The Euro 2012 thread

[lestatdark]

Naninho said:

lestatdark said:

 Don't worry, it's usually the same around here. The whole Ronaldo vs Messi debacle is really out of proportions, especially with those who side in favour of "Ronaldo's da best player forever" because they start pointing fingers at you for not being "patriotic" or some nonsense like that.

I agree that Messi suffered a lot with Maradona's tactics in the WC, but that was just a reflection of how poorly the team was placed in the field. Basically Argentina had no midfield to support the offensive and there was a big hole in the middle, which led to a lot of wasted potential. I don't doubt he was the best player in the CA, but IMO, he's on a whole different level to any American player so that kind of award should come naturally to him. 

When big competitions arise, that's usually a very big problem at least for the "latin" countries. I still remember when Figo was constantly being bombarded with criticism for some of his "poorer" performances for the national side, criticism that was borderline laughable (he was our best player, by far. Much better than Ronaldo is and probably will be) mostly because he had a long draught in goals...but he was consistently on top of the goal assists, passes and recoveries most of the times. 

Well, that makes me feel better. I thought all the idiots in the world of football were concentrated around me.

Oh! Don't even remind me that! It was Mascherano against Schweinsteiger, Muller, Podolski and Ozil. The poor guy... And people insulted him too, of course... He was insulted by the same people who wanted Maradona to stay on as a coach. That speaks for itself, I think...

Personally I think that Mascherano is one of your best players, he has a positional view like few players and knows how to bring just the right amount of intensity to the defensive midfield without overlooking the game construction of the team. 

He's one of my favourite MDfs.