added experience means he doesn't make the mistakes he did a few years ago. Westerveld also deserves some consideration as one of the best goalies in Spain this season.

Here's who I'd select as the team of the year so far in La Liga:

GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

RB: Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
CB: Roberto Ayala (Valencia)
CB: Javi Navarro (Sevilla)
LB: Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid)

RW: Joaquin (Real Betis)
MF: Xabi Alonso (Real Sociedad)
MF: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
LW: Javi De Pedro (Real Sociedad)

FW: Roy Makaay (Deportivo)
FW: Darko Kovacevic (Real Sociedad)

 

And last year as well. The MVP of Sevilla the past two seasons. Without him they would be in Segunda already. IMO he is the best keeper in Spain.

 

I wonder why you guys rate him so high.. did I hear the word bias? hes good but I agree with Juanele, he's not there, at least not right now (and please dont use that argument that we are blaugranas )

 

I think I am a pretty objective observer. Note that I left my favorite player- Raul off my list of the La Liga team of the year. I've seen enough games from Spain this year to say that Casillas is the best goalkeeper I have seen this year. You guys underrate him. He comes up with a big save in just about every game he plays in. I respect your opinion that Notario is the best, please respect mine about Casillas without saying I am biased. That's the point of this message board- to trade opinions.

 

whoa! did you notice the smiley face? I said I dont rate him in the world class keepers (Kahn, Buffon, Toldo) I'm not denying his talent, just saying my reasons (double pivot argument) why I think Notario deserves the hypothetical spot in the team of the year, with that Im exchanging points of view with other people, I know what is the purpose of this kind of websites, I've been doing it for the last 3 years in a regular basis, if I wanted to call you biased I dont think Im being offensive, so to clarify, Im not insulting you (thats not my style)

 

Fair enough Mario no offense taken.

OK, we know you'd put Notario in goal on your team of the year. What about the other positions?

 

Well, Im a lover of a diamond shape in the midfield with extremos, my team would look like this:

GK: Antonio Notario (Sevilla)

DR: Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
DC: Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid)
DC: Fabricio Coloccini (Atlético de Madrid)
DL: Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid)

MR: Alvaro Novo (Mallorca)
DM: Claude Makelele (Real Madrid)
AM: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
ML: Vicente (Valencia)

FC: Kahveci Nihat (Real Sociedad)
FC: Roy Makaay (Deportivo)

Manager: Raynald Denoueix (Real Sociedad)

 

I'll have to post my 'eleven' later on (like when I'm NOT sitting at work ) but I would just like to add my proverbial two cents to the Keeper discussion.

You can prove whatever you want to with statistics as we all know, but Sevilla has conceded the fewest goals in La Liga, their offense is putrid (only Rayo has scored less), and still they find themselves in a UEFA spot. That means week in and week out Notario knows he can't let anything in and yet he hasn't cracked. I would give him the nod for that alone.

However, I would really be curious to find some CL stats on Casillas because he has come up with some very timely saves for Los Blancos in big CL moments and continues to grow as a leader in all respects. He does the things that "don't show up in the scoreline" as that old cliche goes. If someone gave me one player from Real to start a new team, I might him every time.

 

I think I would like to note players who seem to have come out of obscurity in past years to enjoy some success this year in La Liga. Of course, most people would list their left back as Roberto Carlos, put Raul in one of the forward spots, Zidane in midfield and well-known keepers like Casillas and Cañizares. But there have been some players who have come out of nowhere to really surprise and delight this year, so that's more what my list consists of. Call this a breakout team, or all-rookie (well, some of these guys have been around for a while) but these would be my non-traditional (although in some cases, like Notario, consensus) choices.

Keeper - Notario (Sevilla)

Couldn't really think of any defensemen. Well, I suppose they just don't get their names on the scoresheet.

Midfield - Musampa (Malaga) Best year by far for him
Midfield - De Pedro (Real Sociedad)
Midfield - Vicente (Valencia) Now appearing with La Seleccion, really was good last year too.
Midfield - De la Peña (Espanyol) Good comeback this year

Forward - Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid)
Forward - Kahveci Nihat (Real Sociedad)

 

I am shocked that so many people are picking Vicente. He is only a some time starter and his performances range from terrible to mediocre this season. In fact, Valencia's troubles are mainly due to Vicente's poor form and Kily Gonzlez' health. DePedro is a much better choice.

However, I would eschew the diamond formation in favor of Aimar and Zidane in an attacking midfield, with Baraja and Makele behind them.

If you want another Sociedad player, I recommend Lopez Rekate in defense.

 

Or how about Fran? He's always been one of my favorite players but I haven't been able to watch many Deportivo games. How has he done this season?

Or you could even slide Reyes on the left as he has sometimes played as a left midfielder. And besides Notario he has been Sevilla's best player. However, I would put in De Pedro or Fran in a typical 4-4-2 formation.

 

Fran has played reallly well the last month, but he struggled before then. However, he is still a better choice than Vicente based on overall play this season.