Hoy tenemos muchas noticias de las ligas de los países donde se habla español. Por eso, vamos a empezar hablando en este bello lenguaje.
Y vamos a empezar en España, donde el líder de la competencia ha cambiado de técnico.
¿Qué?
/ pone el dedo en el oído
Fiiiiine!
Y’all should really learn a second language.
Anyhoo, the gigantic news out of Spain this week involved Barcelona firing Ernesto Valverde as coach after Barça was eliminated from the Spanish Supercopa. This happened despite the fact that Barcelona’s currently leading La Liga, is due to face Napoli in the Round of 16 in the Champions League (a relatively easy matchup), and is still alive in the Copa Del Rey.
How did this happen? Well, a lot of people will say this was a long time coming.
The first sign that all was not well was in April 2018 when Barcelona blew a 4-1 first leg lead in the 2017-18 Champions League Quarterfinals. They lost 3-0 in Italy and were eliminated on the away goals rule. Valverde was roundly criticized but, since this was utterly unexpected and most people were in shock, it was dismissed as an aberration. Valverde kept his job.
The pressure stepped up, however, the following May when Barcelona blew another three-goal first leg lead, this time in the Champions League Semi-finals to eventual winner Liverpool. To add insult to injury, Barcelona lost the Copa Del Rey Final to Valencia on the 25th to end the season with only one trophy, the La Liga championship.
This led to a summer of speculation about Valverde’s future. Many coaching candidates were discussed in the Spanish press but ultimately the Board decided to retain Valverde for the final year of his contract. Not everyone was happy, but the players still supported Valverde.
This year started off on a rocky note as Messi was injured and missed the entire preseason and a few weeks of the regular season. Luis Suarez has similarly missed games due to injury (in fact, he is injured now and will miss several weeks). After a rough start, however, Barcelona has slowly righted the ship and ended the winter break in first place.
And then the Supercopa came.
The Supercopa is a yearly trophy given to the winner of a game between the winners of the La Liga and the Copa Del Rey from the previous year. In the history of the Spanish league, this has always been a single game held on Spanish soil.
Since the Spanish authorities are greedy bastards, the traditional game was replaced by a mini-tournament in Saudi Arabia, of all places, featuring Valencia, winner of the Copa, Barcelona, winner of La Liga and runnerup in the Copa, Atlético Madrid, runnerup in La Liga, and Real Madrid, semifinalist of the Copa and 3rd place in La Liga (and also included because $).
In the first game after the winter break, on Thursday January 9, 2020, Barcelona lost to Atlético 2-3 in Saudi Arabia.
Even though the team played better than it had played in a long time, that was the last straw.
That Sunday, Xavi Hernandez, former Barcelona star and current coach of a team in Qatar, was contacted to see if he was interested in the job. He declined, saying officially that it was “too soon” and that he needed to improve as a coach. The Spanish press reported that he really thought it would be better if he took over in the summer so that he could fulfill his commitment to his Qatari team and so he could prepare properly for a full season of La Liga, Champions League, and Copa Del Rey.
The news of this meeting got out, making Valverde a dead man walking.
Earlier this week, Barcelona agreed to a three year contract with Quique Setién, former coach of Real Betis and noted Johan Cruyff disciple.
This is important because, for those of you that don’t know, Johan Cruyff is considered God in Barcelona. He brought the concept of Total Football to Barcelona as a coach and, in turn, influenced many successful Barça coaches such as Pep Guardiola. He was the architect of the “Barcelona style” of play.
One of the main criticisms of Valverde has been his pragmatism and his focus on results over style. Given that Barcelona hasn’t achieved the results desired and hasn’t played with style, you can see why the choice of Setién was made.
Setién hasn’t been super successful, but a large part of the reason why is because he has coached at lower-echelon clubs in La Liga. However, his clubs have played with style and flair. While the talent he was given wasn’t on par with that of Atlético, Real, or Barcelona, he made the most of what he was given.
What probably sealed the selection of Setién was Real Betis’ win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou on November 11, 2018. Barcelona had not lost at home for two years prior to that game and Real Betis is now the last team to beat Barcelona at home. That’s one home loss in over 3 and a half years and it was delivered by Setién.
That night, Setién’s players played a beautiful game with style and grace. They had Barcelona running ragged and made them look pedestrian. Talent nearly overcame as Barça came back and barely lost 3-4, but the crowd applauded the Betis players at the end of the game.
In my mind, that game gave the job to Setién this past week.
We shall see how he performs with a roster this talented. It will take a while for the players to adjust to playing a different style, but if he can get them to adapt quickly, this Barcelona team could win everything this year.
If not, he’ll be fired and Xavi will take over next year.
***
And now for something completely different.
I told you previously about the crazy Liga MX Apertura championship which was decided during the Winter Break after Monterrey went to Qatar to participate in the Club World Cup. 8th-seeded Monterrey beat 6th-seeded América in the final two-leg tie after they returned.
While Monterrey was traveling around the world, other things were happening in México. For one, the league went from 19 teams to 18.
Yeah, you read that right.
Normally, relegation doesn’t happen until the two championships (Apertura and Clausura) are completed and normally a team from the lower division will come up to take the relegated team’s place. However, this wasn’t a relegation.
Veracruz has been the worst team in Liga MX for the past three years. It has also been the worst-run team in Liga MX. It was scheduled to be relegated last season, but the owners pledged to pay $6 million to the league in order to stay in the top division. Atlético San Luis (yes, affiliated with THAT Atlético mentioned above) was promoted but there was no relegation, thus giving the league 19 teams.
This Apertura season, Veracruz again finished last with only one win and 5 draws. However, the team also failed to make various payments to Liga MX, its own players, and its debtors. The players used a game against Tigres in the Apertura season as a protest against the team’s owner, which resulted in a public relations nightmare. Finally, the owner, Fidel Kurri, irritated enough of the owners of the other clubs in Liga MX with his broken promises and general bullshit that they said enough was enough.
In a unanimous vote over the Winter Break, Veracruz was “disaffiliated” from the league. The players became free agents, able to sign with any club. The women’s team was also kicked out of the Liga MX women’s competition.
So, this year’s Clausura championship has only 18 teams and there will be no relegation at the end of the season. A new team from the lower division will join Liga MX next season (as long as it qualifies financially and has an adequate stadium and by the way only 6 out of the lower division teams pass this criteria, yes Liga MX is nuts) and relegation will resume next year after the Clausura championship.
Pretty crazy, huh? If only the NFL had the balls to disaffiliate the Cleveland Browns…
***
Today’s Schedule (All Times Pacific)
My Omakase is:
4:30 AM Watford v Tottenham
7:00 AM Real Madrid v Sevilla
9:30 AM RB Leipzig v Union Berlin
12:00 Noon Éibar v Atlético Madrid
***
And now, courtesy of the Fútbol Babes Twitter Account:
Enjoy the day, everyone!
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. SUCK IT YOU FUCKING RENTERS. MOVE TO YOUR OWN BURGH. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Say what you want about Bob Huggins but no BB coach does a better impression of the bloated corpse of a dead whale on a beach.
Mark Mangino would storm out of here in protest if it wouldn’t make him out of breath.
Yeah he’s under strict doctor’s orders not to do anything that involves walking at a brisk pace.
Pentagram State with the blowout over DOT THE EYE State.
Could someone turn on the Hippo translator it seems Scotchy is speaking in tongues.
Cuse with the squeaky W!!!
UNC down 10 with 1:45 left.
Gooooo Chelski!
Oh great. Tom Werme and Mike Gminski are calling the NC State/Clemson game today.
/tries to kill self
//misses
Gminski. I just shake my head whenever I see his face. He entered Duke as a 16 year old and could have done so much with his life. Instead he’s an uninformed bum that announces ball games.
Gamblor has forsaken me today.
“Both Gamblor and the moon are harsh mistresses.”
-Robert A. Heinlein
Today?
Oh I had an unreal weekend last week. Nail 3 nfl plus o/u, 6 for 6 in Italia, 3 for 3 in Vive La France and some obscure Asian league as I was bored.
I’ve never said this, and very well might never again but….COME ON ‘CUSE!!!!
Fine. [unzips pants]
LMFAO
I miss football…
Can I interest you in some Pro Bowl next wknd?
Crap! The Hokies are storming back.
Dayum, they’ve cut it to two. I was too busy laughing at U*NC to notice.
The announcers are talking about everything other than the game.
Did they say how nice my new suit fits?
Nah, probably not. They’re too busy to notice.
Nice suit though.
Sitting down on a toilet seat that is still warm from someone else’s ass is deeply discomforting. By contrast, sitting down on one that’s been warmed by the sun is a wonderful delight.
Better than sitting down just after someone “blown up the toilet” just before you. It may look clean, but its not and it feels like you’re in the basement of a port-a-potty.
^ What he said.
I see someone left Vegas too early in December of ’16.
ASS HERPES!!!!!
Well, check you out Okie St., Paedo St., and ‘Cuse.
You go girls!!!!!
U*NC down by 20 at the break. So far, it’s been a good day.
If Roy Williams goes murdery/suicidey at halftime it will be perfect.
They expecting the score to be curved up, just like their grades?
Hehehehe
The fate of the Presidency and what may decide if the United States is going to continue to be a Republic, transition into a Democracy or fall into a Autocracy is all at stake, and all people are talking about is Senators will have their phones taking away and have to shut the f— up for a few weeks.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/politics/impeachment-trial-rules-no-talking-no-phones/index.html
Eh, ” continue to be a Republic, transition into a Democracy” one is not mutually exclusive with the other y’know.. Although the “generational safe seats’, gerrymandering and incumbency rates that’d make a third-world banana republic blush….
Here’s a honest outsider’s perspective on this whole thing – Trump’s not that different than anyone that preceded him (in actions), he’s just way less polite when he fucks others over “for reasons” and usually with less tangible benefit than when O’Bama or Dubya or Clinton did it . Honestly, as someone that grew up in a country that was assfucked sideways by US-backed interests and that was continuously pressured to do shit against its better judgement – you have my sympathies (to a point) .. 😐
By the way, if you want to contrast and compare how deep into the darkest timeline we’ve waded, find a copy of “Amerca (the Book)” and just start reading.
Good point. Trump is darker shade of gray but his predecessors are a lighter shade of gray.
If anything his predecessors who laterally fornicated your country over did their actions to benefit their country or (more likely) the people that voted them in. Trump does his actions to benefit himself.
Honestly, I’m not convinced that he fucks over people for his benefit, ’cause that requires foresight and actually committing to an action for longer than 1.21 nanoseconds . At this point I honestly think it’s more of a sad attempt to flex one’s might as an almost literal revenge for everyone that’s mocked TheDonald (especially the part how the only reason he’s rich is ’cause his dad was rich enough to bail him out after every fuckup) 😀
That’s true, and I love your Back to the Future reference, intended or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5cYgRnfFDA
It was completely intentional – in fact I was debating with myself if I should also mis-spell nano-seconds , but I thought it was going to be a bit too blunt for a subtle reference 😀
Redtube search for Ballsy – box to box midfielder
LOL at U*NC. You guys suck.
It’s freaking Pitt.
still ain’t watched a minute. NO JINXING!!
They’re already down by 14, barely halfway through the first half.
Sorry, shoulda done that in spoiler alert. I just can’t stop laughing.
successful short corner WOO!!!
Hippo didja bet on Sassy Olo or Ford Taurino?
I’m not sure what to say here. I want to say “six or STFU”, but I’m afraid she’d bite it off.
Not sure if I should be sacred or aroused.
I trusted yer gut. Shrouds of Turin it is! Also, first half bet on Valladolid.
In the first Football-less Saturday of the year, I’m watching Star Trek films. Its amazing how different the actors performance in Insurrection is from Nemesis. Their performance in Insurrection is them saying “This story sucks but our friends is directing it so we’re doing our best to make this work”. Their performance in Nemesis is them saying “We are only here because we’re contractually obligated to star in this film.”
Funny… For me “Nemesis” says “Oh yeah, MFers? Have fun with lens flares and shitty plot retreads!” XD
I especially liked how they mentioned the Dominion War yet there is no reference to what the Enterprise-E was doing in the war. I know they couldn’t show the Enterprise or a Soverign-class ship because that was saved for movies, but there was no reference to the Enterprise’s role in the war at all during DS9.
Admiral Ross: “Captain, Earth is under attack by the Breen! We need your help!”
Picard: “Sorry, Admiral. We’re still lost in the Delta Quadrant.”
Admiral Ross: “Jean-Luc, that’s Janeway’s ship.”
Picard: “We can be lost too. Its a big quadrant!”
And yet it’s still a more coherent story than NuTrek Nr3: The One Where We Waste Idris Elba!
That movie franchise had issues (“Lets give a bunch of cadets the keys to the flagship. It worked on Police Academy.”), but that’s how bad that movie was. I just realized that was Idris Elba!
Delta Quadrant sounds a lot like Flavor Country.
–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Lmbge4mxE
Gents, prepare for the apocalypse. Everything fell right for Mighty Whitey today. 4 pts back of auto promotion and Leeds is doing a Leeds and tanking at the right time.
Except he is susceptible to belts.
Arsenal doing their level best to piss away the tie.
Fucking Arsenal.
I did nae listen when bk told us to bet.
Never trust Arsenal to close out a game.
Eh, no – it’s “Never trust arsenal to have 2 strong halfs in the same game”
Also, I TOLD YUS. I TOLD YUS ALL!
/me hugs a 1000 quid betting slip (or, well, e-confirmation printout) close 😀
HAHHAHAHHAHA… MONEYZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Also, uhhhh… “And that’s how you gamble ,bishes.,.. Not on 7-th tier nepalese handball teams… IT IS ALWAYS AGAINST FUCKING ARSENAL!
I bet on Team Knifey to win the first half, figured y’all would come back to draw or win.
I clearly was a bit stoned last night as I woke up to a correct Aussie futbol ticket. Have another one half way done. Need something called a Western United FC today…
If she were on the team they would be far more interesting to watch.
Lucky for you, Jenny Scordamaglia is easily googleable…
Come on West Ham. Cling to this point like grim death.
y’all seem more likely to score
Last one:
LOL
Now I inow why Sid Vicious was so angry. Fuckin Nancy. HOW DO YOU LOSE TO A SIDE WITH A STADIUM THE SIZE OF CAVALRY FC?!?!?!??!
KDJDHOWJDHDISJDHSUSKDHDB
Found a funny:
Me, as an undergrad, just starting upper level courses: THERE IS A PROFOUNDLY BEAUTIFUL REASON FOR ALL LAWS OF PHYSICS
Me, as a perpetual graduate student: Light goes that fast because it wants to
Dunno if fantasy will reflect it, but Pickford’s save at the death was just BONKERS.
It does!
I’mma singin’ BO-RUS_SIA!!!
Arsenal took the lead?! BET HARD on a draw or loss! I know my fucking gooners!
Well THAT was short-lived!
Bonkers action end to end
https://youtube.com/watch?v=fHEmDLQKrrk
When you said “short-lived” I thought you were talking about Boston Celtics’ first round draft picks.
Do I need to go to Canadia and catch Litre’s mouse now?
If you can catch a squirrel, you can catch a mouse, I always say.
You swing by here, kill the mouse. Drive to BC Dicks, on the way to steal BeerguyRobs dogs in Van. There would be a lot of weed.
Cool. I like weed.
/prepares net and shoe
PUKKIIIIIIIII!!!!!!
How do Hammers look, Hippo? Timeline is all west Ham, including (yet another goddamned) goal disallowed by VAR.
He was miles offside, Everton stopped playing, even. Each side has had one clear chance – Pickford nice save, Theo Walcott fluffed it because he’s stealing a living.
Haller is all over teh timeline too. Nice to see.
Update – NO SMIRE
Yeah, we’re fighting for our fucking lives.
Yeah, non-sequitur rant – feel free to ignore 😀
For fuck’s sake – why do game/software developers whine that they’ve had to work some 100 hour work weeks deserves special sympathy and outrage? If you don’t like it – go work 9 to 5 in some corporate job or elsewhere XD Hell, I’ve had 300+ work hour weeks (not a typo, lol, after a certain point I get double and quadruple overtime rates, lol 😀 ) and I get it, lol. And working long hours at times AT A FUCKING IT Department is waaaaaaaay fucking better working 45 hours a week in construction or retail (but I guess a lot of the people complaining about that don’t know how the world actually works)
(A “friend” is bitching about crunch time on Tox about that and is getting annoyed and angry that I can’t muster enough enthusiasm in my “OHNOES, How awful” ‘s 😀 )
I can see some occasional 100 hour work weeks needed, but from what I have read in some of the games industry magazines, we are talking two or more months (some accounts of 9 months) of 80+ hour weeks. Not even going home and sleeping and showering (hopefully they shower) at the office for a month type work conditions, lots of divorces.
I have done software development in a corporate setting before and yeah you have crunch time, but compared to the game development world, it is a lot more sedate. Games seem to have sudden changes to design and features that appear on a whim, plus hard and fast release dates (hence buggy as hell games) and a price that really does not seem to represent the amount of work that goes into the product, as games have not been more than 60 dollars a copy for years. A lot of developers do leave to go work more sedate programming jobs after being in this hell, they prefer the stability over a job that they considered their passion. Kotaku has had some good articles about it, one of the few types of reporting that they have actually done a good job at.
How the fuck is Nancy tied to a 4th Div side???
https://youtu.be/PBxuq_eWW94
Nancy Boys amirite??
Oy! That’s Frenchist!
COME ON, THESE ARE SHIT!!
/apologies to Fronk
No sweat. I’m a Jets fan.
Hang in there, mate, a cure for that is on the horizon!
Litre – get a cat. Mouse issue sorted.
Alternative – use the big wooden killers. Peanut butter with a bit of candy in the middle. SNAP SOME FOOKIN NECKS
Dog guy, not cat guy. I am bitchy enough.
Wait an African guy plays at Lazio? Is that even allowed?
Certain people would prefer not.
For reference, Lazio are considered uber-raycess, even for Italy
And I just realized that Arsenal are playing today, which I refuse to let ruin my mood 😀 … Though watching my wife curse and hit a network switch does provide sufficient entertainment 😀
Holy shit, didn’t even see they were playing Knifey United. That will be a good one.
Yeah, I thought they were playing tomorrow, but I got a BBC Sport alert about the lineups (I honestly feel that’s a hard-fought draw or a close loss at this point)
Ray Lewis owns a team?
Leeds just missed a penalty. Leeds twitter is having a good time with this one.
Just a quick PSA: If someone wants to watch Star Trek Picard (when it comes out), it’s on Amazon Prime at least in Europe, so if yer a prime member, you can switch the locale for a bit on yer account, watch it (when it comes out) and then revert 🙂
GOOD MORNING YA HANDSOME BASTIDS!!! Putting together a daily fantasy lineup for the 10:00 EPL window. Any tips? Players you think might have a good game this morning? Also, West Ham & I have a derby with hippo and Don Carlo. Talk about a knife to a gunfight!
Went with
F – Pukki (NOR v BOU)
F – Haller (WHU v EVE)
M – Moutinho (WOL @ SOU)
M – David Silva (MCI v CRY)
D – Tompkins (CRY @ MCI)
D – James (CHE @ NEW)
G – Pickford (EVE @ WHU)
If any of those appear to be shit, let me hear it.
Tompkins against City could be dicey.
Hoping for clearances a-plenty?.
DERBY TIME WOO!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I just saw a mouse. Guess I am going to have to burn this place to the ground. Been a good run. We were looking to move out this year anyway.
EEK A MOU… Kidding – just get a couple of mouse traps (preferably some of those disposable ones), bait them properly – in fact some of the disposable ones are pre-baited with some really effective shit and put them around the house where the little decilitre won’t be able to touch them.
Just whatever you do – in the name of ALL THINGS HOLY – don’t use poison. That always ends with the poor critter surviving just long enough to die someplace outta sight and stink up the place (in fact, we threw a 10k all-in-one Xerox at work, ’cause a rat had died and decomposed there during the winter break and it stunk like a goddamn war crime)
We have the partial poison ones as I saw one a few weeks ago. They are in our building. They are running through the water pipes. Today we are going to use steel wool to block the entrances and the exterminator is coming on Tuesday. It is so cold out that of course they came in.
Through the water pipes.. I take it you mean the sewer/drain pipes? … That’s a cheeful thought 😀 (which is why one of the things I re-did in the house before everything else was to use one-way valves for that (though in all fairness, I was thinking less “critters coming in” and more of sewage backflow 😀 )
The baseboard heaters in here use water for the whole building so they scurry from unit to unit. Via the pipes there and the wee space by the sink.
Ah, so not through the water pipes themselves, but through the wall opening for the pipe runs? When the exterminators finish their thing, can you like spray some foam around those? It’s quick and easy (and most importantly) cheap 😀
Thanks! Is that how BurgerKing #109 has impeccable health and safety records?
Well, it certainly helps. Same goes for installing an HVAC with some really heavy-duty (as in hospital-grade) filters and also maintaining a proper balance of immersing AND avoiding one’s kid into the world, lol (And that includes where possible letting one’s kid or two or four overcome illness with as little medicine as possible (not saying without medical oversight or that all medicamentation is bad – it’s just that the more you rely on prescription drugs, the less the body tries to adapt to fight shit on its own)… Or, y’know, my kids inherited my Eastern European immune system where you need REALLY toxic shit to even notice XD (Example on how fucked things up there were- Our PM at the time “calmed” people down, that the radioactivity in tap water in a town there was due to NATURAL uranium, so everything’s cool,yo!” 😀
We call that move a Reverse Shawshank.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cOQBXA5CPEM
Afternoon pervosaurs, how are you all this fine day? 😀
I am the only one here. Not bad, its the last day of the deep freeze. -30 all week.
QPR (uggh) is up on Leeds for Fulham Litre is happy but feels dirty supporting those fucks.
Well, at least you were in good company, lol.. On the plus side, you now know why suddenly (and not quite coincidentally with my arrival) the comment section’s average IQ sank like a rock XD
[ I iz in a weird, but good mood today, so strap in y’all XD ]
Well there will be peace at the BurgerKing109 house as United and Arsenal don’t play today.
Swing and a miss 😀 Things have been weird here from 4AM. And there’s a lot of cursing atm, because my beautiful wife asploded our home network and refuses to let me help (thank jebus for the 4G WWAN module in my laptop XD)
I too have been up since 4 am. It has been 2 and a half years and I need to just settle with Decilitre being an early riser. Has a smoke and a coffee and now watching QPR (uggh) and Leeds.
Aren’t you a computer expert that should be able to fix your gear for Mrs. 109?
We both are, lol (in fact her GPA was fractionally higher than mine 😀 ) and we both work in the field, hence why she thought it was a good idea to do some “necessary” (not really, but they do imperceptibly improve performance) tweaks and firmware updates when everyone else was sleeping. Too bad something went horribly wrong and the system is deader than the title race in the EPL 😀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY-zoTZjSVM
Oh. Athletico Madrid just bought the rights to a Canadian Premier League team in Ottawa. They did it for less than a tiny transfer fee. This means the CPL will have 8 teams and hopefully 12 for 2021. Get more Spanish teams investing and they can spread their brand and have our summer as like a Venezuelan or Arizona winter league like in Beisbol.
How the fuck does my son get up before European continental futbol starts????? At least gives me time for Gamblor.