ponsaelius

Exactly. Biggest problem for Arg was lack of pressing and intensity without Di Maria, and that allowed comfort for the Aussie defence. But once they brought in the extra CB it allowed the midfielders and wing backs to push on and they looked like they were going to cruise to a win to me. Was only a total freak goal which made things interesting in any way. Very few teams have won games convincingly in this World Cup against any sides. I thought this was pretty comfortable.

Lautaro Martinez alone missed 3 sitters and he was on about 10 minutes.

De Paul for Udinese was a silky playmaker. Now he looks like a scrapper. It's very odd. That said he's much better than some of the other CMs Argentina have had in previous years.

Bottled it. Sell.

I agree. They've won the last 3 games with relative ease, scoring 6 and conceding one freak goal. For the first time ever the system (be it 4-3-3 or the 3-5-2) is built around Messi. It's just a shame that so much of his peak powers was wasted by chaotic management from the likes of Maradona and Sampaoli. Don't think they'll convincingly beat anybody but I think they'd make every game a scrap and have a chance.

Other than a completely freak goal and a few studs up challenges Aussies offered nowt in that game tbh. Fair play to them for getting this far though.

Tactical switch, deliberate or not, has helped. Having the extra CB means the midfielders have more license to press.

Kinda poor keeping for me. Although definitely unsighted.

Yurssss

Definitely miss Di Maria. He's the one who drives forward momentum so much.

Fuck me this is dull. Team happy to pass around slowly at the back and team that doesn't press at all makes for an awful game.

Big blow that. I'd be tempted to play both Lautaro and Alvarez instead

Aye don't mark the bloke who's set up two goals and entire game is based around arriving at the back post.

Brilliant - this should be a great finish now.

I think he sets up his teams based on the players he's got to be honest.

And that's that I reckon.

USA squad is bizarre because it's definitely the strongest squad I can remember them having in general but equally they don't have a forward with the character and quality of a Donovan/Dempsey and are without a quality goalkeeper which has always been a given in the past.

Only one that wasn't built for the tournament IIRC. Agree in part but at least it looks slightly different to all the others. Reminds me of Japan/Korea a bit.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi were horrendously dull I thought. Can't imagine how bad a more boring version would be.

Shaping up to be a really good game this.

Great finish.

I get that the Dutch squads strength is in the CBs but it's such a passive system they play

The fact that Brazil won the group with 3 goals and Serbia went out bottom with 5 is nuts. Defending from Serbia was terrible throughout - regardless of how they set up.

Xhaka was celebrating at the end with Swiss #26 Ardon Jashari's shirt on back to front (so the name on show). His namesake Adem Jashari was also the founder of the Kosovan Liberation Army and symbol of Kosovar independence. Big brain way around getting punishment from FIFA. Wouldn't be surprised if that bloke is in the squad purely for this reason

There's no doubt as the tournament expanded from 16 to 24 and then 32 teams it was justified. Not only did you have Balkanisation of Eastern Europe which created a much deeper European pool of quality teams but the growth and professionalization of the sport elsewhere also drastically improved the depth of quality. An example I always note is how Turkey went from a side that lost to England 8-0 on two separate occasions in the late 80s to making the semi final of a World Cup in 2002. However I really don't like the idea of now jumping straight from 32 to 48 teams. 16 extra teams is a huge leap and will IMO significantly dilute the overall quality - before you even talk about the issues with the format. Even acknowledging the depth of global football small-medium sized countries will always have peaks and troughs in generations (e.g. where are Bulgaria and Romania these days?). That is what qualifying is there for - to cut out sides that don't quite have it at that point in time. Japan/Korea hosting the thing was obviously great for development of the sport in that region. However the real steps had already begun long before the World Cup with the development of the club game in the 90s - particularly in Japan. It's a balance obviously and you don't want a closed shop mentality that blights other sports but equally developing countries should have to work towards the world stage - not be handed it on a plate. I really am not sure what the likes of Vietnam, Oman, UAE would add to a World Cup at this point.