WORLD CUP 2018

munckee

crunchman said:

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.

I think the best option would have been to sit him down before the Panama game and say he was siting out that one as we need him fit and raring for Belgium and let Rashford have a go at Panama,  I agree Sterling will suit the better teams more.

crunchman

I do wonder if Rashford from the bench makes more sense.  If it came to it, I'd rather have him taking a penalty than Sterling.

IvanMC

Uruguay are coming back to being a powerful team just like the halcyon days? 2-0 and Russia have lost a man...

axisus

For my money Sterling has just never worked in an England shirt. He had a good season with city, that is undeniable, but he has no end product at all for his country. On the other hand Rashford already looks like the finished article. Still, as long as we are putting Sterling's health and mental wellbeing first then that's good, we can always come back and have another go in 4 years, it's not like we want to win or anything.

IvanMC

Did you guys see Sergio Ramos's egregious mistake? It reminded me of Caballero's blooper against Croatia. These lads may be somewhat keyed up out there. Totally understandable, I get nervous and anxious to the point of nearly getting the runs just by watching all this world cup shite on TV. Sterling is ok; England have got in shape again. England 3-1 Belgium is my early prediction. Anyway, time will tell how this little footie drama will play out.

quarky

(not mentioning England for all the ABE's )

If Spain finish second, that could be a really one-sided draw. Spain, Brazil, France, Belgium (if they finish 1st), would all be on that side... And Germany if they finish second. 

quarky

What an ending to both those games. Talk about drama. 

Feel sorry for Iran. They didn't disgrace themselves really against either Spain or Portugal.

crunchman

The ref in the Iran Potugal game was awful.  I don't think he was helped out by the VAR people though.  They consistently picked the worst looking camera angles to show him.

quarky

Zabaleta on Quaresma's goal:

"We were talking about this at half time, I think it was the best thing in this game. I'm so happy we have seen a great goal in that game, because I am so angry about the second half, believe me, I didn't like it."


Thanks, good technical analysis  

p90fool

There were some terrible, group-changing decisions there, but as long as the vuvu fucking zelas have gone home I don't care. 

guitars4you

That was frustrating and annoying regarding VAR in the Iran game - VAR is there to assist the ref after a glaring error has been made on the pitch - Neither penalty tonight was a glaring error - Border line at best and probably not even that - Surely the VAR people have to be competent in the first place to advise the ref that he needs to re-look at the decision with a view to changing his mind - Tonight the ref should not have even been asked to review the decision in the first place and when he did he should have stuck to his original decision - No categoric proof on VAR to show he had made the wrong decision first time round

Then annoying that players and coach are asking for VAR left right and centre - Book them if they ask - It is not there job to run the game

Then 6 mins extra time - what a farce - the penalty review and actually taking it was nigh on 3 mins, so nearly 93 on the clock when the penalty was taken - Then a Portuguese sub, so should have been over 99 mins on the clock at the end of the game

EricTheWeary

quarky said:

Feel sorry for Iran. They didn't disgrace themselves really against either Spain or Portugal.

crunchman said:

The ref in the Iran Potugal game was awful.  I don't think he was helped out by the VAR people though.  They consistently picked the worst looking camera angles to show him.

I saw chunks of the Portugal game and I’d agree with these.  Bit of a farce and Portugal not looking much of a threat ( although apparently the goal, which I missed, was a good un). And with Iran out Eric Jr is out £2 on his office sweepstake. 

guitars4you

Ronaldo did sod all in tonight's game

quarky

guitars4you said:

Ronaldo did sod all in tonight's game

He had scored all of Portugal's goals before tonight though.

munckee

Always happy to watch Portugal get screwed over. In was hoping Iran would knock them out. 

guitars4you

quarky said:

guitars4you said:

Ronaldo did sod all in tonight's game

He had scored all of Portugal's goals before tonight though.

yes another at best dodgy penalty , a goal keeping howler and an awesome free kick

Bridgehouse

I’m pretty sure if we had just seen England 1-1 Iran or England 2-2 Morocco then the internet would be in England in shit-at-world-Cup-shocker.

As it is, it wasn’t - and neither Portugal nor Spain impressed tonight at all. 

Russia crumbled in the face of a good team - Uruguay proved they are a strong contender. 

So, will another big team disappoint with Argentina next up?

quarky

guitars4you said:

yes another at best dodgy penalty , a goal keeping howler and an awesome free kick

He did his best! 

scrumhalf

At this stage of the World Cup performances are informative rather than definitive, it's getting through to the next stage that counts.

The combination of VAR (variably awful randomness) and third-rate refs has been a big boo-boo. Hopefully the refs that are left will be of international calibre, not someone who's been reffing Athletico Plop in the Guatemalan equivalent of the Screwfix League.

guitars4you

scrumhalf said:

At this stage of the World Cup performances are informative rather than definitive, it's getting through to the next stage that counts.

The combination of VAR (variably awful randomness) and third-rate refs has been a big boo-boo. Hopefully the refs that are left will be of international calibre, not someone who's been reffing Athletico Plop in the Guatemalan equivalent of the Screwfix League.

not sure why the worlds greatest tournament has to tolerate such bad officials - would be like timing a 100 metre race in the Olympics with a sun dial