The Standard of World Cup Football

[Nogbad the Bad]

Being an oldie it used to be great watching the World Cup games. Seeing the skill levels that used to be present from the Brazilians, Italians and Dutch etc it was way above anything you used to see watching the domestic game on telly and was awe inspiring.

These days however, you are fed on a diet of Champions league and top Premiership games all the time where you have the Worlds best players playing in squads where they can develop an understanding with their team-mates and develop their own style of team play.

To then watch World Cup games where the majority of teams are the equivalent of Division two club sides and rarely get game time to develop as a squad the games are on the whole tedious to watch. There's only the Germans so far that have looked as if they have actually played together, they had a specific game plan to play the ball through the gaps in and behind the defenders then attack the space. Apart from them no other team look capable of putting on a performance so far (although admittedly I didn't see Argentina on Saturday)

People put forward the assertion that players like Bent are good enough for the Premiership but not for International level, surely these days International football is of a lesser standard than the Premiership

Is the World Cup becoming the poor relation for quality football competition?

[tunstallhill]

quality doesnt really matter to me, especially in the early stages. its the whole occasion which (usually) gets the pulses racing. shitty little minnow countries up against some of the big boys and hoping something magical will happen. bit like the FA cup. remember, even in league's 1 and 2 you can get some corking games, end to end, 3-3 draws and the like, then get boring 0-0's in the premier league. the standard of football doesnt really bother me, i just want to see some upsets, and good goals, some last ditch defending and sneaking one on the break, small countries with unknown players having great tournaments and the like.

this world cup hasnt really threw anything special up yet. on another day, algeria v slovenia could have been a 4-3 epic. the vuvuzelas dont help either IMO

[Il Postino Pat]

Always start this shit because everybody is trying to avoid losing the first group game.

[Gonzo Mackem]

It used to be better when hardly any foreigners played in the prem, then when you watched the WC you would see top players for the first time.

The influx of stars (raising the standard tbf), channel 4's Serie A and subsequently satellite TV showing La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 etc has shown how good football is around the world and that and the CL has spoiled the surprise of seeing players for the first time.

[Tom73]

I was waiting for the first nostalgic fest..

[shaun61]

Originally Posted by Nogbad the Bad

Being an oldie it used to be great watching the World Cup games. Seeing the skill levels that used to be present from the Brazilians, Italians and Dutch etc it was way above anything you used to see watching the domestic game on telly and was awe inspiring.

These days however, you are fed on a diet of Champions league and top Premiership games all the time where you have the Worlds best players playing in squads where they can develop an understanding with their team-mates and develop their own style of team play.

To then watch World Cup games where the majority of teams are the equivalent of Division two club sides and rarely get game time to develop as a squad the games are on the whole tedious to watch. There's only the Germans so far that have looked as if they have actually played together, they had a specific game plan to play the ball through the gaps in and behind the defenders then attack the space. Apart from them no other team look capable of putting on a performance so far (although admittedly I didn't see Argentina on Saturday)

People put forward the assertion that players like Bent are good enough for the Premiership but not for International level, surely these days International football is of a lesser standard than the Premiership

Is the World Cup becoming the poor relation for quality football competition?

its been crap so far - give me SAFC in the Prem anyday

[malcsouthshields]

Originally Posted by Tom73

I was waiting for the first nostalgic fest..

nostalgia is still not what it used to be though

[Nogbad the Bad]

Originally Posted by malcsouthshields

nostalgia is still not what it used to be though

that's true enough, can you imagine in twenty years time saying "by it wasn't like this when England had Heskey playing up front"

[Tom73]

Originally Posted by Nogbad the Bad

that's true enough, can you imagine in twenty years time saying "by it wasn't like this when England had Heskey playing up front"

I honestly can

[AlpineExile]

Mensah managing to last 90 minutes should tell us something ...