WORLD CUP 2018

Emp_Fab

WTF is going on with the VAR system ?  I know jack shit about football but even I've seen fouls that have been ignored by the pitch ref and apparently not flagged up by the VAR refs.  Is my naivety obscuring technical aspects for me or is there just woeful inconsistency here ?

Legionreturns

Emp_Fab said:

WTF is going on with the VAR system ?  I know jack shit about football but even I've seen fouls that have been ignored by the pitch ref and apparently not flagged up by the VAR refs.  Is my naivety obscuring technical aspects for me or is there just woeful inconsistency here ?

There are only a few, narrowly defined circumstances when VAR can be used. 

Off the top of my head, it's to check goals / offsides, penalties, red card offenses missed by the ref and mistaken identity. 

quarky

Poland - Columbia. That wasn't the whistle for fulltime, that was the bell tolling on a mercy killing.

Rocker

Neil said:

Nunogilberto said:

I don’t think Belgium are all that. Their win the other day was the first time I’ve ever seen them win convincingly. They’ve got some good individuals but for me, along with the likes of Argentina etc, they never live up to the hype.

Exactly, a team of individuals.

De bruyne and Hazard are great players but Argentina had Aguero, Messi and Higuain and it got them nowhere.

England are far more of a team and Kane is a much better striker than Lukaku.

I would not read too much into the England -v- Belgium result.  Both sides are in the second round so expect to see players 'rested' and squad players getting a run.

sixstringsupplies

quarky said:

Poland - Columbia. That wasn't the whistle for fulltime, that was the bell tolling on a mercy killing.

Yeah that was appalling. I’m currently in Poland and watched that game. locals were beyond miffed.

sixstringsupplies

Emp_Fab said:

WTF is going on with the VAR system ?  I know jack shit about football but even I've seen fouls that have been ignored by the pitch ref and apparently not flagged up by the VAR refs.  Is my naivety obscuring technical aspects for me or is there just woeful inconsistency here ?

England’s first game Kane got mauled to the floor on 2 occasions and nothing given. Today,
penalty was awarded. My fear is that a semi final or even the final could be decided on a dodgy VAR system. The system is working perfectly. The ref’s that judge - dubious. 

Bridgehouse

sixstringsupplies said:

Emp_Fab said:

WTF is going on with the VAR system ?  I know jack shit about football but even I've seen fouls that have been ignored by the pitch ref and apparently not flagged up by the VAR refs.  Is my naivety obscuring technical aspects for me or is there just woeful inconsistency here ?

England’s first game Kane got mauled to the floor on 2 occasions and nothing given. Today,
penalty was awarded. My fear is that a semi final or even the final could be decided on a dodgy VAR system. The system is working perfectly. The ref’s that judge - dubious. 

Theoretically the “poorer” refs will go as the tournament progresses so by semi finals you are left with the best of the best. 

That’s the theory - course, we all know that regardless of who it is, the referee is always a w****r

scrumhalf

Bridgehouse said:

That’s the theory - course, we all know that regardless of who it is, the referee is always a w****r

The referee is always right. Unfortunately, that's coupled with the fact that the ref is often a right wanker.

sixstringsupplies

It’s coming home lads. Bollocks to the ref 

vale

well i think germany are looking amazing at the moment. i'm pretty sure they are going to win.

axisus

I'm enjoying England this time around. There's a great team vibe, Southgate has done a great job thus far (although why is he still playing Sterling over Rashford???). I'm not expecting us to win, but it's just an enjoyable ride so far. I have no great expectation, but after a string of terrible managers I'm just feeling 'good' about English football again, wherever we end up.

Bridgehouse

axisus said:

I'm enjoying England this time around. There's a great team vibe, Southgate has done a great job thus far (although why is he still playing Sterling over Rashford???). I'm not expecting us to win, but it's just an enjoyable ride so far. I have no great expectation, but after a string of terrible managers I'm just feeling 'good' about English football again, wherever we end up.

This. 

We don’t need to win the World Cup (nice as it would be) - we just need to put in some performances and get some respect back. It’s nice to read that today’s performance broke a bunch of records and was significant for a number of reasons - things like the last goal had 25 unhindered England passes in the lead up - the most in a World Cup match since 1966.. 

It’s nice to have a football team who seem committed, not scared of their shirt, operate as a team, and actually look like they want to go out there and play as well as they can. I hope they go all the way - but a quarter or semi final exit with some decent performances would be enough to get us feeling good about our national football again.

Don’t forget - Southgate reckons he’s working this side up to peak in 2022... the next World Cup.. 

Legionreturns

In contrast with the other games today, England spend an awful lot of time passing the ball sideways and backwards. 

Call it "patient build up" if you like, but that won't achieve much against the better sides.

Look how quickly Columbia and Japan tried to get the ball forward today, the former to devastating effect.

I'm probably a bit spoilt being a Palace fan though. Our tactics are built on releasing our quick lads as soon as possible .

Neil

Legionreturns said:

In contrast with the other games today, England spend an awful lot of time passing the ball sideways and backwards. 

Call it "patient build up" if you like, but that won't achieve much against the better sides.

Look how quickly Columbia and Japan tried to get the ball forward today, the former to devastating effect.

I'm probably a bit spoilt being a Palace fan though. Our tactics are built on releasing our quick lads as soon as possible .

i.e kick and run. 

Legionreturns

Neil said:

Legionreturns said:

In contrast with the other games today, England spend an awful lot of time passing the ball sideways and backwards. 

Call it "patient build up" if you like, but that won't achieve much against the better sides.

Look how quickly Columbia and Japan tried to get the ball forward today, the former to devastating effect.

I'm probably a bit spoilt being a Palace fan though. Our tactics are built on releasing our quick lads as soon as possible .

i.e kick and run. 

That was Palace under Coppell! Good passing team these days.  

crunchman

Apparently it was 30C out there.  If they want to pass it around at the back and conserve energy, that seems sensible to me.

menamestom

Legionreturns said:

In contrast with the other games today, England spend an awful lot of time passing the ball sideways and backwards. 

Call it "patient build up" if you like, but that won't achieve much against the better sides.

The better sides wont sit deep trying to soak up pressure.   Better teams, who push forward more, create more opportunities for counter attacking football.   Limited teams, like Tunisia and Panama call for patience, keeping possession and rooting out holes in their defence.  

I think the 6 goals justifies the tactics somewhat.

menamestom

axisus said:

I'm enjoying England this time around. There's a great team vibe, Southgate has done a great job thus far (although why is he still playing Sterling over Rashford???). 

I heard some pundits discussing this and the feeling was Southgate is a big admirer of Sterling and knows he is a 'confidence' player.  So he has to keep playing him to get the best out of him.  He's been largely anonymous so far so I'm not sure how long Southgate can give him.  I guess having won the first 2 he will probably get another go against Belgium, or perhaps he'll be 'rested' and Rashford will get the chance to make the decision for him. 

I like Sterling, but Rashford seems to have the pace, confidence and aggression to make things happen, against even the best defences.  He certainly is never anonymous and gets up to speed very quick.

Gassage

Best FIFA2018 comment of the year is from the ESPN cricket forum...

‘SIR, Trippy Her iz gr8 plier bt Sachun iz da bzt. Thy r bth rite syeded pliers.’

crunchman

Sterling will probably be better against the bigger teams.  They won't sit as deep with 10 or 11 players behind the ball, and there will be more space for him.  That said, I would be tempted to "rest" him (as @menamestom said) and start Rashford against Belgium.   If Rashford has a blinder then wonderful.  If he doesn't, then bring Sterling back for the next match.