Seems to be working pretty well for them so far.

 

It's because he's not that good anymore. He's lost that half a step that you need at the top level, and he hasn't adjusted his play style to compensate for that. He struggles to create space to turn around and get a shot off and drifts into the midfield to compensate. The problem is he doesn't drag a CB with him when he does that and ends up just clogging space that the Fernandes/Silva/Joao Felix are occupying and slows down play.

It's going to get extra spicy if we have an Argentina/Portugal final and Santos leaves him on the bench to start.

 

By not putting in any practice for pens, duh.

 

Something went terribly wrong with the instructions…

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/s...000-penalties-spains-luis-enrique-2022-12-05/

 

I love that this is in the Fanfiction discussion thread.

 

I guess it's an AU where England are actually good and have a small chance of winning a thing.

 

Or it's a tense political thriller in which an unlikely alliance of FIFA and the Qatari government do their best to ruin one of the biggest events in world sports with corruption and conservative Islamic bullshit. Also contains sport interludes.

Either way, 3.5/5, almost recommended and a decent time waster.

 

Lmao Brazil. Sad I missed it but I was in the office.

And lmao at the Netherlands' 90+10 equaliser just now. Just got home as we went into 90 mins and managed to catch the equaliser.

 

What a game.

 

Basically the worst possible way it could have went. Neighbours going to be insufferable again and while I never cared for the Netherlands they kinda grew on me with their comeback. Hope they will at least win against Croatia in the semis. Now just Morocco and France need to win for the end of my interest in this WC.

 

Personally think whoever wins England/France is going to win the whole thing. Every game on the other side of the bracket has been emotionally exhausting while the other side (sans Morocco) have sort of strolled to the quarterfinals. Can't underestimate how much the pressure of "doing this for Messi" will weigh on the Argentinian players as well.

 

Personally I reckon if France win, they win the whole thing. If England beat France then Portugal and Argentina will have an exciting final. But then, I'm British, so I've got a lifetime of experience with England cocking up late stage fixtures biasing my decisions...

 

I don't think Argentina in the final is a given thing. Yeah, they had the better of the Netherlands today, but playing De Jong/De Roon or DeJong/Koopmeiners/Berghuis is not comparable to the midfield beast that is Brozovic/Modric/Kovacic. Possession isn't going to be nearly as one sided and I don't know if Enzo/De Paul/MacAllister have the technical ability and experience to keep up with those three.

I'm sure that years of English underachieving and abject humiliation have scarred you, but have some hope (if you dare). This English midfield is class, you have arguably the best #9 in the world (and definitely the best #9 left in the tournament), and Harry Maguire is playing the tournament of his life. For all the shit that Southgate gets, he's an able tournament manager and it isn't an accident that he's reached a final and a semifinal. His weakness has always been struggling to adapt to tactics in-game, but neither Deschamps or Santos are tactical geniuses like Mancini.

They've got a genuine shot tomorrow and I think the confidence from beating a side as talented as France along with their own talent and depth (the ability to bring the likes of Rashford and Foden off the bench is ridiculous) will see them through.

 

I never have much hope when it comes to England. Just a fools hope... That said, it's certainly a strong team and from a purely theoretical standpoint they have a very good chance. I'd be very happy to see that convert into actual results for once, so fingers crossed! Besides, it's the French and if that's not enough incentive to beat the hell out of them, I don't know what is.

 

Ok, in 5 matches Morocco has only conceded one goal (to Canada, of all teams, having played Belgium, Croatia, Spain and Portugal.) That's some serious-ass catenaccio there. Not the most thrilling show, but whatever works.

 

This WC has just ended... for me.

 

That was an incredible match to watch for the neutral. Felt like a CL knockout tie in quality. Thought that England were the better team and the ref was garbage, but France just more ruthless as always. Giroud is just... no words. Scoring when he's seconds from being subbed off is just classic Giroud stuff.

Can't wait to see what the streets of France look like on Tuesday.

 

Eh, pretty much as expected for my part. England had quality, they had possession, they played well, but they failed to convert that into chances often enough and then failed to convert what chances they did produce into goals. As per usual. We shouldn't have needed to rely on gaining penalties at all, but if we had to, we should at least have made the most of them.

France played well. Not as well technically overall, but they did what they needed to do to get chances and then made the most of them. Some excellent short intervals of play as well. Clinical is a good description, but ruthless works just as well. I enjoyed the game, much as I'd have liked a different result.

As for the ref, eh, not great, but not awful. I'm not pleased with him and there's a few moments I think were questionable, but then of course there are, I support England. It certainly wasn't enough poor or unlucky calls to make a difference IMO.

 

Unfortunate penalty miss from Harry Kane. Some commentators were speculating that he saw Lloris diving to his right, and at the last second tried to give more air to the ball to avoid the goalkeeper. How terrible the ref did is also debatable. On the one hand I can see the argument for the Kane foul being an additional penalty, on the other hand 3 penalties would be just ridiculous.

 

Yeah, it's rare that you get 2 pens in one game and the fact Kane has practiced pens w/ Lloris for the last decade or so definitely plays a role in the miss as well.

One thing that was odd is how rash the left side of the french defense was. Both Kounde and Varane are smooth operators but Upamecano and Hernandez made some baffling decisions sometimes with their challenges. A better ref more used to the speed and style of European football will whistle those. Something for other teams to ponder

Something else for other teams is the way they essentially doubled Mbappe w/ Walker + a rotating cast of midfielders. Forced him inside and away from goal. His most threatening moments were as a provider and if I'm the opponent, I'd much rather have Mbappe messing around in midfield than up against a backline causing havoc.