What an awful damn game that Ivory Coast - Portugal
The movement in midfield was good, but you can't get past a midfield like the ivorian that is purely defensive with 3 ball winners by not varying the play. When it wasn't working, the portuguese wouldn't get to ball to somewhere else and try again. They just kept trying through the same places again and again. Mostly through the center, sometimes the right, never the left. And Bruno Alves needs to step up into the midfield and offer another passing option. He's better with his feet than most midfielders, he needs to use that.
The few times they did get past the ivorian midfield and into the final third, the movement stopped and no one from midfield ran into the box.
Same old story with Queiroz's Portugal. Brilliant defense but no creativity, no ideas. Just the same predictable short passes to the same targets with no flow.
The problem here is Deco. He used to be a creative player, always unlocking defences with beautiful defence-splitting passes. Then he went to Chelsea and was turned into mr. sidepass. Exactly the same as Mikel, by the way. The one time he ran at the defence and tried a through ball, the danger was immediate.
Danny was very good at tracking Eboué and his tackling was good too. And offensively he needs to be the one in Deco's place. Deco needs to be benched. NOW.
Ronaldo needs to stop diving. It's annoying enough when Gerrard makes his impression of an Olympic diver, but Ronaldo manages to somehow be even more annoying. Must be the douche look and expression. Somebody should tell him about the boy who cried wolf. He dived so many times that by halfway into the first half he was being brutally fouled and not getting anything as the referee just naturally assumed he was still diving.
And he needs to remember he has teammates and pass the damn ball....and stop the circus tricks. They don't work.
Queiroz got his substitutions spectacularly wrong. If he did see what the problem was (I doubt it), he didn't do a damned thing about it and just substituted like player for like player to keepe everything exactly as it was.
Play this system against Korea and it's buh-bye Portugal.
Fair play to Eriksson, he got this Ivory Coast team organized, and well organized. Nothing to do with the horrific team that Halilodzic had going for the past months/year. He got the wingers to defend and that was the key.
The only problem is they're more boring and flavourless than boiled ribs.
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It’s funny how, even though everything else points to the contrary, the commentators are still going about Brazil’s “samba-football”.
Dunga has laid down a different path for the team. It’s much more defensively oriented, and much drier offensively. This goes back further than Dunga as well, back in 2002 Brazil were hardly what you could call “samba”.
Immortal wrote:
It’s funny how, even though everything else points to the contrary, the commentators are still going about Brazil’s “samba-football”.
Dunga has laid down a different path for the team. It’s much more defensively oriented, and much drier offensively. This goes back further than Dunga as well, back in 2002 Brazil were hardly what you could call “samba”.
They play counter-attack.
Just as they did in 2002, 1994, and to an extent 1998. Not to mention the ultra-defensive Brazil of 1990.
Other than the crap self-serving attempt at attacking play in 2006, the last non-defensive Brazil was in 1982.
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Slovakia must be disappointed, another classic case of a battling team coming against a very defensive team. Good for New Zealand, huge shout to all the sides you should really try and score more than one goal to win a game. Trouble is for every one of these you get a Slovenia vs Algeria and Japan vs Cameroon which suggest organised defensive is a way for small nations to get 3 points (and to qualify for tournaments).
Brazil vs North Korea I found entertaining, the novelty of North Korea was for all to see. They defended very well in particular the high ball, Robinho caused problems and it was the Right Hand side with Maicon and Elano the area where a goal seemed likely.
You get the feeling watching some of these openers that teams are frightened of losing. Lets hope the second round of matches see's a little more enterprise. Spain and Chile tomorrow, I suppose Switzerland and Honduras will be desperate to shut them down too.
Then South Africa vs Uruguay, may just take my TV off of mute for that one. Message to host nation and South African play off men a draw is going to be pretty worthless go for the win!
Smowz wrote:
Well saw the first and third games today.
Slovakia must be disappointed, another classic case of a battling team coming against a very defensive team. Good for New Zealand, huge shout to all the sides you should really try and score more than one goal to win a game. Trouble is for every one of these you get a Slovenia vs Algeria and Japan vs Cameroon which suggest organised defensive is a way for small nations to get 3 points (and to qualify for tournaments).
Brazil vs North Korea I found entertaining, the novelty of North Korea was for all to see. They defended very well in particular the high ball, Robinho caused problems and it was the Right Hand side with Maicon and Elano the area where a goal seemed likely.
You get the feeling watching some of these openers that teams are frightened of losing. Lets hope the second round of matches see's a little more enterprise. Spain and Chile tomorrow, I suppose Switzerland and Honduras will be desperate to shut them down too.
Then South Africa vs Uruguay, may just take my TV off of mute for that one. Message to host nation and South African play off men a draw is going to be pretty worthless go for the win!
the South African strategy is to be fitter and more like a club side than anyone else. Also given we probably won't beat France, believe me, SA will go for it.
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182]Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Yep, on paper, that's going to be one hell of a match.
Not that I know much about Chile, but they were really impressive in their friendly against Denmark a while ago. In an important match, they'll be even better, I guess.
ruben wrote:
Explain, I don't follow South-american football.
What's exciting about Chile?
They take the game to the other team, press and defend high up the pitch, and stretch the play as wide as possible when in possession.
The two fullbacks bomb forward whenever possible, trying to create overloads against opposition full-backs, and even cut inside into the box.
The number of players Chile get into the final third is frightening.
Look at this:
Count the number of guys in the box.
CrueTrue wrote:
Yep, on paper, that's going to be one hell of a match.
Not that I know much about Chile, but they were really impressive in their friendly against Denmark a while ago. In an important match, they'll be even better, I guess.
They don't play each other just yet. Chile play Honduras and Spain play Switzerland.
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ruben wrote:
Explain, I don't follow South-american football.
What's exciting about Chile?
They are the only team playing 3 defenders, they played 3-4-3/ 3-3-1-3 the whole qualification. They scored loads of goals in the qualification, but they also conceded alot.
They have great forwards in Sanchez (Udinese) and Suazo (on loan at Real Zaragoza), behind them they've got Fernandes, a great attacking midfielder/playmaker for nearly whatever team this tournament.
The best part is their coach and mentality. He takes a lot from Holland and their thinking of how football should be played, and that's easy to watch, they are playing very offensive, whatever opposition.
So yes, Chile is a great team to watch, I saw their matches against Brazil and Argentina x2 in the qualification, they gave me high hopes for Chile in this World Cup.
Hopefully they can produce some of the football they delivered in the qualifications, then I'm sure it will be a great game tomorrow
EDIT: Sorry for being slow, issoisso pretty much sums what I'm trying to say, in 3 lines Edited by ember on 15-06-2010 22:21
Having watched the Brazil - N. Korea game, sadly I only had one option this time: ITV.
Predictably the commentators are idiots. The game went exactly as you'd expect considering the way both teams play, yet they professed their shock throughout.
They know nothing. I feel sorry for the british audience.
The local ones here aren't any better, with the exception of one co-commentator on one channel who actually does know a lot.
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