The 2018 World Cup Superthread

CalamariFritti

Johner wrote: »

That’s a crazy decision.

Not something I expected but wouldn't call it crazy. He has had a good season yes but if he didn't leave a great impression during preparation or didn't show commitment that can happen. We do have an exceptionally deep midfield.

Having said that I was hoping myself he'd shine for us this World Cup. He can be unstoppable. He obviously didn't show that to Loew. And Reus did.

CalamariFritti

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I know little about the Germany squad but based on how key he was to city, sane being left out seems a huge upset. Thought he'd be one of their absolute stars.

Can only repeat myself. A bit upset about this too. He could have brought him along to bring him on even, our secret weapon But he didn't play well against Brazil and again didn't show much against Austria (didn't see that match, that's what the press said).

GreNoLi

Arghus wrote: »

I remember Brad Friedal being good when they had him for a handful of games.

I could never fully understand a single word Ardiles said, but it all seemed to make sense somehow. You could tell nobody in the studio had a clue either - but they still thought he was dead right.

I hope to see Kerr. Lots of Kerr. All of Kerr. Let me pump Kerr intravenously into my veins.

I hope to see Stephen Hunt, at least once. Not necessarily to listen him: just to see what kind of look he's got going on. I remember my shock when he turned up on the screen during Euro 2016. In my mind he was still supposed to look like a particularly rag-arsed resident of Hobbiton, but no one had told me that in retirement he had somehow morphed into a combo of a 70's era Mafia Associate mixed with a dash of Ruby Walsh; a frightening reminder that time waits for no man.

Hopefully not too much Ronnie Whelan who is so negative that he literally makes me want to kill myself.

Amen, and please God no Damien Duff.

The Talking Bread

DubDani wrote: »

Sane just hasn't done it yet in the German team. He has hardly had a good game for them. He played against Austria last weekend, and was (again) terrible.

There have also been concerns about his impact on the squad. According to some reports he isn't very liked in the squad and doesn't get on very well with some of the Senior Squad members. And for Loew the harmony in the Squad always stood above individuals.

Go on then, cite us one of these so called reports

ERG89

https://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/1003681539366895616?s=19

justshane

ERG89 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/1003681539366895616?s=19

I still can't believe Icardi isn't in that Argentina squad, honestly feel he is the best finisher in Europe.

callaway92

That defence and midfield are both beyond poor. Goalkeepers are a disaster too. Can't see them doing great.

pjohnson

callaway92 wrote: »

That defence and midfield are both beyond poor. Goalkeepers are a disaster too. Can't see them doing great.

Romero out is a killer blow altogether.

Think the other three have 6 caps between them and are 32+ yrs.

GLaDOS

I see oddschecker have Brazil as very slight favorites ahead of Germany for the title. Little surprised at this, certainly expect Brazil to be up there but would have had Germany, Spain and France ahead of them.

pjohnson

Fook Rafa Marquez is still playing.

yabadabado

pjohnson wrote: »

Fook Rafa Marquez is still playing.

Going to his fifth world cup.

BullBlackNova

pjohnson wrote: »

Romero out is a killer blow altogether.

Think the other three have 6 caps between them and are 32+ yrs.

Am I right in thinking that Sociedad goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli is from Argentina? He was very highly rated about 12/18 months ago - has it been a total disaster since or is there another reason he has been left out?

Argentina are always tipped to be up there but there's so many huge weaknesses in the side that I'd always have them below Spain, France, Germany, Brazil and maybe even Belgium. Its like Portugal: one superstar with a handful of exceptional talents, some solid players and then you're shaking your head when you see who starts in one or two other positions. But, as Portugal showed, the right organisation and tactics and it is possible to win at this level so it could be interesting. Croatia, Australia and Nigeria isn't the easiest group in the tournament but you'd be surprised if Argentina don't make it out of it at least.

yabadabado

Argentina will make it out of the group but once they face a decent team in knock out stages they are under pressure. I'd expect a QF will be about it for them.
The back line is poor and Sampoli has them set up all wrong for the players he has available. The high line will kill them.

Arghus

The feverish anticipation continues to grow remorselessly. I've shouted the words - "He's left Sane out of the German Squad!! SANE, DID NOT MAKE THE MANNSCHAFT!!"- at random strangers in the street and pigeons in public squares.

mickmackey1

Sounds like Jogi Low is not the only one to have lost his marbles!

Ol' Donie

I saw Brian Kerr in the park earlier when I was walking the dog. I wanted to ask him for a guarantee he'd be on RTE, but he was on the phone (that's how I knew for sure it was him).

Meanwhile, I'm reading up on the lesser lights of the WC here. Never mind Germany and Brazil, who's gonna be this year's Bulgaria '94??

Arghus

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Sounds like Jogi Low is not the only one to have lost his marbles!

The only thing I can tell you is that pigeons don't seem to give a shit about football.

irishman86

I dont see the big deal with Sane being left out of the world cup squad
I'd have Reus or Brandt over him myself, i suppose one plays in the premier league hence the uproar

Trigger

irishman86 wrote: »

I dont see the big deal with Sane being left out of the world cup squad
I'd have Reus or Brandt over him myself, i suppose one plays in the premier league hence the uproar

Yeah Brandt has had a pretty decent season and he can cover across the front 3 and Rues was never going to be left out if he was fit

cj maxx

What time , here, the gamrs played ?.
Trying to organize my schedule

NIMAN

irishman86 wrote: »

I dont see the big deal with Sane being left out of the world cup squad
I'd have Reus or Brandt over him myself, i suppose one plays in the premier league hence the uproar

I hadn't watched a lot of EPL football this season, but I watched both legs of the Liverpool Man City CL tie, and couldn't believe how bang average Sane was.

I had heard a lot of talk about him beforehand. He got a huge amount of the ball in both games, and delivered nothing.

I know you can't judge a player on 2 games, but he simply didn't deliver when the heat was on. I'm sure he was brilliant against Stoke, West Ham and West Brom though.

jacool

NIMAN wrote: »

I hadn't watched a lot of EPL football this season, but I watched both legs of the Liverpool Man City CL tie, and couldn't believe how bang average Sane was.

I had heard a lot of talk about him beforehand. He got a huge amount of the ball in both games, and delivered nothing.

I know you can't judge a player on 2 games, but he simply didn't deliver when the heat was on. I'm sure he was brilliant against Stoke, West Ham and West Brom though.

Jogi Low rarely makes mistakes. He has 45 players to choose from, if you look at the U21s plus the "reserves" that won the Confederations Cup last year. He has clearly seen how inconsistent Sane is. He had about 3 blinders last year, but for the rest he was so predictable it was annoying. I can recall games where David Silva was demanding the ball off him because they was no end product and in the end stopped passing to him at all, just leaving him isolated on the left.
What I'm interested to see is how much game time Goretzka gets. He's a player who knows how to put in a shift, but it looks like a competitive area in that squad.

ArmaniJeanss

cjmc wrote: »

What time , here, the gamrs played ?.
Trying to organize my schedule

1pm, 4pm and 7pm kickoffs.

Ol' Donie

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

1pm, 4pm and 7pm kickoffs.

Except the first Sat, which is a 4 match day, France - Australia 11am
Arg - Iceland 2pm
Peru - Denmark 5pm
Croatia - Nigeria 8pm

Wow.

yabadabado

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

1pm, 4pm and 7pm kickoffs.

The 1pm and 7pm games don't really bother me but I was hoping it would be 5pm instead of 4pm ,pain in the bollix to be leaving work early for games.
5pm would have been ideal.

razorblunt

Hope Solo will on RTE's coverage. Not sure why they had to ship her in for it.

yabadabado

razorblunt wrote: »

Hope Solo will on RTE's coverage. Not sure why they had to ship her in for it.

Id rather look at her that Eamonn

razorblunt

yabadabado wrote: »

Id rather look at her that Eamonn

Good point, well made.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

An (alleged) domestic abuser.

I assume the usual suspects will be picketing RTE then?

yabadabado

Pierce Nervous Gristle wrote: »

An (alleged) domestic abuser.

I assume the usual suspects will be picketing RTE then?

A strange choice ,a fella with similar accusations against him wouldn't be getting that gig.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

yabadabado wrote: »

A strange choice ,a fella with similar accusations against him wouldn't be getting that gig.

It's a box ticking excercise for sure, but are there no Irish women footballers they could have gotten on. Preferably one who isn't accused of beating up family members.

citytillidie

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

1pm, 4pm and 7pm kickoffs.

That is for the 1st two round of games, with that 1st Saturday having 4 games from 11am

When it comes to the final group games it is 3pm and 7pm kick offs and that continues for the 2nd round and Quarter Finals with the Semi Finals a 7pm kick off and the final a 4pm kick off. However one of the Quarter Finals will have a 1pm kick off

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=107027304&postcount=68

Ol' Donie

"The RTÉ coverage will be fronted by Darragh Maloney, Peter Collins and Jacqui Hurley, with commentary provided by George Hamilton, Ger Canning, Adrian Eames, John Kenny, Stephen Alkin and Hugh Cahill, with Ronnie Whelan, Jim Beglin, Ray Houghton and Brian Kerr on co-commentary duties.

Along with stalwart pundits Eamon Dunphy, Liam Brady, Didi Hamann, Damien Duff and Richie Sadlier, RTÉ are delighted to announce Keith Andrews, Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill and former United States goalkeeper Hope Solo will be joining our market-leading team of analysts."

RTE get a lot of stick at times, but they're by miles & miles the best at covering World Cups.

If only there wasn't ads for sh*t like McDonalds and those f*ckin bookies every few minutes (outside of the live matches, of course).

Ol' Donie

Edit: ah, crap, I don't see Cunningham listed there.

Skylinehead

Wanted a Dunphy vs Kennys eyebrows rematch

ERG89

Ol' Donie wrote: »

"The RTÉ coverage will be fronted by Darragh Maloney, Peter Collins and Jacqui Hurley, with commentary provided by George Hamilton, Ger Canning, Adrian Eames, John Kenny, Stephen Alkin and Hugh Cahill, with Ronnie Whelan, Jim Beglin, Ray Houghton and Brian Kerr on co-commentary duties.

pjohnson

Hope Solo replaces Friedel as American Goalkeeper on the team. Faaaaar nicer to look at anyway. I did like Friedel mind even if it was totally random he was there.

GavRedKing

Friedel was decent when he was on.

Trigger

Pierce Nervous Gristle wrote: »

It's a box ticking excercise for sure, but are there no Irish women footballers they could have gotten on. Preferably one who isn't accused of beating up family members.

Really, I’m sure they could have easily asked Emma Byrne to be on.

Agent Coulson

Hope Solo joining the RTE panel might take a gander at that then.

super_furry

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Hope Solo joining the RTE panel might take a gander at that then.

And there you have it. Her being there is eyeballs on the show.

NyOmnishambles

Not sure if this has been posted yet

A run down of every team and player in the world cup

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/jun/05/world-cup-2018-complete-guide-players-ratings-goals-caps

Lucas Hood

Will one of the lads on Apres Match be dressing up as her ?

Sprinter Sacre

I won't be able to stop thinking about rotten roast beef

MarkY91

Couldn't think of a worse way to watch the world cup than having to endure them clueless gob****es at RTE.

yabadabado

MarkY91 wrote: »

Couldn't think of a worse way to watch the world cup than having to endure them clueless gob****es at RTE.

They are the best of a bad bunch .

The Talking Bread

MarkY91 wrote: »

Couldn't think of a worse way to watch the world cup than having to endure them clueless gob****es at RTE.

Cool story

I really like Brian Kerr, I'm happy enough with that list

Iused2likebusts

I always liked souness as a pundit on rte much better than he is on sky.

Trigger

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

I always liked souness as a pundit on rte much better than he is on sky.

That’s usually because he is incredibly biased when commenting on PL football but on the internationals he seems impartial