If todays games don't contain any shocks, we'll go into the match tomorrow looking at a top half of Uruguay v Portugal, France v Argentina, Brazil v Germany, and either Senegal/Japan/Colombia waiting the winner of our group. The lower half is Spain v Russia, Croatia v Denmark, Switzerland v Mexico, and one of the same three opponents for the runner up in our group. As I said before - second place is looking far more attractive than actually winning the group...
I don’t really mind who we get to play going forward. The form teams seem to be Croatia, Mexico, Uruguay (in their irritating way), Belgium and ourselves. The big names aren’t really firing, but I’d still rather have the glory of beating one of them, or going out with a good performance to one of them, than losing to Mexico or Croatia (no offence meant), or even worse ****ing around trying to finish second in the group (not in our nature or skill set, though it’s likely Belgium, unless they play silly buggers, will be favourites to beat us) and then losing to Japan in the last 16. Something tells me that the psyche of our young team will be much better served by a win against Belgium, or a creditable draw, no matter what that means in terms of who we potentially play later in the competition. Getting to the quarters was my maximum expectation for this tournament, anything beyond that was fantasy territory a few weeks ago, and still should be. The fact that dreams are resolutely recurring is testament to Southgate. Play every game as well as we can, fear no one (and I’ve seen nothing to fear so far, though plenty to be wary of). Quite a few will be fearing us, a team with intent, direction, a sense of freedom, quite good discipline, a front foot attitude and a talisman who can’t help scoring. What fun this is, though I haven’t seen a single live game since last Saturday and am getting withdrawal symptoms. I’ll be getting to the airport tomorrow (which has excellent Wi-fi) about 4 hours early to ensure I don’t miss anything.
You've missed a few good games (France v Denmark not included). Argentina and Nigeria last night was very dramatic and included a sublime goal by Messi. VAR, whilst farcically applied on a few occasions, has certainly added to the drama of the tournament. On what has been on show so far, England should fear no one, and should go for the win tomorrow regardless of what that might mean regarding future opponents. We might not have the strongest squad in the tournament, but we have a very good coach, a style of play that works for us, and a unity in the squad that several other nations are lacking. We could win the thing.
VAR would be greatly improved if, just like rugby, fans in the stadium and watching on telly could listen in on what is being said between the ref and officials.
I’ve seen highlights but it’s not the same and I love the relentless flow of games in the group stages. The time difference means the late games kick off at 2pm here and I can’t really sneak out of all work in the afternoons..... On the plus side I’m working with a great cross section of people from other countries who are equally addicted. Here with a bunch from our Japan affiliate, who are stunned that they haven’t been knocked out already. My Colombian colleague is very overexcited, tries to watch the games while FaceTiming her family back home. My boss, who coaches kids (our own Jurgen Sommer is head coach at the club) and who is of Swedish ancestry, is dreading England doing well as the two Englishmen who work for him will be intolerable. A German mate who is based here sent me the following message after some gentle mocking from me last week: ***AUTOMATED EMAIL RESPONSE*** Recipient has blocked your email address PERMANENTLY for talking BOLLOCKS*** The maze of different international rivalries is fascinating. At dinner last night the Japanese confessed that they disliked just about all Asian teams, but especially South Korea. The Colombian expressed Latin American solidarity, except for Venezuela.
That's the problem with VAR at the moment. It's being applied inconsistently. Some things are being reviewed when they really don't need to be, and others seem clear cut (like Tunisia wrestling in the box) and either aren't reviewed or aren't given. Players don't know what the regulations are so appeal for everything. and all that's happened is that we've swapped the referee's opinion for a faceless Muscovite's opinion. If we're going to keep VAR (and we clearly will be) then this needs to be addressed and formulated. Offsides - it's a matter of fact rather than opinion, so fine. Penalty decisions - tend to be opinions, because the rules are so unevenly applied. Red Cards - again, mostly opinions in the cases that aren't absolutely clear-cut. I'd like to see some kind of system like they have in cricket. Allow each side one appeal per half, plus one if it goes to extra time. Only the on-field captain can make that appeal. If it's reviewed and you're right, then you keep the review. Lose it and you can't appeal anything else that half - and pressuring / surrounding the ref is a bookable offence. We also need to see more consistency in what referees call as a red card or a penalty - at the moment both are at the whim of the referee and guided by what kind of thing he punishes during the game. Get VAR right and it's excellent. Get it wrong, or get it confused, and it's not going to work.
This German team are unrecognisable, struggling to break down South Korea with a lacklustre display. Sweden beating Mexico 2-0 so currently Germany heading out (what a shame!).
