Football (World Cup 26)

[steviewevie]

Joe Hart isn't wearing socks.

[charlierc]

4 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Hope Spain win it, because I'm bitter.

Trump having to present the trophy to a Spanish PM he openly dislikes rather than his friend from Buenos Aires would suffice as a reason too tbf.

[steviewevie]

At least England is still the best country in the world.

[charlierc]

8 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I feel England threw that away similar to the Euro 2021 final. Argentina were there for the taking and they sat back. England needed Kane and Bellingham to step up and neither did.

I think that one was worse if only given England scored inside the opening minute and could easily have grabbed a second in those opening stages. 

 

Here, it felt like the removal of Gordon for Konsa was a mistake. I hold my hands up and say its a fair result - Argentina could've taken the lead a lot earlier than they did, and some games can just have that momentum check where it all gets away from you. But it really was ambitious to try and park the bus for that long and for that to work, you quite often need luck that everything your opponent will throw at you will miss the target. Not today, clearly.

[charlierc]

2 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

At least England is still the best country in the world.

Makes me think of the ridiculous national anthem from Borat. The one that got infamously played at a qualifying event for the London Olympics because the DJ couldn't find the right anthem.

[steviewevie]

Maybe our German coach didn't actually want England to reach the final...so threw it away... against Argentina.

[pink_triangle]

2 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Argentina could've taken the lead a lot earlier than they did, and some games can just have that momentum check where it all gets away from you. But it really was ambitious to try and park the bus for that long and for that to work, you quite often need luck that everything your opponent will throw at you will miss the target. Not today, clearly.

It was a 50/50 game before the England game and I thought England would push on. I can’t remember another decent England move all game, they just offered nothing from an attacking sense.

 

I think what today showed is it’s one thing parking the bus against a side with a Wolves forward up front and Argentina.

[lost]

The sad thing is literally the whole pub predicted we were going to lose when we started parking the bus at 1 vs 0. 

 

The audible grown when we'd clearly got away with it at 82 mins and he brought another defender on rather than some pace to bring the ball out.

[xxialac]

England...really weren't very good in this tournament.

 

They were outplayed by an average Argentina side and even that was the first proper side they faced.

 

Clung on against Norway, Congo, Mexico (the last being their best game but it was still backs to the wall).

 

Drew with Ghana.

Nothing special against Panama or Croatia.

 

Getting to the semis was lucky really. They certainly didn't deserve a place in the final.

 

 

[steviewevie]

Whatever 

 

[steviewevie]

2 minutes ago, xxialac said:

England...really weren't very good in this tournament.

 

They were outplayed by an average Argentina side and even that was the first proper side they faced.

 

Clung on against Norway, Congo, Mexico (the last being their best game but it was still backs to the wall).

 

Drew with Ghana.

Nothing special against Panama or Croatia.

 

Getting to the semis was lucky really. They certainly didn't deserve a place in the final.

 

 

Jeez man, everything is sh*t.

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, xxialac said:

England...really weren't very good in this tournament.

 

They were outplayed by an average Argentina side and even that was the first proper side they faced.

 

Clung on against Norway, Congo, Mexico (the last being their best game but it was still backs to the wall).

 

Drew with Ghana.

Nothing special against Panama or Croatia.

 

Getting to the semis was lucky really. They certainly didn't deserve a place in the final.

 

 

It’s the same every tournament, 

[Skip997]

4 minutes ago, xxialac said:

England...really weren't very good in this tournament.

 

They were outplayed by an average Argentina side and even that was the first proper side they faced.

 

Clung on against Norway, Congo, Mexico (the last being their best game but it was still backs to the wall).

 

Drew with Ghana.

Nothing special against Panama or Croatia.

 

Getting to the semis was lucky really. They certainly didn't deserve a place in the final.

 

 

Spot on. Same every tournament 

[steviewevie]

2 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Spot on. Same every tournament 

Same, every post

[charlierc]

10 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Whatever 

 

Keep politics out of football huh

[charlierc]

9 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

It’s the same every tournament, 

You won Skip. Enjoy the money, I hope it makes you happy. 

[xxialac]

5 minutes ago, charlierc said:

You won Skip. Enjoy the money, I hope it makes you happy. 

haha

[Andre91]

We lost as soon as he brought on a Saruman’s army worth of defenders. 

 

Get rid of Tuchel ASAP and genuinely give Pep the keys to the Bank of England and let him have at it. 

[charlierc]

8 hours ago, xxialac said:

haha

I did consider posting the whole stanza including the bit about the grace of a reversing truck but it was getting too long. 

[charlierc]

13 hours ago, charlierc said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq616emqr51o

 

Hmmm... Usually whenever somebody does this, they don't win. I remember a Manchester City fan getting a tattoo declaring them 2011 Champions League winners a few days after their 2008 takeover and they weren't even close. 

Called it. No need to blame the unnecessarily extreme defensive approach, Argentina's inexplicable ability to win despite looking like they'd lose or everyone just looking exhausted. Can blame this guy who spent £550 on an excessive tattoo too early. 

 

Hope he kept the receipt. 

 

Ah well. England failed to win the third place game in 1990 and 2018 so I guess there's trying to do that. Though France had a day's rest and a less emotionally stressful contest so they might yet be favourites too. Plus it's in Miami so all the players will be knackered by the heat very quickly. 

[charlierc]

8 hours ago, xxialac said:

England...really weren't very good in this tournament.

 

They were outplayed by an average Argentina side and even that was the first proper side they faced.

 

Clung on against Norway, Congo, Mexico (the last being their best game but it was still backs to the wall).

 

Drew with Ghana.

Nothing special against Panama or Croatia.

 

Getting to the semis was lucky really. They certainly didn't deserve a place in the final.

 

 

I'd disagree about Croatia as they played very well in that one and would point out Argentina were inexplicably taken to extra time by Cape Verde, arguably should've lost to Egypt and were pretty bad for long parts against Switzerland. This Argentine team is having a bizarre knockout round where they've looked close to defeat in every game yet still found a way to pull it together. 

 

It's never a linear thing - you can only really beat what's in front of you, and tbf, Mexico gave it a really good go and Norway started well only to run out of energy. Those two in particular weren't easy games. Hell, Congo were very good as well so could chuck that in too and say none of them were easy. 

 

But it is what it is. I think calling for sacking the manager is too premature a call but I do concede the better team on the day won the game and if Tuchel is to stay for Euro 2028, he'll have to do better in games like this. 

[pink_triangle]

It feels to me Tuchel is a useful scapegoat, but surely the players have to take some responsibility. For all the talk about England being more attacking after taking the lead , it’s not as if they were playing flowing football when they scored.

 

The English media for months have been campaigning for Rice to be the best midfielder in the world. To me he made minimal impact this tournament. Kane and Bellingham were quiet throughout the game and England’s defence has looked quite ropey a few times this tournament.

 

I don’t see how the manager is to blame for a team being unable to get the ball and keep it, who is this great player he left on the bench who would have made a difference?

[lost]

Wouldn’t surprise me if the FA made a move for Lampard.

[charlierc]

15 minutes ago, lost said:

Wouldn’t surprise me if the FA made a move for Lampard.

Eh. That would be a surprise. 

 

Feel like the obvious candidate for a successor is Eddie Howe. Though as a Newcastle fan who saw them on multiple occasions last season try and fail to defend a 1-0 lead, it wouldn't exactly be much of a change. 

[pink_triangle]

1 minute ago, charlierc said:

Eh. That would be a surprise. 

 

Feel like the obvious candidate for a successor is Eddie Howe. Though as a Newcastle fan who saw them on multiple occasions last season try and fail to defend a 1-0 lead, it wouldn't exactly be much of a change. 

I would say Lampards playing career would make him a more likely successor than Howe.