Who's the favorite to win this group ?

And let me say this. Brazil has been hyped over this cycle and rightly so. They have been one of the best teams on the planet since they changed their manager.
They pretty much have dominated everyone in South American Qualifying since the managerial change. Until they played Colombia who pretty much played eye-to-eye with them and Falcao was the main reason scoring a header golazo and galvanizing the team and forcing them not to quit.

Now Qualifying and the World Cup are different animals I know. But I saw within that match a sliver of the potential of what Falcao can do against the best team on the planet and what he may do on a big stage.

 

You keep on saying best. I never said best,

 

Best, most decisive, whatever. It comes to the same conclusion - everyone would prefer Lewandowski in their team than James or Falcao.

 

Everyone would rather have Cristiano Ronaldo too. Was he the most impactful player in the Group of Germany, USA and Ghana?

Uh no.

 

Ronaldo was injured vs Germany, half fit saved a draw vs USA and won the game vs Ghana. But the damage was done in the first match, where the goal difference was unassailable.

So, yes - he was the most impactful player in that in his state when Portugal lost the key game.

Besides - I would love to see what Colombia would do if Sanchez had gotten red in the beginning of their game where there opponents were Germany...

 

LOL right.

And Landon Donovan of USA was truly the most impact because if he would have played they would have finished first!!!!!!

 

Laugh it off. But its pretty obvious that you've double downed on your ridiculous argument, even though it proves how absurd your bias is.

 

We have a few months to see if what I am saying is absurd or if it turns out to be true.
I have a feeling Falcao and James can take Colombia very far and top the group. That is what this thread is about.

 

Even if Colombia succeeds - it has nothing to do with this argument. No one is really contending that Colombia are favorites to progress. We are just stating the obvious - Falcao and James are way below Lewandowski in terms of team importance, decisiveness, team quality.

Poland has a slow, ponderous defence. Even if Lewandowski scores he will be powerless, if their defence falls apart.

 

You are the one who misconstrued the argument by bringing up the superlative "best". I was not talking about who is the best, just who I thought would be the most impact players within group play.

 

I disagree with the first part of the above quote, unless you are directly comparing the quickness of Poland's defense to the other teams in the group. Piszczek is very far from slow, despite his age and injury problems. And while Glik can be said to be in a mold of a traditional CB, tall, big, but not very athletic, he has been very successful at his position in Torino and now Monaco, where he prevailed over strikers and forwards from all nations, of all races, and playing styles. There may be issues with a second CB and a LB, but since we don't really know who they are going to be yet it is disingenuine to call them slow.

 

I think he was injured the whole tourney.

 

Jeez, I'm relatively new to this forum so I don't know much about the past, but these african/asian users sure seem to be overconfident to a fault and with little results to back up such confidence. Is it like this every 4 years?

 

Actually its the European users that are always overconfident to a fault. They have 10-11 teams making it out of the group phase, but in reality almost half that does...

 

Yeah but we're not analysing the group in hindsight, we are previewing it. So as it stands Lewa is the best player, and being a striker, that also makes him the biggest potential difference -maker. That doesn't mean someone else won't step-up. And that someone might not even be any of the 4 players we're thinking about now (i.e. Lewa, Mane, James, Falcao).

I hate these sort of debates because if Colombia wins the group, you'll pull an "I told ya so". But just to be clear, I'm not saying Colombia won't win the group. But you have to at least give it to Poland that they have the best player. And they'll still have the best player come July 2018 when Madrid, PSG, etc are tripping over each other to try to sign him.

 

The argument has nothing to do with best player. It has to do with the ones that will be most influential within the moments of the games in their groups.
I believe if Falcao and James are healthy they will be the ones with the most impact.

 

You hate it so much that you were the one that basically brought it up by quoting my opinions and put it in a debate form by being contrary.
I am not here to debate. Just give my opinion on who I think will be the marquee difference makers in the advancement into the next round.

 

I see what Homie is saying at least in regards to James. As an attacking midfielder like James you probably have more of an impact on a game than say a Lewandowski would just because a player like James would generally create more chances to score. Lewandowski is better than Falcao, but I feel some may be underestimating poor old Radamel. He was a arguably a top 5 player at his peak and he is in decent form right now. To say he might not even be a top 20 striker at the moment is mindless.

 

Nah. He would make the top 20 list, probably not top 10 (depending on how we count players like Messi, Neymar and so on). But top 20 definitely.

 

Someone said it would be generous to include him in a top 20 don't remember who, but that is just ignorant. Personally I think when it comes to pure forwards (thus excluding Messi, Ronaldo) he is most certainly top 10.

 

On another note, the group is interesting, and Colombia should advance but I would not be overly surprised if they flopped. The Senegal team has a lot of talent, and I'm curious to seeing how they play as a collective unit. Poland in my opinion is overrated, but that by no means is indicative of how I think they will fare in the groups (they have a decent shot). As to Japan, while I like their style, don't think they have enough to make it out of the group.

 

Lewandowski, Kane, Aguero, Suarez, Cavani, Mbappe, Aubemeyang, Immobile, Icardi... then arguably Falcao. So just about top ten when it comes to pure forwards.

 

WOAH Immobile, Icardi, Aubemeyang, and Cavani? LOL. What about Higuain, Mandzukic, Belotti, Dzeko, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku, Diego Costa, Morata, and Tevez? The ones I listed are superior to the 4 I just mentioned from your list, although Icardi might be somewhere in there.

 

Of your list I would maybe substitute Higuain for immobile, but thats about it.

 

What is this? 2015?

Aubemeyang has outscored Lewandowski in the Bundesliga more than once.
Cavani has outscored Falcao and is heading for a 40+ goal season.
Icardi and Immobile are on top of the goalscoring charts in Italy.

Meanwhile:
- Tevez is at the end of his career, putting him in the equasion has as much sense as mentioning Drogba;
- Higuain is having an off season, although he's back on track with 6 goals in his last four games (let him keep that up and yeah);
- Morata is now effectively a bench player and flop at Chelsea;
- Diego Costa has barely played this season;
- Ibrahimovic - see Tevez and Drogba;
- Mandzukic is not a pure forward, but more of a winger, not to mention he has barely scored this season;
- Dzeko is a good forward, but never was and never will be elite;
- Lukaku is great, but he is not having a scintillating first season with Mourinho;
- Belotti has had a massive drop off in form this season.

So Higuain and Lukaku debatable, Dzeko with a big if, but the rest? You must be kidding me.