World Cup Thread

[The Red Baron]

It's pretty clear to me from the way games have been refereed that FIFA has told the refs not to flash too many cards. I think in doing so they have done the game and the referees a huge disservice.

No-one wants to see cards being thrown around for nothing, but it has meant some really serious dissent has been tolerated.

[NickDRFC]

Alli is the interesting one for me. I've seen a fair bit of Spurs over the past few years as my mate has a ST, and pretty much every time I have seen him play he's been on the periphery of the game, or given the ball away far too much. However, he always seems to pop up with a vital goal or an assist for Spurs. With England, he also seems to be on the periphery but he doesn't have those "moments" either to justify his place. Add to that that at this World Cup he has never looked quite fit or comfortable and you're left with the question if he justifies his place.

Not sure he does but he does do a fair bit of defensive work and if you replaced him with Rashford or Welbeck you'd lose that. RLC and Delph are alternatives but they're more defensive minded so you'd miss that potential spark up top. If he's fit, I'd start him against Sweden and hope he starts firing.

Delph is in England at the moment

He's probably mid-air at the moment. He'll be available for Saturday's game (not that I'd start him anyway).

[PDX_Rover]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/worldcup/2018/07/04/world-cup-2018-mark-geiger-colombia-england-radamel-falcao/757567002/

f**k ‘em. And Maradona who weighs in probably angling for some discounted coke. They can moan all they want but they had just as much potential to win in the shoot out and blew it...

[GazLaz]

Alli is the interesting one for me. I've seen a fair bit of Spurs over the past few years as my mate has a ST, and pretty much every time I have seen him play he's been on the periphery of the game, or given the ball away far too much. However, he always seems to pop up with a vital goal or an assist for Spurs. With England, he also seems to be on the periphery but he doesn't have those "moments" either to justify his place. Add to that that at this World Cup he has never looked quite fit or comfortable and you're left with the question if he justifies his place.

Not sure he does but he does do a fair bit of defensive work and if you replaced him with Rashford or Welbeck you'd lose that. RLC and Delph are alternatives but they're more defensive minded so you'd miss that potential spark up top. If he's fit, I'd start him against Sweden and hope he starts firing.

Alli is only carrying on his form from last season. He was a shadow of the player he was the previous season. He shouldn’t be starting. I don’t even think he’s fully fit.

[Colemans Left Hook]

It's pretty clear to me from the way games have been refereed that FIFA has told the refs not to flash too many cards. I think in doing so they have done the game and the referees a huge disservice.

No-one wants to see cards being thrown around for nothing, but it has meant some really serious dissent has been tolerated.

i pointed out on another thread about games involving those "nice" people from Croatia having the most cards average per match

sky came on this morning and IF we are to believe them said Croatia had the top yellow cards with 8 and surprise surprise Uruguay had received a mere one yellow card (obviously past performances are no longer a guide ... regarding them -at this moment in time) Brazil were very low 

 

[Filo]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/worldcup/2018/07/04/world-cup-2018-mark-geiger-colombia-england-radamel-falcao/757567002/

f**k ‘em. And Maradona who weighs in probably angling for some discounted coke. They can moan all they want but they had just as much potential to win in the shoot out and blew it...

Ha ha, i think he has been snorting to much of his Country's famous produce if he really thinks that 😂😂😂😂😂

[idler]

Their behaviour was a disgrace and should warrant a reprimand from FIFA plus action to make sure that it doesn't happen again, by any team. They were almost out of control.
I also can't believe the foul throws that they were allowed to get away with as well. We'd have been bollocked at junior school for trying those, they were almost bent double a couple of times.
The evidence is all on video and anybody with eyes could see who the nasty cheating team were. They were an insult to football.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I think we've seen gamesmanship beyond belief against England and thankfully some of it has been picked up and punished. We've got to take it as a compliment and rise above it. Hopefully, justice will see us prevail, as long as we keep our discipline.

[Filo]

No shame these South Americans

'Monumental robbery': Maradona lashes out after England v Colombia game
http://news.sky.com/story/monumental-robbery-maradona-lashes-out-after-england-v-colombia-game-11426216

[RedJ]

He's got a f**king cheek the coked up fat Kitson.

[Filo]

He's got a f**king cheek the coked up fat Kitson.

I think they've all had a massive coke party after the game, the comments from him and the Colombia camp are laughable

[idler]

I had to laugh at the end of injury time when their coach went from pointing at his wrist for the ref to add more time on he changed to blowing an imaginary whistle to end it as soon as they had scored.

[Bristol Red Rover]

Great support from the Colombians, at least they drowned out our dirge of a national anthem when the English sang it.

[scawsby steve]

I wonder if Colombia's two penalty takes that missed will be murdered, anyone remember Andreas Escobar after he scored the own goal that knocked them out once?

I remember it well Filo; it was against USA in 94. I couldn't stop laughing at the dirty drugged-up bas**rds even then.

[drfchound]

No shame these South Americans

'Monumental robbery': Maradona lashes out after England v Colombia game
http://news.sky.com/story/monumental-robbery-maradona-lashes-out-after-england-v-colombia-game-11426216

Maradona is probably the last person in the world to complain about cheating.

Glad our victory got under his skin though/

[idler]

It's funny how the hand of God only appears when you win if you are Maradonna.

[MachoMadness]

Ahh, Maradona. That beacon of fair play in football. Surely his opinions about England are completely impartial too...

[CottyRover]

Did I see a TV documentary advertised recently that compared Maradona and Pele? There is no comparison,  Pele was everything that Maradona is not. If England are pissing him off I'm glad because he's more than pissed me off over the years. Shame, he used to have some skill

[Filo]

I wonder if Colombia's two penalty takes that missed will be murdered, anyone remember Andreas Escobar after he scored the own goal that knocked them out once?

I remember it well Filo; it was against USA in 94. I couldn't stop laughing at the dirty drugged-up bas**rds even then.

I'm talking about what happened to Andreas Escobar afterwards

[Dr Fundlekrotch]

I remember that own goal vividly. They put a close up of his face on the TV immediately after it crossed the line & Escobar had the look of a haunted man.

[silent majority]

There's an excellent film called 'The two Escobars' which deserves a watch. It's on You Tube I think.

[Bristol Red Rover]

There's an excellent film called 'The two Escobars' which deserves a watch. It's on You Tube I think.

On my to watch list. Not on youtube as far as I can see but easily available here for free

http://watchdocumentaries.com/the-two-escobars/

[Bristol Red Rover]

I wonder if Colombia's two penalty takes that missed will be murdered, anyone remember Andreas Escobar after he scored the own goal that knocked them out once?

I remember it well Filo; it was against USA in 94. I couldn't stop laughing at the dirty drugged-up bas**rds even then.

It's up to you which teams you prefer but "dirty drugged-up bas**rds"? Where do you get that opinion from?

[bedale rover]

Sterling will never win everyone over..he is a quick,hardworking and a risk taker that occupies and frightens opposition giving other players the space to play and use their different attributes,it won’t always come off individually for him but don’t underestimate his effect

Borrowed from a tweet from Kevin Horlock

[scawsby steve]

I wonder if Colombia's two penalty takes that missed will be murdered, anyone remember Andreas Escobar after he scored the own goal that knocked them out once?

I remember it well Filo; it was against USA in 94. I couldn't stop laughing at the dirty drugged-up bas**rds even then.

It's up to you which teams you prefer but "dirty drugged-up bas**rds"? Where do you get that opinion from?

What?; you don't think Colombian football is dirty?; you must have been watching a different game to me the other night, and they've never been any different.

As regards drugs, surely you know what the Colombian economy depends on. There were suspicions that Escobar may have been murdered because of that, rather than the own goal.

[Bristol Red Rover]

What?; you don't think Colombian football is dirty?; you must have been watching a different game to me the other night, and they've never been any different.

As regards drugs, surely you know what the Colombian economy depends on. There were suspicions that Escobar may have been murdered because of that, rather than the own goal.

You referred to '94. Not the most yellow carded team per game in that tournement, some of the play was sublime, but the whole team was messed up - see this for example https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/what-really-went-wrong-colombia-usa-94

I can't see any evidence that they have always played like they did in that game the other night. Even in this world cup they had 3 yellows in the group stage, and then the red for handball.

The drugged up people are the Yanks who buy the stuff and created the drug industry in the first place. Or maybe you can refer to something solid that points to the players being coked up?

Several theories on why Escobar was shot. The major factor was the drug thug culture, funded by the US buyers. The immediate reason appears to be more that he was in amongst all that, something kicked off and during the shooting some anger re the goal was expressed.

It's widely reported that Escobar was a gent, a sophisticated player, very much the opposite of being "dirty".

Whatever you might think about that one game, I can't for the life of me see how you can say the team of '94 were "dirty drugged-up bas**rds", or that they were drugged up the other night. You're way off the mark with thise comments, and maybe didn't mean what you said, or how it comes across. I don't know - maybe you had too much coke when typing 

[scawsby steve]

What?; you don't think Colombian football is dirty?; you must have been watching a different game to me the other night, and they've never been any different.

As regards drugs, surely you know what the Colombian economy depends on. There were suspicions that Escobar may have been murdered because of that, rather than the own goal.

You referred to '94. Not the most yellow carded team per game in that tournement, some of the play was sublime, but the whole team was messed up - see this for example https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/what-really-went-wrong-colombia-usa-94

I can't see any evidence that they have always played like they did in that game the other night. Even in this world cup they had 3 yellows in the group stage, and then the red for handball.

The drugged up people are the Yanks who buy the stuff and created the drug industry in the first place. Or maybe you can refer to something solid that points to the players being coked up?

Several theories on why Escobar was shot. The major factor was the drug thug culture, funded by the US buyers. The immediate reason appears to be more that he was in amongst all that, something kicked off and during the shooting some anger re the goal was expressed.

It's widely reported that Escobar was a gent, a sophisticated player, very much the opposite of being "dirty".

Whatever you might think about that one game, I can't for the life of me see how you can say the team of '94 were "dirty drugged-up bas**rds", or that they were drugged up the other night. You're way off the mark with thise comments, and maybe didn't mean what you said, or how it comes across. I don't know - maybe you had too much coke when typing 

Guinness actually.

[RedJ]

Can't see us beating France, assuming we reach the final - and assuming they do, of course, which I can't see them not doing.

[Copps is Magic]

What an absolute shambolic showing from French and Uruguayan players right now. Paid millions per year to acts like pillocks. What impression do young kids get watching this? Zero discipline, tact, respect, honesty, grace.

[GazLaz]

Can't see us beating France, assuming we reach the final - and assuming they do, of course, which I can't see them not doing.

I don’t rate France. Don’t deserve to be 2-0 up here. Good players but not a good team.