FIFA World Cup: Russia 2018

[Fierce_LiNk]

Man, some of the hype today after the Columbia game has been absolutely ridiculous. I sometimes listen to TalkSport on the way home from work, often because I need some trash to just help me unwind. But, haha, some of the calls were hilarious. You'd have thought England completely battered Columbia for 90 minutes and had a million shots on target from the way that the callers were talking. "Best attacking team in the tournament". Bwahah. 
England have a great chance against Sweden. Before the tournament started, I had them down as getting to the quarter-finals. They've done that. Anything after this point is a bonus. I don't think they're a good enough team to win it, but the draw has gone in their favour and they have a run of, fortunately, very winnable games. I do think they'll get through the Sweden game 2-0, but I think they'll struggle after that, potentially losing the game afterwards.
Let's be real though, this team have struggled to create and finish chances in open play. They've not really been tested defensively. I wouldn't class yesterday against Columbia as a particularly convincing performance. Their second string was poor against a changed Belgium side, and they left it extremely late against Tunisia. The only convincing or all round good performance was against Panama, which I think it's fair to say was expected. I like Southgate and I like the concept behind what he's trying to achieve. This team that he has is more of a "team" rather than a bunch of individuals clumped together. But, I think some realism is needed. They've done well to get through yesterday's game, and I hope that the criticism that comes their way when the comedown occurs isn't too hard on this team or Southgate.

[Julius]

11 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

England have a great chance against Sweden. Before the tournament started, I had them down as getting to the quarter-finals. They've done that. Anything after this point is a bonus. I don't think they're a good enough team to win it, but the draw has gone in their favour and they have a run of, fortunately, very winnable games. I do think they'll get through the Sweden game 2-0, but I think they'll struggle after that, potentially losing the game afterwards.

Agree with much, if not all, of what you said, @Fierce_LiNk, and I too had the same mentality going as you into this that the quarter-finals were the goal and anything beyond that is just a bonus. We’ve been ridiculously lucky in the draw and we still almost bottled it against Colombia, but Sweden should be a relatively more comfortable game for us (in that they aren’t going to be chopping down our players left and right, riling us up, etc.). 

This half of the draw feels almost a bit too open — Russia is on home soil, and are using that as a deafening advantage (and rightly so); Croatia were cruising prior to the knockout stage but struggled against Denmark; etc. Compare that to the other side of the draw, where all of the quarter finalists are, at least on paper, worthy of being in the final. I’m just worried that the underdog mentality has left England now and that the expectation has returned because we’ve made it to a quarter final, and well...the weight of expectation very rarely helps teams out in a knockout format. 

What worried me most about England last night was probably that, despite many of the starting XI having something of an unprecedented nine days of rest, they looked absolutely shattered by the 65th minute. What compounds that niggling worry into a genuine concern going forward is that Gareth Southgate seemed completely unaware, at least judging from his substitutions and their timing, that the team were well out of steam and chasing the game, struggling to keep a hold of the ball and not chasing it down, almost a third of the match prior to Colombia equalising. It’s at that sort of time you’d expect Rashford to be coming on, to give the opposition defence a pacy player to struggle and question themselves against, not well into extra-time. 

I just hope Gareth’s going to analyse that game for all that it’s worth and learn from these mistakes, instead of just brushing it under the table because we ended up coming out on top, as we’ve many relatively inexperienced managers do time and time again before.

[killthenet]

The way the draw has opened up could really damage what could have been a very positive outcome. If England lose to Sweden or even if they were to reach the semi final and lose then the media reaction would most likely be mostly negative.

I think at times England have looked very good going forward, they certainly created a lot of great openings in the first 20 minutes and the movement of the players was really good to see. For the opening halves of a few of the matches England have seemed like they had plenty of energy and a lot of ideas but as the matches have worn on things have become a bit more drab and as you guys pointed out they looked surprisingly exhausted in the second half against Colombia. I think there are a lot of good signs from England's performances and teams that win tournaments always grow into it, Germany last time out were quite poor against Algeria and France and squeaked through with a set piece but then in the semi final their organisation and solidity paid off as they kept their composure while Brazil completely collapsed.

Southgate has seemed very measured in his response to each game so far, especially so when he rightly criticised the performance against Panama despite the glut of goals so I'm confident he'll look at the way England dropped off too much in the latter stages last night.

[Nicktendo]

Whatever happens for the rest of the tournament, I can safely say Gareth Southgate is my favourite England manager. He is class personified. I was skeptical when he was appointed, but I think he deserves to be in the job for a long, long time, let him build something. His responses to media questions and after game interviews are always so thoughtful and measured, and he seems to have a cracking relationship with the boys. And then there's the waistcoat. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Haha. What a goal by France. Neville is going off it. He hates it when keepers don't just catch the ball. 

[Julius]

Can we just mention how poorly the referee has handled this game? There were plenty of clear yellow card offences in the opening fifteen or twenty minutes which the ref could and should have been carding players — mostly Uruguayan players — for. If you don’t give those, you lose the game, because players aren’t going to trust your judgement, nor will they think that you’ll actually award any cards.

Difficult to tell exactly what happened between Rodríguez and Mbappé (it looks like Rodríguez’s arm clearly moved in his direction from the replay that we were shown), but I disagree with Gary Neville’s assertion that Mbappé wasn’t pulling off flicks and turns prior to that, and that it was showboating that resulted in Rodríguez’s actions. There have been several times in this match where he was doing that; he’s young, so that’s still going to be a big part of his playing style. And back to the referee: what exactly did he are these players for? There was no mention of VAR being used by the team in Moscow, nor did he check himself. Did he just figure out that they both must have don’t something to cause such a stir and both deserved yellow cards as a result? Because that’s a very dangerous and blizzard way to referee a football match.

[Hero-of-Time]

Neville's commentary on the crying Uruguay player had me in stitches.  

[killthenet]

I've never known a World Cup like this one, where there hasn't been a standout consistently performing team. France definitely seem most likely, they have got results when it mattered and have shown flashes of brilliance but the tournament is really begging for a team to take it by the scruff of the neck.

I don't imagine Brazil or Belgium doing that tonight, I think it will be another tight affair despite the attacking strengths of both teams. We can at least expect it to be more of a football match than the last two games but I just can't see it being the exciting, free flowing game we're all hoping it will be.

[Ramar]

It’s coming home.

[Happenstance]

1 minute ago, Ramar said:

It’s coming home.

The plane with England on this weekend?

[Ramar]

1 minute ago, Happenstance said:

The plane with England on this weekend?

Nah mate, football.

(cheer up you miserable lot and enjoy an England team for once)

[Happenstance]

1 minute ago, Ramar said:

Nah mate, football.

(cheer up you miserable lot and enjoy an England team for once)

I'm not miserable at all, you just need to be more clear. "It's" is not a clear enough description and I have certainly never heard the phrase said enough to be able to figure out what you meant.

 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

12 minutes ago, Ramar said:

Nah mate, football.

(cheer up you miserable lot and enjoy an England team for once)

I wouldn't say I'm miserable but more that I'm realistic. We've yet to be really tested in this tournament. Plus, as a Liverpool fan, I learnt a long time ago to keep my expectations in check when it comes to football.  

[Happenstance]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I wouldn't say I'm miserable but more that I'm realistic. We've yet to be really tested in this tournament. Plus, as a Liverpool fan, I learnt a long time ago to keep my expectations in check when it comes to football.  

Nope, next season will definitely be our season  

[Fierce_LiNk]

Belgium game is huuuuuge tonight. Really don't know what's going to happen. Potential extra time, even. I'm going to go with a narrow Belgium win. 2-1 after extra time. Somebody from a corner and then Hazard with the winner.

[bob]

I'm going 3-3, Brazil progress after penalties.

[Sméagol]

Not going to watch the game, but I'm rooting for Belgium. Or as we Dutch say: Belgiuh.. Belgiuh.. BEL-GI-UH.

 

[Happenstance]

I'd like to see Belgium win but I still expect Brazil will.

[Fierce_LiNk]

13 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

Not going to watch the game, but I'm rooting for Belgium. Or as we Dutch say: Belgiuh.. Belgiuh.. BEL-GI-UH.

 

Kom aan, België! Wat denk je dat het resultaat zal zijn? 

[Eenuh]

17 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

Not going to watch the game, but I'm rooting for Belgium. Or as we Dutch say: Belgiuh.. Belgiuh.. BEL-GI-UH.

 

Thanks, now I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head again all day haha!

[Happenstance]

Well there we go, Brazil have "scored"  

[Sméagol]

19 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

Kom aan, België! Wat denk je dat het resultaat zal zijn? 

I have no idea. Without knowing exactly what's the current situation (Happenstance mentioning a goal), I'm just going to say 2-1 for Belgium. I believe in you my southern neighbours!

It's fun to see a few Belgian flags displayed around here, since we're not in it.

Anyway, I'm not a big sports watcher, to say the least. I would have watched this one, but my actual hobbies take priority. So I'm watching a screening of Grave of the Fireflies instead. One on my local cinemas is screening all Ghiblis they can get their hands on.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Crazy, crazy first half. After the first few minutes, we thought that Belgium were going to get battered. 2-0 at half-time is a great scoreline. Fellaini has been immense. My man Lukaku has been an absolute monster. Best player has been Hazard though, I think. Looks class.

Brazil will score. No doubt about it.

[Julius]

That Kompany challenge on Jesus really did look like a penalty from the replays that we got to see. Really got to wonder why it wouldn’t be given.

Brazil on the up and up now. Neymar’s dive and the consequent moans from the players and the crowd has actually spurred him on, and he’s playing much better now. 

[Fierce_LiNk]

1 minute ago, Julius Caesar said:

That Kompany challenge on Jesus really did look like a penalty from the replays that we got to see. Really got to wonder why it wouldn’t be given.

Brazil on the up and up now. Neymar’s dive and the consequent moans from the players and the crowd has actually spurred him on, and he’s playing much better now. 

When it happened in real time and from the replay from behind, it looked like a dive to me. But, the side-on replay looked more of a penalty. So, not sure. If they've looked at it and haven't given it, even with VAR, then I guess there has to be some reason why it wasn't given. Maybe it wasn't conclusive whether the player was going down before the contact or not.
Belgium have to change it up because Brazil have all of the ball.