The 2013-2014 Football Thread

[mojolicious]

It's been horrible, HORRIBLE to watch. RVP and Robben: two of the most awful human beings in the entire world.

On the plus side, tomorrow's the day to get my money on Spain to retain the cup.

BELIEVE!

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The drinks are on happybunny.

 

[Happybunny]

There is dancing in the streets, and there are fireworks.

I still say we will not win, this was a great team effort, but we will not keep this level up.

But to night I celebrate. The game of Football was the big winner tonight.

 

[twietee]

The drinks are on happybunny.

I'll drink to that!

But the amount of poorly made decisions by the refs is unbelievable! Every single game. Still a beating if epic proportions.

 

[takao]

Robben was absolutely on fire today ... 2 world class goals (and luckily for spain Cassilas brilliantly saved that magical volley shot near the end)

can Spain come back from this ? even if they win both remaining games they might depend on others gunning for them in the last group game because of their goal difference

 

[Kariya]

Too many 30yr olds in the Spanish midfield. Spain and Barca need to start realising that Xavi can't play forever.

Modric covered for Xabi in Madrid.

Casillas clearly not match fit having sat on his butt most of the season.

That and Spain have to learn to play with a true no. 9 now.

But take nothing away from the Dutch team. They wanted it more and shred Spain all over the pitch.

 

[Cox Orange]

I like Cassilas very much, but good he made that typical German goalkeepers slapstick (twice) (running out and crawling on the floor), so perhaps Neuer/Weidenfeller don't have to do it aigainst Italy or so.

(I wonder, though, why they didn't dry the pitch before the game or was this supposed to be equal chances Mexico-Kamerun vs Spain-Netherlands? If you can't have rain, let them play on a wett, soaked pitch?).

I was surprised by Australia vs Chile (thought Chile would own them 4:0), for a huge part of the 2nd half it looked Australia could at least equalize to 2:2.

Poor Mexico, everyone says, it is good they won, so the Referee's mistake has no inlfuence. Does no one think about the goal difference?

PS: ok, it seems, if you want to understand the rules against Mexico, you can. The Offside rules say, that the "ass-region" (can't find a better word for German "Rumpf"), counts as a part to make a goal with, too.

Here you see the "ass" is offside.

PPS: would have liked to use the Myview-tool of ZDF.de where you can toggle between cameras, but I am to stupid to use it.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The standard of refereeing is quite concerning.

Congrats to the Dutch, though I thoroughly dislike Robben and RVP. Spain were well beaten but the scoreline does not accurately reflect the difference in quality between the two teams. The Dutch were obviously more motivated and more focused. Spain have won everything for the last six years, perhaps they are simply tired and jaded. In the modern game you can't expect any athlete or group of athletes, regardless of their talent, to maintain a focus at the highest level for that long. Still, it was an embarrassing performance.

Mexico - very nearly robbed and the lost goals could come back to haunt them. But since I prefer to see them lose always I am not concerned.

I thought Australia were going to get hammered but they made a good showing. Cahill showed that MLS does not necessarily dull the abilities of a player.

 

[mojolicious]

Spain were well beaten but the scoreline does not accurately reflect the difference in quality between the two teams.

On the one hand, everything the Dutch tried turned to gold. Blind and RVP could try to reproduce that goal 100 times and not score. On the other hand, it could easily have become six or seven in the last ten minutes.

A four goal margin was a bit extreme, but Spain have to be pretty traumatised by the mauling.

I thought Australia were going to get hammered but they made a good showing.

I expected more from Chile. Fair play to Australia for plugging away, and I don't think anyone can argue that a 2-2 draw wouldn't have been a fair result.

I believe Cahill now has more World Cup finals goals than the entire England squad combined (ie four, to Steven Gerrard's three).

 

[Lord Blackadder]

A four goal margin was a bit extreme, but Spain have to be pretty traumatised by the mauling.

For years the Spanish players have been telling us that they won't change the way they play; they have won everything by doing so. If they get back into this tournament it will be through tiki-taka.

The Dutch, on the other hand, cannot afford to get carried away.

 

[takao]

I believe Cahill now has more World Cup finals goals than the entire England squad combined (ie four, to Steven Gerrard's three).

for a short moment i went "wut" .. then i looked at the english squad again ...

Cahill also has more world cup goals than Messi(1), Christiano Ronaldo(2) and Wayne Rooney(0) combined

for comedy relief the total amount of world cup goals from the german squad: 29

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Great result for Columbia. Greece were so slow and utterly toothless up front. The Greeks created 3-4 good chances but they haven't got a single finisher in the squad. You can see why Felix Magath didn't rate Mitroglou - his touch was abysmal.

Columbia's defense looks ropey though - against a team with any kind of real attack they will concede goals. Still, 3-0 is a huge win since it gives them a great goal difference right off the bat.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The Offside rules say, that the "ass-region" (can't find a better word for German "Rumpf"), counts as a part to make a goal with, too.

Here you see the "ass" is offside.

'Ass-region'? Superb.

I demand that Cox Orange is appointed MR's official World Cup Pundit™.

 

[twietee]

Agreed.

Especially his matter to fact tone was remarkable. A+

----------

* "Ass+" that is.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I like Roberto Martinez's punditry for the US TV coverage. He provides a good dose of reality and knowledge as a counterpoint to Alexi Lalas, who is a clown.

'Ass-region'? Superb.

I demand that Cox Orange is appointed MR's official World Cup Pundit™.

I second that.

 

[Kariya]

Everytime i've watched Cavani recently he's been disappointing to me. Hasn't done anything noteworthy since his days at Napoli. Turned out to be a good deal for Napoli me thinks.

So Costa Rica dismantle Uruguay despite going a goal down early.

 

[mojolicious]

Well that was unexpected.

Joel Campbell = chequebook's closed. Nice work, Arsene.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I hope I'm wrong, but now this is the way I see it playing out:

Uruguay are going home with three losses, or possibly two losses and a draw. There's no point risking Suarez but they have to, otherwise fans would crucify the manager. He will play and may even shine but he won't be able to save Uruguay's campaign. Worse still, he will aggravate his injury and completely ruin his upcoming season for Liverpool.

The match: Cavani (apart from his clinical PK) and Forlan were pretty bad. The team never really seemed to click. They missed Suarez but he can't do it all alone. Costa Rica, on the other hand, worked their socks off, took their chances and once again proved that CONCACAF is underrated. Campbell, Costa Rica's benchwarmer for Arsenal, looked pretty darn useful.

 

[Cox Orange]

'Ass-region'? Superb.

I demand that Cox Orange is appointed MR's official World Cup Pundit™.

Hehe, I refered to the rules as presented in an official statement by austrian tv channel ORF, though they came to another conclusion.

Wonder, if someone does a statistic of ass-region-goals...


Seems Uruguay can't win without cheater Suarez.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

So, England lose, dislocate their own team doctor's ankle, half the team got cramp and Gerrard gets tripped by the ref. Not a bad performance from England, really, but they wilted in the heat. Sterling looked good, he created so much. I felt that, especially late on, England tried to cut in too much and their crossing became really erratic (exhaustion?) Italy just packed the edge of the box and jogged around for the last 40 minutes to see out the win.

I'm not a fan of Italy, but Pirlo is just too cool. Even his misses look good.

What do you all think of Rooney's performance? He really should have scored an equalizer with that shot he put wide. He disappeared later. Precise cross for England's goal though. Wellbeck = the poor man's Dirk Kuyt.

On the upside for England: if they play like that in their next two games they should tear Uruguay and Costa Rica apart.

 

[Tilpots]

Rooney had two chances and couldn't finish either. I'm wondering why not go with a finisher like Lambert up there? England did seem to struggle in the heat and humidity, too.

 

[Kariya]

Typical I'm under severe pressure performance from the English key figures. All thanks to the British media.

Meanwhile, Serge Aurier looks a talented player. Pretty much singlehandedly wrestled the game back for Ivory Coast. Having gone a goal down.

Balotelli still a dangerous forward when he's interested.

If Wenger gets these two, then it would surely be an interesting Arsenal side next season.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I am a bit surprised Hodgson didn't throw Lambert in late. Was he afraid to face accusations of playing longball? Or did he simply feel that England were creating enough chances (they were) to grab an equalizer (they didn't)?

Arsenal reject Gervinho wins it for the Ivory Coast.

 

[swiftaw]

I am a bit surprised Hodgson didn't throw Lambert in late. Was he afraid to face accusations of playing longball? Or did he simply feel that England were creating enough chances (they were) to grab an equalizer (they didn't)?

Arsenal reject Gervinho wins it for the Ivory Coast.

I was surprised that England's last sub wasn't Lambert. Anyway, despite the result, at least they gave a performance. I really think the key is to let the young players have a go, they don't seem to be burdened by expectation and they can run. I would play Gerrard and Henderson as holding midfielders with Barkley, Lallana, and Sterling further forward, with Sturridge up front. No way either the Uruguay or Costa Rica defense is quick enough to handle all of that.

3 days and 8 matches in, goals in every match, and no draws. Haven't really had a bad match yet, although Mexico - Cameroon took a while to get going, and Columbia - Greece was a little one sided. Any bets on where the first 0-0 comes from? Switzerland - Ecuador perhaps?

 

[Happybunny]

Costa Rica were just great to watch, that man Campbell will be a joy to watch when he joins Arsenal.
Uruguay were shown up to be a shadow of the 2010 team and without jaws, toothless before goal.

England played like England, the first half they out played Italy, and their come back to level the score was just superb. England must start understanding to really shine at a tournament you need tactics a la the special one, go for the draw if the heat pitch or what ever.
During the second half the England team ran out of steam and ideas, but they certainly have great players for the future, Welbeck, Sterling, Sturridge Barkley.

The fact that six English players suffered from cramp, while only one Italian player was, tells the whole story.




Ivory Coast beat Japan and again one name Dider Drogba, he is for Ivory Coast everything. The moment that he came on the game changed for Ivory Coast.