ZM’s World Cup 2010 Best XI
The first XI, in the 4-2-3-1 formation that dominated the tournament
This was the tournament in which many of the big names failed to perform, but few of this XI were unknowns before the tournament started.
No rules about number of players per country, here’s ZM’s all-star XI.
Eduardo, Portugal
Eduardo had a tremendous domestic season for FC Braga, who were kings of the 1-0 win, and he continued that form into this tournament. He made several key saves, and only conceded one goal in four games – and even that goal, David Villa’s in the Spain game, Eduardo had saved the first attempt. He was the final goalkeeper to be beaten in the tournament. His performances have earned him a move to Serie A, where he will be between the posts for Genoa next season.
Philip Lahm, Germany
The archetypal full-back. Positionally excellent and good defensively, but keen to get forward and good on the ball. Comfortable on either flank, his return to the right-back position seems to have brought the best out of him at both club and international level, and he stuck to the right even when Jerome Boateng was selected. Lahm has been one of the best players in the tournament for the second World Cup running – can any other player say that?
Carles Puyol, Spain
Started slowly in the defeat to Switzerland, but was superb after that. Often given too little credit despite being a top-class defender for the last decade – he’s sometimes unfairly characterized as a player who owes his status more to hard work than natural talent. His attitude is certainly spot on, but this should not detract from the fact that he is a brilliant natural defender – yes, he’s rugged and sometimes a little scrappy, and he sometimes looks a yard short of pace, but it’s also an excellent reader of the game and composed on the ball. His winner against Germany was a nice moment – his first international goal of any real importance.
Ricardo Carvalho, Portugal
Incredible. Has been a first-rate defender for many years, but his performances in this tournament were even more assured than usual. His anticipation skills and aerial ability were obvious throughout, and he seems to be more inclined to stay on his feet these days – his occasional rash tackles were the one downside to his game. Also charged forward to launch attacks from deep, vital in a Portugal side that lacked driving runs from the centre of midfield. The Carvalho-Alves defensive partnership was the best of the tournament.
Fabio Coentrao, Portugal
The most impressive thing about Coentrao’s display was that he looked like a natural left-back. As a recently-converted winger, his defensive abilities were questioned before the tournament, but he was rarely beaten by opposing wingers. He retains his attacking instinct – his incredible acceleration and fitness levels means he was a constant outlet on the left, and he’ll be a very good full-back for years to come.
Xavi, Spain
Not at his best and yet still worthy of a place in the tournament’s best XI – that sums up what an incredible footballer Xavi is. His position in the centre of the three attacking players in a 4-2-3-1 is probably not his favoured role – he can’t see as much of the pitch as he can from a deeper midfield position. But Spain won the tournament essentially by keeping the ball, and there’s no-one better in the world at that than Xavi. His performance in the semi-final against Germany was one of the best individual displays of the tournament – he controlled the game, playing more passes than any other player, running further than any other player, and providing the assist for Carles Puyol’s goal. Also completed more passes and created more chances than any other player in the tournament.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany
Schweinsteiger, Oezil and Muller celebrate their place in ZM's best XI
Schweinsteiger has finally lived up to his promise. In truth, however, no-one expected him to be an intelligent, creative and solid central midfielder – he even seemed to take Joachim Loew by surprise in how well he played at this tournament. He was man-of-the-match in the best team performance of the tournament, Germany’s 4-0 win over Argentina when Loew said, ”He was fabulous, I have to say. An extremely hard worker. He ran long distances, was a leader, the head of the whole set-up. He was the linchpin in every attack we had. The way he set up Arne Friedrich was second to none. You couldn’t do that better, going through three or four players then feigning a pass and cutting out their defenders. A magnificent performance.” He was similarly brilliant against England.
Mesut Oezil, Germany
Deployed in an advanced playmaker position that opponents found difficult to pick up, Oezil turned in the first top-class performance of the tournament against Australia, and scored a cracking goal in the crucial final group game against Ghana. Both England and Argentina gave him too much space and were punished, before he failed to make an impact against Spain, as his side were starved of the ball. Able to dribble, pass or shoot, Oezil is a very good player technically, but his true brilliance comes from his intelligence – his positioning and movement allow him and his teammates space and time on the ball, and that resulted in some great counter-attacking goals from Germany.
Thomas Mueller, Germany
A World Cup Golden Ball winner at just 20, Mueller was the revelation of the tournament. Used behind the main striker at Bayern, the right-wing position he played here with Germany seems to suit him far more. His star performance was in the 4-1 thrashing of England where he scored two and created another, and he also started the rout against Argentina with a header. The booking that prevented him playing in the semi-final was one of the tournament’s low points, but also gave us a taste of Mueller’s professionalism; he went over to shake the hand of the referee (who had harshly denied him a chance of competing in the biggest game of his life) before being substituted.
David Villa, Spain
Villa was uncharacteristically quiet in Spain’s semi-final against Germany and the final against Holland after being moved forward into a central striking role where he struggled with his back to goal. But it is not unreasonable to suggest that Spain wouldn’t have got that far without Villa. After the quarter-final, Spain had scored six goals – Villa had scored five and assisted the other. His drifts in from the left flank were extremely difficult for opposition defences to stop, and his finishing was as sublime as ever.
Diego Forlan, Uruguay
Deservedly awarded FIFA’s Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. Five goals is the headline figure, but Forlan’s contribution to his side’s performance was more complex than that – he dropped into deep positions and provided the creativity that was lacking from Uruguay’s central midfield area. He also played a variety of positions as Oscar Tabarez changed his formation throughout the tournament – as the furthest-forward striker against France, as an enganche against Mexico, and something in-between against South Korea. He played each role to perfection.
A reserve XI in the style of Marcelo Bielsa's Chile, the most interesting formation of the tournament - 3-3-1-3
To complete the 23-man squad:
Manuel Neuer – Some good saves and no notable mistakes.
Iker Casillas – Made a big mistake in the opening game against Switzerland, but was only beaten once in six games afterwards, and that was via a wicked deflection against Chile.
Joris Mathijsen – The unsung hero in Holland’s run to the final, where he was probably their best player.
Ryan Nelsen - Turned in three incredible displays as the spare man in a three-man defence for New Zealand – the only unbeaten team in the competition.
Diego Lugano – Good positionally and composed on the ball. He started the first five games and Uruguay only conceded a single goal when he was on the pitch – then he was injured for the semi-final and they conceded three in one game.
Mauricio Isla – Energetic, pacey, good on the ball – everything Marcelo Bielsa wants from his players
Carlos Salcido – His performance against France was the best full-back display of the competition – he was constantly an out-ball and played high up the pitch, stretching the play.
Sergio Busquets – Solid, reliable, unfussy, disciplined. Etc.
Andres Iniesta - Tended to drift in and out of games, but provided some great touches, including the most important one of the tournament.
Wesley Sneijder – Was actually quite underwhelming for most of the competition and his performances have been overrated by many, but deserves a mention for his goal count, even if a couple were rather fortunate.
Lionel Messi – Sadly played deeper than he would have liked, but the extent to which he dominated games was incredible.
Asamoah Gyan – Ran the channels tirelessly, in a lone striker role where he often lacked support, and his pace created chances out of nothing.
ZM’s World Cup 2010 Best XI
Fantastic analysis. I found this website last year and can’t say how thankful I am. Your write-ups have opened up the game in new, exciting ways. Always a pleasure.
like your choices, sadly not surprised by complete lack of a mention for the magnificent van bommel. he should have been at least on the bench, instead of busquets, but apart from that i like the squad
agreed, van bommel was brilliant as well throughout, but the Netherlands hardly faced too many stiff opposition throughout the tournament, apart from Brazil and Spain. Perhaps thats why he missed the cut.
Apart from Brazil and Spain? You just named the eventual winner of the World Cup, and the team ranked #1 going into the tournament. You can’t dismiss the opposition with the words “apart from.”
Perhaps he missed the cut, because apart from his brilliant play, he also played brutally at some points and should have been sent off a few times.
What van Bommel did fairly, he did very, very well and were it not for the darker side to his game and I’d agree with you. But, his staggeringly illegal approach to the game begs the question: with more attentive/disciplinarian referees, would he have been able to finish some of the matches in which his crunching displays stood Holland in good stead? He wouldn’t have gotten away with breaking play the way he did if he had actually been yellow carded a few times and he would likely have missed at least one match, so I think his otherwise excellent performances should be appropriately discounted.
I concur.
Instead of busquets? did you read what ZM wrote about him? v.bommel was never going to make this team ahead of sergio.
van bommel? wtf?
I think Cassilas or Neuer would be better 1st team keepers than Eduardo, who benefitted from Portugal’s deep and conservative style, which your team would (hopefully) not aim to emulate!
Maybe Eduardo did benefit from Portugal’s style but he still made some fantastic saves.
But I do think that Casillas should’ve been the 1st team keeper because he saved Spain’s behind so many times. Penalty against Paraguay, save against Kroos’ volley and of course the Robben one on one. If Spain conceded any of those goals I very much doubt that they would’ve fought back and won those games.
Surely a deep defensive style makes matters more difficult for the goalie? He has less room to navigate, and an increased number of troops to direct.
Nigh-on every commentator has made the same selections in their TotTs. However, Graham Taylor chose Casillas, then Pepe Reina as his two goalkeepers! So anyway, credit for mentioning an oft-neglected Ryan Nelsen. He must also be commended because the two guys alongside him were young.
Egidio Arévalo did his job masterfully for Uruguay, and at last has his move to Europe! Cagliari and Serie A, the beneficiaries. Here’s hoping it turns out better than Pablo Barrientos did at Catania…
Neuer looked shaky from crosses, look at Englands goal. Cassilas had a poor game as mentioned.
Eduardo played weel every game and I’m suprised a bigger team didn’t pick him up, Arsenal etc.
What did Lahm do that Ramos didn’t? Ramos was literally making his opposing opponents left backs.
Have to also disagree on excluding van Bommel, he ran the midfield for Holland.
I have to agree on that.
Ramos was IMO magnificent over the whole tournament and especially against Germany. I remember him taking looong crosses from Xavi on the right wing without any problems which is remarkable for defender.
Lahm did great too, no doubt, but Ramos should have been at least in the squad…
Besides that I agree on the squad, especially that Sneijder has been overrated in the tournament
According to the Castrol Statistical rankings, Sergio Ramos was the best overall player in the World Cup.
While I don’t think he was the best, he was more important to Spain than Lahm was to Germany, because he was Spain’s only outlet on the right for most of the tournament (other than when Navas went on, or Pedro shifted right).
Lahm’s main duty was to support the excellent Mueller, which he did very well.
Indeed, Ramos was very good. Tough to exclude him. Right-back is the hardest position to choose – also Maicon and Maxi Pereira had good tournaments.
Ramos should have been included – he was technically and tactically a step in front of Lahm.
Lahm did better job defensively than Ramos. The interception against Ghana, tackles against Tevez were top class.
I somehow, cannot share the delight with him. I liked Ramos’ control of the ball and runs on the right flank, but that’s about it. He did not convert any threat to a real scorign chance. Yes, he often found himself one on one against opposite full-back, but what happend then? He got past him once or twice in the whole tournament and still nothing happend. Not a single goal scores thanks to his run. He was spectacular but ineffective.
Cannot agree more…
Ramos’ crosses were horrible…
Yeah, just check out steve’s brilliant comment a few lines beneath (July 19, 2010 at 4:42 pm). He has put all that together perfectly.
Btw, how sad, castrol index failed to spot that ^^.
completely agree, Lahm had a much better final product.
Lahm made a few game-saving tackles and blocks when opponents nearly found a gap in the defence. Sergio Ramos was not challenged nearly as much because of the way Spain kept possessions throughout. I think Lahm deserves the XI spot for his immense influence at both ends of the pitch.
So did Ramos. I remember that one time when Özil was through on goal but Ramos tackled him (should’ve been a penalty in my opinion) and saved Spain’s ass (because if Spain really went on the attack, Germany would’ve won).
Yes it should have been a penalty, that makes him lucky in that instance, not better than Lahm.
I like your choices, but i have one question for you ZM. What are your thoughts on sergio ramos? Is Lahm really better than him? Most people seem to say Ramos isnt as good defensively but I’ve rarely seen him get beat in this world cup. Also he reads the game very well – recall his interception of the through ball in the Netherlands-Spain final after it beat both Puyol and Pique. Not to mention he storms forward extremely well and his crosses are always right on target. Spain just didnt have a tall centre forward to take advantage of it. Good in the air too, nearly scored a couple of headers.
People who say Ramos is bad defensively are ignorant. In what way is he bad? He’s an amazing center back with great positional sense (although a bit too agressive) but with offensive skills so good and a very fit and quick body that he has to play as a right-back. When playing for Madrid, Ramos is seen as weak defensively because Madrid lose the ball in midfield easily and the opposition gets counter-attacks and utilize the space left by Marcelo and Ramos when really it’s not their fault, they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, widen the pitch and providing the necessary width.
When Ramos is playing for Spain, however, he has much more cover since Piqué and Puyol are used to covering for Alves and also because Spain hold the ball much better than Real Madrid does.
I think as mentioned above Lahm may be in there for his attacking credentials. Ramos was a great outlet but didn’t really provide much in the final third. Perhaps this is harsh on him as Spain didn’t get as many people in the box as Germany but you can only rate him on what you see.
Agree he isn’t bad defensively except he may make one or two rash tackles, as against Germany when he could have given away a penalty.
Piqué? Ramos? Not even in the second eleven is kind of surprising given the other names.
Yeah, both of those two should have made it (especially Pique). I don’t think Carvalho was that great either. What about Beausejour too?
Don’t think Pique was at his best. His ball use was terrific as always though
I agree. Although i love how Pique plays but he wasn’t at his best in this tournament. Yes, he defended well and partnered almost flawlessly with Puyol but his main contribution to the side are his long passes to start an offense and changes of side to reset the possession. In part it had to do with the opponent closing down on potential receivers and preventing him from doing those passes.
Yes, I’m confused at the love for Pique in this tournament. He’s wonderful but wasn’t at his best here.
I would like to see a match with this starting 11 against the famous “no shows” in the tourney; ranoldo, rooney, ribery (basically that whole billion $$ nike commercial).
And then also, who’s your manager of the tourney? who would you put to lead these XI?
Regarding a manager, I believe this is for another article
Agreed. That would be a lot of fun.
what the fuck is this XI? I would have chosen a completly! different one. No seriously – found your site during this WorldCup and i am glad i did. This is the best source on the web when it comes to the core of the game – tactics ans strategy.
On a pedantic point, New Zealand weren’t the only ‘unbeaten’ team in the competition. Netherlands only ‘defeat’ occurred in extra-time. New Zealand didn’t have to play extra-time, despite drawing all three games. The only ‘fair’ comparison is to exclude extra-time and deem the score at 90 minutes as the result of every match.
In which case, you’d better stick the US in there too.
OT losses/wins count as such, but games that go to PKs are judged as draws for both teams.
Cannot argue with any of these selections.
Most certainly agree that Sneijder does not deserve to be in the first XI and that his performances have been overrated. Yes, he scored some important goals and was solid throughout the tournament but I cannot fathom how some would say he had a better world cup than Ozil.
One thing I possibly disagree with is the exclusion of Ramos from the 23 man squad. I have been very critical of him in the past but I do think he stepped up his game to another level this world cup, and was a key part of Spain’s semi final and final wins thanks to the constant width he provided in attack. I certainly would put him and Maicon ahead of Isla and that’s not just because they are the ‘bigger names’.
Also can I just say what a wonderful website this is – I check it everyday for new articles. I only discovered it on the eve of the world cup and have fallen in love with it ever since, reading back on many of the older articles. It’s fantastic to read match reviews which focus on the football, tactics and strategies rather than simply sensationalising the talking points of the match.
Thank you very much and keep it up!
Thanks!
I would have to vote or Sergio Ramos as well. A player who will leave everything he has on the pitch. I forget the match where he got the boot in his face, was it against Chile? For a few minutes it looked kind of brutal, and my wife asked if he’d played the next match. I said, “Even if he was missing half his face he’d play the next match.” Two minutes later with a bandage around his head he is right back at it! Sometimes a little overly energetic, but the type of player I would always want on my side. Does so much, and is there to play, and play, and play…
“a player who will leave everything he has on the pitch” – sadly he left his ability to do anything useful with the ball in the changing room before he made it out onto the pitch, which is probably why he is quite rightly not included
Consistently provided width, was a rock in defense (saved Piqué and Puyol from time to time) provided great crosses for Fernando Torres but unfortunately for Spain his form didn’t allow him to score. He got into the box many times and didn’t miss many passes. About everything Lahm did, Ramos did better in my opinion.
sam it’s funny i watched every spain game, as i’m sure you did, yet my review of ramos would read more like:
consistently received the ball in acres and acres of space that his teammates created for him, and consistently produced nothing. didn’t provide one single good cross, shot wastefully wide at the near post on several occasions, and the best he did was to recycle possession (although he often failed to do even this and lost the ball, and when he kept it he lost all attacking momentum). while his stamina is obviously outstanding, i’d say a comparison shows the german to be a brilliant footballer, and the spaniard to be a great athlete playing football.
can you remind me of a great cross picking out torres, because i cannot remember one. can you remind me when he created a single chance for anyone? i’d expect a few, seeing as he was the spanish player with more time and space than anyone else on the field, in advanced positions. and while, admittedly, his aforementioned stamina enabled him to get into those positions, it’s not as if wonderful movement, intelligence or skill was required to get there
Completely agree with Steve on Ramos.
“He got into the box many times and didn’t miss many passes.”
Hello? He missed the easy header on goal in THE FINAL game!
Happy sneidjer isn’t in the team. I personally like him,but as you said,he had an underwhelming tournament
Not sure that Neuer didn’t make any mistakes. He was certainly at fault for England’s first goal as he mis-judged Gerrard’s cross badly; that only didn’t impact on Germany thanks to a suspect linesman, but if the second goal had been awarded correctly that moment would’ve been the game changer.
Stekelenberg would have been a better shout, no major mistakes, sensible distribution, noticeable because you barely noticed him. Nothing he could’ve done about Forlan’s goal, just a perfect strike down the middle a la Henry v Roy Carroll.
Surprised Alexis Sanchez isn’t amongst this, interested in ZM’s view of his tournament. Couldn’t have picked Busquets, however well he played, because of his constant whining at the referee – it’s really unattractive to watch, seeing him forever asking for others to be booked and sent off.
Completely baffled at the fuss around Sanchez. He’s a great little player but didn’t think he had a great tournament, wouldn’t put him anywhere near this, to be hoenst.
he’s at the stage Ronaldo was in his first season at ManU
I’m a Sanchez fan but he disapointed this tournamnet. A player of great promise but couldn’t take his chances.
Agree about Neuer.
Great as usual ZM!
Interesting lineup! and corroborates a lot with the lineup i chose here
http://sportswatch.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/south-africa-2010-roundup/
I think we agree on seven players, although i did choose Eduardo in goal before the quarterfinals. (so 8 maybe)
One small point of contention
Mueller, as good as he was, only won the Golden BOOT not the BALL.
I also think that Phillip Lahm deserves all the credit he is getting. He is an absolutely top-class player, as both right and left back. And I would definitely have him in my side ahead of Sergio Ramos.
I agree. I think Lahm is a smarter player, making better choices when forward, whether a cross, a low cutback pass, or dribbling/passing back when shut down.
I really miss Friedrich here. To me he was the best central defender at the WC, w/out any noticeable mistake in 7 straight matches and some strong scenes. And, despite being german, i think im pretty objecive here too.
My young team of the tournament future who are likely to be stars in the next tournament.4-3-3:Neuer—Boateng,Pique,Jonathan,Contreao—Annan,Khedira,Ozil—Muller,Pedro,Hernandez.Subs: Muslera,Busquets,Kroos,Van Der Weil,Messi,Fabregas,Hamsik
Sorry ZM. I cant agree with the selection of both Coentrao and Carvalho. Wasnt Ramos better than Lahm, overall? For your substitutes, I am not sure about Sneidjer and even Gyan. Sneidjer was no where near his C.league form and was really overated, mostly because of his goals. You too seem to have picked him up because of goals. In that case, Klose should be there instead of Gyan, right? Juan from Brazil should be there in one of the teams at least.
Let me also take this opportunity to ask you something. Sneidjer send a ball to Brazilian post and in the confusion between Cesar and Melo (they both tried to attend the ball), the ball went in and Fifa recognised it for a true goal from Sneidjer. Messi send in a similar ball to South Korea and a Korean player was completely unaware of the ball and it went inside. Fifa didnt recognise it as a Messi goal. Isnt that strange, or was there any reason I dont know about?
Well no, it’s not all about goals. But Sneijder was essentially playing as a support striker and contributed five goals. As for the one against Brazil, I’ve no idea…
Like your caption for the German celebration a lot..good one
My guess is one could make the argument that Sneijder’s shot would’ve gone in if nobody touched it at all whereas Messi’s shot certainly wouldn’t have gone in if the S. Korean hadn’t touched the ball. That’d be my guess.
It looked like both crosses would not have gone inside without a touch, at the point of touch.
Disagree about Sneijder’s goal. The ball seemed to be screwing inside. Melo’s touch pushed it a bit outside, yet it still managed to get into the net. Just check out the replay on FIFA.com (3rd or 4th angle).
I can see the case for Carvalho if you correctly believe that it’s important that CBs should be good with the ball. But I think Juan was comparably good to Carvalho in distribution, and much better in the tackle (11 tackles vs 2 fouls, per FIFA; c.f. Carvalho, 5 tackles vs 5 fouls). Odd that hardly any Brazilians are being mentioned: for three and a half games, they seemed the most complete team.
What is this Juan craze about? I’ve seen him in a couple of fantasy teams. He was good against Chile but very, very shakey against Portugal (where he should have been sent off for handing the ball as the last man) and not great against the Ivory Coast
Funny, I thought he was excellent against the Ivory Coast. I missed Brazil-Portugal so I’ll take your word for it.
Suarez or Fabiano should’ve been there instead of Gyan. Is it because of their handballs that you do not include them?
Gyan scored three goals, two of which were penalties and he also missed a crucial penalty.
Agree with the rest of the selections except of course the Dutch ones.
It’s not only about goals. Gyan did a great job of making a nuisance of himself for the opposition’s defensive players even though he didn’t get much support from the rest of the ghana’s team
I’d go for Lucio over Carvalho not Juan. Was a beast in the tournament.
My picks would be slightly different:
1. I would choose Ramos in place of Lahm (and shift him to the second XI in place of Isla, although only grudgingly).
2. Even being portuguese, I cannot really say I’d pick Coentrão in place of Salcido. The portuguese looked on occasion a bit unsure of his positioning and Salcido, on top of everything he did, also offered a threat in long distance shots.
3. I’d probably go for Iniesta instead of Özil and then, on the second team, for Robben instead of Sneijder.
4. Stekelenburg seemed very much one of the best 3 keepers of the tournament. Neuer and Casillas had some very shaky moments against England and Paraguay, resp.
5. I’m sorry that Fucile has no place in the selections, I really have no idea who to take out, but he deserves a nice mention.
Well spotted the work of Carvalho, Mathijsen, Lugano and Nelsen. Most commentators, without knowing who to pick from the defenders, usually end up choosing from the finalists. A nice word could also be given to Mertesacker and Friederich, who were seen as the weak point of Geermany and had a very good tournament.
Yes was hard to exclude Friedrich, who I thought was excellent and better than Mertesacker.
I thought Robben was better than Sneijder but I guess with his misses in the final and Sneijder contributing a lot of the goals and creating most of Robben’s chances I can see why he’s in front.
Same here with Hugo, either Iker or Neuer shall be better in the first team while eduardo did not face any real challenge throughout the game, just only against Spain and Ivory Coast had really shown his ability in keeper technique.
Re Kuxxa, I think Ramos shall be in best 23 but not in first team. Ramos performed in the same way with Lahm but did not play much in defense as Lahm did. As you can see in the final, even Bosque had to strengthen right flank pressure by sub in Navas, it showed that Ramos’s threat was not that really offensive or threatening the opponent defensive line. He dribbled but did not do any great pass or assist. You could rarely see Ramas invaded opponent’s penalty area by flank moves but Lahm did.
Who is your manager of this team?
Tabarez, and Bosque, very good in sub chg.
Loew, fabulous counter attack tactics, good in using energetic youth in flank winger
I would go with Low or the Ghana manager. To organize and train a young team is something very difficult to do. Del Bosque was kind of like a manager for baseball’s Yankees: he did do a lot of work with a world class side, but it’s hard to say how he was influential. I need to see something from him to justify picking an out of form Torres for four straight games, when he could placed a different attacker into the same spot to play the same role. But, Samo, you’re right his subs were very good. Bob Bradley lineup selections were consistently frutstatingly but his subs were always spot on.
Hmmm, I do not agree to everything said, and what bugs me the most is the clear anti-dutch feeling I get! whether you like it or not, the dutch made it to the final and were beaten 1-0 by an excellent Spanish team. So again, if you like it or not, the Dutch were the second best team in the tournament, and they do not get any names in the starting eleven?
I think Robben had an excellent tournament, so did Sneijder and Van Bommel!
Explain how you think Robben was better than Mueller. Or how Sneijder was better than Oezil. Or how van Bommel was better than Xavi or Schweinsteiger.
Hi ZM, I’m a fan of yours but imo Robben was indeed better than Messi this tourney and Xavi has played rather below par of his usual high standards, admitably at a different position to VBM or Schweinstieger as Del Bosque sought to accomodate Alonso.
Even a below par performance of players like Xavi and Messi is still way better than most others.
Robben did have a few good solo runs, but how much did he create. And for those two chances he missed in the final, it was suicidal for him.
At least Mathijsen instead of Carvalho would’ve made sense. And yes Sneijder definitely instead of Ozil. Dont forget that the moves for the Huntelaar goal (against Cameroon) and the Robben goal (against Slovakia) was started by two excellent Sneijder balls from the middle of their own half to the opposing half. Ozil had a fine tournament but he did go missing a lot (against Serbia, Spain and Uruguay). On the basis of stats alone, I would have preferred Sneijder.
Van Bommel was master on the field in the first matches. Then when opposition grew, he didn’t, or couldn’t. His ‘assistent’ at Bayern, Schweinsteiger, excelled – until he met Xavi. It’s nice to see them now presented as a new couple.
For Ozil it’s more or less the same as with Schweinsteiger: when meeting positional and technical tough opposition, Spain, he appeared too young. Sneijder has grown wiser but didn’t play good enough.
Robben didn’t play good. Only dangerous, which is a valuable quality but not enough for this tournament’s starting eleven. Agreed on these (haven’t seen Portugal and some others).
Well this is my first 11:
Eduardo – as mentioned by ZM
Lahm – as mentioned by ZM
Carvalho – as mentioned by ZM
Lucio – carried on his magnificient form from inter throughout the tournament imo. it wasn’t his fault that Sneijder scored a freakish free kick followed by a header due to Melo’s slackness, and apart from that he has been an absolute rock and his driving runs from the back are a spectacle to watch.
Coentrao – as mentioned by ZM
Van Bommel – a beast of a player, he deserves the merit solely by the ratio of fouls / yellow cards he’d received; not to mention his effectiveness in shackling most opposition players.
Schweinsteiger – as mentioned by ZM
Muller – as mentioned by ZM
Forlan – as mentioned by ZM, but I’ll prefer to deploy him in the deeper role
Iniesta – as mentioned by ZM
Klose – the best target man of the tournament surely. his off the ball movements, ability to hold up ball, tactical awareness and technical astuteness were evidently a class above Gyan. Germany’s attacking flow just aint the same when he’s not in the side: cue 2nd half against Serbia, the game against Ghana and the game against Uruguay.
The rest to make up the 23:
Neuer – as mentioned by ZM
Stekelenburg – more impressive than St. Iker imo.
Maicon – the best right back in the world maintained his world class form in this wc and is ahead of both ramos and isla in my pecking order.
Ryan Nelsen – as mentioned by ZM
Mathijsen – as mentioned by ZM
Marquez – while I’m a fan of Busquets as well, he did have a bad game against the Swiss. Marquez on the other hand was the lynchpin of the impressive Mexico side only to be undone by a poor ref and some shocking defending from Osorio against the Argies – and even then he’s always looked assured and reliable. If I’m Guardiola I certainly would have taken note of his performances and play him as a DM rather than CB where he’s much less effective.
Xavi – as mentioned by ZM
Michael Bradley – a solid tackler and composed passer aside, he’s shown the Brits what grit and determination really are. hard to believe that he’s only 22, and it puzzles me that the transfer market has eluded him thus far.
Prince Boateng – another player whose performance has punched way above his club form. KPB was the attacking inspiration of Ghana, justifying his controversial change of national allegience before the tournament.
Robben – surprised at the Messi inclusion ahead of his. certainly the most impactful player for the Dutch both in terms of his playactings and his devastating dribblings (just ask Bastos and Puyol). oh and he also scored more than Messi, sorry to hurt your feelings Barca fans…
Robert Vittek – virtually an unknown, he’s largely impressed with his economical movements and finishing.
Can’t disagree with your reasons for including the ones I left out.
Really agree with your pick for Lucio. I thought he looked terrific again for Brazil. Some very strong candidates for the CB position, but I think Lucio deserves to be ahead of at least all 3 reserve CBs.
All good picks. I would definitely include Vittek and Prince Boateng into the team. Ayew was very good as well. Suarez at times. I think Mucha should get a mention, though he’s not a very tidy keeper like Neuer.
Superb choices Michael. The most agreeable I’ve read since the end of the World Cup. My only personal change would be Carvalho to Lugano, and that’s just a “personal choice”. Your first team, and subsequent write up of it is as good as I’m going to read post-World Cup. I don’t post many replies as the hundreds of followers (that you deserve) state any argument or agreement with you before I could even touch on points, but you’ve kept at it, and kept a fantastic website running on a different level to anything else out there.
Particuarly interesting as a follow up is now the debate surrounding some of those excluded or included, Van Bommel for example, and Robben… oh and Sniejder. Actually the Dutch in general are a fascinating group of players and cause for debate.
Ramos has to be in place of Lahm in the starting XI. He was Spain’s most consistent player meaning he played well from game 1 to game 7. He definitely got forward more than Lahm (partially to the fact that Germany plays a reactive game instead of a proactive one), and he was much better defensively. Both are fine players, but Ramos had a better tournament, in my opinion. The one negative about him, was that some of his balls were really poor and his decision making offensively can be awful, at times. He has cleaned up the idiotic mistakes defensively that he was known to make at least once a game.
I agree with Eduardo being the first choice keeper. You could make the argument for Casillas, but Eduardo was safer and more consistent than Casillas. Casillas seemed to make a mistake in almost every game, he just got punished only once.
Great spot by picking Carvalho. Injuries have seen him go understated the last couple of years, but when healthy he is Chelsea’s best defender. You can make the argument, that John Terry would be no where as hyped if it wasn’t for Carvalho. Is it any coincidence that Terry had one of his worst seasons when Carvalho was missing for a big chunk of that season. He hasn’t played a full season in a long time. He had a great tournament and definitely deserves to be on the team. You can’t go wrong with Puyol or Pique at the other spot.
I disagree with Oezil being in the XI. He had a good tournament, but was inconsistent. He had a great game against Australia. He was in and out against Serbia, had a solid performance against Ghana, and had a great game against England. After that he fell of. He was nowhere against Argentina and was starved of the ball against Spain. I think you could have gone for Iniesta in that spot.
Casillas is a hard one to judge. He looked pretty shaky up to and including the Portugal game (not just on the Swiss goal) but in the big games he made saves most keepers wouldn’t have (vs Robben, the Paraguay penalty). I’d go for Eduardo too, for consistency, but can see the case for St Iker.
Eiji Kawashima deserves a mention for only allowing two goals behind a decent but not particularly special Japanese defence (even if one of the two goals was horrific on his part).
Kawashima’s performance was at most good if not decent.
I would definite say Nakazawa and Tulio were the best and most important players of the Aoki Samurais.
Oezil didn’t have good games against teams that specifically tried to take him out of the game….shocker.
Donovan and Lucio??
Nice first XI. This “best player” stuff is just an opinion, of course, but it´s always nice to discuss this kind of stuff.
So I`ll introduce a topic not yet touched upon: Messi. Why did ZM put Messi among the best 23 players of WC2010? He´s done a lot of nice running, but has he really been more effective than the likes of Robben, KP Boateng, Robinho…
Serious? Messi was amazing in the group games. Don’t understand this Robben love, either.
I kind of think it stems a whole debate on many of the Dutch players.
Robben for me was excellent when he recovered from his injury. Quite interesting to see a player who was so direct compared to say many of the Spanish players.
Van Bommel seems to ruffle a few feathers and shift people in to two seperate camps. I have to say however with Sniejder I completley agree with you, he was excellent, sure, but a real contender for the Golden Ball? Not for me.
Actually breaking away from the Dutch I would like to touch upon Mueller. Whilst I agree with the general consensus that he deserves his place in this side, and is also deserving of all of the plaudits he has received. What impressed me most about him was his discipline and positioning. Defensivly he was outstanding and allowed Lahm to get forward consistently and it’s little coincidence that in the game he was banned for, was Lahms poorest (as well as it being against Spain). To enable a full back to really get forward like Lahm likes to it is almost essential that the winger in front is willing to defend or at least have a defensive midfielder that can cover. If Podolski and Mueller had switched sides (hypothetically) the whole set up for Germany would have been different and lacking in the cohesion it had.
“Van Bommel seems to ruffle a few feathers and shift people in to two seperate camps.”
I think every reasonable person concedes him his brilliant play when playing legally. If there are any camps out there then the division is based upon his dirty red card fouls. One camp notices them while the other does not care (and this is wrong).
It’s an interesting point.
Oddly enough, I would say what he does brilliantly is bend the rules. I can’t think of a player who is as good at essentially playing illegally but remaining unpunished. It’s almost an art. I remember someone a few months back stating that Van Bommel was the best at “winding up” opponents and disrupting the other side.
I fully agree with what you just said, but is it really a quality we should promote? Picking him as a top11 or top23 of the tournament surely is a publicity. (I hope you would agree that foul is not a part of the game).
I think this is hyperbole. Dirty red card tackles is something van Bommel hardly does. He dishes some out, receives a lot in return as well, but I honestly don’t see him as a player that puts in dark red fouls. What he does do (to the annoyance of many non-Dutch and non-Bayern fans) is draw fouls by running into the opposing player and getting rewarded with a free kick. Influencing the ref to hand out yellow cards, feigning injury to waste time, and pretty much doing whatever it takes to unnerve the opposition.
The thing is though, most teams have one or several players that do just that, just none of them are as good at it as Van Bommel. I can’t even begin to count how many games my team lost, not because the opposition were better, but because of how they pretty much pulled all the stunts that MvB now does to win the game. With MvB in the team, Holland now dominate this very real aspect of the game, instead of it dominating them. I don’t think MvB really needed to do this as much as he did , as I would rather see him use these talents when the situation requires it, but there you have it.
As a defensive midfielder, it is your job to shield the defense and link play as much as possible. Van Bommel breaks up so many attacks, sometimes correctly, and sometimes by yeah, winning a free kick by barging into the back of some unaware player. He also has a good pass in him as well. You may not like his style, but you can’t say he didn’t do an excellent job shield his defense.
Also, we all know Busquets has a lot of the Van Bommel in him too, yet he still gets (rightly) lauded on this very website!
“What he does do (to the annoyance of many non-Dutch and non-Bayern fans) is draw fouls by running into the opposing player and getting rewarded with a free kick.”
That’s what I was trying to get it. In essence he plays just outside the rules of the game and does it brilliantly. There’s no doubting he is excellent at his job, but as sibelkacem says, is it right to applaud him?
Busquets is not too far off being Van Bommel either and treads the line between brilliance and petulance. Great post.
The love for Robben is very easy to explain. Rushed himself back from injury, and was responsible for the winner against Cameroon. Scored the opener against Slovakia. Brazil didn’t allow him to be as dangerous , but really only managed to stop him by persistent fouling. Holland was using Robben to target Brazil’s Achilles heal, and it worked very well that 2nd half.
Scored what turned out to be the deciding 3-1 against Uruguay with his head (excellent header btw) as well. And as toothless as Holland were up front for most of the game against a superior Spain, it was still Robben who managed to provide a real threat twice (and really, really should have put one of those away). I’m sure Robben will do the right thing next time, take the freekick and have Puyol sent off.
Yes, he always cuts in to take the shot with his strong left foot, and no, he doesn’t cross at all with his right. He also fails to pass to other players in better positions. Despite all that, he is a player that always provides an absolute threat to the other team. Sometimes, he can score himself, as this WC showed once again. Other times, his threat means other players simply receive more space to operate in. Isn’t that what we said about Messi when he was being triple-teamed as an excuse as to why he wasn’t scoring?
I think Messi was good as well during the group games, but come on, Robben deserves to be ahead of him on the reserve line up at least. Mueller ahead of Robben is debatable, but probably fair.
Also, including Nelson is nice and all, but ridiculous. I see no reason to switch formations for the reserves. V Bommel should be back in there as the 2nd DM in a 4-2-3-1 in stead of Nelson. This isn’t about putting finalists in there ahead of players who didn’t make it as far in the tournament, but leaving out V Bommel, who was excellent, just baffles. Yes, put Sweinsteiger and Xavi ahead of him of course, but the guy deserves to make the reserve line up easy.
I find the formation switch done by ZM a great idea – the first formation is the one used the most commonly and the reserves formation is the most exciting – as a publicity for it. Why don’t you consider this a valid reason?
I’m ommiting Van Bommel’s issue, as I covered it a few lines above.
Oh, I understand the reasoning behind it, and hey, it’s ZM’s website so he can do whatever he wants
Personally though, I would rather see the top 4 DMs get their moment in the sun, instead of 5 CBs. Nelson, Lugano, and Mathijsen all had good tournaments, but to have all 3 of these in the squad is a bit much. I’d rather see one of them dropped (Nelson in my opinion) and have a 4th DM picked (V Bommel I think deserves that slot).
As mentioned, 4-2-3-1 really was the system of the tournament. Picking 4 outstanding DMs in a squad of 23 just seems fair(er) to me.
Nelsen probably couldn’t be seperated from a number of other centre backs in terms of playing that position, there were a few outstanding performances in what was quite a defensive tournament.
However, Nelsen can almost single handedly take credit for New Zealand’s results (along with two out of three of the goalkeeper’s performances). For all the New Zealand team is in the middle of their equivalent of a golden generation, they have little in the way of real talent. They played a flawed 3-4-3 out of necessity, because they simply didn’t have the players for anything else. Apart from having a brilliant tournament himself, Nelsen brought the best out of the players around him so that New Zealand not only got three draws, but looked like they deserved it.
There were several brilliant centre backs, but how do you value a player who had more impact on his team than almost any other player? It’s a matter of personal opinion at the end of the day.
“Also, including Nelson is nice and all, but ridiculous.”
Why? It’s about picking the players who performed the best. So because he plays for a small country, he shouldn’t be in there?
Show me a player that can take on 3-4 players at will from a stop position and still is able to pick out a great pass or shot on goal and then you can justify taking messi off. He has the most shots on target of any player in the cup, the only sad thing was that he didnt score.
Paul decrees it. Thus it must be true!!!
funny, in Germany some people still think Lahm will play better on the left. and that ZM sees Müller on the right in his best position is also strange, because at Bayern he plays in the centre (or sometimes on the wing when Ribery and Robben are injured) and the most people would say this is his best position. the right midfield position was a problem for Germany before the tournament (since Bernd Schneider retired and Schweinsteiger playes in the holding role).
and Iniesta is not in the first XI, but Özil? some would say Iniesta improved in the important games.
Thanks ZM!
best information during the world cup. great work!
Yeah by German standards we would attempt to get Friedrich in the best (or reserve) XI and sacrifice Özil in the process. Lahm would have been fine in the reserve team too, though the debate about this has already drawn quite a few comments, so can’t add much there.
The only player I’d consider a lock from Germany on the best XI would be Schweinsteiger. Müller is a great pick too, but now with his first amazing season behind him, I just wish the media won’t slaughter him whenever he hits his first big slump. (The same media / public that tried to push Podolski & Klose out of the line up for other players with a better season).
Where`s Iniesta! He has definitively been better than Özil, Müller and schweinsteiger. Sorry but that is ridicolus! He has been Spain`s decisive plaver in every play-of game. Funny enough, he is still underrated, after his goal in the final.
I don’t think he is underrated at all. Funny enough, he is being kept out of the starting line up LW position by Villa. I think it’s fair to judge Iniesta against players for that particular position, even though he doesn’t really remain on the far left. And in that position, Iniesta beat out everybody except Villa, who probably just deserves the nod based on his massive direct influence in Spain’s first couple of games.
well, i think iniesta even beats Villa on this position, cause he is more important for the whole squad than Villa. If you just look at the goals versus Portugal, Chile, Germany, Paraguay and of course holland, iniesta was always involved…
If it wasn’t for Villa, Spain would’ve been dumped out in the group stages
I have to agree with the inclusion of Oezil over Iniesta – Aside from the Spain game, which wasn’t really his fault, he had a hand in all of Germany’s victories and played well throughout. And, as ZM noted, it seemed that his intelligence and poise on the pitch far exceeded his 21 years of age.
Tips ZM. Just drop controversial articles like team of the tournament, or player ratings. It will give you more hate than love, and doesn’t provide much of tactical insight. I thought you chosed a splendid first eleven though.
it will be travesty if Xavi Hernandez does not get the balon d’or this year.
Sneijder would be #1 if the Dutch had won the final.
But it’s time for Xavi. it really is time.
Actually i think iniesta’s profile fits better with that award
For me a team of the tournament article is not that important, because football is a team sport and not about eleven individuals. the eleven players have to make each other better (what was Sacchi saying about tactics?). but I appreciate your work ZM!
for me it’s more important, who have been the most interesting players in a tactical view? the difference between Robinho and Villa playing a left forward. the way teams interpret a position (the playmaker, the striker, fullback, etc.) and the interaction of this positions. e.g. compare the team play of Kaka, Fabiano, and Robinho with Xavi, Torres / Iniesta, and Villa or Klose, Özil, and Müller (Podolski).
Why was Maicon playing the way he did, and how did the team take advantage of his play, etc. etc.
Can’t believe Friedrich and Khedira were omitted, Friedrich I felt was the best centre-back in the tournament alongside Puyol.
Already plenty of Germans up there. Would be overkill to add more really, though I agree Friedrich was brilliant. (Maybe take out Özil, add Friedrich
)
Khedira? Good tournament but not top 23. Among holding midfielders, I’d pick Annan (Ghana) ahead of him for example.
It’s always nice to see some Portuguese players getting the praise they deserve. Eduardo, Carvalho and Coentrão played really nicely. I totally agree with your best eleven, ZM.
I thought Forlan was outstanding in many ways as you outlined but his leadership and dead ball delivery (including corners) were important as well.
Can’t we agree that despite his qualities Van Bommel too often resorts to unacceptable cynical devices?
I agree with Van Bommel but as you can see from the comments a lot of people do not.
What about Kuyt? To me, he would be a great member of any team.
YES. Kuyt was brilliant, should have made the squad.
Kuyt played very well in most matches, but the two picks for that position were better, and deserve their slot. Still, nice to see the guy finally get some recognition. Of course, now that he is finally getting recognition, watch him get replaced by some guy like Joe Cole at Liverpool.
He was excellent.
Excellent work as usual, only a couple of small disagreements. I really think you got it right with Sneijder off the first team and Pique off completely and most writer squads I’ve seen have it the other way. I would’ve had Ramos in the second team and Friedrich over Nelson (Nelson did yeoman’s work but Group F was by far the weakest and I don’t think Paraguay even really tried to score in that group finale). Robben would’ve made my second eleven for the reasons SSZX stated above. I would also note that Puyol was a first eleven choice and Robben had his measure twice. For who? I suppose Gyan and I would’ve had to arrange an unorthodox alignment, it wasn’t really a tournament for the true strikers though even though Gyan was decent enough.
For me the biggest complaint I have though is Iniesta off the first eleven. Not because he scored in the final of course, but because just about every time Spain looked like scoring or did score, other than Puyol’s header and one or two individual bits of genius from Villa early on, Iniesta was in the middle of it. For all the talent in that Spanish roster, Iniesta and Xavi are the two who make the tiki taka work so effectively and make Spain so difficult to handle in the midfield. Both are outstanding individually, but when they’re together they’re even greater than the sum of two great individual midfielders because they’re so comfortable with one another. I don’t think either of them were 100% happy with the jabulani so we actually saw them miss on a few passes, but they were still the best the tournament had to offer. For all the brilliance that we saw from Oezil and Mueller throughout the tournament and all the German goals, Spain were a significantly better side, 1-0 result notwithstanding, and I think Iniesta is a big part of why.
I think there’s some natural tendency for “grading on the curve” because less was expected of the two Germans, young and talented as we knew they were, than a megastar like Iniesta. It’s too bad that Mueller didn’t play, both for the sake of that match and for a direct comparison, but leaving out Mueller I just don’t see the argument for Oezil over Iniesta overall. I don’t think Iniesta did that much drifting out of matches other than maybe the final, Van Bommel and the Dutch physical play seemed to rattle him and he didn’t do much for the first 60-75 minutes. After that he picked it up significantly though, and yet again was the orchestrator of Spain’s chances to score. Also, to the extend that he may have drifted out of matches, I would argue that Oezil did just as much. I guess part of it is that for all the acclaim Iniesta gets, I would argue that he probably deserves even more (other than from Wayne Rooney of course). It was the same for Xavi for a while I think, but now he’s finally getting his due.
All in all though, excellent work as usual. Enjoyed it quite a bit despite the few disagreements (obviously it’s unlikely any of us would completely concur with one another on a 23 man squad or even first eleven, and what fun would it be if we did?) Keep up the good work.
‘… but when they’re together they’re even greater than the sum of two great individual midfielders …’
words like that are a pleasure to read.
about the jabulani:
a lot of people were talking about the Bundesliga or Germany palying with this ball for a year. in the Bundesliga every team uses balls from their supplier. So if Bayern play a match in Bremen, they play a Nike ball. From the season 2010/11 every match will be played with adidas balls, but that will be the first season with a Bundesliga-standard ball.
Cheers, I disagree but fair reasonining. I think you’re being harsh on Oezil – he dominated more games than Iniesta did.
I agree with Joe there. Özil showed brilliance, and his movement and awareness let other players shine, but he had a bad match in the semi final against Spain. Of course one should not blame that on him alone, but failing at crunch time is enough in my opinion to be excluded from the best XI.
Consequently I’d swap him with Iniesta, though for shape this could cause problems ;=) (and I am not sure I have to state it this, but just in case – no I do not want Iniesta just because he scored the final goal – I want it for his involvement throughout the tournament from early stage to final).
For me Diego Benaglio was the most outstanding goalkeeper in the tournament. He only played one game less than Eduardo and played behind a defence, i think was way more shaky. Even in the last game against Honduras, the swiss could thank him that they had the chance to win until the end.
Japans Tulio could have been given a outside spot. He was really great and an important part of the Japanese Iron Defense. The opponents often spoke about how they might benefit from the Japanese lack of height, but Tulio controlled the air play very well and Japan had no troubles on set pieces, which was very impressive.
Anywway is this probably the best All-star team i have seen. Some in teh Danish media has been horrible. DR(danish Radio)’s guy put Onyewu on the team for the first two rounds and for the group stage all together. He must have been blind, cause i think he was terrible and was almost included in all goals, they let in. HE was even put on the benche for the last two games. His replacements didn’t though, but they couldn’t do a much worse job than he did.
I’d argue that Onyewu was good in the game against England (though ratings for him in that game did vary widely already). Considering him for an all-star team is ridiculous though.
Tulio and Benaglio on the other hand are two players that deserve a mention. I would include Benaglio in the top echelon of goalkeeper performances in the tournament. I think Eduardo and him were the best in the early stages.
Tulio played well and was very dominant in Japans game, good pick.
Personally I’d add Annan for outside picks, who did great (along with KP Boateng) in linking up Ghana’s defense and offense.
FINALLY! Finally some justice is done to the Tournament XI. FIFA and some English publications absolutely ridiculed themselves with some of their selections.
Consider this when selecting a “Best XI” in any competition.
1. Their form over the entire tournament, not just one or two games or group stage, or knockout stage, but over the course of the entire competition.
2. The player’s impact and influence on his respective team and what part that played in ensuring his team advanced far or won matches.
3. A player’s role in his respective team and how that role was executed. Consequently, how he compared to other players playing a similar role and then a comparative analysis of each team’s individual performances.
4. A player’s form over 90 minutes and the entirety of a match, then stretched out over the course of the tournament.
Considering all that, it is tough to argue against ZM’s selection. Yes, there were some notable exclusions (Mark van Bommmel, K-P Boateng, Friedrich, etc.) but you can only make a list so long and it has to remain objective, cover 60+ matches and 32 teams. Each of the players listed deserve their place on the list.
But what about Fucile???? 1111!!!11
Well put Cris ;=)
What, no Blanco? Just kidding. Thank you for mentioning Salcido. He was magnificent.
shocking that sergio ramos is not included….here was a man who was supposed to be the weak link in the spanish side…instead there was not a single player who gave him defensive trouble….he provided width for spain….people will say he cannot cross…..well he cant help it if there are no bodies in the box in the case of spain to deliver earl crosses….i knew that on most other sites he would not have been included in the best 11….but i expected ZM to include him.
Most of Ramos’s crosses didn’t even land in the penalty box. Ramos was good defensively and was always open for passes but his delivery with the ball was atrocious. I would put him behind Lahm and Maicon in the pecking order of right backs for this tournament.
agreed
Robben and Van Bronkhorst should be there.
Robben was far more impressive then Sneijder imo, and Van Bronkhorst’s importance is underlined by the fact that the Dutch defence fell apart as soon as he was substituted (not to mention the cracker he scored against Uruguay).
Not van Bronkhorst simply for the reason that he was too much of a defensive liability. He had track closely to his man in order not to be outpaced which led at times to too much space on his side (as ZM has already noted). Also, saying that he was key to one team’s defense isn’t saying much, especially for Holland’s. There are so many players who could be picked ahead of him. It’s nothing against his quality, but for a right back you need a pacy player who can go for a full 120 at the end of a tournament, and he was not that player.
van Bronkhorst was a left back, and I don’t think there were any other LBs that really impressed. Coentrao certainly didn’t, and I don’t believe that the lack of Dutch players on the ZM team do them justice (they did after all get to the Final).
“I don’t think there were any other LBs that really impressed. Coentrao certainly didn’t”
Seriously?
If you say that about Coentrão, then it’s all said for now…
Lack of dutch players isn’t injustice. In contrast it can be a compliment. If you go to the final without the best players, it is because you had the best team play / game plan execution.
That being said, I would have included Robben on reserve if possible.
Coentrao was a fine choice though and certainly wasn’t challenged by van Bronckhorst.
Nice article.
At least we know that ZM does not like Brazilians very much.
Lost to the Dutch was disappointing, but Lucio and Maicon had good performance overall.
Germany’s nice presentation may esstially thank to their system and versatility, all the midfielders except Podolski were able to switch position with each other. The system was not that effective when Marin or Trochowski was on the field. I do not think Neuer’s performance is great.
Van Bommel IMO is the most essential player for the Dutch defence system. Offensively it is Sneijder and Robben. I believe both goals against Uruguay were savable, so Skeletenberg is out.
Iniesta is involved in most of the goals of Spain. Ramos’ performance is good, but I can not stand his cross, you can not blame it all to the forwards, at least Capdevilla can make something from left side.
I was backing Brazil for the WC, to be fair. Those two were good, not sure they’d put themselves in the TOTT though
A shame Elano got injured, seemed to fit well into Dunga’s system.
hi ZM,
First time posting. I’m from the Maldives. Caught your website first during CL quarter-finals this year, accidentally. And I have since then been regularly checking this website (for CL, La Liga, and WC previews and reports). This is by far the best footballing site I have ever seen, in terms of in-depth knowledge, tactics, trends, formations etc. (without the hype, gloss, and drama on other sites). And I highly commend you for doing a superb job consistently! This website is really on on another level, so much so that when we now see ESPN or other experts on show (including our local pundits during the WC shows), they kinda look amateurish (though they are also good).
Keep up the great work! And thanks for excellent reading…
(PS: What is ZM? Are you a team of writers, or just a person? Any hints on background etc (as I’m amazed at how you can cover so much action all at the same time).
You have to remember that TV pundits speak to a large audience – and that audience will not understand when a pundit starts talking about tactical niuances. A website such as this, however, is the right place for discussing complex tactical issues.
Regarding ZM, it is one person. At least he says so. After the Brasil’s pre-WC analysis it became quite certain that he isn’t Jonathan Wilson, as some previously insisted. Since then, some say that ZM = Stig.
“Since then, some say that ZM = Stig”
LOL. Good one. But then, what is Maradona equals to? Schumacher?
Great site ZM. One of the best footballing analysis site ever.
From Malaysia.
Thanks! And yeah just one person…
WOW!keep up the good work mate!!
My opinion:
Casillas; Lahm, Friedrich, Puyol, Coentrão; Perez, Schweinsteiger; Müller, Xavi, Villa; Forlán.
and bench: Eduardo, Stekelenburg; Maxi Pereira, Lugano, MT Tanaka, Capdevilla; Busquets, KP Boateng; Iniesta, Sneijder, Honda; Klose.
I include Perez on the squad because most of the teams played with a true holding midfielder.
You forgot Oezil.
no actually i didn’t…hahahaha
just think he wasn’t as brilliant as Xavi or Sneijder, specially when the final moment came (Spain x Germany, Xavi was everywhere and Oezil, well…nowhere).
but he surely had a better WC than, for instance, Honda. Just isn’t the same spot.
oh, and just for the record: great World Cup analysis ZM, as usual, thank you.
Cheers!
spot on team. best one so far I’ve seen from pundits, bloggers, and so called journalists. The Guardian team was a disgrace. good to see this correcting it.
“Andres Iniesta – Tended to drift in and out of games, but provided some great touches, including the most important one of the tournament.”
Sounds like Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup
I’d have had Iniesta in the starting eleven on your list ahead of Schweinsteiger but it’s pretty hard to get down to just 11.
Ahead of Schweinsteiger? They don’t play the same position and Schweinsteiger was arguably the most consistent player of the tournament. I think you mean ahead of Villa or Oezil.
We’ve got to the point now where no one plays the same position as anyone else. We’ve stratified midfielders into so many types of players that, yes, Iniesta and Schwiensteiger do not play the same position. Iniesta plays higher and links more with strikers and has more of a free role across the field. Schweinsteiger, ostensibly, sits deeper and is confined more to the left but still got forward into the box with great effect.
By saying Iniesta should replace either Oezil (mid) or Villa (striker) it shows that there’s no easy way to define what role Iniesta fills for Spain so I put him down as a midfielder and couldn’t fathom taking Xavi or Oezil out of what looks like a 4-3-3 (but, granted, could easily be a 4-2-3-1 if you take two of Villa, Forlan and Muller as recessed strikers and viewed Xavi and Schw as holding/deep mids.
No way – Schweinsteiger is a lock for the best XI. I am all for including Iniesta, but look at other players instead (e.g. Özil).
It’s very interesting how you have one more German than a Spaniard in the first team, showing how Germany had all the qualities to win and could have won had Mueller not been suspended. On the opposite side, Spain was terrific in their own way by playing boring football that won them the World Cup.
I can’t argue with any of your XI decisions. Great site, mate.
I think Germany’s tactics against Spain were very good, they decided to soak up all the pressure and pounce on any Spanish mistakes. Similar to Mourinho against Barcelona. Unfortunately they weren’t as ruthless in Spain’s penalty box and in the end made a mistake from a set piece. In open play I do not think Spain would’ve beaten Neuer.
They weren’t as ruthless in the box mostly because of how Spain play their football…and Sergio Busquets!
I do agree that with Spain’s offence we saw, it’s impossible for them to score against a team with that good of defenders and goalkeeper. They wouldn’t have won without David Villa, that’s for sure…they might not have been able to score outside of set pieces had David Villa not played!
No mistakes from Neuer? He was a liability throughout the tournament.
What were the mistakes?
The goal against England
what are you taking about? besides the first goal against england i can’t remember a single mistake by neuer.
Neuer was solid, mate. Definitely not as good as German legends like Sepp Maier and Ollie Kahn, but remember 2002…even the best have their breaks.
Three Portuguese players is way too heavy!
Yeah, it’s kinda weird that a team, which only made it to the last 16 has 3 players on the first XI while, for example, Netherlands that were in the final has none.
But Eduardo, R.Carvalho and F.Coentrão totally deserved their nominations.
Eduardo because he simply was a god between the Portuguese posts, and also outside them where he did some superb dashes to save some through balls. It seems impossible but I think that he didn’t make a single mistake throughout the entire competition. It’s sad for him that the only goal he conceded was in an offside position and was the one that cost him the elimination from the world cup (even though he defended the first attempt from Villa)
Carvalho because he was an authentic defensive rock and leaded the Portuguese defense to some really great performances.
F.Coentrão simply because he was a roller-coaster on the Portuguese left-flank. Honestly, I believe he was Portugal’s greatest offensive threat in the tournament. But what really impressed me was his defensive skills and tactical, positional awareness. For a guy who started the year as a winger and was only adapted to left-back on the 2nd half of the season, to step up against players like Maicon, Kalou and F.Torres and look completely unbreakable is impressive, indeed.
ZM, I think you made great choices for this best XI and there’s only one think I’d change from the full-squad. Drop Messi for Robben
why didn’t nelson start? he was absolutely magnificent.
I defended Nelsen in an earlier post, but for the exact same reasons I’ll do the opposite here. He had a fantastic tournament, yes. So did a number of other centre backs. He deserves a spot in the 23, arguably the XI, but so did more than four other centre backs. I think his greatest attribute was bringing the best out of what was an average team, forced by lack of highest quality players into a flawed formation. I would argue he had one of the biggest impacts on his team of any player there, who would have thought New Zealand would look like deserving three draws pre-Cup?
However, I don’t think you could argue he was top two (mainly because of lack of knock out games), but certainly very close. So the reserves are the perfect place to highlight such an outstanding performance, and in itself comes at the cost of some other excellent players.
@ZM
Is Busquets a good choice for a 3-3-1-3 system?
he often drops deep and plays between the two centre backs. but with a three men defence there is already Nelson!
With a three men defence Busquets has to play a different style, maybe a different player with the proper style would be a better choice (more “attacking”? Alonso? to keep it spanish).
Busquets is a great player and this is not a problem concerning his performance, it is more a tactical problem.
Hi there! I was just surfing after the Barca-Inter game in May and I found your website. I have never seen such spot-on analysis; it is just incredible how you see the games and then dissect them. Question: what is your approach? How do you go on about analysing team formations, player movement, etc? Highlight us about your methods. That could be an article, I’m sure. We need you for 2010-2011!!!
Ah don’t worry, I’ll stll be here…
I agree with most of your assessment except for the goalkeeping position. I believe that the goalkeeper should be Enyeama of Nigeria. Eduardo, Nuer, Casillas, all had the benefit of a good defence whilst Enyeama saved Nigeria from a total route against Spain and against Greece. Against Argentina, Nigeria might have even stole a point in that match. the scoreline did not reflect the total dominance of the Argentines.
Casillas certainly doesn’t deserve it…he wasn’t on his best form.
I do agree with Enyeama, though. He was outstanding, and he made so many key saves when they were necessary even though they fell short because of that kid who missed an open net.
He made a massive error against Greece to gift them the game?! When a player makes mistakes like that and only plays three games you can not put him in the TOTT.
Hey Z, love your analysis as always – gotta admit, I am currently in the withdrawal phase. Can’t believe that the next World Cup will be in exactly FOUR YEARS!
Anyway, agree with all selections and gotta tip my hat to the formation of the JV team – is that a nod to Bielsa’s favourite formation?
Peace…
Indeed it is. And thanks!
Benaglio
Ramos Lugano Mathijsen Coentrao
Arevalo Schwenisteiger
Xavi
Mueller Villa
Forlan
I went with 9 of your 11 – the two changes being Joris Mathijsen instead of Ricardo Carvalho and Robinho instead of David Villa (although with hindsight, when Villa played on the left he was Spain’s best attacking player). 5 of the players are pretty nailed on – Ozil, Muller and Schweinsteiger were superb, Xavi ran the Spanish midfield and Forlan dragged Uruguay to the semi-final (albeit with a helping hand from Suarez).
One interesting thing I noticed – In your 23 there are 5 players from Barcelona’s academy (Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Puyol, Messi) and 3 players from Bayern Munich’s (Lahm, Mueller, Schweinsteiger). It’s no wonder both teams have done so well in recent seasons…
Actually Nick there are 7 from Barcelona’s Academy: Victor Valdes, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Pique, Puyol and Sergio Busquets.
Messi is Argentinian not Spaniard.
I believe Messi was brought over to Barcelona from Argenina when he was quite young (between 11 and 15) and progressed through their youth academy. Gotta count him as a Barca protege in my book.
Failed to mention that the goal Eduardo let in was arguably an off-side…minor quibble
It wasn’t offside.
Yes it was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0JN5YQbmkk
Lahm looks like a footballer, Ramos looks like a rugby winger who’s converted to soccer really well.
my changes to the first 11 would be:
1- mertesacker instead of carvalho.( surprised no one has mentioned him, he took everything that was thrown at him. )
2- salcido instead of coentrao( i dont get this, why do many pick him? i would rate salcido, fucile, van bronckhorst all ahead of him.)
3- klose instead of oezil.( oezil had a very good tournament but he failed to perform against spain and missed a few easy chances.i feel klose was better and more clinical with his excellent intelligent movement. germany will have a tough time finding a player of his calibre again. of course this change would mean id put forlan as supporting striker for the stating 11.
3 Portuguese players is simply way too much. Carvalho specially wasn’t that impressive, I could name nearly 10 defenders better than him: Pique, Lucio, Juan, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Mathisen, Godin…
And is much easier to shine in the first round than in final or semi-final. Casillas for example was fantastic in both the quarter-finals and finals, he certainly deserved to be name best goalkeeper of the World Cup than Eduardo.
Likewise, Ozil was much better at group stages than in the important games, Sneijder deserved to be on the list instead.
I don’t understand what you mean when you say it’s easier to shine in the first round than in the final.
I mean, it’s easier for strikers to score in the group stage when they face weaker defenses than in the final rounds, that’s obvious (take Higuain as an example)
But for a goalkeeper?? I don’t see a keeper take a spotlight in a match when you win 7-0 and all you do is stay 90 minutes between the posts.
Besides, while Eduardo was being crucial for Portugal to keep clean sheets against the likes of Ivory Coast and Brazil, Casillas was ruining Spain’s matches against Chile and Switzerland so you can’t use the opponents as an excuse.
Even in the Spain-Portugal match Eduardo performed way better than Casillas. While the first was (sometimes miraculously) saving countless shots, the other, despite facing a mediocre Portuguese attack, seemed to make a problem out of everything (he almost offered Portugal a goal when he fumbled a poor free-kick from Ronaldo).
Ok, so he had good performances in the final, 1/2 final and 1/4 final, but even those can’t match Eduardo’s in the group stage and specially in the last 16 and I completely sure that if had been in these matches instead of Casillas he would have done the same or even better.
So, you have Casillas with 3 good performances and 4 bad ones and then you have Eduardo with 4 good performances and no (legal) goals suffered. Seems like an easy choice. But it isn’t cause there’s always the tendency to pick a keeper from the final and we must congratulate ZM for this great choice.
So you say Carvalho wasn’t that impressive? Then tell me if leading a defense against Brazil, Ivory Coast and Spain and only suffer a single (offside) goal isn’t impressive I don’t know what is.
The fact that there are 3 Portuguese players (LB, GK, CB) just reflects the fact that Portugal was the best team in the WC defensively and wasn’t world champion, because screwed things up in attack
As this is the tourney wrap up I just wanted to take the chance to thank you for your wonderful work. I had to watch the games on the tivo after work, and often would already be getting excited to see what you had to say as the last few seconds of extra time were still ticking away. Your quality of work is a rarity in football commentary and always a pleasure.
To me the most interesting thing about this 23-man squad is that there are no players from the Premiership in it. Ill omen for English clubs in this year’s Champions League?
that busquets – he’s just disgusting diver, a cheat maybe better said, so i wouldnt pick him in my squad for sure.
The biggest myth about van Bommel is that he doesn’t commit dirty fouls, just ‘niggly’ ones. It’s absolute nonsense, he commits dangerous tackles almost every game.
Fully agree!!
Can we have WC2010 Worst XI and Worst 23-man squad too?
Erm.. what about Paul the octopus? *runs away*
in reply to ZM at 10:00; – doesn’t every team need a bad guy? Hitzfeld, this calm and harmless looking man, when Coach with Bayern M. called vB his “aggressive leader”.
@ZM
Sub: Van Bommel
True. I am always worried about the opposite players ankle.
that is nonsense. if he was making dangerous tackles every match, he would have seriously injured someone by now. but he hasn’t. and if van bommel really wanted to hurt a player, he could do quite easily.
Nah, I hate all that “worst” stuff, “biggest flops” etc. It’s nicer to focus on the players who DID have good tournaments.
precisely. Besides, those worst teams are far too easy to make. this one for instance would start with Green and end with Rooney, with Barry somewhere in between.
Good decision. There is enough media attention around dissecting play (and even life) of under performing stars.
Rather see more unsung hero spotlights instead. (e.g. one year from now – how have our world cup 2010 top performers done in season 2010/2011 – did they elevate their club play to world cup level?)