OK so Suarez assisted 5 Sturridge goals this season so that takes it to 16. Yes Lambert may have only scores 13 but he can hold the ball up so much better to let Sterling and Lallana into the game and also Rooney.Pretty bad statement in your defence, I'm glad you ain't picking the starting lineup.
You argue a very good point there. I think you have it spot on.
I go back and forth on this. Tevez is a great player for his club, but he's never really been a force for Argentina (13 goals in 64 games) and he's never played well with Messi. Whether you think that Argentina should be built around trying to get the best of Messi or not, that's what they've been trying to do lately, and you have to say that it's been working for them- they were pretty dominant in the qualifying rounds (1st place, 9-5-2, +20 goal differential), and they did all that without Tevez, so clearly they can work without him.
I posted about this in the English Football thread, but it's probably more relevant here:
Beyond that even, I don't really think that he fits into the system I expect France will employ. They have the players to make a really devastating 4-3-3 with Ribery, Benzema, and Valbuena up front. The midfield that would follow from that would most likely be Pogba, Matuidi, and Cabaye, because they're all hard workers who can do the business on both sides of the ball (Cabaye less so defensively, but he's a bit more incisive going forward so it balances reasonably) and really impose themselves physically on the game. Nasri just isn't the type of player to fit into that system easily- he's not good out wide, and he's not physical enough or a hard enough worker to make himself a presence in that midfield. I just don't see where you'd find a place for him is a system like that.
In all seriousness though, am I the only person round these parts who doesn't rate Nasri at all? Never have, probably never will. He's the type of player I'd never want in my team- one who only plays well when all 10 other players he's out there with are also playing well.
Watch pretty much any City game he's featured in (or go back to his Arsenal days even) and you'll start to notice a pattern. When there's a fast breakaway and the ball comes to Nasri, he...stops. Stands on the ball, kills the counter, forces a reset. Other times he'll get the ball and linger on it for 6 or 8 touches, then make a pass he could've made first time, but now it's too late and the move breaks down.
I don't doubt his ability to hit a pass (although the lack of speed with which he picks them is a problem) or find the back of the net (although his goalscoring totals aren't exactly impressive) but his consistency is nonexistent, and he completely disappears far, far to often.
There have been games I've watched where he's been on the field for 90 minutes and I couldn't tell you a single thing he did on either side of the ball. That's not really the sort of player you want in your national team.
Didier Deschamps
No Speroni.
He went as far as saying "I think Sabella (NT coach) doesn't have Sky to watch my games with Juventus". And, of course, "not even scoring 130 goals, not even being the best, I will be called to the World Cup". Totally not a troublemaker.
