Benz' popularity

Benz is unpopular compared to Higgy in Spanish media. Higgy is somewhat like a homegrown Spaniard for them who is known for many years, Pipa. Benz is a newcomer who didn't impress at all in his first 1.5 years
What's the fastest way to regain his popularity?
Frank Lampard is an ugly, boring guy who was compared to Xavi at some point. He was known as English super mid...
More importantly, he was engaged to a Spanish model, Elen Rivas, for seven years. Spaniards still like him and cheer him in games outside of Spain although there's seemingly no connection. In short, he needs a Spanish GF and preferably one who is well known
The success on sporting front can come later with his back free

P.S. Don't take this thread too seriously Still, there's some truth to the story how to feel more 'familiar' somewhere

I actually think that Benz' popularity is very good. He was always overwhelmingly voted by Madrid fans to start when he was in form second half of last year and this year... Madrid fans are fickle. They will always vote for the player who seems to be playing the best at the time.

Early this year, when Higuain was struggling, i remember a Marca poll that overwhelmingly showed fans wanted Benz to start.

All my Spanish Madrid fans (the ones who actually were born and raised as fans) don't prefer one over the other. They consider them as foreign players... even Higuain and Marcelo. Only Spanish-born players get some bias, which is completely understandable. As with Bill, the Madrid fans i know want more Spanish players on the team.

Wut? Marca suck off Benzema every chance they get. Higuain gets little to no love from them.

Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

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I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

Italian teams have relied on defense and counter attacks since forever... it's a formula that wins. Not an attractive one. But one nonetheless.

Platini and Zidane type players don't grow on trees unfortunately. Have to adjust until someone emerges and allows you to play a more attacking style.

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

A new poster! Welcome
Do you have a French connection by chance?

sportsczy wrote:

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

Italian teams have relied on defense and counter attacks since forever... it's a formula that wins. Not an attractive one. But one nonetheless.

Platini and Zidane type players don't grow on trees unfortunately. Have to adjust until someone emerges and allows you to play a more attacking style.

Share the stuff you smoke with me, sports
The sport evolved, unless you don't stop 'some' teams by attacking them, they'll score on you at some point. No defence can defend against fast passes forever
The defence is a solid basis to win something but not everything

babun1024 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

Italian teams have relied on defense and counter attacks since forever... it's a formula that wins. Not an attractive one. But one nonetheless.

Platini and Zidane type players don't grow on trees unfortunately. Have to adjust until someone emerges and allows you to play a more attacking style.

Share the stuff you smoke with me, sports
The sport evolved, unless you don't stop 'some' teams by attacking them, they'll score on you at some point. no defence can defend against fast passes forever
The defence is a solid basis to win something but not everything

With Benz, Ribery, Nasri, Remy, etc., you're going to attack of course... but with counter attacks as opposed to build up play. That's the only difference. Besides, Italy won the WC this way in 2006 and a few times before that. Germany used to be the master at this.... you know it as well as i do that it's a winning formula. I personally don't like it; but I understand it. You need a solid defense, great goaltender, great ball recovery midfielders and a couple of difference makers on the attack. That's exactly what France NT has at the moment.

This was Madrid's style last year too lol.

Germany only changed its style of play with Low... and Germany has yet to win anything with this new style. Italy remains with its traditional system. Etc.

sportsczy wrote:

babun1024 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

Italian teams have relied on defense and counter attacks since forever... it's a formula that wins. Not an attractive one. But one nonetheless.

Platini and Zidane type players don't grow on trees unfortunately. Have to adjust until someone emerges and allows you to play a more attacking style.

Share the stuff you smoke with me, sports
The sport evolved, unless you don't stop 'some' teams by attacking them, they'll score on you at some point. no defence can defend against fast passes forever
The defence is a solid basis to win something but not everything

With Benz, Ribery, Nasri, Remy, etc., you're going to attack of course... but with counter attacks as opposed to build up play. That's the only difference. Besides, Italy won the WC this way in 2006 and a few times before that. Germany used to be the master at this.... you know it as well as i do that it's a winning formula. I personally don't like it; but I understand it. You need a solid defense, great goaltender, great ball recovery midfielders and a couple of difference makers on the attack. That's exactly what France NT has at the moment.

This was Madrid's style last year too lol.

Germany only changed its style of play with Low... and Germany has yet to win anything with this new style. Italy remains with its traditional system. Etc.

You didn't get me completely sports. I'm saying, a solid defence is the basic foundation to win something, no disagreement there. My point was you'll need some source of creativity to survive the biggest obstacles. That Italy had a Pirlo in his prime. The Germany of past you were talking about had players like Muller, Hässler, Matheus etc.
Benz isn't complete yet and Ribery operates on the wing, he could easily be double teamed. I don't rate the rest, specially the midfield
The comparison with RM is also shallow, you won't find Alonsos and Ozils in every corner

Even germany 2010 was build on counter attack aka,move the ball as fast to opposition box.

conservative styles wins you cups,Spain 2010,italy,2006,greece 2004 etc...Even this barcelona is kind of conservative team if you think deep.

Oh come on Babun... Pirlo a creative force? No way. He was a great all around midfielder who was efficient at everything he did. Acted as a great link. But never a creative midfielder. The creativity came from the Baggio, Del Piero, Rossi types for them. The German teams of the past relied on similar midfielders and great forwards. Biroff, Rummenigge, Littbarski, etc. Mattheus, Hassler, etc. were all workhorse all around... not creative types. In Europe, only the Dutch, French, Spanish and Portuguese practiced the total football style, which is why they produced great creative midfielders.

France currently has the same thing going... Cabaye and M'Vila midfield and Benz, Ribery, Remy, Nasri etc. up front. That's what they're going to go with. The "French Flair" style is over for now.

sportsczy wrote:Oh come on Babun... Pirlo a creative force? No way. He was a great all around midfielder who was efficient at everything he did. Acted as a great link. But never a creative midfielder. The creativity came from the Baggio, Del Piero, Rossi types for them. The German teams of the past relied on similar midfielders and great forwards. Biroff, Rummenigge, Littbarski, etc. Mattheus, Hassler, etc. were all workhorse all around... not creative types. In Europe, only the Dutch, French, Spanish and Portuguese practiced the total football style, which is why they produced great creative midfielders.

France currently has the same thing going... Cabaye and M'Vila midfield and Benz, Ribery, Remy, Nari etc. up front. That's what they're going to go with. The "French Flair" style is over for now.

You underestimate the guy a lot Ballack was a creative force as well
France doesn't have that kind of alround midfielder, nothing even close If you're going to field a lot of DMs in midfield then you need an AM to do at least something. But who for France?

@Adit, your so called 'conservative' style comes with age+ experience. Just following coach's instructions aren't enough to win in big cup games. The tactical awareness for big games comes from experience. As a unit, the team will have their own chemistry and awareness of what to do at what point, when to attack and when to PTB
That's one of the reasons I think that Germany aren't a favourite for EC at all
We need a core of at least 6 players in the team who're 25+, preferably in defence. We have a better shot in the next WC though because Ozil, Muller, Kroos and co. will mature somewhat by the time The EC after the next WC is where I'm sure that we'll be the absolute favourites

Ballack wasn't creative to me... just a complete bull. Very strong and very efficient. That's exactly what you need in international competition. If you get very lucky, you have a Ballack-type to go with a Ozil-type. If not, you get more conservative.

One thing i have a feeling is going to happen based what i'm hearing over here is that Blanc plans to use a very aggressive pressure defense like Barca uses since he has to compensate for the midfield. The idea is that, if you recover the ball in the opponent's side, you really don't need to have the greatest creativity in the midfield... you're already in the attacking 1/3 almost. Remains to be seen if he has time to implement. Not too much practice time.

babun1024 wrote:

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

A new poster! Welcome
Do you have a French connection by chance?

I speak French and in my countries the channels I watch are TF1, Canal+...
So, I usually follow french football.

sportsczy wrote:Ballack wasn't creative to me... just a complete bull. Very strong and very efficient. That's exactly what you need in international competition. If you get very lucky, you have a Ballack-type to go with a Ozil-type. If not, you get more conservative.

One thing i have a feeling is going to happen based what i'm hearing over here is that Blanc plans to use a very aggressive pressure defense like Barca uses since he has to compensate for the midfield. The idea is that, if you recover the ball in the opponent's side, you really don't need to have the greatest creativity in the midfield... you're already in the attacking 1/3 almost. Remains to be seen if he has time to implement. Not too much practice time.

Low implemented already. In the game against Netherlands, Ozil, Muller, Klose and Podolski were pressing them like crazy. The only difference, we don't press for extended periods of time, 'possession' kicks in to take breaks
I think Mou is trying to do the same with Real Madrid We play like Germany without piggy, with better attackers and less team play

Ik7 wrote:

babun1024 wrote:

Ik7 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Doesn't matter since they're both getting equal time and playing great... Personally, i love it because it's perfect for the France NT and the upcoming Euro. Will keep Benz sharp and relatively fresh. All the other top players in Europe will be destroyed as usual come Euro time.

\


I don't think so. France will perhaps qualify from the group stage but I don't see them going beyond the semi-finals. They still lack the real playmaker that can make them play like a team again. They still need to find Zidane's successor. Their defense will probably save them in this Euro.

A new poster! Welcome
Do you have a French connection by chance?

I speak French and in my countries the channels I watch are TF1, Canal+...
So, I usually follow french football.

Sportsczy is French and follows lige 1 closely, I mean really closely St_Nick is the other French speaker here In general section, just_doit and Ol_power are you typical French fans

babun1024 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Ballack wasn't creative to me... just a complete bull. Very strong and very efficient. That's exactly what you need in international competition. If you get very lucky, you have a Ballack-type to go with a Ozil-type. If not, you get more conservative.

One thing i have a feeling is going to happen based what i'm hearing over here is that Blanc plans to use a very aggressive pressure defense like Barca uses since he has to compensate for the midfield. The idea is that, if you recover the ball in the opponent's side, you really don't need to have the greatest creativity in the midfield... you're already in the attacking 1/3 almost. Remains to be seen if he has time to implement. Not too much practice time.

Low implemented already. In the game against Netherlands, Ozil, Muller, Klose and Podolski were pressing them like crazy. The only difference, we don't press for extended periods of time, 'possession' kicks in to take breaks
I think Mou is trying to do the same with Real Madrid We play like Germany without piggy, with better attackers and less team play

Yeah... the German-France friendly is going to be interesting. If there are no injuries (hopefully), you will see both sides with their top sides. This is where Blanc will go with a 4-3-3 and a very aggressive pressing style. France has the better defenders and defensive mids... Germany has the better creativity. It will be interesting who is able to push the other. The Dutch are stubborn with their style... won't adjust. Won't be the case here.

Thanks for the advice.

If Ribery can find his Bayern form with the French National Team, then France may have a chance at the Euro. You've also got to agree that at the moment, Germay has more young talents(Ozil, Gotze, Muller, Reus, Shrulle)
than france. The friendly between them is going to be interesting.

Ik7 wrote:If Ribery can find his Bayern form with the French National Team, then France may have a chance at the Euro. You've also got to agree that at the moment, Germay has more young talents(Ozil, Gotze, Muller, Reus, Shrulle)
than france. The friendly between them is going to be interesting.

We have a chatbox at matchdays. All the posters are there. Click on 'goal-legacy' to join it

sportsczy wrote:Oh come on Babun... Pirlo a creative force? No way. He was a great all around midfielder who was efficient at everything he did. Acted as a great link. But never a creative midfielder. The creativity came from the Baggio, Del Piero, Rossi types for them. The German teams of the past relied on similar midfielders and great forwards. Biroff, Rummenigge, Littbarski, etc. Mattheus, Hassler, etc. were all workhorse all around... not creative types. In Europe, only the Dutch, French, Spanish and Portuguese practiced the total football style, which is why they produced great creative midfielders.

France currently has the same thing going... Cabaye and M'Vila midfield and Benz, Ribery, Remy, Nasri etc. up front. That's what they're going to go with. The "French Flair" style is over for now.

wut the... Edit that. Now.
Damn sport wth have u been smokin lately? Pirlo > Xavi & Xabi in creativity, playmaking, ball distribution.
Pirlo may be 32 but he is still the best deep lying playmaker in the world. and with his technical skills he can keep going at the top level for probably 3-5 more years...

Xavi and Xabi are not creative midfielders Turok. They're facilitating midfielders... we're talking about #10 here.

sportsczy wrote:Xavi and Xabi are not creative midfielders Turok. They're facilitating midfielders... we're talking about #10 here.

and still pirlo wins here. when u got pirlo, u dont need another playmaker on the field. why wud u when u got pirlo? heck u wudnt even need them facilitating mids when u got pirlo.
u underrate his abilities sport. keep this in mind, with pirlo in a formation with ams, those ams better be able to provide width and finish chances well or else they be a waste of space. u dont need a playmaking am when u got pirlo. pirlo is a great example of wut a #10 shud be.

when u got pirlo, all u need is ball winners in midfield and wingers or ams that can score up front.

sportsczy wrote:Xavi and Xabi are not creative midfielders Turok. They're facilitating midfielders... we're talking about #10 here.

We have a misunderstanding here. I differentiate between creating from deep (Xabi) and upfront (Ozil). Pirlo could move in either roles, just saying...
He was a regista as well at the same time. The goal that was scored in semifinal against Germany by Grosso was created by Pirlo. I don't know what you understand under 'creating' but Pirlo has always been creative one way or the other The bully, you mentioned, (Ballack) could score or assist from midfield, dictate the game from deep and so on

babun1024 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Xavi and Xabi are not creative midfielders Turok. They're facilitating midfielders... we're talking about #10 here.

We have a misunderstanding here. I differentiate between creating from deep (Xabi) and upfront (Ozil). Pirlo could move in either roles, just saying...
He was a regista as well at the same time. The goal that was scored in semifinal against Germany by Grosso was created by Pirlo. I don't know what you understand under 'creating' but Pirlo has always been creative one way or the other The bully, you mentioned, (Ballack) could score or assist from midfield, dictate the game from deep and so on

I'm talking pure #10 babun. That's the missing ingredient with France. We have all the other types. Pirlo, Ballack, etc. are not #10s at all. They're creative for their positions of course... But none of those guys are comparable in any way to a #10. Ozil is getting there. France lacks a "Ozil".