Ozil is hardly one-footed. I thought he was the man of the match TBH.
I think they will get more protection against the better teams, where the midfield will be more balanced. Khedira and Schweinsteiger can shield the defence quite well when they have to.
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You could say the same about us. Maybe they will improve but they don't seem fortress like as of old. Germany are very powerful offensively at present. My feeling though is that the system they play is better, or makes them look better, than they are. That is what you want of course, a team better than the sum of its parts. But it does give hope to the others.
If I was Mourinho I would sell Benzema out of solidarity with Blanc. What a waste of space. I thought France were awful last night. They remind me a lot of Chelsea in recent years. Some good athletes who can do good things if they put their minds to it but petulant and of course no Drogba to save them time after time. Like Chelsea they dont seem to have the will or the ability to defend their midfield. So Spain march on.
I hgave been struck this tournament by how important Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso are to Spain. They give them class. Players like Silva, Xavi and Navas dash around like angry dwarfs insisting on the supremacy of their techinique and moaning when the oppo dont roll over. Iniesta is much better than that, just a brilliant player, but even he has a sort of petulance about him. The Madrid contingent give the rest of the side a different perspective. Fabregas too adds a sort of clarity of thought that is impressive.
I think Pirlo will give Parker and Gerrard a lesson tomorrow. He's so good to watch when he's picking teams apart, later on could be one of those times.
I am really talking about the games I see Chelsea play live. Match after match they let the opposition run or pass through them in midfield. Essien was a brilliant defensive midfielder but is no longer. Lampard never was. Who knows what Ramires is supposed to do. But as I said they do have good athletes who can work hard and when they do and with a lot of luck, as against Barcelona, can do well.
The players you mention -- Hazard etc -- strike me as more of the same. Mercurial, capable of being very good or absent without leave. Maybe Di Matteo can change the culture of the team. Blanc didnt manage it for France.
If the game ends up being higher tempo, I wonder how he will fare with less time on the ball. He's not exactly young anymore. At least there is only one of him as opposed to Spain with Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, etc.
I Thought Silva caused a lot of problems on the French left with Clichy. Clichy terrifies me from a defensive standpoint; Silva must enjoy torching him on a daily basis at Man City training.
Essien certainly isn't what he was, i'd of sold him this summer whilst he still had value. I'd of said use the money and go for M'Vila but his attitude isn't the best, they both have the strength, but you get more passing from M'Vila. Ramires is there for his tackling and pace, nobody can keep up with him so he's very useful breaking out. He seems to play better when he's out wide on the right, it's where he played for Brazil when he first broke into the team 3 years ago and he was at home there.
Hazard certainly is mecurial, as you say. I think we do need a player like that though, someone like Zola who is a special player. One criticism of us is how predictable we are and we can't break teams down, we need what he can bring. As I say though, without the right midfield behind him he won't shine as much as he is capable of.
I think Pirlo will be fine He never had pace, he started out as an attacking midfielder and although he was talented, he didn't really live up to it. When Ancelotti converted him into a sitting playmaker, he's become one of the greats in that position of his era. He's just a class act who knows his craft.
Maybe he won't turn up today, but i'm thinking he probably will.
You thought right.:wink:
I'm just glad we got rid of that Diamante bloke, i knew in a rubbish hammers side when he was scoring and making goals he wasn't good enough for us, thank kgod we sold him so we could affoard Mcarthy from Blackburn, dodged a bullet getting rid of him.
Anyone know how badly rooney has to play before one is allowed to mention it?
Haha, I was surprised you did aswell. I don't think you got very much for him either? Bit of a strange one.
I had him in my fantasy team for awhile, as you say he got alot of assists and his penalties, free kicks and goals from distance were good to watch.
I'm just glad we got rid of that Diamante bloke, i knew in a rubbish hammers side when he was scoring and making goals he wasn't good enough for us, thank kgod we sold him so we could affoard Mcarthy from Blackburn, dodged a bullet getting rid of him.
Anyone know how badly rooney has to play before one is allowed to mention it?
Milner and Young and Welbeck. Just not good enough, Carroll and Walcott should have started.
Rooney was dreadful.
Ross mentioned something about cole last week and I agree, he just doesn't look like himself, not sure if it's Roy's tactical discipline holding him back or subpar form but he's much brighter when playing for chels.
He was alarmingly poor from his first game. Huffing and puffing, poor touch, crap at heading, bla bla bla. Everything's not his fault, but it's mighty frustrating how he can play so well at Utd, but for the 2nd or 3rd England tournament, he's been pretty wreteched.
But look on the bright side. Terry and Cole have almost certainly played their last games for England. For all that they and Lescott defended heroically last night that puts them in the same class as Sweden's defenders and nothing more.
BTW, Fena, what the heck happened to McEachran? I thought he was displaying some real promise a year or two back...
Amidst the muddle-headed analysis I've been looking at this one stands out. Some great points raised here by Merse IMO.
http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,,25525_7841010,00.html
But when you say the defence has been magnificent you mean that they have thrown themselves at the ball, competed as hard as they can, and made brave and demanding tackles. They have a certain defiance. I agree that they have. But that is Premiership defending not international defending and I take those things as a given. God knows Sweden's little known defenders do it better than we do, let alone Germany and Spain should they have to. The point is they rarely have to because they don't defend that way. International defenders are able to take and monopolise the ball defensively to nullify attack and to support their midfield. It is true that players like Parker are outclassed at this level and can't defend the back four as well as they should. But our defenders need too much support from their midfield. That is one of the reasons why we can't attack with enough fluency -- our midfield line has to sit too deep on top of a very deep back four.
Terry and Cole in particular concede far too much ball, as they always have done, and can't retain it well enough to play high enough up the pitch. They should go now, thinking themselves lucky that players of such limitations have faired so well for so long. They are the Pam Shrivers of international football.
At present England's defenders are a mess. Will it get better in the short term? Who knows. But while we think that what the players did last night is international defending it cannot. Hodgson needs to be clear about what he needs from young defenders coming through and then see who is prepared to step up and play the international game. A lot depends on Hodgson. His team hasn't played well this tournament. Now he needs to show a clear lead.
cc
But there is no reason why our players can't play better than that. You mention Piqué. Now a Barcelona and Spain regular. Didn't get a game at United. Mentalities and requirements are very different and the national manager has to say now what he wants to see from emerging players and it is for the emerging players to show they can do it. We need players who can defend by keeping possession of the ball rather than conceding it in the manner of Terry and Cole. And it isn't just a question of passing the ball. They also need to be able to run the ball out of defence and commit opposing players defensively. The idea that Terry can do this at the level we are talking about seems to me to have no foundation in the evidence. But of course life is easy against teams that aren't very good.
Well put Fena re who plays in front of you. Cole was screwed playing behind young, don't know why young didn't get subbed.
Should be some tasty semis this week, I think Germany takes Italy, Italy look good against lesser opposition but the Germans have too much game. Should be nice ith a more aggressive Italian team than in the past.
I'm torn on the other game, I would like to see Portugal win but would rather see a rematch of the 2008 final so I'll be pulling for Spain. Can't wait to see Ronnie put the Spain back four under pressure.
Finally, after his comments on Saturday, nasri wins the golden nob award for the tourney.
I agree with some of what he says, but in too many of these articles it is the manager's fault and never that the players aren't good enough. The same group of players, with some changes and some evolution, have played at more or less the same level for six years or so under different managers. They dont get much better or much worse.
Well, it's both. However, the depressing thought for me is Hodgson, with his inflexibility re his formation and preferred system, palpably seems to me to be NOT who who we need right now.
We need to change, no doubt about that. I think everyone has been saying that for years, but we seem as far away from that as ever unfortunately.
Terry is actually good at bringing the ball out defence, he either brings it up and gives it to someone like Mikel who sets things off. He is also excellent at putting the ball over the top. There was a goal against Sunderland a year ago where he brought it up, then clipped it with the outside of his foot to Cole, who beat a few players and scored. It was goal of the month on Match of the Day. He did it a few times against Ukraine this tournament aswell.
I believe he could do it at this level with different players infront of him. He would be in the German team i'd of thought. The same could be said for Pique not being able to play his usual game if he had Parker and Gerrard in front of him instead of Xavi and Iniesta.
Cole also does it better for Chelsea when he has Mata infront of him, he did it well with Malouda also. Young is a nonentity defensively, he was a turnover machine aswell this tournament.
I agree that bringing the ball out of defence is very important, more so than ever these days. Conditions dictate if you can do that though.
Well, it's both. However, the depressing thought for me is Hodgson, with his inflexibility re his formation and preferred system, palpably seems to me to be NOT who who we need right now.
I agree -- it's some of both. Hodgson doesn't give me any confidence either. What is really odd is the idea that the team plays only one formation. Most Premiership teams at the top end play several formations for each of defence and attack in each game and will change that depending on who they play in the league -- Arsenal one week, Stoke the next -- and when they play in Europe.
Listening to some of the punditry it still seems that many don't understand why possession is important. They criticise Spain for the few goals they score "for all their possession" without looking to see how few goals they concede.
The enigmatic (or should that be 'shambolic'?) situation re Spurs and a new manager has at least been enlivened by the now public news that Sigurrdson is close to being snatched from Liverpool's hands. Of course what with the longest protracted deal in history to sign the Ajax skipper, Vertonghen, STILL not resolved, and with us having actually signed NOBODY, I'm not taking anything for granted until it's signed and sealed. But with Chelsea and Arsenal having already got a few players in (another one for AFC today I believe), we're way behind.
BTW, July 1st is the day I've been reliably informed who our manager is will be made public. As my info derives from the same sources who gave me great info re Redknapp being sacked weeks before it happened, I'm earmarking that day to finally be put out of my misery. And FWIW, the rumours are also still circulating that we are being taken over by a new company, investors, etc.
Whatever, I fully expect it's going to be a killer announcement... Guardilola on a 3-year deal and we've also secured 5 of Barca's first team!
They're saying it's Villas-Boas, which could be good for Spurs. They don't really have alot to lose, even if it doesn't work out too well and they drop a few places, it wouldn't be massive. If it does come off and he gets them into the Champions League, he'll of done well.
His style probably suits Tottenham, i'm interested to see how he handles the players this time though. A few weeks ago the Spurs players were wary of having him as their new manager, maybe he's learnt a few things and will pay more attention to forming a bond with them this time round.