Big players not “turned up”
It seems this World Cup, many of the big players have not “turned up” and performed as we may have expected. Of course there is still a good few number of matches to go so this could change.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored just 1 goal and that was a bit lucky. Some excellent strikes but didn’t really ignite the tournament. Portugal are out now after losing to Spain so thats his chance of making a big impression over.
- Torres – not done much. Been subbed on couple occasions. Must not be fit
- Rooney – already talked about him on previous post and how something just wasn’t right – mentally?? not fit??
- Drogba – properly harsh to include him on list since he was injured
- Messi – OK, properly unfair to put Messi here. He has been brilliant. Done everything apart from score a goal.
- Kaka – until the last game he was only on the edge of the game but the match versus Chile he showed what he can do and hopefully he gets better for next game
However, David Villa certainly has turned up and is in the running to be player of the tournament. I have said it before but Barcelona could well have a bargain even at €40 million.
Disappointments
- France – a complete shambles on and off the pitch. Anelka sent home, players not turning up for training, staff quitting. What more could you expect from a team “managed” by the nutter Raymond Domenech. (To make things worse, when he lost he refused to change other managers hand??). Finished bottom of group.
- Italy – drawing against New Zealand. Terrible defending. Finished bottom of group.
- England – dont need to say more….
- Only 1 African team getting into knockout stages. Disappointment for Africa. Would have been great for World Cup if at least another team other than Ghana got through
- The vuvuzela going on and on and on – I think we got used to it and TV companies did too managing to filter it out. I think people are starting to actually play it better so its not the constant drone.
- Standard of refereeing – see my other post
- Quality of early matches – the first load of matches were generally very dull. Teams were too cautious just making sure they didnt lose. It properly wasnt helped that some of the teams were not that good.
- The jubalani ball - maybe its not Adidas’ fault and they didn’t test at altitude but in the early stages shots were flying all over the place. Without playing with the football myself I can’t say really how different it is but there must be something that in the early games the shooting was terrible and freekicks all seemingly going over.
- The World Cup coverage in the UK – overall the BBC has been a country mile better than ITV. ITV’s biggest mistake was cutting to adverts by accident in the middle of a game on its HD channel. It happened during the England v USA game and actually at the same time as Gerrard’s goal! The pundits for the ITV have been poor with Edgar Davids being a bit rubbish, Craig Burley not that good either. Not a fan of Chris Coleman either. However, the BBC isnt perfect with Mick McCarthy avoid talking out of his backside. Adebayor was OK – he seemed to know his stuff but his accent is very strong so its sometimes hard to understand. However, he gets extra points for one of the moments of the World Cup when his mobile went off while he was talking to Gary Linekar live on TV.
Impressed
There have been a few “unknown” players who have impressed me. These are the players who aren’t one of the “big names”. (Properly forgot a few)
- I think Sanchez (Chile) looked really good. The whole Chile team were generally impressive.
- As we saw when England played Mexico, they are a very good team who keep the ball well. I was most impressed with Salcido and Dos Santos
- Portugal left back Coentrao
- Germany’s Ozil
- Honda (Japan).
- The North Korea team impress in particular in game versus Brazil. Really like there striker (Jong Tae-Se) whos apparently called the “People’s Rooney”. He plays in Japan and drives a silver Hummer. Worked really hard as lone striker, some good skills and one of the things you will remember about this World Cup is him crying during national anthem. It just showed how much it meant to him to play for North Korea.
- Impressed with the freekicks of Japan and the Asian teams as a whole for working hard as a team.
- As much as the commentary/pundits for the BBC/ITV have been rubbish, the BBC setup with Gary Linekar, Alan Hansen and Lee Dixon. (Maybe not so much for Alan Shearer – hes “alright”). Special guests like Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson have been good. I was pleasantly surprised by Clarence Seedorf. Never really heard him talk before but he was great – talked a lot of sense. Colin Murray has done a great job for the MOTD highlights.
Going back to the actual players. Some other “big names” who have done well are Messi, Forlan, Higuain, Ramo, Maicon, Eduardo (Portugal), Lucio.
Tags: world cup
