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

rosh rot a rackle raggy

And of course Spain and Germany (and Argentina) are at the end of their cycles too - they would all been knocking about but the wc defnitely shows you up. You could say Russia earned their seeding by beating Spain - as for Poland its pure FIFA rankings nonsense but that system has been around and confusing the world for a long time.

Argies were badly managed. Certainly not putting organisation down. It would've been totally fine if England showed something more than that. Guess its the combination of seeing the pedestrian getting away with it, and then people blocking that out (lj's inventive system or what have you - they are tidy, no more). No sense or perspective.

Tough ask, I know.

none of that says anything more than england were readier than usual to exploit opposition disarray as opposed to being one of the disarrayed

which is a rubbish criticism

Everyone knows that England haven't played like Brazil 1970 and that they haven't faced world class opposition. Literally every fucker in the country deep down knows it. Right now that only really matters if you're Gareth Southgate or an opponent or are paid to have an opinion about football.

Basically it comes down to whether you'd rather be one of the people having fun or the guy telling them why they're all wrong to be doing so.

Like I don't want to be that guy and most ppl aren't inventing a fantasy. But in Italia '90 (this is at the very back of my memory now) Eng at least beat Cameroon who were a good side. Or Platt's goal against Belgium is a memory or what have you.

Just show something. Is it too much to ask?

England in WC2018 can be the Portugal of Euro 2016 (which put to rest the idea that it is the best team that wins a cup tournament)

I can remember a load of pumped on booze + coke thuggish idiots racially abusing the one black guy present at someones house when Cameroon went ahead against England in '90. And then afterwards making embarrassed apols - "it wasn't personal, mate ... honest" etc...

england will do croatia at a canter

there's been some standout performances (colombia against poland, japan against belgium) but only france have looked anything like being a good_team in the round. even then only it's only in fits in starts. would expect them to do england in the final, if they can get past belgium. if belgium beat france, then england win the world cup and heaven help us

These England criticisms are getting ever more desperate and ridiculous.

who last won a tournament without criticisms of their play

brazil? wasnt germany, spain, portugal.

oh I definitely criticised that Brazil team

Italy 06 got to the semis without a real challenge, although you could say they laboured with luck against Australia. Then they put in their best performance against Germany and were solid enough in the final. Liked that team a lot though.

yesterday it occurred to me that fifa '19 is going to need to incorporate all the fortnite celebrations if it wants to retain even a veneer of verisimilitude - at which point fortnite could sue fifa for copyright infringement? wheels within wheels

sons update: i pulled them up on declaring maguire "dead" and they responded that they had been talking about his haircut

Croatian blood pudding usually has rice in it. That’s not necessarily bad but it’s an approach that hasn’t proved effective at this wc.

http://time.com/5332548/uk-soccer-its-coming-home/

After its 2-0 victory over Sweden on Saturday, the U.K. is advancing to the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1990.

it's the UK's only remaining team in the competition, maybe that's what they meant? (probably not) :-)

I would like to apologize for offering any thoughts on the way a football team plays on the world cup thread and will restrict myself to posting slurs on Neymar's masculinity and fanfic about Harry Maguire from here on in.

I'd absolutely forgotten about Baddiel hilariously blackfacing up on that dross tv show. Fuck knows how got away with that, it shows the so called rise of the 90's PC Brigade is a complete fallacy.

After its 2-0 victory over Sweden on Saturday, the U.K. is advancing to the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1990.

LOL Americans.

isn't part of the fun of modern World Cup that each team is flawed so ~endless opportunities~ for surprise?

Germany 2014 were largely fantastic throughout, no one has looked that good this time round, let alone as good as Spain 2010.

If we were really doing the blood sausage World Cup then Spain every time.

BLACK PUDDING'S COMING HOME >:(

will be interesting to see what happens if england concede earlyish, have yet to be behind in a game that counts. also have scored in every game that counts too i suppose.

lol

https://sputniknews.com/worldcup-2018-archive/201807061066103613-colombia-england-world-cup-petition/

(xp) Yes. Also if Croatia can defend set pieces, one of those footballing basics that seems to have fallen by the wayside in this WC, along with crossing a ball.

with this utter failure of self examination after a major defeat, you might wonder if the colombians didn't just lose the us presidential election #politics #satire #topical

probable clash between the start of the final and the men's singles final at Wimbledon is gonna be delish for fans of BBC politics

colombian remoaners taking it badly

Labour moderates already berating Corbyn for failing to demand a rematch

Harry Kane has all the goals, but Raheem Sterling has been England's best attacking player in the World Cup. He plays a vital role progressing the ball so Eng can get all those corners and FKs.

He's also NOT a bad finisher, just a bit unlucky in the WC so far. pic.twitter.com/CFBwjDdeSn

— Ted Knutson (@mixedknuts) July 8, 2018

Hah.

https://youtu.be/kcHslKK0VMQ

This is very good as well.

Can't believe the best line from that Time article wasn't c&p'd itt already

"England’s underdog team is set to face Croatia on Wednesday, July 11"

Germany 2014 were largely fantastic throughout, no one has looked that good this time round, let alone as good as Spain 2010.

ah yes, Spain, losing their first match, and narrowly winning all of their knock out matches 1-0. Paraguay missed a penalty in the 1/8's against them. etc.

the point is.. hardly at any World Cup a team is truly great, that's what makes it so much fun. Like this year, to me it seems all 4 are perfectly possible to win it. France, decent overall, Belgium, great counter attacks, Croatia, bit like France + Modric, England, set pieces. :P

not just that, im fine with the final 4 having seen what i have of the rest

Croatia, bit like France + Modric

threadban request

Hot take - this Croatia team is very good and people are mad underrating them in this thread. If they play like they did against Argentina then England are in trouble.

argentina were a ridiculous rabble tbf

peak croatia take any england apart

weve seen that once against rabble

theyve been flat since, and absolutely through the wringer twice

That Paulinho transfer is absolutely insane. Did he basically take a year-long loan at Barca so he could play himself back into contention for the World Cup?

well i mean fraud has been used in discussions around him previously so

croatia: argentina :: poland : colombia

croatia have the two best midfielders in either squad and england are better in every other position idk

dgmr it'll be much tougher than sweden whom i knew england would beat. this one could go either way

I know I'm going to get accused of jinxing here but I'd be putting money on England winning this game - if I didn't already have money coming in from the work's sweepstake.

i too can see no possible way for england to fail in this upcoming match

England will win the cup guys

Young team, excellent striker in kane, being top scorer, incredibly consistent, and an inventive system, pretty much the best team in decades

tbh I think they'll get into double figures both games