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The World Cup Thread

FarehamSaintJames

By FarehamSaintJames,
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Charlie Wayman

Charlie Wayman

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

There's a lot of talk about our 'golden generation' of the mid 00's, but you have to say Belgium are totally wasting the chance they should have with theirs. Should have won something by now with the group they have imo.

Lukaku, De Bryune, Hazard, Toby, Cortouis, Vertonghen, Kompany, Carrasco etc. Top players at their prime who'd have walked into any team in world football.

Actually one could argue fairly that most are past their best and relying on reputations.

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The Kraken

The Kraken

Posted
Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

We're in it to win it...

France v England Final, surely worth a bet.

Being as we are in the same side of the draw as France then, no, I don’t think it’s worth a bet. Not impossible but I reckon unlikely.

 

Edited by The Kraken
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S-Clarke

S-Clarke

Posted
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1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Actually one could argue fairly that most are past their best and relying on reputations.

They are moving over the hill now yep, that's why the previous years have been a huge, wasted opportunity in my opinion.

They've never really 'clicked' and Martinez overseeing their golden generation was a pretty bad idea.

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Saint Keef

Saint Keef

Posted
Posted

Having watched Japan today, one of their defenders, Yoshida I think his name is, looked very useful.  I'd take a punt on him. HCDAJFU. Being serious, I'm delighted for him. He was a good servant for the Saints and left with dignity. On the other hand, having watched Belgium, Toby looks like he's well past his sell by date.  Canada bossed that game and were only let down by their finishing.  I must admit I'm enjoying watching these so called "lesser" teams up against these "Big Boys". 

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tajjuk

tajjuk

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I think we'll lose to France in the quarter final, unless they get a few more injuries. I just can't see us containing Mbappe with our defence, we should score as I don't think France are good defensively either, Lloris is nowhere near the player he was and I don't think the likes Kunde, Upamecano or Fofana are in form. Australia probably have less talent than most championship teams but opened up France quite a few times and probably should have scored another. 

It does seem to me, on these initial games that its the younger players and teams with younger players who are generally shining. 

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saintant

saintant

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25 minutes ago, tajjuk said:

I think we'll lose to France in the quarter final, unless they get a few more injuries. I just can't see us containing Mbappe with our defence, we should score as I don't think France are good defensively either, Lloris is nowhere near the player he was and I don't think the likes Kunde, Upamecano or Fofana are in form. Australia probably have less talent than most championship teams but opened up France quite a few times and probably should have scored another. 

It does seem to me, on these initial games that its the younger players and teams with younger players who are generally shining. 

If we play France the outcome will depend on how brave Southgate is. If he reverts to his normal timid self and sets out to try to defend and contain them we will undoubtedly lose in a dour game. However, if he is brave enough to shake off the fear and take the game to them we will have a good chance. I suspect he'll succumb to the fear and we'll lose narrowly. 

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tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, saintant said:

If we play France the outcome will depend on how brave Southgate is. If he reverts to his normal timid self and sets out to try to defend and contain them we will undoubtedly lose in a dour game. However, if he is brave enough to shake off the fear and take the game to them we will have a good chance. I suspect he'll succumb to the fear and we'll lose narrowly. 

Might depend if Walker is fit, he's probably one of the few defenders in the world that can match Mbappe's pace. The problem with playing France on the front foot and being aggressive (which I agree I think with England's attacking talent and speed would trouble that France defence, especially without protection from Kante) is that you'll leave space in behind and Mbappe would thrive. With Walker as insurance as a covering RB or maybe even CB you might more be able to play that way.

To be fair to Southgate I was pleasantly surprised by the tempo and attacking play we showed against Iran, yet it's only Iran but England have tended to always make heavy going of beating team's like Iran and have often played too safe but he played with only one DM and the fullbacks pushed really high and wide. 

But I do think the only way we will beat France is if we outscore them to be honest and manage to shackle Mbappe. I also think some sh*thousery would work well against France, just have a feeling there are a lot of egos in that team and that if you get about them a bit you might get some reactions. 

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S-Clarke

S-Clarke

Posted
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1 hour ago, whelk said:

France’s midfield is pretty average and I could see us easily see us overrunning and beating them. Although this is before I see us struggle against USA and go full pessimist again.

I think France will show up our weaknesses if I'm honest. They have a very mobile attack with Dembele, Mbappe and Coman in there. Our weakness is getting caught in behind as our CB's are relatively slow, they could exploit that for fun if we’re not careful.

I think being 'brave' and throwing all-out attack at them is the wrong way to approach it, the best way we can do anything against France is to defend deeper so the space to exploit in behind isn't there. I'd argue that our recent runs to the Final/Semi-final have coincided with us playing teams not blessed with that pace and mobility up top, so France would

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saintant

saintant

Posted
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1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I think France will show up our weaknesses if I'm honest. They have a very mobile attack with Dembele, Mbappe and Coman in there. Our weakness is getting caught in behind as our CB's are relatively slow, they could exploit that for fun if we’re not careful.

I think being 'brave' and throwing all-out attack at them is the wrong way to approach it, the best way we can do anything against France is to defend deeper so the space to exploit in behind isn't there. I'd argue that our recent runs to the Final/Semi-final have coincided with us playing teams not blessed with that pace and mobility up top, so France would

If we try to shackle them there will be only one result because eventually France will break us down and score. We will not hold them out by playing a negative game. How many times do we have to see that tactic fail before we realise it doesn't work? It's what cost us the Euro final when we went into our shell after scoring despite Italy fielding two geriatric centre backs.

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The Cat

The Cat

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, tpbury said:

I'm not sure if you're joking. Any case decent player😀

I think he's a great player and find his time at the club to be very bizarre. There must have been something going on behind the scenes which meant he didn't get picked.

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Turkish

Turkish

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1 minute ago, The Cat said:

I think he's a great player and find his time at the club to be very bizarre. There must have been something going on behind the scenes which meant he didn't get picked.

Les thought Jack Stephens was the new Bobby Moore so insisted he play over Caceres. 

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whelk

whelk

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49 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Salisu, Bella-Kotcha, Yoshida, Caceres, Van Dijk, Lovren, Alderwiereld, Bednarek. If you're in this world cup and haven't played centre back for Southampton you are no one.

And Croatian Caleta-Car was unlucky to miss out

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The Cat

The Cat

Posted
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1 minute ago, Tamesaint said:

ITV do like their player love ins. Messi, Bale and now Ronaldo. 

ITV appeal to the sort of people who watch shit like Good Morning Britain and Saturday night celebrity bollocks so they love the common narrative.

Anyway, I think that Ghana goal is the most excited I've been about one in the World Cup so far.

 

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Greenridge

Greenridge

Posted
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13 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

Classic Ronaldo dive over a classic Salisu clumsy challenge.

There was hardly any challenge there. Hardly clumsy. It's a contact sport. You can't just let the oppo run free. Poor referring that was not helped by a lack of VAR involvement. There's probably some quirky VAR law that says it cannot be reviewed if the player is left-handed.

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