Football 2022/23

[charlierc]

This may have gone under the radar a little bit...

At one point does it just feel like we're crowbarring in too much football?

I don't mind the current Club World Cup that much - it's kinda unremarkable but the idea is reasonable enough - whereas this just feels like overkill.

[charlierc]

11 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I know I'm in the minority, but one odd thing is the timing and I personally think that has benefited the tournament. A lot of the talk about moving it was just because of "this is the way we have always done it" rather than sporting merit. Lack of/ more expensive alcohol has been a good thing. I also get the impression looking at the crowds it's a bit less segregated and why shouldn't fans of other clubs sit next to each other and not fight.

In terms of quality it is to me lacking the top class players in/near their peak and that is why I favour France 98. An example being I would only take Mbappe, Griezmann and Lloris from this team to that one. 

I also am not a fan of the one city thing. I think part of the appeal of the world cup is the culture different cities in one country bring to a tournament. Saying that I wouldn't want to go the route of Euro 2021 which just seemed like random countries with no link.

I imagine that as this has been the first through the gate, we might well see another winter World Cup in our lifetimes. Where is the other question - there's a lot of talk we could get a 2030 Saudi Arabian World Cup but I'm not sure if they'd go back to the Middle East so soon (I thought there was a rule on confederations not being allowed to host the next 2 World Cups after?), to say nothing of the oddity of them co-hosting with Egypt and Greece, which would be FIFA's first multi-confederation World Cup.

I agree that last year's Euros were a bit of a sprawling mess, though the same is there for the 2026 WC - I still think it could be held even with the enlarged number by one of Mexico or the USA. If nothing else, it has proven it can be done, but it has given it a strange unreality, to say nothing of the waste of building up 8 stadiums within 40 miles then tearing them all down straight after. Carbon neutral my arse.

That argument is as much a club football thing tbf. Maybe the emotion that goes into club football is a bit over-wrought and stripped of that, it could be possible for fans of both sides to sit with one another without causing a shitstorm. But that's the world we've built.

[kaosmark2]

51 minutes ago, charlierc said:

To say nothing of the waste of building up 8 stadiums within 40 miles then tearing them all down straight after. Carbon neutral my arse.

Carbon neutral is bullshit. It's mostly just a way for rich people to buy their way into claiming to be environmentally friendly.

[charlierc]

Just now, kaosmark2 said:

Carbon neutral is bullshit. It's mostly just a way for rich people to buy their way into claiming to be environmentally friendly.

Well I'm aware a lot of how this is being done hangs on carbon offsets or carbon credits, even if the evidence is piling up that these don't work as intended and in some cases make it worse.

[pink_triangle]

Is all the discussion about whether Maddison would make the England squad or not, a perfect example of how pointless the debate is on the people who make up the numbers in an international squad.

[kaosmark2]

16 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Well I'm aware a lot of how this is being done hangs on carbon offsets or carbon credits, even if the evidence is piling up that these don't work as intended and in some cases make it worse.

I definitely think on this case it's made it worse, as FIFA are claiming this is the first Carbon neutral tournament, when literally that just means more money has been spent. 

Offsets can be relevant on the mid size scale, where companies do it as a bridge while working out how to stop paying, but in general, I think it's irrelevant bullshit.

[charlierc]

Least I don't have to worry about the FA trying to pinch Eddie Howe at this moment then.

[charlierc]

23 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Is all the discussion about whether Maddison would make the England squad or not, a perfect example of how pointless the debate is on the people who make up the numbers in an international squad.

I think with international football and England in particular that there seems to be a constant discussion that whomever isn't in the team at that point must be the silver bullet that'll guarantee success.

Obviously there's no guarantee in what turned out to be a 5 game tournament for England that everyone is gonna get used. I think Maddison was worth a run out at some point given his excellent form at Leicester so far this season, but it is what it is. Certainly, it turned out to be a huge debate for nothing in the end. Same as well with whether to take Conor Gallagher over James Ward-Prowse, given Gallagher went but didn't feature.

[pink_triangle]

So are people watching BBC or ITV today. I always watched BBC because of lack of adverts, but I think ITV coverage has overtaken them. I jumped to ITV last world cup and will stay with them today.

[charlierc]

We had a discussion a few pages ago on the merits of 16x3 or 12x4 for the structure of the 2026 World Cup - turns out FIFA now have their own doubts about pursuing the 3 team group model and are planning to review it but only after the final round of this group stage got so twisty and turny.

Much as it brings back the oddity that is best 3rd place teams going through as we have at the Euros since they expanded to 24, I think it's the lesser of two evils.

[Punksnotdead]

58 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

So are people watching BBC or ITV today. I always watched BBC because of lack of adverts, but I think ITV coverage has overtaken them. I jumped to ITV last world cup and will stay with them today.

Deffo ITV - they have a better panel - who wants to hear Lineker, Shearer & Ferdinand droning on? And don't get me started on co-commentator Jermaine fucking Jenas!!!!!! 😬

[Skip997]

24 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

Deffo ITV - they have a better panel - who wants to hear Lineker, Shearer & Ferdinand droning on? And don't get me started on co-commentator Jermaine fucking Jenas!!!!!! 😬

This

Plus ITV have Ian Wright, possibly the best pundit around

[steviewevie]

Big winners today are Qatar Sports Investments.

[Crazyfool01]

predictions ?... im going 2 -1 argentina win 

[Punksnotdead]

4 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

predictions ?... im going 2 -1 argentina win 

I'm torn - I want France to win, but I backed Argentina at 11/2 - I just don't want extra time & penalties, cos I want to put the Sunday dinner on at about 5!

[pink_triangle]

2-0 completely fair reflection of game. This looks one game too far for France.

[Punksnotdead]

9 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

2-0 completely fair reflection of game. This looks one game too far for France.

Shame - one-sided games are almost as boring as drab 0-0 draws.

[steviewevie]

France affected by that dodgy virus? Or maybe this is first decent team they've met in the competition.

[pink_triangle]

18 minutes ago, Barry Fish said:

Amazingly France got past England and Morocco who both played better.

You look at France and then were the most hit by injuries before the world cup and possibly the team most hit by injuries and rotation during the world cup. This has resulted in Giroud playing 3 difficult games in 8 days and I think overall the squad has been stretched to breaking point.

[pink_triangle]

I normally like Dixon, but what was he talking about when he said Did Maria owed Argentina a performance. He scored the winning goal in the Copa America only a year ago.

[Punksnotdead]

7 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I normally like Dixon, but what was he talking about when he said Did Maria owed Argentina a performance. He scored the winning goal in the Copa America only a year ago.

I assume he meant he's had a poor world cup?

[pink_triangle]

3 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

I assume he meant he's had a poor world cup?

Seems harsh to expect him to perform the last couple of games he missed from injury. I just think some of these pundits judge players purely through the lens of how they were in the premiership.

[Punksnotdead]

Un-fucking-believable!!!!!

[pink_triangle]

1 minute ago, Barry Fish said:

Again France have been terrible and some how find themselves in a good position 

Finding a way when you are not playing well is what champions do.

[steviewevie]

Brilliant substitutions.