Pirlo though, was a started in the CL final just 6 weeks before he came to MLS. Insigne and Berna came midseason and TFC was having their worst year by the time they got there. Lorenzo Insigne played in only 11 matches and Federico Bernardeschi played in 13. Neither really moved the needle of the teams play but let's see what happens if they play a full year. I hope they do well but it wont be easy. Domeinco Criscito also played in only 15 games and quit after being there a total of 5 months because he couldn't handle it. Speaking of players dropping levles, I was living in Italy at the time and I remember Gianfranco Zola playing with Cagliari in 2003–04. He helped win promotion tied with Palermo with 83 points. Zola was 37 years of age and scored 13 goals in Serie B and Cagliari lead the best attack in the league scoring a total of 80 goals.
Better players in Italy to play with. Who wants to play with players that only run and can't control the ball? That might favor a young guy like Giovinco, but even he knew when it was time to leave as he got older.
Why should they have to raise the level of 10 other donkey's but those 10 other donkey's have nothing to do with their performance? If you can't make or take a pass, what's even Maradona to do?
So an old player that no longer has the legs to run is supposed to develop the legs to run in a league that is all about running only?
You are right! If that is the case and they can't handle it, they shouldn't come and the stupid teams that are spending money to employ them , shouldn't sign them. I think we are seeing more of this and I think it will happen soon enough. I for one am sick of seeing overpriced overaged players. Same goes for Ronaldo and Messi in this WC tournament. Álvaro Morata scored for Spain and Serge Gnabry for Germany. Right now both go through I believe.
It's a short lived fix and the novelty wears off before you know it. At the end fans hated seeing Pirlo struggle and kept complaining about it him. He was not even trying and it was a very sad ending. I'm old enough to remember the NASL and the oly older player was maybe Pele. The rest all came at much younger ages. Best at 30, Chinaglia 29, Cruyff 31, Neeskens 28, Zungul 29 , Trevor Francis 24, Franz Beckenbauer 29 , Hugo Sanchez 22 and Roberto Cabañas 19 to name a few. I've never seen another player like George Best in my entire life. He was amazing. Of course everyone wants younger players! SEMPRE LARGO AI GIOVANI! Wow! Japan scores! Ritsu Doan! Japan 1- Germany 1
Germany have been knocked out! #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/tbNp0Bl2Md— betclever (@bet_clever) December 1, 2022
So look at that, ze Germans have had their worst world cup in ....checks notes*.... 4 years. No one deserves it more IMO. They are the first ones to celebrate any time Italy fails at anything. Not just their fans, but their media, pundits and ex players. A CASA!
I think they need to do better with their African scouting... they don't hit on as many of those players as the French do.
Tata Martino rues Mexico's 'huge failure' at World Cup by Martyn Wood , USA-Iran draws 12 million viewers on Fox by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, English-language audiences: 2022 U.S. World Cup: 15.4 million USA-England (Matchday 2), FOX 12 million USA-Iran (Matchday 3), FOX 8.3 million USA-Wales (Matchday 1), FOX 2014 U.S. World Cup: 18.2 million USA-Portugal (Matchday 2), ESPN 16.5 million USA-Belgium (Round of 16), ESPN 11.1 million USA-Ghana (Matchday 1), ESPN 10.8 million USA-Germany (Matchday 3), ESPN 2010 U.S. World Cup: 14.9 million USA-Ghana (Round of 16), ABC 13.1 million USA-England (Matchday 1), ABC 6.2 million USA-Algeria (Matchday 3), ESPN 5.2 million USA-Slovenia (Matchday 2), ESPN
They produce really good centre backs, they will be giving african nations good CB's for the next 10 years.
Yeah Germany lost but at least they qualified for the WC, honestly not sure what's worse, not qualifying or getting knocked out during group stage.
The Japanese are coming! They scored a goal that went over the line it shouldn’t have counted but the VAR didn’t see it but everyone saw that? Who is in charge of the VAR?