Ballack, I have hardly ever seen him play but he has alot of world popularity, so i was wondering if he is overrated, and if not, what are his qualities.

Is he a player that would hardly lose the ball?
Is he creative?
Many Germans have hard long range shots, does he?
Is he the Playmaker of Munich?
Will he fit in the epl?

Please only post if you are in a position to do so
( i.e you have seen him play plenty of times) I would rather have no replies than blsht ones.

Thankyou, its just because I heard Chelsea wanted to purchase him, and i wanted to know whether or not he will be a flop.

Sheiza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I havent heard about Ballack in a long while, maybe is due to the lack of play and skill displayed as of late.
I dunno, rough patch is a concerned for anyone, but i think that he can pull through back to his old self.

No he isnt overrated IMO, he deserves all his fame and name.

Ballack, I have hardly ever seen him play but he has alot of world popularity, so i was wondering if he is overrated, and if not, what are his qualities.

Is he a player that would hardly lose the ball?  >>> he's ok, not very skillful but very strong physically
Is he creative?  >> Gerard style, run all over the pitch, high work rate, strong in both offense and defence
Many Germans have hard long range shots, does he? >> terrific, he's also one of the most dangerous midfielder on aerial header.
Is he the Playmaker of Munich? >> yes but not really as Munich play as a unit not on individuals, so far they've had 5 wins and 1 draw without Ballack.

Will he fit in the epl? >> i think so, he has great spirit and can drive the team forward but at times he looks rather quiet, only plays like a DM

Please only post if you are in a position to do so
( i.e you have seen him play plenty of times) I would rather have no replies than blsht ones.

Thankyou, its just because I heard Chelsea wanted to purchase him, and i wanted to know whether or not he will be a flop.  >> go steal Gerard, Bayern won't sell him till 2006

http://www.soccerclips.net/alphagoals.htm >> there's one ballack compilation there

he's a bit overrated

Well I think that he is underrated because he has terrific work rate and long shot, he is the captain of Munich and Germany, he is good penalty taker etc...

naah he isnt over rated , he is a good player

Yeah I think he's a bit overrated. I see alot of Bayern games and I find him actually having a quite game. They make him sound like he's the best in the team but I think Makaay should get more credit. Also Zé Roberto and Pizarro puts in alot more effort.

Ballack is good but I think he's given to much praise for nothing.

That's when he has Frings on the field, he just simply doesn't know what to do as Frings is a same kind of player. I think he gets a bit confused how to play along side with another one that has the same style with him, like to go forward but feel comfortable in front of the 2 CB.

He gets better a little after Magath has played him as a true DM and let Frings play behind 2 strikers

i have never seen him
i hope to watch arses next game
against munich

Cant say I have seen him play much. But from what I read, he recently seems to give more inspiring performances for the national team rather for Munich.

Yes, he does. I think all players should play better for their country due to pride.

Yes, for me hes a bit overrated ...

Nah on his day Ballack is a one-man-team.

He was magnificent on the Euro, too bad for him the rest of the team let him down.

He's a great player. But yeah I guess he's off-form this season. Players can be off-form, this doesn't mean they are 'overrated'.

No way in hell is Ballack over-rated.. hes IMO the best playmaker in the world.. just edges over Gerrard IMO..and im sure if some more people here followed die bundesliga they would understand.. im surprised about how well Bayern are doing without him though.

He scores some great screamers and really he has all the credidentials of Gerrard.. but i think Gerrard is a better captain whereas overall ballack is simply a better player.. and he has great strength

There seems to be a mixed response, so Ballacks credentials still remain ambiguous to me.
What i am saying is, does he have the Xavi ability, to be able to always be available for passes and then always complete passes, and get out of tough situations with nice passing movement, aswell as pass the ball through the eye of a needle.

He has nice passing ability, but not as good as Xavi. Not as good vision either. His best attributes are his shot and his headers. Not to mention he's an inspiring player and a leader.
That's what Ballack is best at.

Ballack got lazy in my opinion. he should have left for Barca before this season started. That would have given him a whole new push. Hes too confident with him self i think. Actually his lazyness just started with the move to BAyern (well the first season was ok, but afterwards he sucked club wise).

He was definitely at his best when he played for Leverkusen scoring 17 goals in the League and leading Leverkusen to the CL Final and the German cup final 02. That was the ballack and if he had developed further in the right direction he would be one of the worlds best i think

No he Isn't lazy, just couldn't find the rythm in new environment yet. As i said earlier, Bayern bought him and frings to play in midfield and i think it's a bit overkill because who will play as DM ?? , neither of them is a genuine DM, so they just couldn't do well together in the begining of the season, and then Magath assigned ballack to play in DM position, he's been getting better since then.

But now, another experiment from Magath, he found that Demichelis is the master in DM position, so Frings just has to move to another place on midfield or LB/RB to allow Ballack move forward behind 2 strikers. He scored once today against Freiburg after 2 weeks sidelined by the injury. Hope he keeps it up this weekend against Bremen.

I think him to be a great player but is just not in his true form these days with all the injuries and stuff. But on his day as someone posted earlier, he is incredible, borderlining unstoppable.

i certainly wouldn't call him a great player, he is certainly good, but in all truth he isn't all that much out of the ordinary. He is germany's best player but compare him to viera, makelele, davids and the rest of dm and he really donesn't compare

He was good at Euro 04 but Id like to see him play a season in The Premiership or La Liga... (more so the Premiership as I think that would suite his style a little better)

Hes a bit like the German Paul Scholes!! (IMO)

The thing I like most about Ballack is that he can play as DM and OM really well..


Ballack played the role of DM perfectly in the match home match against Juventus in the CL..

Overall he is the Gerrard of Bayern Munchen.

I hate ballack i remember i saw on tv he was interveiwed and he said HIMSELF that he is the best player in germany.

Ballack is de best player in Germany and if he said him salf that of coures he is right. i belief he will become near future world best player

Well, he certainly can improve but the world's best player...? I mean he is 28/29 years old what will he really do to gain much MUCH more credit as a player? A club change I suppose would do it but where?

lMore like Gerrard is the Ballack of Liverpool.


Do you understand German and is that what he actually said, or was something lost in translation? Don't jump to conclusions my friend.

Best in Germany? Yes, maybe

Best in the World? NO!

Will he become the best in the world? I think not, too old.

But anyway back to Ballack...as you can see in my profile he is one of my favorite players primarily because of his versatility and how well-rounded his game is. He can use BOTH feet exceptionally well, drive the ball very hard, head the ball superbly for a midfielder, pass well, and his defensive skills aren't too bad. Just look back at WC 2002, he scored 3 goals (2 being the winners in the Quarter and Semi finals) and had some assists as well, without him Germany wouldn't have had nearly the amount of success he did.

imo ballack is german's best player, but not best top 10 in the world

my thoughts exactly. good post.

There are questions that i dont understand , all this Underrated questions ...

Ballack is a very good player .. not the best in he world , but a very good player ...

The answer to the question is ...

No

At least today he wasn't worse than Viera, even better

In my opinion, Ballack is not overrated and these are my reasons.

He is a vital player both for his Country Germany and for his club. He plays well in his position and he can score goals. In the World Cup 2002 he was Germany's best player in my opinion besides Oliver Khan. Khan was amazing in Net and Ballack scored most of Germany's goals and due to him getting a yellow card in the Semi-Final game he was not allowed to play the Final game vs Brazil.

Like I said Ballack is a vital player both for his club and especially for Germany, so no I would say no he is not overrated. This is only my opinion.

He was superb yesterday.

I haven't really seen as much of him but when I have he has always impressed me.

Beckenbauer said that he would one day be better than Zidane.

I disagree with this but there is no taking away that he is a top player.

Ballack is a class player and isn't overrated. He's the only german player i actually like

I've seen ballack play on a few occasions and read what his manager/s (national and club) have said about him, to me it seems back in 2002 World Cup ballack had many qualities he possesed some of the old 1980's German style football. For example if he had the ball and an opposition came close he would turn his back protect the ball and wait and hold the ball until another German player would get in a good position then he would pass. Ballack was in the past always good at running into messy scruffs where the ball would be rolling off into no particular direction where he would struggle and get the slightest touch and it would roll in his teams favour and maybe from ther converted into a goal. He is good at running back and forth being in midlfield and he does score many goals considering he is midfield. At times he is a stationary player (lack of involvement but sometimes it works well) in midfield where he does not open gaps for the opposition and runs at them and locks them down. If the ball rolls in his direction and he is outside the box he will not pass but will shoot and does score and against Checz in 2004 Euro you can see him do so. Ballack did make a good run and shot at goal in Bayern v Arsenal the shot was so good, just saved by lehman's fingertips and his hands must of hurt because it was a power shot.

So tell me why the interest in Ballack? i beleive he is still good but nowhere near the player he was in 2002. Korea was a very strong team in 2002 and knocked out Italy they were very persistant and contant like machines at times but Germany stood up and stopped them in their tracks and ballack got a goal as he did the match before putting Germany into the final WC. He fowled near the box and got booked and could not play in the final but knew if he did not fowl him he would score and then after being demotivated with the booking he still went on and scored.

He is getting on may be 28 or something so it would be good to finish his last couple of seasons as a player who can improve on the old player he was in 2002 then i would rate one of most effective players in the world.

Right now Torsten Frings is better than Ballack based on form. They are the same kind of player. So why is Ballack rated higher? It's because of his rep. If whoever was interested him watched every game he plays in, they would probably lose interest. He's been in a slump for a while now.

ballack is a great player but i like him most when he plays in the defensive midfield because there he seems to be one of the best in the world but in his offensive movements he doesn't seems to be very very special!

Ballack is the best player Germany has, but he didn't impress at Euro2004 because the rest of the team was crap.

He did have that one lovely goal against the Czech Republic, but other than that I agree.

I believe he is still good but nowhere near the player he was in 2002. Korea was a very strong team in 2002 and knocked out Italy they were very persistant and contant like machines at times but Germany stood up and stopped them in their tracks and ballack got a goal as he did the match before putting Germany into the final of World Cup, Ballack played very well defensively in those games. Frings has not done what Ballack has for the team in the way Ballack was essential to getting Germany to the final in World Cup.

better based on form ??? only played well in one game and you say he has better form. I don't think so.

Look at the hightlight here, i think Ballack played well as a central midfielder, he always plays deeper when Frings is in the team

http://s18.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=25SRTSK...QV2RA5KDHVQXHQD

Anyway, i think this thread should be closed, off topic now. Hey how about discussing about who might be able to replace Ballack in German national team.

I can't come up with any names.

Well you've probably seen them play more this season than I have, but from what I have seen I think Frings has been better as of lately.
I'm not biased, Ballack is one of my favorite players.

What I do know is that Torsten Frings has had much more than one good game this season.

Ballack replaced i think not, he always seem to have some benefit through determination that other german players don't give, he did a lot for Germany in 2002 and by the looks of Germanys top club Bayern Munchen seems to be happy to have him with the lifeline he gave them. It takes experience to dive like that. He could of got a red card but he took a calculated risk in the last minute when it matters and getting goal in the last minute was impossible against thundering Chelsea but Ballack somehow in the last minute gave Bayern a goal. Sent Peter Chec of all goalies the wrong way and stroke it far from the goaly very nicely.

Frings is more younger and has not played for too long and has a fresh outlook on the game and has good technical ability and will naturally be a good player.

By the way is there any way i can watch all the national German matches is there a certain channel or website that streams all there games?

he definatly has a powerful long range strike

Ballack is an incredible player, in the top 3 all around midfielders in the world.

Frings and Ballack are of the same age btw...
And Frings is nowhere near to Ballack.

Agreed .