Football (World Cup 26)

[Ben7amin_]

Maduke was worth every penny of the....... £0 we (spurs) sold him for lol

 

 

 

[kaosmark2]

6 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

At risk of sounding hopelessly biased - which i am, of course! - i just think he's dreadful. Forever disappearing into blind alleys, diving like a twat, little movement, he's a 14yr old kid's idea of what a wide forward should be doing. 

But its traditional for England to pick a crap Arsenal winger. Its also traditional for England to stink the tournament out with an unwatchable group game, and on both points i think we're already there!

 

Now for the underwhelming exit and tiresome overanalysis for 18 months 😄

When he went to Arsenal I thought he was awful, but his appearances for England in one of the qualifiers this season were better, I do think he's improved. He's a bad version of Saka but I think it's an interesting idea that a bad version of Saka is easier to link into the team's attacks than a completely different profile of RW in Bowen.

 

I don't think England are winning the high quality tense games without Saka regardless of who else is available on RW, and if Madueke is the best way to keep the team ticking without breaking Saka in the early games, I don't hate that. I also don't know how much of the diving and lack of movement is because of ArtetaBall being defensive dirge with 8 players behind the ball at all times and desperate to win free kicks and corners where they can foul the keeper.

[xxialac]

22 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

Its not much different than 2 years ago. Foden has flattered to decieve in a England shirt, Cole Palmer should of gone but other than that. Even going back to 2022 the attackers were not what I would call top notch either.

 

I agree with you. I'm referring to our lifetimes, not 2 years ago. Obviously Kane is brilliant but then after that...

[balti-pie]

41 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

 I think it's an interesting idea that a bad version of Saka is easier to link into the team's attacks than a completely different profile of RW in Bowen.

 

 

It just seems really inflexible. There's plan A, and beyond that we have a slightly worse version of plan A, with poorer versions of the same bloke out wide.

 

But plan B can exist, with different blokes! or Plan C! Plan D! 

 

I'd have found a home for Cole Palmer,  despite his awful recent form, and also MGW who i think is an excellent player - and Bowen makes a lot of sense, who you mentioned earlier - out wide, either side, as a second striker, but Tuchel is in charge and while his intransigence may well mean R16 defeat in Mexico City, that kind of belief in your own ways has also led to him winning a lot as a manager i suppose.

 

So in summary - Dr Congo winning tonight would indeed be VERY funny. 

[kaosmark2]

6 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

 

It just seems really inflexible. There's plan A, and beyond that we have a slightly worse version of plan A, with poorer versions of the same bloke out wide.

 

But plan B can exist, with different blokes! or Plan C! Plan D! 

 

I'd have found a home for Cole Palmer,  despite his awful recent form, and also MGW who i think is an excellent player - and Bowen makes a lot of sense, who you mentioned earlier - out wide, either side, as a second striker, but Tuchel is in charge and while his intransigence may well mean R16 defeat in Mexico City, that kind of belief in your own ways has also led to him winning a lot as a manager i suppose.

 

So in summary - Dr Congo winning tonight would indeed be VERY funny. 

Well in the "there's 2 players for every position +1 GK, defense, midfield, striker" idea Tuchel went with, I don't hate the players left out. Madueke bothers me less than Mainoo/Henderson, who aren't getting significant game time when there's players like Wharton, Scott, or even Garner who could contribute there. I don't think any of those would be too fussy about Bellingham dropping deeper being preferred to them, but it seems better to rotate them in than what's happening. MGW I think is excellent, but I don't think he was ever going over Rogers, and he's less flexible then Eze/Palmer as the "additional".

 

I probably wouldn't have bothered with an extra CB, unless there's plans for a back-three in 1-2 games 4 should be enough, and the emergency option is Rice, but when there's also a lack of full-backs 5CBs makes even less sense. I probably would have taken Bowen/Palmer in place in the extra defender, but when there's things where I can see the reasoning for what Tuchel's done, I'm respecting it.

[xxialac]

18 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

 

It just seems really inflexible. There's plan A, and beyond that we have a slightly worse version of plan A, with poorer versions of the same bloke out wide.

 

But plan B can exist, with different blokes! or Plan C! Plan D! 

 

I'd have found a home for Cole Palmer,  despite his awful recent form, and also MGW who i think is an excellent player - and Bowen makes a lot of sense, who you mentioned earlier - out wide, either side, as a second striker, but Tuchel is in charge and while his intransigence may well mean R16 defeat in Mexico City, that kind of belief in your own ways has also led to him winning a lot as a manager i suppose.

 

So in summary - Dr Congo winning tonight would indeed be VERY funny. 

You can get Congo to win at 15/1. That seems very generous odds to me. England are far from a solid team.

[steviewevie]

Yeah come on Congo etc

[kaosmark2]

My prediction is England win 3-1, but I'd be more willing to bet on both teams scoring than on an England victory.

[xxialac]

2-2 I'm going for with England to handle penalties well and get through that way. A couple of comedy defensive errors.

[balti-pie]

the 15-1 would be to win in 90 mins i presume? Nice odds, but i'd favour England to nab it in extra time courtesy of a set piece or a penalty or something deeply unexciting. I'll go 2-1 England. 

 

If it goes to penalties i cant half think about Pickford's little T-rex arms and the sheer impossibility of him getting anywhere near any pennos . . . . 

[kaosmark2]

9 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

If it goes to penalties i cant half think about Pickford's little T-rex arms and the sheer impossibility of him getting anywhere near any pennos . . . . 

Apparently Brazilian commentators have been calling him T-Rex arms.

[balti-pie]

10 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Apparently Brazilian commentators have been calling him T-Rex arms.

I dont want to laugh, but . . . . 😄 he does seem like a bit of a donut, one of those unfathomably loud and annoying types. Has he still got #gettheraveon on his boots? 

Edited July 1 by balti-pie

[lost]

I didn't think his penalty record was that bad for England. He was above par against Italy in the final and we still managed to mess it up. The Jorginho one stands out in my mind.

 

Just googled it: 

 

Quote

Jordan Pickford has saved four of the 14 penalties he has faced in shootouts at major tournaments, twice as many as all other England goalkeepers combined saved between 1990 and 2012 (2 out of 36)

 

Think the way Tutchel has them playing with the constant back passes is a bigger worry to be honest, can see him being caught short and going through a player like they were Virgil van dyke 

Edited July 1 by lost

[Ben7amin_]

Who is taking the Penalties for England then.... lol 

 

Kane 

Hastily introduced as a late sub - Toney

Rice

Saka 

Rashford 

 

something like that 

[thetime]

31 minutes ago, Ben7amin_ said:

Who is taking the Penalties for England then.... lol 

 

Kane 

Hastily introduced as a late sub - Toney

Rice

Saka 

Rashford 

 

something like that 

 

I would be surprised if rashford lasts more than 65 minutes, let alone 120 minutes. 

[Ben7amin_]

22 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

I would be surprised if rashford lasts more than 65 minutes, let alone 120 minutes. 

 

Didnt think hed be starting lol 

[pink_triangle]

No way England are not winning this game comfortably, but the next one will be tough.

[xxialac]

7 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

No way England are not winning this game comfortably, but the next one will be tough.

Will remind you of this post after the game 😉

[steviewevie]

18 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

No way England are not winning this game comfortably, but the next one will be tough.

lol

[xxialac]

18 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

No way England are not winning this game comfortably, but the next one will be tough.

Want a re-think? 😅

[Crazyfool01]

Oops 

[steviewevie]

5-1 England

[charlierc]

22 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

No way England are not winning this game comfortably, but the next one will be tough.

Jinxed it

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Apparently Brazilian commentators have been calling him T-Rex arms.

It's funny when the memes go global like that tbf. I remember Pickford getting greeted at SJP once by several people in dinosaur outfits and that was funny. 

[xxialac]

Anyone who has watched England for the last 20 to 30 years and yet thinks we will breeze through World Cup games - well, have you really been watching?

Pain is a critical part of what we are all signed up to.