The rapidly declining state of La Liga. - Divisions by zero
lemmy.dbzer0.com
Now I don’t know how closely people tend to follow a single league, but if you’ve followed La Liga over the last decade I think you’ll agree how sad the state of La Liga is. Theres about 5 clubs that play attractive football at a decent level and 3 that try but have the quality of a midtable championship side. Ignoring the non footballing issues, from consistent racial abuse to sexism etc (Rubiales and Vini cases are only the tip of the massive iceberg). There’s terrible refereeing and more time wasting than any other of the top 7 leagues. The football being played is just sad, Spain is still thought of as a league with highly technical sides playing one touch passes and building complicated structures. Well other than Barca and Madrid(who arent defined by their possession play anyways), not a single club does this at a European level. Sociedad, Villareal and Betis come close but have lost key players this season since they have no financial power either, despite being top 6 clubs in the league. Also lost players to injuries thanks to too much football being played. Simeone and Atletico have ofc evolved over the years, but barring Griezmann theres not a single player in la liga that is a star outside of Madrid and Barca. Girona and returning Las Palmas play with their defined style and do a good job but clearly lack the quality and talent to be a top side, they can’t attract even half decent players and nor can they afford it. Watching them play against top 7 sides is sad. Athletic Club are interesting in so far as they play mostly academy players due to their self imposed Basque players only rule and then lose any player who outgrows them anyways, they havent had a player who could finish off chances in my living memory. Celta Vigo and Valencia used to be top 7 sides competing for European spots. Peter Lim has suceeded in destroying Valencia meanwhile Celtas philosophy for 5 years has been Aspas and InshaAllah. Tho I’m hopeful with the arrival of Benitez, Bamba and hopefully Larsen improving. Watching Getafe is the saddest thing in life. (Noone will disagree here, not even Bordalas. And yes they just got Greenwood). Mallorca, Cadiz, Deportivo and Granada aren’t even worth talking about. Almeria would be there if they hadn’t just spent good money this season and nabbed Arribas! Vallecano have Isi Palazon and Alvaro Garcia, if one of them leaves they are a relegation team. Sevilla have been destroyed by Monchi. Osasuna have managed a spectacular 7th last season but with terrible underlying numbers. I’d say theres 5 clubs in Spain that would not be relegated if they were in the EPL. Barca, Madrid, Atletico, Sociedad and Villareal. This is a massive decline in quality in the league. Everyone but Madrid is a selling club now. I’d be happy to see La Liga be reduced to 18 teams. The only other top 5 league with a bottom half this weak is Italy. (Atleast the french league produces great talents and are a young league).

I made this quick post at the beginning of the season and wanted to offer an update with a third of thr season gone.

As I said Girona and Las Palmas have played beautifully and surprisingly ended up high up on the table. Girona top La Liga atm and Las Palmas are 8th. They’re both overperforming their numbers but it’s tough to see Girona fall out of the top 4 and Las Palmas out of the top 10. Squad depth will be an issue for both later in the season.

Las Palmas has been one of my favorite sides forever and i’d urge everyone to watch a game or two of theirs this season. Garcia Pimienta has been exactly what youd expect him to be.

Girona are part owned by the city group like troyes in france, yet they are not economic powerhouses. Yes theres probably some knowledge share and apparently the cancelo move allowed Garcia to Girona. Other tham that they have 5 ex city group players, like savio from troyes. Incredible rise and decent squad depth but probably not good enough to end up top 3.

Madrid have had an odd season losing Militao and Courtois to long term injuries, not replacing Militao and suddenly starting the season without 3 key players from last season (benz the 3rd). Yet Jude has been SPECTACULAR and one of the most decisive players in Europe. Madrid might win the league with pure talent and a weird structure. Carvajals return to form woth his diet change has been shocking.

Barca are more interesting off the field than on it yet with Pedri and all the academy players they allow into the team they might just figure smth out. Xavi hasn’t been tactically spectacular by any means but he’s getting the job done in a tough spot.

Atletico are even better than last season and might just be title contendors. The Joao Felix hate is … bizzare. Shoutout to Lino and Barrios for the impact theyre having this season.

Athletic Club are gonna drop points I can feel it, despitr guruzeta suddenly becoming an effective striker out of nowhere. The William brothers doing great, Nico leaves next season for good money no doubt.

Sociedad have had a lot of players stepping up, Kubo in particular, as was predicted, with their thin midfield I think they could risk slipping out of the top 6 if injjries come at the wrong time.

Betis, what a damn season, loads of new players being handed new and important roles but all that needs to be talked about is Isco. This was a massive gamble by Pellegrini and Betis and could be the kinda transfer that ends up getting the manager sacked but Isco has performed spectacularly every game. Jose shouldnt be starting, maybe give Ayoze Perez a chance there since they got the winfs covered anyways. Ofc why Borja Iglesias is being overlooked is anyones guess, I heard it’s bc Pellegrini wasnt happy he retired from the national team. (Idk if thats true)

Sad to see Valencia in the top half, wish they were relegated. Vallecano, agents of chaos, this is old school Vallecano. Love Palazon amd garcia, espino has been a very capable signing. Getafe and Osasuna are around where they deserve to be. Greenwood seems to be getting back on track. This is more Osasunas level, they overperformed last season. Great season for Mojica too, was part of the lb musical chair this season like espino. Most of those lbs have done well.

Sevilla don’t know who they are. They have way tpo many players who arent good enough or completr enough, one day its oliver torres the next its suso, there’s no thought, rhyme or reason behind them. Had one good game vs madrid but are incapable of being a top side any time soon. Juanlu Sanchez the one bright spot as I mentioned earlier.

Villareal, I did think they’d drop down with all the talent drain, but the fact that their exostimg talent has dropped a level is what’s made them a bottom half team, 14th is bad. Setien, Pacheta and now Marcelino. Raul made a wise decision not to go to Villareal.

Alaves, still like blanco, hope he has a good career ahead. Rafa Marin has done better than I had expected. Omorodion showing a lot of promise.

Cadiz, hope they end up relegated. Mallorco, sadly they managed to get the incredible Darder who turned down barca for them. With him plus a few other players doing so well its incredible that theyre as terrible as they are. Shoutout to Muriqi, Samu, Prats and Antonio Sanchez.

Vigo, how are they in the relegation zone??? Playing much better than their position suggests. Inconsistent and lack quality in midfield post Veiga. Cb has been an issue too with aidoo out, starfelt and nunez are not good enough starters, if they can get one decent dm amd one cb they could be a top 10 team. They also underutilize their depth and lose games in the last 10 mins all the time. Bamba doing well enough, still overrelying on Aspas but I like their counters. A team that shouldnt be relegaged. Dotor is not good enough to be a starter as he appears to be in recent weeks.

Granada, bryan zaragoza is far too good for them, as a team theyre almost certainly a relagation side.

Almeria wtf. Spent a lot of money, seemed to make wise choices tho overpayed for some players. And yet they have actually been the worst side in the league. Unfortunately think they might go down despite having a decent project starting.

  • imaqtpieAEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    So in summary, would you say that the mid and lower teams in the league are performing better than you expected going into the season?

    It’s really difficult for anyone not named Barca or Madrid to compete for star players when they get massively outspent by EPL teams, not to mention Bundesliga and Ligue 1 at times.

    • SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      Honestly it’s a mixed bag so tough to say, if I had to answer that i’d say better thanks to a couple of low budget high performers.

      Yes the money spent by La Liga clubs has been pitiful, mostly due to how little revenue the league generates and partially due to the proactive ffp regulations. Atm only Madrid can make decent signings, barca despite winning the league last year are in serious financial trouble and will be for a while now. Theyve exhausted their financial levers and la liga isnt allowing their creative accounting anymore as we saw with the sale of barca tv.