Robben in the World Cup

Is he doping? I know he doesn't have as much mileage on his legs as other players his age but a 30 year old shouldn't be that quick and fit. The way he was still bombing up and down the flanks deep into extra time was scary.

With James going out he's my standout candidate for player of the tournament so far. He's been excellent in pretty much every game so far. Pretenders like Neymar, Ribery, Hazard, Bale etc need to take notes. Best winger in the World.

By the way, apart from Ibra and Drogba are there any other players that were still improving this late in their careers?

he's not doping, he's just happy.

A happy Duracell bunny.

Best player of the WC. Him and Neuer, that is.

Valkyrja wrote:i was going to make a thread but now ....

who do u think is a better player Robben or Iniesta ?

Iniesta has never been able to lead a team in his life. He's been a sideman throughout his career and when he was finally forced into a leadership role we all saw how that ended up.

Hapless_Hans wrote:he's not doping, he's just happy.

A happy Duracell bunny.

Best player of the WC. Him and Neuer, that is.

Neuer

He hasn't even been a Top 5 keeper.

Howard, Navas, Ochoa, Enyeama, Ospina.

Best player in the world cup.

Has nothing to do with performance enhancing drugs or whatever.

Just a world class player playing to his full capabilities.

oh, dear Gil   

I already touted that Robben was WC but his performance here in Brazil is unexpected. Never seen Robben play this good. He's doing what Messi should be doing. Terrorizing every defense in front of him.

A real Devil, tbh. I despise Robben but gotta give credit where credit is due.

Watch him flop vs Argentina now

Anyway, great player. One of the best of the tournament and without him I really don't think the Dutch would go this far. Unreal player, how he can run at full pace in the 120th minute is beyond me.

Unbelievable how he turned around his career again, he was considered past his best, a big match flop and sellable in 2011-12. Think he got really angry after that and got his shit together when given the chance again after Kroos' injury.

Every dog has a day . And this time its robbens .

sree999 wrote:Every top player shines at World Cups. So far Robben has outshone Messi.

agree.

Pointless thread because he's out in the next round anyway. No one remembers group stage and R16 heroes.

I didnt mean it in a negative way . Robben has had a good world cup so far so did Messi .

He is a constant threat. How he looked fresh in the 120th minute was a miracle, i mean Di Maria does it constantly but its the first time im seeing a 30 year old doing it.

btw for all his heroics i think his end product has been lacking.Sneidjer with his minimal time on the ball was a far better threat last game.

Has been great. Player of the tourney so far.

Cant say with any certainty that he is or isn't doping. I'm not aware of any anti-doping testing in the sport or the effectiveness of it, if it exists.

We have seen players like Zanetti perform at a high level at an advanced age, but again, the same questions could be raised.

Valkyrja wrote:

Gil wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:i was going to make a thread but now ....

who do u think is a better player Robben or Iniesta ?

Iniesta has never been able to lead a team in his life. He's been a sideman throughout his career and when he was finally forced into a leadership role we all saw how that ended up.

this. it's amazing how overrated Iniesta is. He's a great player but that stops right there. Those putting him on the same level with Ronaldo or the 3rd best in the world   

You clowns do realize that Iniesta scored the winning goal in the WC final, you know the one in which Robben missed the sitter?

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:

Gil wrote:

Iniesta has never been able to lead a team in his life. He's been a sideman throughout his career and when he was finally forced into a leadership role we all saw how that ended up.

this. it's amazing how overrated Iniesta is. He's a great player but that stops right there. Those putting him on the same level with Ronaldo or the 3rd best in the world   

You clowns do realize that Iniesta scored the winning goal in the WC final, you know the one in which Robben missed the sitter?

Also he didn't win the best player in Euro 12 for no reason. Iniesta can't carry a team lol

People saying Iniesta is overrated

If anything he's underrated, on the same level as Ronaldo and Messi without a doubt. His ball control and dribbling is as good as it gets, his composure is unreal, and obviously his passing and vision is top notch.

On topic however, Robben really has surprised me as he's arguably had the season of his life and the fact that he's doing it at 30 is massively impressive.

lenear1030 wrote:Cant say with any certainty that he is or isn't doping.

Of course he is. Just like any other professional football player. Of course everyone can belive whatever he wants but the chance of them not taking anything is certainly < 1%.
But I doubt he's taking anything special that other players don't have.

30 is not that old.. in fact he's within the "peak" age group.. Robbens work rate has always been second to none.. He has always gone hard for 90 minutes.

Come back to me next world cup and I will be surprised or suspect "doping".   

He has really been something. If he's taking anything it's nothing the rest of the pros aren't taking. That said yes he's the best winger in the world right now...he's dangerous every time he's on the ball, and has even been putting in defensive effort in the WC.

You'll notice though that this Dutch team has been doing well because everyone is putting in the work. HOWEVER, against Mexico and Costa Rica they have had trouble scoring because you have 2 or 3 players closing in on Robben every time he has the ball now. It's almost the Messi treatment. Meanwhile RVP is just chillen...the only player on the Netherlands that has been absolutely a dud in terms of effort and end product since the first game. What an awful choice for captain...the laziest player on the pitch.

Start Huntelaar and this team is better up front TBQH.

Ive thought already too Robben playing Messi like in this WC. Messi just doesnt seem to be back to his old self still though despite finally form, it seems could be just natural aging but compared with his absolute peak a few years back hes missing a bit of edge.

Robben is a top player every knows but I doubt anyone predicted he would perform like this at this WC... u can see his hunger at that training ground incident juist b4 the WC, fully deserves the praise hes getting. With Neymar out, if Netherlands get past Argentina, and win, he will be the Golden Ball for sure.

Also it seems all the weather not favouring to the European players unused to the heat is really proving to be not true, the European teams outrunning and seemingly have better stamina and fitness then the, CA, SA and Africa!