MarcusX

Did you see what the Dutch were doing in the pens?

Looking forward to this today, quick jaunt up the A1 then back in time for the England game. Big day of football

I was in Marseille, what happened on the waterfront was absolutely no fault of the English. it was mostly families etc down there. I agree on the whole England fans weren't totally without fault, there was certainly some questionable behaviour on the Friday night particularly some trying to rile the locals. Also many, many wing mirrors taken off and cars trampled on.

Romain Saiss captained Morocco to their win against Spain, played here for Wolves in the FA Cup game 2019 As did Ruben Neves, Raul Jimenez, Leander Dendocker and Conor Coady (though he's not played yet) Stones, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Sane, Gundogan, Walker all played for Man City here

Is it about tech or UK licensing laws? Honestly not sure - but it's not a 3pm KO so can't see why it would be an issue

I can't see that working for international teams. Limits the opportunities for managers to try out different players, drops in form/injury etc. There's 3-4 squads per year at the moment, now there would be only 1

Claims of Mbappe missing training too. it's all mind games I think

I wonder how some of the players feel about it I know as a player always being excited for the season in the summer - then once its underway, if you havent started well or struggling for form it can feel a bit of a drag. It's a good opportunity for a reset, get the bad start / run of form out of your mind and go again.

That's just a running joke ?

My guess is mid October They talked about Rob coming out of his shell after scoring the 2 goals (12th Oct) and joking to Kalas "back soon" - he returned on the 15th Oct so timing would fit for it to be Friday 14th. If it was more recent I'm not sure Kalas would be kitted up - and it would have to be pre 12th November for Semenyo to be there

Absolutely England

Agree Dave, as usual. Was surprised (well, not really) to see so much negativity on here in the first half. For 20 minutes we were in almost total control, but as you say we forced a few too many passes. One thing I like in Maguire for England is he always looks to play forward, breaking the lines. It’s risky though and when it goes awry can expose us (and I worry against France). However prior to this game the stats show our pass success rate was very high, second only to France. Yes some will call it “boring” but it’s patient and careful. You have to keep the ball moving and look for either gap, or a moment of magic - much like Netherlands goal yesterday, we did it too with one very clever flick and we were in. Agree completely. Other than 5-10 minutes where we weren’t careful enough (and an outstanding save) we were in complete control really. Three sublime goals that if any other team scored we’d be purring over. m I won’t say I’m confident for Saturday, but I’m very excited. Win that and the cup is ours to lose IMO

Bizarre comment really, wouldn’t say it’s “always the way” or “turn it on” in knockouts, especially for younger generations who have probably seen them fail to qualify or crash out early more than do well

Also can be worse because people know each other, there’s feuds and personal issues that make it onto the pitch probably far more than you’d see on the professional game. Also lack of any real “policing” if it kicks off the ref will just stand back or walk away ? Worst I remember was when one lad made a racist comment that everyone heard except the ref apparently. Next time that lad got the ball he was hit so hard by a two footed tackle that I’m surprised he ever walked again. The ref, realising his previous mistake, said he didn’t see it ? No brawl though, the other team said he deserved it and nothing more was done.

Let’s be fair, Spain, Brazil and France changed the majority of their starting 11s

Wouldn’t be possible, it’s all planned based on timings between games and fans need to know where the game may take place. If you think the groups finished yesterday and the first round of 16 game is today it’s just not feasible unless the tournament was longer. Also, has any team really “thrown” a game to get a supposedly better game? It’s a huge risk more often than not

And yet, 4 points ? funny old game

Not even the BBC, sky news for example have been the same, certainly in the build up if not so much since

I think that's where it comes down to the line "being in an offside position is not an offence". AG can stand there, and take the gamble now. Yes it means the defender has to go for it as he can't know that it's offside - that's where as I said I'd argue the rule is flawed because now defenders have to attempt to go for balls they may not have needed to (Taylor Moore situation v Boro). I agree it's been better though, I read that average time for a decision is 25 seconds compared to several minutes in the prem. Still not sure what happened in that first game, right decision but poor comms around it - also the apparent mistake in the Argentina v Saudi game I was always under the assumption that the lines were automated as part of the software - but again from reading about the VAR in the WC it seems they are manually drawn on in the Prem, so there is margin for error. I'd welcome this version of VAR for offsides - although comms needs to improve.

My view from those images (without reading on) would be onside, because the defender has made an attempt to play it. The player challenging him is onside. Reading the ESPN explanation I feel the same as you, I've also never seen it implemented in that way. I can't think of any specific example but that's a clear attempt to play the ball as you say. One time the rule gets frustrating is when a defender HAS to play a ball because he doesn't know for certain the man behind him is offside, and stretches or doesn't get enough on it. if the player wasn't behind him, he wouldn't need to make that play - but that's the rules. Also another frustration is at park levels refs not knowing the fule changes. Linesmen put their flags up as soon as the balls kicked without even seeing if it goes near the offside player, let alone him actually touching it. Also argued with a ref about an offside free kick being taken in the other teams half. He was adament that wasn't possible - even though it's there in black and white "If an offside offence occurs, the referee awards an indirect free kick where the offence occurred, including if it is in the player’s own half of the field of play." ? Probably just being a bit pedantic, I'd hate to be a ref mind ?

I don't disagree with this, and I don't think it would improve the game - can see why it was given though and also why people think it shouldn't. Certainly not "one of the worst ever decisions" as Collymore was claiming on twitter last night, which is what piqued my interest, little bit hyperbole

I'll cavaet this by saying I've only seen one very bad video of the incident as I couldn't find a video anywhere online, but I appear to be the only person who doesn't at least think it's that bad a decision. I can certainly see why it's been given and there have been worse decisions (eg the inconsistency of the 2 in the England game) Players in the box, and especially goalkeepers get away with murder more often than not. Keepers have every right to go for a ball, but if they miss it and make contact with the opponent they have to accept the consequences. I've never understood why if a player takes a shot (or header) then gets clattered afterwards, it's never a pen. Anywhere else on the pitch it's a foul? If you clear the ball out of play in the corner then someone catches you late, it's a foul - it doesn't matter where the ball ends up. Similarly, if a player is tripped / fouled and then gets away an off-balance shot that is not an advantage. The foul should be given.

I haven't seen the specific incident but It's not an offence to be stood in an "offside" position What is an offence (assuming in an offside position, besides obviously receiving/touching/playing the ball) is: - interefering with an defender by preventing them playing the ball or clearly obstructing their line of vision - challenging an opponent for the ball - some other attempt or action that clearly puts off the opponent when playing the ball If you think back to last season / season before we conceded a goal where the attacker was about 5-10 yards offside but the defender headed it backwards, that attacker then becomes on side because he made no attempt or effort to play the ball or impede the defender If you think about this season with Sheff Utd was it and Billy Sharp? He was in an offside position and IMO made a challenge, or acted in a way that put off our defender who then headed it backwards and they scored from it. The goal was given but I think if we'd had VAR it would have been ruled out. I could have the team completely wrong but I'm sure it was Billy Sharp for some reason who was offside.

Just watching the extended highlights back (annoyingly the only episode of match of the day is Wales??) We absolutely bossed that first half, was it perfect? No but it was methodical, patient and disciplined. Some will say we’re defensive, but to me it’s about not being wasteful. It’s not quite “walk it in the net” football, but make attacks count. (Admittedlt it’s a bit LJ!). The possession, xG stats and pass completion stats probably back that up too. The free kick was very well hit, I’m surprised Maguire was allowed to stand where he did - seems a bit close to their wall. The press to get the second goal was impressive too, Rashford’s done very well there. 2 goals and a huge part in the other. Will be interesting to see what happens when we face a team who will expect to have more of the ball, eg France.

If you'd offered me before the tournament 7 points, 9 goals scored and 2 clean sheets I'd have bit your hand off, so to speak I think the nerves only crept in for most because we played the supposed weakest team first, then a fairly drab 0-0 in the middle leaving us a showdown that's effectively a derby and anything can happen in those. I didn't want to go into the Wales game needing a result, and although we didn't really need anything out of the game (other than avoid a 4 goal turnover) it felt like we needed a performance to get our belief back. If we'd played Wales first, then Iran and finished with a 0-0 having already qualified I think the mood would have been quite different. Instead it was shades of 2020 where we drew in the middle and needed a result in the last game. We should beat Senegal, then it's likely France or Argentina which will be tough but we've got a chance. The Semi actually looks "easier" then