Posts by giovanni tiso
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
But we are the best team in the world right now, no question.
Yes, but don't tell me that being the best team right now means the same as being the best team last year, ie the winner of the World Cup. You could make the argument if the All Blacks had opted out - like England did in football before joining the world cup and FIFA - but they haven't and as things stand, the year after the world cup is the beginning of a new cycle. And besting the opposition is nice but not half as nice as being there at the end, so judging Deans vs Henry right now means very little in my estimation. You only have to think of the planning that England put in their world cup win to see that. And we tried to do the same, by the way, the rotation and resting policies (which devauled some of the intervening contests) were aimed at just that. And failed, not just because of Mr. Barnes I would argue.
Now, the failing coaches got a second chance, which is all fine and good. Not sure why Mitchell didn't get it, nor why Deans didn't deserve a go. Especially in light of the arrogance shown by Henry et al.
But that's 21 Bledisloes and only five World Cups.
It's a trophy defence with only two possible winners, though, so there isn't a lot of toing and froing. It's a matter of remembering that we had between year X and year Y, then they had it for a year, then we had it again, etc.
Could you do the Euro winners too? And Champions League? And Italian Premier League (sorry I forgot the actual name)
No, I can't, because they're not as important as the world cup. Which is kind of my point.
-
Heh!
-
Unhinged by her naked envy of an award Duder had received, Brooke shamelessly plugged her own largely unread work, while painting herself as the victim (again) of a PC conspiracy.
Kind of reinforces my distrusts of Mac lovers.
-
Of course. But I always know who's holding the Bledisloe Cup. Kinda my point.
I remember all the world cup winners from 1987 ownwards. Do you remember the toing and froing of the Bledisloe in that period of time? Plus it's all well and good so long as you don't start bandying around the 'best team in the world' tag, otherwise it becomes a tad parochial to limit the search to this corner of the planet. But your point about the sheen of the cup win quickly dissipating in South Africa is well taken.
-
Heh - Giovanni I'm one of those footballing tragics. And with all due deference to a fine Italian team who obviously had brought their own script to that game, there was something of the romantic tragedy in having such an outrageously (I can still see some of the stuff Falcao did) gifted Brazilian team having those gifts undone by the more pragmatic and prosaic approach of a fine Italian team who recognised that football is not just about looking purty.
I watched the game again recently, and was struck by how much better than Brazil we played. Italy should have actually won 4-2 (in the disallowed goal Antognoni was not offside) and Rossi and Conti failed to score another pair alone in front of Valdir Perez. But we were so in awe of the might and effortlessness of Brazil in the lead-up that I remembered the game for years as being a siege. It wasn't, we kind of ridiculed them really, esp. considering that all that Brazil needed in order to go through was a draw.
Plus: Falcao, Zico, Socrates, Junior, Eder, sure... but also Antognoni, Conti, Scirea, Rossi, Tardelli. The talent on that Italian team was sublime. That phase in the final against Germany when they set up shop in the German box in the lead-up to Tardelli's goal was more impressive than anything that Brazil had done.
-
That's just made-up talk, ie bullshit. France were very good in a couple of key areas.
Against the ABs, yes. But they lost the opener against Argentina and dutifully went on to lose against England. I think you could make a reasonable case that it was us who made them look good.
-
Ah, but then it occurs to me that you were asking me something else. Well, they win it a lot: four of the last five editions - although interestingly only one of the previous eight. Zico's team lost it against Uruguay in 83 - they were probably still asking themselves how they allowed Rossi to sink them with that hat trick the year before.
-
What happens when there is the big South American version of Euro? Or are their best players over in Europe?
They have rights of release, thankfully. The European clubs always complain about that, of course (bastards). It runs every three years, too, not four, although I think sometimes it also counts partly as a world cup qualifier - but I could be very wrong about that.
-
This might sound awfully full of kiwi-centric hubris, but I can imagine that the All Black's failure to win the WRC must be beginning to undermine the credibility of the tournament as a place that finds a "champion" of anything except that particular event.
Yes, it does sound like hubris. It's the same attitude that many Brazilians take to football, where the world cup is a sensible tournament only when it confirms that they're the best team in the world, which of course in their estimation is always true regardless. Cardiff in 07 was nothing compared to Barcelona in 82, I can tell you - and I've spoken to people who still think Brazil was entitled to win that tournament. But it's all crap of course, you win it or lose it on the field. And yes, some games are strange, but it isn't a lottery, those who rise above it win. And it takes character, not just sheer skill, because the pressure is entirely different from any other test. So it is THE test. And if you don't pass, the year before and the year after you can rule the roost but it means very little.
People who talk about Barnes keep forgetting that France was awful, and I find the tacit assumption that if we had squeaked past them we would have beaten SA is irritating in the extreme. We didn't lose the final, we crashed out of the quarterfinals.
So complain about the world cup as much as you want, but since every team - including the ABs - value it over everything else, it's the tournament that crowns the world champions, those who plan better and train better and perform better at the peak of the four year cycle. This idea that we're still better than the rest even if we keep being spanked in the games that count is playground stuff, it really is.
-
Here. Please note, this is just a link and in no way an endorsement of any particular lifestyle choices.
Media awards people out there: is it too early to nominate Emma for "Most Informative Blog"?