Infinitely Content

She probably wont veer too far off the beaten path, but it's nice to have a likeable voice/face with a lot of playing experience on the scene rather than the status quo

Aluko? Aye she's good, better than most of the blokes.

It makes total sense tbf, but would be a shame to lose him from the league.

Yeah but Iran have crowded out those areas between defence and midfield well since the opening 5 by playing very compact out of possession; probably through fear of Belhanda taking charge of the game.

It's mainly credit to Iran imo. Morocco started off very attack-minded but Iran have adjusted well since. Decent game this.

Looking forward to seeing Belhanda! I got well into watching Montpellier in 11/12 when they had Giroud, Mbiwa, Belhanda, Cabella & Stambouli in their side and won the league. Haven't seen him much since then but he was absolutely brilliant to watch.

Might be too late though. It's the World Cup finals and they have 3 games. 2 now. I'd have liked to see him on for 10 minutes, could have definitely changed the result.

Not really, they've been poor for 80 minutes.

Harsh on the Egypt defence/keeper. They've been great.

Save

Ah man, if Egypt had anyone of worth up front they'd have won this game on the counter.

Cause the keeper took it cleanly?

Class work from the keeper there.

Would just love Egypt to nick this.

Showing them a bit too much respect. Ceding the tempo to Uruguay is just giving them time to click IMO. Aye I agree, although maybe it's a lack of confidence in the forwards, they don't seem to be able to hold onto the ball and create clear cut chances. With Salah this game looks completely different, Egypt could counter and put Uruguay away with ease, they seem fairly slow at the back.

Elneny looking the part. Egypt doing really well out of the back, just need more up top to worry Uruguay and they can win this game for certain.

Both Cavani & Suarez seem to be hiding a bit, pinned up against a fairly deep-lying Egypt defence. Surely one has to start coming deeper to see a bit more of the ball. Uruguay looking poor so far.

Wonder if they're being overly cautious with Salah? Surely he can play through a slight shoulder injury? (and it must be slight if he's on the bench). Would increase Egypt's chances massively, and with Russia winning by 5 there's a bit more pressure on to score goals.

Centre back pairing from the best defence in Europe. Two very handy midfielders. They are weak out wide though de Arrascaeta is supposed to be dece. It's probably just me being ignorant, Bentancur looks decent. CBs being a genuine, established partnership is a huge asset for them too.

40/50 million plus sales is better than I would have expected tbh Would atleast allow us to bring in 2-4 quality additions.

That Uruguay team don't look that hot apart from it's attackers. Keep hearing about them being dark horses and such but on paper I can't see it.

Yeah Maddison had a fantastic season and looks a really good player. Had a good game against Chelsea in the cup too iirc. Would cost a lot to get Norwich to part with him so soon I reckon (only been in the first team for a year).

It's the rampant consumerist culture that makes them (and their agents, PR teams, sponsors etc) do the crazy shit. Getting sick of it all tbh, Aye, unfortunately people lap up the spectacle glare too, often the club the player is moving to feels secondary to an Adidas or a Nike in the unfolding of it all to the point where it would be easy to forget why it was even exciting in the first place, for the game. The game is moving quickly from the team to the individual, an attitude which can probably be seen right down the leagues to as they try to emulate. I dunno where it's going but I do sometimes wonder to what point must it get to until I sort of fall out of love with it.

Ana, wish there was another at 7!