World Cup 2018 Thread

[weasel]

Group B: Iran to beat Portugal 1-0. A pipe dream you say... maybe but Portugal looked poor against Morocco and Iran's side is built on defence. Spain 0 - 0 Morocco. Spain only just squeezed past Iran so not inconceivable. Iran top the group and go into England's side of the draw if they qualify second.

Iran top the group? :lol:
Have you been necking bottles of vodka while stood out in the sun? NO CHANCE of them topping the group. I can't see them getting out of it. They haven't even looked like scoring so far. It only takes one lucky shot, but the odds on them winning that group are miniscule. Portugal are a one man team but they are still head and shoulders better than Iran.

 

[weasel]

Ps, even if that call comes true, you know England will **** it up.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Ps, even if that call comes true, you know England will **** it up.

Yeah they'll probably top the group and go in the tough half anyway :lol:

 

[SAVORY100]

Im enjoying VAR they wasted it but the Iceland penalty award seemed correct, the crowd loved it and it did give them a life line. Added drama and although it's a thing at the moment it's not really ruining the game despite the pauses and reviews

 

[MrGudz]

It's just a shame it seems to be ignoring the blatantly obvious i.e Challenges on Harry Kane and some of the challenges in the Argentina v Croatia game last night.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

They got the Neymar penalty overturning right though

 

[MrGudz]

Aye. It just needs to be consistent.

 

[Robstyley]

Really enjoying it so far, some great games being played. And some cracking goals and skill on display. The Nigeria goal today was epic. Some of the big teams are certainly not firing on all cylinders. Argentina and Brazil come to mind. And some of the lesser teams have surprised like Russia and Japan. I think we have as good a chance as most. England played well in their game but they couldn't finish. If they can hold their nerve in front of goal we could do well. Young squad, no WC experience. Alli and Sterling missed some sitters. I hope he gives others a chance if players are not performing.

 

[weasel]

Agreed on VAR, so far it's been right most of the time. That Aussie penalty against Denmark was never a penalty, how they gave that I don't know. Beyond that I think they have got all the calls right. The only issue is with rugby tackles in the box. The two Harry Kane ones, and the two Swiss boys who dragged Mitrovic to the ground yesterday. All three are penalties. I understand the ref missing them, but the VAR bods have no excuse. Why they weren't on the blower to him I don't know. We have seen one penalty, that I can think of, given for a missed rugby tackle, so why not more?

 

[Grant_C]

It does feel like there is to many penalties in this world cup due to the new system. But I guess that's the fault of the players causing fouls in the box that would be missed. Hopefully this pendulum will swing the other way and players will cause less fouls in the box.

In regards to the 2 man Swiss rugby tackle. Its defiantly a foul and the striker could of headed the ball at the goal. If that is a foul that stopped a goal, surely that's 2 red cards? If so, I have never seen 2 red cards given to 2 defenders for one foul.

 

[weasel]

Agreed on the number of pens being the players fault. It's like when the back pass rule came in for a season or two we saw loads of in direct free kicks, now you can go three or four years without seeing one. Penalties for daft stuff in the box, ie what's going on now, will soon die out.

Hopefully then UEFA/FIFA will bring in VAR punishments for diving missed by the ref. A retrospective red card, or a word in the ref's ear and a yellow on the spot will soon stamp it out. Ditto the crowding round the ref every single time a free goes against your team. The first time a ref grows a set and hands out 3/4/5/6 yellow cards it will stop.
Then they can move on the new fad for standing right in front of a free kick as soon as it's conceded to stop the team taking it quick. You concede the free you **** off or you get booked. Simple as. Speeds the game up, encourages attacking play and should lead to more goals. Win win.

 

[Grant_C]

Yeah, its the worse thing in football (except for the drama queen fake injuries)

If there is a dispute- only the captain should approach the ref. It adds value to the captaincy. If any other player approaches its an automatic yellow card. That would greatly enhance the game for me.

Its crazy that in rugby the players have absolute respect for the ref and they tower of him like Gorillas getting ticking off by a turkey.

Belgium look great- The England game against them will be great to watch. Looking forward to it.

Cant wait to see the Germans tonight. Just imagine if they lose :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[Robstyley]

Yeah all the bleating to the ref wears a bit thin after a while. It's pointless, he's not going to change his mind because you're winging about it. Neymar the other night was a discrace, shouting and swearing at him. They should send them off the minute they get gobby. Change the culture.

 

[yoda]

I'm not a big soccer fan but i always watched the world cup. Into a newbuild and never fitted an aerial yet :roll: wish now I could get a chance to watch the games at home. This thread is more honest and knowledgeable than some paper

 

[weasel]

I'm not a big soccer fan but i always watched the world cup. Into a newbuild and never fitted an aerial yet :roll: wish now I could get a chance to watch the games at home. This thread is more honest and knowledgeable than some paper

Sorry, WTF is "SOCCER"????

I've banned people for less than that! :lol:

I do think FOOTBALL could learn a lot from hockey. In hockey any swearing at the referee or aggressively at a team mate/opponent is a straight red card. No second chance. Umpires use a bit of discression that if you miss the ball or hit the rubbish pass and swear (at yourself) they normally just warn you about your language, assuming it wasn't screamed at the top of your voice. But swear at them and you're off. Straight away. No apologies and allowed to play on. Would you believe, no one swears at referees in hockey now!?
Also, once you concede a free you have to retreat 5 yards and you specifically aren't allowed to try and "channel" the guy with the ball. If you do, or if you don't retreat 5 yards, it's a yellow card. Again, virtually no one does either.
Hockey does have the traffic lights system of cards, green is a slap on the wrist, yellow is 5-10 minutes in the sin bin and red is GTF your game is over. So even a yellow leaves your team down to 10 men temporarily. That way even if you do break down play and stop the other team taking a quick free, you are handicapping your team as they then have to play 5-10 minutes without you.

Also they use VAR in hockey, at the top level, each team has 2 referrals per game. Only the captain can use a VAR (or his VC if the captain is off the pitch). Use it and it turns out you were right and you keep it. If not it's gone. It works very well. Admittedly hockey is a very stop start game, but it is also a lot faster than football and can be a lot harder to see fouls and infringements, so football could probably get away with 1 referral per game.

All this is wishful thinking though, look how long it took them to bring in VAR and how the FA have buggered it up. If they brought any of the above ideas in the dinosaurs that run the game would have kittens and the FA would never manage to impliment it properly.
It REALLY isn't complicated though. And the red card for swearing at a ref, or attempting to intimidate/surround him, would in a swipe remove a lot of the problems that drive off referees at youth and lower league levels. But why would the FA listen to something sensible and straight forward!?

 

[Lindo]

ooo eerrr 9-0 coming up woot

 

[Grant_C]

Phenomenal :shock:

 

[SAVORY100]

Outstanding performance

 

[Michael Sith]

That was a fantastic performance, an England team playing as a TEAM

Lingard was fantastic, lotus cheek look a great prospect, defence looked pretty good.

I know there will be those that say " well the opposition was poor" so what, it doesn't matter it was 6 -1 Really pleased for Southgate and the Team, keep going and give us a World Cup run to renember

 

[Robstyley]

Good game, hammered them. A couple of good goals too. I was facetiming with my family before who were all watching it together and they asked what I thought the result would be. I said 3 - 0 England... little did I know :lol: Come on England!!!