World Cup Qatar

[BucksRam]

Got to love the Japanese 

[ariotofmyown]

13 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

Because we avoided playing anyone good until the last four.

Our reward for finishing behind Belgium in 18 in the group was to avoid France, Brazil, Belgium, Portugal and Argentina on that side of the draw. That was pure luck.

In 20 we avoided France, Italy, Portugal and Spain on the other half.

Ultimately you could be the second best team at the World Cup but be knocked out at the 1/4 stage if you ultimately end up losing to the champions at that stage.

 

And also Belgium, have failed to win anything with their so-called Golden Generation*, but in 2018 lost to France in semis after beating Brazil and in 2020 lost in qf to Italy. Both eventual winners and both were very close games they could have won.

*tv commentator said "so-called Golden Generation" about Belguim when I'm sure it's the media themselves that continually calls them a Golden Generation. Can probably find the same commentator calling them an actual Golden Generation 4 years ago.

One more thing, does Golden Generation mean "lots of Premiership players who play for decent clubs"? Don't remember much talk of Spain's Golden Generation with Xavi, Iniesta, Busquests etc. But then they didn't play for Spurs or Chelsea.

[Bris Vegas]

28 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

And also Belgium, have failed to win anything with their so-called Golden Generation*, but in 2018 lost to France in semis after beating Brazil and in 2020 lost in qf to Italy. Both eventual winners and both were very close games they could have won.

*tv commentator said "so-called Golden Generation" about Belguim when I'm sure it's the media themselves that continually calls them a Golden Generation. Can probably find the same commentator calling them an actual Golden Generation 4 years ago.

One more thing, does Golden Generation mean "lots of Premiership players who play for decent clubs"? Don't remember much talk of Spain's Golden Generation with Xavi, Iniesta, Busquests etc. But then they didn't play for Spurs or Chelsea.

Belgium were incredibly unlucky. Like you say, they only lost to the Champions while in both tournaments knocked out another top team on the way.

They had better wins than England but we went further. 

I think in Belgium’s case a golden generation is fair. I think between 96 and 2012 they didn’t even qualify for any major tournaments from memory. And then suddenly between 2014 and 2020 they had a generation of players who were capable of winning it.

It will be interesting to see if another unfancied nation, maybe someone like Japan, can produce a similar generation capable of winning a major trophy.

[kevinhectoring]

5 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Saka will start at RW due to his defensive work more than anything else. Walker will no doubt need some help with Mbappe. LW is the only position which isn't nailed down for me. But, I think Foden gets the nod.

Same starting XI as last night.

If I were France I’d start Mbappe on the right   

[kevinhectoring]

17 hours ago, Stive Pesley said:

He does. Especially compared to Foden - who comes across like he still has to write L & R on his boots to make sure he puts them on the correct feet

Not the only thing he has in common with Gascoigne 

[kevinhectoring]

Japan Croatia   Croatia goal, best header of the competition. Japan goal, beautifully worked short corner - why can’t our management team devise a few set pieces like that ? It’s not hard 

[Bris Vegas]

This was posted on the BBC regarding penalties at World Cups. Green scored, purple missed.

If you draw an imaginary horizontal line half way up the goal, you can see the ratio of scored to missed is higher when aiming high.

I’ve always wondered why players don’t aim high when taking penalties. Yeah you could hit it over or hit the bar, but they are pretty a guaranteed goal when you hit the target.

Compare that to low shots and look how many are saved.  

[PistoldPete]

2 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

Because we avoided playing anyone good until the last four.

Our reward for finishing behind Belgium in 18 in the group was to avoid France, Brazil, Belgium, Portugal and Argentina on that side of the draw. That was pure luck.

In 20 we avoided France, Italy, Portugal and Spain on the other half.

Ultimately you could be the second best team at the World Cup but be knocked out at the 1/4 stage if you ultimately end up losing to the champions at that stage.

 

We are ranked fifth. Behind Argentina. And Belgium who are out. So I repeat I don't know why we are playing France in the quarters. 

[kevinhectoring]

16 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

This was posted on the BBC regarding penalties at World Cups. Green scored, purple missed.

If you draw an imaginary horizontal line half way up the goal, you can see the ratio of scored to missed is higher when aiming high.

I’ve always wondered why players don’t aim high when taking penalties. Yeah you could hit it over or hit the bar, but they are pretty a guaranteed goal when you hit the target.

Compare that to low shots and look how many are saved.  

Might be more to do with speed of shot than height   Low and hard must be best 

[Alph]

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

[Scott129]

That was hands down the worst penalty shootout I've ever seen in terms of quality.

No conviction in any of Japan's penalties and the keeper saves three of them.

[Foreveram]

1 hour ago, kevinhectoring said:

Japan Croatia   Croatia goal, best header of the competition. Japan goal, beautifully worked short corner - why can’t our management team devise a few set pieces like that ? It’s not hard 

Their fans, why can’t we win 3-0 like England.

[Stive Pesley]

13 minutes ago, Alpha said:

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

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

[Ghost of Clough]

1 hour ago, PistoldPete said:

We are ranked fifth. Behind Argentina. And Belgium who are out. So I repeat I don't know why we are playing France in the quarters. 

Because that's how the draw works.

[Bris Vegas]

1 hour ago, PistoldPete said:

We are ranked fifth. Behind Argentina. And Belgium who are out. So I repeat I don't know why we are playing France in the quarters. 

Because at the 1/4 stage it’s primarily the group winners that end up playing each other, and the group winners tend to be the higher seeded sides.

It’s luck of the draw.

It’s also why 2018 was such a shock. We finished second and somehow avoided all the best teams.

Croatia also avoided all the best teams. Had they played somebody like Portugal or Belgium in the last 16 they probably would have gone home early.

[Bris Vegas]

1 hour ago, kevinhectoring said:

Might be more to do with speed of shot than height   Low and hard must be best 

I think high and hard is better than low and hard. 

I remember watching Real Madrid v Bayern penalties in 2012 ish and both Ronaldo and Kaka missed what were actually hard, low and right in the corner penalties. Neuer just guessed right both times.

But going high and the keeper will rarely get there because they guess diving mid to low height.

Saying all that, Ivan Toney has the best technique and I don’t know how he does it. Looks so laboured but scores all the time.

 

[Van der MoodHoover]

Brazil looking quite handy vs South Korea. 

[Gaspode]

4 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Brazil looking quite handy vs South Korea. 

4-0 after 35 minutes

[G STAR RAM]

2 hours ago, PistoldPete said:

We are ranked fifth. Behind Argentina. And Belgium who are out. So I repeat I don't know why we are playing France in the quarters. 

Because its a cup competition and, as much as the governing body tries to fix the fixtures, this is exactly how it should be, if you want to win the trophy you should be able to beat anyone.

Seeding should be scrapped, its pathetic. 

[Rammy03]

10 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Brazil looking quite handy vs South Korea. 

They haven't played anyone yet...