Having watched a good chunk of the games,the standard of football in my opinion has dropped,watching the games apart from Germany and Holland's earlier performances have been poor. The two semi's Germany showed us all, the way to win in style against Brazil. The Dutch v Argies game was like watching paint dry,so so boring. Germany again should destroy the Argies in the final on current form.
Haven't watched much of it to be honest The late kickoffs and offset times are a pain, and it's the same poor refereeing, diving and greedy players from the likes of Cameroon and Nigeria that put me off, a bit like the Premier League
I think in the past teams have had an array of talent all over the pitch, now teams seem to have 2-3 world class players that push their average team mates along Holland have robben, schenider, van persie, brazil have neymar and thiago silva. and argentina have messi, di-maria, Mascherano and possibly Lavezzi who actually made a difference this world cup With the exception of Germany who somehow produce world class player after world class player who fit in the team like they've been there for 10 years.
Must admit that last nights game was ****e! It was quite obvious from the start that both teams were set up to negate each other which is exactly what happened. Really surprised at van Gaal taking that approach - bet a lot of Man U supporters weren't too happy with that side of his managerial skills!!
Man Utd four to five years to rebuild i think.They will go like Liverpool after their seventies and eighties highs.Will not be anything like the side of the 90s and early 20s.
'Germany again should destroy the Argies' Don't think so, I reckon it will be very tight. Germany are decent but Brazil the other night were shambolic. 4 goals in 6 minutes !!!! - that's under 10's.
Over here in paradise I have an added advantage in that most games kick off at lunchtime, or late afternoon, and that is why I have watched a lot of the matches. Very disappointed at the quality of the football but even more upset with the diving and all the other nonsense that has gone on throughout the finals. I did enjoy the likes of Costa Rica and Colombia who approached their games with an all out kind of gusto that was delightful to watch when compared to the uninterested rubbish put out by the English players again. Can't have it all I suppose but a little bit of effort from England would have been nice but then again why would they bother this time any more than previous tournaments?
Got to say I agree with you on this, Brazil imploded and Germany took advantage. Putting Side Show Bob as captain and constantly playing Fred and Hulk it's the worse Brazilian team I've ever known. The Argies will be tougher to break down and have a player that can turn a game in an instance. They won it in 86 because of one player, I've got a feeling we will see him at his best against Mertisacka. I've actually enjoyed this World Cup especially the lesser teams like Columbia, Costa Rica and Chile. The Dutch stuffing of Spain and some great goals. The problem we have now is these superstars we see regularly on Sky so we lose out on these up and coming players like we used to have.
Diving and cheating = EPL. I did not expect the World Cup to be any different. The standard of football has been different. Lot of high temp, high pressing allied to soft touches and short football and flooding midfield v other tournaments where football has often been slow, slow. quick, deep lines etc. Then there was England. Moving on. I found the Netherlands v Argentina match intriguing as some of the world best players were nullified by astute tactics. The Brazil Germany game was bizarre. I have never seen a team of that quality get things so wildly wrong, so often and implode. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
I feel for anyone who stayed up late to watch the Netherland / Argentina game yesterday. It was terrible. I only continued watching as it was a 4 o'clock kick off and I could watch it whilst eating my dinner. Germany are doing something right from grass roots thru the pro leagues. They produce quality players consistently. The EPL has ensured England will never be competitive in the future. We should fill the England team with Championships players.
I actually think that the USA showed, to a degree, what can be achieved with grit, determination and, above all, PASSION. Despite all their protestations about wanting to play for their country, I just wish that England players could show the same commitment!!
