does not matter .. if Muller will win this WC goldenball = clearly this is a VERY WEAK ERA ... Muller was good along with a hunger and disciplined Germany team and THAT WAS IT. NOTHING to remember about his performance here, of will we?
Let's rewind 4 years back to see how people predicted future STARS in this WC14: Top 10 future stars to watch who could hit the big time in time for World Cup 2014 in Brazil By TOM BELLWOOD UPDATED: 08:47 EST, 14 July 2010 NASSIM BEN KHALIFA (Switzerland, 18) BORJA GONZALEZ (Spain, 17) SEBASTIEN GALLEGOS (Uruguay, 18) CONNOR WICKHAM (England, 17) NEYMAR (Brazil, 18) SANI EMMANUEL (Nigeria, 17) ALAN DZAGOEV (Russia, 20) YAYA SANOGO (France, 17) ROMELU LUKAKU (Belgium, 17) EDUARDO SALVIO (Argentina, 20) Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1294616/Top-10-future-stars-World-Cup-2014-Brazil.html#ixzz37EKvXUS3 ======================================= Only Neymar lived uo to the expectation!
My prediction on who "Kicker" will rate as "World Class" in their July ranking of German football: Neuer, Hummels, Kroos, Müller, Robben.
Checking this thread, the inaugural match was the most followed by far (six posters, giving a shot for their ratings). I'll post the average rating, considering that Comme had been agreed (according a posterior comment) to raise Perisic from 6 to 7. And i guess JamesBH11 should rated the others players with 6 (being Hulk with 5 his worst). Brazil Julio César 6,00 =6 ------ Dani Alves 5,00 = 5 Thiago Silva 6,17 = 6 David Luiz 6,17 = 6 Marcelo 5,67 = 6 ------ Paulinho 5,17 = 5 L.Gustavo 6,50 = 7 Oscar 7,83 = 8 ---> MotM ----- Hulk 5,00 = 5 Fred 4,83 = 5 Neymar 7,33 = 7 (arguably an 8) ----- Hernanes 5,67 = 6 Bernard 6,00 = 6 Ramires - Croatia Pletikosa 4,33 = 4 (arguably a 5) ----- Srna 5,83 = 6 Corluka 5,83 = 6 Lovren 5,67 = 6 Vrsaljko 5,83 = 6 ----- Kovacic 5,00 = 5 Perisic 5,67 = 6 Rakitic 6,17 = 6 Modric 7,00 = 7 ------ Olic 6,67 = 7 Jelavic 5,33 = 5 ------ Brozovic 5,33 = 5 Rebic -
nice guess ... for me it does not bother to rate a player 5 or below ... too many ... and you're right
Difficult with the two positions he played. As defensive midfielder I would be surprised if they'd give him "world class" (don't think he would've deserved that) and as right back far too few games to be evalued properly. For Bayern he didn't play many games as right back in the second half of the season, only in this World Cup the last 3 games, that should not be enough to be rated in that position (the rating encompasses games played from January to July).
And how exactly does Müller's performance level tell us anything whatsoever conclusively about the strength of this WC, let alone this era? You can dress this up as you like, to whatever you are pre-disposed, and for you James that is clearly that this is a "weak" era. Another way to interpret it could be that there are no clear stand-out players (in your opinion, by the way) because the playing field between NTs has become more level, but I guess you would see that again as an argument for a "weak" era. Using your line of reasoning I could easily claim WC '90 was the "weakest ever" based on the performance of a single player... the guy who spent the majority of his club career outside the top flight and then had one miracle season/year in which he dominated the most defensive WC ever by scoring in all but one of the games he appeared in -- also nearly all of these goals being decisive ones. Won him the Golden Boot ánd the Golden Ball. Heck, scoring in the extremely defensive early 90s couldn't have been so hard, just look at some of the "nobodies" top scoring at WCs... 1990 1. Toto 2. Genoa CFC legend Skuhravý 3. a 38-year old 1994 1. Mr 5-in-1 2. Mr half-my-goals-were-penalties 3. Romário/Klinsmann/Baggio/Andersson, outscored by a guy who started at least half as many games? and you call yourselves greats... Note for the sarcasm-impaired: Point being, with the right amount of selectivity and "creative" interpretation you can argue anything. The issue I have with your approach, James, is that you are clearly just actively looking for any and all evidence to re-enforce your pre-existing premise that this is a weak era. Ideally one should first gather evidence and then form a conclusion based on that evidence; you're essentially basing your evidence on a conclusion that you've already reached -- a classic researcher's mistake.
Netherlands: ***Cillessen (6) - Kuyt (6), De Vrij (6), Vlaar (7), Martins (5), *Blind (7) - Wijnaldum (7), **Clasie (6), de Guzmán (6) - Robben (7), van Persie (6) Subs: *Janmaat (6), **Veltman (-), ***Vorm (-) Brazil: J.Cesar (3) - Maicon (5), T.Silva (4), D.Luiz (4), Maxwell (3) - ***Ramires (5), *Paulinho (3), **L.Gustavo (3) - Oscar (7) - Willian (6), Jo (3) Subs: *Fernandinho (4), **Hernanes (3), ***Hulk (4)
It's a minor thing and not relevant for your point but Salenko scored his goals in a game that did not matter. The chances to qualify were already gone for both teams. It was a meaningless game. 1990WC is indeed seen as one of the worst ever, together with 2002 probably the worst ever of the TV era. Btw, Lineker, Michel and Matthaus also scored 4 goals (like Milla). And in 1994 Stoichkov was level with Salenko, with the third tier formed by Batistuta, Raducioiu and Dahlin. Stoichkov indeed scored 3 of his 6 goals from the penalty spot. What I personally find intriguing is how many talk about that there are less minnows and the playing field between NTs leveled... but the actual results (like # of teams with maximum points etc.) don't really support this.
I was too quikc and Muller was just a name that got (a bit over rated) - SInce Germany came out brilliantly as a TEAM (with good tactics, SYNC and FITNESS), not becuase of one or two "great performers" a la Brazil of older days! Well if one followed CLOSE (with watching and analysis)this WC14, he should see : 1- This WC showed everyteam is SAME (minnow or not) 2- Top performers came from either some OLD veterans, Robben Lahm, Schweitegger, Klose Marquez, Maicon, Tim Howard, ... or some unknown like Demsey, Rojo, Garay, Vlar, Blind Navas Ochoa .... LOL 3- Most teams relied on their TACTICS to win ... but NOT quality per se ... (if one did not follow the tactics, they will be exposed BAD like Brazil, Switzeland ) Now, if one followed good , they will have a decent results: USA, Algeria, Germany Argentina and Netherland ... in other words: this WC showed most teams are just 23 ROBOTS to follow a system. If by LUCK, the system is good they are lucky winner, if not = bad losers. NO MORE NO LESS
Germany: Neuer (7) - Lahm (8), Boateng (8), Hummels (7), Höwedes (6) - *Kramer (5), Schweinsteiger (8) - Müller (6), Kroos (7), ***Özil (6) - **Klose (6) Subs: *Schürrle (7), **Götze (7), ***Mertesacker (-) Argentina: Romero (7) - Zabaleta (7), Demichelis (7), Garay (7), Rojo (6) - ***Pérez (6), Mascherano (7), Biglia (7), *Lavezzi (8) - Messi (6), **Higuaín (6) Subs: *Agüero (6), **Palacio (4), ***Gago (4)
mmm... Muller was clear better than Messi. Muller 7 Messi 6 (max) Howedes was the bets DF of Germany team in final - Howedes at least 7 Aguero not even 5 (missed control every ball, missing in position and hurt Scwheintegger)
I could agree only in the first paragraph. I was thinking to give a 7 to Müller, but he wasn't so clever, i value more his fighting spirit. I also think to give a 5 to Messi, but unless he looks like a ghost on the pitch (he played 100% fit????), he lost few balls and gave some good balls to his forwards. But overall, a so-so performance.
Revista Placar all ratings http://placar.abril.com.br/materia/tabelao-da-copa-do-mundo-completo Just out of curiosity, because these ratings are rubbish. Look Argentina x Germany.
yes the ratings are totally off and did not reflect the true game. Klose , Howedes should get much higher while Shurlle lower . Gotze with 2 shots and 1 winning goal = 8.5 max Messi is 6.5 max ... (had 3 shots and all off target) did a few runs and lost the balls Higuain could have higher ...
Here are my overall tournament rankings, first shot, let me know if you think I have forgotten anyone or over/underrated anyone. Striker Robin van Persie (Netherlands) ** Karim Benzema (France) ** Miroslav Klose (Germany) * Joel Campbell (Costa Rica) * Tim Cahill (Australia) * Islam Slimani (Algeria) * Forward Arjen Robben (Netherlands) *** Thomas Muller (Germany) *** Neymar (Brazil) ** Alexis Sanchez (Chile) ** Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) ** Sofiane Feghouli (Algeria) * Andre Schurrle (Germany) * Clint Dempsey (United States) * Winger Juan Cuadrado (Colombia) ** Angel di Maria (Argentina) * Andre Ayew (Ghana) * Georgios Samaras (Greece) * Attacking Midfielder James Rodriguez (Colombia) *** Lionel Messi (Argentina) *** Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) * Oscar (Brazil) * Miralem Pjanic (Bosnia) * Giovani dos Santos (Mexico) * Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica) * Mathieu Valbuena (France) * Central Midfielder Javier Mascherano (Argentina) *** Sami Khedira (Germay) ** Toni Kroos (Germany) ** Bastain Schweinsteiger (Germany) ** Hector Herrera (Mexico) ** Paul Pogba (France) ** Jermaine Jones (United States) ** Blaise Matuidi (France) * Arturo Vidal (Chile) * Gokhan Inler (Switzerland) * Andrea Pirlo (Italy) * Fullback Philipp Lahm (Germany) ** Daley Blind (Netherlands) ** Ricardo Rodriguez (Switzerland) ** Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) * Marcos Rojo (Argentina) * Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina) * Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast) * Fabian Johnson (United States) * Centerback Ron Vlaar (Netherlands) *** Mat Hummels (Germany) *** Ezequiel Garay (Argentina) ** Gary Medel (Chile) ** Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands) ** Giancarlo Gonzalez (Costa Rica) ** Thiago Silva (Brazil) ** Jerome Boateng (Germany) ** Vincente Kompany (Belgium) ** Bruno Martons Indi (Netherlands) * Mario Yepes (Colombia) * Sokratis (Greece) * David Luiz (Brazil) * Rafael Marquez (Mexico) * Diego Godin (Uruguay) * Goalkeeper Keylor Navas (Costa Rica) *** Manuel Neuer (Germany) *** Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico) *** Tim Howard (United States) ** Sergio Romero (Argentina) * Thibaut Courtois (Belgium) * Rais M’Bolhi (Algeria) * *** Overall Rankings 1. James Rodriguez 2. Arjen Robben 3. Thomas Muller 4. Javier Mascherano 5. Keylor Navas 6. Manuel Neuer 7. Ron Vlaar 8. Lionel Messi 9. Guillermo Ochoa 10. Mat Hummels
@Tom Stevens , the fullback Christian Gamboa (Costa Rica) is an option? I liked him. I want to read the opinion of others.
Sorry for the late response but based on what I saw and the media review I thought De Vrij was as good as Vlaar in this match, if not slightly better (he is better on the ball). Clasie was better as De Guzman; with his pro-active passing many wonder now why he hasn't seen more playing minutes. Wijnaldum played indeed well and more liberated now without Sneijder on the field. He had more freedom to express himself, a role better suited to him. Robben had an important involvement in all three goals; he basically set up all three of them. Funny is how the complete midfield has been schooled by Feyenoord, although they never played together (even Wijnaldum and De Guzman have only played a few matches together because of injuries and career progression). Pretty funny when considering that even for domestic standards they have a low budget: the budget of Ajax and PSV for their youth programme is twice as high.
Some interesting stats from after the 3rd place match: 90 - Arjen Robben fired 90% of his shots (10, excl. blocked) on target this World Cup, the highest % of all players (10+ shots) so far. Hot.— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) July 13, 2014 34 - Arjen Robben completed 34 dribbles this World Cup, as many as Johan Cruijff completed in 1974. Symbolism.— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) July 13, 2014 3 - Arjen Robben is the 3rd #NED player to win two penalties in a single World Cup (J. Rep in 1978 & J. Cruyff in 1974). Unstoppable.— OptaJose (@OptaJose) July 12, 2014 23 - The Netherlands have used 23 players this World Cup, the most for a single squad in one World Cup ever. Team.— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) July 12, 2014 50 - #NED are playing their 50th World Cup match today (26W, 12D, 11L). Which team played more WC matches without winning the title? Quiz.— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) July 12, 2014 https://twitter.com/OptaJohan/status/488090014166044672 https://twitter.com/OptaJohan/status/488083935344492544 ----- I have to make one little correction though; I always thought Cruijff had 55 completed dribbles at the 1974WC but now it seems it was 34/55 (34 successful). "Embarked 55 dribbles" means 55 attempts. Maradona had 53/90 at 1986WC by the way. Jairzinho in 1970 47/70, for what's worth. That is correct, now. However, what I said about most dribbles in a single WC match was correct: Jairzinho had the highest density in 1970 vs Uruguay (1970), Cruijff 11 successful dribbles against Sweden in 1974 (Jairzinho highest # of successful dribbles per minute).
Messi 2014: 46/73 (63% success rate) Robben 2014: 34/50 (68% success rate) [with help by squawka, TV and twitter) For more (showing the success rate): http://www.squawka.com/football-pla.../2014#season#1#all-matches#dribble#desc#total
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/wm/spiele/weltmeisterschaft/2014/topspieler-der-saison.html - Kicker ratings for the WC.