World Cup: National Team threads #2

[cgf]

I was with you until you said Suele is a faster guy.

A) Süle actually is a fast guy. He has no quickness or agility, but his straight-line speed is impressive even before you account for his size...you'd be shocked by the wingers/forwards he regularly beats in sprints; it's turning all of that meat around that he has issues with.

B) Compared to Hummels, even his quickness & acceleration aren't bad

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

A) Süle actually is a fast guy. He has no quickness or agility, but his straight-line speed is impressive even before you account for his size...you'd be shocked by the wingers/forwards he regularly beats in sprints; it's turning all of that meat around that he has issues with.

B) Compared to Hummels, even his quickness & acceleration aren't bad

I’ve heard that argument before, but I find that anytime he’s isolated against another player he loses. He looks so slow. That may be because he’s rarely in long distance sprint duels and almost all of them are over short distances. And Hummels is also very slow, and he’s looking clumsier by the week. Not a player you’d want to compare the speed of a player to.

And I don’t mind the player. I find him pretty good defensively and with his passing, prior to his injury. Isolated 1v1’s though, I find him terrible in those. I think that’s the worst part of his game.

 

[gary69]

Yeah, Sule has shown some good straight line speed after he gets going, like this weekend playing as a right back and attacking.

His lack of quickness, slow first steps and especially agility are the biggest problems. If he can't get a head start on an attacker coming his way, he is likely to struggle to catch that guy from a relatively standing still position when turning like an oil tanker.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

False narrative?
Nah, you just refuse to see the weak goals he surrenders and only focus on the good saves he makes.
MATS once was a top 3 goalie, zero doubt. Right now and it's been the case for a while, he surrenders some pretty bad goals. One reason is probably that he holds zero trust in the defensemen in front of him. But that goal for instance isn't worthy of a top 3 goalie.

He has absolute clowns in front him and a coach without a clue. So, yes its a false narrative you would lose track the number of times he saves our bacon. Only to get waves after waves of attack. Mentally draining for sure.

 

[cgf]

I’ve heard that argument before, but I find that anytime he’s isolated against another player he loses. He looks so slow. That may be because he’s rarely in long distance sprint duels and almost all of them are over short distances. And Hummels is also very slow, and he’s looking clumsier by the week. Not a player you’d want to compare the speed of a player to.

And I don’t mind the player. I find him pretty good defensively and with his passing, prior to his injury. Isolated 1v1’s though, I find him terrible in those. I think that’s the worst part of his game.

What Gary said. 1 on 1, he’s too slow footed to keep up with a quick attacker if he doesn’t anticipate them correctly, but you can see his speed when he’s racing back to clean up or charging forward to join the attack.

as for Hummels, we’ll see what happens. If he’s done-done, then Flick is already preparing us for life without Mats. If he just didn’t get enough of an off-season in & so is still just playing himself into midseason form, then at least Sule, Kehrer & Klostermann have the pace that Mats doesn’t.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Neuer has been the greatest keeper in german history,

Sorry, couldn't help myself - Massive Kahn fan here.

 

[cgf]

Sorry, couldn't help myself - Massive Kahn fan here.

Kahn was my favorite player as a kid and Patrick Roy reminding me of Kahn is what got me into hockey & made me an avs fan...but prime-Neuer surpassed even Kahn & Maier.

On top of revolutionizing the position with his sweeping & ballskills, he was just a dominant shot-stopper.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Kahn was my favorite player as a kid and Patrick Roy reminding me of Kahn is what got me into hockey & made me an avs fan...but prime-Neuer surpassed even Kahn & Maier.

On top of revolutionizing the position with his sweeping & ballskills, he was just a dominant shot-stopper.

Agree that Neuer has insane ballskills and passing ability for a GK.

But, in terms of actual goalkeeping Kahn was a little bit better imo.
But overall Neuer is a playmaking goalkeeper and a great sweeper. Plays like a last man defender. Sweeps and tackles perfectly.

Kahn was slightly better on reflexes, looked scary to the opposition and did well in worse teams where as Bayern and Germany are generally much better whilst Neuer has been playing.

But, this is an endless debate, I have had with many friends, some go Neuer, som go Kahn.
Might also be wearing my rosetinted teenage 90s glasses tho.

But Kahn was just such a presence.

 

[cgf]

Agree that Neuer has insane ballskills and passing ability for a GK.

But, in terms of actual goalkeeping Kahn was a little bit better imo.
But overall Neuer is a playmaking goalkeeper and a great sweeper. Plays like a last man defender. Sweeps and tackles perfectly.

Kahn was slightly better on reflexes, looked scary to the opposition and did well in worse teams where as Bayern and Germany are generally much better whilst Neuer has been playing.

But, this is an endless debate, I have had with many friends, some go Neuer, som go Kahn.
Might also be wearing my rosetinted teenage 90s glasses tho.

But Kahn was just such a presence.

I loved Kahn too, but he was no more dominant a shot-stopper in 2002 than Neuer was 12 years later...and one could even make the argument that Kahn was less intimidating to opposing players since the worldclass players of his day didn't start over-aiming / trying to be too-perfect against him, to the same extent that they would against Neuer in his prime*.

...then there's all of the extra stuff Neuer did. I feel the nostalgia too, but I just can't make a compelling case for it other than nostalgia.


*even if players were more terrified of Ollie's kungfu kicks than Manu's.

 

[QuietContrarian]

I loved Kahn too, but he was no more dominant a shot-stopper in 2002 than Neuer was 12 years later...and one could even make the argument that Kahn was less intimidating to opposing players since the worldclass players of his day didn't start over-aiming / trying to be too-perfect against him, to the same extent that they would against Neuer in his prime*.

...then there's all of the extra stuff Neuer did. I feel the nostalgia too, but I just can't make a compelling case for it other than nostalgia.


*even if players were more terrified of Ollie's kungfu kicks than Manu's.

I will give you that for the modern game, Neuer is a better fit, and he is the more complete gk.
But man, for me, pure goalkeeping is Kahn.

But, like you said, nostalgia plays a huge part here, so not sure I am able to make an unbiased, objective argument - Other than Neuer has been playing for better a better BM and Germany team.

 

[KlausJopling]

Michail Antonio has withdrawn from Jamaica’s qualifiers this window. Citing travel difficulties. Surprising when I don’t think any of there games are in red list countries this window. First being in the US.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Michail Antonio has withdrawn from Jamaica’s qualifiers this window. Citing travel difficulties. Surprising when I don’t think any of there games are in red list countries this window. First being in the US.

I don't know either, the only possibility would be Honduras. I agree it's kind of a strange reason, bordering on an excuse to me. But I'm not complaining, he's so injury-prone I hated him signing on to Jamaica anyway.

Coufal also pulled out from Czech qualifiers.

 

[Basement Cat]

Michail Antonio has withdrawn from Jamaica’s qualifiers this window. Citing travel difficulties. Surprising when I don’t think any of there games are in red list countries this window. First being in the US.

Played in one match, got shellacked at Panama, and calling it quits? If he's pulling out for a reason other than injury or serious personal matter, I can't imagine he gets called in next window. Jamaica is in desperation mode already.

 

[Power Man]

Belmadi's list to face Niger back to back

Last minute change ; Ounas picked up an injury, so Belmadi called up Amoura, a young talent who recently moved from the Algerian league to Switzerland's 1st division at Lugano

Not too shabby

 

[gary69]

Big surprise just moments away, as Central Africa takes 1-0 lead in the 91st minute away to Nigeria. Nigeria might miss the World Cup already at this stage.

 

[Evilo]

That was 2 years ago.
Now about to be recruited by his mother's original country, Morocco.

 

[cgf]

wrong thread

 

[cgf]

wrong thread

 

[Jersey Fresh]

When Laporte is getting boxed out of the NT, not to mention Zouma not making the squad, clearly Diop has a <2% chance of getting in the team.

If he wants to play international football for a country he has a connection to then good for him. No one is beholden to a TV interview they give at 21 years old.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not happening. Messi says the same thing every two years.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Not happening. Messi says the same thing every two years.

When has Messi ever said anything remotely like this? The only thing I can thing of is when he said its not for me in 2016 after he "retired"

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

When has Messi ever said anything remotely like this? The only thing I can thing of is when he said its not for me in 2016 after he "retired"

Maybe that was an exaggeration, and I wasn’t trying to say he gives the same reasoning as Neymar, nor was I criticizing Messi. My point is these star players are always making these over-dramatic statements that they have no point in actually effectuating. They’ll all play until they retire from club football.

 

[KlausJopling]

Is Koeman the new Brazil manager, Coutinho called up for qualifiers.

 

[KlausJopling]

Mexico fined and next two home matches behind closed doors because of the chant. Should be more than two since a few months ago they were given two and appealed it down to 1, because of measures they had put in place which ended up doing nothing.