18 Yard Box has a look at the five reasons why La Liga beats any other League in Europe when it comes to 'technical' aspects
As all the great debates in football go on and on whether its Pele
or Maradona, Ronaldinho or Zidane, Maldini Or Beckenbauer, Ronaldo or Messi, the one which has recently started taking place is which is the world’s best
league at the moment. We should all come to a conclusion that its useless to compare any Leagues as each League has its own uniqueness. The English thrive on the physical aspect where as the Spaniards rule the roost with their version of 'Beautiful football'.
When people refer to La Liga as a two horse race, it just shows
how little they actually know about La Liga. There is much
more to La Liga than just Real Madrid Or Barcelona. The fact that La Liga is dominated by Real
Madrid and Barcelona at the top, does not make the other teams weak.
Inspite of it being ruled by the two teams, the other teams are technically superior to any other teams from the other Leagues.
18 Yard Box's Muneeb Iqbal analysis the technical superiority of La Liga.
Approach play
The part for which La liga is now being known is for how
beautifully and how technically the game is being approached in the Spanish
league. Apart from the two giants, who are a class apart, the style of play being
adapted in the league is “Tiki Taka”, possibly the hardest style of play which
makes the team work their socks off simply by passing and keeping possession. Another feature of this style of play is that the attack almost starts from
the back which is right from the goal keeper keeping possession and making the ball
move forward step by step. The whole idea of this tiki taka style is to keep
the ball in control and tire the opposition out just by making them chase. Which
can be argued to the style of long ball & counter attacking which is opted
by many other leagues but that being less precise & even in that category
there is not a better counter attacking side when it comes to likes of Real
Madrid And Atletico Madrid. If you love to watch a great build up to a goal and
how the teams emphasize on the style of play La Liga is the answer.
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| Biesla's men stunned the world with their brand of football last season |
Less Physical
One of the other brighter aspects of La Liga while looking on the
big picture is the less physicality in the league and much more emphasis on
technique, ball control and possession. Although this is one aspect which is a part of the game, what it brings alongwith it is
fewer injuries to players which might possibly in some cases be career or even
life threatening. You won’t find big tall center forwards who stand still just
as target man in the box but actually a more usefully implemented system which
may be referred to false nine system in which the forward actually takes part
in the team play which eventually leads to the goal. These players need to be
technically better and be more sound to know where the ball is going to arrive and
how to make that one final through pass which will rip the defenses open. For
attackers, agility, dribbling and off the ball movement is important, although
more traditional 'target men' such as Fernando Llorente can also be successful.
Since there's less focus on physical strength,
defending tends to involve pressing the opponent high up the pitch and forcing
mistakes in possession.
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| You wouldnt find such physical duels in La Liga |
Technical superiority
La Liga’s superiority is because of the player's
technical ability. Every player is so comfortable on the ball and can pass and
keep possession. Not every player in Europe can do that and those who can have
been brought by splashing ridiculous amounts of money. It is also because they
are more technically gifted players that they are able to move through defenders more
easily than many players.
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| With master passers like Xavi, Isco and others La Liga is sure to flourish |
Fantastic youth system
The part where Spanish League outclasses every other league by a
very big margin is in developing youth talent. The likes of La Masia and
Castilla are considered the best youth academies in the world not because they produce great talent but also for the likes of making that talent flourish
in their own team. These players, who come through their respective academies of their
clubs, complete the whole process of youth system and make it to the first
teams. Hence they excel even more because they have the DNA of the club
embodied in them. This in every aspect seems to be a better deal from a
business point of a view too. La Liga has 137 players at the moment who have
made it through from their respective academies and are playing in the league
perhaps an indication to why Spain has such a terrific national side. The Spanish football association uses the League, the teams and their academies to produce good young and dynamic players. Some players like Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla and Fernando Torres who dominate
while playing in leagues other are mostly the products of these
youth academies. Young players in Spanish with the likes of Tello, Isco,
Fontas, Bartra, Montoya, Callejon, Nacho , Munian, Martinez, Cuenca and Jordi
Alba are even at such young ages very complete players competing with the best
players in the Europe and over powering them just by their technically sound
game.
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| The La Masia academy |
Statistical Analysis
Clubs in Spain who have won the league, apart from the TWO, in the
last decade include Deportivo and Valencia who won their league not because of the money but
it all came down to good tactics, fantastic skill and good management.
We all remember last years Europa league which featured the two Manchester clubs. Bilbao finished 40 points behind Real Madrid last
season and taught the Red Devils a footballing lesson over the 2-legged games.
- Three Spanish clubs made the semis.
- The Europa League final was contested between two Spanish teams.
- Atletico thrashed Fulham 2-0 in the European cup in 2010 with two glorious strikes from Diego Forlan.
- Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have one more European trophies in the last decade than the entire EPL teams combined.
- In the past decade five Spanish clubs have made Europa League finals besides Real Madrid and Barcelona and three have won the competition.
Comment
La Liga is better in terms of pure football. It
is just as hard to predict a result of any match-up between Valencia, Atletico
Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Malaga as it is to predict the same between Arsenal Vs
Chelsea, Napoli Vs Udinese , Borussia Dortmund Vs Bayern Leverkusen.
La Liga currently posses the best talent in Europe without a
shadow of a doubt with 14 of the 23 short lists for Ballon d’or belonging to
players in Spain.
No Leagues can be compared on the whole as every League has its unique speciality but when it comes to pure football its La Liga which leads the way.
Written By,
Muneeb Iqbal
Muneeb is a writer for 18 Yard Box
Follow Muneeb on Twitter
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