Van Buyten, Riise, Oddo, and Phillip Lahm, the new hunting pack
Mocha is the new black. The 40’s are the new 30’s. And defenders are the new attackers. Nah! You got to be joking. Aren’t they the plodders who never cross the half line. They never make the You Tube clips. And isn’t attacking the best form of defense? So these guys are basically redundant.
The most amazing thing about Van Buyten was not his goals but that he was there at all about 40 yards out from where he should have been playing. The first goal had him and Pizarro in the box all by themselves with no white shirts within a mile. No Makaay, Poldi, Schweinsteiger or the usual suspects. The second Van Buyten goal was poached perfectly like Lineker or Crespo.
John Arne Riise scores along with Gerrard to leave PSV on the ropes. Riise also scores against Barca. Alex sticks the dagger in Arsenal’s heart. Massimo Oddo looks like he loves spending time up field. This year’s CL is continuing a trend seen in the last World Cup. Phillip Lahm scored the first goal as Materazzi and Grosso made multiple visits deep into enemy territory. Grosso breaking open the Italy- Germany game and Materazzi rising high to score the equalizer for Italy against France in the final.
And good things happened when they come up front. Italy walked away with the World Cup. Liverpool is almost into the CL semi-finals and Bayern is in great position to seal the deal in the return leg.
Maybe goal keepers have become so much better that they can actually be left with less support. Or having a lone striker up front makes the attack stale and predictable as England found out in their World Cup. Whatever the reason, having defenders set up and score goals is a welcome phenomenon. They seem a bit shy celebrating their goals right now but it will happen.