Soccer 2017-2018

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Gurgeh

Silver Baronet of the Realm
4,289
11,741
England need a complete overhaul in Midfield to compete with the very best teams in the world - Taking Sterling off changed the entire match. Doubt they will ever get as easy a road to a final again as well. Not all doom and gloom, team was dynamic and mostly interesting to watch and should be better as a team in 2020 for the Euro's, but their lack of spark/creativity in the middle is something that really needs addressing. If Henderson and Dier are the answer, what's the question? Both deserve spots in the team, but need someone who can control and dictate play. Neither fit that bill. Alli was absolute shit this entire tournament, not sure how/why he stays on for Sterling.

For Croatia - how great is Modric? Absolutely bossed the England MF as an over the hill scrawny shrimp playing his 3rd 120 minute game in a few weeks. Just a great great player, love him.
Yeah England team will be better at 2020 and probably at its best in 2022, but so will France... France and England are basicaly the youngest team (beside Nigeria), Belgium/Brazil/Croatia will be simply too old at the next WC, Croatia will be too old next Euro, and Belgium will probably be past its peak next Euro. So for the France haters : you're probably going to enjoy the next 4-6 years !
 
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Szlia

Member
6,547
1,310
Apparently, Croatia is the team with the highest proportion of goals scored during play (as opposed to scored on free kicks / corners / penalty). Let's hope they'll win!
 
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dizzie

Triggered Happy
2,509
3,937
As an England fan I felt that this was the one chance i'll ever get to see them in a final, and we blew it.

It's not 1966 anymore and unless we get much better really fast, we'll be left in the doldrums of the group stages forever, we got so lucky with the draw this cup. There's too many good teams now. I am going to be interested to see the fifa rankings after this cup, they haven't been updated since the 7th June.
 

Springbok

Karen
<Gold Donor>
8,970
12,474
Dh2s3hEVAAAgxBw.jpg
 

Sebudai

Ssraeszha Raider
12,022
22,504
Not seeing a lot of racial diversity on this Croatia team. Highly problematic and I've reported them for racism.
 
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Razzes

Trakanon Raider
815
515
Interesting point of view I've read in LeMonde.

He basically says that the level of offensive play in the World Cup is low because the tournament occurs at the end of the season and players don't have the time to rest or train with their new teammates. Because offense requires "chemistry", this results in games in which defense is very hard to breach and games are often decided by set pieces and flukes.

According to him, the England national team would finish 5th in the Premier League.
 

Ossoi

Tranny Chaser
15,401
7,666
Interesting point of view I've read in LeMonde.

He basically says that the level of offensive play in the World Cup is low because the tournament occurs at the end of the season and players don't have the time to rest or train with their new teammates. Because offense requires "chemistry", this results in games in which defense is very hard to breach and games are often decided by set pieces and flukes.

According to him, the England national team would finish 5th in the Premier League.

I can't wait for the WC to be over so I'm spared from your dogshit posts. This isn't the NBA sending a team to the Olympics every four years - the squads have qualifying rounds, friendlies and smaller scale regional tournaments inbetween the world cup
 
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Gurgeh

Silver Baronet of the Realm
4,289
11,741
Interesting point of view I've read in LeMonde.

He basically says that the level of offensive play in the World Cup is low because the tournament occurs at the end of the season and players don't have the time to rest or train with their new teammates. Because offense requires "chemistry", this results in games in which defense is very hard to breach and games are often decided by set pieces and flukes.

According to him, the England national team would finish 5th in the Premier League.
Do the top 4 even field 50% of britishs ?
 

Asshat Brando

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
5,346
-478
Couple of things here on England:

1. England's MF was always the weak point even coming into the tournament. As an LFC fan I have no issue taking the shit out of our competitors players but in this case I think some slack should be cut for Alli though Lingard has an entirely punchable face so I have nothing good to say about him regardless. Either way neither play at club level as midfielders so it's not surprising they were out of their depth, Ox's injury was a big blow to the national team as he was just what they needed. Someone who could progress the ball through midfield on a dribble. They didn't have anyone that could do that.
2. The solution to #1 was then to make Kane drop really deep to facilitate for Sterling, Alli and Lingard. He's good at scoring goals, not as much at creating and in the end I think it backfired as Kane was always really far away from goal.
3. England's youth teams have won almost everything there is to win in the last 18-24 months, they have some really special players on the way up so I wouldn't look at this as a last chance. Biggest issue is finding EPL teams that will actually give most of them a chance to play and why Jadon Sancho went to Dortmund. If they can figure out a way to let the next wave grow then they should have players that can hang with the best in the world for the next 10 years. Sancho, Foden, Brewster all look like potential superstars.

As far as International vs. Club soccer, International soccer can never reach the same level of club soccer for a variety of reasons. Ossoi is right that it's not a team that's thrown together once every 4 years but at the same time they spend no where near the amount of time together as they do at club level plus you can't exactly transfer in players to cover for weaknesses. Combined with it being easier to coach a good defense vs. a good attack and I think it's always somewhat been this way when it comes to international tournaments.

Do the top 4 even field 50% of britishs ?

Not exactly 50% but it's close due to UCL rules on homegrown players.

Edit: Actually yes based on the current Top 4.

ManC - 4 players
ManU - 4 players
Spurs - 5 players
LFC - 2 players

That's 15/23 players in the Top 4 clubs.
 
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Jozu

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
6,956
6,265
Feel bad for England. This was their chance and Kane blew it.

Sad.

Croatia can beat France. Racitic, Modric and Mandzucic are powering this team to unseen heights. They have always been a good footballing nation, but always came up short on the big stage.

If Mbappe has a 3rd straight gem, then Crotia is fucked, but it should be a great game.

This WC could have been Kanes coming out party, but Mbappe will end up being the darling of the tournament if he nets in the final. It's amazing the kid is only 19. He will be in Madrid by 2020.
 

Szlia

Member
6,547
1,310
I wonder if some number cruncher / sports journalist ever tried to go down the history of national teams to compare their theoretical budget, if they had to pay for their players, with the budget of the top clubs of their era. My gut feeling and semi-educated guess is that at some point national teams had all stars casts that no club would have been able to hire, but now the top clubs have way higher budgets than the theoretical budgets of national teams.


Unrelated: but you guys listing the great croatian players are missing the man of the match: Perisic! The guy was dangerous just about every time he touched the ball thanks to his superior technique and a knack to always make the right decision! He scored by beating the defender on the first goal, he made the assist on the second goal and he also hit the goal post at some point I believe... and then there is all his work of harassment and ball conservation with flawless dedication. Big big match by him! He even ended up being the official man of the match!
 

Razzes

Trakanon Raider
815
515
I can't wait for the WC to be over so I'm spared from your dogshit posts. This isn't the NBA sending a team to the Olympics every four years - the squads have qualifying rounds, friendlies and smaller scale regional tournaments inbetween the world cup
18 qualifying matches over 3 years doesn't seem alot. 6 games per year. And star players miss many of these games, think Messi missed like 7 of the qualifiers. I don't know much about friendly matches and regional tournaments, but I doubt it compares with playing non-stop with the same squad all season.

His argument makes sense. I'm confident you can see it.
 

Ossoi

Tranny Chaser
15,401
7,666
And star players miss many of these games, think Messi missed like 7 of the qualifiers.

No they don't, unless your name is Ryan Giggs


I don't know much about friendly matches and regional tournaments, but I doubt it compares with playing non-stop with the same squad all season..

The European Championships is a mini WC for European teams - so these teams have a major tournament to both qualify for, prepare for and compete in EVERY 2 YEARS.

YOUR ARGUMENT IS FALSE AND YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL WHICH IS WHY YOU THINK RANDOM ARTICLES ARE GOSPEL. JUST GO AWAY!
 

Gurgeh

Silver Baronet of the Realm
4,289
11,741
Edit: Actually yes based on the current Top 4.

ManC - 4 players
ManU - 4 players
Spurs - 5 players
LFC - 2 players

That's 15/23 players in the Top 4 clubs.

Anyway I'm not sure what point I was trying to make, Brazil, France, Croatia, ... have most of their players playing outside. Fuck France only has M'Bappe playing home. Could that actually be the opposite problem ? England are pretty much the only one to have team that is entirely made of people playing in the premier league. Even Spain has 2/11 playing outside.