The 2018 World Cup Superthread

CSF

Aren’t they supposed to only overturn the original decision where it’s a clear and obvious error?

Wouldn’t have given the penalty in real time, but I don’t think it falls into the above category either. Instead it comes into the category of soft penalty.

StringerBell

CSF wrote: »

Aren’t they supposed to only overturn the original decision where it’s a clear and obvious error?

Wouldn’t have given the penalty in real time, but I don’t think it falls into the above category either. Instead it comes into the category of soft penalty.

It was a clear and obvious error though. It was a clear dive?

marklazarcovic

Well done referee

crushproof

What a muppet, could have a goal chance if he stood up. And his reaction shortly afterwards was so petty.
Deserve to draw this game now, the bigger teams seem to have a bunch of under performing overpaid prima donnas

CSF

StringerBell wrote: »

It was a clear and obvious error though. It was a clear dive?

There is contact. It’s ridiculously soft, but there is contact, the kind you’d sometimes see given as a free kick outside the box.

Like I said, I don’t think it’s a penalty, but I didn’t think that was how VAR was supposed to work once the referee has made the original decision of penalty.

Given some of the things that then havent gone to VAR I genuinely don’t understand how VAR works and am worried that they don’t either.

StringerBell

Odds on Tite to be gone before the Serbia game?

NIMAN

CSF wrote: »

There is contact. It’s ridiculously soft, but there is contact, the kind you’d sometimes see given as a free kick outside the box.

Like I said, I don’t think it’s a penalty, but I didn’t think that was how VAR was supposed to work once the referee has made the original decision of penalty.

Given some of the things that then havent gone to VAR I genuinely don’t understand how VAR works and am worried that they don’t either.

Its a contact sport. Not all contact is a foul.

It was a clear and obvious dive and attempt to cheat the ref

StringerBell

Coutininho wins it!

That's it

Corholio

Tough for Costa Rica but can't say it wasn't deserved in that second half. Brazil have had loads of chances.

sligeach

Feel sorry for Costa Rica. They'll be glad for those 6 minutes of injury time now.

StringerBell

Can't say they haven't deserved the win but by **** it's been amusing to watch them have to toil so much for it and how so much of their cheating has been irrelevant

ERG89

Even Tite dives

The Brazil manager :pac:

Blazer

crushproof wrote: »

What a muppet, could have a goal chance if he stood up. And his reaction shortly afterwards was so petty.
Deserve to draw this game now, the bigger teams seem to have a bunch of under performing overpaid prima donnas

except for Ronaldo..he might be the biggest prima donna in the world but he's bursting a gut in this WC. Out of the top three players in the world out of Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar I admire CR7 the most for his sheer determination and willpower. He just doesn't accept defeat.

CSF

NIMAN wrote: »

Its a contact sport. Not all contact is a foul.

It was a clear and obvious dive and attempt to cheat the ref

I agree that not all contact is a foul. That’s not the argument here. But the referee gave a penalty for a tug, there was a tug. In my opinion it’s not a penalty.

But I don’t fully understand how VAR works. From what I understood this should only be overturned if there is no tug, rather than if the tug is less than what the referee previously had assessed.

Coupled with some of the things that haven’t gone to VAR, I’ve no real clue as to how VAR is supposed to work.

Sure people are happy when VAR leads to referees getting the same outcome as popular opinion, but is refereeing about to become even less consistent?

5star02707

coutinho took that well

Blazer

lovely play by bobby..he should be starting in fairness.
Pity he couldn't finish it..stick a pool jersey on him and he'd have buried it.

Corholio

These type of games happen because teams set up a certain way, which they are entitled to do. Spain needed a pox of a goal against a poorer team the other night. I can see Brazil playing better against Serbia because it won't be against a wall for 90 minutes, which again, teams are entitled to do.

HalloweenJack

Of the "big" teams, the best team I've seen over two games so far have been Croatia, a solid start against Nigeria and played Argentina like a fiddle. Russia have been good too but the quality of their opposition should be considered. They also seemed to drop a gear at times in both games. Portugal have been effective and Spain are still struggling to hit top gear. France flatter to deceive. They're not a good side to watch and seem to be happy to get ahead and hold on to it. Uruguay seem to be doing someting similar. Brazil look like they've nicked it in this one. They haven't been bad, they're just struggling to break teams down.

Of the teams who've played one, Belgium impressed most. England did well too, though the opposition in both cases needs to be taking into account. Mexico were brilliant but I imagine their gameplan against Sweden and Korea will be quite different. Germany were very poor in that game and I can't see them being that poor again. The loss of discipline towards the end was probably the biggest red flag for them. The other teams have been much of a muchness.

Still no scoreless games, though I reckon thsi tournament will have the record for penalties and nil alls.

5star02707

Neymar it;s finished 2-0

Boom_Bap

Why the f*ck is Neymar weeping

Mokuba

Going to back Portugal to win it out.

Average enough side but given the rubbish standard thus far, Ronaldo could easily carry them to win it.

jacool

Just to add a little balance to the mix.
Let's not forget that Costa Rica today, just like Iran on Wednesday are also cheating.
Loads of time-wasting and feigning injuries.
There are two sides to cheating, the diving, but also the blatant and largely un-punished time-wasting.
No harm in acknowledging both.

jamesbere

Perfect that 2-0 helps my score predictor in work

jacool

Mokuba wrote: »

Going to back Portugal to win it out.

Average enough side but given the rubbish standard thus far, Ronaldo could easily carry them to win it.

Clearly you haven't seen Croatia then.
I think Portugal will lose to whichever side they face, if they get out of their group. Uruguay will batter them (physically I mean) and Russia will use all the tactics and allowances that hosts get to ensure they continue in the tournament.

Iused2likebusts

Deserved win in the end but fiar play to Costa Rica they made them work for it. I'd still have Brazil down as winners. They look solid and have been decent going forward. Neymar after being out so long needs games to get back up to speed so will improve as the tournament progresses. Coutinho and Marcelo have been great to watch so far. Willian can look good but he struggles for end product and either Costa or firmino should start over him.

Adamocovic

jamesbere wrote: »

Perfect that 2-0 helps my score predictor in work

Fuming. Had 2-1, was desperate for Costa Rica to sneak something haah!

Corholio

jacool wrote: »

Just to add a little balance to the mix.
Let's not forget that Costa Rica today, just like Iran on Wednesday are also cheating.
Loads of time-wasting and feigning injuries.
There are two sides to cheating, the diving, but also the blatant and largely un-punished time-wasting.
No harm in acknowledging both.

All teams do it in some capacity for sure. The 2 Costa Rican players trying to get Brazilians sent off by diving near the end, there's never as much uproar because they are the 'brave underdog' rather than the 'cocky playboy' etc. Not to mention the many fouls.

Costa, Firmino and Fernandinho should definitely be definitely starting now.

Drumpot

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Why the f*ck is Neymar weeping

He’s dedicated that goal to the hamster that died in the making of his haircut...

Mokuba

jacool wrote: »

Clearly you haven't seen Croatia then.
I think Portugal will lose to whichever side they face, if they get out of their group. Uruguay will batter them (physically I mean) and Russia will use all the tactics and allowances that hosts get to ensure they continue in the tournament.

Don't want to derail the thread with gambling talk, but Portugal at 18/1 is value in my eyes. No way they deserve to be 4.5 times the price of Brazil or 4 times the price of Spain, (I could go on) based on performances thus far.

Maybe they will lose in the next round but I am happy to take the 18/1 still on offer. I personally rate them as 12/1 chances right now.

ERG89

Mokuba wrote: »

Don't want to derail the thread with gambling talk, but Portugal at 18/1 is value in my eyes. No way they deserve to be 4.5 times the price of Brazil or 4 times the price of Spain, (I could go on) based on performances thus far.

It's probably because bookies consider that Brazil for instance have a lot they can improve upon whereas Ronaldo has scored every goal for Portugal thus far.
Don't gamble myself but bookies know what they're doing, most of the time anyway.

Drumpot

Mokuba wrote: »

Don't want to derail the thread with gambling talk, but Portugal at 18/1 is value in my eyes. No way they deserve to be 4.5 times the price of Brazil or 4 times the price of Spain, (I could go on) based on performances thus far.

Maybe they will lose in the next round but I am happy to take the 18/1 still on offer. I personally rate them as 12/1 chances right now.

Historically speaking I don’t think it’s uncommon for good teams to start poor enough but get better as the tournament progresses. I do expect to see at least one good side start to build some momentum and get motoring.

But I agree with you on what we have seen thus far. Portugal have already shown an ability to keep pace with a team that outplayed them (spain) and squeeze out a win in a poor performance against a weaker team. Given their euro win experience which wasn’t laced with amazing performances it suggests that this Portugal team has the temperament and consistency to keep pushing their way past teams.

Shows that betting is based as much on sentiment as it is on objective analysis.

loyatemu

Portugal are well capable of losing to Iran in which case they'll be out; one injury to CR7 and they're screwed.

yourdeadwright

I wouldn't be to worried about Brazil poor form so far,
The game totally changes when they start playing teams willing to have a go at them, At the moment the games are like training session of defenders v Attackers but that will change

Mokuba

loyatemu wrote: »

Portugal are well capable of losing to Iran in which case they'll be out; one injury to CR7 and they're screwed.

They had to grind out performances in close games to win the last Euro's. Almost every game was a slog for them but they got over the line and winning like that gives a team a lot of belief.

I'm fully confident they have enough experience to get over the line against Iran anyway.

Then again it's all subjective, you might rate Portugal as 25/1 chances making their current price far from value for you.

Anyway that's my last comment on that matter.

yourdeadwright

jacool wrote: »

Mokuba wrote: »

Going to back Portugal to win it out.

Average enough side but given the rubbish standard thus far, Ronaldo could easily carry them to win it.

Clearly you haven't seen Croatia then.
I think Portugal will lose to whichever side they face, if they get out of their group. Uruguay will batter them (physically I mean) and Russia will use all the tactics and allowances that hosts get to ensure they continue in the tournament.

Croatia have been average, Nigeria and Argentina are woeful .
Croatia Midfield is there only really strong point,
People getting carried away as its so early, it'll be the big boys there at the end,
I don't think you can look outside, Germany, Spain, Brazil , at a very large push France,

yabadabado

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Why the f*ck is Neymar weeping

That's his first world cup goal since he died in 2014.

BullBlackNova

It's impossible to pick a winner this far out, regardless of who has looked good, bad or otherwise.

Teams who burst out of the traps rarely sustain that momentum from game 1 to the final without, at least, a drop off.

In 2014, Germany smashed Portugal 4-0 in their opener but drew with Ghana and only beat the US 1-0 to make it through a tough group. The had a very tough time against Algeria in the first knock out game too. It's rarely plain sailing from start to finish.

In 2010, Spain lost their opening game to Switzerland; in 2006, Italy drew with the US and suffered a scare against Australia in the knock outs.

Pretty sure Brazil just steamrolled everyone in 2002, mind.

But, a poor performance or result doesn't necessarily reflect on the overall tournament.

Royale with Cheese

I've a small bet on Neymar for top scorer, which is unfortunate as I now realise that I detest him and want him to fail badly.

yourdeadwright

I don't think Jesus should be anywhere near the pitch for Brazil he's just not good enough, I know he's young and will get better and probably be a fantastic talent but he doing nothing in games,
Makes it worse they have Bobby F on the bench, he brings so much more , and himself and Couthino have a great understanding,
I think he is the secret to bringing Phil and Neymar more into games but the Brazil coach has a thing for Jesus

POKERKING

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I don't think Jesus should be anywhere near the pitch for Brazil he's just not good enough, I know he's young and will get better and probably be a fantastic talent but he doing nothing in games,
Makes it worse they have Bobby F on the bench, he brings so much more , and himself and Couthino have a great understanding,
I think he is the secret to bringing Phil and Neymar more into games but the Brazil coach has a thing for Jesus

i havent seen the game but hes down for an assist on livescore, was he that poor yeah? Has been poor since Christmas.

yourdeadwright

POKERKING wrote: »

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I don't think Jesus should be anywhere near the pitch for Brazil he's just not good enough, I know he's young and will get better and probably be a fantastic talent but he doing nothing in games,
Makes it worse they have Bobby F on the bench, he brings so much more , and himself and Couthino have a great understanding,
I think he is the secret to bringing Phil and Neymar more into games but the Brazil coach has a thing for Jesus

i havent seen the game but hes down for an assist on livescore, was he that poor yeah? Has been poor since Christmas.

Ye he was bad, just not involved,
There goal there was a ball into the box ,Firmino won the header and its went over the head of  a defender and Jesus who stuck out his leg and got the slightest touch on it and Phil ran onto it to score,
The touch was minimal it didn't change the ball direction but may have just slowed it downed so Phil didn't need to change his stride,

rob316

Its Paulinho is the waste of space, he needs to be dropped, Coutinho goes deeper and Firmino helps Jesus up top. Firmino is just way too good to be sitting on the bench.

yourdeadwright

rob316 wrote: »

Its Paulinho is the waste of space, he needs to be dropped, Coutinho goes deeper and Firmino helps Jesus up top. Firmino is just way too good to be sitting on the bench.

He is literally only picked because he plays for Barca,
Iv been saying for ages they underrate Fernandinho so much, He make's other players tick ,
Last year under Pep he was City's starting point a proper team player., I think he is miss labelled as just a destroyer in Brazil, he is way more than that and proves it at City,

ERG89

yourdeadwright wrote: »

He is literally only picked because he plays for Barca

He was recalled & performing back when he was playing in China. Brady said it & it was right his game is making late runs into the box but instead he was playing far too high(albeit against a deep defence). The run Coutinho made for the goal was similar to what he should have been doing.

rob316

and just going on goals nevermind the work rate and link up play, Firmino is the obvious pick, he scored almost double what Jesus did last season.

Boom_Bap

rob316 wrote: »

and just going on goals nevermind the work rate and link up play, Firmino is the obvious pick, he scored almost double what Jesus did last season.

Firmino is not suited to the style that they play really.
Jesus is more suited, but not a perfect fit for them either.


Ideally they should have Firmino behind Jesus, but then you are sacrificing Coutinho from the starting 11.

yabadabado

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I don't think Jesus should be anywhere near the pitch for Brazil he's just not good enough, I know he's young and will get better and probably be a fantastic talent but he doing nothing in games,
Makes it worse they have Bobby F on the bench, he brings so much more , and himself and Couthino have a great understanding,
I think he is the secret to bringing Phil and Neymar more into games but the Brazil coach has a thing for Jesus

He was one of their best players in qualifying. I can see why Tite is starting him but he needs to be doing more.

Gbear

Unsurprisingly there's started to be some mumblings about doping after Russia's unexpectedly not totally appalling start.

Beating Saudi and Egypt comfortably is hardly an earth shattering pair of results however a guy on twitter totted up the distance ran from match reports.

Russia have by a distance ran the most in both their games.

To be fair, at this point you'd have to assume that Russia are doping in pretty much any event they compete in. Sure wasn't the minister for sport and guy organising the world cup the lad found responsible for their state doping initiatve around the Sochi Winter Olympics?

If they were brazen enough in previous tournaments I don't see why the World Cup on home soil would be any different.