By Freud of Football -
December 2nd 2009 @ 4:59am
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Loading ...The Roar’s Football Razzies of 08-09
The debates as to who is the best player in the world is about to heat up with the naming of the Top 10 for the coveted Ballon d’Or, but let’s take a different tact – who are the most overrated players in world football?
Sure we can debate the amazing grace of Messi, the power and elegance of Ronaldo or the X-Factor of Ronaldo. It’s fun and it’s futile.
But a much more interesting award would be to honour the player whose reputation far exceeds his skill.
As such, here are my Top 5 candidates for The Roar’s Football Razzies of 08-09, surely to become football’s lowest honour and a badge of shame;
5) Petr Cech
The only one I include with a degree of sadness. His star has fallen with a mighty thud and it all seemed to be that horrific clash that changed it for him. He’s gone from a top class keeper to stuffing up the simplest of saves.
Chelsea fans still rate him very highly and he is mentioned every time someone names the best keepers in the world but he certainly doesn’t belong there.
4) Michael Owen
A free transfer for a former Ballon d’Or winner at the age of 28 sounds pretty amazing, that is until you see that Owen is a shadow of his former self.
His advantage was always his pace and acceleration, with that gone he’s relying on a mind which works in a body that fails.
3) Andrea Pirlo
Perhaps I just misunderstand the “deep-lying playmaker”. For mine, he lays deep because his lack of pace is exposed whenever he moves, he technically isn’t proficient and always “nearly” succeeds. He “nearly” hits a wonder-strike or “nearly” makes a wonder-ball but never manages to actually do it.
A player nowhere near as good as any Milan fan would have you believe.
2) Kaka
Ok, I’ve given him the plaudits in the past and he finds himself on the aforementioned Top 10 list, but how? £68.5 Million for what? Someone who can run fast and pass accurately and score the occasional goal?
I mean really, he’s good, but he’s nowhere near THAT good.
1) Jamie Carragher
Slow, technically weak, big-mouthed and useless, obviously as a Man United fan I might be biased but I always feel when I watch Liverpool that they have got a blind goatherd steering their defence.
Past his prime which he never really had, Carragher would be for mine, a deserving recipient of The Roar’s Razzie.
Notable absentees were Berbatov, Henry and Ibrahmovich.
All three could have easily made the list after their poor performances mixed with the unifying belief from their fans but I’ll leave the floor open to suggestions.
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Mattay said | December 2nd 2009 @ 8:06am | Report comment
Very good call on Carragher. He was once under-rated, then people started talking of him being one of the best defenders in the world. I actually saw a few lists (both from professional journalists and amateur bloggers) where Carragher would either top the best defender in the world lists, or be in World XI’s.
He’s a plodder. Technically average and his one key skill, the last ditch tackle, is something the really good defenders don’t need to do. The best defenders keep their feet and don’t dive in.
At his best, wasn’t even in the top 5 or 6 English defenders at the time (Campbell, Ferdinand, Terry, King, Woodgate, Southgate – off the top of my head were/are much better).
Pippinu said | December 2nd 2009 @ 8:28am | Report comment
I’m not sure if it’s really fair to include blokes who are now past their prime in this list.
Fisher Price said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
Quite.
Or else you’d also have to throw Van Nistelrooy, Giggs, Scholes, the Nevilles, Beckham, Van Der Saar, Ferdinand onto the list…
Freud of Football said | December 2nd 2009 @ 4:08pm | Report comment
Quite.
Oh but then again, a triple then a double and the last 3 league crowns in a row…
I guess some of United’s players might be – in your opinion – overrated but the trophies don’t lie.
AndyRoo said | December 2nd 2009 @ 8:35am | Report comment
I don’t understand why players cop it because clubs over pay for them.
I know we all do it but it’s not Kaka’s fault he didn’t leave on a free transfer.
Freud of Football said | December 2nd 2009 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
It doesn’t make Kaka a better player. His fee is only part of it, he simply isn’t THAT good, not as good as people would have us believe.
Albal said | December 2nd 2009 @ 10:37am | Report comment
Brett Holman anyone?
Brian said | December 2nd 2009 @ 10:49am | Report comment
The clear standout for me is Frank Lampard. I’ve never understood the comparision with Gerrard I don’t go for Liverpool but there is no comparision.
Other notables
Ibrahimovic – good but fails to deliver when it really counts, unlike Etoo
Carragher – As others have said
Ribery – I just can’t see it.
I disagree on Henry, he’s simply past his best. Also Kaka is the world’s 3rd best player – that’s not too bad.
On Aussies I might say Schwarzer is over-rated he’s very good but prob not amongst the world’s best as we may think. Again some might say Kewell but I think thats uonly because of what he was. Holman I didn’t think was very highly rated other than by Pim
AndyRoo said | December 2nd 2009 @ 11:03am | Report comment
All the English players suffer in the eyes of the public from receiving more positive press than a comparitive Brazilian would get.
Fisher Price said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:04pm | Report comment
Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill…
AndyRoo said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
If your English and playing for your home club your going to get more positive and negative press than the foreign guy next to you even though the achievments are the same. That’s why they then get branded (unfairly) as over rated.
It’s not their fault they are lauded over by the english press.
Fisher Price said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:11pm | Report comment
Whatever.
I was suggesting they rather than Schwarzer were overrated.
Which I think they are.
Gibbo said | December 2nd 2009 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
surely the biggest problem jamie carragher has is his compatriots in the liverpool defence… if he was at any other of the big clubs he’d be a bit player, a gary neville bringing some experience off the bench.
Fisher Price said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
Henry? You are indeed a Man Utd fan…
This video is evidence both of his brilliance and Carragher’s ineptitude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIlXwu4-zJU
Freud of Football said | December 2nd 2009 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
I used to watch Henry at Arsenal and I’ll honestly say that he was the best player I’ve seen, Cristiano Ronaldo is his equal and I don’t rate Messi as highly as he has less strings to his bow but obviously what he does do is very very good.
Henry however has lost that bit of pace on which his game heavily relies and Barca have screwed him over. Wenger started him through the middle at Monaco, got him back from Juve where they’d tried to stick him on a wing, put him back through the middle at Arsenal – where he was untouchable for a couple of seasons – and then Barca try to play him as a wide forward to suit the team.
Henry was brilliant but like Ronaldo – not Cristiano, the Brazilian – his star has fallen with his pace.
keeper11 said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
The Sydney Tele says its Darren Lokyer or Derek, jarryd Haynes somebody ?….
play in this quasi- national sport involving 2 Australian states..
If its in the tele its true isn’t it ..surely ??
vladimir said | December 2nd 2009 @ 1:11pm | Report comment
now write that again in english
Ben of Phnom Penh said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
Is Steve MacMahon Jr still playing?
Fisher Price said | December 2nd 2009 @ 2:32pm | Report comment
ZELJKO ‘SPIDER’ KALAC.
the all rounder said | December 2nd 2009 @ 3:57pm | Report comment
there is no way Mark Schwarzer is overrated. he’s a world class keeper, the 3rd best in the premier league. so not the very best, but he’s pretty fantastic.
Freud of Football said | December 2nd 2009 @ 4:14pm | Report comment
he is most certainly not the 3rd best in the EPL, if he was he’d have gone somewhere better after Boro, Fulham is on a par with Schwarzer’s skills, he is good but prone to the occassional mistake.
The Bishop said | December 2nd 2009 @ 5:58pm | Report comment
FOF, you’re right – Schwarzer is only tenth best currently in the premier league.
http://www.premierleague.com/page/Top10Keepers/
I wonder if you know who is waaaaayyy ahead at number one? Perhaps not so overrated after all then. Interesting that there are no Man U players in the top 10 at all…
Freud of Football said | December 2nd 2009 @ 6:44pm | Report comment
Cech is there via the Actim Index, not by a vote by his peers.
How would there be a Man Utd keeper on the list? Van der Sar was out injured so two keepers have both played half the games, they wouldn’t have earnt enough points to make the list.
The Actim index is based on stats, Chelsea are top of the table and have only conceded 8 goals this season, not thanks to the brilliance of Cech but the hard work of their midfield, some decent defending and some poor refereeing but he is the one who benefits on this list.
The Bishop said | December 2nd 2009 @ 6:58pm | Report comment
FOF, are you one of his peers then?
Top 10 players, top ten goalkeepers, take your pick of either ranking – there is not one Man U player there – check for yourself.
Actim is a respected and objective measure of form.
Freud of Football said | December 2nd 2009 @ 7:14pm | Report comment
I’m not one of his peers, I merely included him in my list of overrated players.
Actim is not a respected measure of form, the Actim Index is based on stats, not how good a player is.. That’s like saying your fantasy league team could beat anyone because they finish top out of 2 million – it’s ALL based on statistics, players get points for everything they do, Chelsea have conceded just 8 goals in the EPL, that’s why Cech is top of the Keepers.
“there is not one Man U player there” – well that’s fantastic, whose second on the table? Is Steven Hunt really better than Rooney? No, Rooney’s score is based on the goals he scores, he just hit a hat trick last week and Hunt is an Ireland International who plays for 15th placed Hull yet he is above Rooney in the list.
That tells the whole story.
the all rounder said | December 2nd 2009 @ 9:30pm | Report comment
well any keeper is prone to an odd mistake. i think schwarzer’s form has been sensational. i meant that i feel he is in the top 3 goalkeepers on current and recent form. which freud will probs disagree with. but i reckon he’d be behind reina and friedel and fractionally ahead of given, van der sar and sorensen. but cech, robinson, green and jensen are more mistake prone IMO.
Greg Russell said | December 3rd 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
“Someone who can run fast and pass accurately and score the occasional goal? I mean really, he’s good, but he’s nowhere near THAT good.”
Freud, I like this on Kaka.
The other element you forgot to mention is that he’s Brazilian. Just doing a bit of pop psychology on the run here (so I may be wrong), but I think a lot of people have the attitude that Brazil’s marquee player at any moment must automatically be one of the best few players in the world, because of Brazil being what they are. Yes, this is very often the case (Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, etc.), but it need not always be. Sometimes a football team can be one of the very best in the world because it is strong from 1 to 11, as opposed to being one of the very best because it has some of the very best players in the world. I may be wrong, but I suspect that the former scenario describes Brazil at the moment.
AndyRoo said | December 3rd 2009 @ 10:13am | Report comment
Even if your wrong (Im not saying either way) it’s a nice little theory that will spark some interesting shed talk.
Vicentin said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:26am | Report comment
I think Kaka is a brilliant player having watched (ok, not live) him at Milan over many seasons. Part of his brilliance is his understatedness – he doesn’t need to do heaps of stepovers or other really flashy things. He has great technique – first touch etc, and has a great passing game but his greatest attribute is his brain (even if some part of it is weirdly given over to evangelicalism ….). The guy uses space really well, he is invariably moving to the ball when he receives it and his first touch takes him in the direction he wants to go. That first touch is often not to somewhere near his feet therefore no need for stepovers but to a space between or behind defenders where he then uses his great acceleration and speed (and the fact that the defenders are going in the opposite direction) to continue with the move. I think he has better vision and game intelligence than 99.8 percent of players out there. Shoot me down but its my subjective opinion and I’m sticking to it. Couldn’t give a toss whether he Brazilian or or Belarussian by the way.
Also the flaws FOF attributes to Pirlo are valid to a degree – he is bloody slow most of the time these days and it gets him in to trouble which is why he’s often milking fouls, but still if you watch enough of him play rather than the odd game where he doesn’t turn up, he still delivers on the game intelligence and killer passes. I’d probably agree he’s past his prime – who’s goes on about him anyway in the “over-rated” sense anyway? I hear more people slag him off than particularly praise him these days.
I also completely disagree with the disparaging comments on Messi, I think he’s great. I think Ronaldo is great too – I just don’t like him though. I also think they’re ridiculously different to each other. It’s all very Oasis V Blur, or for earlier Australian generations Sherbet Vs Skyhooks. Is that the time? I’m hungry ciao!
AndyRoo said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
Vicentin, really enjoyed that first paragraph. I wish we had a football here at work right now
Art Sapphire said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:10am | Report comment
I agree Greg – what makes Brazil such a formidable team at the moment is they are very strong from 1 to 11.
But seriously, I think your knowledge on football is questionable, just like the author of the piece, but at least you have the humility to so that you might be wrong.
” Kaka – someone who can run fast and pass accurately and score the occasional goal, but he’s nowhere near THAT good.” This will go down as one of the most ridiculous statements in the history of football. Well done, Freud.
Kaka convincingly won the Balon D’or in 2007 defeating Ronaldo and Messi in the process. The 2 other players that make up the three best current players in the world. But that year he dominated the champions league and also single handedly dismantled Man U. He has also made the FIFPro World XI for the last three years running. The World XI are chosen by the footballers themselves.
Still, not convinced here is further proof. Watch the video and see if Freud’s ridiculous statement still rings true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9hsWjKBDA&feature=related
Mystifyingly Freud also rates Henry above Messi. Yes Henry was a very fine player in his prime, but if you compare what Henry and Messi have achieved by Lionel’s current age of 22, well then there is no contest.
I’ll give you a clue at the age of 22 Henry had just joined Arsenal. Henry’s stellar years were in his mid twenties.
Messi’s best years are still ahead of him.
Oh yes and there was that goal he scored – should not forget that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIep5g_GeSQ
Freud might write alot about football, Greg, but unforunately, he views the football world in EPL prescription rose coloured glasses.
Darwin hammer said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Completely agree AS … and ditto those comments re FoF’s assertion that Henry is the equal of Cristiano Ronaldo … they’re not on the same sphere
Freud of Football said | December 3rd 2009 @ 4:10pm | Report comment
I didn’t say they are now, Henry a few years back was in his own world DH, like Ronaldo he did everything and scored in every way, his raw power and pace back in 2003-2005 made him untouchable.
Pippinu said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Art
thanks for the info – I too had a clear memory of Kaka single handedly bringing the CL trophy back to Milan (clear stand out, with supporting roles from Pirlo, Seedorf and Inzaghi) – but couldn’t remember the year – and I was far too lazy to look it up!!
Art Sapphire said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:35am | Report comment
spoken like a lazy sicilian, Pip
Pippinu said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:42am | Report comment
Are there any others??!!
Greg Russell said | December 3rd 2009 @ 3:19pm | Report comment
AS: … did I actually write all those things? Sort of dangerous to imply that because I mildly agreed with one thing Freud wrote, then I probably agree with everything he wrote, and that my “knowledge on football is questionable”, especially given that you agreed with the tangent on which I went.
Perhaps you are also thinking back to last week, where I committed the “sin” of agreeing with something from IFFHS, therefore I’m questionable. I’ll openly admit, as I have before, that you (AS) are super knowledgeable on football, more so than me. But I’d also wager that the guys at IFFHS would give you a very good run for your money.
With your comments on DAM last week I also think you need to work on understanding the concept of sustained excellence. If one judges DAM only on his peaks, then sure, he was perhaps even greater than Pele. But it’s quite legitimate to judge someone on their entire body of work … DAM had a lot of sustained lows that bring the average well down from the amazing height of his peaks.
In defence of Freud on Kaka: an interpretation of what he wrote is that (1) he’s talking about Kaka 2009, not Kaka the Ballon d’Or winner from 2007 (a lot of the present arguments seem to be based on this version of 2 years ago), (2) he’s not saying that Kaka is poor, just that he’s not as out-of-this-world as many people rate him, and (3) It’s easy to say Kaka is “brilliant” one day, the same for Messi the next day, Ronaldo the next, and so on. If the discussion is only about one of them at a time, then each can be the greatest alive. But put them all on a list and order them, so that only one can be the greatest. Where does Kaka come then? He actually hasn’t made the Ballon top 5 for the last 2 years, which if anything adds weight to Freud’s point.
Anyway, you are correct that my knowledge on football minutiae isn’t great these days. I do my best not to comment outside my limits of knowledge. But after one has watched a lot of sport and read a lot about sport, the general patterns tend to become very clear. They change remarkably little. On football I try only to comment on general impressions (Kaka’s ranking being such a thing).
To give an example: do I really need to have watched every minute of Torres playing for Liverpool to say that he should definitely have been in the top 10 for the Ballon? After one has seen tens of thousands of goals scored (as I have – there was a time when I watched many matches per week), one has a built-in compass, and so footage of a couple of goals from Torres is enough to say confidently that he is something truly special.
Whatever, don’t take this the wrong way. I do like and appreciate your (AS’s) work, very much. But no-one is the font of all knowledge, not you, not me, not even the real Freud (Sigmund).
Art Sapphire said | December 3rd 2009 @ 4:19pm | Report comment
Greg – where did I state that you agree with everything Freud writes. I did no such thing.
All I did was take issue with you agreeing with Freud’s view of Kaka and even give you a nice link to view the wonderful talents of Kaka.
Did you watch the video?? Video evidence can sometimes make a powerful argument.
Educated football watchers like Vicentin replied to your post with a lovely decsription as to why Kaka is regarded so highly. Sure all opinions are subjective, but when global collective football opinion rates Kaka as one of the best current players in the world and Maradona as one of the if not greatest player of all time, then it does carries weight.
I have got no idea what you think of Messi. But I did in my earlier post make an argument on how Freud’s opinion on Messi can be seen as misguided. Freud’s is absolutely entiltled to his opinions. Its a good thing he has a thick skin because he sure cops enough on this site.
Finally, I have never ever called myself a supreme expert on football. I am just a someone who has watched football and sport for over 30 years and I pass the time at work by commenting on this site.
I, actually, appreciate most of your comments as sometimes you looks at things from a refreshingly different perspective.
But one thing I will not do is go on a Rugby thread and write about Dan Carter -
“someone who can run, throw accurately and kick the occasional goal, but he’s nowhere near THAT good”
Freud of Football said | December 3rd 2009 @ 5:49pm | Report comment
Ok Art. Firstly, I have included Kaka on my overrated list for this year, I saw quite a bit of him in 2007 in both the Serie A and CL when he was far better but I will stick to it that his fee in the summer just gone was way off, almost as far off as some of your analysis.
He didn’t single-handedly dismantle United in the CL, United simply didn’t have the experience and it was much a case of them losing as Milan winning, it was the first big match for a lot of the team and Rooney and Ronaldo (who were still just kids) were quite obviously overwhelmed and didn’t perform. I watched that game with a lot of people and even before I came out with the line they all noted that they would come back the next year and they did.
Fact is Milan were better over the two legs and Milan made use of all their experience, they were always going to advance from 3-2 but it was Seedorf who really hurt United in those games, Kaka was just in the right place at the right time to knock in his goals and while he deserved his Ballon d’Or, he has certainly fallen away since then.
Regarding Henry. You possibly prefer a different type of player to me. Messi is a short dribbler with great pace and balance, he can turn on the ball quick and has wonderful interplay but I’m not a fan (that’s not to say he’s not good or didn’t deserve the ballon d’Or), Kaka is similar with his interplay but I like the taller, more powerful players who are also good on the ball like Henry and Ronaldo, more strings to their bow and much more exciting to watch.
Henry (who I think has been overrated since he’s been at Barca) was simply sublime at Arsenal, best example – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbASd5CU3H8 – I was unfortunately watching this game from Aus so seeing a strike like that was sort of hard to take in the wee hours of the morning.
AndyRoo said | December 3rd 2009 @ 9:24pm | Report comment
I know what goal that was before I even looked at that clip.
It’s my favorite Goal ever, well 2nd favorite after Yankos vs Argentina but that is for personal reasons.
Art Sapphire said | December 3rd 2009 @ 10:17pm | Report comment
Thanks for the input Freud, much appreciated. Football is a game of opinions. My opinion is Messi as long as he remains injury-free in his twenties will go downs as one of the greatest players ever. Don’t get me wrong, I really admired Henry as a player. He had that great but also frustrating tendency to make a goal look as pretty as possible. But, it did cost him a few times. Anyway, opinion is one thing, Fact is another.
Henry 1.88m
Kaka 1.86m
C Ronaldo 1.86m
Yes, Messi is a little man, Kaka sure isn’t.
Freud of Football said | December 3rd 2009 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
Kaka doesn’t use his head or posess and frightening phyiscal power, he is relatively quick yes, but look at the leap on Henry (well previously, probably not as good now) and particularly Ronaldo. He might be “tall” but that doesn’t help if he doesn’t use it.
Colin N said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:39pm | Report comment
“but look at the leap on Henry (well previously, probably not as good now) and particularly Ronaldo”
Neither does Henry. That was one of the ‘jokes’ when Henry was in his prime, everyone kept asking ‘will he ever score a goal with his head.’
“Henry (who I think has been overrated since he’s been at Barca)”
But this raises the question, ‘what is overrated,’ because by all accounts, Henry was very poor in his first season at Barca? The fans and press weren’t happy with his form, so does that mean he was overrated? By all accounts he’s improved, but has he really been getting the accolades?
On Kaka, he’s a fabulous player, who was fantastic against Manchester United in ‘that’ semi-final. It was one/two of those performances where you thought, ‘is it possible to stop him’, that’s how good he was.
Greg Russell said | December 4th 2009 @ 10:56am | Report comment
AS – thanks for the measured response. I have no problem with anything you have written here on football, except to make the point once again that there are only so many spaces at the top of a list. So if you put Kaka in your current top 3 (say), then you’ll have to leave out some pretty big names.
I thought some more about why Freud’s inclusion of Kaka may have riled so many people. It’s possibly because of the other names on his list. It might be taken from this that Freud is ranking Kaka alongside Owen, Carragher, etc. Such a ranking is obviously absurd, and I cannot believe Freud would have meant that.
My own interpretation of Freud on Kaka is simply that he’s suggesting that he’s no longer (I stress the last two words) in the top handful. When I agreed with this, I wasn’t aware that the Ballon rankings for 2009 were also in agreement with this opinion, with Kaka not being in the top 5, just as he also wasn’t last year (and yes, I’m aware that 6th is close to top 5, but it is not top 5, and see my earlier comment about there only being so many spaces at the top of a list).
On rugby, I’m wondering if you realize how good Dan Carter is? As my astute, knowledgeable and rugby loving boss said to me last Friday night, “New Zealand has had other loose forwards as good as McCaw, but I don’t think there has ever been a rugby player as good as Carter.” Carter then gave a performance against the French fully consistent with this. There is no single skill at which he’s the best there has ever been, but he’s very strong in every single skill. I have never seen another 10 who is so good in all departments, and 10 is the most important position on the rugby field. I’d say he’s the Pele of rugby, except that I’m not even sure Pele was so strong in all departments (who of us actually saw enough of him to know?)
So, too right you would not say this about Carter, and even to compare Kaka with Carter is not right, because I think we can definitely agree that it’s not right to talk of Kaka as one of the greats of all time. (That said, I do realise that football is played by billions, rugby not even by millions. So the competition to be the greatest in football is many, many times tougher.)
Art Sapphire said | December 4th 2009 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
I agree with you Greg – when it comes to the pantheon of all-time Football greats Kaka would be lucky to warm the bench. I just used the Carter comparison as my Rugby knowledge is pretty limited. I knew Carter was a great player but did not realise where he fitted in the great scheme of things.
Sometimes Greg, you can only be only as good as the team around you. This is especially, the case with the exceptional Barcelona team of last season who took all before them.. With the exception of Ronaldo, 4 out of the top 5 in the Balon D’or played for Barcelona. Then Kaka came 6th.
So what did Madrid do they to combat the dreaded spectre of Barcelona hegemony, they bought Ronaldo and Kaka.
What Freud was complaining was the exorbitant transfer fee Madrid paid for Kaka. 56 million pounds, but Madrid also paid an exorbitant 80 million pounds for Ronaldo.
Considering Real Madrid spent the money – they should be the ones best placed to see how the 2 compare.
Madrid paid about 40% more for Ronaldo than Kaka. But Kaka is 3 years older. If Kaka was Ronaldo’s age you can make an argument Madrid would almost pay the same amount for both players.
Finally, Ronaldo, Kaka, Henry, they are all great players and it would be wonderful if one day Australia could have a player of such talent. Kewell came close but we have yet to produce a player that kids all over the world want to put on their backs.
AndyRoo said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:45am | Report comment
It’s certainly a different perspective when your nation actually makes the world cup. I am much more emotionally involved in the outcome rather than just enjoying the contest..
The Euro seeding, I was dead set against it….. the worse the teams are at the world cup the better is my thinking now
I normally watch a lot of the world cup (I think in 2002 I watched every minute of the quarterfinals plus) and I saw a lot if games in 2006 up until Australia was knocked out. After that I felt quite empty (but not for the Italian penalty, I was watching it with my Pop who blamed Neil straight away… I eventually came around) and the only other match i watched after that was Argentina vs Germany. I didn’t even watch the final.
Pippinu said | December 3rd 2009 @ 10:18pm | Report comment
You didn’t miss much (not watching the final).
jimbo said | December 3rd 2009 @ 11:29pm | Report comment
FoF,
don’t agree with any of your choices for overated – those 5 are great players and have made Australia football what it is today – to borrow a term from another football code . . .
Zeljko, Holman, John Aloisi, Lucas and Scott McDonald are a bit overrated.