Winning your first group game is so important to relief the pressure on you (more so if for that game neither you nor the opponent are top ranked in that group) .
Not boring 0-0 games so I think the intensity is still there a lot of the ‘lesser’ nations seem to be well drilled discipline and organisation Qatar seem to be the worst team I’ve seen so far
Some can explained easier than others Poland are habitually toothless up front in tournaments (even with Lewandowski) while Mexico's gameplan was "Get it out to Lozano or Vega and they'll dribble into the box" from the outset which the Poles figured out yet Mexico didn't switch things up and spent the last twenty minutes having their wingers send easy to save grasscutters straight at Chesney from 15-20 yards, so a stalemate was always going to happen Tunisia's initial Lake Trasimino blitz caught Denmark on the back foot, although it does have to be said that Denmark took a hell of a long time to get going in that match, and that one wouldn't have been a stalemate if Cornelius got his shot from one yard on target Croatia and Morocco were both moving the ball around very well, but neither team really managed to create anything clear cut in the final third Basically all of the stalemates so far have been a result of one version of Tottenham being on the pitch: Mexico's tactics were uncannily like ours in 2020-1, Denmark were comparable to us this season at times, and Croatia were reminiscent of Poch circa 2017-18
I suspect the victims would rather have it happen in game round 1 (when they still have games to pull their finger out) than round 2 or 3.
Yeah didn’t Spain lose their first game in 2010 and still went on to win it. I still fancy Argentina to come good but hopefully the Germans repeat their 2018 World Cup journey
Looks like Kane trained today so assume that he is OK. On another note interesting to see Spain playing Rodri as a CB in preference to Pau Torres
The days when squad "on paper" technical superiority automatically overcomes lesser squads who have little to offer but putting a shift in, are long gone. Those of the former who do not similarly put a shift in will find themselves on the end of such results soon enough.
Probably a bit early to make direct comparisons but Barca and Spain fans are surely a little excited about Pedri and Gavi possibly being the next Xavi and Iniesta. Very talented young players. Spain playing some slick stuff in general though, do enjoy the Tiki-Taka style of football.
