Quote (zarkadon @ 28 Mar 2016 00:23)
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.
Tbh I don't see an immediate positive effect of PSG winning UCL. Except for Matuidi and (possibly) Kurzawa, they lack French players to begin with. And while I agree Kurzawa still lacks experience on the highest level of competition, I'd say that Matuidi's recent success with PSG (even the close eliminations before CL semis) are "good enough" to learn your lessons.
Also, Griezmann, Koscielny, Coman, Varane (although he gets too few minutes on the pitch) and Pogba perform on a very high level in domestic and european competition on a regular basis. The same is true for Ribery, who I still consider an option, although I'd actually find it "morally wrong" to call him again. Problem is that French players are spread so wiedely across Europe that there is only a small chance all/most of them will regularly play semis/finals.
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About Del Bosque[...]. 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.
Depending on the position he's intending to use them in, Silva and Fabregas are still viable choices. I'd let go of the idea of Mata being any good though, you're right on him.
ImO Spain should start like this:
De Gea
Gaspar - Ramos - Pique - Jordi Alba// one could argue to start Carvajal over Gaspar; not because of quality, but because you'd think playing next to a player you're used to from your own club will make up for slightly less form/quality.
// I still believe there the odds as GK are in favor of Casillas. De Gea has shown great form though and basically IS Manschester United most of the time, which I'd always start him over Iker, regardless of experience/merit.
Busquets// there can't be a real doubt about him starting
Silva/Fabregas/Thiago - Iniesta// I wouldn't consider it an error filling the spots that together with Busquets are "the heart" of Spanish play with experienced players who have alreay proven their quality; Thiago is a more than decent alternative though.
// Iniesta is used slightly less these days by Enrique and it seems they "protect" him for the actuall high-level competition in UCL, thereby also helping Del Bosque. barca can win that trophy and Iniesta is still the best offensive midfielder in the world.
Nolito/Pedro/Morata - Morata/Costa - Koke// The offense line is where the troubles start for Del Bosque imo. If he desperately wants to start Costa, he'll need to make room for Morata on the right wing, rendering Pedro a bench player (and I'd agree with this decision, as Pedro doesn#t have much to show for currently). I'd still like to see Nolito being rewarded for an overally good season and starting over both, with Morata instead taking Costa's spot in the center. Koke should start without a doubt ImO, although I can't say it would be in his best position...
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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.
I also don't think he definitely should... but he still could. Of the older guys, he is still the one most compliant with modern football Imo.