The World Cup Thread

[sadoldgit]

37 minutes ago, egg said:

I think they just make it look easy. Dismantled a team that we couldn't.  

If the USA could finish the result could have been very different. They missed some glorious chances.

[whelk]

Saw nothing today that makes me feel like we aren’t going to win it.

Pundits seem far more prone to get carried away these days and tell you you have been watching sublime performances. How many times did Keown talk about ‘setting traps’?

[Badger]

20 hours ago, Tamesaint said:

Has there ever been a worse TV commentator than Matterface? He spent all the match with Partridgesque cliches on the wonderfulness of Brazil. Eg No team has scored against them in the World Cup since 2018 ( they had only played 2  games in the World Cup since 2018).

Apparently the semi final between them and Argentina is going to be a fantastic game ( why bother with the last 16 and quarter finals) . He has an endless source of naff  unremarkable statistics which are instantly forgettable 

His crowning moment was when he announced that Cameroon no longer had any chance in the match - 5 seconds before they scored.

And he is a skate cunt.

 

 

Trouble is there is such a bland and uninspiring batch of them now. I'm not sure I even know the names of the BBC main commentators, I know there is one cunt who forever tries desperately to drop a clever poetic reference or witticism in who irritates. 

From the BBC Jonathan Pearce probably grates my ears less than others, although I may be biased as a) he's been fairly complimentary towards Saints, and b) his voice was a regular feature when children  were growing up with a Robot Wars obsession about 20 years ago. That said he can be a bit too much liking the sound of his own voice.

Gone are the days of Wolstenholme, Coleman and Brian Moore etc Although Coleman liked throwing in a statistic from time to time, his generation realised that the viewer wanted to see the game, and their commentary was there to ease it along, rather than seeking 'celeb status'. Fed up of listening to their 'matey' in the workplace chat with the' co-commentator' as well.. 

That's without starting on the panels, all quota driven, in what seems a race to the bottom by the channels. 

Edited 3 December, 2022 by Badger

[cloggy saint]

55 minutes ago, egg said:

I think they just make it look easy. Dismantled a team that we couldn't.  

Hardly dismantled. The U.S bossed all the stats but just can't finish. Any decent side will send the Dutch home.

[cloggy saint]

4 minutes ago, Badger said:

That's without starting on the panels, all quota driven, in what seems a race to the bottom by the channels. 

I can't be bothered with the post match analysis, I know what I've just seen and don't need to be told all over again.

[Badger]

Just now, cloggy saint said:

I can't be bothered with the post match analysis, I know what I've just seen and don't need to be told all over again.

Good policy. 

[Badger]

14 minutes ago, whelk said:

Saw nothing today that makes me feel like we aren’t going to win it.

Pundits seem far more prone to get carried away these days and tell you you have been watching sublime performances. How many times did Keown talk about ‘setting traps’?

Not sure I've seen anything in our performances to suggest we can though. Can we raise our game above the mediocrity we've seen ? 

Seems we're paralysed by this be clever slow build up, pass it round and try winning by a war of attrition sending the opposition to sleep. like Saints the possession seems to peter out when we get to the final third. 

[Dark Munster]

I really enjoyed that match. The Dutch deserved to win, but the USA played their part in an open game. They (USA) remind me of Saints, some nice football in 2/3 of the pitch, but in the final 1/3 can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo.

[Dark Munster]

6 hours ago, Turkish said:

I think if we can go unbeaten in our next 4 matches we’ve got a chance 

Not really, we'd get beaten by penalties.

[Tamesaint]

At times, isn't sport strange.

Here I am wanting Australia to win a sporting event. Amazing.

[Mixedkebab]

The Aussies were mostly untroubled, silenced the Argie fans by playing it safe and keeping the shape, then some bellend defender fired up Messi and gave away a free kick and shafted his own team in the process.

[Tamesaint]

2 minutes ago, Mixedkebab said:

The Aussies were mostly untroubled, silenced the Argie fans by playing it safe and keeping the shape, then some bellend defender fired up Messi and gave away a free kick and shafted his own team in the process.

Australia had a good opportunity to relieve that pressure on the defence if the goalkeeper had come for the ball at an earlier phase. Instead he bottled it. 

[Mixedkebab]

1 hour ago, Badger said:

Trouble is there is such a bland and uninspiring batch of them now. I'm not sure I even know the names of the BBC main commentators, I know there is one cunt who forever tries desperately to drop a clever poetic reference or witticism in who irritates. 

From the BBC Jonathan Pearce probably grates my ears less than others, although I may be biased as a) he's been fairly complimentary towards Saints, and b) his voice was a regular feature when children  were growing up with a Robot Wars obsession about 20 years ago. That said he can be a bit too much liking the sound of his own voice.

Gone are the days of Wolstenholme, Coleman and Brian Moore etc Although Coleman liked throwing in a statistic from time to time, his generation realised that the viewer wanted to see the game, and their commentary was there to ease it along, rather than seeking 'celeb status'. Fed up of listening to their 'matey' in the workplace chat with the' co-commentator' as well.. 

That's without starting on the panels, all quota driven, in what seems a race to the bottom by the channels. 

Have to agree, it’s a difficult listen to nearly all of them, especially the studio wankers.

You named 3 of the best ever there but another was Peter Brackley who never tried to be some kind of entertainment personality like today’s twats, but still told you everything you needed to know in an entertaining and Informative way.

[East Kent Saint]

USA and Australia failing in the final third today , is that good defending or lack of quality ? Pulisic not quite good enough for Chelsea apparently . 

[sydney_saint]

15 minutes ago, Mixedkebab said:

Have to agree, it’s a difficult listen to nearly all of them, especially the studio wankers.

You named 3 of the best ever there but another was Peter Brackley who never tried to be some kind of entertainment personality like today’s twats, but still told you everything you needed to know in an entertaining and Informative way.

Alot of that is driven by nostalgia, there were plenty of boring pundits in the past. Ask any football fan of any age and they will always say something similar about it being better in the past, as with time you generally forget the shitty boring ones and just remember the good ones. I am so glad not to hear Lawro droning on with the laziest of opinions. I imagine young people right now will probably fondly remember the likes of Micah, Scott, Keane, Neville, McCoist, and forget the likes of Zabaletta and Shearer (who has been so boring for close to two decades now).  Also Martin Tyler who is fortunately not at the World Cup, must be the worst commentator going. 

Edited 3 December, 2022 by sydney_saint

[sydney_saint]

Nice of us to give Argentina a 2 goal lead, but now time to get a wriggle on lads

[revolution saint]

Hope either Australia or the Dutch knock out Argentina cos I’m sick of hearing about how good Messi is.

[OttawaSaint]

Wow. Great save denies epic equalizer. Unlucky Ozzies.

[AlexLaw76]

Right. Come on Poland 

[AlexLaw76]

Also, actually looks like a football crowd!

[cloggy saint]

20 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Hope either Australia or the Dutch knock out Argentina cos I’m sick of hearing about how good Messi is.

Agreed, the Messi wank-fest is boring.

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

Agreed, the Messi wank-fest is boring.

Amazing player not sure why anyone would find talking about one of the greatest ever boring 

[JRM]

41 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Amazing player not sure why anyone would find talking about one of the greatest ever boring 

Watched the documentary about him the other day, unbelievable player, 1000 appearances and still best player on the pitch  deserves the credit 

[Wade Garrett]

4 hours ago, whelk said:

Saw nothing today that makes me feel like we aren’t going to win it.

Pundits seem far more prone to get carried away these days and tell you you have been watching sublime performances. How many times did Keown talk about ‘setting traps’?

Don’t get me started on all this bullshit pundit speak again.  “Setting traps”, load of bollocks. Just more than 1 player trying to tackle the same player.

It is complete bullshit.  What if the player who has the ball then bypasses the ‘trap’, he has just taken 3 players out of the game.

Fucking load of absolute bollocks.

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Don’t get me started on all this bullshit pundit speak again.  “Setting traps”, load of bollocks. Just more than 1 player trying to tackle the same player.

It is complete bullshit.  What if the player who has the ball then bypasses the ‘trap’, he has just taken 3 players out of the game.

Fucking load of absolute bollocks.

😆 totally agree.  USA set traps for England last week and nullified us completely...

yeah, ok then

[Turkish]

26 minutes ago, JRM said:

Watched the documentary about him the other day, unbelievable player, 1000 appearances and still best player on the pitch  deserves the credit 

Have you watched the Totti documentary? I loved him as a player but since watching that he’s gone to iconic status in my eyes. When Real Madrid wanted to sign him when he was in his prime his answer was “I am a roman would you ever leave your own family to live with rich strangers” love that 

[revolution saint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Amazing player not sure why anyone would find talking about one of the greatest ever boring 

Yeah, great player but fuck me it’s tedious hearing about it to the exclusion of everything else. The repetition is endless. I think he’s a great but don’t need it hammered home every single minute.

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, revolution saint said:

Yeah, great player but fuck me it’s tedious hearing about it to the exclusion of everything else. The repetition is endless. I think he’s a great but don’t need it hammered home every single minute.

In a tournament of a lot of averageness that’s how it’s going to be I’m afraid. Messi was the stand out player today in a pretty average game. Perhaps rather than bemoan the pundits talking about him ask why two of the best 16 teams in The world haven’t done anything else dominate the discussion points 

[Saint in Paradise]

Well here in New Zealand we have to put up with the mob from beIN Sports and they include Andy Gray, Richard Keys

and one of the Neville's. They sometimes have Joe Cole and John Terry as well as some others plus some boring drab

commentators as well.

[niceandfriendly]

11 hours ago, Badger said:

 That's without starting on the panels, all quota driven, in what seems a race to the bottom by the channels. 

The fact the panels are quota driven isn't the problem, it's that they fill them with utter numpties who have no idea what they're talking about. Don't care if they're black, have a vagina, are wearing a turban, or all three, I just want some competent analysis.

Edited 4 December, 2022 by niceandfriendly

[Weston Super Saint]

5 hours ago, Saint in Paradise said:

Well here in New Zealand we have to put up with the mob from beIN Sports and they include Andy Gray, Richard Keys

and one of the Neville's. They sometimes have Joe Cole and John Terry as well as some others plus some boring drab

commentators as well.

Is it called the sexism, racism show?

[whelk]

6 hours ago, Saint in Paradise said:

Well here in New Zealand we have to put up with the mob from beIN Sports and they include Andy Gray, Richard Keys

and one of the Neville's. They sometimes have Joe Cole and John Terry as well as some others plus some boring drab

commentators as well.

I think Joe Cole is a good pundit. Keys and Gray are parodies. 

[SNSUN]

Looking at the fixtures, it's tough to see an upset (aside from fearing England are going to go out at every stage). Switzerland beating Portugal I could see happening and I don't think there's a favourite as such in the Japan vs Croatia match.

[Chewy]

10 hours ago, Turkish said:

Have you watched the Totti documentary? I loved him as a player but since watching that he’s gone to iconic status in my eyes. When Real Madrid wanted to sign him when he was in his prime his answer was “I am a roman would you ever leave your own family to live with rich strangers” love that 

Noble sentiment, but a lot easier to say when your home town is Rome than, say … Portsmouth?

[Turkish]

15 minutes ago, Chewy said:

Noble sentiment, but a lot easier to say when your home town is Rome than, say … Portsmouth?

There is that of course and Rome is an amazing city but Roma have never been one of the big hitters in Italy, despite being a huge club. 3 Serie A titles in their history, a European cup final which they lost against Liverpool in their own stadium with their European trophy being the noddy conference league which they won last year. Always been a long way behind Juventus and the Milan clubs success wise. Not many players would turn down a move to Real Madrid.

[Whitey Grandad]

21 minutes ago, Turkish said:

There is that of course and Rome is an amazing city but Roma have never been one of the big hitters in Italy, despite being a huge club. 3 Serie A titles in their history, a European cup final which they lost against Liverpool in their own stadium with their European trophy being the noddy conference league which they won last year. Always been a long way behind Juventus and the Milan clubs success wise. Not many players would turn down a move to Real Madrid.

Lazio?

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Lazio?

What about them?

[Whitey Grandad]

11 minutes ago, Turkish said:

What about them?

An alternative to Roma. I know that Totti played exclusively for Roma but haven’t Lazio also been a bigger attraction than Roma?

[Turkish]

10 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

An alternative to Roma. I know that Totti played exclusively for Roma but haven’t Lazio also been a bigger attraction than Roma?

No, they had a period in the 90s when they signed some great players and did well but not as well supported and slightly less successful. Although not a lot in it. 

[AlexLaw76]

8 minutes ago, Turkish said:

No, they had a period in the 90s when they signed some great players and did well but not as well supported and slightly less successful. Although not a lot in it. 

won the league, cup and the world cup.  The entire time playing for his boyhood club.

Him and Del Piero are what Serie A are all about (for me, anyway)

 

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

won the league, cup and the world cup.  The entire time playing for his boyhood club.

Him and Del Piero are what Serie A are all about (for me, anyway)

 

Yep, agree with that. Going further back  Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard at AC Milan and Brehme, Mattahius and klinsmann at Inter. The 3 Dutch v the 3 germans at rival clubs in the days when foreign players in English football was a rare thing. 

[nta786]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Yep, agree with that. Going further back  Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard at AC Milan and Brehme, Mattahius and klinsmann at Inter. The 3 Dutch v the 3 germans at rival clubs in the days when foreign players in English football was a rare thing. 

Channel 4 Football Italia was class.
The Milan Derby was bigger than the Madrid vs Barca derby to me growing up.

[Charlie Wayman]

12 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Don’t get me started on all this bullshit pundit speak again.  “Setting traps”, load of bollocks. Just more than 1 player trying to tackle the same player.

It is complete bullshit.  What if the player who has the ball then bypasses the ‘trap’, he has just taken 3 players out of the game.

Fucking load of absolute bollocks.

"A mountain to climb" when 1-0 down !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The new language of football is total bullish*t from beginning to end. They're all at it. 

[Charlie Wayman]

12 hours ago, revolution saint said:

Yeah, great player but fuck me it’s tedious hearing about it to the exclusion of everything else. The repetition is endless. I think he’s a great but don’t need it hammered home every single minute.

He wouldn't survive long or score many goals in the Premier League which is probably why he has never played here.

[Turkish]

12 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Don’t get me started on all this bullshit pundit speak again.  “Setting traps”, load of bollocks. Just more than 1 player trying to tackle the same player.

It is complete bullshit.  What if the player who has the ball then bypasses the ‘trap’, he has just taken 3 players out of the game.

Fucking load of absolute bollocks.

Low block, high press, against the ball and all these endless stats. Of course the geeks lap it all up but it’s nonsense. Thankfully false 9 seems to have gone out of fashion a bit as not heard that mentioned for a while

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Charlie Wayman said:

He wouldn't survive long or score many goals in the Premier League which is probably why he has never played here.

Couldn’t do it on a cold night in Stoke, yes?

[Piran]

A lot of chat here about the pundits - take my advice, don't do it!

For a long long time now, I tune in for kick-off, put the kettle on at half time, and tune out when the match is over. I know you have to listen to the drivel of the commentary, but I have my own eyes and brain, and don't need the opinions of a couple of arseholes to tell me what's going on.

As for the football, I have found a lot of it great, and very intereting to view.

[AlexLaw76]

43 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Low block, high press, against the ball and all these endless stats. Of course the geeks lap it all up but it’s nonsense. Thankfully false 9 seems to have gone out of fashion a bit as not heard that mentioned for a while

The term 'Mind Games' started all this bollox.  The press soiling their pants when Fergie got a bit lairy at a prezzer

[whelk]

47 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Low block, high press, against the ball and all these endless stats. Of course the geeks lap it all up but it’s nonsense. Thankfully false 9 seems to have gone out of fashion a bit as not heard that mentioned for a while

For me it’s really important how good the team is with transitions

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, whelk said:

For me it’s really important how good the team is with transitions

i noticed a new stat being displayed during the world cup........ 'Receptions'......