Agreed, Keane was one of the all time great grinders/ball winners (and one hell of a dirty player) but his area of expertise is useless without guys like Giggs, Scholes, Cantona etc. around to make use of the ball.
Completely disagree. You just didn't get the value of Keane.
Yes he was a ball winner but he wasn't a hell of a dirty player. Hard as nails, a bit dirty (it's a dirty part of the pitch), but moreso a hard wee (CP censored) that pulled out of nothing with a bit of a dirty streak and a long memory .
The point I'm making is, he also was very very clever player. Rarely would you see him waste a pass, often would you see him dictate where the ball was spread about. Very cerebral. Knew when to slow it down, knew when to spread it about, knew when to thread it through. Wasted very little. Everything went through Keane, he dictated the play or conducted the orchestra .. so to speak.
That era with Keane, Makalele and Edgar Davids was one of the best ever IMO for midfield battles. Madrid letting Makalele go IMO was one of their stupidest decisions in recent memory.
Scholes, when I look back at him my memories will be blinded by someone that was always a late tackler and a yellow card picker upper. He just didn't get the memo on when to arrive at a tackle. He'll always be Paul late tackle, yellow card, Scholes. Not even in the same league as Keane if you're trying to suggest that Scholes made him look better, I'd say the opposite.
Just to go back to Keane .... him walking off the Ireland squad in Korea ... I was initially dissappointed with (as it totally effed up the teams chances) but within 2 days supported 100%. Cnuts a winner and wanted to win, and basically couldn't suffer fools any longer and walked off site.
If him (or Martin O'Neill) was to get the reins for the international job then they might actually do something.
Unfortunately, it might never happen for the same reasons that I think if Brian Clough had ever got the nod from England they might have more than one star on their jersey. I strongly believe that. Cloughie was in his own league as far as managers go. His only problem was like Keane and O'Neill now ...... they're not yes men.
Keane at his peak was world class. One of the cleverest footballers I've ever watched.
Completely disagree. You just didn't get the value of Keane.
Yes he was a ball winner but he wasn't a hell of a dirty player. Hard as nails, a bit dirty (it's a dirty part of the pitch), but moreso a hard wee (CP censored) that pulled out of nothing with a bit of a dirty streak and a long memory .
The point I'm making is, he also was very very clever player. Rarely would you see him waste a pass, often would you see him dictate where the ball was spread about. Very cerebral. Knew when to slow it down, knew when to spread it about, knew when to thread it through. Wasted very little. Everything went through Keane, he dictated the play or conducted the orchestra .. so to speak.
That era with Keane, Makalele and Edgar Davids was one of the best ever IMO for midfield battles. Madrid letting Makalele go IMO was one of their stupidest decisions in recent memory.
Scholes, when I look back at him my memories will be blinded by someone that was always a late tackler and a yellow card picker upper. He just didn't get the memo on when to arrive at a tackle. He'll always be Paul late tackle, yellow card, Scholes. Not even in the same league as Keane if you're trying to suggest that Scholes made him look better, I'd say the opposite.
Just to go back to Keane .... him walking off the Ireland squad in Korea ... I was initially dissappointed with (as it totally effed up the teams chances) but within 2 days supported 100%. Cnuts a winner and wanted to win, and basically couldn't suffer fools any longer and walked off site.
If him (or Martin O'Neill) was to get the reins for the international job then they might actually do something.
Unfortunately, it might never happen for the same reasons that I think if Brian Clough had ever got the nod from England they might have more than one star on their jersey. I strongly believe that. Cloughie was in his own league as far as managers go. His only problem was like Keane and O'Neill now ...... they're not yes men.
Keane at his peak was world class. One of the cleverest footballers I've ever watched.
I think you missed my point.
Keane could win and distribute the ball better than anyone, but nobody ever mistook him for an individual offensive dynamo. Yes he made great passes and was incredibly smart, and he could create on his own at times as well, but if he's spreading balls out to the starting 11 at Millwall that ability is a bit of a waste. My point is that a ball winner requires able players to get the ball to, winning possession means little if you don't have anyone capable of keeping it and putting it in the net.
Yanks playing well but they're down a man. I expect Italy to go full out attack in the 2nd half. The Italy lineup looks terrible though.
And I've never seen Italy look ugly! Light blue shirts, black shorts and brown socks? Those need to be burned.
Frankly, I can't bear to watch, ugly uniforms, ugly roster, just bad. I'm hoping that Lippi does the right thing and inserts half the U21 team for the World Cup.
Italy will probably end up beating the States, like how Brazil edged out Egypt, but I think this is clearly Spain's tournament to win.
I actually really love the jerseys, but the brown shorts are a little sketchy. They don't look bad until you get up close though, from far away it looks alright.
Italy up 2-1. Not convincing anyone against a 10 man USA.
Although Brazil was anything but convincing earlier. Play like that again and they're screwed.
Pretty much. Gattuso, Camoranesi, Zambrotta, and Grosso are finished and should not be starters on a top World Cup team. Legrottaglie, Gamberini, Pepe and Amelia simply aren't NT quality. Luca Toni is a lazy and often useless striker. Chiellini, De Rossi, Rossi... that's their future... alongside about half a dozen U21 stars like Marchisio, Criscito, Cigarini, Giovinco, Balotelli, and even Macheda, hell, if he's good enough to start for the Mancs, he's good enough for a shot at the NT.
I kind of hope Italy doesn't win this tournament with the fossils and never-weres. They need to infuse a lot more youth, badly.
Pretty much. Gattuso, Camoranesi, Zambrotta, and Grosso are finished and should not be starters on a top World Cup team. Legrottaglie, Gamberini, Pepe and Amelia simply aren't NT quality. Luca Toni is a lazy and often useless striker. Chiellini, De Rossi, Rossi... that's their future... alongside about half a dozen U21 stars like Marchisio, Criscito, Cigarini, Giovinco, Balotelli, and even Macheda, hell, if he's good enough to start for the Mancs, he's good enough for a shot at the NT.
I kind of hope Italy doesn't win this tournament with the fossils and never-weres. They need to infuse a lot more youth, badly.
Yeah Italy played much better when Lippi took off those two gascans named Gatusso and Camoranesi.
They need to start Rossi on the left instead of the useless Iaquinta.
I think the problem is this tournament isn't that important and the U-21s are playing in the U-21s tomorrow!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
3-1 Italy Final.
Not a particularly overwhelming first round of matches.
It's not really an overwhelming tournament. We'll probably get 4 good matches.
Italy-Brazil, the two semis and the final.
It's just something fun for a quiet summer and for us to preview the new stadiums for next year.
Here are the Brazil-Egypt highlights:
I think I'm getting used to those 40000 bumblebees
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Last edited by GirlySports; 06-15-2009 at 02:58 PM.
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