sadoldgit

Especially if the were standing behind a tree with an iPhone.

I don’t disagree that he is good to watch but the end product is often frustrating. If it wasn’t though he would have been playing at a higher level than ours last season.

Not true though. Argentina showed signs of stepping up a gear before we scored. In the first half they seemed content to put us off our stride with lots of niggly fouls. They came out in the second half and started to play football. They did the same against Egypt and will probably to the same against Spain. They were written off early on as too old and past it. Clearly they are not. As for us, did anyone really think we would make the semis before a ball was kicked in this competition? What did Lineker say about Tuchel? “60% genius, 40% psychopath.” I think we have seen that over the last few weeks!

I don’t disagree that he made tactical errors after we scored but he has to be given credit for taking a slightly above average team to the semi finals of the World Cup. We rode our luck in the earlier rounds and that was always going to run out. Several posters made the pont that we were the fourth best team in the semis, and so it proved. Yes, he has overall responsibility for the loss, but he should also be given credit for getting that far in the first place. Better teams than us went out in earlier rounds.

We must have been watching a different game. Argentina have shown time and again that they are a machine. They clearly had a lot more in their locker than we did and were the better team on the night. Yes, the subs and the tactics didn’t help, but we couldn’t match them when they stepped up a gear, and that was clear before we scored.

I agree about Tuchel tonight, but to be fair to him he has taken an average team to the semi finals. As for Spain, yes, I think they will win, but I don’t think that it will be easy for them.

I’ve been watching them screw up since 1968.

Argentina were able to go up several gears while we were stuck in reverse. As for those who think that Messi is crap, give your head a wobble.

We over performed to get to the semis but bottled it in this game. The best team won but we made it easy for them by inviting them on.

Game over

Shutting up shop with 30 mins to go against Argentina? Really?

I wasn’t expecting too much against Mexico and Norway so I will stick with the pessimism in the hope that England will put in a decent performance this evening. I expect it will be a bit livelier than last night, maybe one or two red cards? France showed last night that previous performances do not necessarily translate to form in a semi final. Here’s hoping!

Do other teams scout football forums to look for potential signings? If so, putting off potential suitors seem like a good idea 😉

Brings back memories. The changing rooms used to reek of embrocation in my day. Fortunately the studs had changed to screw in by then though. Another plus was the introduction in the country of the “continental” style boot. At school the boots were like workmen’s hobnail boots with big toe caps and high over the ankle with laces about 6ft long. The “continental” boot was cut below the ankle, had a long tongue which folded down over the tied lace and had a softer toe. My Dad referred to them as slippers but they, along with the footballs that replaced the old leather lace ups, made playing the game a much better experience.

And yet Bellingham has “won” a few free kicks by doing exactly that and been praised for doing so by the pundits. This is the problem with VAR. It is taking grey situations and trying to turn them into either black or white situations. When you look at things in slow motion and still frames you are applying science to something that isn’t scientific. The whole “obvious error” thing is there for a reason. What was the refs first reaction when the incident happened. If he thinks it was a foul originally then there has to be a good reason for that. There will always be differing opinions, even with VAR people still dispute decisions. The reason VAR is despised so much is that it has taken the human element out of a sport that is all about the human element. Not only that, the decision making takes so much longer and isn’t necessarily better. Football, as we know, is a contact sport. Pundits and commentators have an expression for that contact. They call it a “coming together.” There have been a number of incidents where two players have challenged for the ball at the same time, made contact with each other and no foul has been committed. Do the forensic VAR test and then they decide, because one player has been a microsecond late, a foul has been committed. Has it really? Kane’s penalty offence was a perfect example. There was no intention to kick the players foot. They both tried to play the ball at virtually the same time (Kane believed that he did play the ball). In real time, to me, it looked like a “coming together” and the ref must have agreed as he didn’t give it. When you see a still frame Kane clearly gets there slightly later and kicks the players foot whilst both are going for the ball. The still clearly says penalty but in real time both players are challenging for the ball and whilst there is contact whilst doing so, you could argue that no foul has been committed as this came under the category of a “coming together.” I know that there will be disagreements about the decision still,but that is the basic problem. By trying to remove human fallibility we have just replaced it with human fallibility aided by technology. At least the gut instinct, right or wrong of the initial decision is made in the heat of the game. Has football improved since the days when the ref’s decision was final? Not for me. VAR is even making calls about corners/goal kicks now. How long before games are refereed by AI? Sorry for the long waffle. It has taken me a while to decide whether I think if it is a good thing or not. It has taken the decisions made in this WC to help me decide that, in this format, it isn’t.