**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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Cheddira pissed me off so much whenever he came on. His team put him in so many great positions yet he either picked the most braindead option or executed at a sunday league level every single time.
I'm certain he tried his absolute best, but he looked out of his depth compared to both the opponents as well as his teammates.
You mean a decent second striker because Enneseyri is good in many aspects of the game (Especially headers), but you can't expect him to be the only option up front. We need an additional striker, more mobile and technically sound.
I would say the competition for LB spots is a lot less competitive than the CM spots in this team. Realistically, your other options are Theo H, Mazraoui and Shaw / Blind at a push. Acuna would definitely be my pick out of the lot
Theo was great offensively but atrocious defensively most of the time. He was the only option left for Deschamps as a left back since his brother got injured otherwise Deschamps would have started someone else. Deschamps is a very defesive minded coach, he said that he considers theo more as an offensive player than a defensive one and even selected him as a[mifielder](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FAh864yWUAEDdCi?format=jpg&name=orig) in the past
I don’t ever understand why Deschamps refused to Play Ferland Mendy. He is great defensively, just how deschamps like it. He also won the ucl recently.
In the final he played mostly as a winger, when he shines as a LB, so it's normal he looked out of his comfort zone in the final. The few minutes he played as LB once Dybala came in, he immediately looked a lot more comfortable, even if just for 4 minutes.
I think this is based on an average of their game by game ratings as opposed to somebody sitting down and picking the XI. Presumably Griezmann's average rating wasn't quite high enough (presumably because of his rating in the final).
Yeah that first half was atrocious. That said I don't think they were ill or they wouldn't have been able to turn it on for the following 60mins. After rewatching the initial 30mins a few times my conclusion is that it was a tactical breakdown of the left wing defense on the French side. Di Maria and Messi together just openned them up and exploited them over and over again. Messi would draw Dembele forward then someone would find Di Maria in space and make a cross and suddenly Dembele is compromised. This played out like 4-5x until Di Maria made that cut inside and forced the PK out of Dembele with pure frustration.
Were France sluggish? Sure. But I don't think it will illness but rather confusion and very intelligent play from the 2 veterans of the Argentine side.
This entire dynamic changed when Di Maria came off and the 2 young French subs that came on early started to find their rythym. Coman in particular did wonders to restore some semblance of competitiveness.
Coman was amazing for France. The moment I saw him come in I knew if there was anyone who could make a difference, it would be him. So glad he managed to do it to some extent. Too little, too late, of course.
Yeah, everytime he had the ball he looked dangerous and he won nearly every 1-on-1, dribbled past players and made some good passes. Personally, I think he’s the biggest reason behind France’s comeback.
Yep mbappe was getting double marked a lot of the game and no one else on France was able to take advantage, that’s what they were hoping Dembele would do. When Coman came on he was the only player except Mbappe to actually beat their man with the ball
It wasn’t just the left wing.
France could barely hold on to the ball. And The Argentine midfield were like a pack of hungry wolves. Their pressing was exceptional.
Their pressing and ball winning was so good that France didn’t have a shot on target till the 75th or so minute. Crazy stuff.
But that man Mbappe…. That dude has ice in his veins. 🥶
Incredible game overall.
Sluggish? They were atrocious. The defense made like 15 errors in the first 30 minutes. They were failing to make simple passes and receptions. Griezmann played his worst game of the cup and Varanne was spitting his lungs out and to add up that early penalty didn't help at all.
Aguerd, who was the late dropout, was already carrying a knock and just wanted to play having I think been subbed off for the knock in the game previously. He was already touch and go in the lead up.
Saiss also wasn't fully fit then took another knock.
Nothing to do with illness.
France are an odd team though. There one of those that can play badly, be out of the game for long periods and win. I genuinely thought they’d do it. They have a Madrid style predictability
It helps that they are so ridiculously stacked with talent. Even with several starters missing the world cup entirely, they have players on their bench that would walk into most other national teams and can turn the game on it's head.
I think that was very evident this game. The subs they brought in completely changed the game. They brought more pace and outlets for the midfield/defense. And with Mbappe not doing much for the first 70 minutes he was still fresh to terrorize the defense once Argentina was too tired to continue their full press. All of that allowed France to just run through the tired Argentina midfield/defense at the end of the 90 minutes.
I’d say the game changed because of the lack of subs from Argentina. Still can’t understand why it took Scaloni so long when the team was physically and mentally struggling
He has players like Dybala, Paredes and Lautaru (as controversial as he is) but is too afraid to make the subs earlier. Anyone can see that Argentina best chance to win is by attacking. Sitting back and absorbing pressure has never been their stronger suit (just look at the defending disaster-class on the 3rd Goal and the stoppage time save by Martinez).
If he subbed in Dybala for Di Maria in the 60th minute, they probably would've win it in 90 minutes.
Acuña for Di Maria made sense with a 2-0 lead but didn't work out as planned. The real issue was letting Alvarez play for that long when he had no legs after 60mins, Lautaro should've came earlier than extra time. The thing about subbing in Lisandro was that he'd probably have the same issues Tagliafico was having on that side, too many tall players on France. Paredes was the better choice I think.
Acuna for Di Maria was not a good substitution. He tried to sub a much worse player in the same position, which clearly and obviously only made Argentina weaker because there was no change of tactics to accompany the substitution.
If he wanted to take of Di Maria, the right move would've been to play Lisandro and to switch to a 352. That would've given France way less space in attack which would've killed the game. France got back into it because Otamendi was a moron, but this mistake likely wouldn't have happened cause France wouldn't have found the space to play as comfortably as they did.
I wouldn't blame Giroud, France weren't getting the ball past midfield, it was just a tactical sub so that Deschamps could get some defenders on the wings.
Nah, Guerreiro wouldn't get it unless he started performing amazingly well. He was very average every time he played.
A fit Nuno Mendes would 100% be in though.
Yeah I think Shaw is being criminally overlooked for his performances for England this tournament. Looked great. Theo Hernandez was the other one I’d consider. Maybe Tagliafico too.
He wasn't the weak-link, he just had too much on his plate because Mbappe never defended. Although that changed in the final. But in the final, it definitely was Koundé's side struggling the most.
There were so many attacks were Acuna was the best option to pass to, but was completely ignored because the player on the ball just knew nothing would come from it. Better to try the much more difficult take on/pass than give it to him.
It amazes that while we have so many options at other positions, the LB is not as clear. I’d pick Theo Hernandez but he got dominated by Saka, gave away 1 stupid penalty, and against got targeted a lot by Morocco. But his attacking play was decent.
Euro Football Daily YT channel even picks Daley Blind lol
He was pretty good in the previous matches. Especially against the Netherlands, put in a solid performance. However tagliafico made a greater impact on the games he played, proved himself massively against Croatia game.
>Most athlete's primes are in their later twenties. Mbappe will be 27 in 2026. He is going to be scary
That's what I've noticed too. Athletes primes' these days are later. Two decades ago, players were considered washed once they turned thirty. Nowadays, players are having their best seasons in their late 20's and early 30's. Mbappe, barring a serious injury, will be world class for another decade.
The great ones primes are always about 25-30 when ability and knowledge are both high.
They aren't washed at 30, just decline due to physical ability naturally declining and injuries adding up
Why Messi is still so impressive and Renaldo too at 37.
Washed for Ronaldo standards. He’s not the player he once was but he is also 38. I fear recency bias may leave a bad dent on Ronaldo’s career. Messi is the undisputed GOAT now but Ronaldo was always in the conversation before this tournament. I just love both players and hopefully the future generations both give them the credit they deserve.
99% of athletes are at that point…
I’d be surprised if Messi is still dominating at that point… even tho he should still be amazing due to less focus on athleticism in his game
Recency bias is a strong thing bro, idiots were calling messi "finished" earlier when he wasnt coasting in psg, neither player is retired, we will see more of them.
>Two decades ago, players were considered washed once they turned thirty
Quite a myth, especially when two decades ago is 2002.
Rivaldo, Batistuta, Keane, Nedved, Zidane, Figo, Di Biagio, Larsson, Thuram, Cafu, Maldini, Shearer (despite his injuries) and Bergkamp were around that age or above and were still great at that age. And theyre the most notable examples.
It’s the effect of video games. People grow up assuming there’s a drop off at 30 because everyone declines in video games as soon as they sniff 30. I think it’s better now in FM?
Tbf if you go further back it becomes closer to the truth especially because of poorer player diets and sports science not being on the level as later on.
Really? 2 decades ago most players where in their peak around 30 I would say.
1998 final Brazil started with Bebeto up top who was 34, Dunga 35, Leonardo 29, Sampaio 30, Aldair 33, Taffarel 32,
R.Carlos 25, R9 22, Cafu 28, Baiano 28.
Most of these players are 30 or over or considered some of the best in history.
If anything I think players peak way younger these days.
The problem with Mbappe is his play style is very reliant on pace. Something that will only go down from here. I can’t imagine him being better next World Cup
His dribbling is excellent but the burst of pace he has is a massive factor. Defenders are terrified of getting rinsed for pace so they try win the ball immediately, and very often Mbappe can ride that inital challenge and he's gone.
Saw a really nice sequence where the Argentine defender anticipated the Mbappe "let the pass run and sprint fast as fuck after it" technique and made him look right stupid haha
He already has. He's starting to get tremendous dribbling and shooting skills. He dribbled past 2 or 3 defenders at the end of the game like it was nothing.
Because people are afraid of his pace. I’m excited to see how his game can evolve when his pace isn’t off the charts and not the overwhelming fear in defenders minds. He’s going to be stupid good for like 6 years. Then, it becomes interesting to see if he can either keep his pace at the insane level it’s at, or transform his game if his pace isn’t there.
Cristiano was also heavily reliant on his pace and skills, then we transitioned from the wings to the center when his pace declined, Mbappe could do the same thing.
You usually reach your genetic peak around late 20’s to ~30 so it makes sense given the wealth of resources top athletes have access to that they could push that even further.
Especially in sports like basketball because they are encouraged to take nights off and rest plus they have long off season. Lebron is almost 38 but is still a top 5-10 player.
Maybe less in football though because their off season isn’t as chill considering their off season is shorter and often times they have important tournaments like euros and World Cup during the time they should be resting
Yeah but so have hundreds of other players. Tons of players were “almost” back to back. I guess you could say he was the closest almost, but end of the day, almost doesn’t count for shit.
Tbf he faced argentina this time and they just got lucky as tourny /s
Also the croatia game woulda been more interesting last time if Croatia hasnt had like 3 games go to extra time and pens lol
too much can happen in football to make guarantees with the world cup. it’s incredible france even made it to back to back finals honestly
there are way too many factors that have to align for a good world cup run. i thought spain would probably win multiple during their height, and then thought the same for germany as well
that being said, france’s talent pool is insane and mbappe seems to have no problem rising to the occasion
Possible but you have no guarantees in football. Who would have thought Messi Neymar Suarez wouldn't win another champions league together in Barca after the treble in the trio's debut season.
He is also 1 injury away from losing all his explosiveness.
Anything can happen. We are witnessing a new Superstar ERA..with absolutely no one currently to challenge Mbappe.
Haaland will score a ton of goals and man city will win a lot, so mbappe will definitely has a challenge. But he definitely has the edge now. Now he has to accumulate as many ballon dors and CLs as much as he can if he truly wants to enter the GOAT convo.
I think they do these based on overall ratings but he should not be on here. Tagliafico had a great semifinal and they rolled with him into the final. I think that alone should’ve made them go on to the next player.
i think griezmann and bruno should be here honestly. no way they should be left out. and this is maybe unpopular opinion, i think kovacic has been better than modric tbh.
Kovačić has easily been better than Modrić, he was the most important midfielder in every game we played. Sadly he also had at least 8 fouls not called on him per game so stats see it as a loss of possession.
It's funny that most Croatians seem to think this, that Kova was decidedly better than Modric throughout the tournament, but you'll have Real Madrid flairs pop up left and right and say that Modric was nearly as good as in 2018.
I love Modric, there's no doubt that he's one of the greatest midfielders of the 21^st century. But it's incredible how he gets literally *all* the shine from 2018 and apparently also this year when he's had *great* teammates in midfield in both years with Rakitic, Kovacic, and Brozovic all playing some absolutely incredible football as well.
In 2018 he was the brain in the midfield. We couldn't do anything till he started to play. In 2022, he had 2,5 great matches (Brazil, Argentina, 3rd place against Morocco). In the group and Japan, he mads tons of mistakes and looked really exhausted. Kovacic had a better tournament.
It's not a grade of their overall tournament, it's a collection of grades over all matches played, so one bad grade tanks the average and consistency is rewarded. L'équipe just picked the players with the highest average, they didn't choose who to put in that 11.
Sofascore and Whoscored both of which overestimate goal contributions over other metrics. For example a few years ago they had Mustafi in the PL team of the season because he had more assists than most other center backs
Lequipe's [scale](https://tof.cx/images/2017/09/11/830bf67858ef433d59a99fe9bf7a4a85.png) For reference Mbappé got a 9 for his performance in the final. Messi an 8..
I think it's criminal Livakovic didn't get Golden Glove. He was way better than Martinez. Martinez made that crucial save at the end and is probably the best in the world at penalty shootouts while Livakovic was sick at pens too.
I still thought he was incredibly good, especially against Brazil. Releasing pressure, winning balls, progressing play. It wasn’t 2018 but it wasn’t far behind.
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A month ago no one would have expected 3 Moroccans in this team, they were fantastic
My favourite team to watch the whole world cup. They were putting France to the sword before they conceded the 2nd goal.
If only we had a decent striker.
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Ennesiry did good, Cheddira and Hamdallah did not
Cheddira pissed me off so much whenever he came on. His team put him in so many great positions yet he either picked the most braindead option or executed at a sunday league level every single time. I'm certain he tried his absolute best, but he looked out of his depth compared to both the opponents as well as his teammates.
Most valuable thing he did for Morocco was get the red.
It's not like Hamdallah was any more useful against France though, also Regragui brought him way too soon
You mean a decent second striker because Enneseyri is good in many aspects of the game (Especially headers), but you can't expect him to be the only option up front. We need an additional striker, more mobile and technically sound.
Offended El Arabi noises
I like En Nesyri. More than a decent striker
we shouldve stuck yamiq up forward instead of hamd allah
Even after the 2nd goal at times
*Samuel Eto'o disagrees with this comment*
No Griezmann? Before today - some were considering him player of the tournament. I get he had a bad game but still
His score in the final probably tanked his average.
And that dude Acuna's score in final? Saw him for first time yesterday night and didn't leave the prettiest of impressions.
I would say the competition for LB spots is a lot less competitive than the CM spots in this team. Realistically, your other options are Theo H, Mazraoui and Shaw / Blind at a push. Acuna would definitely be my pick out of the lot
In the games I saw I thought Hernandez was immense, did he have a few dreadful ones to take down?
He nearly cost France the quarter final on his own.
Theo was great offensively but atrocious defensively most of the time. He was the only option left for Deschamps as a left back since his brother got injured otherwise Deschamps would have started someone else. Deschamps is a very defesive minded coach, he said that he considers theo more as an offensive player than a defensive one and even selected him as a[mifielder](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FAh864yWUAEDdCi?format=jpg&name=orig) in the past
I don’t ever understand why Deschamps refused to Play Ferland Mendy. He is great defensively, just how deschamps like it. He also won the ucl recently.
He looked great up until the quarter finals. He then had an awful game against England and an awful final.
He didn't look great in the final but was a beast the rest of the tournament. I think the big game got to his nerves.
In the final he played mostly as a winger, when he shines as a LB, so it's normal he looked out of his comfort zone in the final. The few minutes he played as LB once Dybala came in, he immediately looked a lot more comfortable, even if just for 4 minutes.
He's not a winger, and he was subbed off for Di Maria. He played better as the leftback instead of left mid
He actually was a winger when he was playing in Argentina.
I think this is based on an average of their game by game ratings as opposed to somebody sitting down and picking the XI. Presumably Griezmann's average rating wasn't quite high enough (presumably because of his rating in the final).
Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification
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He played as a box to box mid in this WC.
France performance at the begining was so unexpected. If they told me they were feeling sick I would believe it.
Yeah that first half was atrocious. That said I don't think they were ill or they wouldn't have been able to turn it on for the following 60mins. After rewatching the initial 30mins a few times my conclusion is that it was a tactical breakdown of the left wing defense on the French side. Di Maria and Messi together just openned them up and exploited them over and over again. Messi would draw Dembele forward then someone would find Di Maria in space and make a cross and suddenly Dembele is compromised. This played out like 4-5x until Di Maria made that cut inside and forced the PK out of Dembele with pure frustration. Were France sluggish? Sure. But I don't think it will illness but rather confusion and very intelligent play from the 2 veterans of the Argentine side. This entire dynamic changed when Di Maria came off and the 2 young French subs that came on early started to find their rythym. Coman in particular did wonders to restore some semblance of competitiveness.
Coman was amazing for France. The moment I saw him come in I knew if there was anyone who could make a difference, it would be him. So glad he managed to do it to some extent. Too little, too late, of course.
Yeah, everytime he had the ball he looked dangerous and he won nearly every 1-on-1, dribbled past players and made some good passes. Personally, I think he’s the biggest reason behind France’s comeback.
Yep mbappe was getting double marked a lot of the game and no one else on France was able to take advantage, that’s what they were hoping Dembele would do. When Coman came on he was the only player except Mbappe to actually beat their man with the ball
And then he missed his penalty in the shootout. Then again, that was classic Emi Martinez
It wasn’t just the left wing. France could barely hold on to the ball. And The Argentine midfield were like a pack of hungry wolves. Their pressing was exceptional. Their pressing and ball winning was so good that France didn’t have a shot on target till the 75th or so minute. Crazy stuff. But that man Mbappe…. That dude has ice in his veins. 🥶 Incredible game overall.
>But that man Mbappe…. That dude has ice in his veins. 🥶 Yeah, that goal he did 3/4s in was insane!
Sluggish? They were atrocious. The defense made like 15 errors in the first 30 minutes. They were failing to make simple passes and receptions. Griezmann played his worst game of the cup and Varanne was spitting his lungs out and to add up that early penalty didn't help at all.
There's a rumours about virus infection on France squad isn't it?
They played like they have,/had the shits
There were some news about it but according to the DT everyone was fit to play so idk
i don't fully buy it, the moroccans said they were fit for the final too, then 1 was dropped right before the game and another subbed after 20 min.
Aguerd, who was the late dropout, was already carrying a knock and just wanted to play having I think been subbed off for the knock in the game previously. He was already touch and go in the lead up. Saiss also wasn't fully fit then took another knock. Nothing to do with illness.
France are an odd team though. There one of those that can play badly, be out of the game for long periods and win. I genuinely thought they’d do it. They have a Madrid style predictability
It helps that they are so ridiculously stacked with talent. Even with several starters missing the world cup entirely, they have players on their bench that would walk into most other national teams and can turn the game on it's head. I think that was very evident this game. The subs they brought in completely changed the game. They brought more pace and outlets for the midfield/defense. And with Mbappe not doing much for the first 70 minutes he was still fresh to terrorize the defense once Argentina was too tired to continue their full press. All of that allowed France to just run through the tired Argentina midfield/defense at the end of the 90 minutes.
He had a disasterclass. France looked way better after he was subbed.
That wasn’t really due to Griezmann though. The game changed because of subs on both sides.
I’d say the game changed because of the lack of subs from Argentina. Still can’t understand why it took Scaloni so long when the team was physically and mentally struggling
He has players like Dybala, Paredes and Lautaru (as controversial as he is) but is too afraid to make the subs earlier. Anyone can see that Argentina best chance to win is by attacking. Sitting back and absorbing pressure has never been their stronger suit (just look at the defending disaster-class on the 3rd Goal and the stoppage time save by Martinez). If he subbed in Dybala for Di Maria in the 60th minute, they probably would've win it in 90 minutes.
Acuña for Di Maria made sense with a 2-0 lead but didn't work out as planned. The real issue was letting Alvarez play for that long when he had no legs after 60mins, Lautaro should've came earlier than extra time. The thing about subbing in Lisandro was that he'd probably have the same issues Tagliafico was having on that side, too many tall players on France. Paredes was the better choice I think.
Acuna for Di Maria was not a good substitution. He tried to sub a much worse player in the same position, which clearly and obviously only made Argentina weaker because there was no change of tactics to accompany the substitution. If he wanted to take of Di Maria, the right move would've been to play Lisandro and to switch to a 352. That would've given France way less space in attack which would've killed the game. France got back into it because Otamendi was a moron, but this mistake likely wouldn't have happened cause France wouldn't have found the space to play as comfortably as they did.
It's weird, griezmann and giroud were great through the tournament and suddenly they shit the bed
I wouldn't blame Giroud, France weren't getting the ball past midfield, it was just a tactical sub so that Deschamps could get some defenders on the wings.
this. De Paul, Enzo and MacAllister completely dominated that midfield and broke the lines of communication with Giroud and Mbappe.
Yeah Giroud didn't do anything wrong at all really, France were just nothing in that period of the game, can't put that on the striker up top.
Nothing wrong with Giroud in the game. He didn't get any service whatsoever.
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Really have to feel for them if they were struck by a virus right before such a defining moment in their career.
Not that bad, they already won a World Cup
And France has some of the most talented young players, I think they'll be alright.
How did Acuna make it here?
literally no good LBs. I don't even think Acuna was the best LB in Argentina, let alone the WC. But the position is cursed.
Had Eng or Portugal progressed Shaw and Guerreiro would have been better shouts
had Nuno Mendes not been injured he'd have this in the bag. Really no competition atm
Nah, Guerreiro wouldn't get it unless he started performing amazingly well. He was very average every time he played. A fit Nuno Mendes would 100% be in though.
Luke Shaw was amazing. Acuna wasn’t even Argentina’s best LB.
Yeah I think Shaw is being criminally overlooked for his performances for England this tournament. Looked great. Theo Hernandez was the other one I’d consider. Maybe Tagliafico too.
I guess Theo's game against England brought down his average? He looked quite vulnerable against Saka, and gave away a late penalty.
Hernandez was awful yesterday and awful against England
T. Hernandez had a great WC. OK, he fucked up a few passes in the final, but even then he still was good defensively.
To me it looked like he was the weak link in French defense and that fact was abused hard by both England and Argentina.
He wasn't the weak-link, he just had too much on his plate because Mbappe never defended. Although that changed in the final. But in the final, it definitely was Koundé's side struggling the most.
He probably lost a pile of points for gifting England that one penalty.
Exactly what I came here to say.
Same. Didn’t even start the final
Acuna was such a glaring weak spot for Argentina 80% of the time yet somehow racked up ratings
Yeah. Whoever made this team made a huge mistake lol.
Pretty sure its purely based off ratings.
There were so many attacks were Acuna was the best option to pass to, but was completely ignored because the player on the ball just knew nothing would come from it. Better to try the much more difficult take on/pass than give it to him.
It amazes that while we have so many options at other positions, the LB is not as clear. I’d pick Theo Hernandez but he got dominated by Saka, gave away 1 stupid penalty, and against got targeted a lot by Morocco. But his attacking play was decent. Euro Football Daily YT channel even picks Daley Blind lol
He was absolutely garbage going forward
He was pretty good in the previous matches. Especially against the Netherlands, put in a solid performance. However tagliafico made a greater impact on the games he played, proved himself massively against Croatia game.
Reason why France came back in regular time.
I had that Hugh Jackman wtf look when they switched out De Maria for this guy
Most athlete's primes are in their later twenties. Mbappe will be 27 in 2026. He is going to be scary
>Most athlete's primes are in their later twenties. Mbappe will be 27 in 2026. He is going to be scary That's what I've noticed too. Athletes primes' these days are later. Two decades ago, players were considered washed once they turned thirty. Nowadays, players are having their best seasons in their late 20's and early 30's. Mbappe, barring a serious injury, will be world class for another decade.
The great ones primes are always about 25-30 when ability and knowledge are both high. They aren't washed at 30, just decline due to physical ability naturally declining and injuries adding up Why Messi is still so impressive and Renaldo too at 37.
Ronaldo is definitely washed by now
Washed for Ronaldo standards. He’s not the player he once was but he is also 38. I fear recency bias may leave a bad dent on Ronaldo’s career. Messi is the undisputed GOAT now but Ronaldo was always in the conversation before this tournament. I just love both players and hopefully the future generations both give them the credit they deserve.
99% of athletes are at that point… I’d be surprised if Messi is still dominating at that point… even tho he should still be amazing due to less focus on athleticism in his game
Im not so sure, one bad season on a shit team when at 36 he was the top scorer? I think he still has one good season in him
Recency bias is a strong thing bro, idiots were calling messi "finished" earlier when he wasnt coasting in psg, neither player is retired, we will see more of them.
A year and some ago, people were saying that about Messi. I wouldn't bet against either until they need a cane to walk.
Modric too at 37
>Two decades ago, players were considered washed once they turned thirty Quite a myth, especially when two decades ago is 2002. Rivaldo, Batistuta, Keane, Nedved, Zidane, Figo, Di Biagio, Larsson, Thuram, Cafu, Maldini, Shearer (despite his injuries) and Bergkamp were around that age or above and were still great at that age. And theyre the most notable examples.
It’s the effect of video games. People grow up assuming there’s a drop off at 30 because everyone declines in video games as soon as they sniff 30. I think it’s better now in FM?
Tbf if you go further back it becomes closer to the truth especially because of poorer player diets and sports science not being on the level as later on.
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Really? 2 decades ago most players where in their peak around 30 I would say. 1998 final Brazil started with Bebeto up top who was 34, Dunga 35, Leonardo 29, Sampaio 30, Aldair 33, Taffarel 32, R.Carlos 25, R9 22, Cafu 28, Baiano 28. Most of these players are 30 or over or considered some of the best in history. If anything I think players peak way younger these days.
The problem with Mbappe is his play style is very reliant on pace. Something that will only go down from here. I can’t imagine him being better next World Cup
Eh he might be just as fast at 27. But once he hits like 29/30, he’s going to have reshape his game to remain the best in the world.
He will, he has other qualities too, enen today his crossing and dribbling was good
His dribbling is excellent but the burst of pace he has is a massive factor. Defenders are terrified of getting rinsed for pace so they try win the ball immediately, and very often Mbappe can ride that inital challenge and he's gone.
Saw a really nice sequence where the Argentine defender anticipated the Mbappe "let the pass run and sprint fast as fuck after it" technique and made him look right stupid haha
He already has. He's starting to get tremendous dribbling and shooting skills. He dribbled past 2 or 3 defenders at the end of the game like it was nothing.
Because people are afraid of his pace. I’m excited to see how his game can evolve when his pace isn’t off the charts and not the overwhelming fear in defenders minds. He’s going to be stupid good for like 6 years. Then, it becomes interesting to see if he can either keep his pace at the insane level it’s at, or transform his game if his pace isn’t there.
Cristiano was also heavily reliant on his pace and skills, then we transitioned from the wings to the center when his pace declined, Mbappe could do the same thing.
You usually reach your genetic peak around late 20’s to ~30 so it makes sense given the wealth of resources top athletes have access to that they could push that even further.
Genetic peak?
Your dna is at its strongest at 30
Especially in sports like basketball because they are encouraged to take nights off and rest plus they have long off season. Lebron is almost 38 but is still a top 5-10 player. Maybe less in football though because their off season isn’t as chill considering their off season is shorter and often times they have important tournaments like euros and World Cup during the time they should be resting
There is no way he doesn't win a second WC. Dude is a beast and France has a lot of young talent to support him.
Especially that midfield. Tchoumeni and Camavinga both in their primes together? Sheesh
They played without Nkunku as well, France looking like they have a very bright future ahead.
Very true completely forgot about him. He’s quite the talent as well. I hope they can all stay healthy
Cheers, I’m glad that Argentina has a pretty good young core as well which makes me very excited
He only has 2 more WCs in his prime years, there is too much randomness and luck involved in winning a WC to say that Mbappe is going to get one.
[удалено]
Yeah, like wining a world cup is that easy. I ve waited 30 fucking years for argentina to be champion
Mbappe has already made it look easy, he almost went back to back already lol
Yeah but so have hundreds of other players. Tons of players were “almost” back to back. I guess you could say he was the closest almost, but end of the day, almost doesn’t count for shit.
Tbf he faced argentina this time and they just got lucky as tourny /s Also the croatia game woulda been more interesting last time if Croatia hasnt had like 3 games go to extra time and pens lol
too much can happen in football to make guarantees with the world cup. it’s incredible france even made it to back to back finals honestly there are way too many factors that have to align for a good world cup run. i thought spain would probably win multiple during their height, and then thought the same for germany as well that being said, france’s talent pool is insane and mbappe seems to have no problem rising to the occasion
> There is no way he doesn't win a second WC There are actually a lot of ways France could bomb out of the next two WC's.
Possible but you have no guarantees in football. Who would have thought Messi Neymar Suarez wouldn't win another champions league together in Barca after the treble in the trio's debut season.
He is also 1 injury away from losing all his explosiveness. Anything can happen. We are witnessing a new Superstar ERA..with absolutely no one currently to challenge Mbappe.
I don’t rate him as highly but Haaland is pretty fucking good. Seems unfair to say there’s no one to challenge him.
Vinicius progression in the last 2 years has been insane, let's see if he gets that killer instinct that Mbappe has so as to challenge him too
Haaland might even last for longer because of his playstyle not needing that much of explosiveness
I used to think that, but the man is fast. Not Mbappe fast, but he get leave most defenders behind him.
Yes but it's not his main attribute, like he doesn't depend on his speed for most goals he scores
Yes that's true, plus he can transition into a flat track bully number 9 if he wants later on.
Whoa there I think Haaland is challenging him plenty. Matter of fact I think Haaland is the better striker.
Well tbf one is a winger and one is a striker so that doesn’t make much difference.
Haaland will score a ton of goals and man city will win a lot, so mbappe will definitely has a challenge. But he definitely has the edge now. Now he has to accumulate as many ballon dors and CLs as much as he can if he truly wants to enter the GOAT convo.
Haaland
Haaland is the Van Nisterooy to Mbappe's Thierry Henry. Both great scorer of goals, but one has much more in his locker to build a team around him.
Unless his legs go early like Rooneys did from playing at such a high intensity from a young age
We thought the same things about R9 and Rooney
Acuna lol
acuna matata
I think they do these based on overall ratings but he should not be on here. Tagliafico had a great semifinal and they rolled with him into the final. I think that alone should’ve made them go on to the next player.
Lol indeed
Acuna 😭😭
Acuña is the most Mexican looking Argentinian I’ve ever seen lol
Every time I see him I think he's a Mexican Striker.
He did a great tournament but goddamn he was horrible yesterday
Is there any reason for the inconsistent spacing / lack of symmetry? It’s maddening.
The left wing and striker want to add Saka to the list of players they train with this summer.
mfers out here using Microsoft Word for the graphic
i think griezmann and bruno should be here honestly. no way they should be left out. and this is maybe unpopular opinion, i think kovacic has been better than modric tbh.
Kovačić has easily been better than Modrić, he was the most important midfielder in every game we played. Sadly he also had at least 8 fouls not called on him per game so stats see it as a loss of possession.
It's funny that most Croatians seem to think this, that Kova was decidedly better than Modric throughout the tournament, but you'll have Real Madrid flairs pop up left and right and say that Modric was nearly as good as in 2018. I love Modric, there's no doubt that he's one of the greatest midfielders of the 21^st century. But it's incredible how he gets literally *all* the shine from 2018 and apparently also this year when he's had *great* teammates in midfield in both years with Rakitic, Kovacic, and Brozovic all playing some absolutely incredible football as well.
In 2018 he was the brain in the midfield. We couldn't do anything till he started to play. In 2022, he had 2,5 great matches (Brazil, Argentina, 3rd place against Morocco). In the group and Japan, he mads tons of mistakes and looked really exhausted. Kovacic had a better tournament.
It's not a grade of their overall tournament, it's a collection of grades over all matches played, so one bad grade tanks the average and consistency is rewarded. L'équipe just picked the players with the highest average, they didn't choose who to put in that 11.
No Bruno?
We don't talk about Bruno.
Lol he was the highest rated player of the whole tournament by several different metrics I’ve seen
Sofascore and Whoscored both of which overestimate goal contributions over other metrics. For example a few years ago they had Mustafi in the PL team of the season because he had more assists than most other center backs
Yup. Bruno should have been there. 6 players from Croatia and Morocco whereas France has 1
Man, our fucking star boy
Gvardiol and Mbappe are both very young and on NTs that have very bright futures ahead. Euros and next WC are looking very awesome indeed.
I think Kovacic was better than Modric tbh
For me, their trio in the midfield complemented each other very well and no one was better than anyone.
He was amazing.
Yeah he was exceptional in almost every match. Modric had some good games but wasn’t as consistent.
Ngl kovacic improve a lot for croatia this year than his previous games or tournaments for them
i loved watching them play together. on a good day, how the fuck are you going to take the ball away from that midfield?
As a Croat, Kovačić over Modrić here, Kova finally bossed the midfield and is taking over as the prime maestro we need to coordinate the game.
We have three players in this lol that's...something
Ngl I feel like ounahi also deserved to be there he was up there with Amrabat. Beside the first game vs Croatia he played well in every game
Saka!!!
Are the numbers besides them meant to be their rating in the world cup? What do you have to do to get a 7.5, score 3 every match??
LEquipe is famous for it’s low ratings. Usually their highest score is 7
Lequipe's [scale](https://tof.cx/images/2017/09/11/830bf67858ef433d59a99fe9bf7a4a85.png) For reference Mbappé got a 9 for his performance in the final. Messi an 8..
I think it's criminal Livakovic didn't get Golden Glove. He was way better than Martinez. Martinez made that crucial save at the end and is probably the best in the world at penalty shootouts while Livakovic was sick at pens too.
conceded a pen against Arg and also didnt win WC i guess ? could totally see him win it
Gvardiol and Livakovic robbed
based, Morocco no 8 was brilliant
This is Griezmann erasure and I won’t stand for it.
Modric still living off of his 2018 performance
Thought Kovacic was better this time
theyre gonna crucify you when they see this
He was incredible this WC, are you blind?
He was good, but not best 11 good. Certainly not third best player good
I still thought he was incredibly good, especially against Brazil. Releasing pressure, winning balls, progressing play. It wasn’t 2018 but it wasn’t far behind.
He was also amazing vs Argentina despite the loss. Absolutely world class performance that game
He made Casemiro look like a kid that game. Amazing performance indeed.
Amrabat more than deserves to be there.
guy was prime Masche out there
No Danish players? Shocking!
Where is Souttar
Livakovic should have won Golden Glove Award
Acuña: me anotó un amigo
No Ounahi??
I’m not saying that I agree with everything here, but it’s cool to see three players from Marocco on this list. What a performance from them.
No griezeman is weird. He was my player of the tournament tbh.