I am having a debate with a good friend of mine over who was the best attacking midfielder of the world cup. He chose Landon Donavon and I chose Ronaldinho Gaucho. He says Donavon has better speed and is more important to his team than Ronaldinho Gaucho who has Rivaldo,Ronaldo, etc. to distract the opposition away from him. Ronaldinho flourished because of the lack of marking on him. Donovan according to him, had to bear the brunt of the USA's attacking moves. I disagree with that. The Brazil attack was not as effective in games were Ronaldinho did not play or was subbed early (barring the Costa Rica goalfest). I believe that big Ronaldo missed several good goal chances provided to him by excellent passes and runs by Ronaldinho. His goal tally could easily been 10 or 12 had he converted. Who do you think was the most effective attacking mid of the world cup.
Your buddy's trippin. Donovan had a great tournament given the little expectations he came in with. R. Gaucho was picked to make a showing before the cup, so defenses were in fact aware of him; there was no lack of marking as he asserts. Additionally, in no game was Landon THE reason they made it through. You could argue that Ronaldinho's contribution in the England game was the most critical factor to them advancing. Whether it was or not, his performance loomed large. He was feeling it that game, and without the expulsion I think he would have completed a one-for-the-ages type of performance. - As I'm writing Landon just scores a sweet goal against Venezuela - IMO Ballack was the best OM of the tournament.
I have to agree that Ballack was the best. He carried Germany against the U.S. and Turkey. It's a shame he had to miss the final. By the way, yellow card limits are terrible for the game, in any competition. I hated the fact that Ballack missed the final, and it sucks that star players such as Totti, Shearer can miss out on key games in the Champions League because of a couple yellow cards. Suspensions for five yellow cards in a competition would be reasonable.
i don't know guys... certainly Ronaldihno and Ballack had stellar performances... my favorite may have been Basturk from Turkey... exceptional playmaker... Diop from Senegal was also very good... i can't say that Landon really played as an attacking midfielder in the tournament... he was positioned much closer to McBride than an attacking midfielder... Having said that, i wish these players would've had more of a chance to rest before the tournament... the fact that we can only recognize a handful of attacking midfielders in the best tournament in the world is testament to a growing negative trend... these players are playing way too many games at times... and then are absolutely fried when the WC comes around... we were denied the true talents of Rui Costa... Zidane... Aimar & Veron (although i think Veron is vastly overrated)... Okocha... and others... i wish these clubs would tone it down a little in WC years, so that we may be able to witness the best that each country has to offer during the WC...
Don't get me wrong, I think Donovan had a great tournament, and he deserves far more respect for it than he gets sometimes, but he wasn't the best a-mid in the tournament. Want a reason why? He didn't play A-mid all that much, to be honest. He moved around so much, playing that, striker, and even right mid, so he can't really be involved in the discussion. The US had a rotation going at a-mid, with Donovan, O'Brien, Reyna, and Mathis all getting shots at it. Not that this is a bad thing, as it certainly was effective, it just means Donovan shouldn't be in the discussion. (For the record, I agree that it was Ballack. He and Khan carried Germany.)
5 yellows? You'd have to get one in every game. The limits are there as a penalty for players with poor discipline, and to protect the creative players.