No Barca in 2009 were no nearer being perfect than Liverpool were in 76/77. As for Bayern they were a long way off. All sides have flaws. Perhaps the thing that actually defines really good sides is that they hide or compensate for them better than their opponents.
A perfect team in one persons eyes is not perfect in another persons. Therefore, it is impossible to get a perfect team. That's assuming a team could be perfect in one persons eyes but since Livtor is claiming the Barca 09 team was perfect, I guess a team can be.
what are we on about here... relative strength of epl? frankly the epl is muck compared to spain generally. put spuds up to an equivilant spanish side they struugle.... same for most teams. barca 2009? no not perfect, imply put 4/5 really great players, no perfect at the back.. as the players aged thier ability to get about has too.. bayern? direct, powerful but badly lacking class up top. ribery and robben, very good but not greats and as for the lump up top?? no nothings perfect.... look at ajax 1995.. near perfect in all areas.. look at ac milan early 90s top top side. look at lfc in the 1980s. defence midfiled and attack all top. in this era we've looked at utd being "good enough" in the prem and not quite good enough in europe as they've never fully put it all together.. one year its great defense, the next its great midfield, then its attack. in 2009 they had forwards and defense, in 1999 they had midfield but not really sorted defense.... bayern should be shortly the complete team but thier manager won't suit the players imo. lewandowski and guardiola??? meh. how about city? IMO they are functional but not a great side. silva, yaya, aguero, kompany... the rest are not up to it
Alright, let's do away with the term "perfect" as you and Dave are using it very literally. Nothing is perfect in reality. "Masterful" "Masterpiece", let's use those. As in art or music, whether Beethoven or the Beatles tickle your fancy, they are all masterful musicians nonetheless. I couldn't stand Barca, just like Queen or Rolling Stones - yet I applaud their master genius. The fact that in the last 20 odd years, a dominant league like the BPL has not produced a Masterpiece of a team vexes me. And I'm left to search for answers. Yes, Barca of a few years back, Bayern of last year, Real of 2000, were masterful. The fact that Dave has to go back to '77 to find the English equivalent says it all.
A lot depends on how people define "Strongest" when determining the merits of a league. If we are talking about strength in depth the i'd agree it's the EPL, as shown by Sunderland's performance away at City last night for example. If we are suggesting that the teams at the top of the EPL are the best in Europe, then that's bollox, as proven by the most recent European tournaments (with the exception of Chelsea!) You see lots of comments saying La-Liga is a 2 team league (3 this year) but that fails to acknowledge that both Real and Barca are in the top4 in Europe over the last few years. The teams below them such as Sevilla, Valencia and Bilbao are no ones mugs as proven most years in the Europa league. Cue the "it's ****, the english teams don't try" etc comments but i'd ague it's third most prestigious comp going as most domestic cups (sadly inc the FA cup) are devalued nowadays. Lately we've seen the rise of a few mega clubs in terms of CL performance, consistantly making the SF's or better. In the last 6 (inc this season) these are the CL Semi-Finalists: Barca 5 Bayern 4 Real 4 Chelsea 3 Utd 2 And 6 other teams once
There are certainly sides that are very good in their environment. If you will excuse the historical reference then I would go back to the Real Madrid side of Puskas, Hento, etc. However, they would struggle against a mediocre side like United are presently. It's not just that you can't play players from the 1950s against todays players, its the tactics, it's even the ball and the pitches and certainly the interpretation of the rules. Now I will agree with you that I have not seen another English side of since the Liverpool sides of the 70s and 80s who have been so majestically superior. Perhaps that is because we now have too many foreign players and coaches and are therefore attempting a style of play that foreign clubs have more experience of. It always amazes me that when England play they allow the tempo of the game to drop to a level more comfortable for the opposition. Results show that our players do not feel comfortable with it.
Tough to say. How do you quantify it? Top third, I'd say La-Liga given 4 teams left in the last 8 of the CL and EL against 1 for the EPL. In the middle, who knows. My gut says maybe the EPL. Bottom third, i'd say the EPL, given the greater number of upsets against top teams. TOP-BOTTOM strength Is a subjective argument I guess. Measured in terms of recent European results and sucess its La-Liga which is backed by UEFA's rankings: http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2014.html http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/ccoef2014.html Also, Iv'e seen some posters in various club threads, worried about us losing a CL place. THAT'S NOT HAPPENING as we are well clear of Italy!
