General Football 2014/15: Page 94 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

General Football 2014/15

Clrnc

I know everybody always compares them, but to me they are quite different players. One is more of a CM, one is really a deeper midfielder.

And I very much prefers Pirlo. He is just too unique to be true.

Klaus

Pirlo is the best midfielder of the 00s for me too. No one else is close.

Well, maybe Iniesta, but he is a weird player. He's neither a midfielder nor a forward, really.

goon

There was a England-Spain friendly, I think the one from 2004, where Xavi completely bossed things. I mean if you want to see a player dictating a game, that was it. This was before tiki-taka took over, he was a lot more dynamic with his passing back then.

Mirth

Also a big fan of Xabi Alonso - I feel he's underrated.

Clrnc

General Mirth wrote:
Also a big fan of Xabi Alonso - I feel he's underrated.

Now, that's more like the Pirlo type of player to be compared. Xabi is also another unique midfielder, very underrated in the world till this season when he totally transformed Bayern's play.

The closest England has ever produced to those 2 players is Carrick and to be fair, he had 2 or 3 absolutely brilliant seasons but still failed to get world recognition.

I used to think Montolivo will be Pirlo's successor due to their similarity in style, but it's definitely Verratti now.

flobaba

U.S. Friendly versus Holland in Amsterdam:

USA wins 4-3 after going down 3-1. Dutch are defensively shite.

VanPersie is old and looks done.

QuincyAbeyie

Don't think Pirlo comes close to Xavi, even though he's more interesting to watch.

Claudius

We are seeing the carcass of Pirlo, and even that's spectacular. You need to go back 8-10 years to his peak. He was a true orchestrator, playing with Seedorf et al. He always seemed mentally half a second ahead of everyone, and never flustered. Both he and peak Maldini exhibited these qualities.

Mirth

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Don't think Pirlo comes close to Xavi, even though he's more interesting to watch.

Disagree, his performance in the 2006 World Cup was on par with anything I've seen from Xavi/Zidane/others of that ilk. Thought he was player of the tournament too.

Patters

Wilshere is starting for England v Ireland. On ITV.

Ricky1985

Patters wrote:
Wilshere is starting for England v Ireland. On ITV.

Thanks for the heads up mate, completely forgot. 🙂

goon

So... are we supposed to hurl objects towards y va, qs! And co?

Ricky1985

England are a little bit shit here. There was a time when this would have been a complete mismatch. Not even necessarily in terms of the game itself, but more player for player....there's a lot of average players in this England side though.

Ricky1985

Smalling could be such a good player if he didn't have those sort of stupid moments. Quite Djourou-like in that sense.

banduan

Sterling is so one-dimensional

Mirth

Ricky1985 wrote:
England are a little bit shit here. There was a time when this would have been a complete mismatch. Not even necessarily in terms of the game itself, but more player for player....there's a lot of average players in this England side though.

England are all wrong in midfield - and that's a fundamental issue in how English managers tend to see the game. The fact that Michael Carrick is constantly excluded or undermined at an international level is reflective of this. Compare the England midfield to any other top nation and the difference is painfully obvious. It's hilarious how Carrick was a vital part of the United side that made three CL finals but never started any of the World Cup games or Euros.

In attack and defence, England are probably on par with most teams though.

banduan

Wilsh must feel like he's playing with some Championship team at the moment.

goon

Milner has been horrible. Must say I'm glad we didn't go there.

Ricky1985

He's a decent player because he's tactically switched on and a real hard worker, but he's so bloody boring. Nothing outstanding about him at all.

Sterling looks half the player he did a few months back before this whole contract business blew up.

Looking forward to a bit of Chamberlain and Walcott in the second half.

Patters

Praise from the studio (from Scholes and Dixon) of Wilshere's performance. Scholes wants him further up the field - says he's better if he's running at people compared to a long passing game.

Might've played himself in the team for next weekend. Don't think Hodgson should stick with the Henderson-Delph combo he's been going with recently.

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