España -v- Germany, Wed 7:30pm RTE & ITV HD

eagle eye

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Klose and Poldolski had terrible seasons with their club this year IIRC?

And Klose and Poldolski always play well for their country.

Podolski did not have a terrible season, his club had a bad season but he played well.

x in the city

flahavaj wrote: »

He was excellent for Bayern in the CL as well in fairness.

But generally thats a good point, buying players based solely on a good World Cup often works out badly.

I call it Milan Baros Syndrome.

everton got amokachi based on his howitzer in usa 94 vs greece

his salvo vs spurs at elland road saved him somehow and he is an icon(ish) now even tho he was largely shoite

JohnnyRyan99

First off...

redout wrote: »

Well that shows what the hell you know!

Take it east there tiger.. what part of Spain are u from?

redout wrote: »

A person would wanna have balls to wager big at 1/2 against considering the way Spain have been playing in the tournament.

So Spain aren't going well u say?? Kinda a contridiction? And i wouldn't say balls to put 400 on one game.. Theres a clinic for people like that...

redout wrote: »

Roll on wednesday indeed - I dont predict a winner just like I didnt predict one with any of Spains games since they were beaten by the Swiss.

So u didnt predict Spain to win at "1/2 against"? Someone's protecting themsleves cause they fear Ze Germans!!:pac:

An Citeog

eagle eye wrote: »

Podolski did not have a terrible season, his club had a bad season but he played well.

No they didn't. Köln finished 13th which is pretty much where they were expected to finish given the players they have. Podolski was largely rubbish this season though.

Anyway, I'm hoping for a German win partly because 54, 74, 90, 2014 just doesn't have the same ring to it!:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gosJRIPbw7k

eagle eye

An Citeog wrote: »

No they didn't. Köln finished 13th which is pretty much where they were expected to finish given the players they have. Podolski was largely rubbish this season though.

Anyway, I'm hoping for a German win partly because 54, 74, 90, 2014 just doesn't have the same ring to it!:pac:

Ok I'll play along, explain to me how he was so terrible this season?

An Citeog

eagle eye wrote: »

Ok I'll play along, explain to me how he was so terrible this season?

2 goals and 4 assists in 27 starts. 33 shots all season, only 13 of which were on target. I'd say that's poor for an attacking player. He's just looked completely disinterested and out of form every time I've seen him aswell for Köln.

Don't just take my word for it though,

Joachim L&#246 wrote: »

Certainly Lukas has not had his best season this year and you can both see and feel that

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/world-cup-2010/2010/05/12/1921369/world-cup-2010-germany-coach-joachim-loew-defends-lazy-lukas

Oat23

When you pay €10 million for a player and he scores 2 goals all season he is a disappointment. There's no argument you can put up as to why he wasn't disappointing, sorry.

eagle eye

An Citeog wrote: »

2 goals and 4 assists in 27 starts. 33 shots all season, only 13 of which were on target. I'd say that's poor for an attacking player. He's just looked completely disinterested and out of form every time I've seen him aswell for Köln.

Don't just take my word for it though,

He plays left midfield for Cologne, he spends more time in his own half of the pitch. He is not going to score many when he is in his own half for long periods of the game.

And you are talking muck when you say he looked completely disinterested, he gives his all every game. I seen him play about 15 times last season and he played very well on all bar one occasion. Your stats are way off too, 33 shots lol.

The problem is people call him a forward for some insane reason, maybe because Bayern Munich tried to fit him into their team by playing him up front because they had Ribery on the left side of midfield. Anyways he has played left midfield for most of his career. He plays there for Germany too, and it just so happens that Germany are one of the powerhouses in international football so he has the freedom to get forward quite a bit and when you give him those opportunities he will bury you.

CorkMan

Boskowski wrote: »

Too many if's in your post.
Nobody knows what would have happened if Germany had played Paraguay. But I' m wondering are you suggesting that Paraguay is much better than Argentina then, is it? I wonder would you have suggested that last night, too?

No, but I know Argentina would have struggled against Paraguay after tonight.

davyjose

eagle eye wrote: »

Spain are a championship winning side full of experience. I expect them to beat Germany but they will have to be better at the back.

You predicted an Argentina win too, I believe. Not having a go, but on form, I don't know how anyone can see past Germany for this one.

Julez

davyjose wrote: »

You predicted an Argentina win too, I believe. Not having a go, but on form, I don't know how anyone can see past Germany for this one.

Well what does the octopus say?

redout

JohnnyRyan99 wrote: »

First off...

Take it east there tiger.. what part of Spain are u from?

The part the sun shines out of for you.

So Spain aren't going well u say?? Kinda a contridiction? And i wouldn't say balls to put 400 on one game.. Theres a clinic for people like that...

Find me one person who would say that Spain are playing well - Not even the manager thinks that. Gambling is a risk - if good at it then its an even lower one. Ever hear of covering ones's bets ? Probably not.

So u didnt predict Spain to win at "1/2 against"? Someone's protecting themsleves cause they fear Ze Germans!!:pac:

Did someobody tell you I wont be betting on this match - you must have your mystic meg hat on.

I find that your posts are for the most part seem to be full of crap or just looking for an argument so you may join my ignore list - hope you enjoy your sunny stay.

..

parker kent

eagle eye wrote: »

Ok I'll play along, explain to me how he was so terrible this season?

More goals for Germany than he has in the Bundesliga pretty much sums up the difference between his international form and his club form.

Warper

I hope Germany win this and based on this WC, they are the better side and should win. Spain have been a bore to watch so far and havn't played a top side yet. They have scraped their way to this semi whereas Germany have cruised through playing some great stuff. Spain are basically a B Barcelona side. Most lovers of football are rooting for Germany in this.

Dont be at yourself

Anyone know if Mueller can contest his suspension? Didn't look like a yellow card to me at all.

Regardless, I think Germany will beat Spain. Spain haven't been taking their chances and have struggled in all of their games. Germany have been clinical and it's hard to see Spain stopping them scoring.

flahavaj

parker kent wrote: »

More goals for Germany than he has in the Bundesliga pretty much sums up the difference between his international form and his club form.

All that means is he's playing better for Germant than for his club. It doesn't mean his club form has been poor per se, just no as good. Theres a big difference between playing on the left for a poor team where you have to do a lot of tracking back and playing in an excellent German team, which plays a counter attacking style that suits you down to to the ground.

Boskowski

I said this before in another thread. Podolski is the single top class player in a Köln side that compares to - I don't know - maybe Stoke. He plays playmaker, goal scorer (well...supposedly) and mascot all rolled into one. I would expect him to do better on the scoring front than last season but I dont recall him having had a bad season as such. Köln will have to call it a decent season if they're not linked with relegation.

redout

Boskowski wrote: »

Can you give me an example? I'm curious because very few Germans transfer abroad and of the few that do I recall hardly any failures.

I am more getting at the fact that for their clubs they dont seem to consistantly put in the performances which they do for the national side in the big tournaments.

I am not saying that they are bad players because they aint but I would say that they seem to get it together more on the big stage for their country.

Hence the opposite of the English players.

An Citeog

eagle eye wrote: »

He plays left midfield for Cologne, he spends more time in his own half of the pitch. He is not going to score many when he is in his own half for long periods of the game.

And you are talking muck when you say he looked completely disinterested, he gives his all every game. I seen him play about 15 times last season and he played very well on all bar one occasion. Your stats are way off too, 33 shots lol.

The problem is people call him a forward for some insane reason, maybe because Bayern Munich tried to fit him into their team by playing him up front because they had Ribery on the left side of midfield. Anyways he has played left midfield for most of his career. He plays there for Germany too, and it just so happens that Germany are one of the powerhouses in international football so he has the freedom to get forward quite a bit and when you give him those opportunities he will bury you.

That's not true though. He's played the majority of his games either up front alongside Novakovic or as a wing forward as part of a front 3. I think you'll find my stats are bang on aswell. He has a great international record though.

ziggy

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leninbenjamin

Boskowski wrote: »

I said this before in another thread. Podolski is the single top class player in a Köln side that compares to - I don't know - maybe Stoke. He plays playmaker, goal scorer (well...supposedly) and mascot all rolled into one. I would expect him to do better on the scoring front than last season but I dont recall him having had a bad season as such. Köln will have to call it a decent season if they're not linked with relegation.

were Koln's management though not giving out about him not being arsed? I remember Rafael Honigstein (or someone like that) saying he was one of the laziest players when it comes to training in the Bundesliga.

_Bella_

ziggy wrote: »

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Honestly imo this would be the worst match possible for Spain to drop Busquest

ziggy

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Ush1

ziggy wrote: »

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Nah, and also, Alonso has had a very poor tournament, much poorer than Busquets.

Le King

Hopefully Germany decimate them.

ziggy

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Paul Tergat

have i missed something? why all this spain hate?

Ush1

ziggy wrote: »

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It's not what he CAN do, but just that Busquets puts in alot more defensive work and covers more ground. I like Alonso but he's been bad in this WC, in fact, he's been rather underwhelming the whole year but that's seperate really.

Last 2 games in particular Alonsos touch has been off, cought on the ball and losing simple possession. The real problem is neither of them are Marcos Senna in 2008 but I think people overlook Busquets qualities to the team because of his theatrics.

In a game against Germany, I would drop Alonso before Busquets.

redout

p_larkin99 wrote: »

have i missed something? why all this spain hate?

you must have been asleep for the past two and a half weeks man as its been going on since their opening game.

quite similar to all the Barca hate on here to be honest.

Paul Tergat

redout wrote: »

you must have been asleep for the past two and a half weeks man as its been going on since their opening game.

quite similar to all the Barca hate on here to be honest.

well ive read pretty much every match thread but havent seen so much of the i hope spain are hammered/germany thrash em comments. can't understand why tbh.

parker kent

flahavaj wrote: »

All that means is he's playing better for Germant than for his club. It doesn't mean his club form has been poor per se, just no as good. Theres a big difference between playing on the left for a poor team where you have to do a lot of tracking back and playing in an excellent German team, which plays a counter attacking style that suits you down to to the ground.

What about playing as a striker for Bayern Munich? Surely he had ample opportunities there to have more than 39 Bundesliga goals in his career? 15 in 72 there is not a great record.

jesus_thats_gre

p_larkin99 wrote: »

have i missed something? why all this spain hate?

redout wrote: »

you must have been asleep for the past two and a half weeks man as its been going on since their opening game.

quite similar to all the Barca hate on here to be honest.

It's a combination of three factors I believe.

One, people seem to always prefer the underdog.

Two, like with Irish fans of Barca, Irish fans of Span seem to have an arrogance about them due to the the brand of football they play. This tends to get up peoples noses.

Three, both Barca and Spain are no where near as solid from Busquets back to the keeper as they are from Busquets forward to Villa. Fans of both teams don't seem capable of acknowledging this fact and generally resort to posting some stats on the number of goals conceeded.

redout

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

It's a combination of three factors I believe.

One, people seem to always prefer the underdog.

Two, like with Irish fans of Barca, Irish fans of Span seem to have an arrogance about them due to the the brand of football they play. This tends to get up peoples noses.

Three, both Barca and Spain are no where near as solid from Busquets back to the keeper as they are from Busquets forward to Villa. Fans of both teams don't seem capable of acknowledging this fact and generally resort to posting some stats on the number of goals conceeded.

To say fans of implies everyone and to label all with the same brush is just wrong and shows ignorance.

I would also add in that some people are just trolls who look for a reaction.

Dont be at yourself

p_larkin99 wrote: »

have i missed something? why all this spain hate?

Because their tiki-taka football has been thoroughly underwhelming during this tournament, in stark contrast to Germany's style.

Vyse

p_larkin99 wrote: »

have i missed something? why all this spain hate?

I think it's a bit of the "Everybody loves to see a hero fail" mentality. If Germany go on and win it the same people will be giving them a hammering in Euro 2012.

JohnnyRyan99

redout wrote: »

..

Aww no dont be like that.. Full of crap what have i said... Spain playing poor.. AM yes yes thats true, Germany playing well.. Y yes yes thats also true... And please dont ignore me, i find it hilarious how no one is allowed criticise ur beloved Spain! Without u gettin all upset! Im just givin my opinion is all:rolleyes:

redout

Spain have been awarded $18m for reaching the semi-final as have the other three semi-finalists. The winner of the World cup will receive $30m in prize money with $24m for second, $20m for third and another $18m for the fourth place team. Prize money is up over a massive 60% since Germany 2006.

jesus_thats_gre

redout wrote: »

To say fans of implies everyone and to label all with the same brush is just wrong and shows ignorance.

I would also add in that some people are just trolls who look for a reaction.

Nope, it implies more than one fan..

JohnnyRyan99

p_larkin99 wrote: »

have i missed something? why all this spain hate?

Because despite Spain's lacklustre performances throughout this tournament people still enjoy expressing how they're a "top top team" without any justification so far in the WC! I like Spain i just don't understand the praising when its so clearly undeserved.. Spain havent brought this on themsleves, those inexplicably praising them have! The Spain lovers seem to love highlighting every other team's inadequacies while whirling into a fuss at those who dare highlight Spains! Apparently there's no good teams at this World Cup!

briany

If Germany stay cool solid and organised then I can only see a German win. Spain were not only frozen out but beaten by a well organised Swiss team in the first round so their attacking threat can be neutralized which is their big weapon. I think that Germany will be able to get in around them and contain them on the counter. 2-0 Germany for me with a goal a half. I'm liking the prospect of a Germany-Netherlands final but I don't think any mullets will be gobbed in this time round should it happen.

SantryRed

JohnnyRyan99 wrote: »

Because despite Spain's lacklustre performances throughout this tournament people still enjoy expressing how they're a "top top team" without any justification so far in the WC! I like Spain i just don't understand the praising when its so clearly undeserved.. Spain havent brought this on themsleves, those inexplicably praising them have! The Spain lovers seem to love highlighting every other team's inadequacies while whirling into a fuss at those who dare highlight Spains! Apparently there's no good teams at this World Cup!

The fact they've been winning shows that they are a top team tbh. Effiecient.

JohnnyRyan99

SantryRed wrote: »

The fact they've been winning shows that they are a top team tbh. Effiecient.

No arguement there... Just how come no other team gets this same admiration, there are other teams winning also! Sorry if ur a level headed fan, out of the 4 teams in the Semi's Spain deserve the label of top team the least! Like i said i like Spain, but they've been underwhelming as Fook!

ultain

Don't know who i want to win..I'd have to say Germany are clear enough favourites for this one...the whole team is an attacking force, i cant see how Spain will contain or disrupt their game..could well be another slaughter..As I said dont which of them I'd like to see play the Netherlands, both would be deadly dangerous...have 100 riding on Holland at 10/1:eek: (provided Holland get to the final of course)

redout

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Nope, it implies more than one fan..

I think that your argument is weak.

Saying that Barca and Spain have weak defences is just the same old excuse people use to knit-pick with when they they cannot find anything else. One of the most common sayings in football is that your attack is your first form of defence.

Spain have conceded twice in the tournament - one attributed to a goalkeeping error and the second a wicked deflection off Pique which changes the shot from right corner to left corner. No team is yet to actually score a proper goal against them as yet but still they are supposedly weak.

If they are as weak as you make out then enlighten us as to why a free flowing Chile side couldnt score a proper goal nor could the Portuguese, Hondurans or the Paraguayans ?

The thing you mention about a brand of arrogance stems from bitterness and petty hatred to be honest and is not that much dissimilar to the hatred which Man Utd and their fans receive in British football. If fans cant feel confident and express their views about their team then there is something fundamentally wrong. I see fans of English clubs on this forum expressing what you call arrogance regularly by saying that their club will win the league, champions league or that we will beat this team. A case of double standards to be honest.

Beating three of the bigger English teams over the past couple of seasons has seen this bitterness and resentment grow.

The evidence is right here on this forum - go back to 2008 and there is practically none shown whatsoever - fast forward after Barca win every competition and do it in style by defeating two of the bigger english clubs along the way and the amount shown on the forum miraculously just explodes - funny coincidence that.

The better teams the world over always seem to split fans - on one side you will have those that are bitter and on the other you have those who adore and appreciate it.

ultain

leg of lamb:)

PHB

Personally, I think Spain's defense is weak. I think Puyol is a poor defender at this level. That said, I think the same thing about Germany's defense.

ultain

PHB wrote: »

Personally, I think Spain's defense is weak. I think Puyol is a poor defender at this level. That said, I think the same thing about Germany's defense.

Regards Spain..puyol great defender as he is (one of the best) just doesn't have the legs anymore.

#15

PHB wrote: »

Personally, I think Spain's defense is weak. I think Puyol is a poor defender at this level. That said, I think the same thing about Germany's defense.

Puyol is excellent, if sometimes a little bit too much hustle-and-bustle for my liking.

Better than John Terry.

Warper

#15 wrote: »

Puyol is excellent, if sometimes a little bit too much hustle-and-bustle for my liking.

Better than John Terry.

Puyol is better than every English defender. The only one you could make a case for being better would be Ashley Cole.

Dont be at yourself

England's defenders are hardly the standard bearers, in fairness.