World Cup 2022 thread (football only)

[LondonBristolian]

1 hour ago, SecretSam said:

An 'engine room' player, then, like Carrick was?

Exactly. 

[BigTone]

3 hours ago, italian dave said:

Absolutely. Marlon Pack too. You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone……as that well known football pundit Joni Mitchellput it! 

Exactly !!  Zayn Malik & One Direction

Edited December 12, 2022 by BigTone

[Super]

Watching Sunderland v WBA dire game with Zero atmosphere. Roll on the semi finals.

[Lanterne Rouge]

2 minutes ago, Super said:

Watching Sunderland v WBA dire game with Zero atmosphere. Roll on the semi finals.

It is lacking isn`t it? Especially since Sunderland are one up. Lots of empty seats too.

[Super]

1 minute ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

It is lacking isn`t it? Especially since Sunderland are one up. Lots of empty seats too.

Not a good sign when you can hear the players. Maybe its the weather.

[Ziderarmy]

25 minutes ago, Super said:

Not a good sign when you can hear the players. Maybe its the weather.

Cost of living crisis and Christmas coming up won’t help. 

[downendcity]

3 hours ago, Super said:

Not a good sign when you can hear the players. Maybe its the weather.

Weather to pay the heating bills or weather to go to the football, but can't afford to do both! 

[Port Said Red]

15 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Reminds me of the 2002 Rugby WC semi.  French moaning we only got our points from the boot of Wilkinson, and they scored the only try.  I’m no rugby officianado but easy to claim that if you concede a penalty instead of giving us the chance of a try.  24-7!!!!

Exactly this. That journalist that was quoted, claiming that France kept their discipline, that's not what I saw. They seemed panicked and made ridiculous challenges every time we looked dangerous. A better referee would have given more free kicks, particularly that crucial one, and there would have been two sent off. Hernandez for the penalty and Greizmann who was given the benefit of the doubt twice after being booked.

[Super]

Looking forward to tonight. Probably in a minority but i want Argentina to win.

[The Journalist]

On 11/12/2022 at 15:05, petehinton said:

Perfect summation, but probably a hard to accept pill to swallow for many a fair weather. 

The discipline line is nonsense, but the sentiment is a really interesting one.

Quite a good one to relate it to is the England white-ball cricket team IMO - they've elevated themselves to such an elite, world-class level whereby big games have become more run of the mill.

Since 2018, just think of the number of must-win games they've come out on top in - even in the 2019 and 2022 World Cups when they lost a couple of iffy group matches, when they HAD to win they found a way - either by keeping it together under pressure or, as was the case in the two semi-finals, absolutely blowing the other team away.

That's what the absolute top teams do. The England football team don't... and that's the difference.

[MarcusX]

23 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Although Mount earned us the penalty.

Indeed, however I did see someone suggest (and I think I agree) that had we not got the penalty we may have gone on to get an equaliser anyway. The penalty deflated us a bit despite there still being another 10-12 minutes after, until then we were on top - even their second came mostly against the run of play. Caught us napping for a minute, think we should have defended the cross better.

[MarcusX]

 

Thought this was a pretty fair assessment, and how I saw it especially watching it back again as well

[Sir Geoff]

5 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Indeed, however I did see someone suggest (and I think I agree) that had we not got the penalty we may have gone on to get an equaliser anyway. The penalty deflated us a bit despite there still being another 10-12 minutes after, until then we were on top - even their second came mostly against the run of play. Caught us napping for a minute, think we should have defended the cross better.

No think about it. Why the flip did Stones not jump and attempt to clear it. Even if its over his head by jumping he obstructs Girouds vision. Maguire defo sleeping to let Giroud get ahead of him.

[Sir Geoff]

Anyone else lost interest in the WC ?  personally thinking more about the Stoke game now than the three WC games. Just hoping for a Morocco / Croatia final as a final two fingers to FIFA.

[Super]

2 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

No think about it. Why the flip did Stones not jump and attempt to clear it. Even if its over his head by jumping he obstructs Girouds vision. Maguire defo sleeping to let Giroud get ahead of him.

I do think we could have defended better but it's a fantastic cross in fairness.

[Super]

Just now, Sir Geoff said:

Anyone else lost interest in the WC ?  personally thinking more about the Stoke game now than the three WC games. Just hoping for a Morocco / Croatia final as a final two fingers to FIFA.

No i'm really looking forward to the Semi Finals and the Final. Finding it hard to get back into the league games tbh last nights game was pretty depressing i thought.

[BCFCGav]

3 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

Anyone else lost interest in the WC ?  personally thinking more about the Stoke game now than the three WC games. Just hoping for a Morocco / Croatia final as a final two fingers to FIFA.

Saturday's two results made me turn so quickly from international back to club football I almost got whiplash. That said I'll still watch the semi's and final, if only because there's bugger all else on. 

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, Sir Geoff said:

No think about it. Why the flip did Stones not jump and attempt to clear it. Even if its over his head by jumping he obstructs Girouds vision. Maguire defo sleeping to let Giroud get ahead of him.

Shame Maguire deflected it, probably straight at Pickford otherwise.

[ExiledAjax]

21 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

 

Thought this was a pretty fair assessment, and how I saw it especially watching it back again as well

Interesting. And he makes the same point about winning moments, and being confident in the knowledge that you are good.

 

[Numero Uno]

2 hours ago, The Journalist said:

The discipline line is nonsense, but the sentiment is a really interesting one.

Quite a good one to relate it to is the England white-ball cricket team IMO - they've elevated themselves to such an elite, world-class level whereby big games have become more run of the mill.

Since 2018, just think of the number of must-win games they've come out on top in - even in the 2019 and 2022 World Cups when they lost a couple of iffy group matches, when they HAD to win they found a way - either by keeping it together under pressure or, as was the case in the two semi-finals, absolutely blowing the other team away.

That's what the absolute top teams do. The England football team don't... and that's the difference.

Your point is correct when you refer to THIS England team. We are almost there but not quite. Previous England teams including the so called Golden Generation have not been close despite all the hype. What’s missing is that extra 2% of quality and belief that the very best have. France made their two spells where they were on top count, we only did it once. That’s the game and the difference at the very highest level in a nutshell.

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Your point is correct when you refer to THIS England team. We are almost there but not quite. Previous England teams including the so called Golden Generation have not been close despite all the hype. What’s missing is that extra 2% of quality and belief that the very best have. France made their two spells where they were on top count, we only did it once. That’s the game and the difference at the very highest level in a nutshell.

Probably posted this elsewhere, but we usually go out with a whimper….we didn’t this time, that’s the difference.  From listening to Southgate I think he knows that with our midfield (the emergence of Bellingham as a starter) playing the extra man in there rather than at the back is the way forward.  We can tactically match up with a team like France now and take the game to them.  That is the real positive for me.  It’s about little tweaks now.

[Rob k]

Sounding like Southgate has decided to stay on

[cidercity1987]

(352) Germany v England | 2010 FIFA World Cup | Match Highlights - YouTube

 

I watched that last night

Pretty close to the perfect response to anyone who wants Southgate out

Hard to create a 'team' with so little time and that lot above look like a total mess

[The Journalist]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

Your point is correct when you refer to THIS England team. We are almost there but not quite. Previous England teams including the so called Golden Generation have not been close despite all the hype. What’s missing is that extra 2% of quality and belief that the very best have. France made their two spells where they were on top count, we only did it once. That’s the game and the difference at the very highest level in a nutshell.

Oh yeah, I didn't really mean that to sound quite as negative as it did reading back - the extra 1% or 2% is the most difficult to find and only the really special teams have it.

I was more using the comparison to illustrate what that extra bit of quality/knowing how to win/ability to perform when it matters amounts to.

Edited December 13, 2022 by The Journalist

[Kid in the Riot]

8 minutes ago, Rob k said:

Sounding like Southgate has decided to stay on

Before the tournament started I'd assumed he leave at the end of it, no matter what.

But given I can't see any obvious alternatives at the moment, it seems sensible for him to stay on till Euro 2024, especially given that tournament is only 18 months away.

[SecretSam]

2 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

Anyone else lost interest in the WC ?  personally thinking more about the Stoke game now than the three WC games. Just hoping for a Morocco / Croatia final as a final two fingers to FIFA.

That would be hilarious, would love to see Modric win the WC

[BigTone]

4 hours ago, Super said:

Looking forward to tonight. Probably in a minority but i want Argentina to win.

No, no, no

[SecretSam]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

Your point is correct when you refer to THIS England team. We are almost there but not quite. Previous England teams including the so called Golden Generation have not been close despite all the hype. What’s missing is that extra 2% of quality and belief that the very best have. France made their two spells where they were on top count, we only did it once. That’s the game and the difference at the very highest level in a nutshell.

Don't start me on them. The real 'gold' in there was Scholes, but all the focus was on Gerrard and Lampard. And Captain Moneybags.

Where was Carrick in that equation? HE was the answer to the "Gerrard and Lampard" question: instead it should have been "Gerrard OR Lampard plus Carrick"

[Gert Mare]

Tactically, Deschamps did a job on us aided by us failing to play to our strengths as much as we should have done. I bet Deschamps thought it was Christmas when at 1-0 down in the first half we decided to move forward and then trot back to the halfway line and tap it across the back 4 for 20 minutes like City used to do under Lee Johnson, allowing them all the time in the world to reorganise at the back? 

Both of the French goals were swift and clinical (like ours were against Iran). For the second goal we'd allowed Giroud a free head less than a minute before we allowed him a second one which he duly dispatched past Pickford. The way to get past England is to give them little time to think and Deschamps knew this. If only we had broken more like the French I feel we would have ended up with more than just the 2 penalties influencing the final score.

Also, off the ball, the French had much better movement. When they were in possession Griezmann found pockets of space. I looked at the movement of Rice when England were in possession and he was sat on the shoulder of his marker.

Southgate was playing the long game. He was hoping that we'd somehow make it to extra time and then hit them with fresh fire power and win through. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by Gert Mare

[cidercity1987]

11 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Before the tournament started I'd assumed he leave at the end of it, no matter what.

But given I can't see any obvious alternatives at the moment, it seems sensible for him to stay on till Euro 2024, especially given that tournament is only 18 months away.

There was no shame and no glory in our tournament. A halfway house of confusion when yes I agree, any outcome other than acceptable failure would have led to Southgates exit