Defenses

great pix!

yah its time for me to stop writing about this zanetti stuff..

there just isn’t much to write about right now…so i’ll go for a walk..

i really got the world cup fever bad though…

Posted from  United States

I am going to miss Zanetti. Pekerman SUCKS, I hate him right now. He d better win this WC freakin guy. How can you not pick Zanetti, there is for sure some other reasons and he does’t comment because they are not convincing. PEKERMAN I HATE YOUUUUUUUUU

Côte d’Ivoire’s defense will be one of the toughest. Kolo Toure and Eboue both play for Arsenal and they had 10 straight clean sheets before losing to Barcellona last Wednesday. Toure even scored a goal in Champions and Eboue had an awesome first half against the Catalanes.

Nothing than Messi and Tevez couldn’t take care of but it’s not going to be easy.

Them, on the other hand are laughing about our defensive skills after one of the best in the World was left out of the WC by Pekermoron.

Posted from  United States

Kolo Toure and Eboue play on the same side right ? They will be facing Tevez and Sorin/Cambiasso.

I would LOVE to see Toure rying to push forward like he usually does. He is going to get terminated by Tevez.

Posted from  Canada

It’s unfair to us fans to not give us an honest reason for Zanetti’s absence. Like everything in life, political or personal conflicts might have had a major influence in Perkerman’s decision.

Or possibly, he’s feels more comfortable with the newer guys, some of which he’s grown with over the years.

Posted from  United States

we shoulden’t under rate our own players

tevez scores goals from NOTHING

messi embarasses the best defences

remmember against chelsea?

crespo has scored against everyone by now

and riquelme made an avergae team into a great one

lucho has some of the best passes i ever seen and a great speed

then you have aimar who is tricky as shit

mascherano who at one point was the most sought after def mid he single handedly took kaka out of the game against us

sorin is a beast i seen him play defense for villareal and remember he was the one who kept dinho out of the game against brazil
proof - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVj7nYJwpgU

ayala gave england a hard time int eh freindly and only after he was subbed out could owen put 2 threw

heinze is a true leader if you remember the confed cup

dont worry guys think it the other way around it would not be the group of death without us

Posted from  Canada

“Côte d’Ivoire’s defense will be one of the toughest. Kolo Toure and Eboue both play for Arsenal and they had 10 straight clean sheets before losing to Barcellona last Wednesday. Toure even scored a goal in Champions and Eboue had an awesome first half against the Catalanes”

Yes I was thinking the same thing, but I feel that Riquelme will needle plenty of through passes.

Remember how Villareal could have scored 12 goals easily? They just didn’t have the world’s most clinical finisher in Crespo.

Crespo is a very one dimensional player. He can’t defend, and he really isn’t that great passing.

But he is the best poacher. He times his runs to perfection and is extremely accurate.

I think the world is going insane with this total football stuff.

I think in the box you need a specialist. Crespo is a specialist. He is a great poacher and when partnered with someone like Riquelme he will score more than anyone.

Posted from  Pakistan

The fact that Serbia has such a MASSIVE reputation in terms of defense really makes Group C the most exciting group. Not one match will be remotely boring!

Posted from  Pakistan

Got to watch out for Ivory Coast especially Drogba. The man will dive at any opportunity he gets so we got to be double careful.

His game is based on diving around the pitch and he is renowned in the premiership for it. Chelsea gans are sick and tired of his antics now.

Hopefully referees will have him as a marked man now.We havn’t got hackers in defence so thats a good start.

Posted from  United Kingdom

Lovely blog, my friend.

We’ll be waiting for you in the final with the best defence (Robinson - Neville - Ferdinand - Terry - Cole A ), the best midfield (Beckham - Lampard - Gerard - Cole J) and the best forwards (Rooney and Owen ) and the best team collectively in terms of spirit, morale, determination and mental strength.

If you do get that far, don’t get excited: you’re sure to lose. And if you’ve any doubts about that, remember that we’ll have just taken care of Brazil, so we’ll be afraid of nothing.

Take care now,

Geedon

Remember Geneva 05!

Rooney is unjured! He has only one foot! Gerrard will play in attack. England will only know how to defend, like at Euro. They are not CREATIVE.

Are you fed up about the French management, too? After Lemerre and Santini, here comes Domenech. Vamos Argentina!!!

Posted from  France

i’m happy that Zanetti has been kiked out, useless player no need for him, it’s enough he played 2 Wcs , the last WC the squad kiked out from the first round, what he will add only a weakness defense, we need to see new faces . . .. that may do better than Zanetti , samuel and shit veron in 2002 . . . .

Posted from  France

England has a great defense because they drop 11 for protection.

Italy play very defensively too…

Argentina’s defense isn’t that great because we’re an offensive minded team.
We have talented players in the back, but our concentration is counter attacking… so they don’t get much support like other teams.

I guarentee you that if Argentina builds a 2 or 3 goal lead and want to sit on the ball, they become very defensive.

Remember the 3 - 1 drubbing we gave to brazil?

Posted from  United States

I’m very worried. The problem is that there isn’t De Michelis because there are only 2 or 3 MD in the squad (please not Scaloni)! Mascherano, Cambiasso, Sorin. Lucho isn’t a defending midfielder.

Pek must make Masche, Cambiasso and Lucho play TOGETHER! It’s very important. Otherwise, we will pick up 2 or 3 boals in our nets. It’s terrible to say that but it’s Messi or Tevez (or Saviola)…

Posted from  France

i DISAGREE WITH YOU
MAXILOPEZ
No way. Lucho is a substitute.
We have to play Messi-Tevez-Crespo-Riquelme
Perkershit will for sure.

wamdiego10 …
you don’t have any other word better than this (DISAGREE) i see it in any comment you writ, who asking your opinion while disappointing others , better to change this way, this my advice,
bon courage pour le suit

Posted from  France

Trying to figure out which side has the best defence in terms of individuals is a waste of time, since more than in any other area of a team the defence is about the unit, how the players work together and how they are supported by the rest of the side. That’s why England’s defence can look porous, because Eriksson insists on playing Gerrard and Lampard in a 4-4-2 formation, so neither of them naturally protects the back four and can leave them exposed. I would argue that individually our back four are the best at the tournament, although I’m sure plenty of people would disagree with me, but they’re certainly right up there. It won’t do much good though.

As an outsider looking in I can’t understand the decision to drop Zanetti, Samuel and Demichelis, but Argentina will still have a quality defence (assuming Scaloni doesn’t start). You should be wary of Serbia & Montenegro who built their qualification on a rock solid defence, and the Ivory Coast defence not only have Toure and Eboue in it who are both solid and a threat going forward, but are given great protection by Zokora and Yaya Toure in defensive midfield. They’ll be tough to break down imo.

Italy always has a great defence, although whether or not it’ll be backed up by Buffon remains to be seen, given alleged £500,000 bets on games… I also hear that Italy are worried about cover in the central defensive position, so if Nesta or Canavaro get injured they’ll have trouble filling the gap, but that’s a minor point really.

Brazil’s defence might be quite strong as well, especially if they play Edmilson just in front of it as well as Emerson, although they’re going to rely on their ageing full-backs to provide offensive width which could create space on the flanks.

Posted from  United Kingdom

Riquelme never defends! Even Zidane does. We must play on 4312 or maybe 3331…

Posted from  France

maxilopez,
what is this 4312 or maybe 3331 ? 3 lines right ? DF, MF and FW ! so you mean 4-4-2 or 3-4-3!
the most comun is 4-4-2 i think this is perfect for argentina without Sorin !!!, 3-5-2 with sorin, 3-4-3 without sorin and Messi plays as a MF when needs

Posted from  France

Omar, this is a forum, this a place to exchange DIFFERENT point of view. So to disagree is a positive thing. You’ve been upset by me because I made no mercy in an answer to your silly formations you had released a few days ago. But that’s because you’re french “qui aime bien chati bien” Don’t be angry, it’s life, you’ll see at the world cup who is right… No way to attack me to take revenge, the pitch will deliver his verdict within a few days…

Posted from  France

Omar, it means what it means. For me, we need to defend before attacking. Even with this team, we can strike 4 goals per match.

Ustari (Lux is the best)

Colo - Ayala - Heinze - Sorin

Lucho - Masche - Cambiasso

Riquelme

Messi Crespo

————————
Tevez for Messi
Aimar for Riquelme

Posted from  France

Lucho won’t be starting but i hope he plays some part in the tournament because i rate him highly. He and Riquelme have a great understanding of one another.

We cannot be playing a four man defence because Sorin is playing and he is not a defender.

Posted from  United Kingdom

I don’t want to see maxi Rodriguez…

Posted from  France

DEFENSE

Ayala, Heinze, Milito. Sorin is the fourth defender.

MIDFIELD
Cambiasso, Maxi Rodriques, Messi, Riquelme

Cambiasso, will rotate with masherano and they will defend while Sorin attacks

Posted from  Jamaica

I think Perkerman is making the right decision with a younger defense. The game of soccer is changing every year with faster more ball handling skilled players. With us facing two teams with amazing speed we have to be ready to hang with them. and mache and sorin are going to drop back to give us that solid 5 zone defense. They can run 2 games straight trust me we will be in the semi’s.

Posted from  United States