Re patrique:
Correct. Get a manager and they could be in business, but at this stage it looks like the old firm of Brazil or Germany.

Rumour has it that Guus Hiddink is being sounded out for a possible advisory role for the Argies following Russia's elimination. That would make things interesting. Whether Maradona's ego would permit a smooth alliance would be a factor I'd say.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9853 - 02/12/2009 11:59:19    500454

01/12/2009 21:17:14
patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 5844

Nope, Nocky is right, tradition means nothing.

It is just coincidence that New Zealand are useless at everything, but always have a good rugby team, Kerry at football, Kilkenny at hurling. Canada at ice hockey, Brazil at soccer, Australia at rugby league, and especially China at table tennis.

Sure I fancy Ireland to win the world table tennis in 2010.

Sure why not, what does tradition mean.
_______________

Armagh, Tyrone, Spain at the Euros, Clare hurlers in 1995, Irish rugby team winning the Grand Slam etc. etc. Nobody said tradition means nothing, but nor does it mean everything as you seem to believe. The most important thing is TALENT, not history as you constantly preach.

A poor attempt at sarcasm in your last post too, lift yourself man, I know you are capable of better.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 02/12/2009 12:17:24    500487

01/12/2009 17:06:22
32_4_1
County: Meath
Posts: 1432

499626
spain dont have better players than argentina nocky
________

Yes, they do Lorcan. Argentina have the best player in the world (Messi), but Spain have a better squad.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 02/12/2009 12:19:19    500488

no argentina have a far better squad with so much more dept. after spains best 4 or 5 players they dont have too much quality. people like maxi rodriquez in argentina cant get into the first squad of 30 or even get a call up for a friendly.

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4168 - 02/12/2009 12:32:50    500505

Winner - Brazil
Dark Horses - England
Giant Killers - Ivory Coast
Big name early exit - Portugal

beeduybe (Meath) - Posts: 97 - 02/12/2009 12:35:40    500508

32_4_1
County: Meath
Posts: 1434

500505 no argentina have a far better squad with so much more dept. after spains best 4 or 5 players they dont have too much quality. people like maxi rodriquez in argentina cant get into the first squad of 30 or even get a call up for a friendly.

I think thats more to do with the selection policy rather than the quality in the squad. I mean Jonas Gutierrez would not get near the Spanish squad but he's in the Argentina squad ahead of Maxi Rodriguez. There are loads of top-class players who aren't in the Spain squad.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12428 - 02/12/2009 12:42:58    500516

02/12/2009 12:32:50
32_4_1
County: Meath
Posts: 1435

500505
no argentina have a far better squad with so much more dept. after spains best 4 or 5 players they dont have too much quality. people like maxi rodriquez in argentina cant get into the first squad of 30 or even get a call up for a friendly.
_______________

Apart from Messi, name the Argentinians who would get into the Spanish team Lorcan.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 02/12/2009 13:51:08    500593

in defense- Demichelis, Samuel, Pareja in midfield- Messi, Riquelme (dropped because of a fight with the manager, but none the less argentina has still producd him. had he been from spain he would be their key playmaker and would be still playing ), Di María (gonna be huge, was offered a huge new contract to keep him at befica, only 21 and costs E40 to buy), aimar (gettin on a bit but would still be able get in ahead of silva if he played for spain), diego buonanotte (this guys magic if you ever seen him play, probably the best young talent argentina have, only a matter of time until he's called up to the national team, better than xavi and iniesta, watch out for this guy at the world cup, gonna be huge). all these players mentioned are more talented footballers than iniesta, xavi and david silva. once they click argentina are unstoppbale. had they a different manager in the last world cup they would have walked away with it. up front- Sergio Agüero. i think we all know this guy can do anything with the ball. defiantly would be on ahead of either torres or villa. only problem is he's with a rubbish club so gets rubbish supply other notable mentions although wouldnt get on the spain team are: mascherano (might get on as a holding midfield) gago lucho gonzalez maxi rodriquez bolatti, (veron 2.0) higuain cambiasso tevez milito lisandro lopez perotti zuculini these are all world class players. so much more dept than spain. great argentinian footballers seem to be growing on trees

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4168 - 02/12/2009 16:51:55    500798

argies have the best team on paper, but they had in 06 also, and brazil had the best team in 82 and 86, and italy in 90, the best team seldom wins the world cup as its more of a lottery because its a knockout competion like the fa cup , the form teams usually wins the champions league because of the 2 legged ties, which means its less of a lottery,,

millhouse (Meath) - Posts: 892 - 02/12/2009 17:58:11    500922

winners Serbia!
Dark horses Ivory Coast
Giant killers Honduras
early exit Spain!

whitegoodman (Tyrone) - Posts: 439 - 02/12/2009 18:25:25    500960

32, out of interest, would you pick your best 11 combining Spain and Argentina

Sisco87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 759 - 02/12/2009 18:29:36    500964

winners-spain
giant killers-chile
big name early axit-france or italy
dark horse-ivory coast

bigman2 (Tipperary) - Posts: 1202 - 02/12/2009 18:59:11    501005

ruanua
County: Donegal
Posts: 2095

500067 01/12/2009 21:03:47
dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 4074

499945 anyone thinking of going, a few aus lads i know are going, might be a bit of craic.
_____________________________
Only if I get a freeby from a bailed out bank.

to hell with the expense, give the cat a goldfish.. the weather wont be great though... dont think the supporters facilities will be able to cope either.

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 02/12/2009 19:14:56    501036

Nocky has convinced me.

Algeria are a cert.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 02/12/2009 19:30:30    501070

Here is tyhe thing MNocky, old expression, "there is an exception to every rule" although not in the world cup, same teams all the time.

Obviously the tradition teams will not win every year, but it has a massive influence.

Unless you think he Dubs are miles ahead of the rest of Leinster at Gaelic football.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 02/12/2009 19:32:37    501075

32_4_1, none of those players you mentioned would get into the Spanish team. Samuel, Demichelis? Give me a break, they're not even the regular Argentinian partnership. How is Riquelme going to get into the Spanish midfield when Fabregas can't even get in (all the time)? DiMaria and Aguero ahead of Torres and Villa? No way. Get real Lorcan.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 03/12/2009 15:36:19    501975

32_4_1 Are you getting this stuff from Football Manager or what? Demichelis and Samuel are not top class defenders and would not get on the Spanish team. I've never seen Parejo so can't comment. Pique, Puyol, Marchena, Albiol are all better than them.

It's ironic that you complain about certain players being over-hyped and here you are hyping average players who you've probably never seen play, or only seen highlights on youtube or somewhere.

You're talking about pure potential with a lot of these players and taht is a mistake Argentina always makes. Some of these players will turn out good others wont so you cant say they are world-class cos they've scored a few goals against Banfield or Lanus.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12428 - 03/12/2009 15:52:18    501991

samuel and demichelis are better than anything in the spanish defence. samuel has always been an underused player. he'll start for the world cup. also the player ansaldi for ruban kazan.a team thats been putting it up to barca and inter and will probably play inter of the field in their next meeting. this guy is a great defender. better than anyone on spain or argentina

david silva replaced aimar at valencia due to aimars constant injurys and never filled his boots. was a disapointment after his early promise. aimars fit again and him and di maria are playing well at benfica. the same benfica who beat everton 5-0 and would play united or liverpool off the field. and fabregas better than riquelme. not a chance. riquelmes the best playmaker in the world. just because fabregas is on a bit of form doesnt make him a better player. fabregas had a better start to the season about 2 seasons ago and he completelly faded away in the second half of the season. riquelmes passing is unmatched. his dribbling is excellent considering he's slow and he'll get more goals than fabregas. he's the perfect playmaker. when on form you cant defend against him and his vision and then the execution. dimarias a better player than xavi and iniesta.

and kun aguero is a far better player than torres. chelsea just offered over 40 million for the guy and he's only 21

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4168 - 03/12/2009 17:01:00    502050

even heinze who doesnt get a look into the squad is still a top defender. saviola could be called up. always plays brilliant for his country. a great creater and will always get goals. if you take out a few of spains top players like xavi, iniesta, fabregas, villa and torres your not left with much. theres not to many that could come on and replace these guys. whereas in argentina they have seemingly unlimited talent. even if you dropped every big name on the argentina team that you know you could still make up a team of world class players especially with the young talent they are producing. as a whole they have the strongest squad in the world on pure individual talent and always have.

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4168 - 03/12/2009 17:16:24    502082

applause for 32 4 1- easily the most irritating poster on HS

passerby (Tyrone) - Posts: 724 - 03/12/2009 17:57:20    502134