Alph

For all the creaming over Messi, that free kick was the best thing. That was great 

1 minute ago, Tombo said:

Despite the certainty of the commentary, I thought it was a soft penalty as well. May not be the popular view but lots and lots of referees would shake their head and signal them to "get up". Completely bought and paid for

I thought so too. 

But as you said the commentary was convincing and even the Dutch response wasn't that strong. 

You get a yellow card for a harsh stare but also for rubbish late lunging tackles and kicking away. He's like a lucky dip

Just now, Tombo said:

Two bookable offences in the space of a few seconds. Paredes should have been sent off

Yeah. 

But this referee is all over the place 

Oh! They are trying to score!!!

I think Messi is the greatest ever. And he's playing well. 

But I don't think I rate him as highly as the commentators

Is this what the Dutch call Total Football? 

Worryingly Argentina seem to have improved every match. 

7 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

Wasted his career really. Left Barca to score loads of goals vs weak French league teams, then never getting too far in Champs League or World Cup.

Didn't realise he was 30 too! 

Thank God for Nike and Pepsi. 

2 minutes ago, Rammy03 said:

Don't get why some people are devastated that Brazil are out. You're not from Brazil. I couldn't care less. My only concern is England. If England go out then I don't care who wins it. If anything, I'm supporting the underdog.

For some reason they manage to keep the reputation that they're this amazing flair team that play with complete freedom and smiles on their faces. 

Nobody seemed to notice their transition to cynical cheats who aren't as brave as the legendary squads of the past. 

I hate them. Neymar is good but I'm not having it that he's some all time great. He's a cheat and he's pampered like teams have to do for Ronaldo (who was actually worth it) 

They're all living off the past. Think they're better than they are. 

There's African sides now that play closer stuff to those old Brazil sides.

Is Danny Murphy ok? This will have hit him hard. 

Harder than he gets watching Neymar roll around

Now Neymar and Co can lie down and cry for real

Hahahahahahahahaaha

Been playing football half my life and watching it all my life. "Receptions". "Ball rpm" 

Knob heads. Have to get Professor Brian Cox in soon

I can't remember when a pundit last pointed out something I hadn't spotted. 

I swear Alan Hansen would explain how to defend against someone in this situation, how much distance you should have in this position or that position or where the defender should be and the gaps between defenders. 

I'm sure he never used to show a replay of a pass or foul 100 times and explain why it was a good pass or bad foul. 

I swear it was more tactical than that talking like he's coaching us. 

Micah Richards telling me Mbappe is fast then them all doing the lads lads lads act while laughing is boring and annoying. 

It's all very American. "Receptions". Give it a fecking rest.

Star player mate. They've gone mad on hyping them all. The only exception is England!

Easy work for Portugal so far. Look like they're all really playing for each other rather than live to serve

Have Switzerland ever gone into a game looking to win? They've always played like a team that's 1-0 up.

I always hated not knowing how many receptions Dani Olmo had during a match. 

5 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

It's trend over the last few years. The top keepers had become so good at reading the subtle changes in striker body language that they were saving too many penalties.
The idea with the stutter run is to force the keeper to move first so you can hit your shot taking that into account. Shots taken in this way tend to have less power, but that doesn't matter if the keeper goes the other way.

Lewandowski has been one of the architects of this approach. His penalty record using it is astounding. But at this World Cup keepers have been wise to his approach.

So there is some analysis behind it. 

I genuinely thought it was all a style thing. 

I thought Lewandowski was lucky the other day. Allowed to retake but with that feint he did I think it's reasonable for the keeper to have stepped off his line. 

I've not taken many penalties and I don't think any I have taken were in World Cups. 

But I don't think you need these big run ups or stutter runs or silly little side slip angles to help score. Surely reasonable power (which you don't need to run from the halfway line to generate) and solid accuracy (which you lose during stupid run ups?) you can place a ball beyond a keepers reach?

Some of these penos now are like a catwalk. I'm sure that Simon Cowell is going to be in the VAR room judging them for style. 

You can hit a 25 yard free kick beyond a keepers reach without the Riverdance. You can surely put a solid shot near a top corner? 

These ones that get saved at waist height either side of the keeper are criminal. 

Brazil have had it easy. The hype around them and of course cult leader Neymar has been so ott. Everyone has let them play. The few times Switzerland and Serbia didn't fall over their own feet coming forward then Brazil looked ordinary.

I think if they were to face a top European side they'd be gone. Including the ones that have gone out like Belgium and Germany. 

1 hour ago, Stive Pesley said:

I'm surprised that the commentators mikes worked by the end of the France game, there was so much cream on them from whenever Mbappe touched the ball

Yeah, it's been the same for every single "star" player. 

Even if they lose the ball it's a lucky escape for the other team. And of course we still pretend Ronaldo is a free kick master. 

They were so happy for Lewandowski to get a deserved goal. Why? He did a stupid run up penalty and got to retake it. Poland were horrible to watch and he was just as disappointing as the rest of them. 

Has every pundit been ordered to hype the big players regardless of how they play. 

Eric Dier coming on. Southgate fancies 3-2.