The 2013-2014 Football Thread

[Lord Blackadder]

Mexico 1 Netherlands 2

Luck and Robben got us through although we really didn’t deserve it.

The only point in our defense we didn’t let our heads hang when we went one down, we kept trying.

Actually I think the Dutch deserved this win, though only just, (Or maybe I'm just so happy Mexico got knocked out...) And Marquez is their dirtiest player, so nobody better to give away the decisive penalty. Ochoa with more huge saves. I like him but I'd still take Howard.

The Dutch were in bad shape until they gave up the goal, which was a good shot by Dos Santos. Then they woke up. Almost everything went through Robben, who is the biggest flipping diver EVER and it makes him impossible to like despite all his talent. RVP was a ghost - I didn't even notice he was off the pitch till Huntelaar took the penalty. Kuyt worked the right side pretty well but he seemed to play deeper than he did at Liverpool - or has he just lost a yard of pace? Memphis had more trouble getting through on the left but seemed to do OK. The Dutch got pinned back for large sections of the game though, and had to rely too much on Robben. Maybe Mexico just had a really good game plan.

Sneijder's equalizer was an unstoppable shot. Robben did get fouled for the penalty but he still flopped theatrically.

Credit to Mexico though, they played far better than I expected and had a pretty good tournament overall. 28 years of failing to get through to the QFs though, that hurts for them. Plus, Miguel Herrera was a scream.

 

[Kariya]

Brilliant. And the underdogs keep marching on.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The Greeks tried but they are such slow team and they cannot finish. Mitroglou has to be one of the worst strikers I've seen in a while. Costa Rica earned that win by playing a man down for an hour. Brave. But the Dutch are comparatively fresh after getting the job done in regular time. Tough game ahead for the Ticos.

A good penalty shootout, much better than Brazil v Chile. Mitroglou's penalty was excellent, actually. Still I hate penalties.

 

[balamw]

Don't forget that NED played their 90 minutes under sweltering conditions. Both teams will be leggy on Saturday.

B

 

[Happybunny]

The Dutch were in bad shape until they gave up the goal, which was a good shot by Dos Santos. Then they woke up. Almost everything went through Robben, who is the biggest flipping diver EVER and it makes him impossible to like despite all his talent. RVP was a ghost - I didn't even notice he was off the pitch till Huntelaar took the penalty. Kuyt worked the right side pretty well but he seemed to play deeper than he did at Liverpool - or has he just lost a yard of pace? Memphis had more trouble getting through on the left but seemed to do OK. The Dutch got pinned back for large sections of the game though, and had to rely too much on Robben. Maybe Mexico just had a really good game plan.

Sneijder's equalizer was an unstoppable shot. Robben did get fouled for the penalty but he still flopped theatrically.

Credit to Mexico though, they played far better than I expected and had a pretty good tournament overall. 28 years of failing to get through to the QFs though, that hurts for them. Plus, Miguel Herrera was a scream.

First off the Netherlands got bent out of shape, when they lost Nigel de Jong in 9 min. But the fact of the matter was RvP was toothless up front, and they were very lucky not to have been looking at at least one goal down.
Dirk Kujk played as a right back which is a new position for him, he has of course lost some pace. But he is a man who always gives 110% and he can motivate the young players.
Ajen Robben is of course a piece of scum and a diving bastard, but even so it was a penalty, a very soft one but still a penalty.

One of the commentators summed it up.
Robben is a conniving, diving piece of ****, with a talent given by the gods, thank god we have him on our side.

 

[takao]

well Mexico can only blame themselves for that loss. They simply stopped playing agressivly in the midfield and also didn't continue to press the dutch defense line.

The back 4-5 players from Holland aren't the most technical gifted and they hardly have great passing skills under pressure.
When Mexico stopped to press they had plenty of time on the ball to get the ball to the creative players.

After the dutch switch to 4-3-3: Robben turned from a forward marked out of the game into a mind blowing winger who is nearly unstoppable.
Kuyt supported him excellent even though he isn't as fast anymore but he still has impressive stamina,considering he played both halves directly in the sun (first as winger on the left, then as right full back on the right).

The penalty call included some obvious Robben theatrics but Marquez invited him to do so by standing on his foot. It wasn't a hard foul, but it was a foul.

The more obvious penalty call should have been in the first half where Robben was hit in his leg first and then scythed down by a another mexican within 2 seconds.


The Greeks showed that they can play offensive football but they sure lack a great mobile striker. Also they hardly could play a possesion passing game with one man up and drag the defense line of of shape by going for a wide formation.
Both teams looked really unorganized at times.... i really question their chances against the netherlands. Especially after the exhausting game.


meanwhile Brazil also dissapointed massivly .... they will have a hard time against the fast columbian attacking line up, and especially their right full back who played a collossal game vs uruguay.
Colombia also is very efficent with their few chances. IMHO the clear favorite vs the weak Brazil.
Brazil will also miss their best midfielder Gustavo. A defensive midfield consisting of Fernandihno _and_ Paulhino ? A disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Kuyt's transformation to right back mirrors that of the USA's DaMarcus Beasley - once a speedy winger but now a solid left back.

The funny thing is, despite Robben's antics he should have won a penalty in the first half, as takao pointed out. Mexico defended too deep at the end, you just knew a goal was coming.

I thought the decisive call was a clear foul - Marquez stepped on Robben's foot - but he'd been diving all day so I understand why people are upset about it. Still, he didn't bite anyone, so the furore will pass.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Wow, Germany are incredibly lucky!!!

Their second goal seemed to be nothing more than insurance but it proved to be absolutely vital. Algeria fought all the way and played good football, their goal in the 120th minute scared the hell out of Germany. Germany were just barely the better team, but they did not look as good as I expected.

People said that Germany were not going 100% against the USA..,well they didn't here either. Some sloppy finishing, and surprisingly slow at times. They will need to be better than that to beat France. Neuer did a lot of goalkeeping without using his hands....Özil looks low on confidence, he takes extra touches or passes when he should shoot. He scored but under slightly fortuitous circumstances.

Germany will need to improve in order to beat the French. One interesting thing from this match was the speed that extra time was played at. The weather was much cooler here and the players were able to run a lot longer.

 

[oscillatewildly]

Please Griezmann and Valbuena v Germany.

 

[Kariya]

People are saying the French have nothing to worry about. But they weren't exactly vintage today either, and had it not been for the Nigerian goalkeeping error and an own goal they might well have been taken to the wire.

It should be a cracking game on Friday.

Then again it could be absolutely dreadful since both teams weren't great today against the Africans.

Both games still paled in comparison to yesterday's matches IMHO.

 

[twietee]

Pheww, pure slapstick. One of the most ridiculous games I've ever witnessed.

Said it before, will say it again, Löw is a terrible coach. Terrible! Not sure what's worse, his stupid ideas about matchplans, the inability to react and adjust quickly in game or his utter failure analyzing post match. Tough one.

 

[Kariya]

Unpopular opinion (and unlikely to happen) but i'll be most happy if one of the CONCAF teams wins the tournament. The Europeans don't really deserve it and Brazil think they're already champions before they've even kicked the ball

 

[mojolicious]

Unpopular opinion (and unlikely to happen) but i'll be most happy if one of the CONCAF teams wins the tournament.

I'd be happy with that, as long as it's Costa Rica.

Why do you say that the European teams 'don't deserve it'? France, Germany and the Netherlands all played below their potential in the R16 matches, against good teams who rose to the occasion, but all three progressed to the quarter finals.

I think/hope that Brazil's World Cup ends against Colombia; it really should have ended against Chile and they've been riding their luck for the whole tournament.

 

[Kariya]

I'd be happy with that, as long as it's Costa Rica.

Why do you say that the European teams 'don't deserve it'? France, Germany and the Netherlands all played below their potential in the R16 matches, against good teams who rose to the occasion, but all three progressed to the quarter finals.

I think/hope that Brazil's World Cup ends against Colombia; it really should have ended against Chile and they've been riding their luck for the whole tournament.

Precisely for this reason.

Its annoying watching a team that everyone knows is clearly superior on paper haphazardly stumble over the line.

I'd rather those who actually showed up on the day and put in a performance progress instead.

 

[balamw]

If the teams keep playing as they have been, the berth to the finals in the group playing on Friday belongs rightfully to Colombia. Brazil, Germany and France have all been performing erratically.

I'll withhold my thoughts on the Saturday teams until they finish tomorrow, but CRC has definitely been the most consistent there so far.

I'm hoping that we see three CONMEBOL, three UEFA and two CONCACAF teams in the final eight. (Argentina and USA move on tomorrow).

It's a shame that at least one UEFA team (FRA or GER) HAS to make the semis.

B

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Suarez has given one of those no-apology apologies...

...the truth is that my colleague Giorgio Chiellini suffered the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me. For this I deeply regret what occurred. I apologise to Giorgio Chiellini and the entire football family. I vow to the public that there will never again be another incident like this.

Liverpool remain almost totally silent, but the word is that Barca want to buy him. I say we offload him and buy James Rodriguez.

People are saying the French have nothing to worry about. But they weren't exactly vintage today either, and had it not been for the Nigerian goalkeeping error and an own goal they might well have been taken to the wire.

Those people are crazy. Germany might be playing below their potential, but they are still the favorites. Should be a very tough test for both teams.

Said it before, will say it again, Löw is a terrible coach. Terrible! Not sure what's worse, his stupid ideas about matchplans, the inability to react and adjust quickly in game or his utter failure analyzing post match. Tough one.

Back when Löw took over from Klinsmann, I recall a lot of people criticising Klinsmann by saying that it was really Löw behind Germany's progress all along. He seemed to be well-liked. He's obviously under a lot of pressure to produce now, but I wonder if people would still say the same thing re: Klinsi and Löw

Precisely for this reason.

Its annoying watching a team that everyone knows is clearly superior on paper haphazardly stumble over the line.

I'd rather those who actually showed up on the day and put in a performance progress instead.

I agree. Chile, CRC, Colombia have all been worthy competitors. I'd love to see Colombia knock Brazil out.

 

[twietee]

Back when Löw took over from Klinsmann, I recall a lot of people criticising Klinsmann by saying that it was really Löw behind Germany's progress all along. He seemed to be well-liked. He's obviously under a lot of pressure to produce now, but I wonder if people would still say the same thing re: Klinsi and Löw

I agree. Chile, CRC, Colombia have all been worthy competitors. I'd love to see Colombia knock Brazil out.

No, that's not quite right. IIRC Klinsmann got heavily criticized at the very start of his campaign for either being too young, not living in Germany, not being able to to manage a balanced defense (playing too attacking) or a mix of those. After the tournament he was hailed upon but when he failed at Bayern during the next season the entire Munich empire started a horrible campaign to discredit him. That really worked in favor of Löw's popular perception - also in retrospective upon his involvement '06 - making him some kind of tactical genius.
But Löw is a coach so flawed I can't possibly know where to start. One of the best imo: after his horrible fail as a tactical genius who made us look like fools against Italy in 2012 he singles out his one defender, Mats Hummels, who played a fantastic and flawless tournament until his one mistake against Cassano pre 1:0, which was also part of a chain of mistakes by multiple players, and blames the whole thing openly on him, a player who is confident enough to voice his own opinion (frawned upon) btw.

But his miscoaching was so blatantly bad that after probably half a year he openly confessed for the first time that he himself made a mistake. HALF. A. YEAR.

Yesterday he said post match he got only 14-15 players he could play. WTF? WTF! Jeez...nobody called him out on that one unfortunately.

Löw playing two central defenders (Mustafi, only 3-4 games in total for GER so far) and Höwedes out of position in every. single. fricking. game. so far is beyond me.

List without an ending..

-

Why is everyone rooting against the host (Brazil)? Because of Fred's dive? Don't understand that. Colombia is great as was Chile during the first 60-70mins (wasn't the better team though) but I'm at least torn, great to see that many underdogs ripping some up.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

No, that's not quite right.

Ah, I stand corrected. I didn't realize that Low was under that much criticism.

Why is everyone rooting against the host (Brazil)? Because of Fred's dive? Don't understand that. Colombia is great as was Chile during the first 60-70mins (wasn't the better team though) but I'm at least torn, great to see that many underdogs ripping some up.

They just don't look that good to me and so far don't deserve to advance in my opinion.

 

[twietee]

They just don't look that good to me and so far don't deserve to advance in my opinion.

Well, I know that but still think it's quite harsh to be that critical vs a hosting nation when almost every other 'top team' (as in: on paper) looked at least equally bad so far. Netherlands, Germany, Argentina and France were rather lucky too.

Also Chile wasn't the better team during 120min, on the contrary imo. But whatever, just thought it's harsh and now moving on... *smiley*


^those damn new emoticons! Looking horrible!

 

[Happybunny]

First off I wasn’t surprised that Germany advanced to the next stage, but I was surprised at the amount of trouble they had in doing it.

Of course that is one of Germany’s great strengths, the ability to win ugly. Plus the almost inhuman way all German sides play the the full time, you let your guard down in the dying minutes at your peril. Another point is the Algeria is not a weak team, they were a worthy opponent.

It’s always been one of the Dutch weaknesses, is they don’t just want to win, but they want to do it in a stylish manner. This Dutch side has learnt as seen against Mexico, play the full time, and a goal is a goal.


Brazil is quite frankly very dissappionting, they have so far not only under achieved but look bad doing it.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I take your point twietee. But the Brazilians have, I feel, had the most luck of all. Plus, this appears to be the weakest Brazil team in a very long time. Surely one of the other remaining teams is a more deserving champion?

 

[twietee]

They just don't look that good to me and so far don't deserve to advance in my opinion.

Wait, do you talk about the Chile game? You thought Chile deserved to advance because they were better? I think Chile was rather lucky that it went into a shoot-out if anything, and then it's mostly luck.
Or do you mean the game against Colombia - which isn't played yet?

Still think people expect too much from a mediocre Brazilian team, we knew that even before the tournament started. Except Croatia, who weren't better but deserved a draw, there was no opponent yet playing better than them while losing imo. And I can't see much one sided refs either - the Fred pen was the only obvious call imho. But yea, whatever.

----------

I take your point twietee. But the Brazilians have, I feel, had the most luck of all. Plus, this appears to be the weakest Brazil team in a very long time. Surely one of the other remaining teams is a more deserving champion?

France? Weak group, didn't convince me yesterday just as well.

Germans? Let's not talk about them - only convincing game was against Portugal - and those folks beat themselves mostly.

Sure I love Colombia and would love to see them winning, but I wouldn't root just because while they'd be winning unfair/undeservedly against Brazil e.g.

Greek was the better team against CRC but have a bad image. Still don't root for them. 2004 is enough.

Netherlands, probably. Dunno, not THAT great either so far.

Argentina, worse than Brazil imo.

Belgium is my dark horse - very cryptic performance so far. Part of the masterplan imho. ; )


That's just my quick gut feeling. As of now Colombia is my fav too (with Belgium) - but Brazil is far from the worst - more amongst many other mediocre teams I'd say, but they're hosting so I wouldn't exactly root against them (can one say that?). It's a pity those two face each other so soon.

The jogo bonito of the past comparison isn't helping them, that's for sure.
Must be enormous pressure upon them but I've been really impressed by Neymar so far - he sure loves the spotlight but runs, passes, shoots, tackles like a madman - and doing a lot of things right with that. Mentally right up there.

 

[Kariya]

My problem with Brazil is they act like they're the best team in the tournament, presumably because of their confed cup success, and talk themselves up beforehand. But they then go on the pitch and play hopeful route one football to Neymar for a large part of the match.

And what perturbs me about that is that they have a decent starting XI and shouldn't have to do that unless its the final moments of the game.

They have competent midfielders, defender, fullbacks and forwards (not Fred). They should be doing more than they have been doing. It's not a world class team but it's more than enough on paper. There are teams with less talent playing better football.

But as it stands they've offered very little since the first game. Other than "we are Brazil" and "Neymar Neymar"

On another note, it seems Lallana has completed his switch to Anfield.

Speaking of Anfield, Suarez may indeed be looking to make an exit. And the rumor that Barca told him to apologise before they would sanction a move for him is picking up steam and has been fanned further by the fact that one of Barca's chiefs has come out with a positive spin.

 

[twietee]

M
Speaking of Anfield, Suarez may indeed be looking to make an exit.

I really wish Dortmund can sign Alexis Sanchez. But since that won't happen Liverpool is the next best thing. Incredible player, it was always sad to see him warming the bench while Neymar and Messi weren't really on form most of the time last year.

 

[oscillatewildly]

...

Liverpool remain almost totally silent, but the word is that Barca want to buy him. I say we offload him and buy James Rodriguez.

...

Talk of James off to Real Madrid, Di Maria out.

---
New style Casper the Friendly Ghost smilies? Flat is more.

Conspiracy :smile:, Japanese ref for Brazil, Australian ref for Greece, French speaking ref for Belgium - the last one is a bit too far.

Think USA can win if; teamwork and Belgium go to change up in the last 20 minutes and find today is the day it isn't there.

Cheers,
OW