Board 8 > World Cup Discussion Topic 4

(+) Yeah! (+)

Well, It's in the history books.

Cheating ass Colombians
Wack American Ref
England win
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The_Ctes posted...

You're talking like Englang played a Colombia team at their best, which they absolutely didn't. Colombia looked like a team falling apart for 75 minutes, driven by anger. Colombia wasn't just suddenly the better team because England started playing defensively, you can do that and still be the better team. They got their stuff to work a lot more often than they did for most of the match, while Englamnd had their stuff together from the start.

The reason for that was that they began to commit more men forward. There was much more space in their half while they were attacking and they were playing a much higher defensive line. You can't separate them. It's not like they just suddenly clicked coincidentally right when they began to aggressively pursue a goal. Their tactics changed, they took more risks, and England dropped deeper because we brought Dier on and went to a double-pivot in midfield (inherently a much more defensive system than the single pivot with just Henderson). That also meant we had fewer options going forward, so we weren't able to exploit them very well on the counter (though we did once, and it should have led to a penalty when Sanchez fouled Lingard).

Had they played like that from the start, we would have exploited them more on the counter because of the space in behind their higher defensive line playing into the hands of fast players, eg Sterling. They were right to be cautious and play a lot deeper. By the time they began to seriously attack in the closing stages, all the downsides of playing attacking football were either gone or mitigated: we had fewer attacking personnel on the pitch; the players were tired, making counter-attacking difficult; and we were committed to playing defensively at that point meaning that we didn't commit that many men to counter-attacks.

One of the reasons the game wasn't any good was because both teams played most of the game with caution, defended relatively deep, and didn't commit huge numbers forward. Colombia stopped doing that in the last 15m when they had to. That's all it was. Both teams also lacked a creative midfielder to find space in front of the defence and create chances (England don't have one, Colombia's is James).
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based on what I've seen in the match it seems like the ref is getting unecessary shit because he's American
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He had a poor game.
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I think actually what will make the Sweden game crap and what will possibly mean we fail to break them down over 120 minutes is that lack of creativity

Lot of pace, not many ideas. If England had Eriksen instead of Alli, Lingard or Sterling I'd be really happy with the team.
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https://tinyurl.com/ydbwqnzo
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Day 3:
I still have not recovered, and I can tell because whenever I watch the highlights I am still terrified that Dier will miss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbmaLT320hw" data-time="
The urge to inject football commentary into my veins rises every time I watch this or any other video of the shootout.

I find this video far funnier than I should.
https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1014787707871158273?s=19

I bought three newspapers yesterday for historical purposes, one of which was the fucking Mirror. My usual standards have been abandoned.
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jcgamer107 posted...

based on what I've seen in the match it seems like the ref is getting unecessary shit because he's American

I wouldn't give a fuck if he was from Pluto *remembers the declassification* Okay, Neptune. I'd still rip into him same way.
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I mean it sounds like what you're saying is that after playing a way that didn't let Colombia get a chance to score a goal for most of the regular, England changed to a more defensive playstyle that allowed Colombia to get chances including one that eventually lead to a goal, which seems... contradicting, unless Colombia themselves started making things work. I think I'm mostly just trying to say that Colombia didn't just start getting chances because England allowed them too, that's arrogant.

I'm not disagreeing England played better for most of that match, I'm saying Colombia's level has a higher bar, which they struggled to find in that game, though they did also have some key players suspended. England played better, but they didn't comprehensively outplay Colombia, then they have won in regular time. Yes, the ref sucked big time, but even so, England would've gotten more than a PK goal if they were comprehensively outplaying for 75 minutes.

KommunistKoala posted...

problem is Cavani got hurt in the last game, and might not be 100% or even start, which gives France a huge advantage

I had actually forgotten about this. I really do hope he can play well for the sake of the match.

France has Matuidi suspended, which isn't as bad relatively speaking, but a slight disadvantage too.
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ctesjbuvf posted...

I mean it sounds like what you're saying is that after playing a way that didn't let Colombia get a chance to score a goal for most of the regular, England changed to a more defensive playstyle that allowed Colombia to get chances including one that eventually lead to a goal, which seems... contradicting, unless Colombia themselves started making things work. I think I'm mostly just trying to say that Colombia didn't just start getting chances because England allowed them too, that's arrogant.

No, because you're acting like I spoke only about England's tactics. There was a huge tactical shift in the game in the final 15m. Colombia allowed more men to break forward and rather than us committing men to fast counter-attacks, we preferred to play more defensively as well, leading to a much more attacking Colombia.

My main issue here is the "making things work". It happened that way because they threw caution to the wind and played more offensively, while previously they didn't. It's just semantics I suppose but in the same way you're mistakenly calling me "arrogant", I'd say it's unfair to suggest that Colombia are a good team that, once they suddenly turned it on for 15m, we were unable to cope with. If they'd "made things work" in the way they did from the start there'd have been more goals and a far higher risk of them losing in extra time.
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That said I'd agree Colombia are much better than they showed during the game, but I'd put a lot of that down to the absence of Rodriguez and the tactical change that came with that.
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The remaining World Cup schedule [Last 8 Matches]:

Friday July 6th

1. Uruguay vs. France
2. Brazil vs. Belgium

Saturday July 7th

3. Sweden vs. England
4. Russia vs. Croatia

Tuesday July 10th

5. Uruguay or France vs. Brazil or Belgium

Wednesday July 11th

6. Sweden or England vs. Russia or Croatia

Saturday July 14th

7. Eliminated Teams from July 10th Match vs. July 11th Match

Sunday July 15th

8. Victorious Teams from July 10th Match vs. July 11th Match
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For the record I don't think it's something they purposely turned on. There wasn't any "hey, time to show what we can do" moment or anything. They just began havign better luck doing what they wanted to.

I don't even think we really disagree that much and I didn't mean to call you arrogant. Saying England comprehensively outplayed Colombia and acting like England was in control of things the whole regular time is.
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favorites bracket - uruguay over croatia, i suppose!
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Christ tomorrow is going to be good
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Steiner posted...

https://imgur.com/XTZcf17

this is my favourite

Power is a vegan issue? oook.
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LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

this didn't embed for me but when you change it to the gif link:



fantastic
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Neymar sucks!
Neymar sucks!
Neymar sucks!

buuuut...

The Memes Rock!
The Memes Rock!
The Memes Rock!
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Yeah, Cavani isn't playing.
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Bummer. Hoping Uruguay can still tough it out.
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I'd say that kills Uruguay's chances, but they're so well organized I wouldn't want to count them out and they still have Suarez

What I would say is it makes the game much less likely to be good

Although jesus christ, Uruguay's defence and Argentina's defence are like night and day. Argentina's defensive players and coaches should be embarrassed, even more so, watching this. Even with the couple of chances France have created, Uruguay look so much stronger, tougher and much more well-organized
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Uruguay has already had chances where Cavani might just be what was needed to make the difference.

No one has stated he's not coming in, but I'd quite unlikely.
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Lmao, ripped his t-shirt broken. Clear yellow indeed.
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Once again when Uruguay suddenly goes on offense, it's beautiful, but it's really missing something in the end.

I'd really hate for Uruguay to go out because Cavani got an injury. Stuani just missed a big chance at an attempt there. Cavani had gotten to that.
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There you go

Great header - elegantly done
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First goal France has made from a set piece except for penalities.

You wouldn't think Uruguay was the team that would finally happen against.
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UNREAL SAVE

HUGO
Omg
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Uruguay betting on the wings now it seems.
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Devastated - poor Uruguay
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What the f*** was that.
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oooooof, that's such an unfortunate bounce
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That's not even a great goal. Just a keeper flop. How lame.
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I felt like it was over once France scored first and havent paid much attention since, and then that happened. Both countries were fun to watch so far and France has gotta be the faves now huh?
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France looks like a world cup winner once more. Just like last match.

That said it's a huge shame to see Uruguay falling most of all because of an injury and a f***ing keeper flop.
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Very very very disappointing to see Mbappe pull something like that off. Well deserved yellow card.

And I really liked him too.
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neonreaper posted...

I felt like it was over once France scored first and havent paid much attention since, and then that happened. Both countries were fun to watch so far and France has gotta be the faves now huh?

I think Brazil are a bit better, but I also can't rule out a loss for them tonight given how much potential Belgium have.

I don't like Deschamps, because imo blame for the disaster for football that was 2016 falls squarely on his shoulders (Portugal played Greece-esque anti-football but weren't enough of a plucky underdog for it to be endearing, finished third in their group ffs, and have/had some of the greatest cheats and dangerous foulers in the history of the game). Him winning a World Cup after what he pulled two years ago and his history of mismanaging what is probably the second-best generation of national players in world football this century (apart from Spain 2008-2012, has there been a better line-up of talent? Brazil 2002, maybe? But that was when Ronaldo and Rivaldo had both had their best days) just doesn't seem fair at all. And in general, France not being that exciting a team when they have some of the most exciting players in the world just makes them feel like such a damp squib. Even if they do win matches they could do it with so much more style, I think, and a lot of that comes down to Deschamps.

I wouldn't mind if France won, on the whole, because I like a lot of their players and they have Hugo, but Deschamps winning individually would be a real shame. I don't think he should be rewarded for that absolutely criminal failure with this WC.

That said, he has improved and learned and this France are starting to play at a higher level than in 2016, so if they win I guess he'll deserve it.
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Deschamps made a CL final with a not that loaded Monaco squad and won a lot of knockouts with Marseilles.

If that's shit then the rest of football management is abysmal.

Or maybe Deschamps is actually really good, but people just hate him for the same reasons Cantona doesn't like him...which has nothing to do with ability.
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I know that. He's not terrible or anything, but the way he plays with this line-up of players is really disappointing.

And he must shoulder the responsibility for that Portugal debacle. No arguing around that one - he got it horribly wrong at the most important possible moment.
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haha XIII you've chilled out over the years but you still take things so personally sometimes (Portugal, Nadal, etc)

if France wins the world cup it'll almost certainly be at least partially because of Deschamps - football results are not some kind of divine karmic justice that reward the worthy, he'll have made it happen.

also even in the Euros France had what, one bad game? I know it was a historic disappointment and you didn't like the result, but still. I don't even think Deschamps is a great coach but some of your word choice is amusingly baffling
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Legend:
QTF = Quarter Final
SMF = Semi Final
TPP = Third Place Playoff
FIN = Final

[A1] = [Uruguay 4W-0D-0L] - 2
[B2] = [Portugal 1W-2D-1L] - 1

QTF>[A1] = [Uruguay 4W-0D-1L] - 0
QTF>[C1] = [France 4W-1D-0L] - 2

[C1] = [France 3W-1D-0L] - 4
[D2] = [Argentina 1W-1D-2L] - 3

SMF>>>>>[C1] = [France 4W-1D-0L]
SMF>>>>>[??] = [---]

[E1] = [Brazil 3W-1D-0L] - 2
[F2] = [Mexico 2W-0D-2L] - 0

QTF>[E1] = [Brazil 3W-1D-0L]
QTF>[G1] = [Belgium 4W-0D-0L]

[G1] = [Belgium 4W-0D-0L] - 3
[H2] = [Japan 1W-1D-2L] - 2

FIN>>>>>>>>>[??] = [---]
FIN>>>>>>>>>[??] = [---]

TPP>>>>>>>>>[??] = [---]
TPP>>>>>>>>>[??] = [---]

[B1] = [Spain 1W-3D-0L] - 1(3)
[A2] = [Russia 2W-1D-1L] - 1(4)

QTF>[A2] = [Russia 2W-1D-1L]
QTF>[D1] = [Croatia 3W-1D-0L]

[D1] = [Croatia 3W-1D-0L] - 1(3)
[C2] = [Denmark 1W-3D-0L] - 1(2)

SMF>>>>>[??] = [---]
SMF>>>>>[??] = [---]

[F1] = [Sweden 3W-0D-1L] - 1
[E2] = [Switzerland 1W-2D-1L] - 0

QTF>[F1] = [Sweden 3W-0D-1L]
QTF>[G2] = [England 2W-1D-1L]

[H1] = [Colombia 2W-1D-1L] - 1(3)
[G2] = [England 2W-1D-1L] - 1(4)
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You need to update as France are through to the Semis.
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Giggsalot posted...

haha XIII you 've chilled out over the years but you still take things so personally sometimes (Portugal, Nadal, etc)

if France wins the world cup it'll almost certainly be at least partially because of Deschamps - football results are not some kind of divine karmic justice that reward the worthy, he'll have made it happen.

XIII_rocks posted...

That said, he has improved and learned and this France are starting to play at a higher level than in 2016, so if they win I guess he'll deserve it.

My point isn't that he's shit, it's that a) he shouldn't be rewarded for 2016 - FFF should have immediately fired him. Like before Portugal even lifted the trophy. b) France have an absurdly good line-up of talent and the semi-final will be the first game they've played this tournament where there isn't a clear gulf in the comparative ability of the players, so it's not particularly impressive yet. c) god they're boring (apart from against Argentina). This was not a good game. They have incredible pace and ability and we're being robbed of what could be the most exciting team of the century by his tactics.

I'm not being ridiculous for criticising Deschamps - to not criticise him is to be OK with France's failure to entertain. And that's absolutely fine if you value winning and pragmatism that highly. Certainly if I was a France fan and this football won us the WC, I could live with it. But as a neutral, it's shit. So screw him.
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Hardcore_Adult wrote:
You need to update as France are through to the Semis.

Alright, here's the other version then:

Friday July 6th

1. Uruguay 0 - 2 France
2. Brazil vs. Belgium

Saturday July 7th

3. Sweden vs. England
4. Russia vs. Croatia

Tuesday July 10th

5. France vs. Brazil or Belgium

Wednesday July 11th

6. Sweden or England vs. Russia or Croatia

Saturday July 14th

7. Eliminated Teams from July 10th Match vs. July 11th Match

Sunday July 15th

8. Victorious Teams from July 10th Match vs. July 11th Match
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I see Belgium have dropped Carrasco. Good, he looked a dodgy WB at times.

Not sure how much better Chadli will be though
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Yessssssss

Well that makes things interesting

Lucky Belgium - Silva misses a sitter and then an own goal
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That's what Belgium needed!
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lol
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