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Carpy

Carpy

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So after the last couple of tournaments where we had copious amounts of injury time which filtered through to our leagues here we now get 5 mins with a 3 mins drinks break.

You do the math
 
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A couple of random observations now we're fifteen games in:

1) With the solitary exception of the first game (when the Brazilian dude was terrible), the reffing has been excellent. No red cards in any of the other games, only a couple of penalties, and once again the World Cup giving a lesson to the Premier League in how to use VAR i.e. rarely, quickly and don't change anything unless the ref has dropped an absolute clanger. When the only controversies are about VAR not being used for tight offsides (well that and the Aussie dude have to promise that he didn't make a White Power gesture), I'm OK with it.

2) Results are a bit upside down! South American teams - played 4, won 0. Asian teams - played 5, lost 0. European teams - played 10, won 3. New hotness certainly on top of old & busted thus far
Plenties of draws though which a) ensures that the last round of group games are going to have plenty riding on them and b) is good for Scotland, as the more draws there are, the more likely 3 points will be good enough for a knockout round place.


And with those two comments, I've probably jinxed Iran and they're going to lose to New Zealand and finish with eight men.........
 
Huh, must have watched I-don't-know-how-many thousands of football games in my life and I can't recall ever having watched a team decked head-to-toe in black playing a team decked head-to-toe in white.

Iran vs. New Zealand is like a frickin' human chess match (apart from Max Crocombe, as he's ruining the effect by wearing bright pink)
 
tonyw said:
Huh, must have watched I-don't-know-how-many thousands of football games in my life and I can't recall ever having watched a team decked head-to-toe in black playing a team decked head-to-toe in white.

Iran vs. New Zealand is like a frickin' human chess match (apart from Max Crocombe, as he's ruining the effect by wearing bright pink)
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And Elijah Just is the king :) joint golden boot ATM :)
 
Onto Seattle today to see an ageing, slow Belgium gratefully take a point against a pretty fluent Egypt. Lots of Liverpool shirts on show c/o a meek M Salah, (another player receding into ageing irrelevance.)

Quite an interesting game though in very hot conditions. Lumen Field is right in the middle of town opposite the baseball stadium and there was a cracking atmosphere.

To this visitor Seattle unfortunately has a lot of problems, plenty of Fentanyl casualties downtown. Very sad to see.

The difference in cost of living between Vancouver and Seattle is also alarming. Every American ii’ve met on the break has mentioned it and the level of contempt towards Tango Man is tangible.

Visiting relatives in New York for rest of week and taking in the England game at Flushing Meadows US Open Fan Zone. The cost of the Eastern Seabord games is prohibitive.

Thought about Scotland v Morocco in Boston but too far and too expensive. 700 dollars a ticket if you’re keen. Plus all the other costs.

Overall great experience and great people, Vancouver exceptional.

Good to see Max Crocombe in World Cup, well done lad.
 
Only four players of the 764 who took the field in 2006 World Cup remain:

PNG image.webp
 
tonyw said:
Everyone was being ridiculously patronizing about Cape Verde pre-tournament; but they won their group in African qualifying (that included Cameroon) and did so without conceding a single goal at home. You don't do that unless you're extremely well organized and you can defend. And that's what we just saw.....with the only sad thing being that their defender didn't bury that header at the death.
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But Cape Verde were so much more than that, too. The way they countered - with pace and in numbers - was an absolute breathe of fresh air.

As a wider point (having started watching this tournament on Sunday night, and only PM fixtures) I've been really impressed by the speed and technical ability - even of 'lesser' nations.

It's actually made me feel more frustrated for what I've just spent nine months watching.

There is absolutely no reason why teams can't play with energy and purpose even when up against better players - I've just watched Egypt do it, Japan do it, and Cape Verde absolutely epitomise it.

There's a world of talented, athletic footballers out there. So many of them playing at a level well below the English Championship. And we're out here playing Will Vaulks.
 
SirAndyOfCrosby said:
But Cape Verde were so much more than that, too. The way they countered - with pace and in numbers - was an absolute breathe of fresh air.

As a wider point (having started watching this tournament on Sunday night, and only PM fixtures) I've been really impressed by the speed and technical ability - even of 'lesser' nations.

It's actually made me feel more frustrated for what I've just spent nine months watching.

There is absolutely no reason why teams can't play with energy and purpose even when up against better players - I've just watched Egypt do it, Japan do it, and Cape Verde absolutely epitomise it.

There's a world of talented, athletic footballers out there. So many of them playing at a level well below the English Championship. And we're out here playing Will Vaulks.
Click to expand...

I think Ange Postecoglou made a good point pre the Spain/ Cape Verde game, that there is a difference between a passive low block and an aggressive low block, in the second you are sitting deep with numbers but looking to press and make something happen even while deep, which is how they managed to get some counters going yesterday, in the first you are just sitting off and looking to react when the ball enters the danger areas in the box, very hard in my view to get out once you are doing that, it was a trap we fell into to many times last season and why we had a long spell of barely threatening teams.

Its why I am not to bothered about us having a glamour friendly pre season, the most important thing is we get out of the passive mindset, that will have a bigger effect on our season than some spurious nonsense about learning from playing against better players.
 
Whether a dodgy gesture or not, the explanation that it was an "involuntary, subconscious twitch" seems *******s
1781604339098.webp
 
SirAndyOfCrosby said:
There's a world of talented, athletic footballers out there. So many of them playing at a level well below the English Championship. And we're out here playing Will Vaulks.
Click to expand...

It's why - despite the club mostly being run as a complete circus - Watford never seem to get into any trouble. Because they are always finding big, fast, skillful players and filling out their side with them (the Aussie striker being just the latest in a long line).

And this is also why I think people were too quick to write off the Emakhu signing - it's just about the only signing we've made across the last two years (at least a permanent one) where we have brought in a genuine athlete. Sure he started off slow, but he's at least a player who's got the right tools and we did start to see that right at the end of the season.


As an aside - New Zealand/Iran last night was a fine example of why the World Cup obsessive should never take a game off. On the fact of it - not a particularly attractive game, and tempting to give it a miss as the fourth match of the day. But I stuck it on anyways and it was wildly entertaining! Quality was all over the place, of course, but both sides clearly felt that this was the game they had to try and win, and they both went at it with abandon in front of a very loud (and very Iranian) crowd. Magic stuff.
 
tonyw said:
It's why - despite the club mostly being run as a complete circus - Watford never seem to get into any trouble. Because they are always finding big, fast, skillful players and filling out their side with them (the Aussie striker being just the latest in a long line).
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Preaching to the choir here, Tony.

Watford the perfect example of consistently finding Championship appropriate footballers with a relatively modest (for the level) budget.

It's not rocket science. Having watched two seasons of Championship football it is clear that there are only really two kinds of footballers - those who have the physical attributes to make it at the level (sometimes, in our case, the more maligned - Prelec, Matos, Konak) and those who simply do not have the athleticism, energy, or physicality for that level of football.

I honestly believe that physical attributes are more important than whether they have played in this country or have experience at this level or just about any other metric and if I were running our recruitment (upon promotion) I'd be filling the team with 6ft+ monsters who spent their childhood learning their craft in the slums of Paris, Marseille and Kinshasha.
 
PottersRightBoot said:
Visiting relatives in New York for rest of week and taking in the England game at Flushing Meadows US Open Fan Zone. The cost of the Eastern Seabord games is prohibitive.
Click to expand...

Welcome to my world!

Though I presume you're heading out before Monday? The Norway-Senegal game was actually comparatively reasonable.....especially given what a quality matchup it appears to be on paper.
 
tonyw said:
Tunisia just fired their coach - first time it’s ever happened mid-tournament after just one game.

But they replaced him with one-time Cambridge manager Herve Renard so the World Cup just got at least 50% more handsome…..
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He also started a relationship with his friend Bruno Metsu's widow after he passed away.

Absolute stone cold French behaviour.
 
France vs Senegal is currently giving a friendly / pre season vibes. Doesn't feel like a world cup game whatsoever.
 
Kamal said:
France vs Senegal is currently giving a friendly / pre season vibes. Doesn't feel like a world cup game whatsoever.
Click to expand...
I must admit I’m getting a bit fed up with the BBC commentary team’s gushy love-in with France.

According to them, everyone else should just award France the trophy now and head off home, but from what I’m seeing Senegal should be winning
 
Kamal said:
France vs Senegal is currently giving a friendly / pre season vibes. Doesn't feel like a world cup game whatsoever.
Click to expand...

Disagree. Another enjoyable one for me.

Technically gifted players displaying athleticism and looking to get forward with pace whenever possible - and that's just Senegal.

I know these are two top sides, but, as with lesser sides at this tournament, I once again find myself both impressed and also reminded just how negative and feeble successive Oxford sides have been.
 
yellowbow said:
I must admit I’m getting a bit fed up with the BBC commentary team’s gushy love-in with France.

According to them, everyone else should just award France the trophy now and head off home, but from what I’m seeing Senegal should be winning
Click to expand...

Just wait until Messi makes an appearance …

[Messi scratches his balls and yawns]

‘Extraordinary! Such a magician! We’re honoured to see him.’
 
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