General Football Debates!

[Luther]

What a mouth watering game of football we just witnessed.Amazing!!! I must applaud Italy that despite them missing about 2 key players most notable balotelli they wee able to pressure Spain and take it to penalties which despite losing did brilliantly so kudos to them. I really getting impressed with this navas uy when he came on in the second half for silva he changed the rhythm of the game and became instrumental in most attack going forward and posed a real threat towards the italian defenders. I can't wait for the final it's what everyone has wanted to see and rightfully both exams have fully earned thief spots, I am still unsure about this brazil side and would like to see how they fair against Spain but I think Spain gonna take it. Also I felt pique had Avery good game and this
Was one of his best matches performance wise so far in the tournament so kudos to that but lets see how he and Ramos fairs against the likes of hulk,Fred,Neymar and Oscar.

 

[ReLax -]

I read an article online and the guy was speaking about italy being slightly better without Balo and it seems to me they were lol

 

[Totsuka No Tsurugi]

^Don't be stupid, if Balo was there instead of Gila then Italy would have win the match.

 

[Migualon J.J.]

What a mouth watering game of football we just witnessed.Amazing!!! I must applaud Italy that despite them missing about 2 key players most notable balotelli they wee able to pressure Spain and take it to penalties which despite losing did brilliantly so kudos to them. I really getting impressed with this navas uy when he came on in the second half for silva he changed the rhythm of the game and became instrumental in most attack going forward and posed a real threat towards the italian defenders. I can't wait for the final it's what everyone has wanted to see and rightfully both exams have fully earned thief spots, I am still unsure about this brazil side and would like to see how they fair against Spain but I think Spain gonna take it. Also I felt pique had Avery good game and this
Was one of his best matches performance wise so far in the tournament so kudos to that but lets see how he and Ramos fairs against the likes of hulk,Fred,Neymar and Oscar.

well, we will see

You must be registered for see images

i hope Neymar kicks a$$

You must be registered for see images

I read an article online and the guy was speaking about italy being slightly better without Balo and it seems to me they were lol

if we consider the fact that Gilardino had like 2, maybe 3 chances he should have scored, i would say that with Balotelli, at least 1 of those chances would Balotelli be able to score lol

You must be registered for see images

 

[ReLax -]

If those chances were presented then yes, but other then that I believe Italy played their best game here without Balo then they did against Spain in Euro 12 and in the group stages of Confed Cup. Balo seems to hold the ball up for a longer time allowing opposing team to get set up defensively this Italy side just hit direct assaults.

 

[Escorpiius]

If those chances were presented then yes, but other then that I believe Italy played their best game here without Balo then they did against Spain in Euro 12 and in the group stages of Confed Cup. Balo seems to hold the ball up for a longer time allowing opposing team to get set up defensively this Italy side just hit direct assaults.

While your analysis is true, your assumption of basing it on Balotelli is false imo. Italy did play their best game in this Confed. but the credit doesn't go to the absence of Balo. Neither is it due to Gilardino. The key to this great performance, was the key tactical set-up of the coach and the De Rossi-Pirlo association. So, I believe that with a player of Balo's skill, then Italy would have been even stronger...

 

[Migualon J.J.]

While your analysis is true, your assumption of basing it on Balotelli is false imo. Italy did play their best game in this Confed. but the credit doesn't go to the absence of Balo. Neither is it due to Gilardino. The key to this great performance, was the key tactical set-up of the coach and the De Rossi-Pirlo association. So, I believe that with a player of Balo's skill, then Italy would have been even stronger...

i agree, but personally i dunno why didn't El Shaarawy play as i was missing player like him

 

[Luther]

In my opinion i dont think el shawarray would have made a difference he is young and far more inexperienced compared to the likes of balotelli and giovincho and putting him on might have done more harm than good.

 

[ReLax -]

While your analysis is true, your assumption of basing it on Balotelli is false imo. Italy did play their best game in this Confed. but the credit doesn't go to the absence of Balo. Neither is it due to Gilardino. The key to this great performance, was the key tactical set-up of the coach and the De Rossi-Pirlo association. So, I believe that with a player of Balo's skill, then Italy would have been even stronger...

What I meant to say was that Balo is their go to guy, which a lot of teams know, without him Italy had a lot more players getting forward, even their FB were burning Alba/Arbeloa, with Balo I don't think they'd have the exact same tactic set up. I know if Balo was there and with the chances created he'd most likely have buried them and recently I've admire the guy a lot and he has plenty of potential, so this isn't a dig at him. Its like Portugal some times I know this because many Portuguese tell me this, sometimes without CR they do better, because without CR the coach has to change the set up, which benefits more players on the pitch other than CR. The same applies with Messi and Barcelona, players like Pedro/Sanchez get more shots without Messi there. Pedro actually plays much better with Spain then with Barcelona recently.

i agree, but personally i dunno why didn't El Shaarawy play as i was missing player like him

He was injured the last time I checked, but was with the squad I assume he wasn't 100% fit and he's young at the moment, sp I don't think they wanted to risk him either.

 

[Michael92]

Confederations Cup:

Final;

Brazil 3 - 0 Spain

* David Luis clears the ball off the line from Pedro, after Pedro sent the ball past the keeper at 1- 0 to Brazil.
* Ramos misses penalty on 3-0 early in 2nd half.
* Pique red carded in the 2nd half, killing the Spanish hope.

Bronze Final;

Uruguay 2 - 2 Italy (2-3 after penalties).

* Buffon saves 3 penalties!!

Gold Medal - Brazil

Silver Medal - Spain

Bronze - Italy

4th - Uruguay.

-------------------------------------------

Fair Play Award - Casillas

-------------------------------------------

Goalie of the Tournament - Cesar

-------------------------------------------

Top scorers;

Bronze Boot - Neymar

Silver Boot - Fred

Golden Boot - Torres

-------------------------------------------

Players of the Tournament;

Bronze Ball - Paulinho

Silver Ball - Iniesta

Golden Ball - Neymar

---------------------------------------------

World Cup 2014, Favorites (in no particular order);

1; Brazil

2; Spain

3; Germany

4; Argentina

5; Italy

6; Netherlands/Holland

7; Portugal

8; France

9; England

I'm leaving heavier analysis to my good friend Escorpiius, if he feel like elaborating more on the two finals ;D

Good Night!

 

[ReLax -]

This was deja vu for Spain, as it was very similar to BM V Barcelona. Del Bosque made a lot of questionable choices and players only have themselves to blame as they were lost majority of the game. Brazil did some great pressuring as BM did to Barcelona. It seems Barcelona/Spain need to add a few more things to their game. The atmosphere was crazy at Brazil the fans are literally the heart beat for SA teams. Congrats to them on this win, I hope Del Bosque works a the few flaws that were seen here. I was enjoying Neymar performance, tho he dives a lot, but still fantastic performer. Torres legend lives on has he received the golden boot lol I was reading a few article it seems Xavi told Del Bosque to make a few changes will Del Bosque declined and stuck with his plan guess he might be second guessing that

Anyways Congrats to Brazil on the Confed Cup...

 

[Grim]

Confederations Cup:

Final;

Brazil 3 - 0 Spain

* David Luis clears the ball off the line from Pedro, after Pedro sent the ball past the keeper at 1- 0 to Brazil.
* Ramos misses penalty on 3-0 early in 2nd half.
* Pique red carded in the 2nd half, killing the Spanish hope.

Bronze Final;

Uruguay 2 - 2 Italy (2-3 after penalties).

* Buffon saves 3 penalties!!

Gold Medal - Brazil

Silver Medal - Spain

Bronze - Italy

4th - Uruguay.

-------------------------------------------

Fair Play Award - Casillas

-------------------------------------------

Goalie of the Tournament - Cesar

-------------------------------------------

Top scorers;

Bronze Boot - Neymar

Silver Boot - Fred

Golden Boot - Torres

-------------------------------------------

Players of the Tournament;

Bronze Ball - Paulinho

Silver Ball - Iniesta

Golden Ball - Neymar

---------------------------------------------

World Cup 2014, Favorites (in no particular order);

1; Brazil

2; Spain

3; Germany

4; Argentina

5; Italy

6; Netherlands/Holland

7; Portugal

8; France

9; England

I'm leaving heavier analysis to my good friend Escorpiius, if he feel like elaborating more on the two finals ;D

Good Night!

Brazil ahead of Argentina ? *cough* :bouncy:

if Germany and Argentina played this turnament we wouldn't see Spain and Brazil in the finals "most likely" and ignoring you're (in no particular order) I see clearly .. it's right there 1,2,3,4

 

[Escorpiius]

Confederations Cup:

Final;

Brazil 3 - 0 Spain

* David Luis clears the ball off the line from Pedro, after Pedro sent the ball past the keeper at 1- 0 to Brazil.
* Ramos misses penalty on 3-0 early in 2nd half.
* Pique red carded in the 2nd half, killing the Spanish hope.

Bronze Final;

Uruguay 2 - 2 Italy (2-3 after penalties).

* Buffon saves 3 penalties!!

Gold Medal - Brazil

Silver Medal - Spain

Bronze - Italy

4th - Uruguay.

-------------------------------------------

Fair Play Award - Casillas

-------------------------------------------

Goalie of the Tournament - Cesar

-------------------------------------------

Top scorers;

Bronze Boot - Neymar

Silver Boot - Fred

Golden Boot - Torres

-------------------------------------------

Players of the Tournament;

Bronze Ball - Paulinho

Silver Ball - Iniesta

Golden Ball - Neymar

---------------------------------------------

World Cup 2014, Favorites (in no particular order);

1; Brazil

2; Spain

3; Germany

4; Argentina

5; Italy

6; Netherlands/Holland

7; Portugal

8; France

9; England

I'm leaving heavier analysis to my good friend Escorpiius, if he feel like elaborating more on the two finals ;D

Good Night!

The Fair-Play Award to Casillas ?!?
:leaf:

And I don't agree with the ranking. All this Confed. did for me, is that Italy & Brazil showed better sides of themselves to me. Well, Brazil played boringly (except in the Final) but they did prove that they may win against the big sides - and that's the statement they needed to make imo to convince the skeptics like me. But Italy is the team that impressed me the most in this tournament. And obviously, Spain disappointed...

That being said, Germany remain favorites imo. Even if they got a young team, I'd almost like to place Netherlands in 2nd place given their current hot streak. But most analysts don't follow me on that. Argentina remain better than Brazil imo but who knows... Italy proved their point while Spain disappointed according to me. Belgium got one of the best starting line-up out there with outstanding chemistry. How much inexperience will restrict their WC progress in the whole question for me..

This was deja vu for Spain, as it was very similar to BM V Barcelona. Del Bosque made a lot of questionable choices and players only have themselves to blame as they were lost majority of the game. Brazil did some great pressuring as BM did to Barcelona. It seems Barcelona/Spain need to add a few more things to their game. The atmosphere was crazy at Brazil the fans are literally the heart beat for SA teams. Congrats to them on this win, I hope Del Bosque works a the few flaws that were seen here. I was enjoying Neymar performance, tho he dives a lot, but still fantastic performer. Torres legend lives on has he received the golden boot lol I was reading a few article it seems Xavi told Del Bosque to make a few changes will Del Bosque declined and stuck with his plan guess he might be second guessing that

Anyways Congrats to Brazil on the Confed Cup...

I agree deja vu of Bayern v Barca. But also deja vu of last Euro where Spain played highly averagely but teared Italy apart in the Final. It's a bit the same case for Brazil. They played boringly in most matches and barely won most matches but at the end, they flied away in the final.

I don't want to make a Mourinho type of analysis. But Xavi seemed out of gas in most 2nd half of Italy and in nearly whole of this Final. And Casillas wasn't good enough. Given their plethora of young talent, having De Gea/Lopez/Martinez/Thiago in the place of veterans won't be such a bad idea. So, I kinda agree with the fact that Del Bosque made questionable decisions; more because Navas is in way better shape than Pedro. And Busquets could have been rotated, especially when his replacement has won all club trophies last season with Bayern Munich.

 

[ReLax -]

I agree deja vu of Bayern v Barca. But also deja vu of last Euro where Spain played highly averagely but teared Italy apart in the Final. It's a bit the same case for Brazil. They played boringly in most matches and barely won most matches but at the end, they flied away in the final.

I don't want to make a Mourinho type of analysis. But Xavi seemed out of gas in most 2nd half of Italy and in nearly whole of this Final. And Casillas wasn't good enough. Given their plethora of young talent, having De Gea/Lopez/Martinez/Thiago in the place of veterans won't be such a bad idea. So, I kinda agree with the fact that Del Bosque made questionable decisions; more because Navas is in way better shape than Pedro. And Busquets could have been rotated, especially when his replacement has won all club trophies last season with Bayern Munich.

Indeed. I don't mean to complain, but there was a ton of ref biased towards Brazil this whole run They had 26 fouls in the final and no yellow lol Anyways Brazil have won this now 3 times in a row, but never won the WC the following year for that matter no team won the WC after winning Confed *_*

Xavi was actually injured. I was surprised as were the commentators he was playing today I think Del Bosque is too easy going on his old guards, but credit to Xavi on this, but should've been rested or bought on at half it also sucked that Fabregas wasn't at 100% either. I think critics are a bit harsh on Casillas I guess he could've saved two of the goals, but the defence made the big mistake and if it wasn't for Casillas I believe the scoreline could've been even higher, considering he hasn't played for 5 months and returned from a hand injury wasn't that bad. Del Bosque shockingly said Martinez was inconsistent at BM this season :O I know I was pretty sure he was there top 3, or 5 players this season. I think this is what Xavi wanted and spoke to Del Bosque with Alonso missing they need another DM, but Del Bosque wanted to play Busquets alone. I actually though Pedro was really good in the final his finishing was suspect, but overall provided a lot. Navas came and provided great pace to the game, but unfortunately it was too late. Martinez should've been given Alonso role.

 

[King-Panda]

I always had the thought that many things in football are set up... Some certainly are... One that I think so is this kind of matches.

Yesterday, that wasn't Spain... They didn't even try.

Anyway, Neymar has been impressing me, seems that he's working hard, hopefully he won't be just another Robinho, but much greater

 

[Michael92]

I always had the thought that many things in football are set up... Some certainly are... One that I think so is this kind of matches.

Yesterday, that wasn't Spain... They didn't even try.

Anyway, Neymar has been impressing me, seems that he's working hard, hopefully he won't be just another Robinho, but much greater

I wouldn't say they didn't try, they were simply out of luck. Counting the penalty, the off line clearance by Luis, as well as their other chances, Spain should have goaled at least two goals, perhaps even getting a 3rd and Extra time. Overall it was a fair win to Brazil though, so what you're saying is just crazy O__x

 

[King-Panda]

Saw Balotelli's name here, I hope people opinion on him aren't biased due to the media. I used to think he was al crazy and that, but when I watched some interviews of him I realised I was wrong... media... smh

I wouldn't say they didn't try, they were simply out of luck. Counting the penalty, the off line clearance by Luis, as well as their other chances, Spain should have goaled at least two goals, perhaps even getting a 3rd and Extra time. Overall it was a fair win to Brazil though, so what you're saying is just crazy O__x

I mean thtick-taka, their possession game, they didn't do it. But what you said is true

 

[Migualon J.J.]

well, they tried, but the way Brazil went at them with so much pressure, there aren't many teams on the world that can keep pressure like that for the whole match, even Brazil couldn't keep that up the whole time, but the way that Brazil played, i liked it

I mean thtick-taka, their possession game, they didn't do it. But what you said is true

it's not really that they didn't do it, they were doing it whenever they could, but that was only like 10 minutes of the whole match, maybe less than that. as i said, Brazilians kept pressure at them and even guys like Iniesta and Xavi couldn't pass as accurately as they normally do

You must be registered for see images

 

[Escorpiius]

I mean thtick-taka, their possession game, they didn't do it. But what you said is true

It's not like they didn't do it. They weren't allowed to do it. Brazil foiled their gameplan completely; like Bayern did with Barcelona. Spain got a great squad but they need to stop making same mistakes as Barcelona.

Barca's downfall has been lack of Plan B in their Possession Tactic and the dependence of Messi. Two drawbacks that Bayern exploited mercilessly. One of this flaw is trying to be remedied with Neymar.

Spain's forte is that they were never dependant on any star player but unfortunately, they also seem to a same dooming game tactic without any Plan B. Tiki-taka and Possession game remain deadly efficient. But at times, some coaches put up an anti-tiki-taka tactic and that's what Brazil did. As much as Barca can differently play otherwise and revert to a new tactic, I personally believe that Spain can.

They got a larger panel of players apart from the technical ones. The likes of Navas, Isco, Martinez Cazorla, Michu ect... can bring a different facet but it's up to Del Bosque to change tactics and rotate efficiently. If more teams fare the same tactic as Brazil and if Spain remain stubborn without changing, WC might not be very pretty for La Roja.

 

[ReLax -]

It's not like they didn't do it. They weren't allowed to do it. Brazil foiled their gameplan completely; like Bayern did with Barcelona. Spain got a great squad but they need to stop making same mistakes as Barcelona.

Barca's downfall has been lack of Plan B in their Possession Tactic and the dependence of Messi. Two drawbacks that Bayern exploited mercilessly. One of this flaw is trying to be remedied with Neymar.

Spain's forte is that they were never dependant on any star player but unfortunately, they also seem to a same dooming game tactic without any Plan B. Tiki-taka and Possession game remain deadly efficient. But at times, some coaches put up an anti-tiki-taka tactic and that's what Brazil did. As much as Barca can differently play otherwise and revert to a new tactic, I personally believe that Spain can.

They got a larger panel of players apart from the technical ones. The likes of Navas, Isco, Martinez Cazorla, Michu ect... can bring a different facet but it's up to Del Bosque to change tactics and rotate efficiently. If more teams fare the same tactic as Brazil and if Spain remain stubborn without changing, WC might not be very pretty for La Roja.

I'm inclined to agree with most, but also disagree. This is a quote from an author who wrote an article who is neither Barcelona/Spain supporter.

"It is not that opposition sides have worked them out, it's that they are no longer applying their approach with the same intensity. Five years of continued success at all levels have inevitably led to a certain staleness, removing that extra edge and resulting in the ponderousness shown when many of them played for Spain."

Barcelona have recently lack off a lot. They've made poor decision once again I heard they signed Roma Marquinhos for 32 million! a 19 year old defender. They've failed to fix certain holes in the team and most importantly have forgotten about Pep rules, you attack and defend together. They used to pressure opposing team like no tomorrow, but that is also gone. I know old age has come with many of them, most importantly Puyol/Xavi, and as they say empire rise, but they also fall. I don't mean to take anything away from Munich thrashing and Brazil hammering as both were executed perfectly.

At this point I remember Pique comment. He said something a long the lines Barcelona aren't the best anymore, but their goal next season is to become one again, which would be the right attitude.