World Cup Discussion Thread - Day 20 (3 July)

[teok]

What an unbelievably satisfying game of football.

 

[RickyVilla]

Congratulations fellas

 

[Ekmek]

The amount of people spelling Colombia as Columbia is beyond me.

 

[baldinyid]

Blaming Maguire for the goal is harsh given Henderson lost him (ended up marking Young).

Not blaming Maguire at all. Purely what others would probably say given that he lost the aerial battle for the goal. As a defender you have to get up and if you dont win it put them off if you can, if they score then you have done all you can; Maguire did what he could.

Rate Maguire highly. Our best central defender

 

[fridgemagnet]

He and Young (at times, surprisingly, as he's highly volatile) tried, but heads were still going; remarkably.

Davidson was trying to get England players away as well as his own team, the only one in yellow not being a shitarse, Cuaderado was doing some really sneaky shit, Falcao was a massive khazi considering how he used to be one of the best on the planet (i don't recall being a turd as his failings) shows how far his star has fallen.

 

[tiger666]

Cuadrado's the most inconsistent player I've ever seen. He's either gonna roger us silly or forget which way his team is shooting.

Yes it seems I was wrong. I thought he would be a real danger against Young and Maguire but my fears were unfounded, I don't recall him doing that much. Maguire impressed me last night, he's more than the carthorse I thought he was.

 

[dagraham]

I know that this sounds a bit sanctimonious but I can't understand why we don't get behind all the England players whilst the world cup is on. It still feels like people are letting club rivalries seep in and I've always felt like that should be set aside when England are playing or what's the point in supporting England in the world cup? Especially as this really seems like a proper 'team' at last. Maybe that's modern football and. I'm living in the dark ages!

Couldn’t agree more. It’s natural to feel extra pride with the Spurs players and want them to do well ( and in particular not miss a penalty), but I don’t see why for once we can’t just leave behind the petty swipes at Liverpool/Arsenal etc.

It’s the World Cup ffs.

 

[tiger666]

Never a truer word typed.

It’s quite obvious that the 5 volunteers 1) Thought they could do it 2) passed the psychometric test to back up their assertions.

I suspect Vardy did volunteer, I doubt he’d shy away, but his results would have inferred he was a higher risk to cope with the stress.

As a side note, the tests could have the reverse effect in that it’s planted a seed to say “I can’t cope with the stress” and becomes a self fulfilling prophecy

Vardy picked up a groin strain:

https://www.eurosport.co.uk/footbal...ted-him-taking-penalty_sto6832875/story.shtml

 

[Timberwolf]

Vardy picked up a groin strain:

https://www.eurosport.co.uk/footbal...ted-him-taking-penalty_sto6832875/story.shtml

Thankfully he's perhaps the player we can most afford to lose. Sweden won't leave an inch of space behind for him to run into.

 

[fridgemagnet]

I read that he got them all to run off quickly at HT and not get involved in any of that. But then the Colombia coach steps in and barges Sterling anyway.

The coach was then caught on camera laughing about it. He should get in trouble.

The best thing Sterling could have done was turn around and blow him a kiss, he'd have loved that he would.

 

[dagraham]

Also, while I’m in moaning mode : why do pissed twats in pubs feel the need to throw beer in the air when England score? And I don’t mean spilling your pint whilst jumping up and down, I mean actually deliberately throwing it in the air over everyone.

One complete dickhead last night actually threw part of a chair when Dier scored.

 

[dk-yid]

Anybody seen the comments by Pekerman. Accusing England players of play acting and trying to get Colombian players booked and sent off. Heard it on the radio just now.

Speechless.

 

[Timberwolf]

Let's be honest, it was much the same pattern as the other games... Our one outball is to knock it into the channel for a runner. Otherwise we have a midfield void, have to put up with torturous attempts at trying to play out from the back and advance into the midfield, are struggling to create any chances from open play (we managed one through pass all game), and are relying on the indiscipline of the other teams.

We do look quite one dimensional and if the midfield runners aren't fed the ball, allowed to turn, or just generally playing very well (none of Sterling, Alli or Lingard were great yesterday) we look utterly lost. That said, I think a lot of that was down to Colombia's tactics. Pekerman clearly did his research and Colombia's midfield was compact, defensive and clearly geared towards shutting us down. Putting Quintero and Cuadrado out wide also nullified the threat of our wing backs who are equally vital to our attack. Alli found himself dragged wide to compensate and I started having flashbacks to his utterly ineffectual performances out wide for England in the Euros. In short, Colombia did everything possible to stop us playing, and it very nearly worked for them. Tunisia did something similar in the 2nd half and also managed to limit us to scraps.

Not all teams will set up to spoil us, though, and I'm curious how we'll fare against a team that doesn't actively try to stifle our tactics. Against a better, yet more tactically lax team like, say, France or Belgium, I think we'd be far better going forward, but also far more vulnerable to their wealth of attacking talent. Whether it benefits us or not, the style of the game would be totally different from what we've seen so far.

Unfortunately Sweden may well be Colombia mk.II only with less cheating bastards and more stoic, impenetrable banks of 4. I don't think they have the quality on the ball that Colombia has, though, so it will be interesting to see how the game pans out differently.

I also think it's slightly ironic that some pundits are talking about how this team is built around Kane. If anything, this system up against packed defences means Kane is almost completely shut out of the game. It was only because of his tireless attitude and resourcefulness that he had any impact last night whatsoever.

 

[TheVoiceofReason]

Anybody seen the comments by Pekerman. Accusing England players of play acting and trying to get Colombian players booked and sent off. Heard it on the radio just now.

Speechless.

Pekerman by name and nature

 

[Gassin's finest]

 

[Gassin's finest]

 

[Gassin's finest]

 

[Bus-Conductor]

How do all those who were incandescent with rage at Neymar’s theatrics feel about Henderson turning a tiny little nudge in the chest/chin into being whacked in the face with a sledgehammer?

 

[tony0379]

I prefer "fuck my ass" but we're all different I suppose

 

[DJS]

This World Cup really has highlighted the terrible professional standards of a lot of footballers with their lack of fair play and cheating tactics.

I wish fifa would grow some balls and start implementing proper measures to try and counter it.