4-4-2 Best XI
GK – Schmeichel –
Apologies, to Subasic, Courtois, Akinfeev, but gotta give it to Kasper for his
heroics vs Croatia. LLoris did make that one nice save against Belgium too, but
that boner in the final..also de Gea..7 shots 6 goals, case and point that
keepers have dips in form too i guess, but doesn't bode well for him handling
the media/pressure of Real (Agreed, Cortouis was super shaky b4 Brazil
match so have no clue y everyone is saying he was the best)
RB – Meunier – What
tournament for right backs!! I could have gone with Trippier, Pavard (a
center back for Stuttgart!) Vrsajlko but I’ll give it to Meunier because of how
much Belgium missed him against France, they weren’t the same team at all. 2
yellows in 5 games? Suspension rule too harsh. (Trippier for me easily
but Meunier I can see)
RCB – Varane – Best CB in
the world right now? Maybe his Sergio Ramos gets the edge for his black belt in
the dark arts, but not sure Varane put a foot wrong all tournament. (!! and
def mention that he was prob 100 for 100 in aerial duels)
LCB – Ignashevish – Going
with the sentimental pick and the 39(!) year for his turnaround after he scored
the OG vs Spain with his heroic performance against Croatia. Buried two pens
like a champ too. Maguire, Walker, Gimenez/Godin, and Miranda for his
outdueling Lukaku 1 v 1 all get honorable mention. (tough
call, could also mention the other Croatia CB that wasn’t Lovren, or Mina)
LB – Hernandez/Strnic
- Not quite the wealth of options as RB, but nothing to choose from
between these two finalists. Hernandez more than justified Dechamps picking him
over Mendy and had a great final. (no clear choice here for me,
Uruguay and Sweden LB’s stood out too)
CM – Kante – We all know
about the GOAT, he’ll be at Real soon enough. (arguably best player of
early stages but form dipped as tourney went on, still easy choice w Modric)
CM – Modric – Bittersweet
golden ball winner was the best and most consistent player in the tournament by
a country mile (save Hazard). Maybe it says more about England’s rag tag squad
that he had easily his worst game against them and was still comfortably best
player on the field. To have his penalty saved in the 116th and then be the
first one to take it in the shootout vs Denmark. Cojones. (could
argue that Perisic was best player in that game so wouldn’t put ‘easily’ but
yes to the rest)
LM – Quintero – Any type
of football post-James Colombia tried to play was through him. How long before
he’s at Real? Inui hon mention. (Perisic gets nod for me but Quintero was
filthy when he played, Coutinho may deserve a mention here)
RM – Mbappe – Deserved
the golden ball love for his performance against Argentina alone. How long
before he’s at Real? (!!)
No 10 – Hazard – What a
monster. Wish more was made of the contrast between Neymar’s antics and Hazards
non-antics. How long before he’s at Real? (W/ Modric and Varane as best
player of tourney)
No 9 – Giroud -
Michael Cox was on the money saying that the international game (a little
slower, more direct) suits players like Giroud. No goals, but instrumental to
France’s run. (hardest call of them all but wouldn’t give it to Giroud as his
finishing was abysmal, Lukaku/Kane tore up shitty squads then couldn’t perform
in the big matches, Suarez/Cavani were great but didn’t go far enough/got hurt,
sadly would go w Mandzukic here for his work rate AND important goals (or put
Mbappe at forward and add Perisic to midfield)
Coach - DeChamps
silencing the critics. (Iran/Croatia/Sweden coaches poss deserve mentions)
(too much mentioning of Real!)
Top moments:
·
Entire second half of
Belgium Japan, from Inui’s perfect strike to Lukaku’s dummy
·
Belgium beating Brazil,
Hazard drawing fouls the last twenty minutes to run out the clock.
·
Kane’s miss/England’s
capitulation
·
Pipsqueak Pavard’s volley
saving us from watching any more of that argentine abomination.
(would mention the Portugal
Spain classic to start the tourney was the sign of things to come, in a good
way)
Barcelona are in trouble. Umtiti
and Pique sticking their hands up for Detroit while Real just reload.
(VAR works or not?, handball in
box rule NEEDS to change, maybe a mention of how this seemed to be the tourney
of teams that were outplayed seemed to keep winning (most of the knockout
games, every game Morocco was in, etc), the amount of truly phenomenal goals,
and the changing of the guard of best player in the world from Messi/Ronaldo to
Hazard/Mbappe/(Neymar when fully fit) is happening)
