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As I mentioned above, it was to avoid having to discuss the fact that the players described as having "a nightmare" and as a "donkey" respectively both scored. Giles decription (again)of Torres as someone who might do nothing all game and then MIGHT score is laughable. Imagine if all 11 players were like that? You'd be 15 goals down by the time the players might do something :confused::rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
Why is it laughable? There are lots of players who fit that description, Torres is one, in his opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
I disagree with that. In every game Fabregas has come off the bench he has added something new to the Spanish attack. His passing is as good as it gets in the modern game, he works hard and tracks back and he's always getting into space and pulling markers with him. Keep in mind how hard it is for a player to come off the bench and make their mark, usually with less than a half hour to play, and then look at his contribution to this tournament. Amother point is that he hasn't sulked like so many world class footballers would in his predicament tooQuote:
Originally Posted by TheBoss
na still rubbishQuote:
Originally Posted by jmurphyc
jeez greece won the thing, and ireland once were a top 6 team in the world, and westlife have the most number ones
Seeing is believing:rolleyes:
Yeah, was thinking that watching it alright. The pull back for the third was good, but I'd expect him to spot it and pull it off. It was the superb chip down the line from Iniesta that started the move off (and the five short passes in the space of about two seconds for Spain to break clear from defence; had me thinking Brazil v Italy, and the rest wasn't far off it), but his contribution was overlooked entirely.Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
so who would you drop for fabregas to start.. spains midfield has played extremly well all tournament without him starting .. plus the rte panel are going totally over the top about him .. p.s his little brilliant chipped pass for the 3rd goal was not meant for guiza if you look at it again another player was blocked on his run for this passQuote:
Originally Posted by jebus
Its a tough decision, personally, if Villa was fit, I'd stick with the same line-up. If not, I'd play Guiza up front and bring on Fabregas in the second half for either Torres or Silva depending on who has contributed the most in first half. The way Spain play, Silva isn't really needed for his crossing because Capdevila and Ramos regularly get to the byline. However, in the final I don't think they will be given the same license.
Fabregas definitely adds something to the Spanish midfield but is probably vying for Iniestas position rather than Xavi or Sennas. Iniesta is a better player..... for now.
Interestingly, Fabregas has been on the pitch for 8 of Spains 11 goals this tournament and has 3 assists and a goal to his name. If it were Fantasy Football I know who'd I pick....
I'd go along with that. It would be harsh to leave Xavi out but in a head to head with Fabregas I'd take Fabregas. And before anyone says I'm Premiership bias I actually prefer La LigaQuote:
Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa
Yeah, a washed up Ian Harte would never get a game there, unlike in England where he's still considered a great defender. The stupid extremes some people take on standards in leagues... :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa
rubenQuote:
Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa
on last nights performance (fabregas ) nothing special when he started game .. eventually taken off .. xavi did everything fabregas does and better last night .. also delighted for aragones he gets a lot of bad press and we were all disagreing over his team selections
but what the hell the end product paid off he won spains first major tournament in over 40 years ..
What does Ian Harte have to do with anything? Harte was released from Levante cos he was ****e, Keane signed him because he used to play with him back when he was slightly better than ****e but he proved not to be up to either premiership or la liga standard so I'm not sure how the Harte situation shows how 1 league has better defenders than the other. I think Torres has a point about defenders in the premiership being overly reliant on the physical side of their game rather than using their head, I'd also expect to see a dramatic drop in Ronaldos goal tally if he moves to SpainQuote:
Originally Posted by John83
don't know if I'd go as far to say he'll flop, just that he won't be the same success in Spain as in England. He'll probably have more time on the ball than in the average Premiership game, but Raul and Van Nistelrooy (especially) aren't going to work as hard to take defenders out of his way as Rooney and Tevez have. Remember, Ruud was one of Ronaldo's biggest critics when he first started at United, he just wanted the ball in the box to shoot, none of the fancy stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa
I see Motson is hanging up his microphone for live games, thank God. Any chance George H could follow suit. I don't know how often he incorrectly called throw ins, corners and free kicks.
By the way, despite the panel and Hamilton/Houghton almost having apolexy when Fabregas was substituted as the Germans for the first time (since the first 15 minutes) were getting a foothold in the game, I thought it was a master stroke by the "clown" Aragones: Germany lost that foothold and barely threatened again. Every move the Spanish manager made paid off.
Motson retiring is far from voluntary. BBC lost out in the latest telly rights and, afaik, they won't have any more live English internationals or the FA Cup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
yeah agree, what a buffoon
On Saturday morning he tipped germany cause no team in the champs won 3 exciting games in a row - ie holland, Russia, etc - talk about fuzzy logic
Never mind that spain were way and a head better than germany going on form and players
Xavi justified his place ahead of Fabregas last night who I thought did not play so well. The decision to bring on Alonso for Fabregas may also have won the game for Spain as Germany were on top at that stage & afterwards they got no space between defence & midfield - something RTE panel overlooked.
The vital difference between the Premier League and football on the continent is that continental defence's tend to sit back while defenders in the Premiership have a much higher line. This allows strikers with pace to get in behind and have goalscoring chances. This makes Torres and Ronaldo appear to be better players than they actually are.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Motson has only retired from International Tournaments I believe, he'll still be working for BBC 5 Live and Im not sure about TV, but as BBC have fcuk all left perhaps it will just be radio?
Just thought he will be still heard on MOTD highlights....
Xavi is better than Fabregas for sure but Iniesta?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciaran
Definitely not. I'd rate Iniesta higher than Xavi too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Maroon