Nations League 24/25

Maradona37

Maradona37

Well-known member
Just seen it's Verbruggen that is in goal, suspected it was him when you guys talked about his shot stopping (he's good on the ball too).

He's very good at Brighton.
 
P

Porque

Senior Member
Maradona37 said:
Just seen it's Verbruggen that is in goal, suspected it was him when you guys talked about his shot topping (he's good on the ball too).

He's very good at Brighton.
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But does he eat Rodizio!?!?!

Does he Samba!?

Does his girlfriend wax and leave a strip!?

Does his mum warm bananas in the microwave???


If no to any of these, then it's a no from Deco too.
 
MonteCuler

MonteCuler

Well-known member
France still can't score against Croatia lol

Weird, two supposed ballon d'or candidates Mbappe and Dembele pocketed by mighty Croatians
 
MonteCuler

MonteCuler

Well-known member
Italy just conceded one of the dumbest goals at top level football in a long time

This is embarrassing, once a defensive powerhouse
 
MonteCuler

MonteCuler

Well-known member
It was corner and Donnarumma went to speak with the referee or whatever, left his goal wide open and Kimmich just passed it to Musiala who scored

Kinda like corner taken quickly but even worse
 
Maradona37

Maradona37

Well-known member
So many elite national powerhouses have declined, haven't they? Was football just better 20 years ago?

Brazil, Italy, Netherlands are the main culprits. Spain are still good but not as good as they were (though that is harsh as I am comparing to their best ever team).

Argentina, England, France are probably all better than they were. Though the Argies were brilliant in 2006 and Pekerman fucked them. Germany go through spells where they're good then poor. Curiously, France, Germany and England have extremely strong youth set ups and have poured money into youth development (France since the 90s) and are reaping the benefits. Portugal are up and down and the 'Ronaldo factor' obviously makes them an outlier as he is holding them back. Belgium improved but have dropped off again as their golden generation aged. Croatia got better but they were good in the 90s too as a new nation.

So am I imagining it or are the bigger teams just getting worse? Even watching tournaments from the 90s football looked much better, but it could be my young boy teenage nostalgia kicking in. Am I basing this entirely on the present state of Brazil and Italy?

Thoughts?
 
MonteCuler

MonteCuler

Well-known member
Maradona37 said:
So many elite national powerhouses have declined, haven't they? Was football just better 20 years ago?

Brazil, Italy, Netherlands are the main culprits. Spain are still good but not as good as they were (though that is harsh as I am comparing to their best ever team).

Argentina, England, France are probably all better than they were. Though the Argies were brilliant in 2006 and Pekerman fucked them. Germany go through spells where they're good then poor. Curiously, France, Germany and England have extremely strong youth set ups and have poured money into youth development (France since the 90s) and are reaping the benefits. Portugal are up and down and the 'Ronaldo factor' obviously makes them an outlier as he is holding them back. Belgium improved but have dropped off again as their golden generation aged. Croatia got better but they were good in the 90s too as a new nation.

So am I imagining it or are the bigger teams just getting worse? Even watching tournaments from the 90s football looked much better, but it could be my young boy teenage nostalgia kicking in. Am I basing this entirely on the present state of Brazil and Italy?

Thoughts?
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Think it depends from nation to nation but yeah most have seriously declined in past decade or so, even those that are now considered strong
 
Maradona37

Maradona37

Well-known member
MonteCuler said:
Think it depends from nation to nation but yeah most have seriously declined in past decade or so, even those that are now considered strong
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Yes.

I mean it's a hard one on Spain - they're still pretty good and are European champions, but obviously the golden generation team was better.

Even when I watch international tournaments, they don't seem as good as the past, 2022 aside. Though it could be (as I said before) my nostalgia goggles.

I think football as a whole is more athletic and more coached to within an inch of players' lives these days. I love Pep as a coach but he definitely does a lot of that too. I do like great tactical systems but I confess a yearning for more off the cuff football of the past, where athleticism didn't rule supreme.

Plenty of of players now are poor footballers but get by on being big, fast and strong.
 
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