The World Cup Final will play host to France and Croatia in Moscow, Russia after 30 other teams have all bowed out of the competition! We have two nations who some may have predicted but the majority would have not chosen Croatia to be the opponents of France in this tournaments grand finale.
France got here on the back of very impressive wins and displays against Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium scoring 6 goals in the process and keeping clean sheets in the last 2 matches. They ooze confidence the French and rightfully so, their squad is jam packed full of stars in the offensive part and anchoring the whole thing together is the little genius that is Ngolo Kante. The small, humble Frenchman 3 years ago was playing in Ligue 2! (French second Division) before a move to Leicester, then Chelsea winning back to back premier league titles. He frees up Paul Pogba who has looked in fine form and with Greizmann and Mbappe freely roaming and terrorizing defenses upfront they are a very hard team to stop scoring. Belgium did give them food for thought in the last match, but whilst they scored from a set piece they did create chances from open play...as well as conceding chances too. Their defense is their weak point even with Umtiti and Varange with vast amounts of experience in the middle, they just don't seem set right and rely on the Kante and Matuidi sitting in front of them mopping everything up. Croatia get here on the back of beating England in extra time and before that dispatching both Denmark and touranment hosts Russia on penalties. They had a great groupstage which saw them humble Argentina 3-0 and put them on the brink of elimination in the group stages. The issue with Croatia is they look so good in spells of matches, but it has only been in spells since the last 16 began. vs Denmark they were second best for a large part same with vs Russia and against England, however they also had stages in all 3 games where they look fabulous. However this is not what you want your team to be like when they are playing against an offense like France, they need to be on it for 90 minutes, can they give that after playing 3 matches in a row for 120 minutes. Can the Croatians dig deep and put a fight up against France for 90 minutes and lift the World Cup for the first time? They will need Modric and Rakitic to get a hold of the ball and keep it away from the French for a start, they will need Perisic and Rebic using their pace to push the French fullbacks back and then, they will need the big man Mandzukic dominating the two CBs of France. This is possible, even though you might not think it, it is possible for Croatia to do. However they must be tired now for sure, whilst France won't exactly be fresh as a daisy they have had 24 hours more rest and played way less tournament minutes. That being said, i have to side with France and i am going for a comfortable win.
Prediction: France 3-0 Croatia
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The 3rd place playoff game is so shit and irrelevant it is disgusting how it is still a thing. But what can we do when our friends at FIFA just want broadcast money.
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watching this game will be <5million at peak time on a saturday afternoon.
Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
On July 14 2018 07:29 Pandemona wrote: Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
^ just english things xD you people will never learn :D
edit: i honestly think this England team deserved at least couple of sentences on TL, and a very warm welcome when they come home. even Germany or Brasil would not call a chance at medal "shit and irrelevant" but i guess they're not as great footballing nations like England is
On July 14 2018 05:00 ppp87 wrote: Croatia cant win, it's just not possible (0,000001% at best), those who think otherwise are delusionals.
I think otherwise. Let's bet on those odds?
On July 14 2018 07:29 Pandemona wrote: The 3rd place playoff game is so shit and irrelevant it is disgusting how it is still a thing. But what can we do when our friends at FIFA just want broadcast money.
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watching this game will be <5million at peak time on a saturday afternoon.
Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
Well, as they are actually giving Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, and given that it's the absolute biggest football tournament, I think it is better to keep the 3rd place match.
It meant the world to Croatians when we won that medal in 98. For big countries, especially for the accomplished ones, it might not be that big of a deal. But it might be the best chance England has to win a medal :p --------------------------- This game could be an epic midfield battle. The power of Kante, Pogba and Matuidi vs the silk of Modric, Rakitic & co.
France is really admirable in Kante, Pogba, Griezman and Mbappe. Croatia can still win, as it's 1 game, and such a big moment. It's much more complex and delicate than adding up individual players' worths.
3rd place match is so irrelevant who cares for 3rd place? Biggest club football tournament is Champions league, name me the last 3 seasons semi finalists? Don't try big up that game when it is just a money grabbing scheme. Name me a top sport competition that isn't the world cup which has a 3rd place match?
NFL, MLB, NBA, Tennis, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, Snooker, Pool, Darts....i don't know any more sports haha, but there is no 3rd place match because it is irrelevant, lose semi finals u go home. FIFA? Naa lets milk some more cash xd
Man, poor Pande. Not even showing that English bias anymore for the third place match. Someone needs a long break from football! haha.
Also, Croatia will win this WC. They are going to come into this match realizing that everything is on the line, especially when they consider all those ET wins that they had to go through. Do they crush France? nah but seeing people ride them off is silly. This is a single game and it could easily hinge on a single goal from Croatia for them to win 1-0 and shut off France. Not to mention there are expectations that France wins this while Croatia have less of that pressure.
On July 14 2018 08:39 Pandemona wrote: 3rd place match is so irrelevant who cares for 3rd place? Biggest club football tournament is Champions league, name me the last 3 seasons semi finalists? Don't try big up that game when it is just a money grabbing scheme. Name me a top sport competition that isn't the world cup which has a 3rd place match?
NFL, MLB, NBA, Tennis, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, Snooker, Pool, Darts....i don't know any more sports haha, but there is no 3rd place match because it is irrelevant, lose semi finals u go home. FIFA? Naa lets milk some more cash xd
On July 14 2018 07:29 Pandemona wrote: The 3rd place playoff game is so shit and irrelevant it is disgusting how it is still a thing. But what can we do when our friends at FIFA just want broadcast money.
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watching this game will be <5million at peak time on a saturday afternoon.
Do a test without googling try remember who finished 3rd in the last 3 world cups. I can name last two i think, might be wrong order.
I love third place matches and many others do too. Why is it a money grabbing scheme when it's actually something important in WC's terms? I can easily tell you the last 3rd finishes without googling because I love the world cup more than anything in football. But thats something the English will never understand
EDIT: IIHF ice hockey world championships, FIBA basketball world championships all have third place matches. I think it comes from Olympic system, because of "medal system". However indeed, the Pro-leagues dont have this tradition, as there are no gold/silver/bronze medals there.
As someone said in this thread before, 3rd place matches mean a lot to black horse nations that had a fantastic surprise run and overachieve to get that 3rd. However, i can definitely see how its a painful experience for the likes of England and Belgium
We can lose for sure but a lot of players still have the taste of 2016 finals defeat after being the favorites, so they won't let the hype get to their head, their focus is to finish the job, and I trust them to do it.
On July 14 2018 18:12 Poopi wrote: My prediction is also 3-0 France.
We can lose for sure but a lot of players still have the taste of 2016 finals defeat after being the favorites, so they won't let the hype get to their head, their focus is to finish the job, and I trust them to do it.
Ok so international basketball and hockey have 3 place matches and of course i understand it for an olympics because of the medal system, but that is irrelevant for football. Why does 3rd place get? A medal to say your not good enough for the final, does it effect your ranking with FIFA not that much, it doesn't let u auto qualify for next season.
Why should it be irrelevant for football? You represent the worst of English football fans, pande. This 3rd place finish for england isnt a "you are not good enough" its a "omg england actually won #3 medal." you totally overachieved and that medal would be proof of it. Finishing 4th is more like england totally fluked into semifinals and proving that point.
For belgium its obviously a disappointment since they wanted to win the WC
A third place in competition is only reasonable if you automatically get it with the system in place. Making the losers play an additional game is dumb no matter how you look at it.
Why would you celebrate a 3rd place medal why would you do that? That is awful mentality, it is different in INDIVIDUAL sports but in team sports it so pointless. FIFA added it for one extra game for sponsors to pay them more to broadcast. Like i said, why doesn't NBA playoffs, NFL playoffs, Champs league have these matches.
On July 14 2018 21:37 Pandemona wrote: Why would you celebrate a 3rd place medal why would you do that? That is awful mentality, it is different in INDIVIDUAL sports but in team sports it so pointless. FIFA added it for one extra game for sponsors to pay them more to broadcast. Like i said, why doesn't NBA playoffs, NFL playoffs, Champs league have these matches.
What do you mean "added"? Are you drunk or what? o.O Third place matches have been around for longer than UEFA, NBA playoffs or NFL playoffs lmao
1958 they added the 3rd place match. But like i said, it is meanginless game that is the point. If you celebrate this 3rd place match carry on but England and many other countries care little for it.
On July 14 2018 21:52 Pandemona wrote: 1958 they added the 3rd place match. But like i said, it is meanginless game that is the point. If you celebrate this 3rd place match carry on but England and many other countries care little for it.
You need to stop smoking that stuff. We had 3rd place matches in all WCs except 1930 and 1950. And we all know that English fans dont respect international competition. That's nothing new.
On July 14 2018 21:52 Pandemona wrote: 1958 they added the 3rd place match. But like i said, it is meanginless game that is the point. If you celebrate this 3rd place match carry on but England and many other countries care little for it.
I don't know what are you smoking, Croatia was ecstatic for their 3rd place in 1998.
i think comfortable win for France is on the table, but i'm not writing our football team off, it's football, you never know. if only French won last Euro, i would give Croatian side huge advantage in psychological aspect, but as is, i feel both teams are very hungry for it. quality is on their side, and as most analysts are saying the style of CRO will benefit FRA team, just look at what Belgium did to them 1st half, but they were smart and patient and knew how to finish it off after scoring.
i never thought id say this but maybe parking the bus would go a long way for a more even match. thats not saying France cant play open attacking football/possesion game, ofcourse they can with so many world class footballers in their squad, but they're most deadly on counters and sadly Croatia is weakest on one of its flanks (left more than right). without Perisic support, our LB wont have a good time.
hopefully they give their all and then the result doesnt even matter, they're already heroes and would probably be welcomed en masse even if they finished 4th. there was a registered seismic activity when Manduzkic scored vs England and after the final whistle. celebrations lasted throughout the night, traffic was stopped, flares were lit, its was crazy.
about 40 minutes after Russia game in QF, one lost American from NY state came to a neighborhood caffe (looks like a dump tbh but its charming place xD) where I was watching with friends and asked for google maps since his battery died. took 5 tries for me to register he was speaking english and switch to that mode lol (was very loud in the background in my defense). with people spilling beer, shirtless and ecstatic, breaking glasses and shouting like they're mad, i can't believe the courage he had to enter such a place. i took him home, charged his phone, fed him local delicacy (italians call it prosciutto) and drove him to his place (when i was fit to drive), believing in karma and such. i can say it payed off vs England, where the celebrations were ^21320312031023013 bigger, but i didnt have an omen during that night so im worried about France game now xD needless to say i havent washed my lucky shirt ^^
anyways, with all of that being said, i cant imagine the streets and what would happen if Croatia wins the World Cup. xD
England had 26.6million peak tune into England game (maybe a million more due to parks/pubs being over packed) and the amount watchi
England 2011 census: 53,012,456 Croatia 2016 census: 4,154,213
in comparison, our stats after Denmark game said a bit over 1,9 milion tv receivers were on, of which 92% watched the game (penalties probably) at its peak. but its summer in Croatia, tourist season, football fever, and Croatians are fairly outgoing people, so when you include all the city squares, caffes, people watching at friends place, i think its safe to say almost whole of the country was watching the game. i'll back this up by saying you couldnt find a car on the road during each of those 90 mins (120 actually haha).
in conclusion, hats off to England for passion but we're not very far and i hope you do well in future with this respectful and promising young squad. in 3 months you can exact your revenge in tournament that replaced international friendlies btw
On July 14 2018 21:52 Pandemona wrote: 1958 they added the 3rd place match. But like i said, it is meanginless game that is the point. If you celebrate this 3rd place match carry on but England and many other countries care little for it.
Its a good way for us to see how Southgate manages the team. They looked mentally weak against Croatia, can he get them playing 100% again when they are out of the tournament? If we win, it looks good for us, we should already be focusing on improving for the next tournament and a win here is the best way to get started. I think if we were favourites to win the world cup I would probably see this game the same way you do, but considering we are trying to build a team for the future, any competitive game against a team like Belgium is good experience.
Yes a country of <5million population of course will be nuts at getting a top 3 in the World Cup, a team like England who want to win the competition give no toots about coming 3rd or 4th, it is a failure.
I mean Germany, Spain, Brazil etc the big nations do they care for 3rd place, no of course they don't.
The team England put out clearly proves the game is meanginless, Jones/Delp/Dier/LoftusCheek/Rose all start who have been sitting on the bench throughout the tournament not playing.
On July 14 2018 22:57 Pandemona wrote: Yes a country of <5million population of course will be nuts at getting a top 3 in the World Cup, a team like England who want to win the competition give no toots about coming 3rd or 4th, it is a failure.
I mean Germany, Spain, Brazil etc the big nations do they care for 3rd place, no of course they don't.
The team England put out clearly proves the game is meanginless, Jones/Delp/Dier/LoftusCheek/Rose all start who have been sitting on the bench throughout the tournament not playing.
You are stupid. Germany and Italy celebrated their #3 places a lot.
On July 14 2018 22:57 Pandemona wrote: Yes a country of <5million population of course will be nuts at getting a top 3 in the World Cup, a team like England who want to win the competition give no toots about coming 3rd or 4th, it is a failure.
I mean Germany, Spain, Brazil etc the big nations do they care for 3rd place, no of course they don't.
The team England put out clearly proves the game is meanginless, Jones/Delp/Dier/LoftusCheek/Rose all start who have been sitting on the bench throughout the tournament not playing.
You are talking as in England is actually a top dog in football 🤔
On July 14 2018 22:57 Pandemona wrote: Yes a country of <5million population of course will be nuts at getting a top 3 in the World Cup, a team like England who want to win the competition give no toots about coming 3rd or 4th, it is a failure.
I mean Germany, Spain, Brazil etc the big nations do they care for 3rd place, no of course they don't.
The team England put out clearly proves the game is meanginless, Jones/Delp/Dier/LoftusCheek/Rose all start who have been sitting on the bench throughout the tournament not playing.
You are stupid. Germany and Italy celebrated their #3 places a lot.
Hahahah england getting destroyed
Definitely, Germany cared a lot about the #3 in 2006. They were pretty happy when they won against Portugal.
On July 14 2018 22:57 Pandemona wrote: Yes a country of <5million population of course will be nuts at getting a top 3 in the World Cup, a team like England who want to win the competition give no toots about coming 3rd or 4th, it is a failure.
I mean Germany, Spain, Brazil etc the big nations do they care for 3rd place, no of course they don't.
The team England put out clearly proves the game is meanginless, Jones/Delp/Dier/LoftusCheek/Rose all start who have been sitting on the bench throughout the tournament not playing.
You are stupid. Germany and Italy celebrated their #3 places a lot.
Hahahah england getting destroyed
Yeah they had victory parades and everything. You really need to stop trying make big d eal out of 3rd place, it is 2nd loser not even first loser. But when the teams or players you follow have little success you think 3rd place is a big deal. It is not, it never will be, go ask other people that aren't the 5 croatians here.
On July 14 2018 22:57 Pandemona wrote: Yes a country of <5million population of course will be nuts at getting a top 3 in the World Cup, a team like England who want to win the competition give no toots about coming 3rd or 4th, it is a failure.
I mean Germany, Spain, Brazil etc the big nations do they care for 3rd place, no of course they don't.
The team England put out clearly proves the game is meanginless, Jones/Delp/Dier/LoftusCheek/Rose all start who have been sitting on the bench throughout the tournament not playing.
You are talking as in England is actually a top dog in football 🤔
They celebrated it because they HOSTED the tournament and they lost the semi final which was "sad" and disappointing for them so they "enjoyed" the pointless prize of being called "3rd best team in world" lol
I will get the broadcast figures for it, i am watching sat at pc with it on another monitor, whole neighbours all watching it last time are not this time. The viewing figures will prove this as well
On July 14 2018 23:14 Pandemona wrote: They celebrated it because they HOSTED the tournament and they lost the semi final which was "sad" and disappointing for them so they "enjoyed" the pointless prize of being called "3rd best team in world" lol
Pretty sure this is just a coping mechanism. You are expecting to lose (and have been since the semis), so best way of dealing with that loss is making winning a "worthless trophy". There was talk in Holland like that before the 2014 3rd place match, but everybody, and especially the players felt afterwards that the 3rd place let them leave the tournament with a good feeling.
This Loftus Cheek guy seems quite good. Why hasn't he been starting before? If he's replacing Young then NVM, but seems better than the other players who got subbed out.
On July 14 2018 23:14 Pandemona wrote: They celebrated it because they HOSTED the tournament and they lost the semi final which was "sad" and disappointing for them so they "enjoyed" the pointless prize of being called "3rd best team in world" lol
Pretty sure this is just a coping mechanism. You are expecting to lose (and have been since the semis), so best way of dealing with that loss is making winning a "worthless trophy". There was talk in Holland like that before the 2014 3rd place match, but everybody, and especially the players felt afterwards that the 3rd place let them leave the tournament with a good feeling.
This Loftus Cheek guy seems quite good. Why hasn't he been starting before? If he's replacing Young then NVM, but seems better than the other players who got subbed out.
Whole country ? Many many many people around world agree with this statement that this match is worthless, from top coaches of the game to top players. It is played as a friendly basically.
Like i said people around me who are football crazy are going to watch pre season games today. I know Liverpool fans at Bury match, i know the guys in my office gone to watch my local side play which is division 8 ! Like i said the viewing numbers will be proof!
On July 14 2018 23:17 sharkie wrote: Germany also celebrated their #3 finish in 2010.
Also Belgium are definitely giving it their 100% in this match. So they prove you wrong too pande
England team has 0 forced changes, yet have Jones/Dier/Rose/LofusCHeek/Delph all starting in stead of the top players that played semi final....what does that say?
No lol. Henderson is our midfield, Lindgard runs around and presses insanely. Dier is woeful and Jones got destroyed by Hazard in FA Cup final why would you let that happen again
On July 15 2018 00:05 ortseam wrote: I think it's just that the hype wore off, after all they just missed their biggest chance for a final since forever
At least they can end the tournament with a win, the loser of the grand final can't. =)
I must say, if only not to give the mean-spirited fans like Pande the satisfaction of winning that “meaningless” match, it’s nice that England lost. More than that, though, Belgium played like champs this entire tournament, and their semifinals finish was earned through far more difficult matches than England’s. They were the better team throughout and they deserve mad props for their games.
England literally Arsenal, just sack southgate and get wenger in and it will be complete haha. Had so much ball, so many chances, so many good moves and all results in getting countered at will and looking like going to concede every time.
90% passing accuracy pretty interesting though. More shots, 60% possession yet never looked like scoring minus the 3 clear cut chances we created, not bad for a chopped and changed lineup though. Maybe if we play Belgium with our best side we could win idk lol.
Thread answers its own question, we had 2 pages of discussion for whole game Can't even say was "boring" game either imo as England bossing possession trying to create and every Belgium counter looked like a goal waiting to happen. Yet no one here talking
Southgate has made england very solid in shape but his team also has no clue how to attack. The problem is that their midfield doesn't know how to play with the ball. So many passes but they're all sideways. I think we can describe the squad as Henderson. Solid but zero creativity and sideways passing. Funny cuz their first choice anchor is him too.
Personally think he is too conservative and that's why he is not the right person to manage the team
I don't understand all the criticism on Southgate. He showed a solid plan, protecting his defense with 3 to cover their weaknesses, and trying to attack mostly with long balls, since they don't have any midfielders than can create chances and exploit Sterling's pace and Kane's goalscoring ability, also the team showed good ability in set pieces. It's not his fault that Kane/Sterling didn't convert a lot of chances, neither the ,admittedly, low overall quality of the squad.
On July 15 2018 01:07 DucK- wrote: Southgate has made england very solid in shape but his team also has no clue how to attack. The problem is that their midfield doesn't know how to play with the ball. So many passes but they're all sideways. I think we can describe the squad as Henderson. Solid but zero creativity and sideways passing. Funny cuz their first choice anchor is him too.
Personally think he is too conservative and that's why he is not the right person to manage the team
isnt that how u play when u dont have world class players
Half of the praise goes to Poch for Englands achivement at WC
Kane, Tripper, Walker, Rose and Alli all are his productions, and pretty much the spine of English NT. Dier is there as well but didnt write him so Pande wouldnt get triggered.
I don't get why Pande is so upset about the third place match. England is already lucky to be in semi finals with that team, it would have been huge for them to manage 3rd place. But yes when you want your team to win you don't wanna give a shit about losers' final so I understand his feelings, but no need to spill on the third place matches.
Kante, Modric, definitely. Hazard is one of the most overrated players this WC. Yes, he makes some amazing runs, but his teammates don't have a clue how to respond to those runs. Time and time again, he'll pass 2-3 players, only to find 0 teammates, since they don't understand what he's doing. And he's not that good of a solo finisher. The game vs England already showed that De Bruyne is tons better than Hazard at their respective peak. Griezmann wasn't bad, but he hardly had the impact people were hoping for and/or expecting.
Who else should be in this top 5? Casemiro, Meunier and Courtois, imo. It was clear how well Brazil's defence did without Casemiro, he was missed sorely. Meunier was Belgium's best non-star player, arguably. He covered the entire side of the pitch, would cancel out his opponent and offer attacking impulses. Courtois did what you'd expect of him, but let's not forget this guy is in the top 3 goalkeepers of the world, easily. Honorable mentions? Varane, Godin, Trippier, Cavani, Dzyuba.
1. Russia (performed much better than expected and played with a lot of heart) 2. Japan (maybe a little weak on paper but they showed real quality in their offense. Not bad) 3. Marocco (fate was harsh on this african team but they clearly played to win in every game) 4. Belgium (We knew they had potential but this team has shown some of the absolute best play at this WC) 5. Croatia (Its impressive to play 3x120 min, being behind in all games and then come out on top. Great display of moral)
And the bad
1. Argentina (Just wtf happened? A team in chaos that should have gotten several red cards but somehow didnt) 2. Columbia (Why has FIFA not penalized this team for their disgusting showing vs England? get the fuck out of here!) 3. Germany (overconfidence is a slow and incidious killer. They just werent hungry enough) 4. VAR (Penalties are still given when they shouldnt and overlooked in other situations. Thats why we havnt seen it in the elimination rounds. I am not a fan) 5. FIFA (No more "honey shots", really? What about fixing corruption and re-asigning the next WC?)
And Argentina didn't surprise me. They barely qualified in the last match day in the South America qualifiers playing terrible.They passed group stage in the WC, it is more than I expected.
This post made me realize the 1998 finals when 1 hour prior to the game they annouced the lineups and in Brazil's list Edmundo was a replacement for Ronaldo.
List on the right was the one presented 1h before game. That was because Ronaldo had a seizure earlier that day. The official and final list is the one on the left
On July 15 2018 23:52 mahrgell wrote: What was the background music for Lahm bringing the trophy on the pitch? It is really well known, but I simply can't catch it right now.
The ecstasy of gold. From the good the bad and the ugly
On July 16 2018 00:10 Pandemona wrote: So thats 4 fouls for Croatia so far to stop France playing....hope ref doesn't allow this to go on to much longer
On July 16 2018 00:10 Pandemona wrote: So thats 4 fouls for Croatia so far to stop France playing....hope ref doesn't allow this to go on to much longer
Yep, those 4 fouls have done wonders. I havent seen france for the last 15 min
On July 16 2018 00:10 Pandemona wrote: So thats 4 fouls for Croatia so far to stop France playing....hope ref doesn't allow this to go on to much longer
Looked it up out of curiousity, Rebic did 19 fouls this tourney and was fould only 9 times. That's impressively backwards for a winger
On July 16 2018 00:21 iXphobos wrote: I wonder why the VAR didn't do sth about that dive. Aren't they allowed to do so?
From what I know it only over-turns game changing situations like penalties, red cards etc. That situation wasn't really a game changing situation. It makes sense, if VAR were to over-turn every single decision every match would need 10mins of stoppage time.
On July 16 2018 00:18 Pandemona wrote: He plays right back basically thats why and in England game alone he fouled 6 times.
He really doesn't, most of the time he's their furthest player up front. And those fouls he makes are usually not in their half
No he really doesn't lol. Commentators even talking about it right now. He plays further behind his right back when he out that side and its basically Perisic and Mandzukic up front
On July 16 2018 00:18 Pandemona wrote: He plays right back basically thats why and in England game alone he fouled 6 times.
He really doesn't, most of the time he's their furthest player up front. And those fouls he makes are usually not in their half
No he really doesn't lol. Commentators even talking about it right now. He plays further behind his right back when he out that side and its basically Perisic and Mandzukic up front
Look at the screen, he's further up than Mandzukic. Are you confusing him for another player?
On July 16 2018 00:18 Pandemona wrote: He plays right back basically thats why and in England game alone he fouled 6 times.
He really doesn't, most of the time he's their furthest player up front. And those fouls he makes are usually not in their half
No he really doesn't lol. Commentators even talking about it right now. He plays further behind his right back when he out that side and its basically Perisic and Mandzukic up front
Look at the screen, he's further up than Mandzukic. Are you confusing him for another player?
On July 16 2018 00:18 Pandemona wrote: He plays right back basically thats why and in England game alone he fouled 6 times.
He really doesn't, most of the time he's their furthest player up front. And those fouls he makes are usually not in their half
No he really doesn't lol. Commentators even talking about it right now. He plays further behind his right back when he out that side and its basically Perisic and Mandzukic up front
Look at the screen, he's further up than Mandzukic. Are you confusing him for another player?
Rebic....he is the number 18...
Remember the Caballero mistake? Why was he pressing the keeper if he's a right back?
On July 16 2018 00:18 Pandemona wrote: He plays right back basically thats why and in England game alone he fouled 6 times.
He really doesn't, most of the time he's their furthest player up front. And those fouls he makes are usually not in their half
No he really doesn't lol. Commentators even talking about it right now. He plays further behind his right back when he out that side and its basically Perisic and Mandzukic up front
Look at the screen, he's further up than Mandzukic. Are you confusing him for another player?
Rebic....he is the number 18...
Remember the Caballero mistake? Why was he pressing the keeper if he's a right back?
Remember the England game, remember the Denmark game, remember the Russia game...
On July 16 2018 00:32 Uldridge wrote: Where are these people saying that Croatia's game plays perfectly into France's game? France is fucking nowhere lol
Everyone should know by now that there have been few of these football experts in these WC threads, that they know exactly whats what.
On July 16 2018 00:18 Pandemona wrote: He plays right back basically thats why and in England game alone he fouled 6 times.
He really doesn't, most of the time he's their furthest player up front. And those fouls he makes are usually not in their half
No he really doesn't lol. Commentators even talking about it right now. He plays further behind his right back when he out that side and its basically Perisic and Mandzukic up front
Look at the screen, he's further up than Mandzukic. Are you confusing him for another player?
Rebic....he is the number 18...
Remember the Caballero mistake? Why was he pressing the keeper if he's a right back?
Remember the England game, remember the Denmark game, remember the Russia game...
Well yeah, and not once did he play as 'basically right back'. I'm not continuing this anymore, all you have to do is look at the screen and see where he is for over 90% of the time.
On July 16 2018 00:32 Uldridge wrote: Where are these people saying that Croatia's game plays perfectly into France's game? France is fucking nowhere lol
i think most of them were saying croatia is vulnerable to french counter attack break away
Man, fuck this. French haven't done shit and now they get a pen. First the first goal that wasn't a fault and now this. This match looks to be the most bullshit final
On July 16 2018 00:37 The_Red_Viper wrote: There was no intent and the ball bounced from the back of the french player, very short distance. How is that a penalty..
Because the arms moving, away from the body, definitely alters the play etc. 45/55 call for me
On July 16 2018 00:37 The_Red_Viper wrote: There was no intent and the ball bounced from the back of the french player, very short distance. How is that a penalty..
Because the arms moving, away from the body, definitely alters the play etc. 45/55 call for me
Well it altered the play for sure, but this didn't look unnatural to me and as i said the distance was really short. Bad call imo
On July 16 2018 00:37 Pandemona wrote: Wow. REF TOOK A YEAR to make that decision, he didn't have a clue what to do.. Poor guy
HUGE DECISION
I don't like wear Perisic hand was it was a bit unnatural, but holy shit this is HUGE CALL
You know this whole unnatural thing is some vague bushit you English came up with right? There's no rule regarding this. The rule is centered around intent. You could have your hand up your ass and that would be an unnatural position.
Its a slightly subjective decision but it's very poor one. There were several reasons not to call that.
France Real Madriding their way to a WC. Cheapened the final for me already.
No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
Well FIFA brought this to themselves. They made the rules so vague and unclear and up for interpretation. The rules should be simple and concrete, not full of subjective variables.
Honestly French fans shouldn't be celebrating, their team has been none existant, they are literally winning because of luck and bad calls from the ref.
Well, it also looks like Pogba was offside in the own goal, and he was the guy who was right next to Mandzukic trying to get a header, so he was participating in the play. The referee commentanting the match here said it should have been called offside by VAR.
Edit: actually it was Pogba's arms that were ahead of Mandzukic, so its not an offside.
On July 16 2018 00:51 Pr0wler wrote: Well FIFA brought this to themselves. They made the rules so vague and unclear and up for interpretation. The rules should be simple and concrete, not full of subjective variables.
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
So according to you, sitting on the goal line with your hands up, doesn't show intent to block a shot ? Interesting. This whole rule is dumb.
On July 16 2018 00:51 Rookie6 wrote: Well, it also looks like Pogba was offside in the own goal, and he was the guy who was right next to Mandzukic trying to get a header, so he was participating in the play. The referee commentanting the match here said it should have been called offside by VAR.
Interesting, I thought offside too from the replay.
On July 16 2018 00:51 Rookie6 wrote: Well, it also looks like Pogba was offside in the own goal, and he was the guy who was right next to Mandzukic trying to get a header, so he was participating in the play. The referee commentanting the match here said it should have been called offside by VAR.
Interesting, I thought offside too from the replay.
Actually they replayed it, and it were only Pogba's arms that were ahead of Mandzukic. So not really offside, actually.
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
Your example is impeding a clear goal scoring threat. This was not that case. I am fine with intent by proxy negligence where its denying the other team an advantage.
That was not the case here. The ball was going nowhere near a french player after Matuidi (?) missed it.
Again its a subjective decision anyone with a brain knows that shouldnt be called and VAR intervening on what would be a completely marginal decision is a poor use of the system.
Sorry but you are doing a terrible job justifying this one with that parallel.
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
So according to you, sitting on the goal line with your hands up, doesn't show intent to block a shot ? Interesting. This whole rule is dumb.
So according to you moving your arm in the path of the cross and blocking it out to the corner isn't intent? Congrats, you have found the problem with the rule, interpretation is hard in certain situations. Also notice how you have yet to explain how you want to clear it up.
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
No, because being on the goal line with your hands out you are intending for them to block the ball. That was clearly not the case here, because he couldn't even see the ball coming and his hands were out to keep balance when landing from a jump.
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
Your example is impeding a clear goal scoring threat. This was not that case. I am fine with intent by proxy negligence where its denying the other team an advantage.
That was not the case here.
That isn't what the rule covers, a clear goalscoring opportunity has absolutely nothing to do with it. The only thing that matters is intent, you can legally block a ball going into goal as long as it isn't intentional and that point returns us back to "unnatural" hand position etc
On July 16 2018 00:46 Pandemona wrote: No one talking about a rule set in stone, but when your hands aren't in a natural psotion from a jump and your arm moves that is problematic. Thus the ref gets a decision to make.
What is a natural position from a jump? If you jumped while stretching your leg would your hand be behind your ass? The hand is outstretched which is dangerous for cleary demonstrated reasons but its not unnatural
According to the rule the only thing that matters is intent. That means that someone can stand on the goal line with his arms out the entire game and as long as he doesn't actively make a move toward the ball he would be fine. That is why the unnatural position/movement thing is often brought up, consider it intent by proxy/negligence
Your example is impeding a clear goal scoring threat. This was not that case. I am fine with intent by proxy negligence where its denying the other team an advantage.
That was not the case here.
That isn't what the rule covers, a clear goalscoring opportunity has absolutely nothing to do with it. The only thing that matters is intent, you can legally block a ball going into goal as long as it isn't intentional and that point returns us back to "unnatural" hand position etc
Actually there has never been a situation where a ball going into goal denied by the hand intentional or otherwise if noticed has been denied sooo..
No the rule doesnt cover that, thats why the decision is subjective and why my argument is valid.
The rule covers intent to foul play. Foul play is denying the other team illegally.
Thing is it really looks like he moves his arm in reaction to where the ball is going to go. It's not like one of those cases where the arm is holding still and the ball just goes towards it. It looks like a penalty to me.
There's also no way to unsubjectivize the rule, Prowler.
On July 16 2018 00:56 Rebs wrote: VAR is supposed to turn over clear and obvious mistakes.. The threshold has been really good. Forcing the ref to review a 50-50 is so stupid.
Yeah, I agree. I think they should do like in the NFL. They only overturn a call if the video can give you 100% certain. If it gives you only 90% certain, it's a subjective play, and what was called in real time stands as the call.
Can't say I look forward to meeting french people three years for now and have them go "Hey, I'm ***, how are you? What did you think of the finals of the world cup when we won?" which, yes, is something that actually happened to me in 2001.
On July 16 2018 01:32 Nebuchad wrote: Can't say I look forward to meeting french people three years for now and have them go "Hey, I'm ***, how are you? What did you think of the finals of the world cup when we won?" which, yes, is something that actually happened to me in 2001.
Good goal by Croatia that cocky goalkeeper had it coming.
ROFL you hating much ? Croatia has been fouling their entire run are you blind ?
No, but you are and clearly biased. If that is not shameful dishonest behavior I don't know what is. He's a diva, anyone can see it. He learned all the wrong things about Neymar.
Good goal by Croatia that cocky goalkeeper had it coming.
ROFL you hating much ? Croatia has been fouling their entire run are you blind ?
No, but you are and clearly biased. If that is not shameful dishonest behavior I don't know what is. He's a diva, anyone can see it. He learned all the wrong things about Neymar.
I am clearly biased. 23 fouls against england 18 against russia France fouled 6 times against belgium and 15 times against uruguay Very clean play during the wc for croatia
Idk, this finals does have it all pretty much: Controversial calls/non-calls, VAR-controversy, absolutely stunning passes/shots, huge drops, desperation and nerve.
On July 16 2018 01:43 [Phantom] wrote: See that shit? All french players are divas. Fucking bullshit. Zero play. 100% luck. I hope today fixes this soon and starts punishing this stuff.
See how they start driving so of these 5 minutes left 1 will be played. Shameful.
Did a French guy steal cheese from you or something? Your posts about France seem to stem from a deep wound
My criticism comes being an honest person that loathes people that gain advantage by being dishonest/lucky. When other teams do that I criticize them too.
But I guess I'm getting too heated up...so I will stop. Congrats to France, they did have the skill to score 4 goals, even if the situation around them were lucky.
On July 16 2018 01:43 [Phantom] wrote: See that shit? All french players are divas. Fucking bullshit. Zero play. 100% luck. I hope fifa fixes this soon and starts punishing this stuff.
See how they start driving so of these 5 minutes left 1 will be played. Shameful.
On July 16 2018 01:47 [Phantom] wrote: My criticism comes being an honest person that loathes people that gain advantage by being dishonest/lucky. When other teams do that I critic them too.
Team Immigrants won, damn. I wanted Croatia to take the WC home so bad ;<
Sucks for them, the first goal was meh, the penalty didn't help them as well. Would have been much more interesting game if those mistakes didn't happen.
Yeah i mean every football team does this, from Real Madrid and Barcelona to the lowly teams of semi pro level. It's just what you do, just like you throw cheese builds into StarCraft matches in grand finals etc. Just playing to win.
They have been second best for large parts of this game, but Lloris hasn't really had loads of saves to make, yet every time France went forward they looked extremely dangerous and punished Croatia.
On July 16 2018 01:49 739 wrote: Team Immigrants won, damn. I wanted Croatia to take the WC home so bad ;<
Sucks for them, the first goal was meh, the penalty didn't help them as well. Would have been much more interesting game if those mistakes didn't happen.
Team immigrants? Too bad the report button does not exist with writer :S
On July 13 2018 00:36 Faruko wrote: I think France has been quite impressive, i like their football
"Lyrical football" (as we meme here in SA) is not the only way to play it, not every team needs to do 500 passes to be considered "football", seems like Guardiola made everyone forget that yes, teams can play different and is still our beautiful game
This France is all about being effective, great defense and a midfield that controls the tempo of the game, with Pogba distributing the ball around, Kante recovering and cutting plays, being the first pass and Griezmann giving the orders and orchestrating how to attack, Hernandez and Mbappe being fast and incisive.
Deschamps has no problems whatsoever taking out the 9 and putting another defender if the game needs it and call me an asshole or something, but time wasting is part of the game and if i needed i would do it.
Defenders are as importants as forwards and they can shine too, people forget that, balon d´or being only for forwards all the time doesn't help either (not that i'm against the choices besides Messi instead of Iniesta in 2010)
On July 16 2018 01:51 Pandemona wrote: Yeah i mean every football team does this, from Real Madrid and Barcelona to the lowly teams of semi pro level. It's just what you do, just like you throw cheese builds into StarCraft matches in grand finals etc. Just playing to win.
They have been second best for large parts of this game, but Lloris hasn't really had loads of saves to make, yet every time France went forward they looked extremely dangerous and punished Croatia.
Before this world cup I was able to say Japan was not doing this but even Japan did
On July 16 2018 01:49 739 wrote: Team Immigrants won, damn. I wanted Croatia to take the WC home so bad ;<
Sucks for them, the first goal was meh, the penalty didn't help them as well. Would have been much more interesting game if those mistakes didn't happen.
On July 16 2018 01:51 Pandemona wrote: Yeah i mean every football team does this, from Real Madrid and Barcelona to the lowly teams of semi pro level. It's just what you do, just like you throw cheese builds into StarCraft matches in grand finals etc. Just playing to win.
They have been second best for large parts of this game, but Lloris hasn't really had loads of saves to make, yet every time France went forward they looked extremely dangerous and punished Croatia.
Before this world cup I was able to say Japan was not doing this but even Japan did
There you go, even the teams who people think have "morales" do this.
And we are world champiooons ! Congratz to the croatians, they were better than us on this match but we deserve this overall I think, anyway I am happy !
No denying that France got some very good luck here, but they scored enough goals to show that they earned the win as the better team today. Luck is part of the game, so I’m not inclined to complain about that.
For all the top tier teams that dropped out early to some form of dark horse, I think it’s worth mentioning that France was the team that actually buried all of those dark horses. Who knows if they’d beat Brazil or Spain or Germany etc in this WC, but it certainly counts for something that they didn’t lose to any team weaker than them.
On July 16 2018 01:55 LegalLord wrote: No denying that France got some very good luck here, but they scored enough goals to show that they earned the win as the better team today. Luck is part of the game, so I’m not inclined to complain about that.
GG, well earned win.
No, it shows they were good enough to score goals. Its alot easier to play the way they did to get those two goals when they get two freebies. Some luck is a part of the game. Getting 2 goals handed to you for little to no value is a bit extreme.
On July 16 2018 01:59 Shellshock wrote: Golden ball to French moms for making such a stacked depth chart
Congrats to France and it's fans. They were a solid team all world cup, which is what they were in the final. Props to the Croatian team, which played amazingly well too. No one expected them to reach the finals, yet they got there and played arguably better than the champions. I did not like the final. it was the shittiest thing ever. But overall this world cup was very enjoyable.
Gratz to France, but at least none can claim Croatia only got to final because of easier teams. We showed great football in the final and dominated most of the match.
Deschamps great coach. He made a super solid tean. Workrate of griezman pogba giroud on defense was super. And well France has some insane skilled players.
Wish they played more offensively but cant blame them after our van gaal run lol
I really hope Modric gets the Golden ball. Hes been so good, even in the final not a ball wrong. Couldn't find a telling ball but thats difficult against the France D sitting back.
If they give it to Mbappe that would be a bit unfair imo.
He was an important out ball for them today. Long ball up to him in first half and him laying it off. He doesn't look pretty, was inactive in goals scored, but he was vital in games like this where they didn't have large parts of the ball.
On July 16 2018 01:45 warding wrote: Nearly all these guys in the French team will be in they're prime in the next WC. Scary.
yeah next world cup is gonna be all france and belgium
Ehhh, we'll still have our holy trinity of Lukaku - KDB - Hazard, and they may be in their prime, but our entire defense is gone except Toby, and there don't seem to be any good replacements yet. Boyata and Dendoncker..?
EC 2020 though… Gonna be mad if we're in the same bracket half as France.
On July 16 2018 01:59 Shellshock wrote: Golden ball to French moms for making such a stacked depth chart
You mean immigrant moms in the Paris ghettos.
Imagine a team full of Girouds..
Talent means jack shit, it's all about the academies. Switzerland can field a full team of Kosovars that will beat Kosovo's national team 10 times out of 10
This game was probably way closer than the score-line indicates. Several questionable decisions in France's favor. Croatia players seemed to dominate ball control one-on-one, French players are very fast, took advantage of break opportunities. It seemed Croatia had the ball the whole match but when France gained possession the Croatian side couldn't keep them out of the net in the second half. I'm sure the three extra time games had an impact, but that's neither here nor there. Not a huge fan of the French team due to the aforementioned drama and poor sportsmanship (Mbappe dribbling away from the Belgium throw in the last mast comes to mind). I realize that this sort of thing is common in Football but France really seems to buy into it - more so than the other teams - and frankly I prefer a soccer team whose strategy is to play better than the opponent rather than deny the opponent the opportunity to play. Just my opinion of what I have seen from them at this world cup. Not the greatest final from a spectators point of view, but it certainly had it's share of everything. GG and WP to all teams who participated. Thanks to Russia for the host.
On July 16 2018 01:59 Shellshock wrote: Golden ball to French moms for making such a stacked depth chart
You mean immigrant moms in the Paris ghettos.
Imagine a team full of Girouds..
Talent means jack shit, it's all about the academies. Switzerland can field a full team of Kosovars that will beat Kosovo's national team 10 times out of 10
I was half joking.. but thanks for telling me about the academies. Wouldnt have guessed that one. I thought Clairefontaine was a restaurant. I am enlightened.
Wonder why those academy's cant find as many elite level non immigrant descendants doe+ Show Spoiler +
this is a rhetorical question, please dont answer it.
.. and that was my larger point.
And I heard there are lots of academies in other parts of Europe to. For that matter Switzerland does field a team pretty stacked with immigrants to soooooooo ...... Talent means alot.
On July 16 2018 01:59 Shellshock wrote: Golden ball to French moms for making such a stacked depth chart
You mean immigrant moms in the Paris ghettos.
Imagine a team full of Girouds..
Talent means jack shit, it's all about the academies. Switzerland can field a full team of Kosovars that will beat Kosovo's national team 10 times out of 10
I was half joking.. but thanks for telling me about the academies. Wouldnt have guessed that one. I thought Clairefontaine was a restaurant. I am enlightened.
Wonder why those academy's cant find as many elite level non immigrants doe .. and that was my larger point.
And I heard there are lots of academies in other parts of Europe to. For that matter Switzerland does field a team pretty stacked with immigrants to soooooooo ......
Your 'gotcha' at the end was the whole point, they are better than they would have been if they grew in the football system of their parents' countries.
You don't have to wonder why academies can't find as many elite level non immigrants because it's not true. If your real question is why France's squad or Belgium's squad have a higher % of black people than their overall population you can elucidate that by reading Lukaku's writeup.
Of course poor kids are more likely to play football all day rather than going to piano lessons or playing the latest video games. Since you specified 'Paris ghettos', I assume you know that immigrant families are more exposed to poverty in Western Europe.
Ahh man, my heart was for Croatia but the mind said France. Croatia definitely can hold their heads up high because a lot of people wrote them off. they showed the world that Croatia is a force to be reckon with. Congrats to France with the WC win considering how much their team was in shambles in 2014.
Side note, once again thank you Pandemona for making all these WC threads and see you all in 2022 in Qatar.
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
Yeah to be honest we destroyed every single team.
Was expected since our team is expensive but nice to see
If you think Croatia was "destroyed" here you might want to rewatch the game in a few weeks. They actually held their ground much better than any other team we played against, and they would have probably won with Subasic not being in a bad day.
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
You need to learn to read more carefully. I said our midfield, not our team. You obviously won and deserved that win (even with some people whining about the referee). But I am 100% sure that any neutral will confirm that our midfield played better overall. Kante was your best player so far but he was so useless he got replaced. Also destroyed his chance to win player of the tournament over Modric.
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
Yeah to be honest we destroyed every single team.
Was expected since our team is expensive but nice to see
Bleh, what a awful reaction. Your team certainly wasn't 'nice to see' at the end of the game vs Belgium. And 'expecting' to win the whole thing is ridiculous. Even if you're a 80/20 favourite every match, you only have 40% chance of winning the knockout bracket.
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
Yeah to be honest we destroyed every single team.
Was expected since our team is expensive but nice to see
If you think Croatia was "destroyed" here you might want to rewatch the game in a few weeks. They actually held their ground much better than any other team we played against, and they would have probably won with Subasic not being in a bad day.
Of course they held their ground. They were the second best team this World Cup.
About Kante, he got replaced because of the yellow, not because he was bad
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
Yeah to be honest we destroyed every single team.
Was expected since our team is expensive but nice to see
If you think Croatia was "destroyed" here you might want to rewatch the game in a few weeks. They actually held their ground much better than any other team we played against, and they would have probably won with Subasic not being in a bad day.
Of course they held their ground. They were the second best team this World Cup.
About Kante, he got replaced because of the yellow, not because he was bad
Nah, that is an excuse. If he played well even a yellow does not require such an early replacement. Only bad play or injury require that.
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
You need to learn to read more carefully. I said our midfield, not our team. You obviously won and deserved that win (even with some people whining about the referee). But I am 100% sure that any neutral will confirm that our midfield played better overall. Kante was your best player so far but he was so useless he got replaced. Also destroyed his chance to win player of the tournament over Modric.
I'm not French dude (welp, I'm part since my gfather & gmother are French but I'm chilean 100%)
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
No, he just got unlucky a few too many times. At least two of those goals weren’t really blockable, and I don’t remember the others.
1. Own goal - almost impossible 2. Penalty - much to say 3. Pogba - he had his vision blocked and he probably saw it late 4. Mbappe - strong shot, the only one he could have done something more
Impressive to win a world cup with such a young squad, dealing with Argentina, Uruguay, Belgium and Croatia. I expected a lot of people complaining about their defending style though I don't think they had the maturity to play differently. I would have been disappointed if they would have won only 2/1, because everybody would have been outraged at referee and saying Croatia was cheated because of this freekick. But thanks god there was 2 more goals. Plus we put ourselves in doubt by giving them a second goal. At the end it's 4/2. It's a win, fair and square.
On July 16 2018 03:29 -Archangel- wrote: Our midfield completely destroyed France but our goalkeeper didn't show up for this match.
Every single team "beat" France in their minds yet they only draw to Denmark and because they fixed that match
At the end, the difference between the harder and the easier path showed up 🤔
Yeah to be honest we destroyed every single team.
Was expected since our team is expensive but nice to see
If you think Croatia was "destroyed" here you might want to rewatch the game in a few weeks. They actually held their ground much better than any other team we played against, and they would have probably won with Subasic not being in a bad day.
Of course they held their ground. They were the second best team this World Cup.
About Kante, he got replaced because of the yellow, not because he was bad
Nah, that is an excuse. If he played well even a yellow does not require such an early replacement. Only bad play or injury require that.
Think he was sub because he was playing badly AND was on a yellow.
How is griezmann the 3rd best player this tournament? For scoring penalties?
On July 16 2018 08:22 Faruko wrote: How is france a defensive team if scored 11 goals in the knock out stage and super offensive beatiful 60%+ possesion by Spain in 2010 only 4?
jesus
France was pretty defensive, Inact I would say that the biggest MVP's for them have been Varane and Umtiti.
Offensiely theyre identity is just ok, They have individuals that are so strong on their individual Matchups they make up for it and not needing an offensive identity.
Even today Mbappe got the space he got because his team was ahead and the opponents had to chase the game. In the first half he had 2 completed passes, 2. Croatia handled him pretty well before France got ahead.
I mean he was getting wrecked by Strinic 1v1 alot of the time lol. I am sure there are clips of it, but ofcourse there was an aspect of team defending to it which is why he is such a handful. And that breaks down when you have to push forward chasing goals.
And people are still forgetting how Marcelo absolutely wrecked him in the CL. He has everything he needs but he has a ways to go still.
This france team is actually quite similar to Madrid in that respect.
Italy in 82 scored about has many goals as France did this WC in less games so the number of goals on its own is a stupid thing to consider.. Italy was NOT an offensive team. Neither is this French one. Which is ok. Do what works for you.
I kinda talked about that lol i posted abiut it in the sf
France is a pragmatic team that attacks when they need to, going all out is being offensive? No, doing side passes for 30 minutes is offensive? No, posesion = offensive? Hell no.
There are just 2 teams adapting to situations
France knew Croatia had 90 more extra minutes of playtime, so what did they do? Give them the ball, try to control a bit the oace by cutting down the game (which didn't worked out at the start) and use Griezmann as the ordee + Hernandez/Mbappe moving around, they'll get tired eventually.
So what happened when Croatia got tired? They went in and score 2 goals. Was it defensive? You can call it that, I'd call it adapt to the situation and having a good manager to read the game (that Nzonzi change at minute 50 destroyed Croatia)
I didn't see Nzonzi change do anything. Both goals in 2nd were basically solo goals. Croatia still had fairly easy way towards France goal until we got tired (and demoralised)
I'm not taking anything away from Croatia, but they clearly got tired out and Modric didn't appear, Rakitic played so well today but luck wasn't on their side.
At the end, France just was superior, Croatia was a great team and clearly knew their way to play the game with Modric/Rakitic/Perisic, sadly Modric had his worst game in the finals and that was crucial.
On July 16 2018 11:24 -Archangel- wrote: I didn't see Nzonzi change do anything. Both goals in 2nd were basically solo goals. Croatia still had fairly easy way towards France goal until we got tired (and demoralised)
Nzonzi chage allowed Pogba (and maybe also Mbappe) to push forward more and being more offensive without worrying about getting counter attacked. . The first goal in second half was not a solo goal at all, since it was Mbappe who cut in from the right first before passing to Griezman who then passed to Pogba, who is now being able to push forward since Nzonzi can help him with the defensive play.
The second goal also has the left wing dribbing and cutting in from the left flank passing Craotia's defenders before crossing in the ball toward center for Mbappe. I wouldn't call that a solo goal either.
Whole country is currently celebrating our team as if they are the champions because in our hearts they are. This is now the biggest single positive gathering of the nation since the end of our liberation war. The sights and sounds are beyond incredible.
On July 17 2018 01:12 -Archangel- wrote: Whole country is currently celebrating our team as if they are the champions because in our hearts they are. This is now the biggest single positive gathering of the nation since the end of our liberation war. The sights and sounds are beyond incredible.
Current estimates are 300 000+ people have gathered in our capital to greet the team.
On July 17 2018 03:52 Makro wrote: the weird feeling is that it looks like france won the WC without even being at full throttle
if they can keep that mojo, i see a greater future for these guys
Biggest weak points for France yesterday was full backs and that is because the best left back Mendy wasn't fit enough to play right and on the right Pavard is not so good defending, if they can fix those two positions they will be in very good stead for Euro 2020
I was fighting against nokok and some other french arrogant ppl earlier this weak, telling them to be modest and humble. I was afraid of the hate against us. I read the whole thread and oh boy, the salt and hate was strong. At least, Phantom apologized for it. But some other ppl brought the immigration into a football WC thread ? HELL NO. You can be salty. You can be mad. Don't be THAT guy tho.
Croatia was the better team overall, France had three things : Talented individual players, Deschamps as a coach, and a bit of luck. It was enough this time. We are going strong into the next Euro, with young players improving more and more.
Thank you, THANK YOU Pande for your threads. You are awesome, and even tho England football team is not my favorite, I was sad they lost, because you're a hero to me. Keep it up, and thank you again.
On July 17 2018 05:36 Yosheekee wrote: I was fighting against nokok and some other french arrogant ppl earlier this weak, telling them to be modest and humble. I was afraid of the hate against us. I read the whole thread and oh boy, the salt and hate was strong. At least, Phantom apologized for it. But some other ppl brought the immigration into a football WC thread ? HELL NO. You can be salty. You can be mad. Don't be THAT guy tho.
Croatia was the better team overall, France had three things : Talented individual players, Deschamps as a coach, and a bit of luck. It was enough this time. We are going strong into the next Euro, with young players improving more and more.
Thank you, THANK YOU Pande for your threads. You are awesome, and even tho England football team is not my favorite, I was sad they lost, because you're a hero to me. Keep it up, and thank you again.
See u in the next WC guys !
Why wait so long. League of nations starts soon and then 2020 EC
On July 17 2018 03:52 Makro wrote: the weird feeling is that it looks like france won the WC without even being at full throttle
if they can keep that mojo, i see a greater future for these guys
Biggest weak points for France yesterday was full backs and that is because the best left back Mendy wasn't fit enough to play right and on the right Pavard is not so good defending, if they can fix those two positions they will be in very good stead for Euro 2020
lucas hernandez was top tier though, even if i agree that pavard was the weakest link but you have sidibé instead of him and this dude just have no clue how to defend
if they keep the same winning mentality, for sure they can dream of winning tue 2020 : the quality is here
On July 17 2018 05:36 Yosheekee wrote: I was fighting against nokok and some other french arrogant ppl earlier this weak, telling them to be modest and humble. I was afraid of the hate against us. I read the whole thread and oh boy, the salt and hate was strong. At least, Phantom apologized for it. But some other ppl brought the immigration into a football WC thread ? HELL NO. You can be salty. You can be mad. Don't be THAT guy tho.
Croatia was the better team overall, France had three things : Talented individual players, Deschamps as a coach, and a bit of luck. It was enough this time. We are going strong into the next Euro, with young players improving more and more.
Thank you, THANK YOU Pande for your threads. You are awesome, and even tho England football team is not my favorite, I was sad they lost, because you're a hero to me. Keep it up, and thank you again.
See u in the next WC guys !
Why wait so long. League of nations starts soon and then 2020 EC
If Pande continues his awesome work with the threads, i'll be there !
Aren't we in a group with France in the nation's league? Haha, I hope the winners' curse works there as well, since we don't stand a chance at the moment...
Yesterday was crazy, our media are saying that about 500 000 people came out to celebrate our team all the way from airport to our main square. That is 500 000 from about 4 mil population. Their air plane landed at 15:15 and the celebrations ended at about 22:00. And some people began gathering around noon.. this was by far the biggest gathering of our people in our history. We are very emotional people, both negative and positive.