ponsaelius

He's definitely lost half a yard. Still great player but not quite as sharp as before the injury.

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The problem with that is that 99% of the time the ref looks at the screen and gives the decision, it's almost theatrical window dressing at that point. It's not that VAR didn't look at it - they look at everything. They just didn't recommend a review.

Why are they so convinced that was a pen? Armstrong grabs his shirt and then throws himself to the ground IMO

Scotland would have been basically through if they'd won. Very unlikely given the goal difference but Hungary have an outside chance.

They're basically a talent farm and scout good players but also have a very set style of play and ingrained footballing culture. This gives a good platform for players to develop but means they can struggle outside of that bubble. And the ownership means they will always ask for very good money for players. The combination of this means there is often not the value there that clubs perceive.

I said at the time but many signings from Red Bull clubs are either flops or significantly overpriced. It's a dangerous market to get involved in imo.

Ndoye is alright but don't think he's anywhere near the level we need - just lacks cutting edge in the final third. He's been linked to Inter to play as a right wing back, which to be honest I think might be a better use of his attributes long term.

Germany B Vs Switzerland a non event though. Scotch game all the way.

To be fair he was pretty highly rated when he was in Russia, and was a renowned prodigy at youth level. Only ended up back in Georgia for 6 months because of the war. Still a ridiculous signing and nobody really banked on him being as good as he's been, but he was not a complete nobody.

Fwiw I think he's a good player, it's just we already have Burn/Botman/Kelly now as left footed CBs. Kilman is yet another left footed CB. We surely need a right sided signing as long term replacement for Schar.

Another left footed CB? I'm surprised if it would be cash + Anderson. Surely in reality it would be two separate deals considering Anderson represents pure profit.

It's underwhelming but there is an element of logic to it. You have to remember we have a genuinely world class CF - finding somebody to play second fiddle to him is difficult.

Marmaduke looking superb here.

Very harsh penalty.

It's partly the format. Genuine contenders know they can ease their way in as there's almost no chance of going out in group stages. Smaller teams know one good win and you're through - which is the peak of their ambitions really. 16 team format has far more jeopardy from day 1 - which can be to the benefit of hitting ground running along with tighter quality. But there are trade offs in that final group games can be genuine dead rubbers - which is actually almost impossible in this format.

Nah I don't personally, international tournaments are always imperfect in terms of football. Maybe it's just more noticeable as club football has become so efficient. There is always some absolute stinking games at tournaments as well - Qatar started with loads but ended up being class. The only thing I would say is the big teams have been pretty disappointing except Spain/Germany, but on the other side I've been genuinely entertained by Poland and Slovakia which is a minor miracle so it has balanced out.

WC2014 massively fizzled out in the knockouts, IMO a very overrated tournament. Think the last two world cups were both better for me if you ignore vibes bias. In terms of Euros I think they're always good pretty with the exception of 2016 which was a massive anomaly in terms of being very low scoring.

That's every international tournament though. And honestly for me as usual it's made it more entertaining - club football and the well oiled possession machines have more quality to the detriment of entertainment.

You think? I think there's been loads of good games. Those involving big teams probably been the least enjoyable.

Was gonna say the same, they've both been proper going for it to be fair to them. It's interesting comparing to 2016 when everything was so cagey because you could get through with draws. Now teams seem to have cottoned onto the fact that one win basically gets you through - so might as well go for it.

Well the two CBs have been their best outfield players so far, and along with Donnarumma only thing that stopped them getting hammered yesterday (even acknowledging the unfortunate own goal, which was more death by a thousand cuts given the pressure). Buongiorno is also left footed for what it's worth - so I'm not sure he'd a great fit even though he's a very solid player. I think if any of them were right footed (Scalvini got injured pre tournament) they'd be playing a back 3, and tbh probably should do anyway given the struggles in midfield and wide areas.

For what it's worth, I think he's very good.

It was good shite. Sometimes games are like that. Limited quality but competitive all the same and watchable enough due to commitment of the teams. Felt like there was a winner in it right until the end.

Switzerland for being sort of billed as a 'better than sum of their parts' outfit are actually very much a 1 man team. If you stop Xhaka passing they are completely neutralised (lel). If he's on it they can look quite a smooth outfit.