My expectation is that Brazil will do really well if it plays possession based teams like Spain, but if they play other defensive, counterattacking sides, then it will be awkward.
OTOH, I think Argentina will be much weaker against Spain, as they just don’t have that counterattacking game in their DNA, and they don’t have the midfield to wrest the game away from them either.
To play a counterattacking game you need intelligence and stamina. You need timing in order to realize when to step in and when to stand of.
Size is obviously a virtue but not at the expense of technique. Paulinho, Fred etc are all big players but to play for a Brazilian international team they aren’t up to par.
As for crosses in front of goal timing is everything. Fellaini is one of the worst headers of the ball iv’e seen, He’s probably 6’4’’. Cahill one of the best, He’s 5’9’’.
Ayala and Cannavaro were also 5’9’’. Size will give you reach and your leap might be higher. It won’t give you timing.
If Argentina line up with Zanetti and Cambiasso in mid they’ll have a solid base. Marcelo and Luiz will get caught out at times, Thiago Silva can’t cover for them always no matter how good he is.
Anyway the Brazil team will probably have a deep run, i can’t see them winning it.
None of those players have bad technique.
I think this is one of the most wide open tournaments we’ve seen in a while. An argument could be made for Germany, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. They all have massive weaknesses and it would depend on which team showed more consistency through the tournament. I’m going to pick Brazil because they’re at home and have looked dominant dating back to the confederations cup. It depends on which team shows up.
Yeah, Crazy season is back.
Ciro Immobile on his way to replace Lewandowski.
Lallana heavily rumored to go to Pool.
England might be a dark horse in the world cup if they take the people who deserve to go like lallana, shaw, rodriguez etc.
Not Fat Frank and Shrek.
No, they have no chance. I want Chelsea to get Jav Martinez or Paul pogba or khedirs…they need that dominant cm presence.
It’s highly unlikely that chelsea will buy another central midfielder after buying Matic in January. I don’t think they’ll have much money left after buying Diego Costa.
don’t be daft, the only chance they have is if Rooney does his usual running around like a child playing football in the playground and knackers himself out in the heat and gets taken off at half time.
Yeah, i was chuckling when i typed it out but still.
Lallana, Sterling and Oxlade behing Sturridge isn’t too bad.
Gerrard and Wilshere holding is quite good too.
Lallana is a beautiful player, glides across the pitch and lovely feet.
This is Chelsea, A pathetic existence of a club that exist to satisfy a Russian Oligarch’s vanity. Don’t think things like feasibility and FFP scare them at all.
Gerrard is not a permanent holding mid. Could you ever imagine Busquets losing the ball like that, much less slipping afterwards?
Done a good job there this season.
Tevez hasn’t been selected for quite some time now.
Just wanted to point that out because I like to do stuff like that 
Out of 19 World Cups, 8 hosts were too weak to truly compete for the title (opinion).
Out of the 11 hosts that were competitive, 6 won.
I think Brazil has a much weaker team than in previous generations and it is also weaker or at best on par with a few other national squads, but this very-small time sensitive sample made me cautiously optimistic.
And hosts really tend to go farther than most think anyway. Maybe it’s the home/cheering factor, maybe referees look kindly to host teams (to say the least), but that home advantage is really an influence - South Korea 2002 in the semis would hardly happen anywhere else.
Right now I think top contenders are Germany, Spain and Brazil. But things are pretty open. And the current best players are not in the best teams - Messi, Ronaldo and even Suarez may add to the unpredictability through the World Cup.
Except for that one time.
Saying that the ref looked kindly to host teams in regards to S Korea is an understatement. It was an outright fixing scandal. I think I read reports that he was bribed with money and the linesman was bribed with a car vs. the Italians.
So? Playing there for the first time in his career and has double figures in goals and assists. Granted most of the goals are in penalities but he’s contributed a lot this season.
Best all round player i’ve ever seen.
Given that Liverpool’s defense has been pretty bad this season what makes you think he’s been so good at his position? That mistake alone should pretty much end his career at the position. And now you’re judging defensive midfielders by goals and assists?
If hes the best all round player youve seen, you need to watch more soccer.
It’s about the system, positions are arbitrary. Pirlo and Busquets play in the same ‘position’. Busquets job is to recycle and Pirlo’s is to make something happen.
So not sure why you compare Gerrard to Busquets when that is not what he’s being asked to do. Gerrard will never have the positioning that Busquets will have like sergio will never have the passing range Gerrard has shown.
Gerrard has played Right back, Right wing, Centre mid, Behind the striker all at the highest level. In the tail end of his career he’s reinventing himself as deep lying. Show me a better all round player.
Pirlo and Busquets do not play the same position! Gerrard’s position is most similar to Busquets, and I named him because that pass was a trademark Busquets move - receiving a pass in a vulnerable position with onrushing attackers…
He has played multiple positions, that does not mean he has been great at any of them. He was not a world class right back, not a world class right mid, not a world class right wing, and not a world class no.10. At CM I’ll give you, but even there I don’t rate him that highly. He’s technically decent and can run a lot, so it makes sense to use him in many of these positions.
I’m not really sure what you mean by “better all round player”. Frankly, I would rather have a player great at one position than someone who’s adequate at many.