Generation 90

I have been meaning to do one of these in forever. Well, yes a blog post because it has been awhile but I'm talking about a "Generation X." I wanted to pick a squad of people born in a certain decade but what always stopped me was the fact that they weren't ever enough in my opinion  players I thought were absolutely outstanding in one set generation. Sounds crazy when you look at the greats the Di Stefano's and the Garrincha's how good they were in their time frames but to ask me to recall other's in their set generation I am a bit hard pressed and to come up with a squad of twenty five I don't think I could I'm a bank of football knowledge but not a library like Jon Champion. So I will write what I know who I know and that's the way it should be. Men closer to my generation because people can find scores of articles on Gabriel Batistuta but how many are their on Nicolas Otamendi? Well I'm here to talk about the Otamendis. That being said here is my team of stars born in the 90s.




Squad


(Goalkeepers)


David De Gea (ESP), Thibaut Courtois (BEL), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GER)


(Defenders)


Sebastian Coates (URU), Philip Jones (ENG), Jeffrey Bruma (NED), Mamadou Sakho (FRA), Mathias Jorgensen (DEN), Mateo Musacchio (ARG), Fabio da Silva (BRA)


(Midfielders)


Eden Hazard (BEL), Christian Eriksen (DEN), Jack Wilshere (ENG), Miralem Pjanic (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Mario Gotze (GER), Brek Shea (USA), Yann M'Vila (FRA), Xherdan Shaqiri (SUI)


(Forwards)


Neymar (BRA), Mario Balotelli (ITA), Luuk De Jong (NED), Bojan Krkic (ESP)


Formation


3-5-2


Not a conventional formation but the lack of stellar wide defenders has forced my hand a bit in contrast the glut of midfield options was far to tempting not to have a five man midfield. The forward situation is fairly straight forward I will stick with the two. It may not be the most balance but I like it for some reason.


Starting XI


Goalkeeper- David De Gea (ESP)
(Right) Centre Back- Mathias Jorgensen (DEN)
Center Back- Sebastian Coates (URU)
(Left) Centre Back- Fabio da Silva (BRA)
Right Winger- Eden Hazard (BEL)
Central Defensive Midfielder- Yann M'Vila (FRA)
Central Midfielder- Miralem Pjanic (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Central Attacking Midfielder- Mario Gotze (GER) (captain)
Left Winger- Xherdan Shaqiri
Striker- Neymar
Striker- Luuk De Jong


WHY?


David De Gea- At present with the remarkable goalkeeping talent available to the Spanish, De Gea would find it extremely hard to break into the senior squad and hold down the number one jersey but he is young and has many important games ahead of him to play. Standout performer with the U-21 even capturing a winners medal Euro U-21 championship in Denmark in 2011 so we have a winner already and I got the feeling the trophies will keep coming. De Gea earned himself a move to Manchester United in 2011 after he became integral part of Athletico Madrid's senior side. I'm just going to be honest, he is a very well rounded goalkeeper. Slight in build which could be a problem depends on who you ask, tall, athletic and goal keeps and not just stop shots. Ferguson usually gets it right with goalkeepers. Van de Sar and Schmeichel being the most sturdy here's the hope De Gea doesn't turn into Barthez and Carroll.

Mathias Jorgensen- Have you ever seen something for the first time and you were absolutely sold? That is the exactly how I feel about Jorgensen. Like De Gea over there he was an important part of his nation's U-21 side. Denmark seem to be able crank out a number of good center halves in recent times. Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer heading up the list. Jorgensen played extremely well at Euro U21 championship in his homeland and on top of that he has been apart of FC Copenhagen's senior squad for the better part of four years. The Danish side is not the most glamour of European teams but they are definitely solid opposition  for anybody and Jorgensen at the back make them very resolute. At 6 ft 3 inches he is the prototype for an excellent defender. As the game evolves he is apart of what is known as the ball playing defender. A defender who is comfortable on the ball see Rio Ferdinand  for the perfect example. Flat out Mathias is good lets see how gets on as the years roll on.

Sebastian Coates- I haven't been really sold on South American center halves. They are a few I think are really good. Lucio, Luisao and Juan to name a few and you could say the likes Michel Bastos and Diego Alves but fullbacks are a little different. Walter Samuel is a foul machine, so is Mario Yepes and the less I say about Martin Demichelis the better. Note most of the bad defenders are Argentine and the good ones are Brazilian not a coincidence. David Luiz I thought was the one to save day but doesn't look like it but here we a young man I think will be one of the greats. Sebastian Coates is the next defender to marvel at.  I almost don't know what to say I would call him a bull because he is so massive at 6 ft 6 inches but I think that does him a disservice he is like a Brontosaurus in terms of size and ability. I am absolutely thrilled with him and I know Liverpool fans will be. Jamie Carragher will undoubtedly retire soon and I can see only Agger and Skrtel fighting to be Coates defensive partner if they are still around. Sebastian is a Copa America winner at age 20 with Uruguay just earlier this year. I will bet all my hard earn money that he will be the best defender of his generation, just watch.

    












Fabio da Silva- I would imagine sometimes being a twin can be a very hard thing. Your always linked with your sibling and the comparisons I could only imagine would get very annoying. It's like I guess forfeiting your individuality but don't worry Fabio I see you brother. Fabio da Silva is apart of this new crop of United players and to his own admission he had a slow start. Brother Rafael made the first team before him, maybe by luck Gary Neville had come to the twilight of his career and a right back was needed so in stepped Rafael. In contrast Fabio regarded as a left back had the always excellent and virile Patrice Evra to content with and to be honest very few players world wide can make Evra sit on the bench maybe Michel Bastos or Eric Abidal. So Fabio has it tough but he has been given chances and he is lively character not as aggressive as Rafael but his leaping ability for a short man is stellar and his pace is nice across pitch. To me he is a defender that is always near the ball sounds weird but for his position that is a good thing.

Eden Hazard- Hazard probably heads up the list of Belgium's rising stars. Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne and Axel Witsel. Tracked currently by Liverpool and Arsenal the Lille man is certainly a heavily desired target of the European elite. Hazard formed a nice trio with now Arsenal man Gervinho and Moussa Sow which saw the Lille lift the Ligue 1 title in 2011. The young Belgian is a very direct player. He receives the ball, run towards the opposition do some fancy things with his feet pass or score, simple. We all can go home now that is how football is meant to be played. As I said in an earlier one of my post you really can't talk about Eden Hazard you just have to watch him play I'm not a world class wordsmith so I can't paint a god-like golden image in your mind with my words so just watch him play. You will be impressed.

Yann M'Vila- Very classy midfielder Yann M'Vila it seems just waltzed into the French national team. Scouted from extremely early M'Vila has represented France since U16 so the guy been around, you don't play for Les Bleus at any level if you don't have something about you. Yann being a deep lying midfielder does venture very far forward but when he does he does so with purpose. I want to call him Abu Diaby but somehow he is different he is defintiely a passer. I saw the passing percentage of this guy overall and for a guy whose job is to win the ball he does an awful lot of passing. I hate to compare every French black guy who plays in the midfield to Patrick Viera but I can see him in M'Vila. A very strudy customer Rennes really found a really good player.

Miralem Pjanic- Edin Dezko's sidekick and sole provider. Miralem Pjanic out of the world's emerging talents, my favorite. Free kicks, passes, assists, goals, dribbles, feints, headers, tackles, pace, stamina and vision I don't think they have anymore verbs left that contain good grace that Pjanic doesn't already execute. I always have a soft spot in my heart for Eastern European players. They are often labelled as unknown and erratic and it seems that they have to always prove a point more so than they western counterparts. I don't know if Lyon were strapped for cash but I don't know how they could have let Pjanic go. It's like every promising young superstar they dismiss. The Bosnian I think has a bit of a problem. Bosnia isn't a very well rounded team and so much is expected himself and Dzeko they will find it hard to reach markee competitions like the World Cup and the Euros. Club wise I think Roma will aid in his development with Totti not the force he was Pjanic can easily be the cult hero in the city of Romulus and Remus.    

  










Mario Gotze- I didn't think it possible for Germany to produce a high end flair player. Traditionally Germany has had physical specimens, technically gifted players, hard workers, clinical finishers are tough guys. I thought Bastian Schweinsteiger was the most creative force the Germans had, then in stepped Mesut Ozil and changed everything and now they found Mario Gotze from some where. Ozil is quite the player and in my eyes still the Germans chief play maker but if they ever get bored with him or gave him the day off then Gotze is primed for action. The orchestrator of Borussia Dortmund's 2010-11 championship winning season. Not to be a nerd but on FIFA 12 he is currently 18 or 19 and his overall game rating is 88 or something. So clearly I'm not the only fool who believes in the boy. All I can say is that he is a wonderful attacking weapon and the fact he was the hilt of Dortmund's wonderful season suggests that he has some leadership qualities, wonderful player.

Xherdan Shaqiri- Very hard to pronounce in the begin but the more I watched and heard about him his name rolls of my tongue easier than cat. Xherdan Shaqiri of Switzerland is another fantastic winger that the country has produced. More explosive than his countrymen Tranquillo Barnetta and Valentine Stocker, Shaqiri doesn't stay still very often. With blistering pace and immense brawn despite his size Xherdan easily brushes aside defenders. He has a shot and an eye for the pass as well. My first sighting of the wide man was in Euro U-21 championship 2011 in Denmark. Jorgensen who I heaped praise upon above as you can see got to know Shaqiri all too well. He simply waltzed pass the Danish and every one until Switzerland were stop in the final by David De Gea's Spain. The kid is good though definitely will usher in the new era Swiss football for sure.

Neymar- I don't know if I can be honest how I feel about Neymar there is something about him that passes him off as a faker. Every game I have seen him in personally he didn't do anything but when I look at his videos and compilation it's like a god was in his left shoe guiding the ball where ever Neymar willed it to be. I will give him this he is a showman and in a world now where the governing body, clubs and managers look to suppress the flamboyant and out spoken player Neymar comes and defies all of that. Maybe it's his hair but he is a character and I like that. The thing is Brazil has him classed up as the greatest thing ever but his team mate Ganso though not a striker to me is worth talking about more and the fact that teams like Real Madrid and Chelsea are willing to blow an excess of 40 million Pounds or Euro on this guy obviously there is talent there. We will see how he does I think he is as good as Robinho nothing more but he is the hottest youngster so his selection in my team is justified.

Luuk De Jong- Another one from the Dutch assembly line. Luuk De Jong is a goal scorer. It's not always graceful in fact his goals can be pretty clumsy looking but he does what very few attackers do and that is attack the ball in the air. A very hard worker and just busy when in possession. Look, right now the only premier striker Holland has is Robin Van Persie. I mean Dirk Kuyt tries, Klaas Jan Huntelaar does okay and Ricky van Wolfswinkel is still finding his way I think this is a perfect situation for De Jong if he can keep the goals coming and somehow get some European football.

            












Substitutes


(GK) Thibaut Courtois- I know I go on about this Belgian "golden generation," a lot but here is another one that I have to speak about. Thibaut Courtois is an excellent goalkeeper. I hate to draw comparisons but he reminds be of Hugo Lloris. Courtois is Chelsea's keeper of the future if they decide to keep him around, they would be foolish to get rid of him.


(GK) Marc-Andre ter Stegen- The German tradition of producing quality goalkeepers continues with young ter Stegen. As a goalkeeper you need to play games constantly and at Borussia Monchegladbach he certainly will do just that. He is a strong hand I know it sounds common place for a keeper but that isn't always the case. He will do well for the future.


(CB/RB) Philip Jones- When Manchester United signed Jones from Blackburn Rovers in 2010 for a fee of around 16 million I laughed. I thought Ferguson was a showing his age. Jones certainly has proved me wrong. I didn't know him but seeing performances just shows that he will be a legend at Old Trafford and not everyone is cut out for that accolade.


(CB) Jeffrey Bruma- He just stops attackers that is what he does. Every time i have seen him play just a wall very hard to get around and he you do has good recovery time. Chelsea seem to have a very good scouting network Courtois, Lukaku and Bruma will make a very good team for the future.      


(CB) Mamadou Sakho- Rising star of French football. I predict that he will be one of the first choice center half pairings in the French set up. Here we have again a towering defender with a nice touch on the ball. Times have really changed.


(CB) Mateo Musacchio- The Argentine came through the ranks at Villareal B and now is La Liga's premier defender. I said Sebastian Coates was going to be South America's best defender but Mateo is a very close second. Really nice to watch just needs a little more experience.  


(CAM) Christian Eriksen- It was heart wrenching to keep the Dane out of my starting XI. Eriksen is a wonder kid. Slight of build but a hammer of a shot. He simply just picks up the ball and does what he likes with it. Ajax will find it hard to keep him.


(CM) Jack Wilshere- I think is extremely lucky that Arsenal have a youth development ethos. Arsenal has really mould him into a wonderful footballer I wonder if he was at another would he be as good as he is now but that being said you don't earn an England cap in your teens if you aren't good.


(LM) Brek Shea- The only true American superstar. Brek Shea has an appeal and personality that matches his fantastic skills on the bitch. Tall and just simply awesome. Clubs in Europe are watching with keen eyes.


(ST) Mario Balotelli- If only Mario would just know calm he could be an amazing forward. His antics on and off field really will hamper his progress. Great touch and control and aggression in front of goal. Mario is a winner but can he be a champion?


(ST) Bojan Krkic- Barcelona really missed a trick here. Selling Bojan to Roma was wrong and I hope they don't want him back like how they craved Fabregas. Krkic is the fast forward I have ever seen and he has the dribble to get by opponents just needs to score more and he will be world class.


There you go Generation 90 in the books. I bet Arsenal have half these guys on their radar.