Yea, except Sagnol and Lizarazu aren't German, what you've posted is your opinion, you think Cicinho, Finnan and Colocini are better than Sagnol, I certainly don't think so. And I've made it very clear that Lizarazu isn't the best, I personally think the likes of Heinze, Zambrotta, and Cole are much better, but I just prefer Lizarazu in my team, is all. I also recomend that you watch the Bayern-Gladbach game of last week to see some footage of Sagnol and see why I think so highly of him, hell any footage of last season in the Bundesliga, he defends really well, is one of the most determined players around and crosses the ball with accuracy, which Cafu, as great as he is, doesn't really posses.
Hey guys - can we please drop some of the aggression or take it to PMs or a more appropriate forum? This is one of the forums where we don't kick sand at each other. Timeouts in the corner may become warranted if you can't play nice.
..........................................1.buffon 2.zanetti/thuram......4.cannavaro.........5.ferdinand............3.a cole ........................................6.makalele ............................8.gerrard.......476057.lampard ..............10.kaka...........................................14.henry .........................................9.sheva buffon or cech? ITS BUFFON imo. has this aura of "i cannot be beaten". not sure about right back. im told zanetti is awesome, but tbh i havent seen him much recently. thuram sticks out as a great defender. alternatives could have been cafu or gary neville who is extremely reliable and underrated. cole is my favourite player - i think hes the best full back in the world by a long way now. hard to decide if its gerrard or lampard who wears no. 8, but theyre both too good to leave out. was thinking about rosicky or pirlo maybe, but lamps and stevie g are just too good. chose cannavaro on the basis of his form a few seasons back, maybe nesta or terry might have edged him out these days. i think ferdinand is in a class of his own as an imposing defender who is hard to beat, reads the game perfectly and uses the ball well (maldini is still class tho). makalele or keane? tough one - keane was awesome for man u last season, but makalele was as well. gattuso is up there as well. henry as a left winger/forward? thats pretty much where he plays at arsenal, its his natural position. has the pace to cover both areas. kaka or ronaldinho?????????????????????? kaka i reckon - consistency. plus he looked like the man in milan's european games last year. he wouldnt be tied to the right - id give him freedom to go wherever, plus gerrard or lampard can drift wide. shevchenko = no brainer. notice the clubmates in key positions: cole and henry down the left (lethal for arsenal), kaka and sheva (lethal), makalele and lampard (solid as fvck).
.......................Casillas ...............Puyol............Maldini Cafu..........................................R. Carlos (I like his freekicks) ........................Pirlo ...Duff.................................Robben ........................Totti ....................................Cassano .................Jaime Moreno My favorites
LOL Did someone rat us out to the admins or something? p.s. Hows the weather in scotland this time of year?
Heres my other team of favorites. (Ronaldinho gets to be on both teams, he's just that good ) This formation would probibly not work in real life as it only has on true defensive midfielder. The rest in midfield are finesse players and will not add anything to the defence besides the occational tracking back. We will play some beautiful posession football with Hleb, Ronaldinho, and kaka constantly swiching positions. My full backs will hardly ever leave their half of the field as we have better players to move the ball around. Emerson is the work horse and will not be able to play a full game, he usually gets replaced with Makalele in the 60th. ....................... .Ibrahimovich....Adriano Kaka...........................Ronaldinho..........................Hleb ...................................Emerson Mancini.................Thruam...........Ayala............Zambrotta
Nice team...only problem...wtf is Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho? I'd replace Lamps for Ronaldinho and Kaka for Cristiano Ronaldo. There's enough muscle in there with Gerrard and Makelele/Gatusso if you will. Plus, It would suck to have a team without Pirlo...even though i hate italians. My team: ~~~~~Henry(EPL's best)~~~Sheva(SerieA's best)~~~~ ~Ronaldinho(La liga's best)~~~C. Ronaldo(Portugal's best) ~~~~~~Pirlo(Italy's best)~~~~Gerrard(England's best)~ ~Heinze(Argy's best)~~~~~~~Cafu(Brazil's best back) ~~~~Terry(England's best D)~~Nesta(Italy's best D)~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~Cech(EPL's best GK)~~~~~~~~~ Henry: Pushes defenders back, penetrates centre-defense Sheva: Just get him the fricken ball Ronaldinho: Just get open for him ...he'll find you C. Ronaldo: Blinding speed, opens up field, destabilizes defense. Gerrard: Constantly pushing forward, works hard in midfield. Pirlo: Defensively responsible, never in trouble in midfield, starts the play off well. Heinze: Runs like a crazy person, always hauls a$$ back if overcommits Cafu: Runs like a crazy person, always hauls a$$ back if overcommits Terry: A rock, steady Nesta: A rock, steady Cech: EPL's best GK in toughest league.
After this past season Lampard has pretty much secured his right as the best midfielder around, there's really no need to replace him, and I agree, Pirlo would just make any team better, he really revolutionized the defensive midfielder role.
Revolutionized? He's a very good player - stellar with AC Milan - but you give him too much credit historically SirM. The list of defensive mids who could defend, pass and articulate action is very long. Just think Beckenbauer (prior to the positional switch) and Zito for starters. Pure defensive specialists in that position then became the rage circa late '80s. Hopefully he's helping the pendulum swing back. Plus, i don't see Pirlo being dropped effortlessy as D-mid on any squad. The midfield has to be set up to suit his skills. Lampard, on the basis of the last couple of seasons, could be dropped effortlessy into any midfield IMO.
Oh I agree with you that the likes of Beckenbauer really defined the sweeper role. I just mean that Pirlo revolutionized the anchorman role, while the normal anchorman put the boots on and played it short, Pirlo began to read the game, intercepted the balls and floated dreamy passes upfront. He became so important to Milan, that Ancelotti said they have to come up with an entirely different style of play if Pirlo misses a game. He's not the best Milan player but he possesses characteristics that cannot be replaced. Pirlo is like a withdrawn number ten, a deep lying second playmaker, operating in areas of the pitch where space is less of a premium, after all he used to be a striker.
I hear you, just that Becks often played in that manner before becoming a sweeper. Didi did the same in 1962, where he dropped further back. You are correct, Pirlo is a fine player.
I dont think Pirlo is THAT special, Xabi Alonzo was the same type of player at Real Sociodad and at Liverpool. I remember one game he completed like 50 passes on had a 90 % percent success rate, this is from a position right infront of the defence. Pirlo didnt revolutionize anything, he is just an attacking player that was asked to play in a defensive position, how is this any different from Xavi at Barcelona? Anways I agree that Pirlo is a great player but he not what your making him out to be.
Didi was the first name I thought of, frankly. Nor is this position particularly revolutionary - the Spanish have a word for it - "pivote". (Makes a lot of sense, if you think about it.) Pirlo is a fine player, but the only thing he's influenced is Milan's formation. Well, that and the ongoing belief that Inter know fcuk all about transfers.
Actually, I'd never put Riquelme on a dream team, despite the fact that he's in absolutely phenomenal form right now. He demands that the team be built around him and spends far too much time on the ball.
The same could be argued about Ronaldinho and a rather long list of playmakers. It all depends on how you want your dream team to play.
-----------henry------adriano---------- Ronaldinho---kaka--lampard---joaquin Zambrotta----nesta---terry----puyol -----------------buffon-----------------
Ronaldinho can play as a support stirker or tweener of some kind and doesn't need to be the focal point. I would point out that he's not the focal point for Brazil, but he has not been brilliant for Brazil, mostly average, sometimes good, so that wouldn't be a good example. (Of course for Brazil he has some more defensive responsibilities in theory and is an offensive midfielder, not a forward or in between kind of player.)
No. Deco spends almost as much time on the ball as Ronaldinho does for Barca. Riquelme, meanwhile, will wander with the ball for ages until he figures out what to do.
That could be the result of Ronaldinho not being made the focal point for Brazil. It works both ways.
I think that's because Ronaldinho relies on moments of brilliance to impact the game rather than imposing his will on the team. Ronaldinho has been a complementary player for most of his career. When asked to be THE player for PSG, he struggled in that role.
You're not getting something here. Ronaldinho has been pretty good for Brazil regardless of whether or not he's their focal point. Riquelme is almost a liability if he's not the center of the team.
Could, but probably isn't, as nicephoras points out he isn't the one always on the ball for Barça. For Brazil that's also true but he is asked to do other work as well. I for one would love to just let him loose for Brazil and only ask Kaka or Juninho Pernambucano to contribute to the midfield's ball-winning. Ronaldinho can harass and contribute as forwards like Robinho do but shouldn't be asked to dedicate himself to that kind of work if it hurts his offensive perfromance. Stop me before I hijack this thread!
Riquelme however influences Argentina a lot more than Ronaldinho Brazil. If you take Ronaldinho out of the Brazil squad they are likely to get similar results as if he was there, Argentina on the other hand relies so much on Riquelme that if he'd be removed, the team would have to be completely re-structured and wouldn't perform as well.