World Cup Buzz podcast host Richard Farley, along with co-commentators the Gaffer, Laurence McKenna, and Kartik Krishnaiyer selected their ultimate 23 man World Cup squad.
Only one England player made the ultimate 23: Left Back Ashley Cole who received the votes of both Krishnaiyer and McKenna. No USA or Mexico player made the final squad. (The Gaffer did select Landon Donovan on his ballot and McKenna picked Javier Hernandez for his ultimate 23)
Here it is, the Ultimate 23:
Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Maartin Stekelenburg (Netherlands)
Iker Casillas (Spain) UNANIMOUS SELECTION
Antolin Alcarez (Paraguay)
Diego Lugano (Uruguay)
Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Yuji Nakazawa (Japan)
Fábio Coentrão (Portugal)
Sergio Busquets (Spain)
Ashley Cole (England)
Kevin Prince-Boateng (Ghana)
Andres Iniesta (Spain) UNANIMOUS SELECTION
Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Sami Khedira (Germany)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Keisuke Honda (Japan)
Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay) UNANIMOUS SELECTION
David Villa (Spain)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Thomas Muller (Germany)
Others Receiving Votes:
Carles Puyol (Spain)Martin Caceres (Uruguay) Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Netherlands)Landon Donovan (USA) Carlos Tevez (Argentina)Luis Suarez (Uruguay)Fernando Muslera (Uruguay) Winston Reid (New Zealand) Phillip Lahm (Germany) Nadir Belhadj (Algeria) Robert Vittek (Slovakia)Lionel Messi (Argentina) Diego Godin (Uruguay) Claudio Morel (Paraguay)Diego Perez (Uruguay)Maxi Perrera (Uruguay) Gerard Pique (Spain) Jorge Fucile (Uruguay) John Mensah (Ghana)Richard Kingson (Ghana) Mark Paston (New Zealand)Caniza (Paraguay) Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina) Xabi Alonso (Spain) Gonzalo Higuan (Argentina) Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands) Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) Mark Gonzalez (Chile) Jesus Navas (Spain)Javier Hernandez (Mexico) Fabio Quagliarella (Italy) Luis Fabiano (Brazil)
Just for people’s information, if it matters, this is the team I picked:
Casillas, Iker
Neuer, Manuel
Stekelenburg, Maarten
Alcarez, Antolín
Fucile, Jorge
Godín, Diego
Lahm, Philipp
Morel, Claudio
Pereira, Maxi
Piqué, Gerard
Ramos, Sergio
Busquets, Sergio
Hernández, Xavi
Iniesta, Andrés
Khedira, Sami
Müller, Thomas
Özil, Mesut
Pérez, Diego
Schweinsteiger, Bastian
Sneijder, Wesley
Forlán, Diego
Messi, Lionel
Villa, David
Jonathan Wilson would be proud of the Messi pick, dominating games without scoring goals. Why Godin over Lugano? Fabio Contrao was a player who really stood out for me in the games I saw. I’d take Mascherano over someone in that midfield, maybe Perez, Busquets or possibly Ozil.
No Brazilians in your 23 of the tourney? Maicon and Robinho should at least get consideration
Hi Mark:
I’m one of those guys that factors in games played pretty heavily.
I saw a few things from Lugano (failure to clear the ball on the Khedira goal that won the third place game, as one example) that I didn’t see from Godín. Perhaps it’s a pre-tourney bias coming through. Perhaps it’s just me being wrong: Godín was definitely the player I preferred. Lugano ended-up being the only Uruguayan defender I didn’t name.
And as always, Mark: Thanks for the feedback.
Why no mention of Miroslav Klose in all of this? With 4 goals in 5 games and could have broken Ronaldo’s record but for a harsh sending off and a dodgy back that caused him to miss a game. Surely he was better than some of other forwards mentioned.
Its surprising that none of the classic number 9′s really stood out. Some like Klose, Fabiano, Gyan, Higuain and Suarez played well enough, but not spectacularly, but others like Torres, Suazo and Drogba underperformed due to injury, while the likes of van Persie, Rooney (perhaps not a classic number 9), Anelka, Eto’o, Bendtner, Santa Cruz, Gilardino, Zigic, Tae-se and others simply did not perform.
Villa’s goals only came in games where Torres started and he was able to attack from the left rather than centrally while Forlan’s goals came while playing behind Suarez and/or Cavani.
Does any of that mean anything about the game or is it just an anomaly? Or should the likes of Klose, Suarez or Fabiano be in the 23 of the tournament?
I think we probably have the same school of thought here… I miss seeing those players in the 23.
Hi Mark:
I don’t think Klose was better than any of the forwards mentioned, though he had a good tournament. In a midfield-heavy tournament, I selected fewer forwards, and I wouldn’t replace any of my three selections with Klose.
I do think the lack of a classic number nine is very meaningful and part of a historic trend. I think this was mentioned on the podcast, but people going with striker-less formations was relatively prominent in this tournament. It’s something that I see as part of the game’s evolution, something we will see more of going forward.
I wrote this on the EPL Talk site during the last season, but if you don’t have a decent number nine, I see no probably not playing with one, abandoning the role all-together rather than forcing in the best option.
Solid selection, but certainly missing Lahm and particularly Puyol! I am surprised Puyol is not even in the team because in the semi-final he not only scored the winner but actually formed a defensive wall by himself.
I’d pick Puyol over any of the other defenders considering Spain only conceded in the group stage. In addition, I believe Joan Capdevila deserved a mention. Even Robben was somewhat subdued on the flank and his two main attacks came from the middle as opposed to the right-wing.
Definitely Puyol should be in there.
There’s a distinct lack of Robben? Even if he does dive and misbehave he was still one of the most dangerous players in the tournament.
Hi Jake,
Robben missed a couple of games due to injury and in the Final he was one of the reasons why the Dutch lost. If he took one of his chances then the World Cup would be in the Netherlands now. Despite a subdued Final performance, I think Sneijder is the one Dutch player worthy of making the list.
Feel free to contact me on Twitter @RamiSoufi if you have any further comments or questions
What about Zidane, Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer?
Or is this just current players?