All things Football (soccer) related

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Pilsator

That was fat lazy arrogant cows vs hard working men with a spirit and a will, deserved victory for Mexico.

Why so insulting? [&:] [:(]

[rico21]

Victory requires no explanation, defeat admits none.
Viva Mexico.

[shunwick]

Group E first round of games are now completed.

Costa Rica 0 Serbia 1. Serbia did enough to deserve the win in a fairly enjoyable opening group game.

Brazil 1 Switzerland 1. Smashing goal from Coutinho and a controversial, although probably correct. equalizer from Zuber. The point is if you disallow the equalizer for that little push then you will have to give penalties for nearly every corner in the game. You can't have one without the other and be fair to all sides. Brazil were a little disappointing and Switzerland more adventurous than I expected.


Best wishes,

Steve

[warspite1]

So this evening comes the moment of truth. Gareth Southgate has been receiving good press for the way he's handled things so far, the players appear relaxed, the team are united.... but will all that translate into a different outcome for the national team when they actually play a match in the world cup i.e. can they do it when it matters?

They shouldn't lose tonight (but then shouldn't have lost to Iceland). A defeat is unthinkable, a draw not much better, and a scrappy win only slightly above that. We (England supporters) can but hope that all these positive vibes translates into not just a win, but a good team performance.

C'mon England

[Pilsator]

ORIGINAL: Orm



Why so insulting? [&:] [:(]

Which insult? Cows on the Pitch is a saying here and a synonym.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Pilsator

ORIGINAL: Orm



Why so insulting? [&:] [:(]

Which insult? Cows on the Pitch is a saying here and a synonym.

Ok. To me it come across as a little bit insulting. I take that it wasn't intended as such, and that I misunderstood the meaning of the comment.

Lets move on, and enjoy all the fun matches we have ahead of us. Even though not all results will be to our liking. Or at least I doubt that they will be for me since I sincerely doubt that Sweden will win the tournament. [:D]

[loki100]

possibly the team of the tournament so far?



I mean - who needs cows when you can have otters on the pitch?

[TulliusDetritus]

The horde of the tournament in Volgograd aka Stalingrad aka Tunisia vs England this afternoon [good match for the lulz]. If the locusts finally appear (and they are more or less expected), it's going to be Gengis Khan Redux.

And if I'm wrong His Excellency Comrade Vlad might finally unleash his Spetsnazesque brutes (after he's removed their muzzles) to trash* the bald and fat western spionen.

* Operation Uranus

[shunwick]

First round games in Group F are now complete.

Germany 0 Mexico 1. The Germans threw all caution to the wind as they attempted to walk the ball into the net. With a little more composure the Mexican counter attack could have added another two goals.

Sweden 1 South Korea 0. A game of niggling fouls but enjoyable nonetheless. Sweden did enough to earn the win with a VAR encouraged penalty. Goals may be thin on the ground for both of these teams.

Early days.

Best wishes,
Steve

[Orm]

A fine day today, a fine day.

[shunwick]

First round games in Group G are now complete.

Belgium 3 Panama 0. A strangely awkward looking Belgium left it a bit late for their cutting edge to do the cutting. They will be happy with the result but not so much with performance.

England 2 Tunisia 1. England worked hard for it and with some strange non-decisions from the ref and the much vaunted VAR. Tunisia worked hard but had little in the way of a goal threat.

Best wishes,
Steve

[warspite1]

Different manager, different system, different players....same performance. Square balls, balls in to feet with the receiving player back to goal and no imagination.

Thankfully Sir Harry got England out of trouble but that shouldn't mask the fact that - the opening 15-20 mins aside - England remain a team totally unable to unlock stubborn defences. Yes we should have had two penalties (what were the VAR blokes actually watching let alone the ref of the linesman?) but.....

Second half Tunisia offered absolutely nothing. We kept three central defenders in place - although at least Maguire went forward on occasion, but why didn't Walker do the same (just one time I saw him on the right wing). With little Tripps the best crosser we've had since Beckham, why not double up on the right? Walker and Tripps with Rashford inside right. England as a unit just don't seem to have tactical flexibility. Tunisia reacted to England's corners by flooding the penalty spot area. When they did, as an alternative every now and then why not have someone come short to the corner of the penalty area? Or - as Dier has done at Tottenham - have someone darting in to the near post? In other words, why can't we mix it up? Show tactical creativity? The opening 15-20 mins aside (and a couple late on from Rashford), where were the runs at the defence, where was the defence splitting pass BEHIND the defence a la Spain or Germany or.... most countries? Its not rocket science. The most basic defenders in the world can cope with square balls, opponents receiving the ball with their back to goal. What they can't deal with easily is pace, its being run at, its a lack of knowing what the opposition will do next. We don't give defenders those problems.

And can someone please tell me, why was Raheem Sterling even on the plane? Let's be clear, he is a forward, he has pace and trickery in abundance. For England he is total rubbish and has been consistently in every game that matters since he made his debut.

If we are to progress - and certainly if we want to beat Belgium - we need to sort this shambles out.

I suspect Cahill and Dier were told before the match that they would be in the team for the Belgium game and last night confirmed that.

To end on a positive - well played Tripps, Maguire (after a really shaky start that could have sunk him, he at least tried going forward), Rashford, Loftus-Cheek and of course Sir Harry.

[bazjak]

Warspite
Just goes to prove a point
Messi and Sterling seem to perform well for there respective clubs but not their countries
Why is that you may ask
Its because at their clubs they a surrounded by world class players who feed them
It just goes to prove how good Ranaldo is

[rico21]

Football, with all the money it's thrashing, has generated armies of mercenaries ready to sell to the highest bidder.
Do you believe these people come to play for their country or advertise themselves to make even more money?

[TulliusDetritus]

I think I never saw this before [X(] At some moments Tunisia totally refused to attack when they had the ball. There's parking the bus and then there's another grotesque level: what I saw yesterday. Which means they did not deserve to harvest a single point.

[Piteas]

Sometimes, the football is fair and yesterday England deserved the victory. As Belgium... and Sweden? Well...[:'(]
Today Salah and his Egypt have the last chance.
Dont´forget the unpredictable caribbean dance against Zen Buddhism (Col vs Jap)

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: bazjak

Warspite
Just goes to prove a point
Messi and Sterling seem to perform well for there respective clubs but not their countries
Why is that you may ask
Its because at their clubs they a surrounded by world class players who feed them
It just goes to prove how good Ranaldo is

warspite1

You've bracketed Messi in the same sentence as Sterling. Well sorry but I couldn't agree less. Yes Ronaldo is an incredible player, but so is Messi.

[shunwick]

The first round games in Group H are now complete.

Colombia 1 Japan 2. Only caught the final few minutes of this game. Apparently Colombia were down to 10 men for most of the match. Japan will be happy with result.

Poland 1 Senegal 2. A Polish side proved that while you can manipulate the world rankings to get a better seed at the World Cup Finals, you will get found out when you get there. Senegal took full advantage of sloppy Polish play. Last 6 minutes were quite good. The rest of it - basically something you will see in a mid-table clash in any of the top European leagues.

Best wishes,
Steve

[shunwick]

The second round of games in Group A are now complete.

Russia 3 Egypt 1. Things continue to well for the home nation. Which is nice to see especially since they were expected to struggle to get out the group. Egypt have no cutting edge beyond the mighty Mo and he was, unfortunately, not fit. At least he scored a penalty.

Uruguay 1 Saudi Arabia 0. Uruguay don't care that the game was a bore-fest. Saudi have no cutting edge.

So Russia and Uruguay go through to the second round. Egypt and Saudi Arabia become teams two and three to book their flights home. It remains to be decided who tops the group and who finishes bottom.

Best wishes,
Steve

[shunwick]

The second round of Group B games are now complete.

Portugal 1 Morocco 0. Ronaldo's header was pretty much all that separated the teams. Portugal are an average team plus Ronaldo. They rely on him too much though and it could be a weakness later in the competition. Morocco are a decent team but they have no cutting edge at all. Morocco became the first team to book their flights home.

Spain 1 Iran 0. Diego Costa's right knee came between Spain and Iran. Iran dug in and were hugely defensive before the goal but proved they could cause Spain problems in the last half hour.

Best wishes,
Steve