Since 2008, the Ballon d’Or has been a two-man race between footballing demigods Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi has won the award for a record four straight times between 2009 and 2012, while Ronaldo won it both in 2008 and – most recently – in 2013. This year brings an interesting situation of the third shortlisted player competing against Ronaldo and Messi. He may be regarded as Germany’s best defender, and is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, but does he really have the attributes to beat out both Messi, voted Best Player of the FIFA World Cup 2014, and Ronaldo? Let’s therefore take a look into the case of Germany’s and FC Bayern Munich’s number one, and FIFA World Cup 2014’s Golden Glove Winner, Manuel Neuer.
July 1, 2014. It was the 107th minute, USA down 2-0 against Belgium. The World Cup dream seemed to be all but over for the US. Then in extra time, playing what must have been the longest fifteen minutes of their World Cup, someone decided to throw away the script.
RIP Spain; The End of an Era: “June 29th 2008 – June 18th 2014”
The month of June 2014 will be remembered in Spain as a month of “abdications”. On June 2nd 2014 King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicated the throne of the Spanish monarchy in favour of his son Felipe VI, and today the Spanish National Football team abdicated their throne atop the footballing world. From June 29th 2008 to June 18th 2014 the Spanish national football team had ruled the sport. With two European Championship trophies in 2008 and 2012, along with a World Cup trophy in 2010, they had cemented themselves into the conversation of the best team of all-time (it’s Spain vs. Brazil 1970 for those who are wondering) and shed the tagline of perennial underachievers that seemed to cling to previous Spanish national teams. Not only had they topped the “podium” in three successive major tournaments, but they also mesmerized the world with their playing style. Using a core of Barcelona-based players, Spain introduced Pep Guardiola’s “tiki-taka” style of quick, short passing and emphasis on possession to the national stage. They were all conquering, all dominant and at times seemed invincible.
This post was written by Blake Goodman, a junior at the George Washington University and football aficionado.
Wednesday marked the first set of international friendlies for the year 2014, and the first chance for fans to catch a glimpse of their nation’s preliminary lineup for this year’s World Cup in Brazil. International managers used this chance to experiment with their lineups, and, for several nations, some very high profile debuts were made. The day was fraught with expectation and national pride, and, as always, some teams experienced joy, while others suffered the disappointment of defeat.
What, though, can we take away from some of the higher profile games of the day?
1. Brazil Don’t Need Diego Costa
The Seleção emerged unscathed from their trip to Johannesburg, notching a 5-nil win against previous World Cup hosts South Africa. Earlier this season, when Brazil-born striker Diego Costa announced his intention to represent his adopted country of Spain over his birth nation, the Atlético Madrid man made quite a media splash, with Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari saying, “He’s turning his back on something millions dream of doing; playing for the five-time world champions at a World Cup in Brazil.” With Costa in near-perfect form at the Rojiblancos – having scored 26 goals in 29 games in all competitions, and having contributed to 34% of his teams goals in La Liga – Seleção fans had a right to be angry; he would have made an impressive addition to their already formidable strike force, regularly consisting of Atlético Mineiro’s Jô, Fluminense’s Fred, and Santos’s Leandro Damião.
However, Brazil have continued their impressive, if not expected, good run of form from last year’s FIFA Confederations Cup, with their last loss being the 1-0 loss to Switzerland in August of last year, eight games ago. In Jo’burg, goal scorers Oscar, Fernandinho, and hat-trick hero Neymar proved to fans and pundits alike that Brazil’s strike-force is in no immediate need of help. With their nearly unmatched squad depth on the front half of the pitch, the five-time World Champions should do just fine on home soil without the addition of Costa.
2. Diego Costa May Not Be Spain’s Striker Salvation, At Least Not Yet
While fans of the Seleção may have sighed in relief after their side conquered the pitch in South Africa, Spanish fans were likely a bit disappointed at their team’s performance. Despite notching a 1-0 win against eternal dark horses Italy on Wednesday, the current World Champions seemed not to play like themselves. Despite the return of top-scorer David Villa to the lineup, it was the call up of man-of-the-hour Diego Costa that made headlines. Vicente Del Bosque has tried to see his team squarely through their striker crisis, swapping out the misfiring Fernando Torres and injury plagued David Villa for a so-called “false nine,” often using Barcelona’s Cesc Fábregas instead of a traditional forward.
Costa seemed to be the answer to Del Bosque’s prayers. With 26 goals in 29 games this season in all competitions, one would think that he would have slotted straight into the striker’s position that has been vacant since the Spaniards lifted the trophy in South Africa. However, Costa looked awkward on and off the ball, with the Rojiblancos ace having had no shots on target throughout his time on the pitch, and a pass completion rate of only 77%. Regardless, given his performances for his club in the absence of Radamel Falcao, now of AS Monaco, I have no doubt that he will play some part in La Roja’s set-up for years to come; he has too much quality not to.
In the meantime, Del Bosque might want to look at recalling Juventus-striker Fernando Llorente for the friendlies in May and June. The man has been in great form, firing La Vecchia Signora to the top of the Serie A alongside former-Manchester City bad-boy Carlos Tévez. Llorente has 13 goals in 19 Serie A outings this season, and is a seasoned veteran of the Spanish team’s lineup. With 7 goals in 23 national team games, Llorente’s experience could compliment the adjusting Costa, and could help cover up some of his miscues in Brazil.
3. Didier Deschamps Has Finally Begun To Solidify The France Midfield
Les Bleus put in a fine performance against the Netherlands on home-turf, winning the game 2-0 at the Stade de France. With the recent upturn in the quality of the French domestic league, as well as the huge number of successful French youngsters abroad, Didier Deschamps has had some tough choices to make recently, and he had a very interesting lineup ready to battle the Oranje. The inclusion of youngsters Raphaël Varane and Eliaquim Mangala at center-back, the marauding Mathieu Debuchy at right-back, and the brilliantly talented Antoine Griezmann on the left-flank, all alongside mainstays Patrice Evra, Hugo Lloris, and Karim Benzema, among others, left little to be desired from the team.
However, it wasn’t Griezmann’s first cap that stole the show, as was anticipated. Nor was it one of Hugo Lloris’s all-too-common near-impossible saves that made headlines. It was instead all about Paris Saint-Germain central-midfielder Blaise Matuidi. The man not only grounded the French midfield, helping his now-PSG teammate Yohan Cabaye to stifle the creative talents of Robin Van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, and Kevin Strootman (Matuidi had three tackles and four interceptions), but also played well going forward. Matuidi had a pass accuracy of 92%, the third highest on the team out of players that had more than 50 touches on the ball, with one key pass – the assist that led to front man Karim Benzema’s 32nd minute opener. Finally, he was the one who put the game to bed, putting both of his two shots on target (out of a total of six the team had), scoring a brilliantly styled scissor kick in the 41st minute. The man’s Whoscored.com rating of 8.48 speaks to the quality with which he played.
Matuidi’s amazing goal even spurred a near-perfect tweet from teammate and shameless self-promoter Zlatan Ibrahimović:
Hey @MATUIDIBlaise I saw your goal last night. Magnifique. You must have been watching Zlatan in training. #DareToZlatan
4. The Dutch Need To Sort Out Their Issues In Attack and Defense… Quickly
It looked like it would be a relatively positive day for the Oranje, who were arguably playing their toughest opposition in a year. Having played incredibly well throughout World Cup qualifying, the Dutch seemed to have recovered from their disastrous Euro 2012 campaign. However, despite a solid-looking team filled with qualifying mainstays such as Wesley Sneijder and Robin Van Persie, as well as many talented youngsters, including Jean-Paul Boëtius, Quincy Promes, and Daley Blind, the Oranje fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Les Bleus.
The inexperience of the squad showed, with Boëtius and Promes allowing both Mathieu Debuchy and Patrice Evra to continually bound up each flank. Blaise Matuidi and Yohan Cabaye worked well to keep the creative talents of Wesley Sneijder at bay. Louis van Gaal decided to play Ajax youngster Daley Blind at left back, a position he doesn’t regularly play for his club anymore; that fact became rather obvious. Blind was unable to deal with Debuchy, collapsing under the Newcastle United man’s pressure, not to mention that of Mathieu Valbuena, or even that of Blaise Matuidi. It is thoroughly unsurprising that between these two factors, both of the French goals came from the right side.
The squad had uncharacteristically poor discipline as well, committing 17 fouls compared to the French 10, further signs of inexperience, or a lack of confidence. The Dutch also looked toothless in attack, with @OptaJohann explaining that this was only the continuation of a recent trend:
2 – The Netherlands have only scored two goals over their last three matches, their worst run since Euro 2012. Drought.
With the best performance of the night coming from captain Ron Vlaar, who ended the evening with a relatively poor Whoscored.com rating of 7.04, Van Gaal needs to reevaluate his team’s defensive capabilities before they land in Brazil. As poor as Blind might have played, Van Gaal might want to keep him in the team for their central midfield, replacing him at left-back with Euro 2012-débutante Jetro Willems of PSV Eindhoven. Willems, a Bert van Marwijk surprise entry into the Oranje, has proved an able player, with four goals and three assists in his 23 Eredivisie games this season. Impressively, the statistic that makes Willems my choice for left-back would be his 1.2 key passes per game in the Eredivisie, something that Blind cannot match when playing in the same position.
As well, Van Gaal might give some thought to playing Daryl Janmaat more consistently at right full-back, rather than PSG’s Gregory van der Wiel. While both Van der Wiel and Janmaat have similar tackles per game – each one with 2.5 tackles per game in the Eredivisie – Janmaat is a more all around defender, with better discipline (0.9 fouls vs. Van der Wiel’s 1.2) and more key passes per game (1.3 per game vs. 0.7).
Feyenoord’s Daryl Janmaat could be a better defensive option than PSG’s Gregory van der Wiel
Whatever Van Gaal does, he needs to figure it out fast. With the Dutch, inventors of modern game, looking to bounce back from the tragedy of Euro 2012, Louis van Gaal is going to have to bring the best out of his team, encouraging the older members to lead their younger counterparts to play the possession based attacking football that have been famous for. They have the quality. Now they need to put that talent into action.
5. Germany’s Squad May Be Deep, But There Is A Bottom Of The Talent Barrel
Coming out of an underwhelming 90 minutes, Germany emerged 1-0 winners against visitors Chile. While Joachim Löw’s men won the day, they were far from their best. Despite putting in a decent performance, including the assist for the only goal of the game, Arsenal star Mesut Özil was booed off the pitch, and Özil as well as Toni Kroos and Mario Götze were poor at helping their midfield pivot by tracking back under Chilean pressure.
Regardless of what fan’s thought of the admittedly out-of-form Özil’s performance, many of Die Mannschaft’s issues begin with their full backs. Captain Philipp Lahm’s move at the club level from right back to central defensive midfielder was mimicked on Wednesday night in order to compensate for the loss of Real Madrid injured Sami Khedira. With no like-for-like replacement for Lahm, Löw decided to utilize the defensive talents of left-midfielder Kevin Großkreutz to make up the deficit, a job he did to the best of his ability. Giving first choice (read: only choice) left back Marcel Schmelzer a deserved rest, Löw recalled Hamburg player Marcell Jansen, who ended up tearing the ligaments in his left foot, and being replaced by Schmelzer himself after only 24 minutes. The issue’s beginning seems quite clear.
If Germany wants to get back on the right foot before they land in Brazil, they’re going to have to fix their full back issues. The solution is simple in theory, though difficult in practice. Löw must bring Philipp Lahm back to his natural right back position, allowing him to command from the back. In order to do so, he will need to give Bastian Schweinsteiger a new partner in the 4-2-3-1’s midfield pivot, someone who can replace the intensity that Sami Khedira brought to the game. For me, that man would be Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender. In fact, my solution is not really my own in this regard; Löw attempted to bring Bender in against Chile. However, after receiving the call, Bender was injured in a league match, with an expected date of return of March 7th. Bender, along with his twin, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender, could be Germany’s midfield backbone in Brazil, providing the same muscle alongside the commanding presence of Schweinsteiger that Khedira would have done.
The Bender Twins (Lars, at left; Sven, at right) could be Joachim Löw’s answer to the loss of Khedira.
If their clubs can keep the Bender twins and Marcel Schmelzer fit, and Die Mannschaft’s captain can avoid major injury, Joachim Löw should be able to use his nation’s squad depth in other positions in order to assemble a squad capable of competing at the top level in Brazil.
6. Italy Need To Decide On A Formation, And Then Pick Their Squad
Cesare Prandelli may not have been a prolific player during his club career, but he has undoubtedly become a well-respected manager, at least within the sphere of Italian football. Where once the man had never received a national call-up, now he leads his nation as manager to the final stages of major tournaments. This is of course not just a testament to him and his ability as a manager, but also to the quality of the players with which he works. Regardless of what people may say about the level of top-flight Italian club football, teams in Italy hold the cards of some of the best players in the world, including Giuseppe Rossi, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Mario Balotelli, Daniele De Rossi, and Andrea Pirlo.
This all calls into question the mixed-bag of results that I Azzurri have received under their manager. The Italians have drawn every single one of their last five games before Wednesday’s disappointing 1-0 loss to Spain. The reason? An unacceptable lack in consistency in the formation in which they play.
During the Euro 2012 group stages, Italy – coming out of a very poor showing at the 2010 World Cup – drew tournament favorites Spain 1-1, playing with a Juventus-like 3-5-2. Why did it work? Mostly because six of the starting XI played for that club. Then, only three weeks later, after shockingly defeating England and Germany while playing a 4-3-1-2, Prandelli goes against his better judgment and chooses the latter formation, despite having seen the 3-5-2 work to neutralize Spain’s tiki-taka style. The result? Italy lost to Spain. The 4-0 defeat at Kiev’s Olympic Stadium was all that Italy became known for during the competition, and they walked away second-fiddle to the now two-time European Champions.
Italian players consoling one another and congratulating opponents Spain on their second consecutive European Championship
During 2013’s FIFA Confederations Cup, a similar story emerged. After notching two wins and a loss in the group stages while playing either a 4-3-2-1 or a 4-2-3-1, Italy had to play Spain in the semi finals. Remembering Euro 2012, Prandelli plays three at the back again. Once again, they draw the Spaniards, and the game goes to penalties, where La Roja won 7-6. Prandelli’s formational tinkering strikes again.
Prandelli needs to find a formation and stick to it. His new obsession seems to be the inclusion of wingers in his four-at-the-back formation, as can be seen by the inclusion of Alessio Cerci and Antonio Candreva in his starting line-up on Wednesday. Whatever his decision, Prandelli needs to pick a formation to teach his squad, so that they can gel the way that they should have already. This is not to say that squads shouldn’t have flexibility. On the contrary, I believe that the number of Juventus players and Walter Mazzari-era Napoli players in the squad means that if the team needs to play three at the back, they’ll be able to, no matter what the decision is. All that’s left for Prandelli to decide is whether that’s going to be his go-to, or his backup.
(All match and league statistics are from Whoscored.com. GIFs and photos are from Tumblr. Videos are from YouTube. Tweets are attributed to their embedded authors.)
Power Forward 