Nice Topic Argentina - I think the key player for Argentina will be Mascherano, because we have no replacement who is atleast half good as Mascherano, other key players who will be hard to replaced will be Crespo, we dont have a striker (poucher) as good as crespo,all other strikers plkay behind the main striker guys like saviola,tevez,messi,aguerio,all play behind the striker,the another player who will be hard to replace will be Zanetti.Riqelme can be replaced, we have lot of players who can contribute from tat position.
IMO, Dida is not Brazil's best goal keeper. We have Marcos (from 2002), Julio Cesar (Inter), Gomes (PSV), Rogerio Ceni (São Paulo). Dida sucks at crossed balls and sucks even more playing with his feet.
If you don't mind, I chosen top 3 unreplaceable for each country. BRA 1. Ronaldinho 2. Kaka 3. Lucio GER 1. Ballack 2. Podolski 3. Schweinsteiger ITA 1. Pirlo 2. Zambrotta 3. Nesta ARG 1. Ayala 2. Riquelme 3. Aimar HOL 1. Van Nistelrooy 2. Van der Sar 3. Robben ENG 1. Rooney 2. Lampard 3. Robinson FRA 1. Zidane 2. Henry 3. Vieira POL 1. Zurawski 2. Krzynowek 3. Sobolewski
I'm sorry but Lucio is totally replaceble... He can be exchanged by Alex, Edmilson or Cris. edit: and should be!
Oh c'mon are you kidding? I have to disagree? Did you see Edmilson for Barca this weekend, he was awful. He still doesn't seem to be the player he was before he got injured. Alex lacks big-time experience at the Sr. level and Cris doesn't even belong on the final 23 as far as I'm concerned. Lucio is by far Brazil's best central defender.
I didn't see Barca's last game, but everyone can have a bad day, right? Lucio screws up too much. He is not reliable and sometimes he thinks he has skill to set up the plays. The composition of Brazil's defense is really a complicated matter. Parreira has the awful habit of not experimenting on that matter. He always calls the same players. Now we are too close to 2006 and changes would be dangerous.
This isn't even my Bayern bias talking here, but you must be kidding me with the way you are undermining Lucio's importance and level as a footballer. He is world class and Brazil should be thanking GOD they have him. I think Brazil's defense would just shatter without him. Despite the fact that he likes to join the attack from time to time, he holds the defense together, he is by far the most determined, hardest working and commited Brazilian defender. This guy would never give up, no matter what the circumstances are. Just look what he's done with Leverkusen and Bayern.
heres my two cents on a couple of countries that differ slightly from previous opinions... germany - ballack is a talisman, but the absence of podolski makes the entire offense suffer... podolski brings a whole new dimension to the german game... to underline the difference between the two and why i give podolski more importance, ill say this - ballack is somebody who will punish you if you underestimate him, take your eye off him, or drop your guard... podolski is a guy who can do similar regardless of whether or not you cover him... he is the ONE player on germanys team who, imo, cannot be shackled... im a bayern fan, but ill admit ballack can be subdued... podolski is too unpredictable and innovative to keep quiet for 90 minutes, no matter who you set on him... czech republic cech will only keep out shots... but who drives the team? who will make the team win games (which you need to do, in order to progress) the answer is both galasek and rosicky... without these two, their midfield loses shape completely... nedved was great, but hes history and the czechs have done pretty well in his absence with these two dictating things from central midfield... they complement each other superbly and even nedved could not have prevented their midfield from being overrun the way it was in the WCQ defeat to romania... galasek keeps the opposition in check the same way makelele does for chelsea, and rosicky's ball distribution and vision is second to none (no, in these two aspects of the game, he is even better than nedved) fire away!
Lucio has a talent for defending, but he lacks smarts and cool-headedness. I notice that, in addition to his habit of racing upfield and taking brainless shots on goal, he is also liable to lose his temper and unnerve his own defense. Not sure what his disciplinary record is, but he's certainly been red-carded before. Again--the skill for shutting down opponents is there, but the occasional own goal/ card/ unwise venture into the opponent's half add up, make a negative impression. I would think Cafu or Ze Roberto are more important.
personally, i dont blame anybody for scoring an own goal... i dont think its anybodys fault, and it certainly wasnt lucios fault that those two own goals vs chelsea are being made such a big deal of... his disciplinary record is far from problematic, imo and many of us on the bayern board see lucio as an ideal captain should ballack leave and kahn retire next summer... the only thing that counts against him are his ill-advised, a little too frequent ventures into the opponents half... but even those can be telling... aside from the contributions he had towards bayerns goal tally last year, he can also score a few important goals himself - the most well-known being the late, individual run and finish he scored to knock pool out of the CL QF a few seasons ago...
Yes, actually...when it comes to keeping your temper and not letting it get the best of you, Lucio does really well. He only has one red card for Bayern and Brazil. For a defender, that isn't terrible at all. Everytime Lucio makes a mistake, he gets mad, but at himself rather than a teammate or opponent. With that said, he always looks to improve his game and correct his errors. He progresses with each performance.
Whenever I've seen Lucio, he's been in bad temper and has projected a lack of tranquility. Perhaps you've studied him more, but I would not rave about his character.
You're right about Van der Sar but both Robben and Van Nistelrooy have hardly played in Holland's qualifying campaign for the world cup due to injury yet we seemed to be doing perfectly all right without them.
I wouldn't either, certainly not for Brazil. He tends to move forward a lot. That's fine. If caught though he tends to overcompensate (sliding tackles, overcommitting). One mis-step leading to a foul or lost ball and he looks like he is completely off for about 5 minutes. Then he settles down. While he may only have one red for Brazil, he's a pretty solid risk for another one whenever he starts acting up. If he sticks to being the intelligent, anticipating defender and on his marking he doesn't get frustrated and over-commit then he's clearly an asset and arguably among the best.