Topic is self-explanatory. For Brazil Oscar, Hulk, Fred have done average and similarly for Argentina Higauin, Aguero have performed poorly.

Both these teams are massively reliant on 1 person to be the difference maker in Neymar & Messi.

I think it is the same with Netherlands. Although RVP scored a flying header, his general performances after the Spain game has not been good and even in that game Robben was better. Sneijder has been consistently poor.

Netherlands are time and again looking up to Robben to make the difference. IMO Netherlands in crunch time are also a 1 Man Team.

Colombia has a great all-round squad and play as a team but James make the goals and assists. For Germany most of the goals come from Muller although it is a team performance.

WC have seen great individual performances from Kahn, Ronaldo, Zidane, etc although in Ronaldo's case he was well supported by guys like Rivaldo.

However this WC has specially given rise to 1 Man Teams. How do you see them doing vs say a Belgium which is without a star?

Well, other 1 man teams didn't make it - you only need to look at Portugal. And if you list Oliver Kahn, then Guillermo Ochoa deserves a shout, too, but he couldn't keep Mexico in the tournament either.

So why then did the US manage to proceed versus Portugal? And why could Germany in 2010 manage to prevail against Argentina?

So I somehow doubt you can really see it as a trend.

Moreover, even though Thomas Müller scored most of Germany's goals, can you really single him out as "star player" when we have a couple other great players performing, too? (From Manuel Neuer over Mats Hummels and Bastian Schweinsteiger to Miro Klose, that is. And Mesut Özil or Per Mertesacker aren't slouches either. And did I just forget Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm?

What? Only Argentina has been 1 man team in this World Cup. Netherlands are playing great as a team, so are Brazil, and Colombia and so on. Robben has been the best of Netherlands overshadowing Van Persie, but they have a complete team. So does Brazil, Neymar has slightly overshadowed Oscar, both have been best in 1 game so far. Brazil also have a complete team. Their defense and goalie just put them through to QF. Colombia one man team? Lmao

Only Argentina has been playing poor as a team, and Messi put them through to R16. If Argentina ups their team and individual game from this point, I can see them challenging the tournament.

What Brazil team have you been watching?

Brazil - Neymar
Netherlands - Robben
Argentina - Messi
Portugal - Ronaldo
Italy - Pirlo
Uruguay - Suarez
Colombia - Rodriguez
Costa Rica - Ruiz

These I agree with. Germany have a great team overall. Muller has been doing most of the scoring but Schweinsteiger was great so far and in the final thurd Gotze has been creating pretty much everything. Overall though the whole team has been great. The US is possibky the most well balanced team in the WC. Johnson and Beasley have shone in defense, while Howard is always good, Jones and Beckerman have solidified the central midfield while Bradley, Zusi, and Dempsey so far have combined to form an excellent attack. If Dempsey went out it would be a huge problem for us but the said could be said for any team if their best player hands down went out.

Germany are a team although Muller is doing most of the scoring. You understand when a team is a 1 Man Show when the chips are down. When you're behind and you need magic, who you look upto?

Brazil have Neymar, Netherlands have Robben, Argentina have Messi. They all look at these players to change the game.

Pirlo, although a great play-maker, does not provide the magic goals and assists.

Suarez with Uruguay is another example where the team is very dependent on 1 Man.

Maybe James with Colombia but I feel Colombia have a well round attacking team with Cuadrado, Jackson Martinez, etc.

Oscar IMO has been poor bar 1 match. For Oranje, RVP has also been average and bar the Spain match and parts of the Aus match he was not that great. Sneijder really is past it. The team is totally dependent on Robben.

How does Oranje have a complete team? This is the worst Dutch team in history and Di Maria, Masch, Di Maria, Garay, Zabaleta and possibly Rojo, Romero, the other CB will start in the Oranje team.

Footyfan wrote:Germany are a team although Muller is doing most of the scoring. You understand when a team is a 1 Man Show when the chips are down. When you're behind and you need magic, who you look upto?

For Germany it could actually be Miro Klose or André Schürrle as both of them are fantastic impact subs that more often than not score right after being subbed in.

Harmonica wrote:What? Only Argentina has been 1 man team in this World Cup. Netherlands are playing great as a team, so are Brazil, and Colombia and so on. Robben has been the best of Netherlands overshadowing Van Persie, but they have a complete team. So does Brazil, Neymar has slightly overshadowed Oscar, both have been best in 1 game so far. Brazil also have a complete team. Their defense and goalie just put them through to QF. Colombia one man team? Lmao

Only Argentina has been playing poor as a team, and Messi put them through to R16. If Argentina ups their team and individual game from this point, I can see them challenging the tournament.

Di Maria was good as well for Argentina.

I think the term '1 man team' is being used very loosely in this thread. I don't think there are any 1 man teams in this tournament.

E.g.

Brazil - Neymar - but T. Silva, Hulk, Julio Cesar, etc. have all been great this tournament
Colombia - James - sure he scored a cracking goal, but if you watched that game Cuadrado was also v. important and assisted the 2nd goal
Uruguay - Suarez - but Cavani has provided the assists in the England game and Godin scored the crucial goal vs. Italy
Argentina - Messi - but Gago runs the midfield for them like a boss and Di Maria's link-up between the lines is integral
Italy - Pirlo - but DDR, Verratti, Buffon/Sirigu, Balo & Darmian (vs England) have been pivotal
Portugal - Ronaldo - didn't stand out in any way from the rest of his team (apart from constant haircut changes)
Netherlands - Robben - anyone who watches this team knows that when Sneijder is receiving the ball in advanced positions he creates situations that Robben and RVP thrive on. Not to mention De Jong is v. important in shielding the defence and getting it to Sneijder in the first place.

I think these are enough examples to de-bunk this 1 man team idea.

There are many fanboys who would like to think that Argentina is all about Messi, Brazil is all about Neymar and Italy is all about Pirlo. There's no doubting the significance of these aforementioned players. However, we shouldn't just dismiss the incredibly important roles that other players in each of these respective teams have played in this World Cup when push comes to shove.

Forza wrote:I think the term '1 man team' is being used very loosely in this thread. I don't think there are any 1 man teams in this tournament.

E.g.

Brazil - Neymar - but T. Silva, Hulk, Julio Cesar, etc. have all been great this tournament
Colombia - James - sure he scored a cracking goal, but if you watched that game Cuadrado was also v. important and assisted the 2nd goal
Uruguay - Suarez - but Cavani has provided the assists in the England game and Godin scored the crucial goal vs. Italy
Argentina - Messi - but Gago runs the midfield for them like a boss and Di Maria's link-up between the lines is integral
Italy - Pirlo - but DDR, Verratti, Buffon/Sirigu, Balo & Darmian (vs England) have been pivotal
Portugal - Ronaldo - didn't stand out in any way from the rest of his team (apart from constant haircut changes)
Netherlands - Robben - anyone who watches this team knows that when Sneijder is receiving the ball in advanced positions he creates situations that Robben and RVP thrive on. Not to mention De Jong is v. important in shielding the defence and getting it to Sneijder in the first place.

I think these are enough examples to de-bunk this 1 man team idea.

There are many fanboys who would like to think that Argentina is all about Messi, Brazil is all about Neymar and Italy is all about Pirlo. There's no doubting the significance of these aforementioned players. However, we shouldn't just dismiss the incredibly important roles that other players in each of these respective teams have played in this World Cup when push comes to shove.

fantastic post.

In this world cup the players standing out are mostly forwards and maybe goalkeepers. Few defenders have stood out that much and even fewer midfielders, especially central midfielders. In every world cup what has annoyed me is how some of the teams go towards goal and have no idea what to do next. In this world cup though my pet peeve is how easily teams surrender possession. Losing the ball has become fashionable. It's all about pace, power and counter attacks. That teams don't even try to keep the ball either for a patient build up towards the next attack or even when they have to protect a one goal lead I do not like. Any time a team is leading by a goal if it's adventurous it will go for a killer second goal which is great but if not then all it does is surrender the ball to the opposition and try to park the bus. Is there no other way of defending? No tactical variations possible in such situations? So while many people have said this world cup has given them great entertainment which is true in it's own right in my view barring moments of individual brilliance the quality of football over 90 minutes in general has been poor, maybe one of the poorest I have ever seen at a world cup. There is less technicality to be seen and the stress is totally on physicality and athleticism. This would be a nice topic to discuss with Xavi if I ever get a chance.