Benched players that should be playing

evilhomer

I have seen quite a few teams now who do not play the players that obviously look best for a game.

For example.

Louis Saha, Frances last game against Togo was screaming for him to come on. His physical presence and pace were the obvious choice for that match, especially with Trezuguet playing rubbish.

Aaron Lennon. Had a great season and makes a real impact when he comes on.

Jamie Carragher. Should be playing at Centre-half with John Terry, Rio Ferdinand is a liability and I think his nervousness is catching at the back.

Luis Boa Morte, is a super player and would surely offer more then Simao is currently.

Juninhio Pernambucho, Would bring balance to the Brazilian midfield and is a super link up player and deadball specialist.

Who else do you think is sitting on the bench twidiling their thumbs but should be playing in your opinion?

evad_lhorg

Both messi and tevez for argentina should be starting.

theo walcott

juninho and adriano for brazil

Nalz

Saha

Lennon

Inzaghi

Messi

Juninho

Rebrov, that other striker with Shevy tonight was rubbish

el rabitos

barthez playing ahead of coupet = biggest sham of the world cup along with rio playing ahead of carragher

TheMonster

evilhomer wrote:

Jamie Carragher. Should be playing at Centre-half with John Terry, Rio Ferdinand is a liability and I think his nervousness is catching at the back.

its the other way around- Terry has been making the mistakes - why? he has no Makelele to do his cleaning up. Terry is a decent player but looks better than he actually is at Chelski

RotalicaV

Lennon

Saha

Crespo

PiE

Me.

andrewie

RotalicaV wrote:

Lennon

Saha

Crespo

Crespo is playing every game for Argentina. The only one he missed was against Holland because they were already through.

cournioni

TheMonster wrote:

its the other way around- Terry has been making the mistakes - why? he has no Makelele to do his cleaning up. Terry is a decent player but looks better than he actually is at Chelski

Spot on, I'm no fan of Ferdinand myself but Terry has been dire so far in the World Cup, Terry should be dropped rather than Ferdinand.

Vokes

Agreed. Terry has been very poor. Rio seems to step up his game for the big tournaments - he's been impressive so far.

You could probably make a case for Carra in for Terry if Terry wasn't such a threat at set-pieces.

eirebhoy

Has Terry actually got his head on the end of a set piece yet? He doesn't seem to score much for England.

Pighead

evilhomer wrote:

Luis Boa Morte, is a super player and would surely offer more then Simao is currently.

J

Are you for real? Simao has started two games out of 4 and has contributed with a goal and an assist. Boa Morte came on against Mexico gave away the ball countless times and looked awful whenever he did manage to hang onto it.

evilhomer

Pighead wrote:

Are you for real? Simao has started two games out of 4 and has contributed with a goal and an assist. Boa Morte came on against Mexico gave away the ball countless times and looked awful whenever he did manage to hang onto it.

You mean he scored a penalty? Hardly makes him a certain starter.
and one assist in four games(he came on as a sub in the other 2 for a substantial period of each) for a winger isn't really top form is it?
The goal and assist came in the Mexico game, so he had 1 good game.

Simao gives the ball away ALL the time, he very rarely get a cross into the box that is of any real quality.

Boa Morte had only a few minutes on the field (11 minutes!!), you can't write a player off after that amount of playing time.

PHB

Sorry, Simao has been ****e, had one of the worst games that I've ever seen a Portugese player have, and was just having a complete mare.

masterK

Fabregas and Joaquin for Spain, they looked a different team against Tunisa when they played.

Agree with Lennon for England, they are totally devoid of width in midfield.

gracehopper

evilhomer wrote:

Jamie Carragher. Should be playing at Centre-half with John Terry, Rio Ferdinand is a liability and I think his nervousness is catching at the back.

have you watched england at all in this world cup? Ferdinand is carrying Terry at the moment. i understand Terry is the popular choice and i like him as a player but he's had a couple of nightmare performances for england so far.

Ardent

Van NistleRooy being left on the bench against Portugal has to be the single biggest managerial cock up of the World Cup so far.

John Terry: Liam Brady called it correctly a few months ago on the Premiership. He claimed that Terry lacked pace and looked better than he is at Chelsea because of the way they are set up - ultra defensive, Maekele, etc - and that he would be exposed playing for England at this World Cup.

(Carragher was the best defender in England last season, should be starting in that team.)

Nalz

masterK wrote:

Fabregas and Joaquin for Spain, they looked a different team against Tunisa when they played.

No doubt they are both great players, but the Spanish midfield is so competitive and oozin with class I'd keep the team as it is. Fibergas and Joaquin have youth on their side, so maybe in 2-3 years they'll be first names on teamsheet. For now, their part of a v strong bench with Raul and Reyes

evilhomer

Ardent wrote:

John Terry: Liam Brady called it correctly a few months ago on the Premiership. He claimed that Terry lacked pace and looked better than he is at Chelsea because of the way they are set up - ultra defensive, Maekele, etc - and that he would be exposed playing for England at this World Cup.

Yeah the views of a staunch Arsenel supporter/employee about his teams biggest rivals must be true :rolleyes:

I think that Ferdinand and Terry don't suit each other as a partnership. Sure Terry doesn't have pace, but if you are a good centre-half you don't need pace.

Personally I don't think Ferdinand is a good enough communicator at the back.

If Terry was playing with Carragher you would see a much better partnership, Terry plays the same kind of role Hyppia plays for liverpool and Carragher plays the same kind of role Gallas/Carvahlo plays for Chelsea.

Pighead

evilhomer wrote:

You mean he scored a penalty? Hardly makes him a certain starter.
and one assist in four games(he came on as a sub in the other 2 for a substantial period of each) for a winger isn't really top form is it?
The goal and assist came in the Mexico game, so he had 1 good game.

Simao gives the ball away ALL the time, he very rarely get a cross into the box that is of any real quality.

Boa Morte had only a few minutes on the field (11 minutes!!), you can't write a player off after that amount of playing time.

Portugal V Iran: 07 L Figo (88 S Simao )

Substantial Period of time? There must have been a hell of a lot of injury time in that game so. Usually Pighead wouldn't make judgements on a player based on a 15 minute performance but Boa Morte was so bad It was untrue and thus deserved my damning judgement.

If you think Boa Morte is a better player than Simao then I suggest that you need to watch more football.

TheMonster

evilhomer wrote:

Yeah the views of a staunch Arsenel supporter/employee about his teams biggest rivals must be true :rolleyes:

I think that Ferdinand and Terry don't suit each other as a partnership. Sure Terry doesn't have pace, but if you are a good centre-half you don't need pace.

Personally I don't think Ferdinand is a good enough communicator at the back.

If Terry was playing with Carragher you would see a much better partnership, Terry plays the same kind of role Hyppia plays for liverpool and Carragher plays the same kind of role Gallas/Carvahlo plays for Chelsea.

Terry/Carragher would be a disaster - too similar and no pace. Rarely does a CB partnership of 2 same styles work - the best ones are always a contrast.

Bruce-Pallister
McGrath-Moran
Terry-Carvalho

Ardent

evilhomer wrote:

Yeah the views of a staunch Arsenel supporter/employee about his teams biggest rivals must be true :rolleyes:

I think that Ferdinand and Terry don't suit each other as a partnership. Sure Terry doesn't have pace, but if you are a good centre-half you don't need pace.

Personally I don't think Ferdinand is a good enough communicator at the back.

If Terry was playing with Carragher you would see a much better partnership, Terry plays the same kind of role Hyppia plays for liverpool and Carragher plays the same kind of role Gallas/Carvahlo plays for Chelsea.

Are you a Chelsea supporter by any chance?

GLaDOS

Pace isnt always necessary in a centre back, look at Carragher and Hyypia, neither have much pace but are a quite effective partenership

vorbis

Pace is more necessary at international level imo as defensive partnerships won't have the same level of understanding as club partnerships. Pace allows you to recover from an error. Look at Cole versus Ecuador.

evilhomer

Ardent wrote:

Are you a Chelsea supporter by any chance?

Nope, Newcastle.

Running Bing

Lennon

Messi

Tevez(But then do tou put crespo on the bench. If so hed be the next on the list:p )

Terry should be dropped not ferdinand. Believe me it pains me to say that. As much as I hate that overpaid prima donna gangsat-wannabe rio terry is having a nightmare tournament and looks far inferior to ferdinand who looks a lot more solid. Dont get me wrong rio is, as always, a slightly above average defender. Hes not playing great. But terry is so far below average in the wc Im actually quite surprised. Its not that he just doesnt look good he actually looks shaky.

Anam

I have to disagree with what has been said about Terry,while theres no denying he lacks pace,his positional sense and awareness mean that he is rarely caught out because of it.He hasnt been caught out for pace for England in this tournament.

Sure he has made a few uncharacteristic mistakes but he made a vital clearance off the line in one game and was Fifas man of the match in the last game(for what its worth),whilst still being poor.IMO,while Ferdinand hasnt warranted his place being taken,if anyone is to come in it should be for Ferdinand.In a game where your defence is really being tested,Terry is much more likely to keep you in the game than Ferdinand imo.

Tbh,none of the England players have looked world class at all,even though we know most of the first 11 are world class so its fairly clear that Sven is to blame,a good manager gets the most out of his players.

Pepe LeFrits

Juninho, Saha, Reyes, Hargreaves (in midfield), Inzaghi

Anam

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Juninho, Saha, Reyes, Hargreaves (in midfield), Inzaghi

Spot on with all of those except maybe Reyes.

Slash/ED

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Inzaghi

Definitely agree with this, him and Toni would be excellent up front for Italy I think.

Aside from that Messi is the obvious one. Simply must start, he should be automatic choice no matter what team he's playing for.

Attractive Nun

I thought Inzaghi looked off the pace when he came on for Italy, against the Czechs I think it was. Scored a goal, I know, but it was a fairly simple goal and he missed a couple of decent chances against a beaten side.

futuredeath

the real point about carragher is that he should be playing,
he should probably be the first name on the team sheet,
and talking about pace carragher is no slouch i'd be shocked if ferdinand would beat him to a tackle.

Big Nelly

futuredeath wrote:

the real point about carragher is that he should be playing,
he should probably be the first name on the team sheet,
and talking about pace carragher is no slouch i'd be shocked if ferdinand would beat him to a tackle.

Why Carragher? the only game I have seen him in was the T&T game and he was woeful, worst player on the pitch by a mile. I know he was out of position but still he was woeful, was that bad they had to put Beckham at right back??:eek:

Thanx 4 The Fish

Big Nelly wrote:

Why Carragher? the only game I have seen him in was the T&T game and he was woeful, worst player on the pitch by a mile. I know he was out of position but still he was woeful, was that bad they had to put Beckham at right back??:eek:

Surely you do not lead that sheltered a life that you can say the reason that Beckham was put in at RB was in any way due to Carraghers defensive abilities. He is a CB and does not roam forward as much as Neville does when playing RB (obviously your hatred of all things liverpool will blind you to that) and the reason that he was taken off is that they wanted an attacking option, Carragher is not used to going forward with the ball, although it does happen on occasion and Sven needed to get more going forward, to say that Carragher had a bad game is a bit strange considering Both Terry and Ferdinand have both out and said how good he has been in this tournament, but obviously you know alot more about football and how well Carragher has played than professional footballers. :rolleyes:

In CB there are few more committed in the challenge and quicker with a block in the premiership than JC and as has been said already he would be an ideal replacement for Terry who has not been firing on all cylinders in the WC, the second swedish goal a prime example where he positionally let the team down, missing a header unchallenged.

As regards players who I think should not have been benched, well I would like to see more of Messi, but who to drop would be the question. I would prefer to see Carrick in the team than Crouch and play a 5 as they did in the last game. Govou is another I would like to see get a run, bags of pace, has got a trick and for me is better than Malouda (granted they play on opposite sides of the pitch but Riberry filled in for Malouda when Govou came on yest.)

Rikand

eirebhoy wrote:

Has Terry actually got his head on the end of a set piece yet?

Well hes not getting much of a chance, Beckham is trying too hard to silence his critics so hes going for goal everytime he gets a free kick within range