‘Surprisingly’, not an Englishman in sight...
It only seems fitting that the team of the tournament lines up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the emphasis on ‘holding midfield’ players rather than striking partnerships. This was the prevalent tactical trend of the World Cup, and as discussed by the excellent and learned Jonathan Wilson, have we seen the end of 4-4-2? http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/jul/14/the-question-what-next-for-442
So it’s a 4-2-3-1 and over the course of the next few paragraphs we will attempt to justify why some made it in, and some were left on the cutting room floor.
I think it would be fair to say that this hasn’t exactly been a tournament where goalkeeper’s have excelled. Whether the infamous Jabulani ball played a significant role in this is very much open to debate, but in general, it’s hard to pinpoint an exceptional custodian. A lot of experts have been plumping for Iker Casillas the ‘keeper of the champions Spain. The Spanish captain was shaky for much of the tournament and while I appreciate the excellence when it really mattered, I don’t think he deserves the accolade this time out. Slovenia’s Samir Handanovic was impressive in the group stages and surely destined for a big move away from Udinese but we have plumped for another unheralded name in the Portuguese No. 1, Eduardo. Never let it be said that the writers on this site don’t possess an abundant wealth of knowledge, and the man from Braga was nominated as an ‘honourable mention’ for our European goalkeeper of the season. The 27 year old built on his fine domestic form bringing a calm and assured presence onto the international stage. Only one goal conceded and numerous decisive interventions put him into our team.
Much of the praise for Spain’s victory has focussed on their midfield, and how they kept the ball. What hasn’t been highlighted as much is the fact that Spain won the tournament on the back of conceding only two goals, with four successive clean sheets in the knockout stages. The rock at the back was Carles Puyol, who while he can often look leaden footed (and arguably should have been sent off in the final) was a charismatic and decisive presence. Puyol’s defining act the immense header he scored to win the semi-final against Germany. With Spain’s defensive record in mind, you could also make a good case for Puyol’s Barcelona teammate Gerard Pique, but we thought we would recognise the talents of the man at the heart of Uruguay’s defence, Diego Lugano. Yet another captain to make it into this team, the rugged centre half was integral to his country’s unlikely run in the competition and his importance was shown through the fact that he was missing through injury when his country was ultimately eliminated.
At full back, two players with differing levels of international experience. The consistently excellent Phillip Lahm, stepped up admirably to don the captain’s armband when Michael Ballack was injured in the FA Cup final and provided great leadership both on and off the pitch. Reliable, equally adept at left or right back, Lahm is both a threat going forward whilst very rarely being beaten going the other way; he’s like the defender that Glen Johnson wishes he was. The German just edges out Spain’s Sergio Ramos for the right back slot. Coming in on the left is a man with just a handful of international caps to his name, young, converted winger Fábio Coentrão. Explosive going forward, the man from Benfica showed that he’s a real name for the future, a fullback with fantastic pace, verve and attacking intent.
Moving onto the midfield, some might see fit to include the full Spanish set, but despite their ultimate victory, while Spain passed and passed and passed, it wasn’t quite with the verve and creativity of two years ago. We were tempted by Xavi - the orchestrator of Spain, ever prompting, ever dictating, whilst alongside him Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets kept the ball and defence of Spain safe. However, much as this may shock many, none of these players have made it into the central two midfield positions. The second of three Uruguayans to make the line-up, Monaco‘s Diego Perez was a tenacious and ferocious presence in midfield and could be a potential bargain for any would be suitors looking to find themselves a ball winning man for the middle of the pitch.
By virtue of his teams excellent run to 4th place he just edges out Anthony Annan of Ghana who came from nowhere to put in a number of excellent displays. Alongside Perez, will be the player, who for us stood out most, as the embodiment of the complete midfield player; Bastian Schweinsteiger. Passing, moving, tackling, prompting, Schweinsteiger was everywhere, offering leadership to a young Germany team (not forgetting he’s only 25 himself) and driving them forward. He was the best player on the pitch by a country mile against England (admittedly not hard) and thoroughly dominant. Not bad from a man who was brought up as wide right midfield player cum winger.
Moving onto the important attacking trio, behind the lone front man, and the player who absolutely had to be in is Diego Forlan. This site’s player of the tournament, Forlan is usually a central striker but his skill and adaptability was shown by the fact that for most of the tournament he was played as a classic ‘number 10’ playing behind a front two, creating, as well as taking chances. Five goals from a deeper position - he was in. A couple of names to be considered from the Dutch side that made it to the final are Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder. Both have had highly impressive seasons, and while Robben was injured for the beginning of the World Cup, he did enough to show his ability. Sneijder officially scored five times (although how Felipe Melo’s OG is accredited to him I don’t know) but, and I’m prepared for flak here, I didn’t think he actually played that well over the month, and he was anonymous in the final.
One man who did show up in the final, and who was arguably the best player in that game, was Andres Iniesta. He grew stronger as the tournament wore on and it was fitting that he scored the winner. On the other side, Thomas Muller deserves recognition for the fact that he came in an international novice, and walked away with the golden boot. It’s hard to say how much of a difference he would have made in the semi-final when he was suspended, but Germany obviously suffered through his absence. He just edges out his compatriot Mesut Ozil, who started very brightly but then seemed to tire as his country progressed. Still, the future looks good for Germany.
Up front there was only one real choice. As ever at international tournaments Miroslav Klose turned it on when it really mattered and Asomoah Gyan was impressive as the focal point of Ghana’s attack, but this final place has to go to David Villa. His goals were absolutely vital to Spain’s progression, and in terms of clinical finishing, is arguably the deadliest front man in world football.
So, with all that in mind, and feel free to tear it apart, here is the official, CollinsBeans XI of the tournament:
GK: Eduardo (Portugal)
RB: Lahm (Germany)
LB: Coentrao (Portugal)
CB: Puyol (Spain)
CB: Lugano (Uruguay)
CM: Perez (Uruguay)
CM: Schweinsteiger (Germany)
RM: Muller (Germany)
LM: Iniesta (Spain)
AM: Forlan (Uruguay)
ST: Villa (Spain)
No comments:
Post a Comment