We are Diego's 23 - Forwards

 
Good lord, are we nearly at 23 already?  Indeed we are, dear reader, and it’s the final piece of the Argentina jigsaw; the jewels in the crown, that forward line.

Sergio Kun Aguero - Atletico Madrid (Spain), 22, 21 caps, 8 goals

IBWM’s type of player.  Really clever footballer.  Lots of guile, skill and a wonderful finisher with a good turn of speed to boot.  Maybe not scoring quite as many as he should alongside Diego Forlan at Atletico is the main reason he isn’t first choice for his country.  Maybe Diego fears a touch of nepotism (Sergio's lass is Diego’s daughter), but Aguero can conjure something out of nothing and is deadly cutting in from the left flank. 

Lionel Messi - Barcelona (Catalonia), 22, 44 caps, 13 goals

Fairly average.  No, that’s absolute twaddle.  He’s a genius and well worth his crown as the very best in the world.  Devastating for his club and entering the tournament in the form of his life, this is clearly Leo’s moment.  However, he has never looked as happy playing for his country as he does at the Camp Nou, mainly due to Argentina asking him to play a much more withdrawn role.  If Leo is to find himself discussed in the same breath as Pelé and Maradona, this is his time to shine.  Regardless of all that, he’s a joy to watch and IBWM salutes you for your general greatness sir!

 

Diego Milito - Internazionale (Italy), 31 (on Sunday), 20 caps, 4 goals

Blinking flip, most national sides would have been happy with those first two, but they keep coming.  Outstanding for his club side Internazionale, who he helped to three trophies this year; Milito is the best exponent of the lone striker role in world football today.  He holds the ball up, brings others in to play, scores goals for fun and works his nuts off for the cause.  Would be first name on the teamsheet of just about every other national side but is likely to keep the bench warm for his own. 

Gonzalo Higuain - Real Madrid (Spain), 22, 5 caps, 3 goals

And another.  Had the focus of European football not been on Leo Messi’s Barcelona, or Jose Mourinho’s Inter, we may well have all paid a lot more attention to the shrinking violets that are Real Madrid.  Of course, if we had, it would have been ‘Kaka this’ and ‘Ronaldo that’, which means that a particularly fine season for them, more or less goes unnoticed.  They’ve already decided it was a disaster, after all and booted their coach.  In amongst all that unnoticedness though, is a striker who has had a blinking marvellous season, weighing in with a massive 29 goals, and that’s exactly what Higuain has done.  Able to finish with both feet and his head (often all at once), Higuain never really looked to be Diego’s favourite, but he’s made his way in there, possibly due to pressure from fans.  Rarely on the radar of pundits talking about who is going to make an impact at South Africa, we could well be looking at the golden boot winner here.  He has all the attributes and right now, all the form.

 

Carlos Tévez - Manchester Citeh (England), 26, 52 caps, 9 goals

I was going to say ‘maintaining the galactico theme’, but I’m fairly sure we are well above galactico level now.  May I introduce Carlos Tévez.  Not exactly pin up material, but that’s exactly what he has become as an iconic star for moneybags Manchester City.  The sort of player that fans love, but somehow seems to rarely get that same warmth from his respective gaffers.  Tévez is another player hitting South Africa in top gear.  23 goals for Citeh this year an excellent showing for this buzzing striker.  Runs his socks off, scores goals galore and takes some knocking off the ball when he gets going.  But then, you knew all that anyway.

Martin Palermo - Boca Juniors (Argentina), 112, 14 caps, 8 goals

Surely it can’t continue…….it can’t?  Oh yes, it can’t; Palermo is here, isn’t he.  Very much the veteran, ‘decent in the air’ Palermo seems to have been on the scene for about 50 years now.  The reason? He has.  I’m being unfair on the old feller.  While he will be widely remembered for missing three whole penalties in one game, Palermo won’t lose too much sleep, he’s off to the World Cup and has already cemented his place in history as Boca Juniors all time record goalscorer.   Now that’s something to tell the grandkids……when they come back from the pub, in about an hour.

Casual

Casual.  Casuals.  It's Casual day.

Don't just take my word for it, it's officially casual day; so says top Argentine Sports Daily 'Ole!'.

But not for you and me mind, dear reader, oh no.  We'll have to don our beige slacks, fancy neckerchiefs and pastel coloured polo shirts some other time.  Casual day is for El Diego and his merry men only.

Having endured an already lengthy stint staring at hotel room walls in between kick abouts and regular sessions munching chicken and beans, Argentina's seleccion have had a day off.

So while those slacks and polo shirt might have to remain in the IBWM wardrobe, Carlos Tevez donned his and was first out the door, predictably hitting the clubs and getting his balls whacked........on the golf course, that is.  Several others, including Messi and Veron, hung around waiting for family or their respective partners to arrive, while the rest stayed back and played on their PlayStation.  Bless. 

My favourite piece though came from canchellena.com, a side website for national paper la nacion.  They caught up with Newcastle's Jonas Gutierrez, out on a clothes shopping spree;

"Why, ah needed some new gear like, ah never brought nowt man!........ this stuff ah've got on belongs to Di Michelis.........the lanky twat!!!"

 "why ah look a reet knob, man!"

Maintaining the casual theme, a large number of the Barra Bravas, a bit like your Argentine ICF, with a fair bit more of political leaning, were picked up and despatched back home by the South African forces earlier today.  

No real complaints from your average football fans about that, although the Jo'burg Stone Island shop was now bracing itself for a difficult month.

Introducing the pretenders (part two)

I picked out five from ‘my list’ last time, so let’s continue this theme of looking at where the next big names in world football will come from. Although this is rapidly descending into a ‘best new players for 2010’ that might turn up in your Sunday paper, which I apologise for.

Of course I should add the caveat here that these players are already very much established, this isn’t some scouting search for the best unsigned fourteen year-olds around. The players that I have included, to me at least, clearly have the ability to move up several levels again from where they are now, and the World Cup does offer the opportunity to make a star of someone overnight. Whatever did happen to Toto Schillaci?

I’ve discounted a fair number on the grounds that having watched them a few times (full games mind, none of your youtube carry on’s), nothing has stood out. Totally unfair really as I’m aware that you do need to see players over a sustained period to get a clear picture. And I’ll make no apologies for focussing on more attack minded players, for obvious reasons. If there are any players that you think are worth a mention, give me the lowdown via the e-mail link on the left, or add something on the comments and I’ll bear them in mind.

Obviously I want to take a balanced view so any objective opinions are welcome, and if a sentence sums up a full side, that’ll do for this pilgrim.

To give an example, I asked long term IBWM cohort ‘Il Duce’ to help fill in the blanks and do a bit of research on New Zealand. The brief; ‘are there any half decent players other than that kid from West Brom?’ The response more than did for me;

“They have a centre forward called Rory Fallon...................somewhere in Ireland, there’s a riderless horse”

Thanks for the insight, Duce!

Anyway, back to that list.

Nicolas Nkoulou (Cameroon) Age 20

Making something of a name for himself as the first choice centre back for his country, despite just turning 20. Some performances at the African Cup of nations did have a degree of ‘bambi on ice’ about them as Nkoulou’s lack of experience at that level was particularly apparent. However, this tough tackling and intelligent player is starting to find the defensive midfielder position to his liking at his club Monaco. A bit too young to pull up any trees at the World Cup, but a player destined to be at the top for a long time to come.

Gary Medel (Chile) Age 22

Why is it, in England we don’t give players nicknames like they do in South America? I’d enjoy Clive Tyldsley’s commentary if he was, every time Ashley Cole received a pass, to say ‘bastard’ or suchlike. Medel, goes by the moniker of ‘pitbull’, and it’s entirely due to his general Billy Bremnerness, as you would expect. Medel has been something of a shining star over at Boca this year and Sevilla, whose transfer policy fits in with this list, are keen to acquire his services. Not the tallest, and by no means particularly well filled out, Medel gives the impression he would crawl over broken glass for the cause though, just what you want to see at International level. Not just tackling though, the kid can score goals, as was witnessed with two strikes against River Plate in March’s superclassico.

Christian Eriksen (Denmark) Age 18

Thought by many of those ‘in the know’ types across Europe as ‘the’ one to watch, attacking midfielder/winger Eriksen only made his debut for Ajax in January and has received rave reviews since. Of course when someone this good emerges, they immediately become the ‘new’ whoever, and in young Christian’s homeland the comparisons are being made to Michael Laudrup. It also doesn’t take long for Real Madrid, Man Utd, Chelsea and Milan long to start sniffing round, which they have done.

Pablo Barrera (Mexico) Age 22

Barrera is the one that IBWM fancies the most to make an impact this year, on account of the fact that he really looks something special. I’ve really had to do my research on Mexico over the last couple of years, it’s not that easy to track down league games on the net, yet I was aware that there was a growing sense of confidence in the country that they were unearthing some real gems; Mexico won the under 17 World Championship in 2005. Hapless Swede Sven Goran Eriksson was originally appointed national coach to get the best of Mexico’s new golden generation, but the wheels quickly came off and qualification for South Africa was in doubt. I found myself getting so wrapped up in all things Mexican (not just the tequila, or the food) that at one point, this site could easily have been ‘In bed with Sven’. However that brings up massive amounts of some fairly predictable and nasty stuff when typed into Google, so you probably wouldn’t be here now. Phew!

The re-appointment of former player and Mexican national coach Javier Aguirre quickly got things back on track for ‘El Tri’ and here they are. As for Barrera, he’s rocket paced, skilful, one hell of a crosser and shoots from all angles, with fairly spectacular returns. Not that well known outside of the Americas (although Arsenal have been linked), Aguirre seems keen to hold Barrera back, usually unleashing him during the second half of games for maximum impact. You have been warned!

Javier Hernandez (Mexico) Age 22 (just)

When Alex Ferguson decided to spend £10m of Man Utd’s probably quite limited transfer budget on a 21 year old Mexican forward from Chivas of Guadalajara, it’s reasonable to say a few eyebrows were raised. Not from this correspondent though. Hernandez looks every inch the real deal and goes into the World Cup in real goalscoring form. 21 goals from 28 starts for his club and 7 plundered in 12 appearances for his country, gives an indication of what Hernandez does best. Watch this space.

Kwando Asamoah (Ghana) Age 21

A fine playmaker that, in Michael Essien’s absence, will be hugely relied on by his country over the next few weeks. Shouldn’t be a problem for Asamoah though, he is an absolute class act that has played superbly for Udinese this season and was one of the best performers at the African Cup of Nations. So much so that Milan and Juventus are only too keen to get their greasy little palms on young Kwando.

More up next time.

Comments welcome.

IBWM. Colours. Mast. Nailed

Spain.

That's it. IBWM cannot look past Spain.

I can sit here for ages and spout froth about Argentina, or England; but ultimately, I just can't see it for either of them. Spain enter this tournament by far and away the best international side around; possibly the best around for the last ten, twenty or thirty years. They have a system, they have the players, form and, after the Euros, they've conquered that psychological first trophy hurdle.

They also have an unbelievable level of strength in depth. Spain can go into a game without their (arguably) best player, Fernando Torres, and still comfortably beat what's in front of them. In fact, Spain could probably go without Casillas, Ramos, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa and Torres, and still beat what's in front of them. Now that's impressive.

Even the players who have maybe got a touch too senior, such as Marcos Senna, have been replaced by even better players (Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso), or have given way to outstanding youngsters (Sergio Busquets). So the continuity is there too.

Up front, Spain coach Vincente Del Bosque has been able to add to his embarrassment of riches by calling on in-form, quality players like Juan Mata, Pedro Rodriguez and Sevilla's Jesus Navas. Navas had been barely able to leave his front door for the last 4 years due to anxiety problems, now he finds himself in the form of his life and, thanks to Del Bosque, on the plane to South Africa. Talk about things falling into place.

Navas. 'I don't want you to worry son, but..........'

If Spain do have a weakness though, it could well be the defence. Pique excepted, Puyol and Capdevilla are the wrong side of 30 without obvious replacements, and Ramos is prone to going walkabout. Of course, to attack Spain's back four, you have to get the ball off them first, which is much easier said than done. Even then, Spain, like Barcelona, play a high tempo, high line pressing game which strangles the best of opponents.

So there you go. Only clear issue for the European champions is that they are in the more difficult half of the draw, along with Brazil, who would be IBWM's other contender, for no other reason than they have the next best set of players.

Of the rest, Argentina and England could get near, but I can't see either winning. Both have a potentially decent run to the semi's at least, with La Albiceleste having a formidable forward line compromised by an erratic coach, while England posses one of the most competent coaches, but a now erratic defence. I note Rio Ferdinand is now out of the tournament. Michael Dawson anyone? Jesus.

As for the rest, despite the location factor, I'm not convinced this is a vintage crop of African sides, despite some decent young players for Ghana and Cameroon especially. With Didier Drogba today breaking his arm, the strongest of these sides, Ivory Coast, may well have been badly dented psychologically.

Holland look particularly good, and despite having no form whatsoever, France and Portugal have match winners all over the park. And of course (please forgive me for this one), you can't write off the Germans, although this may be a tournament too soon for the latest side. On the other hand, it has to be a tournament too far for champions Italy though....surely?. From the Americas, Mexico have an impressive young side and Chile are fantastic to watch, dark horses could also come from one of the eastern European sides.

Not written off

All impossible to tell though. I, like most people, have followed the 'x will win that group and will then play y, with z as runners up playing.......', but it never works out like that.

History has shown that the (true) best side usually makes it to the final at least, with one of the favourites falling at the first hurdle, while another finishes runner up in their group instead of winners and screws up the whole next round draw. Some real stars will still crock themselves over the next week, while there will be some new ones that come from nowhere. I haven't even mentioned conditions or that bloody ball yet.

Spain it is though.

Comments welcome.

We are Diego's 23 - Midfielders

Keepers and defenders out of the way, I'm turning my beady eye to the engine room now.

Holding types, right sided, left sided, down the middle, attacking or defensive. Enforcers, wingers and playmakers, pulling strings or mixing things up. They're all here. Sort of.

Javier Mascherano - Liverpool (Angleterre), just about 26, 57 caps, 2 goals

Diego Maradona recently said his team would be 'Mascherano and ten others'. I'm not convinced that Diego has had some biological schooling over the last 20 years that has resulted in him being able to clone players, so we'll just assume it's one of those 'first name on the team sheet' type references.

Not difficult to see why. 'Masch', as I've just decided to refer to him, is very much top dog in the 'enforcer' role worldly wise, but there's a lot more to his game. Yes he can tackle, and he certainly grafts his, erm, socks off but he's also a very competent passer and more than capable of putting his foot through the ball when need be. And opposition forwards.

Juan Sebastián Veron - Estudiantes (Argentina), 35, 70 caps, 9 goals

On to Juan Sebastien. Destined to forever be an expensive stick to wave at Alex Ferguson, Veron was the complete midfielder in his previous life at Lazio. By the time he had found his way to the shores of England though, 'Seba' had clearly went through a full box of shite tablets. He was awful. Why Chelsea with all their new found wealth were prepared to put a huge amount of cash United's way after it was apparent Veron 'wasn't really suited to English game' remains one of life's great mysteries. All said and done though, Veron was always a lot more comfortable in the sky blue and white of his country, and is clearly a lot happier seeing out his days 'back home'. In the starting XI as the man to make the killer passes for Messi, Tevez, Aguero and Milito to score from. That what it says on the tin anyway.

Maxi Rodríguez - Liverpool (England), 29, 36 caps, 12 goals

Not yet 30, Maxi is one of those players that is past his sell by date early. However his goalscoring record wherever he has played, including his country, is pretty impressive. Now plying his trade at Anfield (for this week anyway), Rodríguez's selection in El Diego's 23 may have raised a few eyebrows when considering some of the others that didn't make it. Not a certain starter, but Maxi can still add a touch of class for ten minutes or so if need be.

Mario Bolatti - Fiorentina (Italy), 25, 5 caps, 1 goal

Scruffy looking, normally, although IBWM notes that this lanky playmaker had a haircut and a shave recently. Bolatti is yer backup Veron who scored the late goal against Uruguay that got Argentina here. Fairly intelligent player that knows where to run and how to pass a ball, will probably benefit from Veron jacking this all in at some point.

Angel Di Maria - Benfica (Portugal), 22, 8 caps, 1 goal

As mentioned earlier, IBWM really rates Di Maria and thinks he could turn out to be La Albiceleste's key player in South Africa. Devastating on the ball, he has the complete wingers package of being able to cross as well. Throw in a decent shot and he almost becomes another striker. Well almost.

Jonas Gutiérrez - Newcastle United (England), 26, 16 caps, 1 goal

Ah Jonas. IBWM knows him very well so let me give you the lowdown.

When Newcastle announced they had signed Gutiérrez, the local papers in this parish were full of how he would regularly don his spiderman mask to celebrate all these goals he would score. Wow. IBWM liked the sound of that. So much so that IBWM went all Don Howe and checked his stats from previous clubs. Lots of appearances, not many goals. Hmmmm. Not be seeing the mask much then. Ok, he's a winger, lots of assists then? Er......no.

At first I wondered how this was possible for an international winger, but two years later it all makes sense. Jonas creates havoc on the flanks, but rarely puts a cross in and rarely gets on the scoresheet. But it's all ok......honestly.

Effectively he runs, albeit gracefully, and that's pretty much it. Runs and runs. A bit like the deaf kid at junior school who just put the hood up on his parka and did laps round the yard. He helps his full back out too and never ducks a challenge. He sets up other people by pulling defenders out of position and he wins free kicks galore in dangerous areas. I think you'd call it 'advancing play'. Could quite easily be one of the best in the world if there was just something you could count.............don't be fooled by statistics though, he's great.

Javier Pastore - Palermo (Italy), 20, 2 caps, 0 goals

Still a bit raw but certainly an exciting talent as an attacking midfielder. Really finding some form going into the World Cup although he's by no means a starter due to Messi being better than him. Poor kid. Definitely in the 'next big thing' bracket though.

Comments welcome.

Wildcats and more beef

With his feet seemingly well under the table and his hind quarters well maintained over in Pretoria, Diego Maradona felt comfortable enough to bring his press conference forward 24 hours. Addressing questions and sending a couple of shots across the bows of others, Diego also got fairly descriptive. Scarily so.

Sitting alongside a particularly muted Javier Mascherano (unlikely to get a word in anyway, to be fair), El Diego dealt with concerns about the lack of another warm up match for his team, “I’m not concerned because our practices carry you to a level you might not reach in a match risking injury to one or other (player),” he said.

Maradona and Mascherano, yesterday

When asked if he knew his starting eleven for the first game against Nigeria, Maradona got all creative; “The team will come out (of practice games) a few days before (the Nigeria match), I have 23 wild cats prepared to leave their skins on the pitch”. Makes a change from 'giving it 110%' anyway.

“We’re going to reach a level that the shirt deserves . . . Argentines should relax because to beat this team (opponents) will have to put all their beef on the grill,” said Maradona, bringing that imagery back into play again. Presumably there is some sponsorship arrangement with the Argentinean Meat Marketing Board at the back of all this.

A few comments were also thrown in regarding how this squad was better, and more intelligent, than the one that Maradona played with in 1986, before a dismissal aimed at Felipe Melo of Brazil, who had offered the view recently that Argentina would be quaking in their boots at the prospect of playing his team. "I am thinking about my team, the Mascherano, the Leo (Lionel Messi). This type of thing does not interest me. I am of body and soul, thinking about what here I must do for the day only (12th June, Argentina's opening game against Nigeria)".

Felipe Melo; "I'll have the lot of yer"

I think that translates roughly as 'We're taking it one game at a time, Brian'.

Getting closer now though eh?

Introducing the pretenders (part one)

Unless you've lived under a rock in the deepest jungles around the Amazon, with your eyes and ears closed and have had no contact with any life at all, you will be familiar with Leo Messi.

Actually if that was you, you'll probably still have heard of Leo Messi. And Kaka. And Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo. Such is the power of communication.........and Nike's advertising budget these days.

So with this in mind, we should absolutely, 100% know who will be joining football's top table; before the World Cup kicks off we'll all know exactly where 'the next big thing' is coming from.

Right?

Well, maybe not. In Leo's case it his exploits for Barcelona that have attracted attention, rather than any dominance for his national side. These days showcasing your skills in the European Champions League or the English Premiership is what brings players into focus.

At one time, it was the World Cup where players exploded into football's collective conscience. This was certainly the case for Pelé in 1958, and several others since.

So in 2010, is there still room for players to make inroads to the top table at a World Cup? IBWM thinks so.

Here are some players that you may or may not be familiar with, that could well sparkle in the next few weeks........and some might well end up at a club near you.

Javier Pastore (Argentina) Age 20

We'll start with the familiar surrounds of the Argentina squad for this one. Pastore is an attacking midfielder with a more than decent touch. He has effectively rocketed to prominence in just under two years, firstly with Huracan in his homeland, and last season with Palermo in Serie A. Although he only found the net 3 times, Pastore was really finding his feet in the second half of the season and was hugely influential as his club secured fourth spot. Biggest issue he may have is that he is, more than anyone, in Leo Messi's shadow.......not physically like, that's not possible, but due to them operating in the same 'hole', as it were. Linked left right and centre before Palermo nipped in, they'll stand to make a tidy profit on this one when the inevitable cheque books open.

Angel Di Maria (Argentina) Age 22

Still in this neck of the woods, and this really could be Di Maria's tournament. Finding the net for the first time at full international level just a week or so back against Canada probably shows the shape of things to come. Di Maria has been in outstanding form for Benfica this season, and is a hugely effective crosser of the ball from his left wing berth. He was a matchwinner at under 20 level, and can certainly catch one when he fancies it. IBWM likes lefties, and so do a number of other clubs. Liverpool were sniffing royally around at one stage, although they are more like street urchins with their noses pressed against the glass these days.

Alexis Sánchez (Chile) Age 21

Picked up his first cap as a seventeen, Chile's "El Niño Maravilla" (wonder boy) headed for pizza and pasta at Frankie and Benny's (no he went to Italy really, Udinese in fact) at around about the same time. Sent back to South America to develop further with Colo Colo and River Plate, Sanchez is now finding his feet in Italia. But he's doing a lot more than that at international level, scoring goals galore alongside Humberto Suazo as the sharp edge of a particularly free flowing Chile side.

Yoann Gourcuff (France) Age 23

Still just 23, Yoann has carried the 'new Zidane' badge round for a long time now. Moving to AC Milan just short of his 20th birthday, Gourcuff is a prime example of development stifled at one of the big clubs. It was only when he returned to France with Bordeaux that blossoming kicked in, and a permanent move back to his homeland followed in 2009. He's now the incumbent French player of the year and an excellent attacking midfielder/second striker. Used fleetingly by the outgoing French coach Raymond Domenech, Gourcuff has yet to really step up to the plate. Perfect timing for an in-form player then.

Mesut Ozil (Germany) Age 22

While England basked, and continue to bask, in the glory of that 5-1 win back in 2001, the Germans realised they needed to have a long hard look at themselves. Mesut Ozil is very much the result of a complete national overhaul of junior football upwards, that is now starting to pay dividends. So as England's golden generation starts to fade, Germany's restructuring is now well moved along with several pieces of evidence apparent in Joachim Low's squad. He will ultimately be joined by Muller, Hummels, Kroos, Tasci, Marin and Reus, but it is Ozil himself that is the trailblazer and the midfielder providing the creative spark of the current nationalmannschaft.

6 more next time, let me know of any others you reckon are worth a mention......just don't say Walcott.