The debate about bringing players on just for penalties being smart or not reminded me of Van Gaal being hailed as a master tactician for doing that with Tim Krul, at the 2014 WC.
I don't think the old format was more difficult to win, but the European landscape at the time did suit a short (in number of games, not schedule) champions-only knockout competition being a worthwhile format. It's not that easy to directly...
Was there really that big a difference in the reffing standards for handing out cards back then? Obviously, VAR has changed the game entirely now in some ways, but, with the occasional exception like Netherlands being somehow allowed to go all...
I doubt anyone outside the region cares much, and it's far, far down the list of serious issues caused by the war, but there's also the fact Putin has destroyed Ukrainian and Russian football. Two leagues that were fixtures in the top ten...
Mostovoy/Karpin/Mazinho era Celta Vigo. I thought they were often more exciting and fluid in possession than Deportivo or particularly Cuper/Benitez's Valencia, but they lacked that extra bit of depth and same quality of forward that those teams...
Ouch. I think you guys have done a harsh number on a bunch of these players. Owen, Matic (until his athleticism died when he got near 30), Ince and Webb are all really good imo.
I know Ince eventually got criticism for becoming a tactically...
Was Olsen highly rated at United? i've mostly watched him with Denmark. He had excellent dribbling capabilities, not brainless with it, but also seemed physically quite feeble and lacking positional smarts. That meant he was often muscled or shut...
When i was in Germany (admittedly most political discussion being in academic settings, not on "the street") the impression i had was if there was "love", it was for the way the reunification and breakup of ussr had been handled. There wasn't a...
It's worth mentioning that you could argue Schweinsteiger, and to a lesser extent, Matthaus didn't fully establish their current reputation worldwide until their late 20s either. Especially Schweinsteiger. When there were still a bunch of active...
I'd agree he's a player that seems to go under the radar. I've thought he was underestimated since his time at Barca, though I'm not sure what opinion of him is in the Netherlands itself.
I thought of him as someone who was excellent in a...
I think Cocu is a good pick for this idea, but if Lahm, Alaba, Seedorf, Zanetti are being considered too good, then i wouldn't have Cocu either. imo he was a better overall footballer than all of those players in terms of his skillset and...
I remember Klose also doing well at Lazio at the end of his career, at least in Serie A for the first few seasons until too many injuries and aging taking their toll.