Sterling (England)


The excellent English player on the pitch against Itlay was the English number 9, Sterling, from Liverpool.

Whenever he had the ball at his feet he was phenomenal at ball carrying and dribbling with his head up.

He also was able to shoulder feint on both sides of the body, change the rhythm from slow to fast, and back again, with amazing balance and close ball control. Whenever he was on the ball he worried Italy.

To me he is the best English player at international level I've seen for some time.

Many other lauded English superstars rely on foreign, club teammates, to do the graft work to make them look better players at the English big five, who are all incredible teams - Man U, Man C, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea.

Sterling doesn't need other players around him to make him look good. I think the Poms have unearthed a genuine world class superstar in the making.

I just cannot get over how well he runs with the ball and dribbles and keeps his head up simultaneously, with minimal looking at the ball, all the time feinting and changing speed. He often draws more than one defender, thus creating an opportunity for team-mates to find space.

Alexander Pirlo (Italy)


Alexander Pirlo appears to have incredible handling speed, passing accuracy and vision. Every time he receives the ball, no matter how little time and space he has, he seems to know where every teammate on the pitch is, and quickly passes it to the player in the best position, with quickly executed long and short passes. There is so little time for the opposition to close him down.

Pirlo constantly, successfully deploys killer passes. They are passes that break one or two lines and take a number of opposition players out of the game. I only saw him mishit one pass. I haven't seen a player as good in this facet of the game as he is.

However, I cannot remember seeing Pirlo win any hard balls, or even making intercepts. He probably misses his old mate for Italy, Gennaro Gattuso, one of the best ball winners and hard men of all time.

Hope Pirlo doesn't really handle the ball... only goalkeepers are allowed to do that!

:lol:

Handling speed was a specific football term I was desperate for. It came up in the C licence. This denotes the speed a player can receive the ball and distribute it with one or two touches.

Pirlo must have the fastest handling speed in world football - plus he passes so well over range. His vision is so good, it is as though he has eyes in the back of his head.

in AFL they use the term disposal.

who's this Alexander Pirlo you speak of?

Edited by CL: 24/6/2014 02:01:43 PM

Robben (Holland)

This guy has been an impressive performer at the last two World Cups.

Two of his great strengths, are Running With The Ball and 1v1 Attacking skills.

When he runs with the ball, or ball carries, he does it at great speed, having tight, close ball control, when needed, and takes
the bigger touches when he has space in front of him. Robben also keeps his head up well, so he can scan the field of play. His balance is also good, in that opponents struggle to push him off the ball.

In Robben's 1v1 Attacking skills, he uses the body swerve, or shoulder feint, as this move is also known, having a particular good one on his left side. He also utilises the Matthews cut, also known as the inside and outside of the foot diagonal dribble, with a preferred foot.

In addition he uses the standard cut, the inside of the foot move which has an exaggerated body fake to the same side. Robben doesn't often use the flashy stepovers, that Cristiano R uses, such as the Brazilian stepover, the reverse stepover and inside foot rolls or drags. With Robben's preferred evasion moves little can go wrong.

Robben is also a good passer and mover in confined space ash an attacking combination player.

A few days ago he was recored as the fastest player at the World Cup, at 37kph. Travis Dodd has been recorded at 34kph. Usain Bolt, world sprint record holder, has been recored at 45kph.