Quote (B4al @ 27 Mar 2016 20:44)
Ye, still the thing remains that both Saurez and Messi can create a chance out of nothing, chapter in which i rate Cristiano far, far inferior. Saurez used to score for Liverpool on his own quite a lot, individual efforts. And was a better finisher (although his barca 41 goal tally looks impressive, the misses he has every game make me go lol at times)
Although i don't watch madrid that often, i can't remember an important good game of Cristiano when Benzema was absent.
Plus there is a danger in the Thierry effect (Henry being a liability in his last Arsanal year just like Ronaldinho was before heading to Milan - all players forget their game and look for him)
Well, he had tons of good game while playing along Higuaín instead of Karim. He has indeed evolved into a player that feeds on Karim's playmaking, but that might be a matter of the system Madrid has been following for the past 3 years.
He had great individual performances in decisive moments with Portugal aswell (the playoff game vs Sweden or that game in the last Euro against the Oranje I think it was). The problem is that he has failed to play like that consistently for the national team... but if he manages to pull it off (and it's never impossible for a world class player), then Portugal will once again be possible contender imo.
Quote (aneas @ 27 Mar 2016 20:56)
It actually took me ages to get to "like" Löw a little, but I honestly think that it is the other way round as well. This year, with Lahm/Schweini/Klose gone, Germany will not field the best overall team. But that's exactly where Löw's reliance on guys like Podolski, Schürrle and others, who got to know each other over a rather long time by now and his general consistency in call-ups (although often heavily criticized, as he left out many players who were believed to deserve it by supporters/experts), may give them an edge in a close game or two.
Double-edged sword of course... so far I honestly think being the hosts this year will do them good. No more "lifeless" displays in KO games (which happened quite often imo), as they will want to prove themselves like no other team.
Del Bosque has the most demanding job fiinding a decent and overall accepted line-up including both experienced guys like Fabregas/Iniesta and next-gen players like Morata/Koke as well ImO.
I don't really think he calls up entirely wrong people, I just believe he hasn't found a solid starting squad yet...
As with Germany and Spain, England could end up both ways... it's up to Hodgson now to form the needed unit on the pitch and develop a tactical approach that benefits most of his players. I'd really like him to ignore any of the older guys (except Rooney) to give the next generation a chance. If he ends up starting Carrick, Rooney, Cahill and other guys like them and still blows EURO, it will be another missed opportunity. If he fields the youth captained by Rooney only and they only make it to the last 16 or 8, it'll still be an important step for all the younger guys.
I agree with most of the stuff you say, just want to comment on a few things:
About France, the thing is that most of their best players lack experience at the highest level of competiton. Aside from Benzema, how many of them have played a decent number of Euro/WC/CL semis or finals? Most of them haven't played any. I have the same feeling with them as I had with Germany... when Dortmund and Bayern reached the CL final I thought to myself "Germany is going to be very hard to stop now". I feel like France might need to have their players learn to compete and win at such a high demanding level of football before they can win silverware. If PSG wins the CL I think France would become a lot more dangerous.
About Del Bosque, I'm aware that he has a tough job. The problem is he calls people like Nacho, Munir and Bartra (even Sergi Roberto is debatable), simply because they play for Madrid/Barça. He ignores players that are having an amazing season (Víctor Ruiz, Albiol, Borja Bastón, Aduriz, etc... although the latter one at least got called up this time; we'll see if he also calls him for the Euro, but it's ridiculous how he prefers Alcácer over him). Diego Costa is useless for us, and he calls him almost every time. He also keeps insisting on players that are nowhere near the level they used to have in previous seasonsl (Mata, Silva, Fábregas). Call one or two if you have a personal faith in them, but not all 3 ffs.
About England, I don't think Rooney should be this new generation's leader. I believe he needs to leave like Baggio, Raúl, Ballack, etc leaved (one way or the other), allowing the following promising generation to blossom.