[QUOTE=âRocko, post: 979960, member: 1â]And Pato.
And Lucas Moura.
He couldnât pick them all but he eschewed guile for graft in every decision.[/QUOTE]
Fuck me.
[QUOTE=âRocko, post: 979960, member: 1â]And Pato.
And Lucas Moura.
He couldnât pick them all but he eschewed guile for graft in every decision.[/QUOTE]
The omission of Lucas Moura was a far worse call than leaving out Coutinho who won 1 cap 4 years ago and was never in the managers reckoning.
Last night illustrated just how good a defender and leader that Thiago Silva is.
[QUOTE=âchewy louie, post: 979964, member: 1137â]The omission of Lucas Moura was a far worse call than leaving out Coutinho who won 1 cap 4 years ago and was never in the managers reckoning.
Last night illustrated just how good a defender and leader that Thiago Silva is.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Lucas Moura is also a much more direct player than Coutinho so heâd be suitable to a few different formations, whereas Coutinho needs to be that #10 type playing paseses.
Also much agreed on Thiago Silva. Thereâs little doubt Germany would have won even with Thiago Silva playing but they wouldnât have pulled them apart as easily and Brazil wouldnât have lost their heads and their shape immediately after conceding.
He would if he got half a chance, the dirty bastard.
[QUOTE=âDirty Hands Walter, post: 979769, member: 9â]Ozilâs assists for the critical 5th and 7th goals were absolutely splendid.
Cat got your tongue, @mickee321?[/QUOTE]
Walty, i think you will enjoy this piece written before yesterdays game about Ozil
Brazil vs Germany World Cup 2014: In defence of Mesut Ozil - the Arsenal midfielder works magic in the shadows
Mesut Ozil was born into the wrong generation of footballers. Itâs plain to see when he comes across the media. He lives and works in an era which demands his every move be observed, and yet Ozil prefers to slink off into the shadows. Time and again, he darts past reporters, casting only a grateful glance at whichever team-mate is diverting the hounds away.
His behaviour is no different on the football pitch. Players like Ozil should, we believe, sparkle at every moment. They should make us gasp. We should marvel at their sub-human capacities to move a football. They should, as Nike tells us without a trace of self-awareness, risk everything.
Ozil, petulant as he is, bluntly refuses to meet those requirements. He makes no mazy runs. He attempts no 40 yard bicycle kicks. Instead, he moves imperceptibly around the football pitch, often barely touching the ball, slinking into the shadows.
It drives the football world crazy. Arsenal fans are at a loss to why they spent such astronomical sums on such a player. Paul Breitner believes that Ozil should be dropped from Germanyâs starting line-up. The nationâs skiing sensation Felix Neureuther insists that Ozil âdrives me crazy with his lack of biteâ.
Bite. Energy. Pace. Those are the virtues we idolise in the modern day. Ozil utilises few of them. His game is, and has always been, about selflessness. He creates space, often drawing several defenders out of position. He finds the most astonishing through balls. He enables the great superstars.
The greatest superstar of all, Cristiano Ronaldo, knew this. He adored working with Ozil at Real Madrid and affectionately named him âThe Sorcererâs Apprenticeâ. It was a strikingly poetic moment from the Portuguese, and a rather accurate one at that. Ozil is a magician, insofar as he makes things happen without the spectator noticing he has done so. He is the apprentice, in that he hands the limelight to his more extravagant contemporaries.
He is not always magical, of course. Much of the time, he is as ineffectual as Neureuther claims. In his first season at Arsenal, he has shown only the occasional glimpse of his genius, and at the World Cup he has only been slightly better.
But then for the last few years, Ozil has, by chance as well as by misjudged design, been leading a life unsuited to him. His price tag at Arsenal pushed him into the role of Sorcerer, rather than apprentice. That didnât suit him. The cult of his identity in advertising and social media was something that his advisors â not least his father â appear to have cultivated far beyond the levels which suit a man like Mesut Ozil. He has, both on the pitch and off it, been dragged forcefully out of the shadows and paraded stark naked through the marble streets of modern football.
That is not good for a man like Mesut Ăzil, and his psychology and consistency have suffered as a result. But his genius remains. In this World Cup, he has played far better than his verbal execution by mob rule would indicate. His passing has been statistically better than that of all his team mates, while his quiet ability to create space from the lack of it has enabled Germany to break through almost entirely defensive opposition.
Mesut Ozil may not be in the form of his life. Let your eye drift over him as you watch a game, and you will certainly reach the same conclusion as Paul Breitner: that he merely wanders around ineffectually.
But, if you have nothing better to do this evening, watch Ozil closely. For ninety minutes. I bet you his 50 million Euro price tag that you will see him doing things you never thought he did. Affecting the game in a way you otherwise would have missed. Quietly. In the shadows.
On a sidenote, Bayern Munich would be mental to let Toni Kroos leave this summer given his age and all round ability
Overrated imo. A good shot but in terms of football brain he has a lot to learn.
Donât agree, he can pretty much play any role in central midfield. Capable of playing as a holding midfielder/deep lying playmaker as he did against City at the Ehihad and bullied Yaya Toure out of it, can play box to box and can also play as a number 10. He is still improving but he has an excellent all round game. His passing ability is far superior to his shooting ability. He isnât someone who will spray highlight reel passes around all game long but he has a great range of passing and doesnât give possession away cheaply and allows Bayern/German to retain the ball very well.
There are probably better holding midfielders around, there are probably better box to box midfielders and there are better number 10s about but I donât think there is anyone who can adapt play all three roles as well as Kroos is able to.
[QUOTE=âchewy louie, post: 980031, member: 1137â]Donât agree, he can pretty much play any role in central midfield. Capable of playing as a holding midfielder/deep lying playmaker as he did against City at the Ehihad and bullied Yaya Toure out of it, can play box to box and can also play as a number 10. He is still improving but he has an excellent all round game. His passing ability is far superior to his shooting ability. He isnât someone who will spray highlight reel passes around all game long but he has a great range of passing and doesnât give possession away cheaply and allows Bayern/German to retain the ball very well.
There are probably better holding midfielders around, there are probably better box to box midfielders and there are better number 10s about but I donât think there is anyone who can adapt play all three roles as well as Kroos is able to.[/QUOTE]
Iâm still undecided on his merits.
I certainly agree that it would be strange for Bayern to let him leave, though that is influenced more by his contract situation. Heâs certainly a very useful player and can have a great impact on games. Iâm not sure heâs all that effective in a #10 role though. Maybe he was struggling at club and international level because of injuries to Khedira and Thiago but he doesnât have enough influence on games from that role I donât think. His passing can be excellent when he plays as a deep playmaker but I think his short passing around the box needs improvement and more invention.
[QUOTE=âchewy louie, post: 980024, member: 1137â]Walty, i think you will enjoy this piece written before yesterdays game about Ozil
Brazil vs Germany World Cup 2014: In defence of Mesut Ozil - the Arsenal midfielder works magic in the shadows
Mesut Ozil was born into the wrong generation of footballers. Itâs plain to see when he comes across the media. He lives and works in an era which demands his every move be observed, and yet Ozil prefers to slink off into the shadows. Time and again, he darts past reporters, casting only a grateful glance at whichever team-mate is diverting the hounds away.
His behaviour is no different on the football pitch. Players like Ozil should, we believe, sparkle at every moment. They should make us gasp. We should marvel at their sub-human capacities to move a football. They should, as Nike tells us without a trace of self-awareness, risk everything.
Ozil, petulant as he is, bluntly refuses to meet those requirements. He makes no mazy runs. He attempts no 40 yard bicycle kicks. Instead, he moves imperceptibly around the football pitch, often barely touching the ball, slinking into the shadows.
It drives the football world crazy. Arsenal fans are at a loss to why they spent such astronomical sums on such a player. Paul Breitner believes that Ozil should be dropped from Germanyâs starting line-up. The nationâs skiing sensation Felix Neureuther insists that Ozil âdrives me crazy with his lack of biteâ.
Bite. Energy. Pace. Those are the virtues we idolise in the modern day. Ozil utilises few of them. His game is, and has always been, about selflessness. He creates space, often drawing several defenders out of position. He finds the most astonishing through balls. He enables the great superstars.
The greatest superstar of all, Cristiano Ronaldo, knew this. He adored working with Ozil at Real Madrid and affectionately named him âThe Sorcererâs Apprenticeâ. It was a strikingly poetic moment from the Portuguese, and a rather accurate one at that. Ozil is a magician, insofar as he makes things happen without the spectator noticing he has done so. He is the apprentice, in that he hands the limelight to his more extravagant contemporaries.
He is not always magical, of course. Much of the time, he is as ineffectual as Neureuther claims. In his first season at Arsenal, he has shown only the occasional glimpse of his genius, and at the World Cup he has only been slightly better.
But then for the last few years, Ozil has, by chance as well as by misjudged design, been leading a life unsuited to him. His price tag at Arsenal pushed him into the role of Sorcerer, rather than apprentice. That didnât suit him. The cult of his identity in advertising and social media was something that his advisors â not least his father â appear to have cultivated far beyond the levels which suit a man like Mesut Ozil. He has, both on the pitch and off it, been dragged forcefully out of the shadows and paraded stark naked through the marble streets of modern football.
That is not good for a man like Mesut Ăzil, and his psychology and consistency have suffered as a result. But his genius remains. In this World Cup, he has played far better than his verbal execution by mob rule would indicate. His passing has been statistically better than that of all his team mates, while his quiet ability to create space from the lack of it has enabled Germany to break through almost entirely defensive opposition.
Mesut Ozil may not be in the form of his life. Let your eye drift over him as you watch a game, and you will certainly reach the same conclusion as Paul Breitner: that he merely wanders around ineffectually.
But, if you have nothing better to do this evening, watch Ozil closely. For ninety minutes. I bet you his 50 million Euro price tag that you will see him doing things you never thought he did. Affecting the game in a way you otherwise would have missed. Quietly. In the shadows.[/QUOTE]
Nice piece.
Not sure I agree that âArsenal fans are at a loss to why they spent such astronomical sums on such a player.â
I think the Daily Mail had a piece on him last night basically saying he did nothing all game. An entire article devoted to having a go at him. Bizarre.
[QUOTE=âRocko, post: 980043, member: 1â]Nice piece.
Not sure I agree that âArsenal fans are at a loss to why they spent such astronomical sums on such a player.â
I think the Daily Mail had a piece on him last night basically saying he did nothing all game. An entire article devoted to having a go at him. Bizarre.[/QUOTE]
Itâs in the mediawatch thread. It actually looks like a satirical article having a go at the English medias obsession with Premier League players during the World Cup itâs so ridiculous. Maybe it is actually.
Read on twitter earlier that The Daily Mail removed it from their site this morning.
[QUOTE=âRocko, post: 979960, member: 1â]And Pato.
And Lucas Moura.
He couldnât pick them all but he eschewed guile for graft in every decision.[/QUOTE]
Over the last few years in Brazilian football weâve had:
Pato
Deco (yeah he played for Portugal but heâs Brazilian)
Jo
Cris
Fred
Bernard
Can we expect the following over the coming years?
Anto
Tommo
Micko
Jim
Ed
Wayne
@Dirty Hands Walter
Ozil is muck, âplayed a great ball thru for the 7th goalâ⌠would you fuck off, a great man to get going all right when the game is dead and the opposition is reeling, the most overrated player in world football right now
[QUOTE=âmickee321, post: 980062, member: 367â]@Dirty Hands Walter
Ozil is muck, âplayed a great ball thru for the 7th goalâ⌠would you fuck off, a great man to get going all right when the game is dead and the opposition is reeling, the most overrated player in world football right now[/QUOTE]
+1.
The guy hasnât showed anything in 3 years. Arsenal and Germany are stronger without him.
[QUOTE=âmickee321, post: 980062, member: 367â]@Dirty Hands Walter
Ozil is muck, âplayed a great ball thru for the 7th goalâ⌠would you fuck off, a great man to get going all right when the game is dead and the opposition is reeling, the most overrated player in world football right now[/QUOTE]
Eh, sure ignore the 5th goal you creep.
[QUOTE=âMark Renton, post: 980069, member: 1796â]+1.
The guy hasnât showed anything in 3 years. Arsenal and Germany are stronger without him.[/QUOTE]
He was very good for 2 years at Madrid.
[QUOTE=âchewy louie, post: 980031, member: 1137â]Donât agree, he can pretty much play any role in central midfield. Capable of playing as a holding midfielder/deep lying playmaker as he did against City at the Ehihad and bullied Yaya Toure out of it, can play box to box and can also play as a number 10. He is still improving but he has an excellent all round game. His passing ability is far superior to his shooting ability. He isnât someone who will spray highlight reel passes around all game long but he has a great range of passing and doesnât give possession away cheaply and allows Bayern/German to retain the ball very well.
.[/QUOTE]
think Kroos looks desperate when he has his back to goal, like a lot of the Bayern players and thats the big problem guardiola faces with the style he wants to playâŚand like Rocko said his passing around the box can be really poorâŚ
I would agree with @Rocko that he is far better deeper than at number 10 and given Schweinstigerâs injuries and age I think it would be madness for them to let Kroos.