Features
VIE 21.08.2015
FC Barcelona
Barcelona may well have come off second best to Athletic in Spain’s Supercup, the new season’s curtain raiser, but any notions that the Catalan side won’t be there or thereabouts in all competitions by the end of next May are very wide of the mark.
Barcelona still have unquestionably the best front three in the world and in Arda Turan they have the perfect replacement for the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta.
Neither Turan nor Aleix Vidal will be available until January though and that lack of competition might not see the best of them till next season. If that is the case, the bench of Barcelona will be insufficient.
I still have a doubt about Luis Enrique’s style which means that a bad night exposes certain limitations of the side in terms of their control of the game. The directness of the team forces them to be as good in both boxes as the were from January.
If they are not or are physically a touch weaker, as they logically are at this stage of the preseason, the team cannot recover the ball often enough and high enough and lack the spark that makes them special. But if they can be strong defending and effective upfront, if rotations work, if they are still hungry and look after the details, and get their minds right, then Barcelona are still going to be the team to beat.
Real Madrid
Rafa Benitez faces an enormous task at Real Madrid in his first season there, not least because the business model demands that this time around, Gareth Bale features much more prominently in the club’s plans.
Bale will play in a much more central position and with more freedom, which is all very well apart from the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo might well have something to say about the possibility of losing some of his spot in the limelight.
If Madrid manage to keep winning, then everything should be hunky dory, if they don’t then Benitez will face a bumpy ride as he tries to keep all the egos under a tight rein.
Mateo Kovačić is presented as a new Real Madrid player. #WelcomeToRealMadrid #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/MvYp8cBFet
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) August 19, 2015
What you won’t see, of course, is Bale or Ronaldo putting in a shift in defence so consequently what’s needed is more control in central areas. Enter Mateo Kovacic from Inter to fill in the breach and add that solidity in midfield that neither Koos nor Modric can do by themselves. But Kovacic is not a holding midfielder. I think they need one that is natural at that role.
At the back Sergio Ramos has, as I always said he would, committed his future to the club and will probably be accompanied there by Rafael Varane who has now completed his apprenticeship.
Atletico Madrid
Across the city Diego Simeone has a far better, more balanced side than he had last year – a side much more like the one the took the title when Diego Costa was leading the line.
I like the idea that Koke – in my opinion Xavi’s natural successor in the Spanish side – will be pulling the strings in midfield, but it’s up front where the varied attack of Luciano Vietto brought in from Villarreal, Griezmann and Jackson Martinez from Porto, who can hold the line brilliantly a la Costa, will give defences sleepless nights with a return to their brand of swift, counter attacking football.
The departure of Miranda will allow Gimenez to develop into a great centre back as he learns from Diego Godin who is one of the very best, while the return of Filipe Luis in the left back berth where they were weak last year makes this a side that has strength in depth and one that should be challenging for the title all the way.
Real Sociedad
At Real Sociedad, David Moyes is bringing in his own people and that would suggest that he is trying to build his own type of side and he thinks he is there for the long haul and not a brief sojourn. But his continuity beyond this year will depend on how things develop in the transfer windows. He would like the club to bring more players but Real seem a bit shy in the market at the moment.
I wonder, however, if he is looking to learn from Spanish football or impose his ideas upon it. Achieving that balance which he is working hard to get, will ultimately be the key to bringing to La Real what they need, namely consistency and a game plan.
The arrival of Brazilian forward Jonathas from Elche is where the club will look to see the goals coming from and with a creative strong midfield he should certainly get the chances. He still needs a holding midfielder and more pace upfront. But it is Moyes, himself, who will be most in the spotlight.
Fans suspended judgement on him last season as he managed to steady the bus and steer it to safety. This time around they will be looking to see how he does when he attempts to get it to pick up speed.
Valencia CF
At Valencia, with Otamendi gone, they will need a central defender, and pronto. Ideally they’d like Mangala as part of the Otamendi deal but that isn’t going to happen. On Friday the deal was agrees between clubs (€40m and Mangala) but after the victory against Chelsea, the agreement broke down as Mangala did not want to go. So the compromise was a €45m deal.
What will be fascinating is to see how Phil Neville gets on at Valencia where he has been brought in, probably because Nuno feels his ideas on, and experience of, European football could be invaluable.
Read our interview with @fizzer18, new assistant manager at @valenciacf_en: http://t.co/oVs2cxCCRo #LaLigaWorld pic.twitter.com/edAOq1Mthn
— LaLiga (@LaLiga) July 31, 2015
He’s certainly keen to give it a go and I know for a fact he has already set about the task of learning the language.
On the pitch Valencia would probably like to offload Alvaro Negredo but can’t, and this year, European commitments mean they won’t be able to enjoy the luxury of playing just one game a week.
Peter Lim’s business plan makes European football a minimum requirement, and I can’t help that this time around Nuno’s young squad, that could also do with another central midfielder, might fall just short.
The best of the rest sees the usual frugal housekeeping with half of the teams having spent 3.4m euros or less! Still, I feel he Spanish clubs have to be clever in the market and sharpness guarantees good players arriving to La Liga.
ray
Monchi, the genius of Sevilla, has balanced the books (in fact he is earning money to the club again) with the sale of Carlos Bacca and Aleix Vidal, bringing nine new players in including Kakuta from Chelsea and N’Zonzi from Stoke while Villareal’s purchase of Samu Castillejo from Malaga and the arrival of Leo Baptistao should mean both sides will be competitive.
Since 2000, Spanish clubs have won 23 European titles. 6 are from English, 5 Italian. And that doesn't happen if La Liga is not competitive. Can't wait for it to start!
© LALIGA - 2015