Not worthy of a thread - 2018 FIFA World Cup edition

[triggs]

I don't want technology, I completely agree that referees are good enough.

 

Those stats are slightly misleading though aren't they? Because in theory the VAR 98.8% only applies to the 0.7% that the ref is unsure about.

"Slightly misleading" is incredibly kind

[Fedyan]

Anyone with a valid railway ticket will be given free access to waiting lounges and RZD-owned hotels in the vicinity of the train stations during the tournament. So anyone who plans to save money on hotels and stuff can still take a shower and use a restroom not attached to a fastfood chain. Always a nice thing.

 

Last time I checked, all but two stadiums are done, the rest will be finished in early April. My personal favourite is the one in Nizhni Novgorod - purely for the scenery and the fact that you are a short cab ride away from the millions of fantastic nastoikas. Messi vs the Croats, cannae wait.

 

Several hotel owners and airlines have been politely requested to stop ferking about with prices, but it remains to be seen if they will actually come back to their senses. But, to be fair, pretty much any big event anywhere causes greed to blow out of all proportions.

 

We got spanked by a half-arsed Brazil last night. Our defense is basically a bunch of misfits and guys who would not even make the team ten years ago. Fantastic stuff, if you're a fan of Egypt or Uruguay On the plus side, they did fix the stadium logistics at Luzhniki and nobody had to wait for an hour to leave the stadium, which became a bit of a problem after the Argentina friendly. Considering the traffic in Moscow, kind of a big deal. Good on us, I guess.

 

Any news on how many brilliant and eternally peaceful Western politicians will boycott? Not being sarcastic, just curious

[Disco]

Not sure if you’ve seen it but Egypt scored an absolutely belting goal last night. Really smooth football.

[Fedyan]

Not sure if you’ve seen it but Egypt scored an absolutely belting goal last night. Really smooth football.

 

When the piggies played Liverpool there was like a ton of gifs about how Klopp instructed Salah to play against their defenders, some genuinely hilarious. At least three of their defenders can expect to be in our WC squad, so optimism is not exactly high. I know Egypt can play a bit. But Suarez and Cavani will have a field day if we play like yesterday. Akinfeev was the sole reason it did not end up with a tennis score.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Just seen some of the reasons given by the Argentina coach why he didn't call up Icardi and Dybala

 

Can't see them going far this summer if the attitude holds.

[triggs]

Just seen some of the reasons given by the Argentina coach why he didn't call up Icardi and Dybala

 

Can't see them going far this summer if the attitude holds.

Is it not just because they've been awful for Argentina?

 

[Mole_Toonfan]

Doesn't seem a good enough reason when the alternatives are far worse, good managers will find a way to make them play better instead of giving up them for far inferior players.

[triggs]

Doesn't seem a good enough reason when the alternatives are far worse, good managers will find a way to make them play better instead of giving up them for far inferior players.

If he had a full qualification group over a few years I'd agree but he doesn't. The best players doesn't always make the best team. Argentina were much better in the last two qualifiers with that Benedetto bloke up front

[Raconteur]

Australia destroyed by Norway 4-1. More pain to come in the form of Colombia in London. National press gnashes teeth:

 

Let's accept it: Socceroos are just not good enough

 

ANALYSIS: Clueless, rudderless and hopeless: there is no other way to assess Australia's meek capitulation to Norway in Oslo.

 

The Socceroos suffered an embarrassing 4-1 defeat against an ordinary Norwegian side in the first match of Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk on Saturday morning (AEDT).

 

At the end of a hugely disappointing and deflating match, the Dutchman was left in no doubt about the 'mission impossible' he faces at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia which is less than three months away.

 

Australia face France, Denmark and Peru and on the evidence of the mismatch in Oslo, they would be lucky to get a single point in the group, let along reach the second phase.

 

The sloppy Socceroos were so poor and disjointed that they made the Norwegians look like world beaters, such was the ease with which the home team perforated the visitors that had more holes in their defence than a platter of Swiss Emmental cheese.

 

The defence was at sixes and sevens all night, the midfield was often overrun and outclassed and the attack was, well, pretty non-existent.

 

The Socceroos opened the scoring in the first half with a well-timed header by midfielder Jackson Irvine from an Aaron Mooy corner.

 

It would be the Australians' only memorable moment in a match they should try to forget as quickly as possible.

 

Much was said about the failings of the three-at-the-back system that was controversially installed mid-campaign by previous coach Ange Postecoglou.

 

And the news that van Marwijk would revert to a four-man defence was greeted with optimism by those who saw the old system as the catalyst for the Socceroos' wobbles in the second half of the qualifying campaign for the World Cup.

 

Events in Oslo showed very clearly that the numbers game at the back is not the reason for the Socceroos' woes.

 

While the media and fans debated the merits or otherwise of the two systems, little emphasis was made on the crucial fact that one of the main areas of concern for the national team was their general slowness with or without the ball and inability to track back fast enough when they lost possession, especially in the opposition half.

 

Yet the glaring point that emerged from the Oslo debacle is that this Australian team is not good enough to compete at the highest level, as it currently stands.

 

It is hard to accept this but we are doing ourselves no favours by not acknowledging it and acting accordingly, such as giving young players more opportunities to play at the highest domestic level or reducing the number of foreigners.

 

The current Socceroos have shown that they can do it as a unit occasionally, but certainly not on a regular basis.

 

The glaring problems we saw in Oslo were not new.

 

You cannot expect the Socceroos to be a force to be reckoned with at the highest level when they are so poor at set pieces, when they give the ball away so cheaply in dangerous areas, when their passing is so erratic, when their movement is so slow and when they are unable to create meaningful scoring opportunities.

 

Fans would be hoping that the humbling performance against Norway was merely a sign of van Marwijk's transition designed to bring the best out of the team come mid-June.

 

They would also be hoping for a reaction and a marked improvement in the next match against Colombia on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

 

A positive performance in London against a much stronger and far more experienced side than Norway would go a long way towards strengthening the resolve of van Marwijk and his players.

 

[Cartz]

Australia destroyed by Norway 4-1. More pain to come in the form of Colombia in London. National press gnashes teeth

 

First game under new coach with new system and tactics so not that unexpected. Plus we just aren't that good. Struggled to qualify. That was enough proof to show that we are in a definite decline.

 

Not many players doing much in top leagues. Doesnt seem to be any good youngsters coming through either.

 

We will show up for the World Cup and play better than expected but we are a long way from where we should be.

[Raconteur]

Australia destroyed by Norway 4-1. More pain to come in the form of Colombia in London. National press gnashes teeth

 

First game under new coach with new system and tactics so not that unexpected. Plus we just aren't that good. Struggled to qualify. That was enough proof to show that we are in a definite decline.

 

Not many players doing much in top leagues. Doesnt seem to be any good youngsters coming through either.

 

We will show up for the World Cup and play better than expected but we are a long way from where we should be.

 

I’m expecting us to go pointless and a real chance of going goalless. Therefore, anything more is playing better than expected.

[Cartz]

Australia destroyed by Norway 4-1. More pain to come in the form of Colombia in London. National press gnashes teeth

 

First game under new coach with new system and tactics so not that unexpected. Plus we just aren't that good. Struggled to qualify. That was enough proof to show that we are in a definite decline.

 

Not many players doing much in top leagues. Doesnt seem to be any good youngsters coming through either.

 

We will show up for the World Cup and play better than expected but we are a long way from where we should be.

 

I’m expecting us to go pointless and a real chance of going goalless. Therefore, anything more is playing better than expected.

 

:lol: As long as it isn't a flogging every game I'll be happy.

[Cronky]

VAR at the World Cup will be an absolute, total, complete, unmitigated disaster.

 

They are still in the stages of grappling with the practicalities of the system, and yet they're going to inflict it on the game's major tournament, where the pressure and the media attention is at its highest.

 

I think VAR is a bad idea for anything but goal-line decisions anyway, but the premature nature of this decision will compound the error.

 

 

[54]

Panama lost 6-0 to Switzerland today

[54]

No Premier League referee selected for the World Cup.

[Ndegwa]

No Premier League referee selected for the World Cup.

 

Two from the MLS going

[leffe186]

No Premier League referee selected for the World Cup.

 

Two from the MLS going

 

God help us all.

[54]

Apparently when they made the preliminary list in 2016, the only UK based referee was Clattenberg and when he left he forfeited the right to referee in the World Cup, and FIFA didn't allow the FA to nominate another ref.

[Disco]

 

[Flip]

This VAR and referee thing is a shitshow. Infantino doing a ridiculously bad job already. Too much change in to short of a time.

[Deuce]

No Premier League referee selected for the World Cup.

 

With all the weekly bitching and morning on here about the state of PL refereeing, you’d think this would be a positive.

[Deuce]

No Premier League referee selected for the World Cup.

 

Two from the MLS going

 

Geiger (the one MLS sent) did a good job in Brazil

[Figures 1-0 Football]

It’s perfectly set up for a monumental cock up like.

[The College Dropout]

Refereeing in PL is immeasurably better than La Liga tbf. 

 

 

It’s one of he biggest differences in the game. 

[Fedyan]

The new stadium in Yekaterinburg was opened this past weekend, nice reviews and all, but considering that the locals have a ton of other things to do during (still) cold weekend, it wasn't a sellout. The fact that the curtain-raiser was a match between two meh-ish teams did not help, but a decent turnout for a hockey city. In one of those charming, globally recognized "we need more building sites for a sports team cos big league status" stories this ground was already completely revamped several years ago, but then they closed it down and rebuilt it from scratch again I am sure, no brown envelopes changed hands and nobody is roasting his arse somewhere in Nice, toasting for the World Cup. The fact that the weird stands behind goals are copied from familiar stadiums in Brazil and South Korea is monumental - doing this in the coldest of the host cities must have taken some genius. Or, perhaps, a financial guru

 

Samara's mayor was desperate to open their stadium with today's cup semifinal fixture against those pesky pigs, but since his testicles and a new term are both on the line, they moved the opening to 25th of April in order to clear up the remaining details and avoid any logistical hiccups. Quite a lot of excitement in the city, a genuine football town. With Krilya Sovetov still potentially capable of both winning our Champo and the Cup (first ever trophy for the club, should they prevail), plenty of buzz all around.

 

Volgograd is ready, and immediately there are reports that a few of the reagion's wealthiest citizens will be politely asked to fund a promotion push next season (they are crap in our equivalent of the Champo this year) since there is little desire to see a brand new stadium become a white elephant of sorts. Cue great stories about some Selyuk type getting a fortune for some unknown African lads, doing a Leeds, etc. But then again, much-loved Rotor FC can boast eliminating ManU from Europe back in the day (iirc Schmeichel actually scored a goal in the return leg of the UEFA Cup fixture, but it wasn't enough). Damn, time flies.

 

Anyhow, just weeks away. Cannae wait