La Liga Review

La Liga Team of the Week

As La Liga Review finds itself on the road once again - this time en route to Manchester ahead of Barcelona's Champions League semi final second leg against Manchester United - it gives us an excuse to avoid writing a proper post and allows us to cobble together our Spanish football team of the week instead....

La Liga Players Of The Week: 32

Perhaps the most striking thing about this team of the week is the number of players who play for clubs outside of Spanish football's big two: either testimony to the strength, in depth, of La Liga or a reflection of just how uninspiring the stars of Real Madrid and Barcelona are turning out to be this season: stale rather than stellar. And we promise, Coloccini hasn't been included just to wind up Caparros...

Xisco Goes Nuts At Deportivo

While digging around for a bit of info on Arsenal target Fabricio Coloccini, La Liga Review stumbled upon a slightly disturbing photo of Deportivo's Xisco and De Guzman engaging in a bit of, erm , ball juggling. While we are on the subject of Xisco, we take a closer look at the young Deportivo forward...

La Liga Team Of The Week: Week 31

Normal service has been resumed. After an absence of one week, Dani Alves has been returned to the right back position in our Spanish football team of the week....

La Liga Team of the Week: Week 30

This week's Spanish Football Team of the week represents something of a first: there is no Dani Alves…

La Liga Team of the Week: Week 29

Perhaps for the first time ever we find ourselves in complete agreement with Bernd Schuster: neither of us would include a Real Madrid player in this weeks La Liga Team of the Week…

Liga Team Of The Week: Week 28

Versatility seems to be a recurrent theme when selecting our La Liga dream team after a number of this last weeks outstanding performances were made by players required to fulfill unfamiliar roles in their respective teams. In a week when Samuel Eto'o threatened to teach Thierry Henry all about teamwork and play in goal, it seems that the real stars in Spain have been those players who will do whatever their coaches ask of them; and do it well. Proof, if ever it was needed, that a good footballer is just that: a good footballer.

Tottenham, Milito and Cata Diaz: A likely story?

Spanish Football Transfer Rumours

La Liga Review responds to emails asking us to assess reports that Juande Ramos has his eye on La Liga based Argentine pair Diego Milito and Daniel 'Cata' Diaz...

Esteban Granero Profile

Esteban Granero may not be too well known outside of La Liga, in spite of his impressive performances for Getafe this season, but he has not gone unnoticed by Bernd Schuster. The Real Madrid coach has insisted that the young midfielder return to Real once his loan spell ends in June, and that could mean the name Granero is one that we will soon be hearing a great deal more of in the future…

Premiership Interest in Marc Muniesa and Willy Caballero

TRANSFER GOSSIP

According to Spanish press reports, Arsenal have been watching Elche's goalkeeper Willy Caballero, whilst Chelsea are keen on 15 year old Marc Muniesa of Barcelona...

Arsenal Youngster Carlos Vela Debuts in Liga Dream Team

La Liga Review's Team of the Week:

GK: Sorrentino (Recreativo) LB: Capdevila (Villarreal) CB: Coloccini (Deportivo) CB: Cata Díaz (Getafe) RB: Alves (Sevilla) CM: Maresca (Sevilla) CM: Casquero (Getafe) Vela (Osasuna) Sesma (Valladolid) L. Fabiano (Sevilla) Eto'o (Barcelona)

Read on....

Guti the Star of La Liga Team of the Week

Beyond the outstanding scoreline in Real Madrid's 7-0 demolition of Valladolid, it was Guti who stole the show with a virtuoso performance, the likes of which unites both his supporters and critics in demanding he plays like this more often. With two goals and five assists the mercurial midfielder once again staking a claim on a greater role in the Spanish national team. He will no doubt be delighted to know that he is also La Liga Review’s player of the week.

Ricardo (Osasuna), Capdevila (Villarreal), Gonzalo (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid),Scaloni ( Mallorca), Plasil (Osasuna), Guti ( Real Madrid), Maduro (Valencia), Capel (Sevilla), Raul (Real Madrid), David Villa (Valencia)

Week 34 La Liga team of the week

We've decided to take a few liberties with our team of the week this week and play people out of position all over the pitch. We can do that you see. After all, its not as if we are ever going to have 90,000 Barcelona fans waving their hankies at us or that we'll ever get a visit from Ramon Calderon giving us the boot halfway through the season.

Here’s our La Liga team of the week and we’re feeling charitable.

CF – Diego Forlan (Villarreal)
CF- David Villa(Valencia)

RM – Joaquin (Valencia)
CM- Casquero (Getafe)
CM- Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
LM – Vicente (Valencia)

RB- Zambrotta (Barcelona)
CB- Ansotegi (R.Sociedad)
CB- Dragutinovic (Sevilla)
LB- Christian Fernandez (Racing)

GK – Casillas (Real Madrid)

La Liga first XI

GK – Casillas (Real Madrid)

LB – Placente (Celta)
CB – Pique (Zaragoza)
CB – Perea (At. Madrid)
RB – Alves (Sevilla)

LM – Cazorla (Recreativo)
CM – Iniesta (Barcelona)
CM – Maniche (At. Madrid)
RM – Aduriz (At. Bilabao)

CF – Gudjohnsen (Barcelona)
CF – Tamudo (Espanyol)

Eidur Gudjohnsen leads the line for us this week after responding in style to the mounting pressure that has built up on him at the Camp nou in recent weeks. The Icelandic striker has been under the spotlight since Barcelona's striking options have been decimated by injury and many in the Catalan press have been giving him plenty of undeserved criticism; mainly because his names not Henrik or Samuel.

Cazorla is becoming a bit of a regular for us and Iniesta gets the call up again after shining amongst the less than sparkling stars at the Camp nou at the moment. Daniel Alves, at right back deserves his place and would be one of our favourite players - if only he'd learn to stay on his feet and spend less time trying to get his fellow professionals sent off - a shame really.

La Liga dream team: week 10

GK – Abbondanzieri (Getafe)

LB – Antonio Lopez (Atletico Madrid)
CB – Alexis (Getafe)
CB – Navarro (Sevilla)
RB – Miguel (Valencia)

LM – Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
CM – Cazorla ( Recre)
CM – De La Pena (Espanyol)
RM – Capi (Betis)

CF – Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)
CF – Agüero (Atletico Madrid)

When a centre forward scores four goals in a game there is little that needs to be said in order to justify his inclusion in our team of the week. The first two were classic poacher’s goals and the last two were sublime – not that the frighteningly hostile Osasuna crowd would have appreciated them.

Aguero joins the experienced Dutchman in attack and the ‘wonder kid’ truly lived up to his billing at the weekend. A fantastic chip into the back of the Villarreal net secured the win for his side at the weekend and confirmed Aguirre’s belief that “he is ready for La Liga”

Ronaldinho is still nowhere near his best but against Zaragoza he showed how, even on an off-day, he can win a game with a moment of brilliance. His goal celebration was as much of a joy to watch as the perfectly executed free kick that preceded it.

Capi gets his first call up into our first IX this season after coming off the bench to score the winner against Levante. Technically he is a striker but we’re playing him down the right. Irureta will be so happy with him right now we could probably play him in goal for all he cares.

‘The Duck’ in goal and Alexis in front of him in defense are becoming a regular feature in our side this season. No wonder Capello is sniffing around the Getafe defender after another performance like sunday's.

La Liga Team of week 9

Once again our team of the week features Kanoute and Diego Milito in attack. Freddi Kanoute is enjoying some of the finest form of his career and at 31 years of age it is long overdue. When he left the premiership there was a feeling that he would be suited to the pace of the game in Spain and it looks as if he has finally settled in after a disappointing first season. Kanoute was instrumental in Sevilla’s 2-0 win over Osasuna at the weekend and with 8 goals in 9 matches he has a claim on the Pichichi. With a goal and an assist it was a good weekend for Freddie and a very good weekend for the new league leaders Sevilla.

Kanoute is joined in Attack by Diego Milito who scored a stunning goal against Getafe at the weekend. He arrived on loan at Zaragoza just over a year ago and is earning a name for himself after initially being remembered as ‘Gabi’s brother. Gabi, meanwhile, also makes it into our team of the week.

We’ve been a bit adventurous this week and stuck Celta Vigo’s Nene, technically a striker, in an attacking midfield slot. The 25 year old Brazillian stole the limelight from compatriot Ronaldo in Celta’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid. He managed to start and finish a counter attack and forced a penalty from Casillas on Sunday. He has bags of skill and pace to burn, Keep an eye out for him in the future.

La Liga Review first eleven - week 8

Once again its the ‘Duck between’ the sticks in our team of the week and Abbondazieri really is looking like an amazing signing for Schuster. He’s joined by two midfielders from Getafe and to be honest there are a few more from his club who arguably deserve a place in our team. Under Bernd Schuster, Getafe are a team of almost unheard of players who are making a big impression in Spain and long may it continue. The ever dependable Belenguer marshals the defence and deserves special mention for the best home defensive record in La Liga – Getafe have yet to concede at home!

Helguera plays for us at centre half and the player who was inexplicably frozen out last season is making the most of the opportunities coming his way in the absence of Sergio Ramos. A vastly underrated player who capped off his weekend performance with a goal. He is joined at Centre Back by Gabi Milito – his brother made the team last week so its only fair.

Navas plays down the right and is another regular in our first team – if he can sort himself out he is going to be a real star of the future. Robinho plays down the other flank after putting in the kind of performance against Nastic that we know he can produce but needs to do it more often. He created havoc down the right flank at the weekend and along with his team mate (and our right back) Marti, is enough to give most opposing full backs a nightmare.

Munitis lines up in attack alongside his team mate Zigic and the pair of them are forming an outstanding partnership – Ayala and Albiol looked quite relieved at the final whistle that they had only conceded the one goal. The Racing strike pairing have eased the pressure on their coach and will cause all sorts of problems for far less accomplished defenders than Valencia’s this season.

Week seven - team of the week

Whilst it felt as if there was only one game being played in Spanish football this week, there were some cracking performances from players who play for neither Barcelona or Real Madrid. Unsurprisingly there are no Barcelona players in our team this week but there are a couple of Real Madrid players. And no, we haven't lost our minds, there is even an appearance from a Real Sociedad player.

Up until this season it had been the other Milito brother who had grabbed the headlines outside of Spain. However, with seven goals in seven games, Diego- the eldest of the Milito brothers- now tops the Pichichi and makes it into our first eleven. The 27 year old is developing a good understanding with Aimar and D’Alessandro to push the team up into a European spot. Zaragoza are playing some attractive, attacking football at the moment and let’s hope that Victor Fernandez can fend off the growing interest in his striker from some of the ‘bigger’ clubs.

Milito is joined in attack by his fellow leader of the Pichichi, Freddie Kanoute. The 29 year old is becoming something of a regular in the La Liga Review team this season after scoring seven in seven. After a disappointing first season in Spain, the former Spurs striker has already surpassed last season’s tally of six goals all season. An injury to Chevanton has led to Kanoute being given the opportunity this season after it looked like he might leave the club in the summer and he is finally turning some of his fabulous potential into results.

When Bernd Schuster announced at the start of the season that “When you have the duck between the sticks you are guaranteed success”, many though that he had lost his mind. Not so. He was referring to Abbondanzieri, known as the ‘Duck’, the Argentine keeper who looks like being one of the signings of the season. The keeper now leads the Zamora after only conceding four goals in seven games.

Abbondanzieri is eager to point out that he owes it all to an excellent defence in front of him and who are we to argue. As a result. His team mate Berenguer lines up in our team alongside Cannavaro at centre half.

We line up with midfield of players who all ply their trade at the less celebrated clubs and are all deserving of a place. It’s great to see Aimar back to his best and pleasing that Navas is overcoming his troubles to show us all what a terrific prospect he is. And yes, you’re eyes don’t deceive you – that is a Real Sociedad player in there.

Capdevila is becoming a bit of a regular in our side at left back, and on the other side, Sergio Ramos deserves inclusion for frustrating the combined efforts of Sylvinho and Ronaldinho on Sunday evening.

Week six 'Dream Team'

Ronaldinho is back to his best and pulling the strings in our team of the week that includes a few regular faces as well as a couple of players getting their first call up to the La Liga Review first XI. Unsurprisingly, no Real Madrid players will be getting a phone call from us this week.

Cream of the crop - week 5

Our Spanish football team of the week has a good mix of players from around La Liga clubs, including a striker we think is going to feature quite a lot this season.

Team of the week

The best eleven in Spanish football this week features some of the usual suspects, a couple of lesser known entries and, believe it or not, no Barcelona players.

week 3: Team of the week

Our La Liga team of the week includes a couple of former premiership players as well as one of the world's most expensive teenagers.

Team of the week

La Liga review’s team of the week has some obvious choices in attack alongside some more controversial inclusions in defence. Its also good to see some of the new faces to Spanish football make an immediate impact.

Pick of the week

The best eleven players from week one plus the pick of everything else in Spanish football on the opening weekend of the season.