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| 1445 Beiträge - Hardcoreposter
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Day 6 in 100 words or less There is a demand from the Brazilian public when it comes to their national team. Entertain and win. So far, Brazil are struggling to tick either box. There will be many negative words written about Brazils performance but Brazil are not in the World Cup to convince now. They are in it to win it on July 13th. The result of the game may not be what the public wanted but the competitiveness of the match was exactly what this Brazilian team needed. Brazil 0-0 Mexico - Through two games at the 2006 World Cup there were very few people picking Italy to win it. Four points from a possible six will do that. Through two games at the 2010 World Cup there were very few people picking Spain to win it. Three points from a possible six will do that. Through two games at the 2014 World Cup fewer and fewer people are picking Brazil to win it. Just last Thursday, prior to the tournament kicking off, their bandwagon was full. Now people are jumping off it very quickly. - Of course, they need to be better and there are questions about the hosts, mainly around how they can change a game when it isnt going their way. Bernard for Ramires, Jo for Fred, Willian for Oscar; different piece, same puzzle. It was a game that screamed for a playmaker from a central area to link up with the front three. A man who can play as a third midfielder and match up against opponents in defence but ignite an attack with penetration and vision going forward. A Kaka in his prime, for example. - However, Kaka is only in Brazil as a fan. This team is what it is and Luiz Felipe Scolari seems very hesitant to move away from a disciplined 4-2-3-1 shape. He is a stubborn man with belief and faith in what got him here and he loves stability. - It is a shape that will likely find a high gear against minnows Cameroon in their next match but in arguably their biggest test of the group stages they became too predictable. - Mexico were magnificent. It took until Bernards run inside, in the 76th minute, before a ball was played in behind their defence and Jo poorly shot wide. - Their back five were compact and extremely organized. Their shape meant they had outlets all over the field with technical players demanding the ball. Many of their players excelled and for the second straight game their trio in central midfield of Jose Vazquez (#23), Andres Guardado (#18) and Hector Herrera (#6) impressed, making a number of ball recoveries to start transitions stats powered by Opta - No one was better, however, than goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa who made a number of brilliant saves highlighted by his stop from Neymars thunderous header in the 26th minute. Weve been given many gifts by this World Cup and that was one of the greatest saves you will ever see. - Mexico have given many people a lesson in Brazil, including those who put a lot of faith in qualification processes months ago. Miguel Herreras team are night and day different to the way they played last year and is it really a surprise? Finally they have a coach who has a gameplan, a system he has stuck to and players he believes in. On the biggest stage, so far, it has worked out for them and theyll only need a point vs Croatia to get to the last 16 once again. Belgium 2-1 Algeria - With twenty minutes to go, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots had laid all of his cards on the table. He was all in. The sexy upstarts were in trouble, down a goal to the organised Algerians, and with the world watching now was the time to deliver. - The past 25 minutes, since half-time, had been a much needed improvement from a slow, predicable style in the opening half of the game. - Wilmots has been successful with Belgium because he has leaned heavily on depth - half of their goals in qualifying came from subs - and he was at it again in Brazil. Off came Nacer Chadli at half-time, a disciplined wide player with little creativity, not needed when you are chasing a game. Dries Mertens, unlucky not to start, provided some width and an increase in tempo that the attack needed. Yet it remained 0-0. - Off came Romelu Lukaku for young 19-year-old Divock Origi on 65 minutes. And yet five minutes later they still trailed. - Off came Moussa Dembele, inserting a more attacking threat, in central midfield, with Marouane Fellaini getting his chance. Wilmots was done. It was up to the players. - Kevin De Bruyne, so crucial to their system, linking up centrally between the defensive-minded six and the three forwards, then took over. His delivery into the box for Fellaini to head into the net was one of the finest crosses so far in a tournament full of fine crosses. - It has also been a tournament of counter attacks. Algeria attacked and De Bruyne produced a brilliant tackle to start a transition, led by the creative guile of Eden Hazard and finished off with the power from the right foot of Mertens. - It was far from an ideal performance but Wilmots learned quite a bit about his team in the game at Belo Horizonte. They trailed for 46 minutes, seven more than they did combined in the two years it took to qualify to get there. Just like against Croatia early in qualifying, his players answered back and will gain a lot of confidence from it. - Question marks remain, of course, about just how good they are. Some minor changes can be made, such as Mertens for Chadli, possibly, against Russia on Sunday but there are some deficiencies that can not be solved. - Playing four centre-backs is his only real choice at this tournament but the wide men across the back four got exposed in the buildup to Algeria winning their first half penalty. - Initially the back four look like they are in a good position to deal with an attack..... - Then left midfielder Riyad Mahred makes a move inside that causes Toby Alderweireld to follow him, just as centre-backs often do... - This leaves a gap on the left side for Faouzi Ghoulam to run into... - He gets the better of De Bruyne to cross into the box and by now left back Jan Vertonghen isnt quick enough to get back, instead looking in front of him for the threat, rather than behind. - The cross comes in and Vincent Kompany, centrally, puts his arms up thinking it will be easily dealt with but Vertonghen has fallen asleep and allows Sofiane Feghouli to get goalside, forcing him to foul him and giveaway the penalty. - If a fairly limited side like Algeria can expose Belgium in this area expect future opponents to concentrate on exposing the positioning of their full-backs. Russia 1-1 South Korea - It was far from a classic. If you missed it all you need to know is Igor Akinfeev had a Rob Green howler moment midway through the second half to ensure Fabio Capellos World Cup started with a very similar 1-1 to four years ago. - The Italian manager responded by finally placing his ace goalscorer Aleksander Kerzhakov on the field and within five minutes he had leveled the game, bundling home the rebound inside his office, the six yard box. - The commentator gave Capello credit for the goal but it was clearly a bizarre decision by not playing the Zenit striker from the start. - Russia were many peoples picks to advance from this group but based on todays display the slot to go through with Belgium is very much alive for all three other members of Group H. - It will not help that Russia play Belgium next and they will have to be much better. Man of the day Nominees Kevin De Bruyne – The former Chelsea man took over the game in the second half for Belgium and two moments of brilliance swung the game his teams way. Axel Witsel – The central midfielder was clearly the most consistent performer on the day and looks poised to have a very good World Cup. Sofiane Feghouli – The Valencia man won the penalty, dusted himself down and scored the countrys first World Cup goal in 28 years. Neymar – Brazil were frustrated many times with Mexico but we were still fortunate to watch a few special moments from ‘Mr Box Office as he dribbled his way around his opponents. Guillermo Ochoa – Yesterday many people looked up the Wikipedia of John Brooks. Today that man was the Mexican goalkeeper. The winner… Guillermo Ochoa – The Wall of Ochoa dominated day six. He had his moment, brilliantly denying Neymar in the first half but he produced three more magnificent saves and fully deserved his clean sheet. He is on the look out for a new club team and I think his agents phone has been very busy today. What comes next? Australia vs Netherlands (12pm/9am), Chile vs Spain (3pm/noon), Cameroon vs Croatia (6pm/3pm). Burning question for tomorrow What will Spain do differently to keep themselves alive in this tournament and prevent a loss to Chile? Key stat of day 5 Through 17 games the teams that have scored first have only eight wins, drawing once and losing six times. Wes Unseld Wizards Jersey . The 25-year-old Spaniard, who joined United from Chelsea in January, scored twice, including directly from a free kick, to take his tally to three goals in his last two games. "I think he has made us better," United manager David Moyes said. Michael Jordan Wizards Blue Jersey . He missed a three-game series against New York this week after suffering the injury last Sunday while trying to leg out a base hit during a game in Cincinnati. http://www.wizardsjerseysfanshop.com/wes-unseld-womens-jerse y/ . Davis set career highs with 40 points and 21 rebounds, and Eric Gordon made two crucial free throws in overtime to lead the Pelicans to a 121-120 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. John Wall Autographed Jersey . Howard had 19 points and nine rebounds in his first game since signing a four-year, $88 million deal with the Rockets in the off-season. Howard was 6 of 11 from the field and 7 of 11 from the free-throw line in 27 minutes. Michael Jordan Wizards Red Jersey . Owens was roughed up in Torontos 20-9 defeat to Montreal on Tuesday, needing treatment twice after hurting his neck and taking a hard shot to the abdomen. In other news from Fridays practice, Jerious Norwood took most of the snaps at running back for Curtis Steele. Norwood also did some returning, although Milanovich said returns would likely be done by committee.The 2014 NHL draft class can be forgiven for feeling as though it has a case of middle-child syndrome. Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. But it would be a disservice to damn Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Leon Draisaitl and Michael Dal Colle with faint praise. "They are all very good prospects, theyre all going to play in the NHL, they all should turn out to be very good players for a long time," one NHL scout said. But the draft is all about projection. And where MacKinnon, Barkov and Drouin were projected as first-line forwards and Jones was projected a likely No. 1 defenceman – destined for greatness -- this years crop of forwards is projected more as second liners with defenceman Ekblad perhaps getting "top pairing" billing though not necessarily a future dynamic No. 1. Good, maybe very good, but not necessarily great. The draft is also about question marks and, according to the scouts, even the elite picks this year have a few. And once one gets outside the top five of this years draft, question marks really abound. "There are some really talented kids in this draft, and not just at the top either," an NHL scout said, "but I dont recall a year recently when there were as many question marks. Skilled kids who lack size; players who might have issues with attitude or commitment. It seems to be a really volatile draft. Good luck trying to figure out this one." That said, in the eyes of the scouts, at the top, its rock solid, and, really, it has been all season long. Barrie Colt defenceman Aaron Ekblad is No. 1 on TSNs Top 60 Final Rankings for the 2014 draft, a position hes owned or had a share of since last September. Seven of the 10 scouts surveyed by TSN to compile the rankings had Ekblad at No. 1. No scout surveyed had him outside of the top three. Only two other prospects got first-place votes. No. 2-ranked Sam Reinhart, a centre with the Kootenay Ice, had one and No. 3-ranked Sam Bennett, a centre with the Kingston Frontenacs, had two. "The difference between the top guys this year is not significant," a scout said. "Thats why youre hearing more talk of teams drafting with position in mind." To say nothing of those question marks. For example, as good as the 6-foot-4, 216-pound Ekblad is, some scouts wonder if he an upside greater than being a steady, reliable two-way defender. Is there a dynamic quality there that is usually associated with a potential first overall pick? Barrie head coach Dale Hawerchuk, a former NHL star, doesnt know about dynamic, but he does know impactful, because thats what Ekblad has been from the moment he showed up to Barrie as a 15-year-old who was granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada to enter the OHL a year early. "Hes been a top pair, shutdown defenceman who played against the best players in our league from the day he got here," Hawerchuk said, "and theres no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever, that hes going to be a really good top pair, shutdown defenceman who plays against the best players in the NHL. Hes been impactful since Day 1. He does it all and he does it all consistently and hes going to be a 15 to 20 year top-pair NHL defenceman." This years top prospects earn rave reviews for some specific trait or quality, but the praise is accompanied by a question. Reinharts hockey sense, for example, is widely hailed, elite level, as good as it gets. But will his average speed and size put a second-line ceiling on him or reduce his effectiveness against men? Bennetts complete game – equal parts skill, smarts, spirit, edge and work ethic – is lauded but can an average size centre translate that style to the NHL against men? No. 4-ranked Leon Draisaitl, the Prince Albert Raiders German-born and –trained centre, has a big NHL frame and can make plays but will the lack of a dynamic step keep him from being a first-liner? No. 5-ranked Michael Dal Colle, the Oshawa Generals rangy winger who is equally adept at shooting or making plays, but will his play without the puck be an issue? And yet, for all the questions being asked, scouts concede these five are all good NHL prospects with a strong likelihood of having long NHL careers. But there is a high degree – higher than usual – of subjectivity this year. Nowhere is that more evident than in the players, ranked Nos. 6 through 10 on TSNs list. No. 6-ranked Nick Ritchie, the Peterborough Pete winger, has all the physical tools to be the consummate scoring power forward but theres been a lot of immaturity, inconsistency as well as some injuries in his game. No. 7-ranked Jake Virtanen, the Calgary Hitmen winger, is another who has all the tools to be a scoring power forward but some scouts are a little wary because he tends to get tunnel vision when he has the puck. No. 8-ranked Haydn Fleury, the Red Deer Rebel defenceman, has the size and speed scouts love but he has not established himself as either an offensive defenceman or a punishing defenceman. No. 9-ranked William Nylander, the Canadian-born, Swedish-trained winger, may be the most skilled player in the entire draft class, but scouts worry about a stubborn streak that has often seen him play a more individual than team game. No. 10-ranked Nikolaj Ehlers, the Halifax Mooseheads Danish winger, was as prolific as any prospect this year, scoring 49 goals and 104 points in 67 games, and theres no doubting his skill level, but hes listed at 160 pounds, or as one scout put it, &"he has to put on 20 pounds to be considered small.dddddddddddd" "Its a funny draft," a scout said. "A kid like Ritchie, with his size and skill, or Nylander, with his skill level, could one day be the best of this class but theres some real risk associated with these guys. What if Ritchie doesnt get fully committed to being as good as he can be? What if Nylander just decides hes going to play like hes the only guy on the ice?" Thats always a theme in any draft, but this year it seems to be even more prevalent earlier than ever involving more prospects than usual. Size is certainly on the mind of a lot of teams, especially after the very large Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup. Whether anyone likes it or not, thats the standard by which players are now judged. "I look at these kids and I try to project them playing against the Los Angeles Kings one day," a scout said. "Can they play that game at that level?" Even that exercise can be fraught with peril because two of those outstanding Kings – Tanner Pearson, who went 30th overall in the 2012 draft, and Tyler Toffoli, who went 47th overall in 2010 – were passed over by many teams in their respective draft year because they were perceived as too slow or too weak or too incomplete or too flawed. Go figure. Guelph centre Robby Fabbri (No. 14 on TSNs list) scored 45 goals for the Storm in the regular season, was the OHLs playoff MVP and plays a hard-nosed game for a 5-foot-10 pivot, but will he stand up to the L.A. King litmus test? Ditto for smallish Swiss forward Kevin Fiala, No. 15 on the TSN list, though Fiala had the benefit of playing against men in both the Swedish League and for Switzerland at the World Championships. But no two players represent the uncertain quality of this years draft like the 30th and 31st-ranked Josh Ho Sang of the Windsor Spitfires and Anthony DeAngelo of the Sarnia Sting. Ho Sang is an electrifying, highly-skilled albeit undersized skilled forward who has some very firm ideas on how the game of hockey should be played and how he should play it. First-round talent? Absolutely. Will a team step up and take him in the first round? Thats the fascinating aspect of this draft. So much natural talent; so many question marks. "The question with Ho Sang is whether he wants to be a hockey player or he wants to be an artist or an entertainer," one scout said. "When he plays the give and go game, hes effective and dangerous but a lot of the time he only wants to go, theres no give (the puck to anyone else). Is he going to figure it out? Because if he does, the skills he has…" DeAngelos situation, though, takes it to another level of uncertainty. The American blueliner is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, but he put up 15 goals and 71 points in 51 games for Sarnia. Imagine how many more points he would have registered if he hadnt been suspended on three separate occasions this season for either violating the OHLs diversity policy or verbally abusing an on-ice official or, as fate would have it, both. In December of 2013, DeAngelo was suspended five games for violating the leagues diversity policy in a verbal spat with an on-ice official. In January of 2014, he received an eight-game suspension for violating the leagues diversity policy in a verbal exchange with a teammate. Five games after returning from that eight-game suspension, he was suspended two games for (verbal) abuse of an official. Many scouts dont know what to make of DeAngelo. The vast majority of them say the north New Jersey kid, wholl effectively be at "home" for this weeks NHL draft in Philadelphia, is (in spite of size concerns) a first-round talent, a smart, mobile and offensively gifted blueliner. "Look at the talented small defencemen and where theyve been taken in the draft, guys like Ryan Ellis, Ryan Murphy, Derrick Pouliot, even Erik Karlsson," a scout said. "DeAngelo should, on talent, be taken in that 10 to 20 range but Im not sure he will be because of the other stuff." Some of the scouts surveyed by TSN said they wouldnt take DeAngelo at all. Others said he would be a consideration in the second round – talent like that is hard to pass – but a couple did say they wouldnt rule out considering him in the first round. "If you read stuff that people write, I think they go overboard with it because they dont know the details," DeAngelo told the Camden Courier Post. "They think I have character issues. I dont think I have character issues." Interestingly, USA Hockey chose to not invite DeAngelo to its summer evaluation camp for the 2015 U.S. national junior team. Of all the stories in what is expected to be an unpredictable draft, DeAngelos is bound to be one of the most compelling. Hes expected to have upwards of 100 friends and family in attendance Friday night and whether hes chosen or not in the first round will be an intriguing storyline. Getting consensus for the TSN rankings was never more difficult than this year. Outside of perhaps the top 35 to 40, there was no real consensus. Even within the top 30 in the first round, there was a far greater variance from player to player than ever before. TSNs rankings do not take into account the teams order of selection; theres no allowance made for a teams personal or positional preference. These rankings are not so much an evaluation of which players will one day turn into the best NHLers as it is a forecast of what order in the draft this Friday and Saturday these players will reasonably be chosen. The list is determined on a mostly objective formula based on numerical rankings assigned by the scouts interviewed by TSN. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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| Beitrag vom 11.03.2015 - 08:37 |
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