Are Dan Gilbert and David Griffin on the same page?
June 11, 2014
Johnny Manziel, Cleveland Indians, LeBron James hatred – WFNY Podcast – 2014-06-10
June 11, 2014
Argentina headlines a somewhat lackluster Group F that includes the current African Champions, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and possibly the worst team in the field, Iran. My lack of enthusiasm towards this group stems from the fact that I don’t expect Nigeria to put up much of a challenge to Bosnia for the second spot. With the Group Stages being only three matches there is always room for the unexpected but my gut tells me that this is the group most likely to go all chalk.
Argentina – La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue)
How they got to Brazil
Argentina topped the CONMEBOL qualifying table despite a slow to by their standards posting a record of nine win, five draw, and two loss while accumulating a +30 goal differential. They were never really a doubt to qualify as they boasted not only the best attack in CONMEBOL, but possibly the world.
The Manager – Alejandro Sabella
Argentina disappointed at the 2010 World Cup with Argentine legend Diego Maradona managing the squad. His tenure as manager was filled with controversy and odd press conferences, but perhaps most frustrating was his decision, perhaps out of jealously, to not build the team around Lionel Messi and instead play the best player in the world out wide. Sabella on the other hand has moved Messi back to his established “False 9” that he has mastered at Barcelona and forced the other star forwards to move around Messi. Sabella’s managerial career isn’t too long as his only other job has been managing Estudiante of the Argentina top division. There he managed to win the South American equivalent of the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, back in 2009. Despite the side being built around Messi, Sabella does not employ Barcelona’s possession based football. The midfielders he has at his disposal aren’t of the same quality of Barca’s and thus instead he’s elected to play more on the counter.
The Star – Lionel Messi
Perhaps one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, Messi could go down as the greatest all time. He’s won everything there is to win at the club level and has scored goals at an astronomical rate in the process. He still lives in the shadow of Maradona though, as he’s failed to bring any silverware to Argentina unlike his predecessor who in many eyes single-handedly won Argentina the 1986 World Cup. There is no more effective dribbler of a soccer ball than Messi. He is one of the few players who seem to speed up with the ball at his feet rather than slow down. His quickness combined with his speed over short distances allows him to create goals out of the tiniest of spaces. He leaves little space between his foot and the ball when he dribbles leaving defenders little opportunity to take it off him. He can be muscled off the ball at times, but his short strong stature gives him some of the best balance I have ever seen and he can often maintain his path despite incoming tackles. He doesn’t have quite the expansive array of finishes of the oft compared Cristiano Ronaldo and strongly prefers using his left foot to finish, but his playmaking ability is superior to his Real Madrid rival as he can easily turn provider if the situation calls for it. He ranked seventh in La Liga in assists this season despite only making 29 appearances. Messi is in his prime and will probably have declined slightly come 2018. If he’s going to win a World Cup this would seem the time to do so.
(Messi scoring one of the best goals I’ve ever seen early in his career.)
Strength – Strikers/Forwards
Messi is surrounded by two other star forwards on the flanks in Napoli hitman Gonzalo Higuaín and Manchester City star Sergio Agüero. Higuaín is coming off perhaps his best season to date in his first year with Napoli posting 24 goals and 12 assists in 46 appearances. Previous to Napoli he played at Real Madrid, but was overshadowed by bigger players, particularly Cristano Ronaldo. He got to be the leading man with Napoli and plays as a traditional “number 9”. With Argentina he is forced out of position a little to accommodate Messi, but has still been highly effective. On the other side of Messi is Agüero who is one of the best strikers in the world. He is a very similar player to Messi except right footed and not quite as crafty of a finisher as his Argentine counterpart. The two of them give the Argentina counter it’s fearsome pace and directness. Bolstering the front three is a “half a forward” in Ángel di María. The tricky winger has been moved to the midfield for both club and country as of late to make room for other talented attackers, but will often burst into a forward position on the counter augmenting the attack and giving the strikers an additional option. On paper no other squad boasts the quality that this Argentina frontline does and with a number of aging defenses in the field they could be grabbing a whole lot of goals.
(Aguero scoring in the Champions League against CSKA Moscow.)
Measurement of Success
A semi-final run would probably make fans of La Albiceleste happy, but when you have the talent that this squad possesses up front you expect to win it all.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Zmajevi(Dragons)
How they got to Brazil
Bosnia won their UEFA qualifying group where they tied fellow qualifier Greec e points at 25, but decimated them +24 to +8 in goal differential scoring an impressive thirty goals over their ten matches. Striker Edin Džeko was second in all of European qualifying with ten goals during the campaign only one behind Dutch striker Robin Van Persie. Their group was possibly the weakest though.
The Manager – Safet Sušić
Sušić has actually accomplished very little in his managerial career thus far despite being a Bosnian legend as a player. He has had multiple stints as a manager in the Turkish top division, but has generally failed to impress and has no real silverware on his coaching résumé. His appointment at the helm of Bosnia and Herzegovina probably has more to do with status as perhaps the greatest Bosnian player of all time and was named the French League’s best foreign player back in 1983. His managerial style focuses on discipline while his tactics favor the qualities of his more talented players electing to field multiple forwards and bring the game to the opposition. The style worked in a weak UEFA qualifying group, but it remains to be seen if this will translate against the hardier competition of the World Cup.
The Star – Edin Džeko
Džeko will be Bosnia’s lead man headed into their first ever World Cup. He has been one of the more consistent goalscorers over the past few years for Manchester City. City boast a ton of talented strikers and so Džeko doesn’t necessarily get as many games as some of the other top strikers in Europe, but when he does play he tends to score. He landed himself 17 goals in 27 starts this past season and he’s been good for a goal every other game for Bosnia. He brings little else to a team besides goals as his passing is only mediocre and he rarely lands himself assists, but he has a high conversion rate in front of goal which means chances won’t go wasted and is a powerful presence in the air aiding in both set pieces and open play. Bosnia boasts some creative players behind their front man and I wouldn’t be surprised if Džeko ends up being the top scorer of the group stage.
(Dzeko scoring with a deft finish off a cross against City’s rivals Manchester United.)
Biggest Strength – Džeko/ Pjanić Combination
Bosnia doesn’t possess a great deal of depth, but in Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanić they boast one a lethal combination to any defense. Pjanić has excelled as a playmaker at Roma to the point where he might be their best attacking player. It is likely bigger clubs will look to snap him up after the World Cup and justifiably so as he’s a very well rounded attacking midfielder. He is a shifty dribbler and is very comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces often looking to utilize short passes in his build up play. This makes him particularly dangerous around the box when defenses get compact as he has no problem receiving the ball in front of the defense and attempting to beat incoming challenges off the dribble. His dribbling ability also makes it hard for defenses to press him to hard as he is crafty enough to elude tackles and keep on going if defenders attempt to win possession from him. He’ll definitely be one of the more enjoyable players to watch from this group.
(Pjanic showing his proclivity for dribbling and short passes as he scores for Roma.)
Measurement of Success
Bosnia and Herzegovina are probably in some ways just happy to be at the World Cup as it is their first ever appearance, but considering their talent and the fact that this group isn’t all that strong, they should be hoping to reach the round of 16.
Iran – Team Melli
How they got to Brazil
Iran won their AFC fourth round qualifying group, closely beating out both South Korea and Uzbekistan. They only allowed two goals in their eight games played at this stage of the tournament which bodes well for their chances of pulling off an upset in the Group Stage. Iran are capable of playing offensive football against many of the weak teams that take part in AFC qualifying, but will probably need to be compact at the back in Brazil as the standard of play will be significantly higher.
The Manager – Carlos Queiroz
Queiroz claim to fame seems to be his assistant managerial role to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Ferguson apparently empowered the Portuguese manager to devise many of United’s tactics much to the chagrin of then Red Devil’s captain Roy Keane who was heavy critical of Queiroz. Queiroz used United as a springboard to manage his home nation of Portugual during the 2010 World Cup where they put on a respectable performance against Spain, 1-0, but failed to score in three of their four World Cup matches though they did put seven past North Korea in the game they scored in. Queiroz is now with Iran after being fired by the Portuguese FA following his 2010 performance. He has attempted to bring more foreign based Iranians into the national team by taking advantage of FIFA’s eligibility rules and it has had decent success as Iranian soccer seems to be in a much better place than it was when Queiroz took over.
The Star – Ashkan Dejagah
Iran doesn’t have a real football star in this squad, but Dejagah should be one of their more pleasing players to watch. He ended the season at Fulham on a good vein of form and will hope that carries over into his World Cup performances. He is a prime example of Queiroz integrating foreign born Iranians as he originally played for Germany throughout his international youth career all the way to the U-21 level. Originally this would have deemed him ineligible to play for Iran, but FIFA changed elligiblity rules in 2009 which brought Iran a knocking at his door. He originally rebuffed Iran’s attempt to procure his services at the international level, but Queiroz appointment seemed to tip the scale and he decided to declare for Iran scoring two goals in his Team Melli debut against Qatar. He started his club career at the Bundesliga club, Hertha BSC, as a center-back, but was quickly moved into a forward position. He’s had a fair amount of success in the EPL despite Fulham being relegated as he was voted by the fans as Fulham’s player of the 2013-2014 seasons.
(Dejagah scoring a rocket against Everton in the Premier League.)
Biggest Strength – Solid Defense/Set Pieces
Iran will look to back it in at the back and use its wingers as additional defenders to stifle opposing teams. They will go to the tried and true underdog strategy of stopping the opposing team from scoring and hoping to either grab a goal on the counter or via a set piece. They will not want to get in a track race as most of their Starting XI projects to be above the age of 30.
Measurement of Success
Iran will hope to grab a win during the Group Stage at some point, but they are a” just happy to be here” kind of team.
Nigeria – Super Eagles
How they got to Brazil
Nigeria handled qualifying for the World Cup rather easily going unbeaten in their CAF group with three wins and three draws to secure a playoff spot against Ethopia who they took down 4-1 on aggregate over the two legs.
The Manager – Stephen Keshi
Keshi has a wealth of international managing experience has he’s also managed both Togo and Mali before taking the mantle of manager of his home nation of Nigeria. He was able to get Togo to their first ever World Cup in 2006. His stint with Mali was much less successful, but that did not prevent him from securing the Nigeria gig where he’s had mixed result. He’s been rather successful there, winning the African Cup of Nations in 2013, qualifying the team for the 2014 World Cup, and putting on a decent display at the 2013 Confederations Cup. Tactically his biggest success has been creating a new role for Jon Obi Mikel who is thought of as more of a defensive midfielder from his time with Chelsea, but is used in a more in the attacking half under Keshi in a role as a creator.
The Star – Jon Obi Mikel
It seems like Mikel has been around forever as he joined Chelsea at the mere age of 18, but he’s still now only 27 and entering his prime. It is surprising that he has stayed at Chelsea for so long as he’s never really been a nailed on starter for the London club, but more of a rotational player. Thus he’s never really been given the chance to shine like has for Nigeria where he was the driving force to their 2013 African Cup of Nations win. This could be perhaps the perfect stage to display the entirety of his talents and show he’s more than just the midfield destroyer most people assume him to be.
(Jon Obi Mikel scoring is only goal for Chelsea in over 200 appearances)
Biggest Strength – In form Goalkeeper
Vincent Enyeama is coming off a very impressive season with Lille of the French top division. He went a miraculous 1,061 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal and took a deflected shot to finally end the streak. Goalkeepers tend to be able to swing games towards the weaker side if they are on form and Enyeama definitely could be the difference between Nigeria making the round of 16 or going home early.
Measurement of Success
Nigeria will hope to make it out of the group over Bosnia. On paper the Bosnian squad seems more talented, but this Nigerian squad has already had recent success together and the experience in high pressure international matches could be the difference for them.
5 Comments
Frankly, I’ll be shocked if Argentina don’t make it to the final. They have the talent, they have the team, the tournament is more or less in their backyard, and they have an easy group that they should win and theoretically favorable match-ups through to the semis.
I could maybe get into soccer if it weren’t for the theatrical flopping for game changing bs penelties. It’s kind of a joke.. I remember last world cup the little I watched guys rolling around on the ground like they got hit in the head with a pipe then the replay shows they were barley even touched. Lame, I hate it in basketball too. Then I see that replay from the Brazil game….. They need instant replay and they should toss floppers lol.
http://img.pandawhale.com/39594-Leo-DiCaprio-Great-Gatsby-upvo-hVno.gif
Definitely the most annoying part of the game, but you get used to it and can kind of just laugh to yourself about it. It’s not going away as long as the referees reward flopping with calls. The way someone explained it to me that made the most sense: You have three referees to cover everything that happens on a field larger that a football field. You’re going to have a lot of situations where the referee is viewing a play from far away and needs to decide on whether it was a foul and so the flopping that the players do just naturally influences that call. It’s one of those problems without a good solution… like how automated do you making umpiring in baseball and how NFL players are able to influence pass interference calls.
Most annoying part about soccer is FIFA’s unwillingness to improve refereeing by implementing replay for major decisions and perhaps adding an additional ref on the pitch so that there are less errors. Asking one guy to run the whole field and see everything is absurd.
That said it’s my favorite sport and I love it regardless, but I agree new fans are likely to be turned off by all of this.