Now don't get me wrong, there are some woefully awful pundits out there, to me the biggest shock of the Euros was Alan Shearer making the panel for the final despite providing a grand total of zero worthwhile comments or insights throughout the tournament, but having seen Garth's team of the tournament containing 2, YES TWO, england players he surely has to go down as the most ******ed , short sighted, useless disgrace of a pundit that there ever has been. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18657918 Team of the tournament: Casillas, JOHNSON, Ramos, Hummels, Alba, Xavi, Pirlo, Iniesta, GERRARD, Balotelli & Gomez. There will no doubt be arguments about Hummels, Balotelli and GOmez, but I don't see how anyone can back him up on Gerrard and Johnson. For shame
His team of the week for the BBC is complete bollocks every single week, the bloke's as thick as pig ****.
Johnson?! Above Lahm? Wow. And Gerrard and Xavi above the latter's teammate Alonso, who was far better? (Not to mention Schweinsteiger and Ozil)? I'd have Ronaldo (as much as I hate him) over Balotelli. Anyway, yes, Crooks is a total buffoon who tries to come across as an intellectual while in fact being anything but one.
The closest player we MIGHT have to being world class would be Joe Hart. But after his ambarrassing antics in the Italy penalty shoot out and him being buttfcuked by Pirlo in that same competition and thereby look a complete tw@t, you might argue the dignity, passion and quality of Gigi Buffon shows you how far he is of being a true great.
Disagree. As much of a bellend as he is Ashley Cole has been world class for a good 5 years. We have nobody else anywhere njear the top 3 in the world in their position. Does anyone remember the lengthy argument I had with someone pre tournament who literally could not believe I didnt think Rooney was in the top 3 strikers in the world? It's gone a bit quiet on that front.
I'd agree on Cole being world-class and Rooney not really being up there. But those two and Hart (and Gerrard when fit) are probably our best players.
NAH! Jordi Alba would get my vote for the World Class Eleven right now. My best Europe Team would be: GK--------Gigi Buffon LB--------Jordi Alba CB--------Gerrard Pique CB--------Sergio Ramos RB--------Phillip Lahm RM-------David Silva CM-------Xavi Alonso CM-------Sergio Busquets LM-------Andres Iniesta FW-------David Villa FW-------Christiano Ronaldo So no European class players in England, let alone world class. Hart might just get on the bench but even then I think Ike Casillas is better.
World-class should be defined, as bcc says, as top 3 in their position. Jordi Alba doesn't have a monopoly on world-class left-backs, even if he does deserve great praise after a superb tournament and would be in my world XI too.
Ashley Cole is class, been the best left back in the world for the past 10 years, looks like Alba could soon be regarded as the best in the world if he carries on like that. Rooney is simply not as good as the media in the country make him out to be, in the Premier League alone Van Persie and Aguero are better than him and worldwide Ronaldo, Messi, Villa (just to name barca and madrid's players) are a different league entirely. Gerrard is crap. No longer the player of 6 years ago when he was world class, a couple of decent crosses aside has been poor at this tournament, unable to dictate play or keep the ball (due to his penchant for holywood passes) he has been largely bypassed.
To be fair as soon as I posted it I thought I'd done him a disservice - it is nearer a decade rather than 5 years.
Back to the original post, It's his opinion, he's paid to express it and quite frankly it's irrelevant if you agree/disagree with him. There is no 'best XI' as everyone judges on different criteria, so there is no definitive answer.
I couldn't disagree more with you - but then, I guess that's irrelevant too! Anyway, the official 'team' of the tournament has been announced, along with Iniesta as the player of the tournament (hard luck, Pirlo)... Euro 2012 team of the tournament: Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Ita), Iker Casillas (Spa), Manuel Neuer (Ger) Defenders: Gerard Pique (Spa), Fabio Coentrao (Por), Philipp Lahm (Ger), Pepe (Por), Sergio Ramos (Spa), Jordi Alba (Spa) Midfielders: Daniele De Rossi (Ita), Steven Gerrard (Eng), Xavi (Spa), Andres Iniesta (Spa), Sami Khedira (Ger), Sergio Busquets (Spa), Mesut Ozil (Ger), Andrea Pirlo (Ita), Xabi Alonso (Spa) Forwards: Mario Balotelli (Ita), Cesc Fabregas (Spa), Cristiano Ronaldo (Por), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Swe), David Silva (Spa)
True, though it's my opinion that we should stop paying him, as his opinion is almost always a load of cack(and it is our money). That opinion came free of charge.
You can make a case for Gerrard, imo. But why would anyone pick a striker ffs ? So yes Gerrard makes the 11.
Just out of interest does anyone know who actually selected that team? The reason I'm wondering is because there are ten Spanish players (Torres omitted?). I know they were the best team and I agree they should have the strongest representation, but ten players seems like someone might have a 'special fondness' for them.
It was a UEFA technical committee - Andy Roxburgh is one of them. To be honest, they all deserve their places. Arbeloa is a clear weakness and is of course not there, but beyond him I'd only consider maybe leaving out Xavi, who was below par. Busquets impresses me more and more with every season - good to see his efforts recognised.
It was picked by the UEFA Technical Team. I don't know who's actually on the panel, but it's headed by ex-Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh.
