Off Topic WORLD CUP 2018

Germany...0-1...Mexico... H/T.....brilliant game....Mexico deserve to be winning.

 

Germany...0-1...Mexico...F/T.....defeat for the holders.

 

Brazil...1-1...Switzerland...F/T.

 

As i said nothing to fear so far.. hopefully we go out and play well and get a result ..

 

I tuned into the Germany v Mexico match just as the he Mexicans scored. Had to watch the rest and boy was I praying that they would hold on. How they did I'm not sure but it was a great result for the competition. Mind you with a bit more clinical finishing it could have been 4 - 0 to Mexico.

Watched all of the Brazil v Swiss match this evening. It was a decent watch for the neutral. Not sure how the Swiss managed to keep 11 on the field of play for the whole game though. They were determined to stop Neymar by any means possible. The Swiss No.11 was having a great time fouling him and not getting booked for it. He spent most of the match with a smile on his face he was enjoying himself that much. Once again it was all hands on defence for some lengthy periods for them but they also created their own chances.

 

Nothing to fear but ourselves of course!

Seems to be a much better atmosphere around the camp with a new, young group of players and a manager who's handled the media brilliantly.

Let's hope the tabloids stick with it if issues crop up. Belgium look tough opponents for a start with De Bruyne, Hazard and Lukaku but will they play as a team or rival stars?

Sent from my mobile phone - E&OE

 

Belgium were quite pants this afternoon. May have won 3 - 0 which looks easy but it should have been a lot more. Bet they don't play like that against us. Panama full of enthusiasm but little end product on anything.

 

Watch out for Khazri at Tunisia. He's the best set-piece specialist I have ever seen. His creates havoc from his corners, sometimes he puts them in the top corners!

 

Right result but what an absolute load of fecking rubbish that was. On that performance England ain't going anywhere. Slow ponderous crap most of the game with Tunisia playing the percentage game and going for fouls and stuff. Got them most of the time as well and the Refereeing in that game was pants. My opinion never a penalty against and Harry the Kane should have had 2 nailed on for rugby or wrestling fouls. I almost turned it off but my missus told me not to whimp out and man up.

 

Where did they find that Referee so inept at controlling the game.....gives an easy penalty against us....yet two blatant rugby style tackles on us get waved away.
Refuses to make Tunisian players stand ten yards back for free kicks....histrionics when tackled....a goalkeeper who wastes five of the first fifteen minutes dying on the pitch who was not touched by any physical challenge.
We somehow won 2-1 against a mediocre pub team who tried to spoil play all the time....there must be a brown envelope tucked away somewhere for that Ref....he just didn't seem bothered to make any decision other than the dubious penalty against us.
The midges got in free by the millions.

 

Good result, the ref should be sent home.. Or did putin pay or threaten him.. Most of the refs have been good to date, why do we always get the ****

 

Gary Lineker and his BBC panel were eulogizing about a different game then the one I was watching.

 

The pundits are always talking stuff up which a load of people like you and me can never see. They always side with the player who goes down when confronted by a passing breeze as somebody runs past him and players can never stay on their feet no matter what. They should have fans comment on the play rather than ex pro players. They also work for the media and if people turn off in droves then the rating go down so they have to tell us that we have been watching the best game since it was invented.

That Ref is probably doing league one next season Joe. He will fit in quite nicely. He was by a mile the worst I have ever seen.

 

So negative! You are right about the ref, an utter disgrace. As I said earlier, they have all been briefed to wave their arms about at corners but then do absolutely nothing about the Turkish wrestling that goes on afterwards.

Tunisia may be very limited and none too ethical but they are the highest rated African nation in the competition. The comment about the quality of their dead ball delivery is dead right. You have admit if we'd taken the chances we made, including 2 penalties, 6-0 wouldn't have been an unrepresentative result.

We aren't Brazil or Germany but I'll take that as a first attempt from a new young team.

If we beat an equally poor Panama side then the result against a talented but unproven Belgium won't matter and we'll be into the knockout rounds. By recent England standards, that's a result.

Sent from my mobile phone - E&OE

 

I'm not being negative notdistant I'm saying what I saw. England huffed and puffed their way through that game and spent so much time standing still it was as if the camera had stuck. Not a good performance even if it was the right result. I understand that Tunisia aren't a complete p*ss poor team but we must be able to beat a team like that with a bit more ease than we did. Belgium may have won 3 - 0 but they weren't great either. Panama are not as good as Tunisia which is a good thing for us it seems. We will get to the last stage but from there????? who knows which team will turn up. Biggest disappointment last night was.....................Sterling followed by Alli.

 

Alli started well but seemed to take a knock - not sure why he didn't come off sooner because he did drop out of the game.

Sterling is lively everywhere except when it comes to scoring. He's scored about 1 in 3 over 140 odd appearances since he's been at Manchester City which looks OK until you consider he's been playing through the middle and in those 3 years they've been 4th, 3rd and 1st in the PL and semis, last 16 and quarters in the Champions League and won the League Cup twice. Rashford looked much more likely when he came on.

On the rest we'll have to disagree. England started very brightly although the finishing was woeful. The crazy penalty took the wind out of the sails but we finished strongly. As much as you can expect - and it could have been worse - Germany, Argentina and Brazil didn't manage 3 points against opposition you'd have expected them to smash easily and Spain are the same, although at least they played a strongish team. First games aren't easy.

 

England couldn't deal with the midges so easily as Tunisia... there probably an everyday occurrence over there.

What was unbelievable to me was the lack of action from the Ref when England had a free kick near the half-way line, which was also near the touchline as well. Tunisia set up some kind of defensive wall...but had one player standing a yard away from the ball...who moved a couple of more yards back.....the Ref just stood watching whilst the England player gesticulated with his hands to the Ref that the Tunisian player hadn't really retreated from the ball....there was at least a twenty second stand off and the Ref did Fanny Adams about it....if that's the standard of refereeing in Columbia, it makes me wonder why no UK Refs where chosen by FIFA for the World Cup.

 

England's goal celebrations were a tad over the top.....Kane could have died under that pyramid of bodies....I bet a few midges were crushed and didn't survive in there.

 

Well for 10 minutes England looked like a proper team. Trouble is it was pretty much only for the first 10 minutes. After that they just huffed and puffed as I said. Against any side worthy of the name they would have lost and they will stand little or no chance. The chances were many and the finishing worse than you would see in a school playground. But, we won and in the context of a competition like this that is really all that matters right now. As for the first game bit well lets see how they get on in games 2, 3 and 4.

 

I see that our old friend Sepp Blatter has arrived in Russia for the World Cup.....invited as a guest of Vladimir Putin.

He is also backing the UK for the 2030 World Cup..... a joint England/Scotland/Wales bid.....that sounds like the end of our chances then.