Football 17/18

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

I agree D and H are the best groups, but wouldn't really call Argentina a second tier team. A description I would give the likes of Belgium, England and Portugal.

Argentina have possibly the worst defense in the tournament.

[mjsell]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Argentina have possibly the worst defense in the tournament.

Exaggeration of the day. Granted a lot falls on Otamendi's shoulders but they have far better and more experienced players at the top level than half of the teams in the tournament. Watch out for Lo Celso as well in centre mid - he's come on leaps and bounds in the last year or so.  Their biggest issue is getting their attack playing well together (and fitting them all in)

I'd expect quarter finals for Argentina.

[mjsell]

As for England, second in the group either on goal difference or because of a draw against Tunisia. I think we'll draw with Belgium. 

Then out in the round of 16 to Colombia

Brazil or France to beat Germany in the final

Edited June 12, 2018 by mjsell

[pink_triangle]

7 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Argentina have possibly the worst defense in the tournament.

Slow defence, but great attacking options. I can’t rank them at the same level as Iceland and Japan. Their qualifying record with Messi fit was very strong,of course better teams have messed it up before.

[Hugh Jass]

39 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Slow defence, but great attacking options. I can’t rank them at the same level as Iceland and Japan. Their qualifying record with Messi fit was very strong,of course better teams have messed it up before.

Their qualification was pretty poor IIRC, took a Messi wondershow in the last game to secure it.

[pink_triangle]

28 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Their qualification was pretty poor IIRC, took a Messi wondershow in the last game to secure it.

From what I read the qualification record was terrible in games which Messi was absent, but very strong in games he played.

[Hugh Jass]

4 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

From what I read the qualification record was terrible in games which Messi was absent, but very strong in games he played.

Ah, gotcha.

[jyoung]

Can't see Argentina doing anything spectacular despite the plethora of striking talent.

[TheGayTent]

With Lanzini out they’ll struggle to get out of the group 

[Hugh Jass]

22 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

With Lanzini out they’ll struggle to get out of the group 

I was thinking the other day that 5/1 on them not getting through wasn't a bad bet.

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

I was thinking the other day that 5/1 on them not getting through wasn't a bad bet.

Generally one of the big boys doesn't get through. I may look at Belgium who are a load of individuals with a poor manager.

[Hugh Jass]

24 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Generally one of the big boys doesn't get through. I may look at Belgium who are a load of individuals with a poor manager.

Agree that Belgium are no great shakes but surely they’ve got enough to get past Panama and Tunisia?

[KVShinedown]

I think most people are underestimating Tunisia. They've only lost once in the last 12 months (against Spain 1-0). They've also drawn with Portugal and beaten Iran and Costa Rica in their warmup games. I wouldn't be hugely surprised if they get a draw against England or Belgium

[Hugh Jass]

7 minutes ago, KVShinedown said:

I think most people are underestimating Tunisia. They've only lost once in the last 12 months (against Spain 1-0). They've also drawn with Portugal and beaten Iran and Costa Rica in their warmup games. I wouldn't be hugely surprised if they get a draw against England or Belgium

They've also a couple of their best players to injury.

[pink_triangle]

11 minutes ago, KVShinedown said:

I think most people are underestimating Tunisia. They've only lost once in the last 12 months (against Spain 1-0). They've also drawn with Portugal and beaten Iran and Costa Rica in their warmup games. I wouldn't be hugely surprised if they get a draw against England or Belgium

From seeing Wales play England, Belgium and Portugal in the Euros I felt Belgium were the most beatable mainly because of the chances they gave away. We had more chances against Belgium than the other 2 matches combined!

[Gucci Piggy]

23 hours ago, thetime said:

You would of thought they would of known about his injury history with his knee. 

Saying that Utd didn't with hargreaves. 

It's not just his injury history, though. There may be something deeper in terms of how his knee recovered that wasn't evident until his medical, and shows that he's at more risk of re-injuring it than they first thought.

23 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

OK, balls on the line time...

How far are England going in the World Cup?

Quarters is my bet.

We'll get done by Colombia in the ro16.

16 hours ago, DareToDibble said:

Semis for England I think. Got a funny feeling about them this tournament, will  surprise a lot of people.

If we win the group we'll (probably) play Brazil in quarters, and if he finish second in the group we'll (probably) play Germany in the quarters. We're not getting past either of them.

12 hours ago, mjsell said:

As for England, second in the group either on goal difference or because of a draw against Tunisia. I think we'll draw with Belgium. 

Then out in the round of 16 to Colombia

Brazil or France to beat Germany in the final

France will be the disappointment of the tournament imo. Deschamps can't get the best out of his squad and still has no idea what his best lineup is. They also lack experience. I've got them down to lose to Uruguay in the quarters.

Brazil to win it. Can't see anyone but them, Germany or Spain doing it.

[Gucci Piggy]

Spain's manager (Lopetegui) confirmed to be the new Real Madrid manager after the World Cup. Will be funny if Spain have an awful tournament now.

[Gucci Piggy]

Wow Arsenal have signed a defensive mid and are after a keeper next (on top of Lichsteiner and Sokratis already being done, the latter announced in July) (according to David Ornstein who is the most reliable Arsenal journo).

Never thought I'd see the day when Arsenal have a proper keeper, DM and striker (and they've even got two of those) again.

[mjsell]

2 hours ago, Gucci Piggy said:

Wow Arsenal have signed a defensive mid and are after a keeper next (on top of Lichsteiner and Sokratis already being done, the latter announced in July) (according to David Ornstein who is the most reliable Arsenal journo).

Never thought I'd see the day when Arsenal have a proper keeper, DM and striker (and they've even got two of those) again.

Leno from Leverkuson on the cards as well - pretty stoked with that one. Don't know much about Torreira - can anyone that watches italian football enlighten me?

Edited June 13, 2018 by mjsell

[Gucci Piggy]

5 hours ago, mjsell said:

Leno from Leverkuson on the cards as well - pretty stoked with that one. Don't know much about Torreira - can anyone that watches italian football enlighten me?

Yeah Leno sounds the most likely (quite a flurry of stuff came out about him late last night). I'm not totally sold on him; lots of Bundesliga watchers saying he has a fair amount of mistakes in him and there are 6 or 7 better keepers in the league. But he also has lots of great moments to make up for that and apparently Emery has a brilliant goalkeeping coach so hopefully he can iron out those mistakes. After Oblak and Alisson (both of whom are clearly out of reach) there doesn't seem to be anyone great on the market so I'd still take Leno as he must be an improvement on Cech/Ospina.

Torreira, however, is great. Watched him a few times last season and he's basically like a younger Verratti but a bit more defensive. The perfect player to add to Xhaka and Ramsey in a midfield three. Would have been one of my first choice midfield signings but it seemed like one of those signings that are too obvious for Arsenal to make. He'll take defensive responsibility from Xhaka which should allow him to shine more, too.

Hopefully get too see him play on Friday but I don't think he's a starter for Uruguay at the moment.

[Gucci Piggy]

Drama in the Spain camp. Apparently the head of the Spanish Football Federation only found out about Lopetegui becoming Madrid manager 15 minutes before the announcement and is fuming and wants to fire him immediately, and apparently only the Madrid players in the camp knew about it beforehand too and the Barca players didn't take it well.

[zahidf]

9 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

Drama in the Spain camp. Apparently the head of the Spanish Football Federation only found out about Lopetegui becoming Madrid manager 15 minutes before the announcement and is fuming and wants to fire him immediately, and apparently only the Madrid players in the camp knew about it beforehand too and the Barca players didn't take it well.

yup

 

 

[jyoung]

Love that! It's not a WC without a proper meltdown.

[Comfy Bean]

15 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Love that! It's not a WC without a proper meltdown.

Someone`s got to do it with the Dutch sitting at home.

[Hugh Jass]

1 hour ago, Gucci Piggy said:

Drama in the Spain camp. Apparently the head of the Spanish Football Federation only found out about Lopetegui becoming Madrid manager 15 minutes before the announcement and is fuming and wants to fire him immediately, and apparently only the Madrid players in the camp knew about it beforehand too and the Barca players didn't take it well.

Fuck's sake, I had a rather substantial bet on the Spanish at least getting to the Semis.