Project your Nation's FIFA 2014 Brazil World Cup Squad(All Nation's Welcomed)
I know it's early, but just for fun vision your Nation, come time FIFA 2014 Brazil and project your Nation's 2014 World Cup Squad if they were to qualify for a chance at FIFA's biggest prize and come time 2014 in Brazil we will see who's Nation's Starting XI is accurate...
I'll start by predicting Die Mannschaft in 2014 Brazil...
Wildcards: Trapp(Up and Comer), Weiser(Impressive U-17), Andreas Beck(will he get his chance...), Can(Up and Comer), Holtby(Captain of U-21, arguably their best talent at the U-21 Level) ,Yesil(Impressive U-17, is he the next Klose...) and Klose(Age and Form)
I highly doubt Löw would have a first squad like that. Outside of Schweinsteiger you have no midfielder with any good defensive skills and even Schweinsteiger is only average at defending. A defensive midfielder like Khedira, Rolfes or maybe even Sven Bender would be in the starting eleven.
I hope Löw doesn't use/need Mertesacker in 2014. Both Höwedes and Hummels are already better than him. Mertesacker was a bit unlucky with some injures recently, but he has been pretty bad in the national team for a couple of years now. Friedrich saved is ass countless times during during the 2010 WC.
My starting eleven would be:
Neuer
Boateng-Höwedes-Hummels-Lahm
Rolfes-Schweinsteiger(c)
Schürrle-Özil-Götze
Gomez
Depending on their performance I could also see Müller(Gomez) and Reus(Schürrle) in the lineup.
That may be a bit hopeful though...
A lot of it depends on who the opponent is and how well or poorly we play leading up to the WC.
Santos may also prefer a 4-3-3 in which case...
Others who may just as easily feature are Christodoulopoulos, A. Papadopoulos, Spiropoulos, Mitroglou, Karagounis, Kone...
In goal
Young Thibaut Courtois led Genk to the Belgian championship last year and the big tender got rewarded with a transfer to Chelsea. He will gain experience this upcoming season replacing De Gea at Atlético on a 1-year loan deal and will hopefully be ready by 2014 to take the starting position for the NT. He will be backed up by either Simon Mignolet, who's doing very well at Sunderland, or Silvio Proto who's always been very solid for Anderlecht. Also keep an eye on Colin Coosemans, 19 year old starting goalie for Club Brugge, and Koen Casteels (also 19) of Hoffenheim.
On defense
The D-core will be led by captain Vincent Kompany and one of the only world class players in the squad. He will be 28 and in the prime of his career. Alongside him will be Thomas Vermaelen of Arsenal. He has really adapted well to the Premier League, much faster than I would have thought. On the right-back position we've got 2 options. If he ever gets his game straightened out, then Anthony Vanden Borre would without a doubt be the starter. But until that happens (if it ever will..) Toby Alderweireld of Ajax seems to be the best choice, even if his best position is at centre, he's proven he can handle the back position. And his Ajax partner Jan Vertonghen will occupy the left-back spot. Keep an eye on Dedrick Boyata (20, Man City) and Marnick Vermijl (19, Man Utd).
In midfield
If he can stay fit, there's no doubt that Marouane Fellaini of Everton will be the defensive midfielder of the team. He's big, strong, likes to intimidate and knock opposing players around. He can stay back or be very dangerous going forward, if there's a possibility to do so. Axel Witsel of Benfica will also be untouchable in midfield. He can do it all: from playing a defensive shutdown role to being a creative, offensive player to playing just behind the striker. By 2014 he can imo be playing for a top team in Spain, England or Germany. The third part of the midfield triangle will be Kevin De Bruyne of champions Genk. There's a reason why Chelsea are keen on signing the 20-year old playmaker. Even though he's still young and looks slender, he's got great strength and agility and his vision is among the best of his age group imo. Has been the author of some great goals (this or this or this) and assists last season, with many more to follow in the feature. Keep an eye on: Dennis Praet (17) and Charly Musonda Jr. (15) of Anderlecht's youth academy. Both are already heavily pursuited by Europe's elite.
Attack
Moussa Dembele, currently at Fulham, has always been an underachiever. But when he's having a good game, watch out. Great technique, great pace and extremely strong. Will forever be remember for his famous solo goal against Italy in the knockout stages of the 2008 Olympic football tournament. Still, he will have to compete with Nacer Chadli (Twente) and Dries Mertens (PSV). At age 20, Eden Hazard has already been voted Player of the Year in the French League, and led Lille to their first championship title in god knows how many years. Has been compared to Messi (in style of play), however has yet to show his best form in the national team. Our head coach isn't a big fan of Hazard though. He doesn't think Eden works very hard or is very reliable on the defensive side of the game. And he doesn't care that not a single person in Belgium shares his opinion. We'll see what he has to say when Hazard plays for Barça or Real in 2014. That leaves the striker position, which again is a no-brainer. Romelu Lukaku at age 16 has been the youngest top goalscorer in the Belgian League and at 17 he was arguably the league's best player. Needed a move to a stronger league to further develop properly and a dream came true for him when Chelsea came knocking on the door. I believe he made his official debut today. In 3 years time he should be a great striker. Keep on eye on: Jelle Vossen (Genk), Yassine El Ghanassy (AA Gent) and Eden Hazard's little brother Thorgan (RC Lens).
So, to recap:
Thibaut Courtois
Toby Alderweireld - Vincent Kompany - Thomas Vermaelen - Jan Vertonghen
Im exited to see what kind of squad France puts on the field (Hopefully Sakho will play a big part). This will be both a major PR event for France to wipe away the memories of the last cup and a chance to return to the top level of the game. Hopefully will also signal a new era with some young guns coming up and getting a chance to represent their country, well this goes for Italy and the US also.
Spain will no doubt challenge the world with their lineup.
As it's obvious that Finland will (not) qualify to the 2014 World Cup, here's my prediction for the team:
Starting XI:
Teemu Pukki - Lauri Dalla Valle
Alexei Eremenko jr.
Kasper Hämäläinen - Roman Eremenko - Perparim Hetemaj
Jukka Raitala - Niklas Moisander - Petri Pasanen - Carl Jenkinson
Lukas Hradecky
Subs: Jukka Lehtovaara, Veli Lampi, Joona Toivio, Tim Sparv, Mika Väyrynen, Roope Riski, Mikael Forssell
If only Hoilett and Jonathan De Guzman played for Canada... Hoilett looked good for Blackburn today despite missing a penalty.
Hoilett is becoming a dangerous player in the league. He just keeps elevating his game. If he can handle defences shutting him down, he might be a player on the move to a bigger club. He's already shown a lot of talent, adaptability, heart and versatility. Dyanmic talent; one of my favourite non-Fulham players.
While I am certain that the Germans will **** us in the qualifiers, I'll be optimistic and post a squad anyway.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Emir Bajrami - Ola Toivonen - Seb Larsson
Kim Källström - Albin Ekdal
Oscar Wendt - Andreas Granqvist - Jonas Olsson - Mikael Lustig
Andreas Isaksson
Not too different from what the national team looks like today, a new centre back pairing as both Mellberg and Majstorovic will be too old to play for the national team in 2014, Albin Ekdal in to replace Anders Svensson and Sebastian Larsson replacing Johan Elmander in the right midfield position.
Who actually gets to replace Anders Svensson is totally open, Rasmus Elm is probably the most likely candidate at the moment, but Albin Ekdal and Ivo Pekalski are certainly looking like competent challengers.
Some other young talents who might make it into the team includes strikers Rasmus Jönsson and John Guidetti, wingers Mervan Celik, Jiloan Hamad and Jimmy Durmaz, left back Pierre Bengtsson and centre backs Joel Ekstrand, Marcus Nilsson and Alexander Milosevic.
I highly doubt Löw would have a first squad like that. Outside of Schweinsteiger you have no midfielder with any good defensive skills and even Schweinsteiger is only average at defending. A defensive midfielder like Khedira, Rolfes or maybe even Sven Bender would be in the starting eleven.
I hope Löw doesn't use/need Mertesacker in 2014. Both Höwedes and Hummels are already better than him. Mertesacker was a bit unlucky with some injures recently, but he has been pretty bad in the national team for a couple of years now. Friedrich saved is ass countless times during during the 2010 WC.
My starting eleven would be:
Neuer
Boateng-Höwedes-Hummels-Lahm
Rolfes-Schweinsteiger(c)
Schürrle-Özil-Götze
Gomez
Depending on their performance I could also see Müller(Gomez) and Reus(Schürrle) in the lineup.
I could see something similar to this, but I think Khedira will beat out Rolfes for that position alongside Schweini, I rate him as a player but injuries have affected him a lot lately. Lahm captain as well.
I'd love to see Klose still be starting but I think he'll be more of an impact player off the bench.
