Zatman Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Cahill was with his wrong foot as well wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 think Australia have been a pleasant surprise in this group as they were expected to be the whipping boys but have not been shamed and have tried to play football when they can. Manager deserves some credit for scrapping the old players as well and giving youth a chance. Maybe a player or two we could look at from that squad, was impressed with Leckie in the 1st game and think he has potential 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 19, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted June 19, 2014 Yep. Must admit after a few minutes of their game vs Chile I thought they were going to get a pounding. But they've done alright to be fair to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjaacckk91 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Not wrong. Just holding a different opinion. Which happens to be the correct one ;-) Well I'm glad you agree with me, Ponky. Or not ;-) Let's put it this way: RVP was assisted by Wesley Sneijder. Cahill was assisted by Ryan McGowan. Ergo Cahill wins by degree of difficulty. The ball in for rvp's header was from blind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Oh ok. Cahill was assisted by stupid, so my point remains! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 By the way just before the Cup Leckie signed a 3 year deal with Ingolstad in Bundesliga 2, which is a pity for him as I reckon he would have picked up a few much better offers after his past few games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) It was sad to witness the end of an era, when Spain had not only won everything, they also raised the bar as far as excellence is concerned. Looking at the teams left in the competition, it very much looks as though whoever eventually wins it, will do so by playing at a lower standard than Spain reached at their best. I definitely do not agree with the suggestion that tiki-taka has been superseded or is any way defunct, I just think Spain have fewer players who are capable of playing it. Spain definitely seem to have run out top strikers who are capable of integrating into the system; Costa looked entirely out of place and his inclusion was a mystery. Part of Spain's problems were caused by altering the system to try and accommodate the big lunk: Spain at their very best relied on the remarkable finishing of Villa and Torres who suited the system but are not quite the players they used to be. So I don't see tiki-taka as past it, I just see Spain struggling to adapt their diminishing resources to play it at the standard they have set themselves. As the Japanese women proved when they won the last World Cup, tiki-taka is a style which allows nations where average physiques are smaller (Japan, Spain et al), to compete with countries where average physiques are larger. Nations need to pick a style of play which suits their best attributes and tika-taki will suit some nations much better than others. Edited June 19, 2014 by MakemineVanilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Anyone else have Spain to win the group? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Chile manager is great, he is just a ball of energy on the sideline and think that encourages the players to play their game and have the enthusiasm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 RIP this Spain team, the best I have seen in my lifetime. I am sure they will be back challenging soon enough, the country has a huge amount of talent throughout the system. But this team and the big names are clearly done. People keep saying its the death of tiki taka but for my money they haven't played tiki taka at all in this tournament. That game is all about control, keeping the ball at all costs, making your opponents work and then swarming in teams whenever you lose it to win it back quickly and high up the pitch. At Spain and Barcelona's best it was breathtaking to watch, remember seeing both teams up the tempo of the passing when they needed to and it was football of another world, completely unplayable. Great thing about this game though is it always evolves and I have to say I am really enjoying the high tempo, emphasis on pace and skill that is currently in vogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) Anyone else have Spain to win the group? No, with the Netherlands and Chile in the group that was always going to be tough. I do have the Aussies to finish bottom though... And with the way that Spain are playing atm and Australia looking quite good, wouldn't surprise me to see Australia get something out of that game. Edited June 19, 2014 by AVFCforever1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Chile manager is great, he is just a ball of energy on the sideline and think that encourages the players to play their game and have the enthusiasm He reminds me of Andre Agassi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 think Costa was a huge mistake for Spain and Mourinho is probably having 2nd thoughts about this deal. Torres is still probably best forward they have for the system they play. why did Fabregas not get any game time? Its sad but I assume this is the end for Xavi, Casillas, Villa, Torres and maybe even Xabi Alonso on the world stage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 You could tell from the anthem's how up for the game Chile were, great performance. Part of me wants them to play Brazil in the round 16 game, I know Brazil usually hammer Chile (indeed knocked them out of France 98 and last world cup) but think Chile would be really up for some payback and I think they have the game to really mess up Brazil. think Costa was a huge mistake for Spain and Mourinho is probably having 2nd thoughts about this deal. Torres is still probably best forward they have for the system they play. why did Fabregas not get any game time? Its sad but I assume this is the end for Xavi, Casillas, Villa, Torres and maybe even Xabi Alonso on the world stage Iniesta is 30 aswell so tough to see him making another wc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Anyone else have Spain to win the group? Yes, I did. I hope we can do ok against Spain in our final game because they will not want to go home with 3 losses or 2 losses and a draw.However I do have faith in Angie P. to come up with a decent tactic for that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Tim Cahill has 5 goals in 7 world cup starts - impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic09 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) I am going to contest 'the best team I have seen play' theory. Let us first look back at 2010. Spain Group Stages: Spain-Switz 0-1 Spain-Honduras 2-0 Spain-Chile 2-1 (David Villa lucky goal) Knockouts: Spain-Portugal 1-0 Spain - Paraguay 1-0 Spain-Germany 1-0 Spain-Netherlands 1-0 Altogether, never a single (maybe except against the mighty honduras) convincing win, they were never the best team in the tournament EURO 2012 Group Stages Spain-Italy 1-1 Spain-Irish 4-1 (Oh, the might Irish) Spain-Croatia 1-0 (1-0 seems to become a trend...) KONCKOUTS Spain-France 2-0 Spain-Portugal (Spain Penalty win) Spain - Italy 4-0 (granted, a great result) Altogether? again, the winners, but far from the best team in my opinion. I think they rode their luck MASSIVELY in 2010, and made an improvement on it in 2012. However, they were never 'the best'. If you wanna look at the best team of the last 4 years, look no further than Germany. The quality of that team and the wins they pull off is just incredible. They are due a win this year, and that is without one of their best best players in Reus. And lets not forget they are a bunch of primadonnas. Edited June 19, 2014 by Mic09 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezvilla Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I am going to contest 'the best team I have seen play' theory. Let us first look back at 2010. Spain Group Stages: Spain-Switz 0-1 Spain-Honduras 2-0 Spain-Chile 2-1 (David Villa lucky goal) Knockouts: Spain-Portugal 1-0 Spain - Paraguay 1-0 Spain-Germany 1-0 Spain-Netherlands 1-0 Altogether, never a single (maybe except against the mighty honduras) convincing win, they were never the best team in the tournament EURO 2012 Group Stages Spain-Italy 1-1 Spain-Irish 4-1 (Oh, the might Irish) Spain-Croatia 1-0 (1-0 seems to become a trend...) KONCKOUTS Spain-France 2-0 Spain-Portugal (Spain Penalty win) Spain - Italy 4-0 (granted, a great result) Altogether? again, the winners, but far from the best team in my opinion. I think they rode their luck MASSIVELY in 2010, and made an improvement on it in 2012. However, they were never 'the best'. If you wanna look at the best team of the last 4 years, look no further than Germany. The quality of that team and the wins they pull off is just incredible. They are due a win this year, and that is without one of their best best players in Reus. Disagree, in my opinion Spain have been the best team I've ever seen and played the best football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 But when it comes to the crunch, when it matters, Germany flop, which is unlike them. That semi final in 2012 should have been theres. But perhaps complacency cost them. Also Spain were very impressive in 2008. I can only comment on football from 1994 to present day. But they are definitely the best international team since I've been following football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 19, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted June 19, 2014 They were easily the best team in 2010 and 2012 in my opinion. Boring to watch for some. BUt don't let a 1-0 scoreline fool you. They were comfortable for most of those tournaments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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