The World Cup Thread
- Thread starter crimsonfloyd
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Blind Guardian
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None of those hot gold digging skanks would go anywhere near those ugly German players like Schürrle or Müller if they were some average Klaus working class fellows.
Schweinsteiger's gf:
Schweinsteiger's gf:
Yeah a number of the German's ladyfriends are hot, but Gotze is definitely the winner.
A good article for those of you who might be considering following a club in the Premier League and/or Champions League next year.
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/blog/post/1951472/a-look-at-what-top-european-clubs-that-stars-of-the-brazilian-world-cup-will-return-to
A good article for those of you who might be considering following a club in the Premier League and/or Champions League next year.
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/blog/post/1951472/a-look-at-what-top-european-clubs-that-stars-of-the-brazilian-world-cup-will-return-to
no country for old wainds
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no country for old wainds
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it's actually a pretty interesting WC this time round. there are 3-4 clear favourites but all of them have problems.
- the core that won it for germany last time around have largely retired, and they still don't have a prolific goalscorer. i'd still put them as favourites though, i'm not sure anyone out there now can out-think loew the way conte did.
- france have an insane embarrassment of riches, probably the best squad in the world right now, but a manager whom i don't trust to cohere his resources properly. ditto for belgium.
- as ever, argentina probably have the best attacking options on an individual by individual basis, but they suffer from the usual problem of disconnection between those individuals and a dearth of defensive talent. even though they got to the final last time i think you have to go back to '06 or so to remember an argentina team looking genuinely great.
- brazil look great in theory but the disaster on home turf four years ago will weigh heavily on their minds, and most of these players are either untested in tournaments or proven to choke on the big stage. there was a time when i would've said never bet against brazil, now i say never bet on them. that said, neymar has turned into a monster since then and could well make the difference.
- spain are obviously in a transitional period after their legendary side has largely retired or declined. as ever they're brimming with talent but they seem to have an identity crisis, unsure whether to try to emulate the tiki-taka of a few years back or abandon it for something more suitable.
- portugal can certainly grind out results when they need them, and ronaldo can win games by himself, but they won the euros through sheer force of will for the most part, and i can't really see it happening again, especially now ronaldo is clearly declining and the likes of renato sanches haven't stepped up to share the load.
- england... lol. we do have a lot of talent in fairness, but it's the same old story. an uninspiring manager who's likely unable to impose an effective style, coupled with players who freeze like rabbits in headlights when the pressures ramps up, and no doubt we'll struggle to even make the last 8 or so. i'd like to see us just play as many spurs players as possible tbh.
- the core that won it for germany last time around have largely retired, and they still don't have a prolific goalscorer. i'd still put them as favourites though, i'm not sure anyone out there now can out-think loew the way conte did.
- france have an insane embarrassment of riches, probably the best squad in the world right now, but a manager whom i don't trust to cohere his resources properly. ditto for belgium.
- as ever, argentina probably have the best attacking options on an individual by individual basis, but they suffer from the usual problem of disconnection between those individuals and a dearth of defensive talent. even though they got to the final last time i think you have to go back to '06 or so to remember an argentina team looking genuinely great.
- brazil look great in theory but the disaster on home turf four years ago will weigh heavily on their minds, and most of these players are either untested in tournaments or proven to choke on the big stage. there was a time when i would've said never bet against brazil, now i say never bet on them. that said, neymar has turned into a monster since then and could well make the difference.
- spain are obviously in a transitional period after their legendary side has largely retired or declined. as ever they're brimming with talent but they seem to have an identity crisis, unsure whether to try to emulate the tiki-taka of a few years back or abandon it for something more suitable.
- portugal can certainly grind out results when they need them, and ronaldo can win games by himself, but they won the euros through sheer force of will for the most part, and i can't really see it happening again, especially now ronaldo is clearly declining and the likes of renato sanches haven't stepped up to share the load.
- england... lol. we do have a lot of talent in fairness, but it's the same old story. an uninspiring manager who's likely unable to impose an effective style, coupled with players who freeze like rabbits in headlights when the pressures ramps up, and no doubt we'll struggle to even make the last 8 or so. i'd like to see us just play as many spurs players as possible tbh.
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Something in My Eye
- Jan 12, 2009
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I'd agree that France's squad is probably the best, in terms of talent. Let's see how they do. Sweden did beat them in the qualifying stage, so they definitely have some work to do lol.
I have a feeling that a dark horse will win the World Cup this year. Football has seen so many unexpected things these past few years - Iceland kicking butt, Leicester winning the Premier League, Italy/US/Chile not advancing to World Cup. It's all a fucking mess now and there's still plenty room for more chaos.
I have a feeling that a dark horse will win the World Cup this year. Football has seen so many unexpected things these past few years - Iceland kicking butt, Leicester winning the Premier League, Italy/US/Chile not advancing to World Cup. It's all a fucking mess now and there's still plenty room for more chaos.
EspaDa
Damage Case
Poland and Panama are the favourites. Mark my words.
For real, I count on France and Brazil to win. And Germany do have a new prolific striker whose name is Timo Werner, the next big thing.
For real, I count on France and Brazil to win. And Germany do have a new prolific striker whose name is Timo Werner, the next big thing.
EspaDa
Damage Case
I like the fact that Peru qualified for the WC. It's been long time since they last participated.
Peru was a fun watch at the last Copa America, so I'm glad they made it.
As for favorites, that would still be Germany. They have crazy depth, as proven by their B team winning the Confederations Cup last year. That will pay off during the tight schedule of the World Cup. Brazil, Spain and France are the other obvious contenders. Don't expect a darkhorse. Darkhorses never win the World Cup.
As for favorites, that would still be Germany. They have crazy depth, as proven by their B team winning the Confederations Cup last year. That will pay off during the tight schedule of the World Cup. Brazil, Spain and France are the other obvious contenders. Don't expect a darkhorse. Darkhorses never win the World Cup.
EspaDa
Damage Case
no country for old wainds
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no country for old wainds
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World Cup draw is complete: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...18-printable-draw-and-schedule-for-all-groups
Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
Group D: Argentina, Iceland,Croatia, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic
Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan
They did a much better job of distributing the groups this time. There are no real "groups of death."
Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
Group D: Argentina, Iceland,Croatia, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic
Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan
They did a much better job of distributing the groups this time. There are no real "groups of death."
no country for old wainds
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part of that is due to how many of the traditionally major teams didn't qualify. if italy had beaten sweden (or holland qualified ahead of them) you might have e.g. germany italy/holland mexico korea, which would look pretty nasty. you're right though, they do look pretty well distributed. the weakest group is probably A but there's no group i'd describe as strong. the most difficult to predict is probably H, everyone in that group will fancy their chances.
no country for old wainds
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no country for old wainds
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so i reckon england are probably gonna set up like this for their opening game vs. panama:
pickford
walker dier stones
trippier henderson alli rose
lingard sterling
kane
then for the bigger games (i.e. belgium) lingard will drop out, alli and dier will move forward, maguire will probably come in at CB.
i like southgate. i like that he's not afraid to drop big names if they don't deserve to be there (hart, wilshere etc), i like that he's tactically flexible and wants to integrate youth. i have more positive vibes about this tournament than i have done in a while, and yet the reality is we don't have a great squad to work with. the attacking options are very nice, but everything behind is dubious to say the least, we're kind of argentina-esque in that respect nowadays. we're probably the 8th best team on paper IMO and i think quarter finals should be our goal, anything short of that would be a failure and anything beyond that would be a huge success.
pickford
walker dier stones
trippier henderson alli rose
lingard sterling
kane
then for the bigger games (i.e. belgium) lingard will drop out, alli and dier will move forward, maguire will probably come in at CB.
i like southgate. i like that he's not afraid to drop big names if they don't deserve to be there (hart, wilshere etc), i like that he's tactically flexible and wants to integrate youth. i have more positive vibes about this tournament than i have done in a while, and yet the reality is we don't have a great squad to work with. the attacking options are very nice, but everything behind is dubious to say the least, we're kind of argentina-esque in that respect nowadays. we're probably the 8th best team on paper IMO and i think quarter finals should be our goal, anything short of that would be a failure and anything beyond that would be a huge success.
Thoughts so far? The Portugal-Spain game today was excellent. Morocco-Iran was super frustrating as Morocco underachieved after being really good in qualifiers. I'm half Moroccan, so was hoping to see them at least put forth a respectful performance and maybe sneak out of the group. However, after today's results they're probably done already. That's the brutality of the World Cup for you.
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