Argentina vs. Belgium (QF3) 17:00, 5 July

TimeToShine

Can't wait to see Eamon talk his way out of this.

murpho999

Good riddance to Belgium, didn't like how they played at all.

Argentina not great either though.

Utopia Parkway

Not much creativity in that Belgian team unless Hazard is on his game and he definitely wasn't.

greendom

Ronnie Whelan thinks no one will win the World Cup! Someone has too, surely ?

Grid.

Fellaini is dirt.....nothing more than a passenger in their games.

murpho999

How can you say that Argentina can't win it whilst they are in the semi final?

pavb2

An achievement for Belgium to get this far but pre tournament I think we all expected a bit more from them I,m a bit disappointed in their performances I don't think they brought as much to the tournament as say USA or Chile

DubDani

Three quarterfinals played, and all three have been very underwhelming, IMO.

Three of the 4 finalists are decided now, and they are pretty much the teams that were generally expected to be playing in the Semi's. Unfortunately none of them has actually really been convincing, or playing a free flowing game. Are the other talented teams just too weak, or too inexperienced?

LordAwesome

FFS Ronnie it hasn't been the "Premiership" since 2007.

egghead.

greendom wrote: »

Ronnie Whelan thinks no one will win the World Cup! Someone has too, surely ?

The idiot is strong in this one.

zarquon

Vincent Kompany is very angry with the defeat

https://vine.co/v/MwWdmz3zDB5

That_Guy

Darragh Maloney on Fellaini: "He's not a Manchester United player"

What the fúck does that even mean? If he's signed by Man United, picked for their starting XI, earning wages from them, then surely he's a Manchester United player no?

It's something that's been branded about too much.

Will I Amnt

That_Guy wrote: »

Darragh Maloney on Fellaini: "He's not a Manchester United player"

What the fúck does that even mean? If he's signed by Man United, picked for their starting XI, earning wages from them, then surely he's a Manchester United player no?

It's something that's been branded about too much.

Calm down, it's a figure of speech :pac:

egghead.

Why is Ronnie Whelan such a #%&@?

murpho999

That_Guy wrote: »

Darragh Maloney on Fellaini: "He's not a Manchester United player"

What the fúck does that even mean? If he's signed by Man United, picked for their starting XI, earning wages from them, then surely he's a Manchester United player no?

It's something that's been branded about too much.

Quite obviously he means he's not of Manchester Utd's normal required standard and I don't think he is.

eagle eye

Belgium out in the QFs as I predicted. They just don't have enough experience of this sort of football yet. I fancy them strongly for the Euros in two years time.

I can't believe this Argentina team are in a World Cup semi-final, they don't look good enough in midfield to be there. They are there though and just two wins from winning it all.

That_Guy

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Calm down, it's a figure of speech :pac:

Let me have my outrage!!

Ulysses Gaze

eagle eye wrote: »

Belgium out in the QFs as I predicted. They just don't have enough experience of this sort of football yet. I fancy them strongly for the Euros in two years time.

I can't believe this Argentina team are in a World Cup semi-final, they don't look good enough in midfield to be there. They are there though and just two wins from winning it all.

Only if they get a better Manager.

Pdoghue

Yea, Fellaini has to be one of the poorest Man Utd players I've ever seen.

In fairness, Ronnie made a good point about peoples' expectations of the Belgium team based on their Premiership players. They may be over-rated alright.

the untitled user

eagle eye wrote: »

I fancy them strongly for the Euros in two years time.

Really? They looked less imaginative on the ball than Ireland under Trappatoni today. Really really awful second half performance from them, and their shape completely doesn't suit their best players in Hazard and De Bruyne.

egghead.

Ronnie is such a smug ****.

eagle eye

the untitled user wrote: »

Really? They looked less imaginative on the ball than Ireland under Trappatoni today. Really really awful second half performance from them, and their shape completely doesn't suit their best players in Hazard and De Bruyne.

I think they needed the experience of this level of competition as I said. They now know what they need to do to get to the next level and they have the players to do it.

Too Tough To Die

Too many BPL players. Belgium are effectively another England. Draw your own conclusions.

TimeToShine

Neil Lennon is some man.

LordAwesome

murpho999 wrote: »

Quite obviously he means he's not of Manchester Utd's normal required standard and I don't think he is.

Nani, Welbeck, Cleverley, Carrick, Smalling, Jones, Rafael.

Seems to me that Fellaini fits well with Man Utd's normal standard!

Say Your Number

murpho999 wrote: »

How can you say that Argentina can't win it whilst they are in the semi final?

In fairness if Costa Rica cause a shock tonight no one will give them a chance either.

Iused2likebusts

No surprise with the 3 q final winners to date .France Belgium and Colombia all had a fairly smooth passage to the quarters and people believe they are better than they are. The 3 traditional big guns all safely in the semis without having impressed to much either.

That_Guy

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Too many BPL players. Belgium are effectively another England. Draw your own conclusions.

Bit harsh on Belgium tbh. They've got some great players but aren't being executed properly. Likewise with Argentina.

Mr.Micro

It was a poor game. I was disappointed with Belgium and Argentina.

Jelle1880

I'm not that upset we're out, but I absolutely despise it that they basically bent over towards the Argentinians and hardly put up a fight.

Son Of A Vidic

Very disappointing game and I thought Belgium were a bit gormless chasing it. I expected a much better game than the one we got. Overall a solid defensive display from Argentina and there seemed to be a bit more of a balanced team effort today.

Ulysses Gaze

eagle eye wrote: »

I think they needed the experience of this level of competition as I said. They now know what they need to do to get to the next level and they have the players to do it.

The experience I agree with...and this tournament will definitely help them in that regard.

But I still think they need a tactically more astute manager than Wilmots.

Who that would be from the Belgian league though....not so sure.

partyguinness

Argentina arevery ordinary and waiting to get slaughtered by (presumably) Holland- just like against Germany 4 years ago. Argie team in 2006 was far superior.

TBH I think Holland are the best team left in the competition.

Jelle1880

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

The experience I agree with...and this tournament will definitely help them in that regard.

But I still think they need a tactically more astute manager than Wilmots.

Who that would be from the Belgian league though....not so sure.

Nobody.

There isn't a single coach in the Belgian league that I would want in charge of the national team.

Wouldn't mind a Dutch or German coach.

Ulysses Gaze

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Nobody.

There isn't a single coach in the Belgian league that I would want in charge of the national team.

Wouldn't mind a Dutch or German coach.

What would the view be in Belgium about Wilmots?

Are people happy with him as coach?

Talib Fiasco

Anyone got a reliable update on Di Maria's injury?

Jelle1880

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

What would the view be in Belgium about Wilmots?

Are people happy with him as coach?

Great for building a team and forming a good team spirit, but tactically very naive.

Paully D

I wasn't impressed at all with Belgium this tournament to be honest.

Pre-tournament I thought they'd meet Germany or Portugal in the last 16 so they essentially went one round more than I had them down for, but they stumbled through all of their group games and offered absolutely nothing against Argentina. They could have played for a fortnight and not troubled the Argentinian goalkeeper.

They've become vastly overrated as they are now one of these not-so-dark "dark horses", but to me at the minute they appear to be less than the sum of their parts. They'll qualify for Euro 2016 at a canter but they've got plenty of work to do between now and then before they are capable of living up to the hype that they will no doubt generate again ahead of that tournament.

Iused2likebusts

Paully D wrote: »

I wasn't impressed at all with Belgium this tournament to be honest.

Pre-tournament I thought they'd meet Germany or Portugal in the last 16 so they essentially went one round more than I had them down for, but they stumbled through all of their group games and offered absolutely nothing against Argentina. They could have played for a fortnight and not troubled the Argentinian goalkeeper.

They've become vastly overrated as they are now one of these not-so-dark "dark horses", but to me at the minute they appear to be less than the sum of their parts. They'll qualify for Euro 2016 at a canter but they've got plenty of work to do between now and then before they are capable of living up to the hype that they will no doubt generate again ahead of that tournament.

totally agree

Talib Fiasco

Reports saying a thigh tear for Di Maria and he's gone for the rest of the tournament....if Aguero doesn't recover there is now incredible pressure on Messi to carry the team. Higuain played well yesterday and Lavezzi was decent but this is a massive setback for the Argies

Too Tough To Die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emZk81mJOf8

Love it. Shame it wasn't to a right footed player.

partyguinness

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emZk81mJOf8

Love it. Shame it wasn't to a right footed player.

He played that like a snooker shot...

partyguinness

That's the thing about Belgium....they had a lot of PL 'household names' and that seems to have blinkered some pundits i.e. those who cannot see past the BS in the PL.

I for one was not surprised by Algeria. Against England 4 years ago, they played and passed them off the pitch. All they missed was a decent CF.

Of course if a team does not have a PL player they must be crap...:rolleyes:

There are very few mugs in international football nowadays.