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Originally Posted by Jeff
Dida - I don't know if the media is making a big fuss out of nothing because of his mistakes; but I think it happens also to other goalkeepers in the world but we are unaware of; why doesn't the media then write about these stories?
The only reason I can think of is Dida's 'consistent' low-standard errors; but i'm not sure if it's the ridiculous level of mistakes that Dida make or the number of errors he make that attracts the most attention.
Remember: you can make a not-so-ridiculous-mistake and yet you concede goals: poor positioning, slow reflex, problematic punching etc.
Let me give you an example Ican think of: the game against Shakstar at San Siro. Isn't the GK's mistake to punch the ball out right at Seedorf and lost his positioning momentarily, which allows Seedorf to volley home?
Another example: Isn't it a lot of mistakes by GK who fails to prevent Pirlo's freekick? (e.g., recent goal by Pirlo against INter MIlan; if you look carefully, the wall is poorly positioned such that the ball is able to curve over the very right side of the wall to head home; the GK should be blamed becuase of awful positioning of the wall or lack of numbers in wall). Yes, Pirlo is a tricky freekicker, but with some attentions and skills, a lot of goals can be prevented (e.g., Deportivo's 4th goal by Milan a few years ago).
You see my point? It's just because of the ridiculous mistake by Dida doesn't necessarily mean that Dida is a poor GK. Frey can be less prone to these kinds of mistakes, but what if he is awful at letting in freekick goal? As a matter of fact, I really can't remember MIlan conceding any goal from direct FK (i.e., shoot stright at the GK). Perhaps once or twice which have slipped my mind surely, but is it not something that we should give credit to Dida, yet nobody notices?
Milan - Average age of the team is relatively old; but if you count on the starting XI in CL, it's just completely different. In fact, old teams like Italy and France are the finalist in world cup. Milan, being portrayed as old for 5 years, IS the most successful team in CL. I'm sure you don't want to fall into the Arsenal-age-level trap (which is playing great recently btw).
Hope this makes sense to you. - J
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I guess the whole Dida issue won't be such a big deal if he wasn't playing for Milan, but when you play for a team that has won the most trophies in the world and wants to be no.1 on the planet, then the standards are pretty high... he has to earn and justify the $3.5mil per year he pockets!
As you mentioned, the Shaktar keeper fumbled the ball to Seedorf, that's why he's still stuck at Shaktar and not in SerieA, La Liga or EPL...
But I expect our no.1 Milan keeper not only to have fundamental skills like setting defensive walls, proper keeper positioning, catching balls, rushing out and other basic fundamental stuff, but also sometimes to produce moments of magic (and I say moments, not all the time), like we get from Kaka's runs, Inzaghi's goals, Nesta tackles, Maldini's leadership, Gatusso's bite, Pirlo's freekicks...
Sorry to say Dida doesn't produce any magic whatsoever, instead produces Voodoo or some other black magic that sends me to total shock and spasm just by watching it...
Sorry, but my standards for the Milan no.1 is somewhat high...
On the Milan age, you are right to say that the World Cup final was played by 2 older teams, Italy and France... but for france, that was the end of a golden team that won the world cup and euro, the same for Italy as well...
But correct me if i'm wrong, the oldest player on the field was 34? I'm thinking Thuram, Cannavaro, Zidane (33?), and mind you that the World Cup is a 1 month event with a maximum of 7 games. It's not a 9 month long campaign with 40 games and internationals in between.
And our oldest player right now is 39, we have 2 wing backs at 37 (and our systems require the wing backs to cover the flanks)... So dude, I think we're pushing the concept of 'old world cup teams' a little bit too far...
Hey, whatever it is this is not a debate or anything, just sharing opinions and hope it's still all in good nature...
Cheers