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Post by miscmisc on Jun 14, 2014 22:12:26 GMT 1
Looks like Hodgson is going with Sterling! No Lallana (my personal fav), apparently, and Welbeck (meh) is there as was expected, but better than I thought.
And no more of that stiff 4-2-3-1 please...
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Post by miscmisc on Jun 14, 2014 22:23:32 GMT 1
Sorry, Costa Rica, for thinking you were rubbish after watching your game against Japan about a few weeks ago where you were, well, rubbish.
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aubtin
Novice Member
Posts: 129
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Post by aubtin on Jun 15, 2014 4:53:35 GMT 1
Shit. When Italy were coming forward we looked good countering. From 2-1 down though they just sat back a bit and we looked completely unable to open up space. Left side looked a bit ropey too. Plus, I don't really see the point in playing Rooney out of position. There were positive though. We tried to play positive football, and Sterling looked great. Also, epic reaction from an England fan when he saw himself on the big screen and seemingly decided to call everyone wankers...
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Post by miscmisc on Jun 15, 2014 13:32:12 GMT 1
That humidity made it very difficult for England to fight back. Hats off to the Italian players' stamina. Their workrate was quite remarkable, especially considering that having Balotelli in the squad means the other players have to work extra hard to make up for his lack of defensive/pressing work up front. And Pirlo was magnificent.
Sterling was pretty good. And I agree with aubtin on Rooney. He looked lost on that left/right side. I liked the fact that Sterling and Sturridge were starters, but didn't care for that 4-2-3-1. Pretty much one trick pony formation which heavily depends on how the other team play in terms of effectiveness. Very hard to dictate the flow of the game with that.
Disappointing loss for Japan. I did expect them to struggle against Ivory Coast (who I thought were by far the toughest opponents in the group contrary to what the media were saying), especially since the pitch condition was not ideal for passing game due to heavy rain, but that spectacular early goal from Honda kind of made them forget what their style was all about. Japan are simply not the kind of a team who can sit back and shut their opponents out for more than 60 minutes. Just impossible with such shaky defense, particularly against such a physically menacing team like Ivory Coast. But they ended up trying that, to fall apart as soon as Drogba came in to support Bony as second striker.
I was hoping for a 2-2/3-3 draw or something like that. This loss - not so much the loss itself, but the way they lost it - is pretty big for them. They are not the mentally toughest bunch.
So many come-from-behind victories so far. Weird World Cup.
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Post by miscmisc on Jun 15, 2014 19:13:11 GMT 1
And another come-from-behind victory (Switzerland, against Ecuador). This World Cup is nuts.
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Post by Jofeljoh! on Jun 15, 2014 21:19:11 GMT 1
Yes but so far, I'm enjoying the hell out of it!
Only too bad that three times already those late goals (Switzerland including) all screwed up my predictions in my pools.
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Post by K1power on Jun 16, 2014 18:58:12 GMT 1
Oh man, Germany just kicked Portugal's ass. Awesome.
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Post by h on Jun 16, 2014 19:47:05 GMT 1
i got to catch the swiss beat ecuador that was a pretty awesome ending to that game.
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Post by miscmisc on Jun 16, 2014 22:33:39 GMT 1
In-game injury - check A bit generous penalty for the opponents - check Pepe sent off - check Nani sucking ass - check
Basically all the bad things you could think of with regard to Portugal happened. Classic Portuguese defeat, but what a nightmare.
You wonder why the hell they stick with Pepe and Nani through thick and thin. The two are too often a huge liability for the national team regardless of their abilities and potential.
And... the first draw in this World Cup, a scoreless one at that! Iran are a very defensive team who employ the ultra-defensive 4-5-1/5-4-1 formation, and even though Nigeria's defense isn't the most solid in the world, Iran can't score to save their lives anyway (even in the Asian competitions). Hence, nil-nil.
But I feel as if the real World Cup has begun at last. It had been way too exciting.
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Post by h on Jun 17, 2014 0:58:21 GMT 1
USA! USA! USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by miscmisc on Jun 17, 2014 1:16:15 GMT 1
Damn. I pretty much assumed that the US was falling apart a la the Japanese when Ghana scored that beautiful goal, but it seems that the Americans are made of harder stuff. Massive huevos.
But Ghana's marking/defense inside the area on that corner kick was really, really poor. That happens when you made a silly mistake and conceded a corner kick that should've been a goal kick. You have an extended brain fart moment in slight confusion, while your opponents are very, very focused seeing it as a gift that they should make the most of. I've seen it so many times before.
Classic defense vs. attack game. Very entertaining.
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Post by K1power on Jun 18, 2014 1:07:55 GMT 1
So today Belgium got past Algeria with great difficulty, Mexico drew with Brazil(0-0) and Korea drew with Russia(1-1). I would've liked for Mexico and Korea to win their matches, but at least Belgium won theirs even if it wasn't spectacular. BTW I liked USA vs Ghana even if I had trouble staying awake to finish it (late games end around 2 am over here) and subsequently was a mess at work today. So here we have the Group Ranks after Round 1 of the Group Stage ends and Round 2 has kicked off with Brazil and Mexico:
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Post by h on Jun 18, 2014 21:53:02 GMT 1
wow @ Spain.... not even gonna make it out of their bracket...
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Post by miscmisc on Jun 18, 2014 22:44:16 GMT 1
The Aussies were so close to beating the Netherlands, but some of the players are just way too green for that task after all...
And what a goal from Cahill, again.
I'm curious to see how far that midfield-less tactics will take the Netherlands. I can see teams with no-joke-this-is-serious-business style like Germany etc. thoroughly exploit the obvious weaknesses, but in football, you just never know.
As for Spain, well, they just lost to a better side. Chile played as if they were playing an ordinary team. The Chileans lost their composure in the last game against Australia as they were quickly traumatized by the Cahill header ("OMG, we can't even let them send in crosses! Side attackers and wing backs, all retreat! All retreat!"), but there was none of that in this game. It was a relatively easy win for Chile.
This is the third time in the last four World Cups that the champions failed to advance to the knockout stage (France in 2002, Italy in 2010, and Spain this year). Quite remarkable.
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Post by K1power on Jun 19, 2014 22:02:54 GMT 1
Very exciting match between Uruguay and England just now. Probably the most exciting match of the tournament yet. Both teams HAD to win. Unfortunately for England, Uruguay did and England is going home after their third match next week.
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