Good to see that if Plan A fails the Argies resort to the age old tactic of hacking the opposition down instead. It's a shame for Messi and Aguero but the rest of the team are very poor by comparison And the VAR decisions (when they're even taken) get more and more laughable. Use it properly or not at all. How can 5 officials supposedly watching these games be so utterly incompetent ?
I must admit watching Lionel Messi last night was awful, I have never seen a player of his quality walk around so much, if your not getting the ball go and look for it, you are the captain, show some interest, obviously you don't see eye to eye with the manager, saying that who would, he makes LJ look like a world beater.
Some people are not liking how much of an impact VAR is having, but I'm thinking there are more positive/correct decisions being made than wrong. As I type this it's 5 minutes to go in the Brazil - Costa Rica game and the referee has reversed a penalty decision, which is a brave decision. Maybe it was swayed by a bit of the small-team bias I suspect has been at play at times, but Neymar does go down easily after the hand has already been withdrawn.
I think VAR has worked mainly well, still requires improvements, but overall good and I wasn't a fan! Argies have a lifeline and can now see them making the knockouts!! Interesting world cup, no outstanding teams but surprise packages for me are Croatia & Russians...all in all, very entertaining and very open..
I can see Nigeria giving Argentina a game. A point isn't enough for Argentina and may not be enough for Nigeria either. All to play for in that grop
In terms of the VAR I also don't understand why a referee standing just 2 yards from play couldn't make a decision on his own as to whether or not it was a penalty. There are 5 'officials' watching the game in the VAR area and a ref and 2 linespersons (politically correct ) involved in the game itself. And yet still wrong decisions are being made. Sounds like the old 'how many people does it take to change a light bulb' joke
For my money, the problem is that FIFA haven't actually figured out and clearly articulate what the scope and use of VAR is, leaving us all to come with our own thoughts on how it should be employed. FIFA need to decide if it's a sanity check tool for key moments in the game, e.g. Ball over the line for a goal or making penalty calls, or is it to miss really bad challenges decisions in open play, e.g. The rugby tackle on Kane in the box v Tunisia or the Diego Costa forearm smash on the Portugese defender for the goal in that game. Currently there is no consistency, from the VAR panel, hence the erratic nature of the decisions, it was right to overturn the penalty call in the Brazil B Costa Rica game for Neymar's theatrics, but equally an awful call to give Australia a penalty vs Denmark, and to be honest even VAR wasn't conclusive for the Hazard penalty yesterday vs Tunisia.
As an England fan, shame to see Germany come back from the brink, but as a football fan, great credit to them for their response and another fantastic late goal from Kroos. Halftime in the England match - well, they've been excellent! Panama have been poor, bar a handful of spells where they've passed it nicely and carved out a couple of half chances, but they still needed to be put away. Very happy for Lingard getting his goal because it's the threat he brings and though he missed some good chances against Tunisia, it would've been overly harsh to just drop him as some have suggested. Also, excellent ref. Maybe the coverage of the treatment of Kane at corners against Tunisia made him aware of it, but he has clearly spoken to the players about it and when that fell of deaf Panamanian ears, he's made the correct calls. Panama could well see players walk and then it's down to how hard England push for more goals or conserve their energy in terms of how many they get - 10-0 isn't completely out of the question...
Why on earth is Sterling playing when his contribution today was an absolute zero? A good win today but I have a concern that a well disciplined squad could tear us apart and the Belgium match will show our mettle and commitment. Why did we sit back yet again and allow Panama a goal but also we seemed to miss the point that we needed to win by one more goal to go above our next opponent?
Why so negative, you are right we did give possession away easily at times , where a higher level of position would be more likely to punish us , but there were plenty of positives too , which you just seemed to have ignored, the lesser teams have often been our undoing in the past . Enjoy the good performance, six goals and getting through group stages with one match to spare , there will be plenty of time to worry about the negatives later on the tournament.
I expect the best and I heard that today's match was the first time we had scored more than 4 goals in a game at the World Cup since that special day in 1966. That's my positive right there and I have a sneaking suspicion that we may do more than expected. Listen to that EH! P.S. I was there.
Got some real humdingers of final group matches to go: In group A, both Russia and Uruguay have already qualified, but it'll be interesting to see how Russia do against a better side then Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Group B, you fancy Spain to brush aside Morocco without to much issue, but might Iran upset Portugal? I suspect Ronaldo's star quality will be good enough to see the job through, but Iran were organised and hard for Spain to break down and were close to earning a draw with their disallowed goal. Group C, France have quietly gone about their business and can largely put their feet up. Denmark were unlucky to draw with Australia due to a dodgy handball decision, so I'd like them to pip our Australian cousins and I think they will. Group D, Croatia similarly can take their last game easy (to a point), though making sure an unlikely turnaround doesn't threaten their top spot as playing France vs playing Denmark or Australia is a significant difference. Nigeria - Argentina is fascinating, and I think it'll either be triumph or disaster for Argentina. They've been quite awful and rumours are that the players will essentially organise themselves and ignore their manager for the last game. I'll be keeping everything crossed for Nigeria to get at least a draw but I fear the Argies will scrape themselves through still. Would be hilarious if Iceland pipped them to it! Group E, after their first half against Switzerland, I though Serbia might have a chance of getting a result against Brazil, but their capitulation now makes me think they'll be beaten comfortably - they need to win outright to stay in. Switzerland might be held to a draw, but will most likely win by one, unless Costa Rica say 'aw, screw it' and go attacking for their farewell appearance, in which case they could be picked off. Group F, those bloody Germans should brush aside South Korean easily enough. Mexico - Sweden is hard to call, but I think they'll draw. Group G. apparently Belgium are going to make lots of changes - I think we will/should too, to a point, without completely disrupting the team. There's been plenty of talk about maybe wanting to finish 2nd, which could be doubly the case if a re-invigorated Colombia end up 2nd in Group H. Group H is surely the most open and unpredictable. Colombia showed against Poland what they can do if they don't self-destruct, so I favour them to turn over a Senegal side with danger men, but also weak links (ahem, goalkeeper). Japan have good, technical players, but can be over-powered. Poland haven't turned up and though I can see an effort to save face, I think Japan will be more organised and turn them over to top their group. I'd much rather we play them than Colombia though.
Anyone else expecting to see a practice match tonight between 2 vastly changed teams that in truth neither probably wants to push too hard to win given who would await if both sides win their 2nd round games (which they should)? Also expecting a flurry of yellow cards late on, if FIFA haven't already pre-warned the ref this may be the case and told him to keep thm in his pocket where possible.
I'm sure FIFA are well aware of the situation and if the teams haven't already been briefed as such, they will be told that if they believe that a side is intentionally trying to throw the game that it could result in them being chucked out altogether. I'm expecting either a drab affair where neither side gets out of 2nd gear, or a mildly entertaining affair where caution is thrown to the wind and players take lots of risks and attempt ridiculous tricks and shots on goal. Though both sides will want to be fresh for the last 16, there'll also be a handful of players who will want to stake their claim to start matches in the knockout stage - Rashford in particular springs to mind and Danny Rose, if fully fit, could be preferred to Ashley Young. A very weird situation, but preferable to needing a result to qualify - it's pretty much no-lose.
England were pathetic today and even though they had already qualified it does not bode well for our next match. We need to step up rather than the constant back play.
I think that's a bit of an overreaction - it was close to a dead rubber & if it hadn't been for a fingertip save, Rashford would've made it 1-1. It's always deflating when you lose, but in much the same way that some people say others shouldn't get carried away after a couple of wins, they themselves shouldn't be overly negative over a largely inconsequential loss against one of the favourites for the tournament (even if was both sides' 2nd strings). If they fail to perform against Colombia, then fair game...
Yeah that game was more pre-season friendly than World Cup spectacle. I'm not worried whatsoever, I just hope the first team can now step up against Colombia.
The best bit was when Batusyi belted the ball against the post and rebounded and smashed him in the face - f**k did I laugh.....
