Group F: Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany

[Zezti]

Don't particularly like Germany but I want Portugal to lose purely because I can't stand Fernandes and to a lesser extent Pepe.

 

[ste d' indica]

Well that was a letdown...

 

[carolinablue232]

Where is the rodent Fernandes?

Practicing his dives. I suspect we’ll see at least two second half.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

How is that not offside???

Presumably either cause the number 5 played him on, or the VAR are being instructed not to give tight decisions in this tourney arsing about with the lines and such.

 

[ste d' indica]

Bloody pigeon on the pitch.

Had it all that game!!

 

[Toffeeslam]

Comparing England with these two just shows why England won’t win anything

 

[Martin Alvito]

This is interesting football.

It's what we want. It's what we can't reliably play. That's because we're such a mess in the middle of the pitch, and because our back four have some limitations that prohibit us from putting it all on red the way the way the Germans have been.

You're better off getting that goal and strangling the game if you can. It's one of the problems with modern football. It's why the French beat Belgium in their semifinal in the last WC. It's why we don't get enough games like this one.

Odd to see Muller not in the right spot like that to clean up that goal. He's like Rodman was in the NBA - truly gifted positional sense to pick up the rebound, or find the space to do some damage.

 

[carolinablue232]

Presumably either cause the number 5 played him on, or the VAR are being instructed not to give tight decisions in this tourney arsing about with the lines and such.

They showed the line on ESPN. His arm was all that was in an offside position so he was correctly ruled on.

 

[TheBigIguana]

This is interesting football.

It's what we want. It's what we can't reliably play. That's because we're such a mess in the middle of the pitch, and because our back four have some limitations that prohibit us from putting it all on red the way the way the Germans have been.

You're better off getting that goal and strangling the game if you can. It's one of the problems with modern football. It's why the French beat Belgium in their semifinal in the last WC. It's why we don't get enough games like this one.

Odd to see Muller not in the right spot like that to clean up that goal. He's like Rodman was in the NBA - truly gifted positional sense to pick up the rebound, or find the space to do some damage.

I think in general the lack of time to build continuity among international teams makes it easier to play a bit more defensively and not open up. I don't even think what England are doing generally is wrong but they've just got to have a tad bit more of a threat outside of set plays.

 

[carolinablue232]

This either finishes 2-2 or 4-1

 

[carolinablue232]

I think in general the lack of time to build continuity among international teams makes it easier to play a bit more defensively and not open up. I don't even think what England are doing generally is wrong but they've just got to have a tad bit more of a threat outside of set plays.

No. It’s wrong. Any side with that much talent playing like farmers deserves all the criticism they get.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

They showed the line on ESPN. His arm was all that was in an offside position so he was correctly ruled on.

Yeah just saw it on our coverage, weird how he did look off from first viewing but he was clearly on when you see the line.

Good decision.

 

[Martin Alvito]

I think in general the lack of time to build continuity among international teams makes it easier to play a bit more defensively and not open up. I don't even think what England are doing generally is wrong but they've just got to have a tad bit more of a threat outside of set plays.

I tend to think the reverse - you see more open games because defenses don't have time to gel, and because teams need the 'W'. Draws aren't good enough. That leads to penalties. That coin toss is to be avoided if at all possible.

That Spanish team was so good in part because they had amazing players, and in part because they could just deny the opponent the ball because the midfield played together year round. Their defense didn't get tested all that much because they didn't let the other team have the ball. When it got tested, they had absurd quality and were up to the challenge.

England needs a new manager. They should be up in everyone's grill all game. They should be Law from Tekken. Southgate will never ever do that. As I've said, I'd built the thing around Foden and Grealish and just generally putting a horrendous amount of pressure around the opposition.

 

[roydo]

Comparing England with these two just shows why England won’t win anything

I made the point in another thread. Look at the England squad, and see how many of the players are their clubs best players. The best players (arguably) of the top 2 PL teams are in one game here.

 

[TheBigIguana]

No. It’s wrong. Any side with that much talent playing like farmers deserves all the criticism they get.

England do it and it's hammered, France do it and it is smart. It's all perception.

Hell Portugal did it to win the last Euros and that was smart too. Even that dominant Spanish team was winning by strangling the life out of games. More often than not that's international footy.