Segun Oluwaniyi

It's a very difficult situation, but I am inclined to agree with you. If say Gattuso or Vieira came in, I would find it very hard to be against them. I just wish MA would leave man. The whole thing is so toxic now. Personally, I will give the new manager the same deference I've given all of the past managers, as long as the appointment is reasonable. It is possible to find temporary and partial success under the constraints of this regime, as we've seen under Rafa, Pardew, Hughton, and the flash under Keegan. The false reality presented by Ashley will prevent sustained growth, but this is still a big club in the world's richest and likely best league. Attracting accomplished and talented managers really should not be an issue, even if this is a poisoned chalice. We will have to take the small scale successes for what they are, while understanding the horrible state of the people running this club on the larger scale,as we done for the last decade, since the truth of Ashley was exposed in the 2008-2009 season. I will always respect Rafa for what he has done at this club. Today, I am more surprised that he stayed 3+ years at this club, rather than upset that he has left. Truthfully, there was never any reason for him to be here at all. He was not desperate and did not owe the club anything. He could have walked away after nearly saving a side that was already doomed, but instead navigated through the lower level for reasons I will never understand. He could have left after bringing a Championship side to 10th and should have left after not receiving proper investment last summer. This was the natural conclusion of his time here from the day he signed on in 2016; I have always thought this.

He was injured toward the end of the end of the European season and isn't fit. Poor result for Guinea tbh, but they still have a good chance with four third place sides going through. The minnows have been resolute thus far. Samuel Kalu for Nigeria collapsed from dehydration in training and was taken to hospital already. The matches at 16:30 local time are terrible for the players and the quality of the football. All of matches need to be in the evening. Of course, this is the first tournament with 24 teams as well as the first in June, so probably not possible. Both teams were disappointing today. DRC were atrocious and play Egypt next. The tournament could be over before it starts. I am not surprised Uganda played well, though. They pushed Egypt and Ghana hard in the last World Cup qualifiers, good side. Nigeria won 1-0 after a brilliant backheel assist from Ola Aina, but the problems persist. Ighalo is probably the best option upfront, which is disheartening despite his goal today, and the keepers are very poor. I'm not sure you can fit Mikel, Etebo, and Ndidi into one midfield against the sides that will bunker. Bigirimana was the best player on the pitch today, fwiw. Unfortunate his career didn't progress when he was here.

Two African sides to the last 16, after only 1 in the prior history of the entire tournament. Congratualtions to the Falcons and Lionesses.

Great goal that could very well send our Falcons home. Presumably more of the top female athletes in America play football compared to the men. Is football the most popular sport among females in America? Also obviously not as competitive as the men's game I don't know what the most popular sport is but it's definitely up there if it's not. And not at all harsh to say the women have a better than feel for the game than the men. They definitely do I would say that it is easier to have a "feel for the game" when you have vastly superior athletes. The gap between the US and either other top level sides is staggering, they are relentless.

I am not even sure it is legal for the keeper to stand fully behind the line if we are now treating the "laws" in this manner (not using common sense). I believe it says that the keeper has to be in line or have one foot touching the line, and mentions nothing about standing in front of it or behind it. I don't understand the problem with the striker and keeper using their natural techniques to score/save the penalty and referees using their human brains to intervene when someone violates and gains an advantage. It worked fine until it was haphazardly changed for no reason. Scotland are out because of this nonsensical rule and Nigeria are now given a lifeline to possibly advance, which they only need in the first place because of the same nonsense. This is FIFA's version of the highest level of our game in 2019. I cannot wait for the next Premier League title to be decided because we determine that someone meant to touch the ball with their hand when looking at it in 10X slow motion. The first penalty shootout in this tournament will interesting when we are calling off every save or watching professional atheletes ignore 20 years of technical training and stand in the goal to try and save a football because of this.

So, keepers now should cede an extra yard and stand behind the line to placate the idiocy of VAR? Maybe instead of this we can stop fixing issues that did not exist and just rely on the trained officials to punish keepers who are egregiously off of their line.

Looking forward to this. It should be an interesting tournament, and I'll be watching as much as I can. We have expanded to 24 for some reason and some real minnows have made it. Nigeria's groups has two first time entrants in Madagascar (The surnames of this team will ruin some poor commentator) and Burundi (They will feature Saido Berahino and former NUFC player Bigirimana). It is a positive things for the smaller nations, and for Nigeria who have failed to qualify for 4 of the past 5 tournaments and won the only one in which they appeared. I'm not sure how it will affect the quality/organisation both of which are serious problems already. This is the first one being held in the European summer to placate the clubs and players abroad, and the climate is going to be an issue in some countries for this thing going forward I think. It will be 40+ for some of the matches in Cairo, Suez, and Ismaila, so we may get a sample of what a summer World Cup in Qatar may have been. The rains would be a problem this time of year in other places. Egypt are 100% the favourites, you have to favour the North Africans generally when the tournament is in that part of the continent. I'll be supporting Naija and DRC as per usual, not particularly confident in either though. Nigeria should be a certainty to go far, but not sure if they have it to actually win. DRC are always a wildcard and could finish last in the group or get to the final. They have the talent.

I am still irrationally angry about this, given it is a sport I don't follow at all. The keeper was not even substantially off her line and there were three or four French players encroaching in the box by the same amount. A complete robbery and there is a good chance that it has knocked our girls out of this World Cup. FIFA is seriously testing my patience with the way officiating and VAR have headed just in the past couple of years. They have had dodgy decisions in their favour the last two matches when Nigeria and Norway have pushed them a bit. I cannot even blame FIFA if it is the case, tbh. From what I've seen the matches are more than fifty percent empty when France or the US are not playing. They need to maintain interest.

This is a disgrace.

They play France now, I believe on Monday. Oshoala and Ordega are both class on the wings, tbh, but the rest of the team is so very poor. I know I should not be too expectant (there is so little investment in the game), but some of the passing and defensive errors from midfield and defense would have been laughable on the Ibadan schoolyards of my youth.

When was it introduced? And have they taken steps to address this criticism? One thing I don't like is how long it takes, you're right, and you only see the two officials huddled around a monitor. Again, it didn't really affect my overall excitement of the game, it was a minor stoppage in play. In football, especially, watching teams like Stoke comes with far more stoppages and pain. To echo the previous comment, review in basketball is awful. The delays take far too long for fairly unimportant decisions, and just like football we are now stuck with reviewing the intent of someone's arm position when they are quickly moving in tight areas or zooming in to molecular level to see if the ball clipped someone's fingertip, well beyond anything the naked eye could interpret. They limit a lot of this to the last two minutes of the game or half, just to limit the annoyance of seeing a 47 year old part-time worker from Baton Rouge, Louisiana attempt to decipher how many tenths of a second are left, whether a small part of the ball was still in the cylinder, and other minutiae of a game that is played a very high speed. The quality and fairness of officiating has also not improved with review, imo. Basketball and football are both games that are primarily enjoyable to watch and play because of the free-flowing and creative nature of the games. Review interruptions are more harmful here than other sports.

From my understanding of VAR, the purpose was to correct clear and obvious errors. Lingard being a millimetre offside, according to a derived line dependent on the TV angle is not a clear and obvious error imo, especially given that it would be impossible for the naked human eye to detect. Are we even sure that the technique being used to discern these sorts of marginal offsides decisions is correct in the same way that goal line technology or the hawkeye system in tennis are? I do not see how it could be possible. In theory you would need a directly overhead angle and there is no fixed line or object to use as reference for offsides. The NFL has had replay for decades it is still only used for egregious errors generally. Football has had VAR for two years or so and we are already reviewing at finer margins. I am not sure it makes sense.

I have been overwhelmingly busy recently, so missed the final and have just seen the highlights, but it should seriously concern the leaders of this sport that the deciding (gave the winning side its final lead) goals in the two biggest matches of the past year have resulted from the ball striking a defender in a meaningless and nearly unavoidable situation, one of which needed slow motion, HD replay to be justified. For players that have run 100's of kilometers in the competition and worked their life to get there, investors that have spent billions, and supporters sacrificing large portions of their wages chasing glory, the pinnacle events for all of this were determined by Ivan Perisic having his hand at his waist while jumping to head a football and Moussa Sissoko pointing to a teammate. It is a farce. I am seriously vexed that the worst case scenario (important matches being decided by nonsense) has already happened several times and no one seems to want to take any action. The rule makes no sense, the result has far too great an effect on the match in most cases, and the interpretation is wildly inconsistent, though I am told we are fixing this by formalising the way of things that has led to the current idiocy.

Holy shit, you're still going on about this. What a strange and uneducated thing to say. He was the ONLY black manage in the top flight. Sure, he could have sat there and said nothing, but chose to use his position and exposure to highlight an issue he probably feels strong about and represent the hundreds of black and asian people out there that have tried as hard as anyone to get into football management and been knocked back for whatever reason. Other than Chris Hughton the only other black manager I can think of in the entire history of the Premier League was Ruud Gulliet. I feel like Paul Ince was manager at some point for a month or two, too. You should watch a Wolves match sometime.

I was excited to see what Sessegnon had to offer this season, and was surprised at just how poor he was. To be fair, you can say this for most of the Fulham squad, no one really performed other than a short spell for Mtirovic early in the season, and many players with pedigree and previous success were absolute failures. That must be a tough environment for a young player. I could see him being developed into a top wingback if they continue with three at the back.

Ajax have wasted so many good chances throughout the knockout stages. Like Barcelona, they really should have put the match away and then collapsed defensively once the pressure was applied.

I feel like the top level of club football has seen an explosion of goals recently. The top level matches are much more end to end and the number of defensive errors from the big sides has greatly increased. I'm not sure what has caused it, maybe the pressing and speed of play that have increased in recent years. I remember when sides could actually defend consistently. Absolutely. We’re badly lacking creativity I think it's rare that this happens where a top European country loses one of their players from immigrant background and it's a genuine loss. Was he just not getting in the Dutch team at 22 or was it a personal decision to play elsewhere? I can probably only really think of Koulibaly who would similarly start for his country of birth but took the heritage option. I know Drogba was born in CIV, but spent many years of his childhood in France. He would have been eligible for them, but it was never really a consideration given he became a top player relatively late in his career. Austria isn't a top team, but Alaba wanted to play for Nigeria at youth level, and was turned away, allegedly because he wouldn't pay a bribe.

Injuries or no, Liverpool's keeper, defenders, and midfielders are comfortably better than what Barcelona have to offer, imo. They just rely on world class attacking players to make up the difference.

Barca have collapsed like this several times since 2012 or so. They just fold. The players had no intention of coming back once it was 4-0, including world class walker Messi.

I have never seen a penalty given when the attacker gets a shot on goal. GINI!!! Barcelona very casual at the back again.

Messi will probably end up with a goal or two, but I feel he has been pretty rubbish so far.

The casual non-chalant way he took that shot and missed it, and the total lack of reaction or shame afterwards ... Just so typical man. Awful stuff. Fairly sure Nigeria has scored the most Premier League goals of any country outside of Europe, so maybe calm down with this nonsense you are talking, rubbishing your country for people's amusement. Never been as disappointed in a player as Kelechi. Don't understand how a precocious talent turns into someone that cannot do anything with falling over himself a few years later. Injuries are understandable, but this is just carlessness and contentment with mediocrity. Disappointed that City will win the title, as I despise them, but less annoyed than I would have been before Saturday. Liverpool didn't deserve the gift they got at SJP. It's not my country. I have disowned them. I have absconded to Benin. Na wa for you o I can't imagine Brighton being interesting in doing anything other than keeping the score respectable during the match on Sunday. Tired players with nothing to fight for.

The casual non-chalant way he took that shot and missed it, and the total lack of reaction or shame afterwards ... Just so typical man. Awful stuff. Fairly sure Nigeria has scored the most Premier League goals of any country outside of Europe, so maybe calm down with this nonsense you are talking, rubbishing your country for people's amusement. Never been as disappointed in a player as Kelechi. Don't understand how a precocious talent turns into someone that cannot do anything withput falling over himself a few years later. Injuries are understandable, but this is just carlessness and contentment with mediocrity. Disappointed that City will win the title, as I despise them, but less annoyed than I would have been before Saturday. Liverpool didn't deserve the gift they got at SJP.

Burnley are incredible at clearances. Paul Dummett school of defending. edit: There attacking play is horrendous still.

Burnley have been laughable when in possession. Even worse than expected.