FIFA World Cup (Russia) - Part 4

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]543311[/split]

 

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]543189[/split]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I love that Hunter can do a breakdown on the ladies of the World Cups. My favorite story of this World Cup.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Hunter has a point about the French midfield's strength and overall balance. They could totally outplay Croatia, especially if Croatia come in with obviously tired legs. It makes me curious about Croatia's strategy and how they plan to contend with Mbappe.

 

[Dark Raven]

[QUOTE="Hunter Rider]Definitely my favourite of the tournament, not only is she beautiful but she was actually a football fan.[/QUOTE]

Who is she? She's for Sweden, right?

These two are gorgeous as well, the first girl is Icelandic, right?

I'm not sure. You probably know better than me.

I think she is from an older tournament, maybe the last World Cup or even the one in South Africa.

Oh is she? The site I found these at said they were fans from WC 2018, although oddly enough the URL was about Euro 2016, even though the title and most of the article is definitely about 2018.

You can check them out here for any others I might've missed. Not all the pics were loading for me. https://www.totalsportek.com/list/hot-female-fans-euro-2016/

But here is one that has loaded now that I missed earlier:

Another Swedish fan no doubt. It's always the Swedes who are hottest.

 

[Dark Raven]

Hunter has a point about the French midfield's strength and overall balance. They could totally outplay Croatia, especially if Croatia come in with obviously tired legs. It makes me curious about Croatia's strategy and how they plan to contend with Mbappe.

I think France will win. They look strong. I couldn't see how England could've matched them if they did get to the final.

At the start of this tournament, Gary Lineker also said that he didn't think that England would win but would have to chalk this tournament up to experience. It turns out he was right.

And I don't really see England winning in the next one either because even if it's winter, it's still hot in Qatar.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I love that Hunter can do a breakdown on the ladies of the World Cups.

We all have our gifts.

Hunter has a point about the French midfield's strength and overall balance. They could totally outplay Croatia, especially if Croatia come in with obviously tired legs. It makes me curious about Croatia's strategy and how they plan to contend with Mbappe.

Modric looked out on his feet, I'd have Matuidi shadow him, then Kante to run the legs off Rakitic leaving Pogba to contend with Brozovic. Mbappe is unlike anything they have face, we showed with Sterling and Lingard that fast players with good movement can get in behind them, and Mbappe is twice the player either of those are and a much better finisher, plus Griezmann is due a big performance.

 

[Iceman]

Well that was depressing. Good luck France!

 

[Hunter Rider]

Who is she? She's for Sweden, right?

Yep, and I think she is just a fan.

Oh is she? The site I found these at said they were fans from WC 2018, although oddly enough the URL was about Euro 2016, even though the title and most of the article is definitely about 2018.

You can check them out here for any others I might've missed. Not all the pics were loading for me. https://www.totalsportek.com/list/hot-female-fans-euro-2016/

She might be from Euro 2016, I know she is from a previous tournament as I remember her.


Thanks for the link.

 

[Iceman]

Croatia have struggled against Denmark, Russia and a junior England. France have beaten Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium all without extra time. I really hope no one has an off day and they both bring their best. Yes I am bitter about going out, but I wouldn’t have been to France or Belgium. Modric and Rakitic for all their excellence do not make a team. And after facing 3 extra times vs zero for France, it could be a one-sided affair even though I was hoping for an amazing final to crown an unexpectedly great games.

 

[Dark Raven]

I would rather England went out in the final than semis. The semis seem the most that England are capable of, and even that is a stretch most of the time.

Are we sure that England did actually win in 1966 or is that a conspiracy made just to get the nation's hopes up? Maybe it's like these conspiracy theories about how we didn't really go to the Moon in 1969 and it was all an elaborate hoax. Maybe England never actually won that year and it's all fake footage.

 

[Micromind]

Looking forward to great Final match - France V Croatia : Dawn of Football.

 

[HunBoy]

HaHaHa England! HaHaHarry Kane! Croatia not Panama or Bournemouth! #bestleague

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Tripper and Maguire may end up in the Team of The Tournament, and they deserve it.

In fact, you must feel for the guy Maguire, has to play alonside Walker and Stones this WC.

My Team of The Tournament:
Pickford
Trippier - Varane - Maguire - Lucas Hernandez
Pogba - Kante - Modric
Mbappe - Lukaku - Hazard

 

[Hunter Rider]

HaHaHa England! HaHaHarry Kane! Croatia not Panama or Bournemouth! #bestleague

 

[DeadPresident]

Maguire definitely looked the most comfortable of all the CBs, although I have to admit Stone's passed out from the back really well. It was a productive tournament for England, they finally broke the penalty curse and made it to the semifinals again. If they had a better midfield/some attacking midfielders they could've made it further.

 

[AverageMan]

As picked up on by Gary Neville, something will come out about Harry Kane, most likely an injury he picked up because after the group games, he's looked out on his feet after 60 mins.
They have exceeded expectations, but this will hurt. They had it in their hands but let it slip.
As a Welshman, I can say I'm gutted for them. No anti-English sentiment from me.
This team, barring Ashley Young, is still young enough to go to several more tournaments together, so hopefully they can build on their progress.

 

[jolldan]

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Well ? I think he was very shaky with his passing vs Croatia. Walker, too. They always try to keep possesion, trying dangerous pass under pressure.

Maguire is much more dependable, he knows when to pass and when to hoof the ball forward.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I wonder why it's always German fans that are so ******** about the Premiere League getting graded higher? It's weird to me as the reason the league is rated is not for being the best, but for being the most entertaining as we don't have the same team winning the title 7 or more times in a row like in Germany and Italy where one team has all of the money and constantly raids the other clubs of their talent.

Maguire definitely looked the most comfortable of all the CBs, although I have to admit Stone's passed out from the back really well. It was a productive tournament for England, they finally broke the penalty curse and made it to the semifinals again. If they had a better midfield/some attacking midfielders they could've made it further.

I agree, Maguire and Stones both came out of the tournament as better players and Trippier announced himself on the world stage as well. I think where Southgate needs to look as he's building towards Euro 2020 is a LWB, a more creative #8/#10 to operate in either Lingard or Dele's role instead of playing both, and a better forward to play with Kane.

 

[DeadPresident]

Well ? I think he was very shaky with his passing vs Croatia. Walker, too. They always try to keep possesion, trying dangerous pass under pressure.

Maguire is much more dependable, he knows when to pass and when to hoof the ball forward.

Maguire is definitely the most balanced, yeah, but I thought that Stones managed to get it into midfield consistently and when it didn't it was usually because of Croatia's good pressing. He didn't do brilliantly, but I thought he did it well enough and he seems to be developing.

I also think I'll be generous with credit to the English guys because they were written off before the tournament started, but showed some decent ability and mentality to get to the semis, so credit where it's due.

I wonder why it's always German fans that are so ******** about the Premiere League getting graded higher? It's weird to me as the reason the league is rated is not for being the best, but for being the most entertaining as we don't have the same team winning the title 7 or more times in a row like in Germany and Italy where one team has all of the money and constantly raids the other clubs of their talent.

Probably because they feel like they've always got to be the best at everything. I like the Bundesliga, but it's a formality when it comes to the end of the season, no drama or surprises there.

I agree, Maguire and Stones both came out of the tournament as better players and Trippier announced himself on the world stage as well. I think where Southgate needs to look as he's building towards Euro 2020 is a LWB, a more creative #8/#10 to operate in either Lingard or Dele's role instead of playing both, and a better forward to play with Kane.

Yeah, Trippier probably made the biggest leap in terms of reputation before and after the tournament. If he's going to stick with the 3-x-x formations a good LWB is going to be important, yeah. Perhaps if Alli finds his form again he could be the 8/10 but based on this tourney they'll need someone new. Hopefully Rashford kicks on and develops because he'll be a good partner for Kane to play off.

 

[Zantera]

Premier League does have several teams that can win it but a more "open" league doesn't have to mean better quality-wise. I think the main argument for people bashing on PL's status is the fact that up until last season, there was a severe lack of PL teams going as far as a semi-final in Champions League. You can go back 10 years and it happened a lot, but then the PL teams started going out earlier and the semi-finals were usually filled by Barcelona/Real Madrid/Bayern/Juventus/PSG (a combination of 4 of those).

I mean personally I love PL and hold it the highest though. Hopefully last season with Liverpool making it to the final was the start signal for more PL teams going far.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Probably because they feel like they've always got to be the best at everything. I like the Bundesliga, but it's a formality when it comes to the end of the season, no drama or surprises there.

Exactly, the Bundesliga is a good watch, Dortmund are usually exicitng, RB Leipzig have added another young, high energy, explosive attacking team to the mix, Shalke bring through a lot of young talent and Gladbach are usually a good watch as well, but there's little to no doubt who will win the league come the end of the season, and the minute a player starts to shine at another one of these clubs Bayern take him.

Yeah, Trippier probably made the biggest leap in terms of reputation before and after the tournament. If he's going to stick with the 3-x-x formations a good LWB is going to be important, yeah. Perhaps if Alli finds his form again he could be the 8/10 but based on this tourney they'll need someone new. Hopefully Rashford kicks on and develops because he'll be a good partner for Kane to play off.

Agreed, Tirppier is arguably the breakout player of the tournament, he's went to another level. with LWB it'll be interesting to see how Ryan Sessegnon develops over the next couple of seasons. I think even at his best Dele is more of a scorer, like a modern Lampard, and Lingard is the same, I feel the front quartet lacks a craftsman in there to knit things together, like how Eriksen does for Spurs. I hope Rashford can progress as well but I truly believe that will depend on how quickly we get rid of Mourinho.

 

[DeadPresident]

IMO the PL clubs suffer in the CL for a number of reasons, the biggest of which are the lack of a winter break and the fact that the level of play is competitive between a far greater number of teams. PL teams have to play at a higher capacity to beat teams lower down in the league than clubs from/Italy/Germany and to a degree Spain.

If you play 1st place v 10th place it will be a bigger challenge for the PL's first placed team to do whereas I don't think that's the case in Italy or Germany so much, even Spain is relatively competitive despite having the same winners over and over.

 

[DeadPresident]

Exactly, the Bundesliga is a good watch, Dortmund are usually exicitng, RB Leipzig have added another young, high energy, explosive attacking team to the mix, Shalke bring through a lot of young talent and Gladbach are usually a good watch as well, but there's little to no doubt who will win the league come the end of the season, and the minute a player starts to shine at another one of these clubs Bayern take him.

I really need to watch more Bundesliga games, but I can't get invested much because as you say Bayern will simply win it at the end anyways. They've got some entertaining teams for sure, but the outcome is decided on opening day basically.

Agreed, Tirppier is arguably the breakout player of the tournament, he's went to another level. with LWB it'll be interesting to see how Ryan Sessegnon develops over the next couple of seasons. I think even at his best Dele is more of a scorer, like a modern Lampard, and Lingard is the same, I feel the front quartet lacks a craftsman in there to knit things together, like how Eriksen does for Spurs. I hope Rashford can progress as well but I truly believe that will depend on how quickly we get rid of Mourinho.

I've heard Sessegnon's name a few times but I wasn't aware he played in the LB/LWB position, does he look like an up and coming option for the national side? I could see Maguire being snapped up by a top six side some time soon as well, but Spurs will definitely be biggest beneficiaries considering Trippier's development. Yeah Alli, is a bit more of a Lampard type, and that craftsman is probably going to be quite illusive because I can't think of any candidates that seem good enough to really make a difference.

I can't really disagree on the Rashford point, I think a number of players would flourish more without Mourinho dampening the play.