No Irish, No Yanks, No Clogs - FIFA World Cup 2018

what a chance!

Iran have been great since going behind

holy shit arrrrrgggghhhhh

oh man what a cross

lol commentator switching from "so easy for Spain now" to "they're not there yet"

seeing pique get diddled like that

Waiting for Ghodos.

Ghoddos in the detail.

Hahaxp

I think we're doing about average for goals so far btw. 2014 was unusually goalsy, 2010 unusually ungoalsy

limited sample size obviously but

Only 36% of goals scored have been "normal" this World Cup. If you think that's weird it's because it is. Very weird actually. pic.twitter.com/vIWwLxpXeH

— Alex Olshansky (@atosoccer) June 20, 2018

loooool throw

Iran deserved something out of that game, I feel comfortable saying now

Man that was something. But yeah, should have been at least a draw.

seems questionable to start calling goals from open play "normal" at the exact point they stop being normal. but yes, it's odd, I don't know how much of it is VAR

kevin doyle is something on rte lads

daytime gameshow host is the least of it

god bless Doyler <3

61m: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

... oh wait. Not a goal yet.

A darkness falls over the stadium. It’s the spectre of #VAR arriving like Dracula. It proceeds to suck the fun out of the game, then leaves. Disallowed.#IRN 0-1 #ESP#IRNESP#WorldCup

— Reykjavík Grapevine (@rvkgrapevine) June 20, 2018

a kid was actually offside with a ball in the street

I think we're doing about average for goals so far btw. 2014 was unusually goalsy, 2010 unusually ungoalsy

― ogmor, Wednesday, June 20, 2018 12:34 PM (forty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

currently on course to be marginally ahead, on average goals, of 2010 and a little more ahead of Italia 90 but literally below every other world cup ever

every game I've caught much of has had lots of goals thankfully

I have no way of quantifying this at all but from the little I've seen I feel like goaltenders have been ~really good.

Feels rare to get through the first week without a single 0-0 too.

It's less to do with VAR and more down to a lot of teams being very well-organised defensively. Even if they're going to lose against the big teams, a lot of the groups are evenly matched enough that even less prominent footballing nations stood a chance of sneaking through if they were capable of preserving their goal difference. Unfortunately a lot of them also lack any kind of goal threat.

yeah most every match today had a fuck-ton of bunkering, which isn't really forgiving if your attack is imprecise

bunkering?

I say, old chap, bunkering?

lol (xp)

Best moment of the World Cup for me. pic.twitter.com/wCagZwr72B

— CF (@ClinicalFirmino) June 20, 2018

http://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/what-does-bunkering-mean.2032886/

lol guessing I'm more familiar with the term being from a CONCACAF nation, many of whom employ this strategy.

no you're familiar with it because you're american

hehe

We let goaltender slip earlier for the same reason.

lol jim yr otm, yr otm

I heard Patricio can mix a mean Manhattan tho!

That somersault= story of this world cup so far, dude from one of the outsider teams about to try something spectacular, then... nah, loses his bottle at the last half second

2010 was the goalkeeper's WC, 2014 everyone seemed to be playing back 3s with wingbacks and it went nuts again

Lot of whining about the Jabulani in 2010 as well, shots being ballooned over the bar from everywhere.

the jabulani was supposed to be unpredictable in the air and you'd think that'd have caused goalkeepers problems - as well as causing stray shots - but that didn't seem to be the case too much

Vuvuzelas were also suggested as a cause, putting off the players

they knew the risks when they took the job

bunkering = hoof it up to the big lad?

ok looking at the actual stats it's not that interesting but anyway: early world cups were goalfests but from 1962 onwards when ppl worked out how to defend it's been between 2.2 and 3 goals a game, averaging 2.6. the 21st century average is 2.45. right now we are at 2.25 goals per game but this time yesterday we were at 2.47 and group B was always going to be a v defensive group. the amount of set piece goals is definitely strange though, idk if you cld argue that VAR has immediately changed how players are playing but watching colombia-japan I did wonder.

I imagine retreating to the bunker - like Bruno Ganz in that film. (xp)

not sure that hitlers last days are the best model for a positive defensive outcome

Women/families finally entered to Azadi stadium after 37 years of ban, to watch #IRNESP on screen. pic.twitter.com/oSBXHMWI8h

— OpenStadiums (@openStadiums) June 20, 2018

TS bunkering vs parking the bus

It's less to do with VAR and more down to a lot of teams being very well-organised defensively. Even if they're going to lose against the big teams, a lot of the groups are evenly matched enough that even less prominent footballing nations stood a chance of sneaking through if they were capable of preserving their goal difference. Unfortunately a lot of them also lack any kind of goal threat.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, June 20, 2018 9:26 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm for me, clive. only mexico have brought the requisite derring do to upset the apple cart so far. leaving three lads up for the counter. peru tried it to, but missed a pen and several good chances. really, really hope they stay alive in the tournament today.

Lasse Schöne might be the most gorgeous name of the tournament

Aye, a beautiful lassie.

Mooy is the most stylish slaphead of the tournament, and beats off Iniesta by being a thoroughbred baldy.