Julius

Martinez is getting a tactical masterclass from Akira Nishino here, seriously, and Japan have been brilliant. 4-4-2 is perfect for taking on a 3-4-3, seeing as the two strikers can take it in turns, or come back together, to come back on themselves and outnumber Belgium’s two midfielders in the middle of the park. Playing with such high pressure against a three-man defence is also an excellent decision. EDIT: @Fierce_LiNk, completely agree. I just don’t know how he’s managed to get it this wrong. But they’ve got one back as I type this...

So does Martinez. They’re completely outnumbered in midfield — it looks like they’re playing a 3-4-3? — and thus their most creative player, De Bruyne, either isn’t getting the ball enough, or hasn’t got the options to pass it off.

I think someone must have lost the script on the way to Rostov tonight... Hazard hitting the post looks like it was probably the turning point. If that had gone in, this could have been completely different. What formation are Belgium playing in exactly? Because whatever it is...their shape just doesn’t look good.

To be fair, they made it clear that they were relaying that Mark Clattenburg, the referee (who they’ve got in to give his opinions on calls and potential VAR stuff such as this during the World Cup), saw it as violent conduct and a sending off. The two commentators were themselves calling it pretty much the same as everyone else: a yellow card, and probably a bit of a talking to. The refs have been quite lenient so far in the World Cup, though. Maybe it’s because he referees in the Premier League that he has a different position on it?

Agree with both of you, @drahkon and @Hero-of-Time. Looked like he was having a fit or had had his leg broken. It looked painful (and like a booking), but that reaction was unnecessary. Just imagining the irony if he gets sent off for simulation in the event that Brazil does make the final... Neymar really should have gone to a more physical league (i.e. Premier League, Bundesliga or Serie A) after leaving Barça, in my opinion. A lot of his flaws — simulation, overplaying and showboating, etc. — really remind me of Ronaldo’s during his first few seasons in England. He had that kicked out of him for the most part, and was/is a much better player for it.

Brazil have been asking a lot of questions of Mexico since the 30 minute mark. I have to wonder if their display against Germany showed their hand a bit too much: an opening 30 minutes or so at a breakneck pace, before quickly tapering off from lethargy thereafter, defending deep and in numbers. The two games that they’ve won at this World Cup had them score in that period. They just haven’t adapted their style of play since then, and that’s not the sort of tactic you really want to be adopting outside of games where facilitating a change would be necessary (i.e. a game against a “bigger” team, or a must-win game).

High drama late on in each of these Round of 16 games so far: a last minute goal in France v. Argentina; high, last minute pressure from Portugal against Uruguay; and now extra time in Spain v. Russia. Have a feeling that Croatia v. Denmark won’t be as dramatic as those games have been, but this has been an exciting start for the football-loving neutral to the knockout stage

Gutted for Ronaldo, but couldn’t be happier for Uruguay. The discipline on show in their high press, especially by Cavani and Suarez, was a joy to watch, and Godín was excellent as ever. Argentina were poorly structured, so it’ll be very interesting to see how France cope against a much more rigid side. Wasn't too happy with the ref tonight, I have to say. A couple of good calls, sure, but there were some very clear fouls that weren’t given (with that challenge in Quaresma towards the end in particular springing to mind), with it looking a bit out of his control at times, and he took quite a while in blowing his whistle on almost every occasion — even for the most basic of calls. Hopefully tomorrow’s games will be as good as today’s. At the very least, Spain v. Russia should at least be just as loud

I agree with all of your points. But, like I said before, my main reason to feel sorry for him is because he will have seen this as possibly his last chance to win the World Cup, which many of his critics — few though they might be — will now hold against him when the conversation of greatest footballer of all time comes around. Given the state of the current game, and the quality of club football, I just feel that it’s unfair to hold a player’s inability to win a quadrennial tournament against him, given just how much he’s done in the sport. In the same way, I’ll feel sorry for Ronaldo tonight if Portugal go out to Uruguay, because this is — realistically — his last chance to perform at the World Cup.

For sure. I’ve got to agree with a lot of the points that you’ve made. Those few episodes in the middle where Light is “good” and the final few were probably the highlights for me, and these were actually the episodes where I found myself becoming really invested in the investigative team. I just don’t think that it blew me away as much because the middle and ending were built on what I saw as a shaky foundation, and some of the problems I had with the earlier part of the series just didn’t seem to go away. I’d definitely recommend it regardless of my problems with it, and I’m glad that I watched it

That Messi pass was superb. @Fierce_LiNk, my main reason for feeling sorry for Messi is that many will hold onto the fact that he didn’t the World Cup as an attempt to invalidate him being in the conversation for the greatest of all time. That, plus how ineffective the entire team has been, much of which has to come down to the manager. He brought some players who didn’t deserve to be there/left some at home that did deserve to be there, and the fact that they’re one of the oldest sides on average in the tournament really says it all. They had over a year to figure out a formation and starting XI that would work going into this World Cup, and they didn’t. That’s not to take anything away from the teams that have put in brilliant performances against them, but when Messi is under pressure to be the main creator, goalscorer, midfield driver and captain, I think it’s just a bit too much — for anyone. @Hero-of-Time agree that France deserved to go through, they were excellent. Still don’t get your disdain for Messi, but whatever.

Seriously. He’s been excellent with Monaco and PSG, but I think this is the game which will be remembered as the match that Mbappé exploded onto the world stage. Feel sorry for Messi, but this Argentina team is old and leggy, and their squad selection (Higuain over Icardi? Really?) was in doubt when it was announced last month. Happy that this France side is finally starting to live up to the potential of the names on the team sheet. They just weren’t ready in terms of maturity to win the Euro’s two years ago, and were lucky in getting there in my opinion, but there’s a calm and confidence to many players — all of them, really — on display which is well beyond their years. Should set up an interesting quarter final tie against Uruguay or Portugal, that’s for sure.

Didn’t take long to prove you right I agree @drahkon, excellent game of football.

So now Mbappé has his goal, how long until Messi gets his? I get the feeling that this could go all of the way...

WHAT A GOAL BY PAVARD! That’s another two goals to add to potential goals of the tournament from this game alone the next half hour should be a real rollercoaster

What a game this is turning out to be luckiest goal of the tournament so far by Mercado?

He’s got a real knack for those, hasn’t he? That’s definitely his strongest area on the pitch (as we’ve seen at Paris, and when he was at Real), so I wonder if we’ll see some changes in shape should Aguerö come on. Pogba and Griezmann have been superb in their attitudes and play so far, Pogba’s striding and excellent forward passing should have Mourinho taking notes, but Mbappé has definitely been the star man on the pitch so far. Unreal pace and unbelievably good natural positioning. He’s only four days older than me, which makes me feel out of shape and very old.

Can’t wait! The Argentinian midfield is noticeably quite short, so I wonder if they’ll have problems winning the ball in the air against the likes of Pogba? He’s been the catalyst for a lot of France’s movement going forwards so far. Suarez and Cavani haven’t exactly shown up yet for Uruguay, having only scored one goal each so far (in the game against Russia). If they can actually get on the same wavelength today, Portugal could have a big problem on their hands.

I watched a lot of anime last week From Sunday to Wednesday of last week, I watched my second anime series: Death Note. I’ve had some more time to think about it, and whilst I liked it for the most part, it felt somewhat paint-by-numbers at times, and I have a few problems with it. Light is an extremely one-dimensional character, and as the protagonist of the show, it makes it difficult to become emotionally invested in the character when he barely grows as a result of what goes on around him, and thus — seeing as we spend most of our time with him — I found it more and more difficult to become invested in the events unfurling around him. I’m all for getting to the point of a show early on, but having him start the show as an insane murdering psychopath and ending the show in much the same way makes it all feel a little flat to me. Sure, it’s a story about corruption, but...is it really, if we don’t see him acting as a good (or even just morally grey) person to begin with? And it’s not just Light — I found that many of the other characters, such as Misa, suffer from exactly the same problem of having flat arcs. In fact, the only characters that I became truly invested in were Light’s fellow investigators on the Japanese Task Force/National Police Agency, but they were given such little screen time that it became something of a moot point. L was an interesting character in that he actually struggled with the concept of Light being Kira, though I do think that that particular notion was dragged out for a little too long. The show spans six years in thirty seven episodes, so perhaps that’s another reason that I think it had pacing issues in abundance. All of that being said, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t the most interesting anime that I’ve watched, and it really did seem to lose itself at times, but I found it very difficult to put down...and I found the ending to be very satisfying. I watched one episode of Steins;Gate on Wednesday evening, and it seemed interesting at first glance. It was really difficult to get a grasp on the show beyond it being a comedic time travel series from the previews that I’d watched beforehand, but I found that I was instantly invested in Okabe, Mayuri (🎶tuturu🎶), and Daru. It was pretty late after I watched that first episode though, so I decided to go to sleep. I watched the remaining twenty three episodes, and the OVA, in a non-stop binge from the moment that I woke up last Thursday. BECAUSE HOLY SMOKES. This show has in abundance my reasons for starting to watch anime more in the first place: complex and driven characters whom are all extremely loveable, and simple but relevant character arcs; a lot of quirky and laugh-out-loud humour; an easy-to-digest art style, with some excellent uses of shadows in particular; and great character interactions. I found myself close to tears of laughter, joy and sadness throughout the entire show. I literally ended up loving every single character. Every single one of them — the showrunners played me like a damn fiddle, and it was the greatest feeling. And then that reveal around halfway through...I saw it coming from a mile away, but I just love how they don’t choose to rush it, and instead just give you winks if you’ve already caught on, and more nods to push you in the right direction if you haven’t. There were so many heart wrenching moments, and because we go through them with Okarin, it becomes so much easier to invest in him and the rest of the Future Gadget Lab members (and the ancillary characters, too). I don’t know how I’ve gone this long without mentioning them by name, but seriously: Kurisu, Ruka (I don’t think I’ve ever seen gender fluidity so well captured, and all of the awkwardness which would surely come with it), Suzuha and Faris are about as awesome a bunch of female characters that I’ve ever watched. And again, I’m going to mention Mayuri, because she’s adorable. And Moeka wasn’t as horrible and as throwaway as some of the earlier episodes might have suggested, but I don’t think I can put her on the same tier as the others, just because...well...if you’ve seen the show, you know why. Now, it’s only my third anime series, but I know that it was expertly paced compared to the others that I’ve watched to this point. Perhaps this came down to it being an anime about time travel, meaning that it could return to a number of points in the plot without feeling like it was beating you over the head, but...the lack of a filler “Let’s spend twenty minutes reminding the audience of what happened previously so that they don’t feel lost in the next episode where things go up a notch and they might get really lost” episode was so welcome. Both Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Death Note had an episode like that, and it was not the most fun I’ve had watching anime; I can see why they do it if you’re watching it weekly during the original showings, but it doesn’t make for great viewing after the fact, especially if you’re binging the show. So add that to the list of things that I think Steins;Gate does so right. I have a very, very minor problem with the show, and it’s not even in the original run — it’s in the OVA. And it’s so incredibly minor, but, for the sake of transparency... I have every intention to play through the visual novels of Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate 0 at some point, though I probably won’t watch the anime adaptation of the latter until it’s been release on blu-ray (hopefully around Christmas?), which will, of course, have to be built up to with another viewing of the show. I also have my eye on Load Region of Deja Vu, because of course I do Look, I’ve said enough about Steins;Gate. Well, actually, I’m just going to stop myself there because I could go on for hours about how good I thought it was. I’m planning to watch it again...and soon. For one, I need to figure out if it’s my favourite anime series over Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, but I also just want to see if there’s anything that I’ll appreciate more the second time around (probably the whole thing). Damn, what a good show. EL PSY KONGROO On Thursday evening last week, I watched my first film by the renowned Makoto Shinkai, The Garden of Words. It’s about a wannabe shoemaker and this relatively older woman he keeps running into at the park. I haven’t got too much to say about it, honestly, besides pointing out that it is obviously the most visually beautiful piece of anime (dare I just say animation?) that I’ve seen so far. I didn’t expect much of a certain theme going in...but was I surprised coming out of it that I’d found it? Not at all from what I know of Shinkai’s CV. Not the slightest bit well worth the short 45 minute watch. On Friday evening, I returned to A Silent Voice, after having started it over a month ago only to be called out to do something else. I watched it from the start so that I wasn’t out of the loop, and I thought that this was an extraordinary film — for the most part. A Silent Voice is about Shoya’s attempts to right his past wrongs, which he attempts to do by finding friendship with a (clinically) deaf girl, Shoko, whom he had previously bullied in grade school. That in and of itself sounds like it could be an interesting plot for a film, but throw in a great soundtrack; some smartly styled, almost goofy-in-appearance character design (at least in Shoya’s case); an excellent pastel colour palette; and the drama surrounding Shoya, Shoko and their friends, and you’ve got a highly engaging story which is very hard to turn away from. Beyond that, and what really connected with myself, was how suicide and suicidal thoughts played into things — I saw myself in some of these characters throughout the film, as some of my friends themselves have attempted to commit suicide/had thoughts about it. The way that the film handled such a difficult topic was very impressive, and the fact that I saw myself in some of these characters, I think, just shows how genuinely the film was made. Shoya, Shoko, and Shoko’s younger sibling, in particular, are all very easy to become emotionally invested in, and by comparison, I suppose some other characters fall by the wayside. However, one particular character which really disgruntled me... My only real problem with the film is that it reaches its true climax a good twenty minutes or so before it ends (if you’ve seen the film, I’m sure you know the particular scene that I’m referring to here), and whilst the climax itself is truly exhilarating (I have never been so terrified for a character before, and it was anxiety-inducing) and an excellent was to bring the film to a crescendo, the following thirty minutes, by comparison, feel somewhat tame, and the film slowly cools off. After it became clear that things had been ramping up to the climax, this felt like a real shame. I’ve read that the last twenty minutes attempt to condense some 350 pages of manga down, though, so I guess the runtime and pacing would have been off if more of that was adapted? Regardless, I’m going to have to look around for the manga now, because this was one hell of a film, and I’m sure that its impression on me will be sticking around for a long time. This week, in stark contrast, I haven’t managed to watch much anime at all. After finishing Steins;Gate, much like after I finished Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I’ve tried to watch Cowboy Bebop, but it just isn’t gelling with me. I love the tone, and the soundtrack is awesome, but I’m finding it really hard to stick with at the moment. Maybe it’s because both times that I’ve tried to watch it, it has followed my viewings of very character-focused anime, so I think I’m going to put it back down for a while longer. I’ve got some other shows to watch still, like Mushishi (all of the shows and films above I watched the dub of, and they were all very good — especially Steins;Gate’s, of course ), which I want to be my first subtitled anime (its relatively short, so I think that’s a good idea), and on the dubbed side of things, I’ve got stuff Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and Gurren Lagann lined up. I’m really loving my time with anime at the moment, I have to say. EDIT: Wait a second. How on earth did I forget to mention that Hacking to the Gate is an absolute masterpiece and is very easily my favourite anime opening?! Correction: the best anime opening of all times. I love the small changes for the last two episodes that they made, too okay, I think that’s everything. El Psy Kongroo.

Amy Hennig has departed EA, with her Star Wars game being shelved. She is now in the process of founding a new indie studio.

I can’t stop laughing at the shot of Batshuayi booting the ball against the post in celebration of Januzaj’s goal, before it rebounded and hit him square in the face

I’m not really against it either, but it does feel like an unnecessary extra punishment. Players will already feel bad enough within the confines of one game for getting booked, and too many yellow cards in a set number of matches results in them missing a game. What’s the point of it? Are we trying to send the message to those watching that players should challenge for the ball much less aggressively than they already do? I just don’t get what the agenda is here — this isn’t taking aim at a particular problem with the sport, such as diving (which many players still aren’t booked for), and is just serving to put defenders specifically at a disadvantage. It just doesn’t seem like the best way to go about it — tackles are a part of the sport and cards come along as a result of that. If it came down to Fair Play specifically regarding the treatment of the other team’s players and being a good sport (i.e. not diving; not getting involved in spats on or off the pitch; not grievously endangering the opposition; not kicking the ball away in frustration; stopping the opposing team from taking a free kick; or throwing the ball away from the opposition when its their throw-in; etc.), then I think that it wouldn’t be a problem at all. Because is there really any surprise that the relatively taller and relatively stronger Senegal picked up more cards than Japan?

Gutted for Senegal. Their going out on the new Fair Play qualifier just doesn’t feel right. So, after those results, if England... • come first: we have Japan in the Round of 16 (on paper, the much tougher side of the draw). • come second: we have Colombia in the Round of 16.

My favourite E3 photos are always of Nintendo’s presidents/key developers with a young fan... Best of luck to Furukawa, who I am sure will be great in the role!

I think the vast majority of football fans enjoy watching Germany play, English fan or not. Obviously, English fans who are more casual football followers, or those still holding things against them (football related or not) seem keen to forget what a great side they are, but I do think that the majority of English football fans enjoyed watching them prior to this tournament. It’s when we come up against them that the hate comes to the fore As for what happened, here’s my opinion: • There was no real drive to win it again, as has been the problem with France in 2002, Italy in 2010, and Spain in 2014. Many of these guys are serial winners at club level, and for those who have experienced winning the World Cup before, what’s the incentive for them to do it again? And that’s a very big problem when the team’s veterans only played a bit-part role in 2014 and weren’t the spine of the team, but have been slotted into such roles as a result of the team’s key players having since retired. • No tactical zest. In 2013, tiki-taka football — as we knew it in its hey day under Guardiola’s Barça— came to an astonishing end when Vilanova’s Barça were knocked out 7-0 on aggregate by Heynckes’ Bayern, who played and marked them out of the game. It was a tactical masterclass. They very effectively marked the key players who drove the team and synchronised their play — Xavi, Iniesta, Messi — and thus won the game by a pair of resounding results. In 2014, Germany played a variant of tiki-taka which focused much more on slower build-up play due to the Brazilian heat, and decisive moments of pressing, which caught teams on the back foot. It was a tactically adept, typically German version of tiki-taka football which was much more efficient than it was beautiful, but it worked. At this tournament, they looked to be playing much the same style of game, but the big difference is of course that the players who made them tick before (Lahm and Schweinsteiger) have since retired, and only Kroos seems to be continuing that legacy. With only one player in the role of key passer, who synchronises the team’s rhythm, in the event that they become marked out of the game, the team’s doomed. His late goal against Sweden was superb, but he was effectively marked in every single one of their group games. Yes, it’s hot in Russia too, but to keep your playing style virtually the exact same from four years ago? Is that not the exact same problem Spain had four years ago too? All it takes is one manager to figure a team’s tactics out and successfully implement a counter to those tactics before the managers and players of other teams are aware of how to beat them. If the team’s tactics aren’t adapted after such a defeat, then everyone else now has the knowledge of how to beat you, and perhaps it was unfortunate for Germany, then, that they came up against a tactically aware Mexico first; high press, speedy counter attack, and Kroos marked out of play. After the last decade of tiki-taka and its variants, this is the go-to way to beat a highly possessive side with fullbacks who play in the far corners of the final third, and it is such common knowledge at this point. • Holding on to memories of past bliss. The Confederations Cup was proof enough that the youngsters in the German national team were ready for the next step up, and the hungriest of their players in this tournament were very clearly Brandt, Werner and Kimmich. I hate that reports droned about this for too long, but yes: obviously Sané should have been there. Süle was very impressive for much of yesterday’s match. A substantial change in personnel like this — due to their own individual dynamism — would have meant that Löw could have actually got away with using virtually the same tactics as he used four years ago because of how these young players, for the most part, aren’t seen week in and out on the biggest stage possible, meaning that their movement and styles of play aren’t as well documented. The spine of the team could have been kept much the same — Neuer (who was great for a goalkeeper who had been out for so long, and his only really mistake was for that second Korean goal); Boateng/Hummels paired with a new, fresh centre back, like Süle; Kroos; Müller still deserved to feature given his previous World Cup campaigns. But then throw in the new players around them, like Brandt (practically Schürrle 2.0) on the left wing and Goretzka in midfield (he was poor yesterday, but that’s what happens when your first start of the tournament is in your do-or-die game). I’m worried now that the German FA will see this is a reason for an overhaul of the sport over there like back in the early 2000’s, but it’s not. It’s just time to let poor-performing players like Özil and Khedira fade out of international football.