Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
How many more years can people go on citing the same players as world class for Italy though? I've been hearing people name Nesta for years, Cannavaro also.It's not like Brazil where every year there's a genuinely phenomenal new prospect. They're naming the same players every year. When those players go, Italy will be worse than ever.
-AC
not really, they have Iaquinta, Luca Toni, Oddo, Fiore, Ferrari etc all coming through the ranks - and what with Nesta being young himself i don't think they have anything huge to worry about, nothing more than any other team anyway.
in my opinion though, one of the strongest teams for this world cup will be Argentina... everyone of their players seems to be at their peak - i just don't rate Crespo as international quality. i don't understand why they don't play Saviola consistently
I still think Brazil has a fair chance of winning it. However if France acts like a team again they could be good competitors. England could also become a revelation but for that they need to get a better goalie. When I take a look at the team Germany can field I see a very strong midfield and goalie but that's about it. Last but not least Netherland, they have a great team: young, a lot of scoring power, enough experience in defence and a very talented midfield yet for some reason they don't seem to do very well in the last few tournaments.
Originally posted by Fire
I still think Brazil has a fair chance of winning it. However if France acts like a team again they could be good competitors. England could also become a revelation but for that they need to get a better goalie. When I take a look at the team Germany can field I see a very strong midfield and goalie but that's about it. Last but not least Netherland, they have a great team: young, a lot of scoring power, enough experience in defence and a very talented midfield yet for some reason they don't seem to do very well in the last few tournaments.
are you serious haha?
better goalie?
have you actually seen Robinson play? he pulls off some of the most amazing saves match in match out, and i'm not ashamed to say he's one of the main reasons Tottenham are 4th in the league.
He has the some of best reactions i've seen from any goalkeeper period... shots from pointblank range into the top corner and he still manages to push it round the corner. Sure he stumbled twice in the league and cost us the win. (against Arsenal when we were 1-0 up, and he gifted Man Utd their goal...) but they're not massive discrepencies.
As for world cup winners... personally i see someone quite random winning it, perhaps South Korea
Originally posted by Deano
well campbell is out of the picture. ferdinand is top quality at his best. i dont like neville, carragher and terry are class and so is cole who has improved vastly in his defence capabiltys.only italys defence is as strong. but only nesta is world class for me. the rest are over half decent.
his best? he's no nesta... and how often is ferdinand at his best? honestly? cole imo is a petulant little shit who uses his size to get alot of decisions thrown his way... 😛
Originally posted by Deano
joe cole is becoming a world class player, and beckham has the quality to turn a match around in an instant, and his commitement is never in question
cole is a good way off being a world class player... as for beckham, commitment notwithstanding, its bottle that he'll need against the big teams, and i really don't know if he has said bottle...
for me, the best team is brazil... even with a weak defense, they still have ronaldinho (the best player in the world imo), kaka (the second best player in the world imo), juninho (best dead ball taker in the world imo, second only to maybe mijhailovic) and adriano (he's like rivaldo and ronaldo combined). i mean, sweet frickin jesus, if these guys perform no defence short of a brick wall (a very high one at that) will stop these guys...
i understand what vic is saying, but still, watching serie a and la liga every week and seeing what italian and spanish players can do is just amazing, but then they go to the big tournaments and make a balls of it... such a damn shame... 🙁
same goes for the dutch... 😠
and i personally rate sweden over south korea, sweden have a couple of world class strikers in ibrahimovic and larrsson (if he plays), they're a match for england on a good day...
well beckham is the best dead ball taker imo. even if brazil do have some of the best players in the world, so what. other teams have quality players too.
the 3 most deadly brazillians are kaka, ronaldinho and adriano.
robinho is touch and go sometimes, you never know what to expect from him. and ronaldo isnt as good as he once was.
i think sweden are better than korea, you forget they have llungberg too.
ive seen beckham do it several hundred times for man united. and several times for madrid. 1 match i remember was aginst barcelona. plus he has done it for england before. the greece match comes to mind.
but you dont rely on one player, it is a team game. and thats how you win things.
and if we do need someone to win a game for us single handedly, look no further then wayne rooney.
Originally posted by El_NINO
Come one now, we all truly know that Brazil will be in the final at least.IMO Brazil still has what it takes to win, and no kaka, ronaldinho, adriano are not the only players brazil have, they also have cafu, roberto carlos, roque jr, dida, and many more
cafu and carlos are growin old and not as influential as they was. dida is prone to make mistakes. and roque junior....i dont know why anyone would rate him highly