World Cup hang over - looking back at Brazil 2014

It has been a week since Germany was crowned as World Cup champions, adding a fourth star to their kit. Since that game we have had a overwhelming number of pieces about the World Cup, so it was time for the Frog to chime in as well.

The all tournament team using a 4-2-3-1 formation:

• Goalkeeper - Neuer Germany. I can hear it now, "what about Howard!" from my USMNT fans. Yes Howard gave us a super human performance against Belgium. But he didn't win the game. Neuer on the other hand gave a superb performance versus Algeria as well as against France and Argentina. And he won the title. He should have

  

  A better sweeper than Luiz

  won the golden ball as well, more on that later.
• Left Back - Vertonghen Belgium. I can just feel the Gooner cringing right now. But looking at what the Tottenham defender did for Belgium during this World Cup elevates him to this position. He was a constant threat for the Red Devils bombing down the left flank. He also chipped in the winning goal against South Korea. Without his efforts on the left side for Belgium, the shocking performance by Hazard on that side would have been even more glaring. 
• Right Back - Lahm Germany. Shocking that Low stubbornly insisted on playing the Bayern man in the midfield. Were it not for some line up juggling in the beginning of the knock outs, we may never have seen Lahm back at his best position. Playing down the right side, Lahm gave Germany pace and width down the right side. He was constantly offering dangerous crosses from the flank. This also freed up some space for Ozil. Again, shocking that Low was forced to line him up in his natural position.
• Center Back - Hummels Germany.  The powerful central defender was a rock for the German back line. Chipping in vital goals as well. With Low asking his defense to play a very high line also forced the Hummels to be solid with his organization of the defense.
• Center Back - Vlaar Holland. The powerful Dutch center back was a rock playing for the Van Gaal's back 3. Playing with two wing backs, much of the defensive pressure fell on the shoulders of the back three defenders. In the middle of that was Vlaar. The Dutch defense were worthy of their 3rd place finish, giving up only one goal in the knock out stage. Their central defender has a lot to do with that result.
• Holding Midfielder - Mascherano Argentina. The Argentine pitbull lived up to his reputation. He was the rock that protected the Argentina back 4. His work rate constitently sat at a 10. His ability to act as a midfield destroyer coupled with his efficient linkage with the attack made him the most valuable Argentine player (yup more than a player wearing the 10 jersey).
• Holding Midfielder - Schweinsteiger Germany. Not to be repetitive...but what was Low doing the first half of the tournament? Once he lined up Lahm on the right with Schweiny and Kedira as his two holding midfielders, the Mannschaft took off. What took so long? Schweiny was the engine for the German team. His work rate, like Mascherano's, was off the chart. Seeing what he went through against Ghana or Argentina epitomizes his tournament. The man was spent in both matches, but he left everything on the pitch. Without his work effort I am not sure Germany adds that 4th star.
• Left Winger - Robben Holland. Yes I know he is a diver, could probably medal for the Dutch in the Olympics.  The sad part is, he does not need to dive! When you watch

  

  The grass got me this time...darn it

  him take on defenders 1v1 you realize he can get past most defenders and when he fights through the contact he tends to find himself in great goal scoring opportunities. He just seems to focus more on getting fouls called for him rather than get through the contact and get himself goal chances. Even with his diving, he had a fabulous tournament. At times he appeared to be the only player in orange to carry the attack.
• Right Winger - Neymar Jr Brazil - A bit of a surprise here, for a player that missed his last two games. That might be one of the reasons to build a case for Neymar. Until the semi-finals, Neymar was the one player that gave the Brazilians any hope. He carried the offense for the host nation. To be blunt, without Neymar, Brazil might not have made it past the group stages.
• Central Midfielder - James Colombia - The new darling of world football, earned his new found fame by having a monster tournament. Winning the golden boot with 6 goals and carrying his nation to a first ever 1/4 final, trusted the Monaco player into the lime light. His creativity and bag of tricks turned Colombia into a real dark horse this tournament. Just think how scary Colombia might have been had Falcao been on the pitch. The future is bright for this 23 year old.
• Striker - Messi Argentina - Shocking, but this is made by default. I am putting Messi here mainly on his performances early in the tournament (more on this later as well). He is also here because I do not consider Muller as a striker - I would have him as a second team left winger behind Robben. Messi saved his side in the group stages and had some decent spurts in the knock out rounds, but left much to be desired. His inclusion is indicative of the lack of world class strikers playing up to par this tournament.
• Other players - Navas Costa Rica GK, Zabeleta Argentina D, Boateng Germany D, Muller Germany MF, Pogba France MF, De Bruyne Belgium MF, Kroos Germany MF, Sanchez Chile F.

No surprise that this team is loaded with players from the German side. Of course there are always flops as well. Here are the top three flops - these players had to be on teams that made it to the knock out stages, otherwise I would just slot 3 players from Spain on this list!

• Fred Brazil - Wasn't he the leading scorer during the Confederations' Cup? What happened in the year between tournaments...oh right....teams actually try during the World Cup. He was a complete waste during the World Cup. Other than his atrocious flop against Croatia, he did nothing. What a waste.
• Bradley USA - Has been called Caillou by Boston based sports radio 98.5, isn't far from a good comparison. The best US player heading into the tournament was close to a disaster for the red white and blue. Too often Bradley was a negative for the US rather than his usual positive impact on the team. I place some of the blame on

  

  Caillou! You can't give up the ball that easily

  Klinsmann who played him out of position, but still his performance was awful.
• Oscar Brazil - Wasn't he suppose to be the creative lynchpin for Brazil? Creating space and opportunities for the likes of Neymar et al? So where was he? Like Fred, he was completely invisible. Yes he scored some goals, more than can be said for his countryman - Fred. But for all the hype surrounding this player heading into the tournament he was a huge flop.
• Honorable mention - the entire Brazilian back line and keeper. The 7-1 trashing exemplified how atrocious the Brazilian defense was starting with their donkey keeper - Cesar - who can thank his goal frame for beating Chile. But even more so with their excuses for outside backs - Maicon/Alves and Marcelo. They cannot defend and all think they are really strikers. One play that epitomized how pathetic they are was on the goal by Klose in the semi final game. Marcelo keeps Muller onside by giving him a 5 foot cushion...inside his penalty area. Marcelo almost ran over Cesar trying to "cover" Muller. But the worst of the lot is Luiz. Big Bird might be the worst central defender I have seen since Pascal Cygan. He has no positional awareness...wonder why Muller was so wide open on the first goal in the semi finals? Answer - Luiz was suppose to be covering him. Go back and look at the fifth goal...Luiz makes an attempted tackle in the midfield and got skinned. There is a reason why he ended up playing mostly as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea...at least there were players behind him to clean up his mess. Sigh...and PSG spent a boat load on him...why? Maybe we can get a refund from Chelsea.

The best team of the tournament, that didn't win the tournament, was Costa Rica. Los Ticos emerged from the "Group of Champions" besting, England, Italy and Uruguay. I was reading a pre-tournament publication that stated they had "no chances" of getting out of the group. They took Holland to the penalty kicks, so were that close to getting to the semi finals. A great run for the CONCACAF side.

The best manager of the tournament - Van Gaal. I put him above Low, since the German manager gets points deducted because of his stubborn Germaness when it came to Lahm in the midfield. But the Dutch manager pulled many of the right strings. It is ashamed that captain and striker - RVP - disappeared during the knock out stage, otherwise Holland might have expected a better result. Van Gaal's 3 back system with two deep lying wide players, including former striker Kuyt, was a perfect system for the Oranje. Swapping keepers during the penalty kicks against Costa Rica was a bold move that paid off...clearly one he wanted to make in the Argentina game but did not have any substitutes.

The player of the tournament - Yes Messi won the golden ball...but he did not deserve it, I think he knows that as well! Neuer was the player of the tournament. His performances against Algeria, France and Argentina were player of the tournament worthy. He made countless plays with his feet outside the area against Algeria that allowed his team to continue to play a dangerous high line. He made two imperial saves against France to keep a clean sheet. And was equally dominant against Argentina in the finals. On the other hand Messi completely disappeared in the knock outs, especially when it counted against Holland and Germany. There were many stories about how tired he was from a long season, but it isn't as if the other players were playing for amateur club sides....they all have been playing lots of football. It feels as if the moment overwhelmed the Barcelona magician.

2014 was a great World Cup, even if Germany won it all! See you all in 4 years in Russia. Actually see you in 2 years in France for the European Cup!

And then there were 8...1/4 finals of World Cup approach

Phew, 48 hours without any World Cup football..how are we expected to survive this? It has actually been a good respite considering how tense some of the knock out games were. Starting tomorrow we are back in for 4 very different and fascinating matches. Since the Frog was 7-1 in the picks for the last round, we are feeling pretty confident in our prognostications! The one missed pick...The Frog had the US beating Belgium 2-1. Right score line...wrong teams. So here we go:

• France v West Germany: I have been surprisingly calm about this match, maybe it is the heat that has descended on the New England area that is warping my mind. I will most likely have a dedicated post to this match but here is my snap shot. France and Germany have a long story of match ups - 1986, 1982, 1940, 1914, 1870...1806 okay okay I completely digress from the football field. When it comes to their national football teams, France has always been in the shadow of Germany. Les Bleus have always seemed to be the little brother to Die Mannschaft. France and Germany have not met on the footy field at a major tournament since 1986. But those match ups - 1982 and 1986 - carry a lot of weight on this rivalry. More on 1982 in another post. But we are now in 2014, most players on both sides were not born in 1986! So what to

  

  We meet again!

  make of this match up? Both sides struggled in their knock out openers. France did not look good against Nigeria until the last 15 minutes while Germany, at times, looked old and slow versus the Algerians. But this is Germany, this is the World Cup - they know how to win when they have to. It might not be pretty, and often it is not, but they do what it takes. While Les Bleus, for all the good will they are starting to harvest, is still an experienced side when it comes to these types of games. For this reason I have a hard time to pick against the RFA. Here is why - Muller is not going to miss sitters like he did against Algeria, Ozil and Gotze are going to cause some real issues for Evra and Debuchy. The midfielders will cancel each other out. Muller is more clinical than the French options up front. I have to make this pick with head...not my heart. West Germany 2 - France 0
• Brazil v Colombia - Has there been a player with more hype than James Rodriguez? He deserves much of the praise, having scored in each of his nation's games at the World Cup, including a master stroke of a volley against Uruguay. Brazil also did not look very convincing against Chile. The Brazilians have the goal frame to thank for their victory. If I see Cesar weeping openly again, I might throw something at my television screen and vomit...so Brazil played terribly and still made it to the 1/4 finals. They are still the home side if anyone forgot. They are facing another South American side who they are very accustomed to playing in Brazil. Colombia has never reached this stage, even the sides with Valderrama and Asprilla. Colombia have been clicking since the group stages, where they have scored 11 goals and only giving up 2 goals since this World Cup has started. Strong numbers to say the least. But they are now facing off against Brazil. I think this game will be closer than the home fans will want to see, but at the end I cannot see Brazil falling to their neighbors from the north. Brazil 2 - Colombia 1
• Argentina v Belgium - France and West Germany are not the only nations that have footballing history from 1982 and 1986. Belgium defeated Argentina 1-0 in the 1982 group stage opener, at Camp Nou. The two sides met again 4 years later this time in the 1/2 finals where Maradona scored a brace to send Scifo and Pfaff to the third place match (where they lost 4-2 to France). So these two nations face off again on the world's biggest footballing stage. Argentina struggled against the Swiss last round.

  

  Messi to expect the same treatment?

  Once again it needed a run by Messi to get through on a 1-0 score line. Argentina's offense was better than it had been - especially Di Maria who seemed to step up his game. Becoming more active in carrying the game for the Argentines. The one troubling area, continues to be their back line. This is something of a concern for Les Albicelestes. Belgium showed against the United States that they have some lethal attacking options - Hazard, De Bruyen, Lukaku, Origi and even fullbacks like Vertonghen. Can the Argentine defense hold up against these attacking options? Or will Belgium be more cautious facing Messi and co as opposed to when they faced the powerful midfield of Bradley and Zusi...Argentina, similar to Brazil, have won unconvincing, even ugly. I think this continues, but it will be close. Argentina 1 - Belgium 1, Argentina wins 5-4 on kicks.
• Holland v Costa Rica - Of all the CONCACAF teams, who would have wagered it would be the Ticos that got to the 1/4 finals? Oranje could be considered fortunate having beaten another CONCACAF side - Mexico. But this is a new day. I cannot see how Costa Rica can continue their magical run. They also had to play an extra 30 minutes and a man down. That is a lot of extra wear on those players' legs. I also do not think that Costa Rica has handled a player like Robben nor Van Persie in the past. Look for Robben to carve up the Ticos with either his pace or his diving. Either way he is world class. Look for Los Ticos' run to end. Holland 2 - Costa Rica 0 

Some exciting 1/4 finals game coming up. I think we are still on course for a Brazil v Argentina finals...wow. And Holland v Germany 3rd place game which might be one of the better 3rd place games ever!

Les Bleus win: 2-1 win over Costa Rica

So Les Bleus get the essential done - a victory over Costa Rica 2 to 1. The second half took on a dimension of creativity and flowing football with the additions of ADiarra, Diaby, Henry and especially Valbuena. Le Petit Velo not only got his first cap but also his first goal for Les Bleus on a nice build up between himself and Diaby. A quick analysis of the match:

The Good:

• Le Petit Velo, Valbuena looked very good for the time he spent on the pitch. He gave the right side of the attack some bite and creativity. Clearly based on his goal, a strike from distance, he is not afraid to take his chances when afforded. Much like Ribery on the left, he is not afraid to take on defenders, look to create and take his scoring chances when he can. Could be the option on the right wing, to me the 25 minutes on the pitch showed much more than the time Gouvou spent manning the right wing. Something to watch for in the next two matches. Similar to 4 years ago when Ribery was thought to be a late game offensive substitute, but played  himself into a starting role, Le Petit Velo could repeat that history.
• Abidal looked comfortable at central defense, although he backed off Hernandez allowing the striker to get a clean strike that found its way to the back of the net. The Barcelona man looked more sure of himself and aggressive in second half.
• The play of Malouda and Gourcuff was very encouraging, he was able to co-habitate on the left side with Ribery. With Gourcuff he easily slotted in the middle of the pitch and allowed himself to come deeper for the ball - where clearly the additional space for Gourcuff was good for his passing. Both players also were not afraid to try their luck from distance, something I would like to see more of, forcing defenses to defend higher and therefore opening some space for diagonal passes and through balls.

The Bad:

• France's center forward - At times I felt Anelka was lost not really getting the service necessary and not sure if he should drop deeper to pick up the ball. Making him a little bit of a non factor, granted he did seem to attract 2 defenders which opened up the wings for Ribery. Bringing in Henry at the half time did not appear to change much in terms of the positions success. Maybe Cisse could be an option?
• Defensive gaps - we all knew that in a 4-3-3 without the usual 2 holding midfielders there might be gaps in the middle for Les Bleus, much was asked of Toulalan. He did his job admirably but at times it was clear the team was trying to figure out back tracking responsibilities and how to play with the space.  It is something to watch and that will need to be worked on, I am not saying go back to a 4-2-3-1 but France will need to be clear as to how to defend as a team.
• Defending set pieces, once again France escaped after a wide open header off a corner end of the first half was only saved by Mandanda's cross bar. I still do not understand how a team of professionals cannot defend better on set pieces.

The Ugly: 

• Gallas, not that his play was bad, but the fact he came off at half time is a little unsettling. Granted you do not want him playing 90 minutes in his first action, but I hope this was precautionary and not because he re-aggravated his injury. According to tomwfootball there is nothing to worry about...let us hope.
• Not sure Gouvou did much today to warrant him being the starting right winger. He had moments but overall the right side was devoid of creativity or threat to Costa Rica with the Lyon man out there.
• The goal Mandanda gave up was not pretty. Granted the ball took a tough skip on the way to the back of the net, but a professional keeper who can see the shot from that distance needs to do better. Of course the fact Abidal backed off allowing an open shot was not pretty either.

A victory, as minor as it can be, is a victory, I like the new blood infused into the side. I think that Valbuena showed something today and is a real option as the right winger. Let us see what happens this Sunday for the next match.

France v Costa Rica - mixed first half

At the half time 1-1 between France and Costa Rica.  Some good and some bad in this first 45 minutes.

Clearly Ribery on the left wing is good, he has been the genesis of much of the French attack and was the source of the French goal - granted it was an OG.  The Bayern man has given the attack much width by really forcing the ball wide and creating gaps where Malouda, Evra or even Gourcuff can fill causing some nice overlapping attacks.  The question remains, who to best bring some semblance of attack to the right wing? Gouvou has had some decent runs but clearly not the player that can create dangerous chances from that side. Wonder if Anelka would not be better served out on that wing with Henry or Gignac as the center forward? Gourcuff seems more apt in the deeper lying role, Malouda has had a good half showing a lot of energy and ideas. There have been some scares with Costa Rica pushing the ball quickly through the midfield - due to a lack of a second holding midfielder. The goal from Costa Rica should not have happened, not sure why but Abidal stepped up to stop the ball but then inexplicably backed off allowing for a clean shot, which Mandanda should have done a better job handling. Of course Costa Rica also had a clean look from a corner kick with only the cross bar to preserve the 1-1 score line.

Lots to work on in the second half.

France v Costa Rica preview

France is heading to Lens to play their first warm up match versus Costa Rica - the team that lost to Uruguay in the playoff between CONCACAF and South America. Clearly this match will be watched to see if Domenech does actually go with a 4-3-3 formation slotting Malouda, Toulalan and Gourcuff as the middle 3 as well as who the French manager decides to use up front. It will also be a test for Gallas, can his calf hold up? Unlike other World Cup warm up matches, this one, and the next 2 are much more important for Les Bleus. Why? If Domenech is going to change his style of play these are the games where the system will need to be implemented and tested. I do think it is a move in the right direction, unfortunately it was an injury to LDiarra that forced Domenech's hand. Better late than never I guess!

Probable formation:

Lloris
Sagna, Abidal, Gallas, Evra
Gourcuff, Toulalan, Malouda
Gignac, Henry, Ribery

According to Livesoccertv the game will be on TV5 as well as ESPN3.

Allez les Bleus

France announce pre World Cup friendlies

Thanks to Memejfr giving us the heads up here is the list of pre-World Cup matches Les Bleus will be playing next summer - China, Tunisia and Costa Rica.

Les Bleus faced the Chinese prior to the last World Cup, the most notable event from that match was the horrific leg break for Cisse, taking him out of the World Cup and allowing Domenech to add Gouvou rather than a certain Anelka...hmmmm, wonder if France had Anelka on the bench if the finals would have turned out differently. I would assume the China match is scheduled to give the squad an average opponent they can get a win from. Costa Rica is from the same region as Mexico and were in a play off with Uruguay for the World Cup...so a worthy World Cup caliber opponent. Tunisia will be interesting based on the history between the nations. There are plenty of players that play in France or have strong ties to France so they will be motivated to show well. In addition they play in the same region as the last group opponent for France - South Africa (and like that opponent will be playing in front of their home crowd since the match will be in Tunisia). In addition, the way the knock out stages are set up, France could be facing another African nation - Nigeria - in the first round of the knock outs. Les Bleus will be training there as well, an interesting choice of location...I would think that Tignes and its high elevation would be the preferred location (that might be the pre-training area).