But why do you care?

Yeah, some overrate Messi, some overrate Ronaldo, some underrate them constantly. Nothing new.

Not totally sure I do, at least not how you think it is. Besides, if a player is good, it's mostly for his own. You can put in any other over-hyped, or hyped, or even really good player and they won't hold a candle to the legends I've admired over the years. Messi vs Cristiano, let the fanboys duke it out all the want.

Though I do dislike litter - football sites, blogs, forums filled with posts about Messi by the media and fans alike. It does get a tad annoying after a while. Spoils the experience a bit while I am browsing.

Louis van Gaal is the new Dutch national team coach.

http://www.vi.nl/nieuws/224046/VAN-GAAL-BO...D-ASSISTENT.htm

Haha, I knew it. Hopefully he won't repeat his last term. But for Holland this could end up well. I still rate him very much.

Spain win U-19 European championship. the Olympics next? I'd bet on it...

This is the first time I see such an utter dominance in football.

They do the right thing of training their kids into the same system through every level, so it's easy to make a step up and such. Same with Barca and their kids. England need a big change like that if we're going to really push for something.

Read your post again and then watch this video.

http://youtu.be/2_rWUgCbtic

Just when I thought FIFA couldn't be any more inept they put us at #3 in the Rankings.

What a bunch of mugs.

You have a problem with that?


I'm still waiting for your response, acid.

Yes...now he can no longer hide behind how since England are #8 in the world a QF appearance is success.

For some reason I missed your earlier post. Don't believe I have words to say about the video. Bad defending is bad defending, after all. Even the best can mistakes every once in a while, and Silva isn't the best anyway, at least not yet. Even though he pockets Messi now, this one was embarrassing on so many levels.

Still, after the riches I was treated to in the 90s and early 2000s guys like Messi and CRON have a long way to go before I put them at that level. Having said that, playing in a weak league (at least in the case of the Argentinean), plus falling footballing standards overall sure isn't helping their case. That's all I have for now.

You can say it's not their fault, they have to make do with what they have, but that'll be that, then. And then we have PSG and other big clubs splashing (or should I say spraying) cash left and right for mediocre and unproven players. At least, some of their recent buys are severely inflated, to the tune of double at least. But that's football these days!

Oh, and grateful as I am, sometimes I do wish I was not spoiled by the rich, rich standards of moons gone by. In football, in films, in music (Justin Beiber, anyone?!), in video games, in life itself. Maybe if I weren't chances are I'd enjoy everything like most other people. Wouldn't that be good, eh?!

Yup, that'd be a fun life to have. Not knowing what came before, and discovering all the new stuff, all the new players, all the new things. As I said, like normal people do. I see young folks (teenagers, mostly) all the time going over the moon over something (which I usually consider mediocre or below average), and I can't help but let lose a little smirk, an insolent smile even that lasts a smidgen of a second that only I myself feel.

It's not exactly living in the past, no sir, not at all. I just expect great things from the new generation, my generation. As long as humankind as a whole improves itself - even by an inch - each passing generation I'd be happy. It'll be job very well done.

I'm just idealistic that way. Not a grumpy old man (not that at 26 I'm old), who disapproves of everything new. No! I'm just a spoiled young guy that has the highest of hope in everything I see, in every color of life. And anytime that glass shatters, that hope crashes do I feel a little sad. Every time. I guess that's the inherent problem with idealists. Still I'm not the type to give up, not this easily at least. But:

Dracula vs Twilight in books? Lord of the Rings vs Harry Potter? The Hunger Games a blatant ripoff of Battle Royale? Casablanca, Godfather, Lawerance of Arabia, It's a Wonderful Life vs Transformers 2, New Year's Eve, Sex and the City 2, Smurfs? Eh! Presley, U2, Jackson, Cash vs Beiber and Cyrus?! Blah!

Same when it comes to football, yes, it's nothing like it was a decade, two, three decades back. And the blame doesn't lie at the feet of the greatest players of today - it's the average ones who decided to become below average and earn a good buck without paying a cent of tax, while making no effort to improve. This is not the game I followed when I was a kid.

Maybe things will change, maybe they won't - but my dreams are already turning into nightmares!

#3 in the World suggests you are a WC SF team. We aren't even a Euro SF team. England are #8-#10. A Euro QF and WC Ro16/QF (dependant on who we play in Ro16) is our level, which #8-#10 would suggest.

Acerbi, De Sciglio, Abate, Nocerino and El Shaarawy were called up by Prandelli for Italy's friendly against England.

Full list: Andrea Consigli (Atalanta), Mattia Perin (Pescara), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain); Ignazio Abate (Milan), Francesco Acerbi (Milan), Davide Astori (Cagliari), Federico Balzaretti (Roma), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Daniele Gastaldello (Sampdoria), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (Torino), Federico Peluso (Atalanta); Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Diamanti (Bologna), Antonio Nocerino (Milan), Andrea Poli (Sampdoria), Ezequiel Schelotto (Atalanta), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain); Mario Barwuha Balotelli (Manchester City), Mattia Destro (Roma), Stephan El Sharawy (Milan), Manolo Gabbiadini (Atalanta).

Seems like a rejuvenated Italy.

Prandelli is working out the next generation to start and get a read on which guys are ready to step up and contribute for qualifiers and 2014. I'd love to see El Shaarawy and De Sciglio prove themselves at the national level. That experience could be huge for us going forward.

Yep, agree on that.

Jake Livermore is in the England squad. If he pulls out, it'll probably be me or Ash.

Italy's lineup: Sirigu; Abate, Ogbonna, Astori, Balzaretti; Nocerino, Aquilani, De Rossi; Diamanti; El Shaarawy, Destro.

Is it played today or tomorrow?

Tomorrow but the line-up was released early.

It's pretty much a B International. What a stupid time for a friendly.

+1

Agreed.

Always nice to win. But seriously stupid time to have a friendly.

Milan players did anything special?

Since this is an experiment by Prandelli to let the young players show their worth, I think out of all of them Destro, El Sharaawy and Ogbonna showed the most promise.

Nocerino played the full 90 minutes
El Shaarawy showed some good touches but didn't really do anything spectacular
Abate played rather poorly for a friendly game
De Sciglio did not make an appearance

Nocerino played well. Abate was probably MotM, for England.

What did he do?

Showed energy going forward which is typical of Abate, but unsurprisingly little end product to show for his efforts. Got beaten a couple of times when defending, looked clumsy when making challenges and of course failed to block Defoe's shot which resulted in the 2nd goal for England; although to be fair on Abate, Sirigu should have parried that away.

So, the usual Abate. Pure mediocrity. A few years left; as soon as he starts losing speed - he's finished.

Yang Mbiwa was man of the match (goal.com) against Uruguay. Ogbonna was quite solid against England. If we're looking for long-term CB; these two should be high on our shortlist.

Wow. I know Belgium are one of the best young teams in World football, but what an awful return to Holland for Louis. Losing 4-2 in a rivalry game like that is unacceptable.

USA beat Mexico...in Mexico.

I really had it with Löw for a while now.

Picking Ron-Robert Zieler over Ter Stegen... serves him right Zieler gets a red card

And still playing Boateng at rightback, but never give Jantschke a chance. Ridiculous.

Since Arne Friedrich left Die Mannschaft, the defense is simply ....................... you know what !

But mostly, Löw's line-up against Italy was a complete joke (Özil on RW? Really?)

Friedrich? We'll, I'd say since the days of Sammer, Kohler and maybe Nowotny. Germany lack defensive stability so badly.

Why do you get upset for ter Stegen? It's obvious - Löw considers Ziegler more of a backup team-goalie, someone who obviously plays a part behind the scenes. Ter Stegen has time; it isn't necessarily good for a young keeper to be marked as a permanent second. Also, ter Stegen had problems with Leno in the U-something selection, which could mean he is a kind of a troublemakers.

Bottom line, it's almost always like that. Have you ever seen an Italian team with Peruzzi, Pagliuca and Rossi in their roster?
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How did Holland get trashed that way?

Croatia also lost to Switzerland 2-4, what a bad start for the new coach.

These friendlies mean absolutely zero in terms of how players and the team in general perform. You're pulling out players from the most crucial part of their Club's pre-season and forcing them to play some meaningless friendly. How players perform here is irrelevant

As for Abate, watch the game he played against England in the Euros and that should be your answer. He delivered when it mattered, the English commentators were hoping he'd get injured that's how much he was causing them trouble.

Congrats. Not a hugely important game, but that's going to give you a HUGE boost of confidence given your record there.


Eh? It was Abate's inability to cross or beat his man that made Italy easy for England to defend against.

Last time Germany were good was at World Cup 2010. Thomas Müller was amazing (after that he never found that form back), and Arne Friedrich was very solid that tournament. The whole team was, really good. Those two were key players that tournament. No coincidence Germany got knocked out when Müller was suspended, though Spain was the only team that wasn't weaker than Germany back then, so that plus that, meant out.

Of course, German defense doesn't look good for a long while now, just saying Friedrich made it solid last World Cup. And about the Dutch team, well, I guess mostly the midfield was too attacking, and the defensive midfielder Nigel de Jong himself again made a huge error. Also, their defense as well is looking very bad. Feyenoord leftback Bruno Martins Indi subbed in amazing though. They scored two quick goals, (partly) because of him.

I think he meant in the Euro's when it actually mattered, last night was completely pointless.

Yeah this.

Well, agreed on Friedrich. Still, Germany lacks a good defender. Badstuber, Mertesacker, Boateng - even Hummels don't cut it IMO.

I know, Hummels also have disappointed me. I hope he and Badstuber can grow into a good pair. They are still young, have shown quality as well, so there is hope. I don't believe in Mertesacker and Boateng anymore.

Besides that, both Schmelzer and Boateng look so bad as German fullbacks, also not helping. I know Jantschke is a very solid rightback, so I hope he gets a chance. If he manage to preform solid for Germany as well, then him and Lahm would make good fullbacks for Germany. Maybe Beck is an option too. Just try someone else.

Beck? I don't know, not sure about him. Jantschke should get a chance.

Agreed. If it was up to me I would start right now fielding Lahm, Badstuber, Hummels and Jantschke in defense, so that they have a little two years the time to get used to each other, and hopefully then at World Cup they will be solid. All are young, so in two years time they can get a lot better. That also was something I didn't like about Löw lately. The games before Euro 2012 he played with different central defenses. For example Mertesacker played quite a lot, even though Löw should have known that Mertesacker isn't a good option anymore (remember World Cup 2006? What happened with him?). If only he would have played Badstuber and Hummels together a whole lot more, then the defense could have looked better during Euro 2012.

I was also talking about the Euros. Italy dominated both posession and territory, but Abate's lack of, well, anything, made it easy to defend. They actually caused problems in ET when Maggio came on.

Funny enough, the site I use for all my stats (WhoScored.com) has Abate as the 2nd worst player in that game (Cassano worst).

I have that game and I've watched it 2 times (live and the replay) the commentators practically threw a part when Abate pulled up and had to come off. He might not produce much in terms of his crossing, but he causes a lot of headaches when he beats his man.

Add to that, he was up against one of your best players (imo) in Cole. And it's not as if Balzaretti or anyone else for that matter did anything better with their final ball. And that is the reason why they couldn't score, not because of Abate

Agreed. Italy wasted so many goals in that game, it wasn't Abate's fault they couldn't score.

I also agree with you guys on that one. I don't rate Abate that high, but against England at the Euros he was very good. When Maggio came in the pressure and pace dropped rapidly.