La Liga XI of the decade

Saw one on the BBC for the EPL, thought we should do one for la Liga as well.

So who makes your la Liga XI 00-09?

Goalkeeper: Santiago Canizares won three Zamora's this decade and Victor Valdes has two but for me the best goalkeeper is still Iker Casillas. He's pocketed the Zamora once but he has been the first choice goalkeeper for four league winning Real Madrid sides and in the middle of the decade when things were going really badly with the end of the 1st Galactico era, you get the feeling that without him Real Madrid could have easily been playing UEFA Cup football.

Right back: I suppose for the first half of the decade you would be looking at the likes of Michel Salgado or Jocelyn Angloma and based on the second half you could make a good case for Dani Alves but my selection is Deportivo's Manuel Pablo. The man has played over 250 games for Depor this decade in spite of some serious injuries (including a broken leg). He was the right back of the Super Depor team that one the first league title of the decade and is still a stalwart in a Deportivo side that is overachieving at the close of the '00s.

Left back: Can't see past Roberto Carlos on this one. Such a dynamic player for so many years - again, first choice for all four of Real Madrid's league winning sides this decade. Honourable mention to Joan Capdevila who was an important figure in those great Deportivo sides in the mid '00s and also later for Villarreal.

Centre backs: I have to go with Roberto Ayala and Carles Puyol. Admittedly there are not a lot of great central defenders in la Liga. Fernando Hierro didn't play enough this decade. Jorge Andrade, you could maybe make a case for. Gonzalo has been maybe the best individual central defender has been injured too much. So for me it is Ayala who was the rock of the Valencia defence that won a couple of league titles in 01-02 and 03-04 (a team that only conceded .6 goals/game for the whole season) and Puyol who has been the leader of three league winning Barcelona teams that have to be the pairing in my team.

Defensive midfielder: A few candidates come to mind: Marcos Assunçao from Betis, Makelele from Celta and Real Madrid, Sergio Gonzalez from Deportivo but it is hard to look past David Albelda. A reserve in the Valencia team that reached back-to-back Champions league finals in 2000 and 2001, Albelda was perhaps the pivotal figure in Valencia's two league titles in 2002 and 2004. Hard as nails, a little bit naughty, but could play a bit of football as well. The Koeman regime apart, he is still hard to drop due to his leadership and determination.

Centre midfielder: The true mediocentros are hard to find any more. La Liga does tend to specialise in them still, however. Xabi Alonso was great for Real Sociedad before leaving for Liverpool coming back just before the close of the decade. Also Deco, Marcos Senna, and players like Javi Martinez who represent a more modern version. Still, Xavi is the definitive player in this position. Coming through at the end of the 90s he has played over 300 matches for Barcelona this decade. Nobody keeps the ball moving and the play ticking like Xavi. Plus he makes goals and scores them. Top player.

Right attacking midfielder: Luis Figo probably had his best years in the 90s even though for the first several seasons of this decade he was still amongst the best players in the world. Joaquin had some dazzling, although inconsistent, years for Betis and later Valencia. Joseba Etxeberria has been a steadfast presence in Athletic. Still, I think Leo Messi has to be the choice. Absolutely dominant in his position since he came in to the Barcelona first team in the middle of the decade. A part of three league winning sides and now a Balon d'Or and FIFA World Player.

Centre attacking midfielder: Actually there are a lot of names you could throw into this discussion: Valeron, De la Peña, Riquelme, Iniesta, David Silva. Still, the greatest of them all has been Zinedine Zidane. Even though most of his years in la Liga were probably after his peak, there was no greater artist than the Frenchman. He won just the one league title in Spain but his legacy is based on his controls, his passes, his dribblings.

Left attacking midfielder: Were it not for all of those dreadful ankle injuries perhaps we would be starting this discussion with Vicente's name. Or if he weren't such a lazy f*cker, Jose Antonio Reyes. Or if his stay in la Liga was not so brief, Arjen Robben. But for three years in the middle of the decade the best player on the planet was playing in la Liga, for Barcelona: Ronaldinho. Hard to look past a player who combined such imagination, flair, and effectiveness. A decisive player even if Ronaldinho at his peak form was short lived.

Striker: Two candidates come to mind immediately with almost an identical strike rate (.588 vs. .581) and although you could not really be faulted for choosing Samuel Eto'o, I am going to pick Diego Forlan. The only two-time pichichi this decade and he did it with two different teams and, arguably, with an inferior supporting cast relative to Eto'o. It's a toss up but it is the Uruguayan for me.

-------------------Casillas

M. Pablo-----Puyol-----Ayala-----R. Carlos

-------------Albelda-----Xavi

Messi------------Zidane---------Ronaldinho

------------------Forlan

Jaime wrote:Goalkeeper: Santiago Canizares won three Zamora's this decade and Victor Valdes has two but for me the best goalkeeper is still Iker Casillas. He's pocketed the Zamora once but he has been the first choice goalkeeper for four league winning Real Madrid sides and in the middle of the decade when things were going really badly with the end of the 1st Galactico era, you get the feeling that without him Real Madrid could have easily been playing UEFA Cup football.

Right back: I suppose for the first half of the decade you would be looking at the likes of Michel Salgado or Jocelyn Angloma and based on the second half you could make a good case for Dani Alves but my selection is Deportivo's Manuel Pablo. The man has played over 250 games for Depor this decade in spite of some serious injuries (including a broken leg). He was the right back of the Super Depor team that one the first league title of the decade and is still a stalwart in a Deportivo side that is overachieving at the close of the '00s.

Left back: Can't see past Roberto Carlos on this one. Such a dynamic player for so many years - again, first choice for all four of Real Madrid's league winning sides this decade. Honourable mention to Joan Capdevila who was an important figure in those great Deportivo sides in the mid '00s and also later for Villarreal.

Centre backs: I have to go with Roberto Ayala and Carles Puyol. Admittedly there are not a lot of great central defenders in la Liga. Fernando Hierro didn't play enough this decade. Jorge Andrade, you could maybe make a case for. Gonzalo has been maybe the best individual central defender has been injured too much. So for me it is Ayala who was the rock of the Valencia defence that won a couple of league titles in 01-02 and 03-04 (a team that only conceded .6 goals/game for the whole season) and Puyol who has been the leader of three league winning Barcelona teams that have to be the pairing in my team.

Defensive midfielder: A few candidates come to mind: Marcos Assunçao from Betis, Makelele from Celta and Real Madrid, Sergio Gonzalez from Deportivo but it is hard to look past David Albelda. A reserve in the Valencia team that reached back-to-back Champions league finals in 2000 and 2001, Albelda was perhaps the pivotal figure in Valencia's two league titles in 2002 and 2004. Hard as nails, a little bit naughty, but could play a bit of football as well. The Koeman regime apart, he is still hard to drop due to his leadership and determination.

Centre midfielder: The true mediocentros are hard to find any more. La Liga does tend to specialise in them still, however. Xabi Alonso was great for Real Sociedad before leaving for Liverpool coming back just before the close of the decade. Also Deco, Marcos Senna, and players like Javi Martinez who represent a more modern version. Still, Xavi is the definitive player in this position. Coming through at the end of the 90s he has played over 300 matches for Barcelona this decade. Nobody keeps the ball moving and the play ticking like Xavi. Plus he makes goals and scores them. Top player.

Right attacking midfielder: Luis Figo probably had his best years in the 90s even though for the first several seasons of this decade he was still amongst the best players in the world. Joaquin had some dazzling, although inconsistent, years for Betis and later Valencia. Joseba Etxeberria has been a steadfast presence in Athletic. Still, I think Leo Messi has to be the choice. Absolutely dominant in his position since he came in to the Barcelona first team in the middle of the decade. A part of three league winning sides and now a Balon d'Or and FIFA World Player.

Centre attacking midfielder: Actually there are a lot of names you could throw into this discussion: Valeron, De la Peña, Riquelme, Iniesta, David Silva. Still, the greatest of them all has been Zinedine Zidane. Even though most of his years in la Liga were probably after his peak, there was no greater artist than the Frenchman. He won just the one league title in Spain but his legacy is based on his controls, his passes, his dribblings.

Left attacking midfielder: Were it not for all of those dreadful ankle injuries perhaps we would be starting this discussion with Vicente's name. Or if he weren't such a lazy f*cker, Jose Antonio Reyes. Or if his stay in la Liga was not so brief, Arjen Robben. But for three years in the middle of the decade the best player on the planet was playing in la Liga, for Barcelona: Ronaldinho. Hard to look past a player who combined such imagination, flair, and effectiveness. A decisive player even if Ronaldinho at his peak form was short lived.

Striker: Two candidates come to mind immediately with almost an identical strike rate (.588 vs. .581) and although you could not really be faulted for choosing Samuel Eto'o, I am going to pick Diego Forlan. The only two-time pichichi this decade and he did it with two different teams and, arguably, with an inferior supporting cast relative to Eto'o. It's a toss up but it is the Uruguayan for me.

-------------------Casillas

M. Pablo-----Puyol-----Ayala-----R. Carlos

-------------Albelda-----Xavi

Messi------------Zidane---------Ronaldinho

------------------Forlan

Not even an honourable mention for David Villa - scandalous!

You could make a case for Miguel at right back before injuries and Koeman among other factors halted his progress. Still a damn good team you put together.

Can't disagree with anything there Jaime. Well done.

Can't argue with that, but i would go with Alves, he has won 11 titles since coming to la liga and though not the traditional FB, he is the best for me.

Villa does deserve a mention, but when really looking at it, forlan is the man, he has scored as much goals as most the like of villa, and eto'o, but with teams like Villarreal and Atletico.

Good job jaime. that team would be one hell of a team to play against, i doubt any other team of the decade would be better, from any league.

@EMP

I don't think you can really make a case for Miguel. He's a good footballer but he's really done nothing since coming to Spain. Even Angloma or Curro Torres have accomplished more this decade for Valencia if you really need to have a 'che' in the discussion.

@Messiah

Like I said, Dani Alves is certainly in consideration. You have to remember though that if it is only for la Liga you can't take into consideration all 11 titles that he has won. Really it is just the one league title with Barcelona last year (I guess a couple of Spanish Super Cups as well). Still a cracking footballer. If we do one for the decade 2005-2015 he will probably be the unanimous choice.

Also, David Villa is right up there in terms of strikers. He does score a lot from penalties which somewhat inflate his goalscoring numbers a bit relative to Eto'o and Forlan. Still a great striker that I highly rate (as everyone knows). You can really also include Ronaldo (Brasil) in the discussion. In his five years in Madrid he had a goalscoring rate of .65 and he did grab one pichichi! Still, I think all of his injuries count against him and the fact that most of his years in Madrid we were sh!t doesn't help his cause.

Subs


--------------Canizares

--Alves---Andrade----Pellegrino?---Capdevilla

------------Maka--valeron

-----Figo-------Deco-----Vicente/Iniesta

----------------Eto'o

That is pretty good. I would maybe swap Valeron and Deco as I think Deco could play a bit deeper.

Hard to say what other centre half to put in there next to Andrade. Pellegrino isn't a bad choice at all. I might even nominate someone like Jarque. He was such a quality defender, probably would have been more renowned had he played for a bigger club than Espanyol. Maybe you could consider Juanito from his years in Betis. It's easy to forget they finished 4th in 04-05 or whenever it was.

EMP wrote:You could make a case for Miguel at right back before injuries and Koeman among other factors halted his progress. Still a damn good team you put together.

He's only had one good season.

Olé wrote:

EMP wrote:You could make a case for Miguel at right back before injuries and Koeman among other factors halted his progress. Still a damn good team you put together.

He's only had one good season.

I said you could make a case; I didn't say it was a good one.

Still think Villa should be included prominently at least in the discussion. There is a hell of a lot more to hs game than goal-scoring - inflated by penalties or not. If you see him play, he works damn hard on the flank as well; he isn't just a poacher. His all round game is better for the team than Forlan. For that reason I'd have gone for Eto'o above Forlan too. Secondly Villa has performed consistently despite the train wrecks that Valencia has been since stupidly booting Quique out - still not properly recovered from that moronic decision and that isn't an anti-Koeman diatribe. It was chronic mismanagement to have sacked Quique then. Forlan performed very well in a stable Villarreal side and then in a shambolic Atletico, which is in his favour. However bad Valencia has been Villa has pperformed for them annd Spain too.

I agree that Villa deserves a mention. Im not sure he could qualify to win it because he hasn't played as long as the others but I have been more impressed with him then the others.

---------------Casillas---------------
-----------Puyol---Hierro-----------
Reizeger-------------------Carlos

---------Xavi-------Baraja----------

-Messi-----Zidane-----Figo----

-------------- Raul------------------