My First World Cup Blog.
Let me make one thing very clear in the very beginning. I am a German fan and I hate Brazil.
You must have had this feeling sometime in your life- your worst enemy, the person you hate the most has all the success. So what do you do?? You don’t obviously join the bandwagon in praising them too. You try to find their faults and pass of all their successes as “flukes”. And predict and wish that the next hurdle shall topple them. It is very much the same case with me and Brazil. I was very happy to know that this Brazil is nothing like the teams of the previous World Cups (WCs). It is a defensive Brazil playing with a minimum of 2 to even 3 holding players in the form of Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo and Ramires. Let me point out that the Brazilian team in the first match against North Korea was the most attacking team Dunga will ever put out on the field- Elano playing right midfield instead of Ramires (who normally covers up for Maicon at the back). And we saw how difficult it was for Brazil to score when the opponent is right back on their goal. Let me point out here before people start shouting that no other team could break down such a defense- Spain, Germany and probably Argentina could. Actually Argentina did the same thing against a much more experienced defense- Greece. Now again the argument arises that even Argentina took probably 75 minutes to register their first goal against Greece, Brazil did the same earlier. But Argentina played much better football against a defensive team, while Brazil almost looked flustered due to their lack of creativity (and NO, Kaka hasn’t improved in the course of the tournament). Brazil have 2 positives barring their obvious discipline in defense- marauding full backs and a brilliant pace on their counters.
So, are Brazil going to win the WC?? I don’t think so. I hope not. How can they be stopped?? Who can stop them?? We shall come to those answers a bit later.
Let us look at the European teams. The less that is said about France the better. I don’t think they had any ideas as such. Just send some players on to the field, tell them to maintain a certain formation (4-2-3-1) and sit and chuckle near the touchline- this was Domenech’s idea!! I feel Maradona has the same idea too. His formation remains the same, but he chooses his players according to the match (Except the front 3 and back 2 that is). And he is successful due to the simple fact that he has a Messi in his team (1 defender.2 defender..3 defender..shot..goal!!) , a Tevez in his team (run run run run run ……run run run …) and a Higuain (one word for him..Poacher!!) in his team!!! Even if Milito or Aguero had played, I would have written – he has a Milito (cool finisher)in his team, and an Aguero (jamaibabu zindabad) is his team!! They are scoring the goals and making Maradona smile, run and kiss the person nearest to him!! I have no idea how the Germany- Argentina match will unfold!!
Coming back to the European teams, the preferred formation is 4-2-3-1 – the topic of discussion. Germany and Netherlands-the 2 European teams in the quarters are employing the above formation quite effectively. 2 players holding the line in front of the back 4, 2 wide wingers and a central striker with a playmaker behind him. The holding players link up with the wide players if required. Well, Germany are much better team in this formation primarily because the main difference between them and Holland is in the holding duo. Van Bommel and De Jong are both defense minded, whereas Schweinsteiger and Khedira are actually both attack minded (at least comparatively). So we find Khedira making those sprinting runs into the box and Schweini coupling up in a lovely manner with Podolski. Here the Netherlands duo concentrate more on defending and winning back balls (which they do quite well) rather than move forward. Robben is a much better winger than Muller, but Oezil has just stamped his class on the playmaker’s position with his lovely balls into the box.
Now, back to the question- who can stop Brazl?? This above formation of 4-2-3-1 can!!! It is effective to block out both elements of Brazil- full backs and a counter attack (if applied effectively). Brazil cannot win against a quality side if they go down by a goal- I am quite sure about that. They won’t be able to break down a defense. A holding duo ensures that even if one player runs up the other shall retain his position and negate the possibility of a Brazilian front 3 attack against just the back 2. I would have recommended another formation of a 4-1-4-1, or rather a 4-1-2-2-1 with two players behind the striker with two wingers and a holding player like Yaya Toure. The Brazilian defense + holding will not be able to hold against a 2 wingers and 2 no 10s. Let us hope that Netherlands are strong enough to hold out against Brazil and Robben pulls of something to help them win by 1-0. But a penalty shootout seems a more likely possibility.
A small summary of the other teams before I come to my own team. Portugal played brilliant football in the second half against North Korea. But they tend to go on the defensive depending on the credentials of their opponent. Ronaldo hasn’t mastered the Jabulani yet. Wonder how many hours he is practicing now!! Spain have just lost 2 matches in their previous 50. But Torres and Busquets might just ensure they choke once again!! Though Villa is trying his best to take them forward. Chile played nice football but their lack of finishing just like Mexico couldn’t see them go any further against the major teams. Uruguay are playing much like a traditional Italian team. If there hadn’t been the tag of a “Four time World Cup winner” against Italy before coming into a WC, we would have remarked “a bogus team who tried to put up a fight”. I do not wish to say anything about England except put forth a small stat (courtesy Sagnik)- Rene Higuita – Colombia Goalkeeper – 68 appearances, 8 goals Jose Luis Chilavert – Paraguay Goalkeeper – 74 appearances, 8 goals Emile Heskey – England Centre Forward – 60 appearances, 7 goals!!!
Now coming to Germany. A team which lost their leader and captain Michael Ballack as well as a host of other players. A team with an average age less than 25. Ballack’s injury may be a blessing in disguise, but he would surely have played better than Khedira because Schweini would have had more freedom going forward. But it has worked out quite nicely. We would surely have liked Westermann in the team to provide some security to the defense. Also Adler is our first choice goalie anyday. But that is now in the past. We have a vibrant team playing brilliantly even with 10 men. Two out of form strikers in Podolski and Klose have transformed back to a decent standard as is expected when they put on the Germany jersey! Oezil is brilliant albeit a bad finisher like Gairik in school. I believe Muller should be moulded into a clinical striker that Germany have consistently produced over the years- Gerd Muller, Voller, Klinsmann. He has the build, the shot and the temperament for one. And also the name!!! The defense is obviously the weak point with a right back being used as a centre back and a centre back as a right back. But it has worked out well till now. Against Argentina the holding duo have to play a much bigger role to protect their back 2 against the Argentinian attack. It will be a matter of who can score more goals..simply!!! Germany like to keep the ball at their feet in the initial stages and then build up great momentum till they score. If they can do the same thing against Argentina, then I Germany will surely win.
A very important point that Saurav has said is the fact that a national team obviously doesn’t practice all year round like a club team. A national team manager is much much different fron a club manager. What a national team manager has to do is maximize the potential of his team by choosing a formation and placing the right people in the right positions. That is why Scolari is a good national team manager but a bad club team manager. So, whichever team does the above effectively wins the World Cup. Enjoy the spectacle!!!!
