World XIs - Europe, South America, Africa

[War]

Yo War whats with the love for Carvalho. The dude is average at best. Could name 5 better defender then he him just in English football.
Lucio, Puyol, Mertesacker, Vidic and a few others would be in easy over him.

Ha no way dawg. Carvalho is top-class yo, how can you call him average thats way harsh.

I struggle to see which 5 defenders in the premiership are better than him. You can only argue a case for JT, Rio & Vidic behind ahead of him - no one else.

No way is Metesacker ahead of Carvalho nor can be considered amongsts the top defenders in world, come on son he is long twin-tower with no pace :laugh

 

[Dare]

Since he came to Chelsea I have seen Carvalho make some serious blunders. Average might have been a bit harsh but he shouldn't be anywhere near a Wrold XI.
Mertesacker has been holding the German defense for some years now, still 25. I watched him play this past summer in UEFA league and he was solid in defense for most part.
Would also take Juan over Carvalho.

 

[War]

Since he came to Chelsea I have seen Carvalho make some serious blunders. Average might have been a bit harsh but he shouldn't be anywhere near a Wrold XI.
Mertesacker has been holding the German defense for some years now, still 25. I watched him play this past summer in UEFA league and he was solid in defense for most part.
Would also take Juan over Carvalho.

I honestly dont recall ever seeing Carvalho making any serious blunders for the blues. I would say Terry has made more blunders than Carvalho in their partnership over the years.

I remember couple seasons back Torres reckoned Carvalho was the best defender he had confronted in the premiership:

Carvalho is the Premier League's best defender, not JT, insists Torres | Mail Online

Big praise coming from arguably best forward in the world in most people's view.

Fair enough if you dont want Carvalho in your world XI. But again can't have Juan over him at all. The only centre-halves in the world who have legitimate case over him are JT, Rio, Vidic, Puyol & Lucio - no one else.

On Mertesacker. I really dont think he is that special. Playing in the german league which is not really that high-quality isn't the best guide. I remember seeing him in the EURO 08 final with his partner Metzelder & i called him a long twin-tower because he is really slow - fast/skillful strikers would really make a mess of him i'd say.

 

[Dare]

The Germans have on of the top teams in the world as has been shown by their performances and the majority of their national team players are playing in Germany. I don't know how much German football you get to watch but they play quality football there. They are one of the top leagues in Europe. Spain, England, Italy might get the press because the teams there go out and spend tons of money but the Germans have a solid league. Other then Bayern the don't spend huge amounts of money on foreign players.

I just don't rate Carvalho that high, to me there isn't anything that he excels at that says all-world team. He is a solid defender and does well on a good team but others are ahead of him.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

------------------------------Iker Casillas------------------------------

Daniel Alves---------Ferdinand--------------Vidic/Terry----------- Evra

-----------------------Gerrard------------Kaka------------------------

Messi----------------------------------------------------------Ronaldo

-----------------------Rooney-----------Torres-------------------------

 

[War]

The Germans have on of the top teams in the world as has been shown by their performances and the majority of their national team players are playing in Germany. I don't know how much German football you get to watch but they play quality football there. They are one of the top leagues in Europe. Spain, England, Italy might get the press because the teams there go out and spend tons of money but the Germans have a solid league. Other then Bayern the don't spend huge amounts of money on foreign players.

As i mentioned before, the Bundesliga doesn't show over here on the Skypsrts that i have so i dont see it. Only british people who have setanta sports do.

But i struggle to see how Bundesliga can be rated that highly to be honest. Maybe back circa 1999-2002 when Bayern Munich & Leverkusen reached CL finals it was good, but not now. Only thing i'd give the Bundesliga credit for is that it seems to have strong crowd attentance across the league thanks to good ticket sales.


On the German national team, yes they have been one of the top national teams this decade. But damn i still dont think quality wise they are anything special. Ballack is the only real top-class player in their ranks, with Podolski & Schweinsteiger close behind.

They have been lucky in few tournaments this decade gone. What i'd say makes Germany so tough to be is that they play with great heart & fight, which makes up for the lack a truly great skill within the squad.

 

[Dare]

But i struggle to see how Bundesliga can be rated that highly to be honest. Maybe back circa 1999-2002 when Bayern Munich & Leverkusen reached CL finals it was good, but not now. Only thing i'd give the Bundesliga credit for is that it seems to have strong crowd attentance across the league thanks to good ticket sales.

Like I said only Bayern has money to spend like the top 4 in England and now even Man City is getting in there. Bayern is the only German team that can compete with the biggest European teams when it comes to spending money.
Yet other teams are making it to UEFA finals and doing fairly well in Champs League. Many quality players there.

On the German national team, yes they have been one of the top national teams this decade. But damn i still dont think quality wise they are anything special. Ballack is the only real top-class player in their ranks, with Podolski & Schweinsteiger close behind. They have been lucky in few tournaments this decade gone. What i'd say makes Germany so tough to be is that they play with great heart & fight, which makes up for the lack a truly great skill within the squad.

They have been making the finals of all these big competitions for decades now. It cant be just heart and fight. The Germans have always had skilled players at almost every position and yes they do throw in a few of those grinders like Frings and Schneider.

 

[m_vaughan]

Individually Germany might not have the best players but as a team they are really very good which is what you need. Some really exciting youngsters coming up as well.

Last season Bundesliga was probably the most exciting league in europe.

 

[Dare]

Last season Bundesliga was probably the most exciting league in europe.

Agreed, it came down to the last match. Grafite and Dzeko were amazing.

 

[War]

Individually Germany might not have the best players but as a team they are really very good which is what you need. Some really exciting youngsters coming up as well.

Last season Bundesliga was probably the most exciting league in europe.

Isn't that the key to having a top-class league though?. Even if the league may be competitive with good young players & close teams.

But surely you need a balance of that & few world-class players for the league to be really good.

War added 3 Minutes and 6 Seconds later...

They have been making the finals of all these big competitions for decades now. It cant be just heart and fight. The Germans have always had skilled players at almost every position and yes they do throw in a few of those grinders like Frings and Schneider.

If you compare the talent germany have had this 2000s era compared to the teams of the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s - this is era is way below in quality.

Germany have great team ethic & spirit, this what has aided them this era (along with a bit of luck).

 

[War]

Edited my original XIs & squads after watching events in the world cup slightly.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Based on the season just gone I think this would be my provisional XI:

Pepe Reina
Maicon---Gerard Pique---Carlos Puyol---Ashley Cole
Xavi---Estaban Cambiasso
Cristiano Ronaldo---Wesley Sneijder---Lionel Messi
Diego Milito​

Subs:
Julio Cesar
Branislav Ivanovic
Dani Alves
Javier Zanetti
Cesc Fabregas
Arjen Robben
Didier Drogba

 

[War]

World XI 2010/11 season

Ok what would be everyone's world XI after this season of football?. This is mine:


------------------------------------------Buffon----------------------------------------

Puyol----------------------Lucio-------------------Ferdinand-------------------Evra

---------------------------Y Toure------------------Xavi-------------------------------

------------------------------------------Sneijder-------------------------------------

Ronaldo----------------------------------Messi------------------------------Villa-----


Note: This is not a team of year based on who played best throughout world football this year. Since when picking teams i go by the old adage "form is temporary - class is permanent". But a mixture of this seasons form & long standing performance from veteran stars who are still maintaining high standards.

 

[Auwais]

Interesting choices...

I'll post mine when I can be arsed.

 

[m_vaughan]

Mine:

Van Der Sar
Alves David Luiz Thiago Silva Marcelo
Yaya Xavi Ozil
Messi Gomez Ronaldo


Can't believe I have an all-Brazilian defence.