Best world cup ever?

[southbank1871]

Not so much the entertainment factor, more the quality of football. Which, for a World Cup has been basically nothing short of awful.

is it 3 goals scored direct from Free Kicks?

And only 20 headed goals in the whole tournament? In 60 games? i can barely recall a single move where a great cross was followed by a great header, the best goals to watch.

And throw in some quite pathetic penalty taking as well and some dire refereeing with the usual high standard of cheating from players.

A very poor standard World Cup in which most of the top players have badly flopped. Klose & Podolski? Do me a favour these guys are second rate reserve team players.

DUMP world cup.

So you base quality of football on free kicks scored, headed goals and penalties? Interesting.

Klose & Podolski second rate reserve team players? Are you serious?

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Yes, because thats exactly what they are at club level.

Both have spent most of their recent career out of 1st team football. Podolski has scored 17 goals in 4 seasons! he scored a whopping 2 in 2009/10. Klose generally struggles for a game at Bayern, i think he scored about 3 or 4 goals last season.

[brendywendy]

no way near the best in my life time, let alone ever

[Ian Royal]

Yes, because thats exactly what they are at club level.

Both have spent most of their recent career out of 1st team football. Podolski has scored 17 goals in 4 seasons! he scored a whopping 2 in 2009/10. Klose generally struggles for a game at Bayern, i think he scored about 3 or 4 goals last season.

3 and 6 I believe. You can't argue with their international form though, which is exceptional. Klose has now scored 14 world cup goals across three tournaments, so calling him a second rate reserve team player is laughable. He's also scored in every game this tournament bar the one where he was ridiculously sent off.

[Starfish]

That's a very bitter (and disappointed) post Tony. I know it is not exactly what you meant but your post seems to suggest that the WC has been poor because there haven't been enough goals from set-pieces. Were you a big fan of Arsenal under George Graham?

Klose, second rate? 52 international goals in 100 appearances, 14 of them at the WC. I think (and have since 2002) that Klose is an excellent striker who would get a lot more credit if he was playing in the greatest league in the world. He has had a bad season at Munich but his record is certainly not second rate. If we consider the biggest stage of all, I wonder how you would rate Heskey/Rooney. First rate? When the commentator for the England-Germany game said that only a couple of German players would be considered for the England team, you were nodding your head vigourously, weren't you?

[Ian Royal]

I laughed at that comment, because I'd only have considered a maximum of 4 England players for the German team.

Rooney, A Cole, Gerrard & James.

Klose, Schweinstiger, Lahm, Muller & Khedeira would walk into the England team. Ozil only not on the list because he's up against England's second best player in Gerrard.

[Starfish]

In all fairness, it is very easy to laud those young German players now - I don't think many people even here thought that they would perform the way they have over the past two games. In a way, the comment was understandable if you consider the previous reputations of 'the best 11 individuals available', and sums up, in a way, why (team) Germany have gone further in this WC than England.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Re both replies above.

Firstly the standard of football is miles behind what you see in the CL. Which, sadly, is the biggest stage in todays football.

Are you telling me Klose or Podolski are better players than Rooney? Surely not. In the last 3 weeks yes, but 3 weeks over 4 years of top level perfomances?

Klose is not a 1st team regular and Podolski has an absolutely dire record at club level since 2006. Thats why i said the are 2nd rate/Reserve.

An aside the last 4 games, i can not see anything to suggest its been anything than a poor standard world cup.

If you think otherwise, why?

[Starfish]

Tony, I admit that Podolski is certainly not my favourite player - my defence was of Klose. He has had one season on the bench at Munich - that doesn't make him a second-rate player imo. I'm sure most people would laugh if you said that Henry was 'second-rate' because of the season he has just had with Barcelona. Is Klose generally better than Rooney? Certainly not but then, very very few (if any) are. But if Germany go on to win the WC with Klose (again!) scoring more goals than anyone else, he will be elevated to the status of WC legend, something Rooney can only dream about. Blame the England set-up, blame whoever, but 52 goals in international football does not suggest to me that Klose is second-rate. And he's certainly better than any other England striker out there at the moment.

As others have pointed out on the thread already, the group stages were poor but there have been some very entertaining games in the knock-out stages. It may not go down in history as a classic WC but get over England's dire performances and it has had its share of drama. The CL this season? I didn't think it was any great shakes, tbh.

[Ian Royal]

Klose better than Rooney? Not in general. Based on this tournament alone? Miles better. And as Starfish says, only one of the two will be remembered as a World Cup great.

Better than every other England striker available? Yes.

[papereyes]

People complain all year that the Premier League (and other top leagues around Europe) is too predictable, same old teams winning the same old prizes. Now people are complaining that the same old teams aren't doing well in the World Cup? I suppose we have two previous winners in the last four, but did anybody here correctly predict the quarter-finalists?

different people but YES

Germany have been well-deserved, Holland building up to a head of steam, Uruguay taking the mantle of good but dispicable Latinos and then you have Spain who most people would have predicted.

Germany have been the ones I've liked. Good young players that I'd kind of heard about, the teutonic goal machine that is Klose, Schweinsteiger being immense in a position he's recently swapped to and the managerial team trying to look like Germany's premium Wham tribute act.

[papereyes]

Klose has been good in 3 consecutive World Cups, have a 1 in 2 international record and a pretty decent domestic scoring record (very good at Bremen, less good at Munich but still 1 in 3 iirc).

That's really not bad.

Maybe he should play in England?

[Starfish]

Based on Tony's earlier demands for footballing greatness (crosses, penalties, free kicks), Ian Harte > Miroslav Klose.

[Maguire]

Klose has been good in 3 consecutive World Cups, have a 1 in 2 international record and a pretty decent domestic scoring record (very good at Bremen, less good at Munich but still 1 in 3 iirc).

That's really not bad.

Maybe he should play in England?

Don't recall Klose scoring in the knockout stages in 2002 and that the German team scraped through to the finla after a series of scrappy 1-0 wins.

He does have a great scoring record for Germany though, kind of on a par with Peter Crouch.

[southbank1871]

Don't recall Klose scoring in the knockout stages in 2002 and that the German team scraped through to the finla after a series of scrappy 1-0 wins.

Am I mixing up tournaments or didn't Klose score a hat-trick when Germany spanked Saudi Arabia in 2002?

[Maguire]

Don't recall Klose scoring in the knockout stages in 2002 and that the German team scraped through to the finla after a series of scrappy 1-0 wins.

Am I mixing up tournaments or didn't Klose score a hat-trick when Germany spanked Saudi Arabia in 2002?

He did. Got the golden boot with 5 goals however they were all in the group stage.

[General B]

Apart from having a reasonable excuse to visit the pub at stupid times of the day, I have been bored out of my fucking brains from start to finish, although I suspect that this might have more to with the fact that I hate everything about football these days except the drinking.

I would also rather be locked in an airtight room with these menopausal spastics watching a perpetually looped highlights reel of Henman's greatest failures, than have to endure one more commentator talking about how wonderful Ghana are.

[Ian Royal]

Klose has been good in 3 consecutive World Cups, have a 1 in 2 international record and a pretty decent domestic scoring record (very good at Bremen, less good at Munich but still 1 in 3 iirc).

That's really not bad.

Maybe he should play in England?

Don't recall Klose scoring in the knockout stages in 2002 and that the German team scraped through to the finla after a series of scrappy 1-0 wins.

He does have a great scoring record for Germany though, kind of on a par with Peter Crouch.

Less good than Crouch but with about three times as many games played and 14 of his 50 ish goals scored at the World Cup Finals.

[No Fixed Abode]

World Cups were always best when you were a kid.

[Negative_Jeff]

I shall take an Ian Royal stance on this. I have watched none of it but the boys on Five Live have convinced me that this World Cup has been, in the main, crap.
To address the question would be very subjective, but the best World Cup ever would have to include the best team ever which was probably Hungary in 1954. Somehow they managed to lose to the Germans as well.