Czech Republic vs Portugal

Originally Posted by Part 36 Offer

you utter £#%&!ing cretin. i hate you.

Originally Posted by Crumps

You end up being a centre half because of your build more than anything as a kid. Not many nippy 5 foot 8 centre halves about.

shinji next season

versatility

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

If you went to Barcelona's academy, do you think most of the kids there would be hoping to be the next Xavi/Iniesta/Messi or an out-and-out centre-forward, such as Fernando Llorente? Barca don't tend to produce penalty-box goalscorers. Other academies in Spain, such as Bilbao's, do. Different academies sometimes focus on and harness different types of players.

Remember that Portuguese football is very centralised. All the attacking players in the current squad came through Benfica, Porto or Sporting. So the philosophies and values of those academies will have a big influence on the type of players Portugal produces. And those three clubs tend to buy strikers, rather than develop them. So Portugal has no strikers.

They go into every tournament with four quality wingers, with a couple of good alternatives not making the cut. The two full-backs in this side are former wingers. Portugal's last top quality full-back, Miguel, was a failed winger. It's not a coincidence. Ronaldo refuses to play as a striker because he doesn't see enough of the ball. It derives from the footballing culture of the academies from which they developed. Nobody wants to be the striker.

on the last bit pretty sure one of the comms said that Torres had been on the ball for a total of about 30 odd seconds against Eire and in that time he'd had a couple of missed shots, a key pass and scored 2 goals. typing that makes me think I probably misheard him though. as you were.

Originally Posted by signed dc

Figo's barnet looks a great colour, might have to try that Just For Men stuff myself

he always had fantastic hair. Never out of place. great to watch

Originally Posted by Stickman

I doubt very much that one of the factors in Portugal's inability to produce a top striker is lack of kids aspiring to be one.

As for 'nobody wants to be a striker' - thats nothing more than a guess, and a highly unlikely situation. They produce good centre halves, are we suggesting more kids want to be centre backs?

I meant that the most talented attacking players in the academies don't want to be a striker. You don't have to be particularly talented to be a good centre-half.

I should have specified that the Lisbon clubs produce most of the flair players. Porto are more likely to develop a defender or midfield runner. And both Sporting and Benfica place an emphasis on wingers. That's not a guess - it's a fact. Sporting have been a conveyor belt of wide players for the last two decades: Figo, Simao, Quaresma, Ronaldo, Nani etc. The most talented players are moulded in that way.

Silvestre Varela came through at Sporting and they had him down as a striker. He even drew comparisons to Drogba, largely because he was seen as not as technical as the others. He ended up getting released by Sporting, and was later picked up by Porto where he was converted into a more industrious but effective wide forward. It demonstrates the mentality in the academies: the quick and talented players can be wingers or perhaps no.10s while the less gifted might make it as a striker. It's not a glamorous position and until that changes, the most talented kids will continue to idolise the wingers.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

You don't have to be particularly talented to be a good centre-half

wtf?

Originally Posted by borsuk

wtf?

Really?

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Really?

there are all sorts of different kinds of talent. tackling is no less a talent than dribbling and a player like baresi was no less talented than any great striker. imo.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

on the last bit pretty sure one of the comms said that Torres had been on the ball for a total of about 30 odd seconds against Eire and in that time he'd had a couple of missed shots, a key pass and scored 2 goals. typing that makes me think I probably misheard him though. as you were.

That's probably right. Average player spends about a minute and a half on the ball per game.
People like xavi and Haha Toured will be pushing two minutes.

Originally Posted by borsuk

wtf?

In terms of technique and ball skills centre halves are usually the least talented.

Originally Posted by Crumps

In terms of technique and ball skills centre halves are usually the least talented.

hmm, not sure i agree tbh. there are skills they don't need or use but that's a different thing, a top centre back is extremely skilled in other ways.

Originally Posted by borsuk

hmm, not sure i agree tbh. there are skills they don't need or use but that's a different thing, a top centre back is extremely skilled in other ways.

Yeah they'll usually be better in the air, at tackling and at reading the game.

Most of the centre halves that are seen as more skillful and with better technique would have started out further up the pitch and ended up where they are due to a growth spurt. The ones that have played there since day one will have been seen as technically inferior players but because of this other skills are developed.

Stop being awkward, you know what he meant.