while xavi certainly re-invented that role,javi and bastian have perhaps ( i tread carefully) re-defined it again. Both are physical,high stamina,superb intelligence and very accurate passing. The way bayern dominated them with those two in the centre was scary. Spain’s future mid will be busquets,martinez and thiago. very tasty if thiago reaches his potential.
tello is just a speed merchant,cuenca is ok. Deulofeu looks like the one but he’s still a bit raw. Put one of those and you’re still struggling for goals outside messi,neymar will bring goals. He’s already nailed that ‘henry’ finish.
Mats hummels is a classy player, got a boss moustache too. His interview was telling though- " There are trophies and then there are special trophies. Any trophy with dortmund now is very special".I hope he stays at dortmund-love what klopp is doing there.
True, Javi is more of a “pressing” DM that pushes up the midfield unlike one who sits in front of the back two like Masc. But a team like spain needs a conductor. That may be Cazorla, could be Thiago, or it could also be Illaramendi - who sits deep. They also have Oliver Torres coming up. But they should have done that during Confederations Cup.
I think they should drop Busquets and replace him with Xabi, a DM of Xabi and Javi would be awesome IMO, but I don’t know how good Xabi is at defending.
What I mean is that Messi scoring 40 goals is unsustainable…need to spread it around…Barca’s problem is not lack of talent…it’s the disease of shortermism. Villa is an awesome finisher, and they should figure out how to use the talent they have. I say move Messi back into the right side of the trident. Then again, Neymar is pretty good, so it can all work out in the end.
That’s the thing mate. martinez can “press” as well as conduct play. He’s the best of both worlds. Illara…and oliver are superb young players but you’re right 2014 will be too early for them.
Drop busquets? not in a million years…check out a ytube video “the beautiful mind of sergio busquets”.
messi’s goal scoring record is freakish, i dunno what’s unsustainable for him anymore. They need him as near goal as possible which is why neymar and whoever as supporting cast will work wonders for them next season.
sanchez needs to go to the premiership.That game suites him much better…
No question about Messi’s goalscoring. I just think it makes them very dependent upon him…I don’t think 40 goals benefits them that much if he’s the only one scoring…
Spain is gonna have some growing pains when Xavi is gone for sure…
Yeah. As much as I think Busquets is a bumder with all his diving and such, I’m pretty wowed whenever I watch him play. I’ll check the video out later.
I think Messi benefits greatly from playing with the likes of Iniesta and Xavi. They are amazing at attracting the defense and then dishing off a sublime final pass. I’m not sure if Divemar can do this but he’s still young so maybe he’ll learn. I’m not very impressed by Sanchez either. UEFA and the world cup should be interesting next year. Fergie gone, Mourinho back, rise of Bayern/Germany. Decent amount of good football ahead.
What do you guys think of this? The diving is becoming too ridiculous nowadays. I think Europe and S. America are light years ahead of the rest in terms of talent and will be for some time but the diving is just too much. There needs to be some penalty instituted like if you’re on the ground for over 30 seconds or look like you’re in excruciating pain, you should be taken off for 5 minutes. I think this would reduce the amount of diving. Just a thought.
Europe and s.america have always been ahead. s.korea and japan are catching up quickly though. within a few years they’ll overtake shitty ingerland etc.
Diving is a strange one. I can understand diving near a pen box or inside for a free kick or a pen but they dive near the freaking byline also. It’s annoying cause it just interrupts play. messi doesn’t dive because he doesn’t want play interrupted,when the defenders on the ground he gets up quickly because that’s the advantage.the defensive line will be messed up.
FIFA won’t do shit,corrupt bastards.
Next season will be mental. Hope dortmund’s rise continues. what a stadium,when that fk goetze left they put up a massive banner “the pursuit of money means you have no heart…fk off mario”. I mean i get going to the premiership or la liga but bayern…really?
I’m so curious to see what Spain does to Tahiti. Iniesta and Del Bosque said holding back on Tahiti will be an insult to Tahiti so they’ll play hard. Even though they will be playing with their second unit.
I played striker at a competitive level and most people complain about diving but you must understand that it keeps defenders honest and is a level of protection for you as a striker. I’m not in favor of falling if someone touches you but you can’t have 6’5’’ defenders beating the shit out of you so you don’t interrupt play.
It also helps the ref to tighten up the game. I’ve seen matches get out of hand because refs weren’t giving calls and the play opens up and players start taking out opponents. It’s a brutal game when play opens up, elbows, tugging, wild kicks etc start coming out.
sure mate. I follow that line of thought,but every decent forward knows that when a defender goes down he’s out of the game. Messi,tevez,aguero (it’s still a s.american thing) seem to have understood this and if you watch their games now there are countless instances when they coud’ve gone down but stayed up. Even suarez who gets so much stick has stayed on his feet a surprising no of times.
Did anyone catch neymar stick a middle finger to the haters yesterday? goal and assist with some flair.underneath the donkey tricks there is a beast of a player.
the japanese fked the italians yest but the italians ground it out.(typical).the japanese are on their way up. where’s thiago gonna go?
To the diving, i’m not even so much against the falling on the ground. I understand the perspective of not letting a game get of out hand. However, for one, it’s the most basic touches that guys go down for. Now it’s like when guys with the ball are in a tight spot, they initiate some contact and then fall on the floor. What’s worse than that is when guys barely get touched or don’t get touched and act like their achilles have been ruptured. Granted there are some injuries but how many of the guys groaning like they’re in excruciating pain actually end up leaving the field and staying off for a significant amount of time due to injuries. If you get fouled, fine. Get up and get on with the game. Don’t stay down, delay the game, try get the other guy carded or any of that bs.
^
I did see Neymar show some quality yesterday. He made some purposeful moves and some good final passes. Oscar’s offside goal and Jo’s goal showed Neymar’s passing abilities. So i may stand corrected with him. He does need to stop diving and crying like a b****. He’s number 1 when it comes to being a drama queen on the pitch.
Japan surprised me yesterday. They look so much better than they did against Brazil. Italy was definitely on the back foot towards the end. Sad to see them go out.
Thiago is going to Barca I believe along with Neymar.
Thing about japan is that it’s been on the cards for a while. they’re building ground up and the bundesliga is filled with young japanese players. kagawa for 500k? there is insane value in that market.
neymar-agreed,he’s a crybaby. but easy to forget he’s still a kid and has so much pressure on his shoulders and you got to give him credit. He’s wearing the shirt pretty well. I’ve seen about 10 games of his all in but i’m sold. the kid’s got it.
wonder what’s going through torres head now?has there been a more dramatic decline?
doesn’t look good for the super-eagles does it? ethiopia are through i think. ah well…
I have to agree that there is some quality with Neymar and i’ll give him more props because he’s young. I wouldnt say i’m sold though.Brazilian league/mexico/Japan are different from Italy/Spain/La liga.
Torres’ fall was very sad. I blame Chelsea. Thats the place where great careers go to die. Torres, Shevchenko. All were promising stars and then they went to Chelsea.
No one is through yet from Africa. I personally think CAF and UEFA WC qualifications are the toughest. No disrespect to any other regions. I mean Iran is already in. That should say something. They are in the second round i believe. There are 10 groups of 4. There’s one game left. Top 10 teams go to the next round and then are paired against each other later in the year. Each of those pairs play a home and away leg and the winners advance to the world cup. Super eagles are currently on top of their group and should make it through. All we need is a draw at home. We have been known for fu***** up when it really counts so I wouldn’t rule it out. We should be fine though.