Yup. They play with 3CBs and have been playing either Pepe (inverted) or Buchanon at RWB... That team already has so much speed and athleticism... adding a player like Freeman almost seems like white noise. Maybe Villareal sees this more as a growth season for him w/ an eye towards next year?... If that's the case then he could see minimal minutes down the stretch and find himself left of the final WC roster. Dude was balling in MLS and Poch doesn't require his players are in Europe... probably should have stayed w/ Orlando until this summer.
I’m gonna need everyone to calm down about Alex Freeman. He had no preseason and just flew over there and jumped in. No, they didn’t put him out there against Lamine Yamal today. Everybody relax, Jesus.
ccomfortably in 4th, tied on points with Atleti and 8 points ahead of Real Betis in 5th. Plus Spain seem likely to be the 2nd country to get that 5th UCL spot (there are 2 nations, right?).
Two, yes, but I wouldn’t say Spain is likely to get it. They’re in 3rd in this season’s coefficients right now. England is going to get one barring a complete disaster, but all of Germany, Italy, and Spain have a good shot at the other (Portugal has an outside shot).
Do they give more weight to UCL over Europa and Conference leagues? Cause Italy is down to just Atalanta in UCL though BuLi has Munich and Leverkusen. I'd have to think Spain is in the driver's seat (esp with Atleti playing Spurs), but again, Villareal looking pretty solide for top 4 with 12 to play.
Yes throughout most of the tournament but not to a significant degree at this point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#Men's_association_coefficient There's a slightly higher bonus for progressing through the Champions League rounds than the other two, but the individual matches are all the same. So, a team that wins both legs of its Champions League R16 tie earns 5.5 points (2 for each win, 1.5 for advancing), while a team that wins both legs of a Conference League R16 tie earns 4.5 (2 for each win, 0.5 for advancing). Divided by the number of participants from that country, it's a pretty minor difference. Plus, you have to assume that the big teams in the smaller competitions will have an easier shot of advancing and gaining more points overall than a team that has to go through the gauntlet that, say, Real Madrid is about to encounter.
Villareal knew when they signed him that he wasn't ready for sustained La Liga play and wouldn't be until late in this season, if at all. They signed him for next season. Anything this season is a bonus
Yes. I was worried about him making the move before the WC. Wish he had waited until after. Will it affect him getting chosen? I doubt it but he probably has no more minutes than Reyna this year but also without the long time injury woes. It's why coaches get big bucks to sort through those kind of headaches. I could see Scally being pretty upset if he doesn't get called in while playing and Freeman does without playing.
Yeah, Freeman is ready for the challenge, he is just not getting a fair shake. I think he will get called and do just fine. Scally should get called after Dest's injury. Even as a backup to Weah.