World Cup 2014

rooney plays left wing with all the defensive responsibility of ronaldo and about 5% of the offensive output.

sterling being lauded for being a shade better than okay

Sterling lauded for being a shade better than a bunch of shit players

nah not fair he was a legit threat.

don't want to do idealise eh lallana but if sterling/sturridge had that level of careful but constant passing and movement replacing Rooney or Gerrard there'd be all sorts of payoff

Gerrard near-invisible, wd replace with Milner but as previously noted Hodgson's centre mid options are stupidly limited. Johnson not great but since we only took the one right back he'll feel pretty safe. Rooney needs telling that you only get to dictate where you play when you're indispensable there.

kinda at the point now with johnson where he gets on my tits so much i can't clearly tell if i'm being unreasonable

fuck that slapdash non-defending oxygen thief anyway tho

(might be residual bae rage that's escalated my perceptions there tbf)

(nb americans bae refers to a footballer not a boo)

Maybe the magnitude of the 5-1 result took away all the attention but david silva was as negligent defensively on the right for spain in their opening game as rooney was on the left for england. I guess plenty of other blame to go around there.

I'd hazard that there's many left sided players who defend as badly as Rooney, but its just that very many of them are very good in attack and he's not

Is baines getting off the hook for his marking?

nah just get tired of reiterating how shit all these alleged international class footballers are and the coverage on the radio and TV makes me think i'm just grudgeful and wilfully blind

BTW, what's the point of all the well designed kits when they're going to wear hideously fluo shoes in completely unrelated colours anyway?

booming q needs brought before lagúna's thread immediately

Those puma kicks are sick

Loved all those stark contrasts in JP-CIV (deeply saturated green pitch, pink stripes on Jpns kits, Civs orange kits/hyper-red shoes combo)...

Japan sure got a lot of yellow cards #racism

Think Pirlo is more of a hindrance than a help to Italy at this stage in his career, I lost count of the number of times Chiellini and Darmian were free in acres of space on the wings and a longer cross-ball would have set them free but the desire to play short ball close passing sucked out the momentum.

Felt like England were an accident waiting to happen, twp obviously a massive problem but the back four is just hideous - every time the ball was in the box they looked like conceding. Amazed Italy didn't play more balls to Super Mario's head and wasn't at all surprised when they scored that way. Team obviously told to shoot on sight; was there a shot from in the box other than the goal?

Jeez-o... Phil Neville... I'm surprised I managed to stay awake for the 2nd half tbh

Could not keep my eyes open for the game last night, saw about ten minutes of the first half.

Then P. Neville did for you and you were out like a light, yeah, I understand

LJ re shinty head save- last week, in hurling:

http://www.independent.ie/incoming/article30342715.ece/BINARY/OKeefe-leg.jpg

http://shanghaiist.com/2014/06/15/cctv-anchor-dooming-world-cup-teams.php

Football hipsters-

What do you think? Maybe ok to skip Ecuador - Switzerland?

Apart from cheering on Antonio, I feel that my time might be better spent doing some of the work I've been putting off and enjoying this beautiful New England day.

i'm struggling to get excited for that one but i remind myself sometimes it's the unexpected matches when mad shit happens

Really looking forward to Switzerland. Will skip France Honduras, expect France to walk that.

this is a really young, exciting Swiss team. Could be good

Did you expect Spain to lose 1-5 to the Dutch? xpost

i'm struggling to get excited for that one but i remind myself sometimes it's the unexpected matches when mad shit happens

Shhhhhh! You and the little devil on my shoulder.

The little devil is also reminding me that the groups stages are usually (maybe always) the best part...

ecuador-swiss is hipster lode imo

Ok how the F am I gonna get anything done this summer

Best left back in the world is playing for Switzerland. Worth a look. Plus Shaqiri and Drmic.

yes?

Actually I'll revise that to best left back in the world who isn't David Alaba. Also I think Xhaka plays at the #10 for Switzerland but for his club he seems a kind of functional CM. Plus the possibility of an all Napoli MF and an all Arsenal rejects central defence.

dmac drmic pndmic pvmic

Plus always a chance Senderos might do this again:

http://youtu.be/Ug1Nscp65kQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug1Nscp65kQ

wut up big homie

Best left back in the world is playing for Switzerland. Worth a look. Plus Shaqiri and Drmic.

― pandemic, Sunday, 15 June 2014 14:36 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Best right back you mean?

do you think lichsteiener is the best RB in the world??

thought ecuador were okay vs england but looking at their qualification record they were p hopeless when not playing at altitude

Got a good draw vs the Netherlands too. The Swiss have not impressed me hugely up front in their recent friendlies. You'd fancy them but it should be very tight.

rodriguez vs valencia will be cool, unless tony is in utd mode of hitting the first man with every cross.

do you think lichsteiener is the best RB in the world??

― pandemic, Sunday, 15 June 2014 16:32 (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd say he's up there, I'm not sure we're spoiled in that postion atm.

does lahm still count?

Nah

In related matters Aurier looked good for Ivory Coast last night.

Thanks in part to Kagawa not bothering to defend.

Ian Wright slaughtered him at half-time so he must be good.

xp