Hank, A player doesn't become a fantastic player without excellent coaching. All the years of him being coached by top coaches would have given him the skills to pass onto other players. That was my point. But he screwed up all the past knowledge by sticking coke straws up his nose. Who knows just how long he has been doing it. But one thing is for sure his brains have been fried and Argentina have paid the penalty for putting him on a pedestal instead of punting him as the disgrace he has become.

Redbaron, I think Germany makes top teams look bad. England, Australia, Argentina. They cant be all bad coaches.

who was coaching when we got those "excellent results" that go us the top 25 ranking? Was it the same bloke who got canned for playing a 4231 in qualifying that got those results, and then got canned for NOT playing a 4231?

Germany are good but Maradona made them look better.

Pretty spot on highlighted and how many players did he try out ? talk about not being sure or maybe he knew his probs were backs and decent midfileders ?

Nonetheless his substitutions were questionable and I hate to admit the germans were HOT to watch but just like our game they were allowed to walk through the guts and with their talent it looks that much better !
Bring on your ACE game Spain you are going to need it !

Edited by M.L.: 5/7/2010 04:09:47 PM

Mate, he was fu*king loopy before his coke days...

Why could he have been a fantastic coach? Because he was a fantastic player?

Maradonna was a great player but sticking a coke straw up his nose screwed his brains. Which is a shame because he could have been a fantastic coach.

Yep agree Germany V Holland Final.

What a team! Great game... They're amazing to watch. Really hoping for a Dutch/German final.

Very, very happy I put money on the Germans ($12) and Ozil ($67) for the Golden Ball after the Australian game!

That Octopus is crazy! :shock:

Totaly agree. Argentina only JUST scraped into these finals. Maradona was a great player but his selection of dodgy backs and a piss-weak keeper show him for what he is - a tactically naive tosspot.

How could it have been the ball went between defender and keeper from a pullback to Klose who just moved onto it like he was a Sunday morning jogger.

But, fair enough, you saw it differently from me, the linesman, all the cameras and all the media who would be only too willing to slag off Germany

not one team that I like left in the tourney now...

I think I can safely sum it up by saying what the fuck? Did not see that coming at all, two days two shocks.

Germany are a very very good side. If this tournament is anything to go by they are going to be winning alot with this team in the next 10 years. Very Impressive.

The Germans are great to watch. I hope they beat Spain and end up playing the Dutch in the final.

I agree
never never ever take a backward step to any these over rated teams we might play again.

I'm just enjoying the Germans belting the fuck out of some pretty good teams, would really like to see them and the Dutch play in the final. Can you believe that Australia was the last team to beat the Dutch? I also believe it shows again how strong our group was but also we should never ever take a backward step to any fucking team we play again.

Regardless of there result agains the hapless Argies this does nothing to placate my opinion of Pim's tactics against Germany that cost us 4 goals. Naive and unforgiveable!!

Not a shock result at all. Much like Brazil, this was the first hard team Argentina faced and they got shown up!! Maradona is a git and should stick to cheerleading rather than coaching.

Germany clearly have a great counterattack going on but I think they are beatable and I think we could have beaten them. Starting an effective defender at LB would have been good. Not standing around appealing for an offside that's never gonna come would have been very useful. Not starting 2 midfielders as strikers in an unfamiliar 442 would have been essential. Plenty of other Pim mistakes left us easy meat for an aggressive German team. I think us, England and Argentina were all shaken by the German attack but Holland will have their number and may end with a clean sheet. The tragedy is that the team was, apart from that match, a lot more talented than Pim gave them credit for. Playing with 10 men for a third of the tournament and still almost qualifying. And on our side, we'd have faced the beatable US, Uruguay and Holland up to the final... looking forward to a second-prize chance at the Asian Cup.

Just watched it again, and it was good the goal. Klose stayed level with the ball(probably a bit behind it even) when it was played in therefore he was onside.

Yep, contentious for sure but the ball carrier was past the second last man meaning Klose only had to stay behind the ball.

WTF are they feeding the German guy's, clearly wheatbix ain't what its cracked up to be.

Football_Wunderkind, Your a tad confused matey. On one hand your saying Australia would never have lost 8-0. Then in your following post you say Germany should have got 7 or 8? If you remove those 3 DM players you are left with even less defence. Correct?

So which is it?

How do I explain Germany 1 Ghana 0. Simple, Do not compare the Australian way of playing football with the Ghana style of Football. Its like comparing apples and oranges

You also say don't live in the past yet you comment on Germany 4 Australia 3 under Frank Farina? What world cup are you watching?

Put the emotion aside fellas and give Australia the credit they deserve playing against Germany with 10 men under the coaching of Pim Verbeek. They both did very well considering the circumstances.

Aussierus... how do you explain Germany 1 - Ghana 0 ????

how come it wasn't Germany 4 - Ghana 0 ???

you have no idea

Pim trained these guys to play a certain way through out 14 qualifiers over 2 years... and then first game in the World Cup he throws that game plan out the window and you think the resulting 4-0 ass whooping is not his fault?

I'm not saying we should have won but the mentality, tactics and team sheet that Pim sent out against Germany was disgusting. The 4-0 result was flattering to us... Germany should have got 7 or 8... rewind the tape mate and watch Klose miss a sitter, Neill clear Oezil's chip off the line ... etc etc etc...

England scored 2 (1) goals and could have had more and Argentina at time exposed Germany in defence. We had a half snap shot smothered in the first 2 minutes.

Are you suggesting that is all Australia at peak form/tactics/mindset is capable of against this Germany team??

Serbia managed to beat Germany, are Serbia some amazingly quality team that just got bad luck against Ghana and Australia? Pim fucked up. It's that simple.

Aussierus... you are a goober mate... the high line offside trap was the worst idea ever against a young quick Germany, combine that with sending out 3 DM's and no recgonised striker and you have an unmitigated coaching disaster. Nothing Pim did was right, nothing. We were never going to get beaten 8-0 you clown. A tactically naive Frank Farina got us 4-3 result against Germany.

As Kevin Airs put in his blog the other day

9. Stop living in the past

You know what? We're not the rank outsiders any more. We're not the underdogs. We're not the battlers trying hard in the face of apparently invincible might. The rest of the world and our own media like to portray us that way - even those who should know better - and even Pim thought of us that way. (He was genuinely scared of Germany). We're not. We're a top 25 ranked team in the world and have been for a long time now. It's not just a blip, it's a fact. We shouldn't be scared of playing anyone. Not just because we're Australian, but because we've earned that right with a series of excellent results against excellent opposition. No, we're not world-beaters yet. We don't have the depth of talent and skill in the squad to go all the way through a competition like the World Cup. But - and this is the important part - on our day, we DO have the depth of talent and skill that can beat ANY team. There is no reason why a Top 20 team cannot take on a top five team with a realistic expectation of pulling off a win. It would be an upset, of course. But it would not be a HUGE upset. We have moved on. We're not the little minnow on the world stage anymore. it's time to stop selling ourselves short by pretending (or worse still, believing) we are.

Aussierus... stop living in the past ... pull ya head in

Yes, indeed.

I just got home, and I'm a little baked, but I don't think the Germans have massacred anyone as efficiently as that since the Jews.

My fucking lord that was just incredible to watch. Argentina were systematically dismantled on every part of the pitch. Messi had a reasonable game, too, he wasn't anonymous - he just could not be effective against this team.

It really is them with the clear form to win.

Sydneycroatia58, Your under some delusion Australia could have won that match or made it a closer game. Pim knew the German team very well. The Nederlanders and Germans are very similar. Germany play decisive effective football. The Dutch play a tactical game and have been fierce rivals for generations. You can't deny the evidence and the fact Australia only lost 4-0 to Germany with 10 men for the majority of the game is now clearly shown to be a very tactically correct approach. What would the german score be with England and Argentina having 10 men. Also If Pim had run with the same tactics he used previously? I think it would have been much more embarrassing for Australia if he did. I's Also like to know if you were the Aussie coach what would you have done V Germany?

So it was the players idea to play the offside trap not Pim's, because that's what killed us. Which then means we either have players who won't listen to their coach or a coach who couldn't make the players follow his instructions.

damn the 4-1 against England and now 4-0 Argentina...keeps making our 4-0 defeat look not as bad...Jeez Argentina were horrendous. Germany had all the space in the world. Kedira was absolutely fantastic aswell. Number of times he nicked the ball off tevez.

Surely I can't be the only one that believes that second german goal was clearly offside - nobody else seems to be mentioning it at all.