The 2018 World Cup Superthread

adox

Disappointing game.

France very disciplined, and I may be being a little harsh on Belgium but once again you get the feeling they didn’t quite have the appetite for it when the questions were asked.

Varane was fantastic.

Paully D

Crazy stat:

https://twitter.com/fifaworldcup/status/1016767801057513472?s=21

Berserker

Think France are going to go on and win it. The are a very difficult side to beat. Give nothing away at the back and capable of getting something in the final third. A right shower for fouling. Even if we get by Croatia, just think they'll grind out the win against us.

BenK wrote: »

Whelan and Hamilton is some terrible combination of commentators.

Watched the game on RTE tonight. Have RTE nobody better than them? Where is Brian Kerr?

AdamD

De Bruyne was dreadful

Drumpot

Well played Pogba...

Can somebody clear it up for me? Was Pogba playing in a similar position to the one he’s played at times for united but was poor? He was very effective so what gives for united?

Trigger

If I was an England fan I’d seriously worry about the prospect of Mbappe against their defence. Probably won’t even come to that though

ERG89

Belgium struggled as they weren't able to physically outmuscle France like they did Brazil and Japan.
Poor enough match in terms of quality

emo72

Berserker wrote: »

Watched the game on RTE tonight. Have RTE nobody better than them? Where is Brian Kerr?

Ronnie Whelan particularly bad. Very little insight from him.

Lukker-

AdamD wrote: »

De Bruyne was dreadful

Yeah he was shocking.

Pogba had a good game, Varane was a rock. M'Bappe was good in the second.

retalivity

Danny Murphy on BBC - "France will be a tough nut to crack in the final.









If we get there, of course"

theoneeyedman

Fully deserved win. Teams mainly cancelled each other out, but France overall were a little better in midfield in particular and defence especially the longer the game went on.
Belgium froze, no creativity, swinging it in on top of Verane but nothing else. De Bruyne relatively poor, Lukaku enhancing his 'flat track bully' reputation missing the couple of chances he got, and after the first 30 minutes were dominated in midfield where they tried to outmuscle Matuidi and Kanye but they were very poor on the ball. Chadli... if he's the best in this golden generation we'll I don't know!
I'm not a big fan of Pogba, but he was excellent tonight. Verane is a beast, but the way belgium played suited a good centre half, dealt with everything.

Trigger

Berserker wrote: »

Getting well ahead of yourself. Need to get by tomorrow night first. Wouldn't be overly worried about him IF we get there. Think the French midfield would cause us serious problems. It'd be Hendo v all of them, essentially.

Why did you cut out the most relevant part of my post and then tell me I was getting ahead of myself?

MisterAnarchy

Drumpot wrote: »

Well played Pogba...

Can somebody clear it up for me? Was Pogba playing in a similar position to the one he’s played at times for united but was poor? He was very effective so what gives for united?

He isnt playing with Kante and Matuiti at Utd and he isnt playing with Pirlo and Vidal either.

He looks better when he is playing with better players who do most of the heavy lifting for him.

Berserker

astradave wrote: »

Why did you cut out the most relevant part of my post and then tell me I was getting ahead of myself?

Sorry, that was poor editing on my behalf.

lawred2

Paully D wrote: »

Crazy stat:

https://twitter.com/fifaworldcup/status/1016767801057513472?s=21

I wonder how crazy it is.. what's the stats for previous world cups?

eagle eye

Sterling's problem is that he doesn't have a semblance of a football brain. Guardiola has done a great job with him. He needs a plan in place for him but don't ever expect him to think on his feet because it will never happen.

Billy86

Drumpot wrote: »

Well played Pogba...

Can somebody clear it up for me? Was Pogba playing in a similar position to the one he’s played at times for united but was poor? He was very effective so what gives for united?

Well for one, Pogba apparently got to play about 5 different positions today. No matter where the ball was, if France was in possession it was always him on the ball. George told me so.

eagle eye

Fantastic defensive performance from France, one of the best defensive World cup performances ever for me.

Feel a bit sorry for Belgium.

NIMAN

lawred2 wrote: »

I wonder how crazy it is.. what's the stats for previous world cups?

Thats how football is played now.

All about systems, set pieces, corners, freekicks.

StringerBell

Corholio wrote: »

People would be spitting blood if it was Neymar. Holding his head there in hilarious manner.

Oh right, sorry. Mbappe reaction was over the top made a meal out of but certainly not to Neymar levels of acting the tool!

He did what 99% of other players would have done when a defender fouls them for no reason stupidly toward the end of a game they we're winning.

Billy86

retalivity wrote: »

Danny Murphy on BBC - "France will be a tough nut to crack in the final.









If we get there, of course"

England are reasonable favourites - 13/10 vs 5/2 for Croatia earlier I think it was. I have a feeling if it's tied at half time Croatia are fecked since their legs are going to go from under them. I'd expect them to want to take the game to a crawling, possession based game right from the start. Don't mind England winning, but I wanted Croatia to win it more than the other three before the semis so still going for them (followed by Belgium, for a new winner from a 'smaller' country despite their current talent pool).

Southgate has really, really surprised me at how forward thinking a coach he is, England might not be playing great football but they're so low on talent compared to previous years that he's done an excellent job with them, and he's proven to be a very good game planner so I think he might take advantage of that.

I doubt any big clubs will be looking at Southgate and to be honest he might just be far better suited to international management and preparing for fewer games rather than grinding it week in, week out. England can be pretty fickle with their managers, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him staying there for a good long while yet. I won't lie, I thought he was going to be a complete disaster when they gave him the job, and gone after 2-3 games as he was only interim.

StringerBell

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

He isnt playing with Kante and Matuiti at Utd and he isnt playing with Pirlo and Vidal either.

He looks better when he is playing with better players who do most of the heavy lifting for him.

I'd be a critical of his defensive work big time but he was excellent at it tonight.

Having kante next to anybody makes their life easier, matuidi is operating from the left in the support line behind giroud most of the time. Pogba and kante controlled the midfield well tonight.

StringerBell

I think Croatia will be comfortable enough tomorrow. There problem being scoring a goal!

They should control the midfield for sure which will lead to England banking on set pieces as usual.

GT_TDI_150

Finished watching the match about an hour behind live...

Imo the best team won
France did to us what we did to brazil... Score and the sit back
Kdbs passing was off a bit, same for dembele
Chadlis crossing was cat
Lukaku looked letargic.. didnt look willing to stretch/reach/move/run for any balls
I can see why carrasco moved to china
I think fellaini did ok

I think the courtois, the back 3, witsel and hazard were immense today...

How hazard doesnt get a free on the edge of the box when fouled by giroud is beyond me tho.

adox

StringerBell wrote: »

I think Croatia will be comfortable enough tomorrow. There problem being scoring a goal!

They should control the midfield for sure which will lead to England banking on set pieces as usual.

Th back three of England are a disaster waiting to happen imo and the midfield is just too light the way it’s set up.

I’m not so sure Croatia will have it in them to beat them though. They will dominate the midfield for sure but they have looked more and more lethargic as the tournament has gone on. England I think will enjoy less of the posssesion but hassle and harry the Croats in possession and maybe catch them with their pace.

If Croatia had any real pace in the final third I’d give them more of a chance but to me they look t9 be running a little on empty(bar Modric)

Croatia 5/2 to win. Wow.

Think they'll have enough in 90 mins

adox

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Croatia 5/2 to win. Wow.

Think they'll have enough in 90 mins

Yeah saw that earlier today. Mad price altogether.

NIMAN

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Croatia 5/2 to win. Wow.

Think they'll have enough in 90 mins

Considering their last 2 games have gone to extra time and pens against Denmark and Russia, don't see any evidence to suggest they will definitely beat England in 90mins?

adox

NIMAN wrote: »

Considering their last 2 games have gone to extra time and pens against Denmark and Russia, don't see any evidence to suggest they will definitely beat England in 90mins?

5/2 in a two horse race though is a huge price and has them as outsiders to go through and England strong favorites.

I’m not a huge gambler but it seems a mad price altogether considering the teams involved in the tie.

NIMAN

I would agree that its a very good price in a game between 2 matched sides.

But the bookies are obviously trying to draw people in, in the hope that it'll be another draw at 90min or England win.

Is it a UK bookie offering this price, which would be reflective of a lot of money going on England.

Loafing Oaf

adox wrote: »

NIMAN wrote: »

Considering their last 2 games have gone to extra time and pens against Denmark and Russia, don't see any evidence to suggest they will definitely beat England in 90mins?

5/2 in a two horse race though is a huge price and has them as outsiders to go through and England strong favorites.

I’m not a huge gambler but it seems a mad price altogether considering the teams involved in the tie.

You have to keep the 90 minutes thing in mind though. Croatia only ‘won’ their two previous games on penalties against what most people would see as inferior teams to England.

NIMAN

NIMAN wrote: »

I would agree that its a very good price in a game between 2 matched sides.

But the bookies are obviously trying to draw people in, in the hope that it'll be another draw at 90min or England win.

Is it a UK bookie offering this price, which would be reflective of a lot of money going on England.

Nope, that's the price across the board. Slightly higher with some in fact.

NIMAN

Its a very good price, but I still wouldn't touch it.
If Croatia are to win, I think it might be on pens.

MarkY91

Billy86 wrote: »

England are reasonable favourites - 13/10 vs 5/2 for Croatia earlier I think it was. I have a feeling if it's tied at half time Croatia are fecked since their legs are going to go from under them. I'd expect them to want to take the game to a crawling, possession based game right from the start. Don't mind England winning, but I wanted Croatia to win it more than the other three before the semis so still going for them (followed by Belgium, for a new winner from a 'smaller' country despite their current talent pool).

Southgate has really, really surprised me at how forward thinking a coach he is, England might not be playing great football but they're so low on talent compared to previous years that he's done an excellent job with them, and he's proven to be a very good game planner so I think he might take advantage of that.

I doubt any big clubs will be looking at Southgate and to be honest he might just be far better suited to international management and preparing for fewer games rather than grinding it week in, week out. England can be pretty fickle with their managers, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him staying there for a good long while yet. I won't lie, I thought he was going to be a complete disaster when they gave him the job, and gone after 2-3 games as he was only interim.

He beat teams he should have beaten, lost to Belgium and got the easiest draw in world cup history. Relax.

Berserker

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Croatia 5/2 to win. Wow.

Think they'll have enough in 90 mins

5/2 is madness but what makes you think they'll win in 90 mins? They needed penalties to get by Denmark and Russia. They were out on the feet in ET against Russia.

Adamocovic

MarkY91 wrote: »

He beat teams he should have beaten, lost to Belgium and got the easiest draw in world cup history. Relax.

All this talk of how easy the draw has been. If they get to the final that will be what is remembered. The fact that the big teams lost and got knocked out by the weaker teams in my eyes shows that no draw is easy.

It probably was used as an example already but Germany in 2002 hardly had a terribly difficult draw on route to the final.

Saudi Arabia
Ireland
Cameroon
Paraguay
USA
South Korea

StringerBell

Jose's analysis was pretty good for this I think, Croatia have the better midfield, have a great mentality but are tired. England are a younger fresher team who had an easy group and rested the entire team in one game.

I think they will buckle under the pressure at this point personally and will get frustrated by modric and co dictating the tempo if they don't manage to score in that initial burst they have in games.

Billy86

MarkY91 wrote: »

He beat teams he should have beaten, lost to Belgium and got the easiest draw in world cup history. Relax.

Considering I said I'm shouting for Croatia tonight I'm not sure what I need to 'relax' about? The fact is if I told you a month ago that England would be in the semi final as favourites you, or anyone else, would have laughed at me... and I would have laughed at anyone who said it too.

They've got a lucky draw, but you can only beat those in front of you and this England team is a long, long way off having the talent they have had for much of the last 20 years. The 'easiest in world cup history' really just comes across as sour grapes more than anything else.

Adamocovic

Billy86 wrote: »

Considering I said I'm shouting for Croatia tonight I'm not sure what I need to 'relax' about? The fact is if I told you a month ago that England would be in the semi final as favourites you, or anyone else, would have laughed at me... and I would have laughed at anyone who said it too.

They've got a lucky draw, but you can only beat those in front of you and this England team is a long, long way off having the talent they have had for much of the last 20 years. The 'easiest in world cup history' really just comes across as sour grapes more than anything else.

Had them getting to the Semi Finals in the work predictor. I'm relying on a France win in the final to boost me to the top of the standings.

Most picked Brazil, Germany, Spain and Argentina to win. Of not a handful had picked England to win it out! Probably wishful thinking.

Ultimate Seduction

I backed France to win it out at the start of June, only now do I actually think they'll win. Croatia may give them a game with the midfield they have but should England get there it's a very easy final for France.

gimli2112

Was half watching the France game on BBC yesterday. Was Mbappe that good? Commentators went on and on about him. Head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, that's why he will be the best player in the world etc. He had some nice touches but didn't strike me as being spectacular.


That said I wasn't really paying attention and at one point wondered why Ronnie Whelan was speaking with an English accent.

quarryman

gimli2112 wrote: »

Was half watching the France game on BBC yesterday. Was Mbappe that good? Commentators went on and on about him. Head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, that's why he will be the best player in the world etc. He had some nice touches but didn't strike me as being spectacular.


That said I wasn't really paying attention and at one point wondered why Ronnie Whelan was speaking with an English accent.

He was decent but the BBC commentators (Danny Murphy) just went overboard on him. It was like the Second Coming. I personally thought the team performance was the overall highlight. Varane, Kante, Pogba. The spine of the team really excelled.

StringerBell

Mbappe is good, but his game is reliant pretty much exclusively on pace. Not too much more to his game right now really, not that there needs to be but he will need to develop some football intelligence as he gets older.

Hope that doesn't sound like I'm not a fan of his, I am!

I think it may have been Brady who said it last night that I thought was pretty appropriate, people have been hailing him as the next Messi, he is nothing like him though he is more like a young Thierry Henry.

Ultimate Seduction

Varane was the best player on the pitch last night and had more of a part in the win than mbappe. Murphy is a clown

Drumpot

StringerBell wrote: »

Mbappe is good, but his game is reliant pretty much exclusively on pace. Not too much more to his game right now really, not that there needs to be but he will need to develop some football intelligence as he gets older.

Hope that doesn't sound like I'm not a fan of his, I am!

I think it may have been Brady who said it last night that I thought was pretty appropriate, people have been hailing him as the next Messi, he is nothing like him though he is more like a young Thierry Henry.

Yeh i agree with the Henry comparison. I keep thinking of Michael Owen v Argentina in terms of exploding onto the World Cup stage at a young age...

I also think that neither Ronaldo or Messi exploded in the international arena at a young age.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a brilliant or poor World Cup final. He’s young and all young players are inconsistent and capable of having polar opposite performances. I would fear for England’s slow defence and expect a similar defend and counter French tactic against whoever they play.... Shame that Belgium didn’t make it, would of been a much better final IMO.

AdamD

StringerBell wrote: »

Mbappe is good, but his game is reliant pretty much exclusively on pace. Not too much more to his game right now really, not that there needs to be but he will need to develop some football intelligence as he gets older.

Hope that doesn't sound like I'm not a fan of his, I am!

I think it may have been Brady who said it last night that I thought was pretty appropriate, people have been hailing him as the next Messi, he is nothing like him though he is more like a young Thierry Henry.

Erm? His finishing is very strong and his close control/dribbling is strong too, regardless of pace. Showed a very nice touch to set up Giroud (?) too. His footballing intelligence is certainly beyond his years. He has been quality for Monaco and PSG for 2 seasons now.

Also not seen one Messi comparison. Seen a lot of Brazilian Ronaldo and Henry comparisons which make more sense.

Gbear

I think he has a touch of the Eto'o as well. A gliding sort of pace that doesn't look dramatic until you see the defenders disappearing behind.

yourdeadwright

I think England win quite handily tonight, Think Croatia are severely over rated .
In the final France win 3-1

Sprinter Sacre

StringerBell wrote: »

Mbappe is good, but his game is reliant pretty much exclusively on pace. Not too much more to his game right now really, not that there needs to be but he will need to develop some football intelligence as he gets older.

Hope that doesn't sound like I'm not a fan of his, I am!

I think it may have been Brady who said it last night that I thought was pretty appropriate, people have been hailing him as the next Messi, he is nothing like him though he is more like a young Thierry Henry.

I wouldn't rate his pace as his main quality. His dribbling is phenomenal and he's a very quick thinker and his ability to use tricks and close dribbling to get out of tight spaces or just get by defenders is staggering, truly staggering. He's got very fast feet to go with a clearly very intelligent and sharp brain. In that regard he's similar to Messi, but only in that regard to operate to quickly and be a step ahead with his dribbling.

I think he's fairly polished as is. He doesn't go on silly runs, he's not selfish with the ball, he takes his chances very well, he works hard and there's little to no discipline issues with him. I really couldn't think of any glaring flaws he has had. You look back at the superstars that have emerged in the last decade. Messi was class from the get go and had no real flaws except prone to injury, Ronaldo's obscene talent and ability was there to be seen but his showboating, diving and insistence on tricks held him back. Neymar was pretty much the same. Mbappe is like Messi in that he's approaching the game very well.

The time wasting thing last night will be brought up for years and years by his detractors but it's a world cup semi, anyone with a brain will take a soft yellow card to waste time and prevent your team getting caught out. Shows maturity rather than immaturity imo, you see Sergio Ramos do that sort of crap all the time and he's the epitome of a winner and doing whatever it takes to get his team over the line.

I would agree though, more of a Henry/Brazilian Ronaldo hybrid rather than like Messi.

You don't want to get over excited about a young lad like that and just sit back and hopefully he shows what he can do, but it is hard not to get excited about Mbappe. I'm a big fan of Dembele as well but Mbappe really has it going for him.

yourdeadwright

Mbappe is unreal,
People who say he just has pace are off there heads, The kids is very clever and can finish, can pass, can dribble ,His back heel flick for Giraud was unreal .
In England they rave over Rashford, Mbappe is younger and is already levels above Rashford,
Mbappe is one of them once in a generation players, Like watching a young Owen or young Fat Ronaldo, just oozes talent