My post wasn't directed towards you, but I agree with you nonetheless. His reaction to his booking had me in stitches. Actually fell off the couch from laughing at his reaction. Must mean I'm an *******.
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The 2017-2018 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
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Yeah they also have someone named Messi. Sorry Uruguay got about as far as they could. France are only getting stronger as this tournament progresses.
See above: Diva, Diver. We can both appreciate his footballing genius and despise his unlikable traits and persona.
And with that, mercifully, we can also stop talking about both Messi and Ronaldo now. The World Cup moves on without them, much to the consternation of the FIFA bean-counters and glory-hunting fans.
Chuffed for Uruguay! Awesome second goal too. Not sad to see Argentina and Portugal heading home for purely selfish and historical reasons lol, but just hoping England don’t choke against Columbia now.
Oh, and I didn't mention it earlier, but for me Pavard's volley for France was the goal of the tournament so far...and absolute thunderbolt from a player who never scores goals.
It's definitely a winnable game for England. If they can shrug off the self-doubt that has handicapped them for so long in knockout matches, they have every chance of progressing.
It's definitely a winnable game for England. If they can shrug off the self-doubt that has handicapped them for so long in knockout matches, they have every chance of progressing.
Nope sure didn’t, but did he not help them win? Who made the cross to get with one goal? With Messi Argentina would have lost 4-0.
Of course. I'm talking only about football. The entire politics around it are a disaster, no question.
Sampaoli is useless. He never had a plan. Not for this match, not for the rest. The AFA is as corrupt as our people and our governments.
If we are going to talk about football, two things: the midfield was non-existent. We had no defense overall, and no plan in particular to stop Mbappe, and any of France's fast players (all of them?).
Doubt it! Do you know how much Messi does for this Argentina team? Also those “silly@ fouls kept France from scoring more goals. Had Mbappé not been fouled on 2 break aways, those are almost certainly goals.
We have no defense. If it weren't for the fouls we would have lost 7/8-3.
He seemed understated compared to last time.
And without him the team would play differently or even have quite different composition.
When you can't stop 'em, hit 'em. That was Sampaoli's appalling plan with that appalling defense for that brilliant French offensive.
If only the obvious box foul had been avoided, it could have been 3-3 at 90' or even a completely different game.
Yeah, expecting one guy to carry a team never works. They never fixed the defense the entire WC. Once they played a quality opponent, they got exposed completely.
Fine, but I'm looking at it long-term. If we cannot defend, powerful nations will overrun us. 2 matches against very good teams, 7 goals received. You can't fight against that. We needed a complete defensive strategy overhaul, and Sampaoli can't overhaul the design of a leaflet oriented to kids.
I expect Argentina to be physical and even a little dirty, but what they lacked was control - not just defending, though I agree with you, but the ability to manage the tempo of the game. They knew how to attack, but behind that attack was a lot of confusion and fear.
Sampaoli seemed to favor an aggressive approach, pressing the opponent. This is a tactic that works well but only when employed by a well-drilled unit, and international squads have less time to train together than club sides. It seems Argentina simply weren't able to adapt to his preferred approach in time. His flip-flopping between a back 3 and back 4 seemed desperate flailing rather than clever tactical shifts.
The necessary pieces are there, but as a unit Argentina either didn't have enough of a plan, or weren't ready to execute it properly, or both.
Contrast that to Iceland, who are very light on talent but a wonderfuly cohesive team who knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing. They punched WAY above their weight. Imagine how dominant an Argentina squad with the same level of preparation and confidence could be.
Well yes, preparation was not enough. I agree with that. But Argentina can pull through with a half-lit offense if defense is somewhat present. (We scored THREE goals, even while not being at our best), but if you cannot stop a fly from scoring a goal; well, progress is difficult.
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