The Vital World Cup thread. Comment, argue, debate... | Page 27 | Vital Football

The Vital World Cup thread. Comment, argue, debate...

Greavswasthegreatest said:
What a load of hype regarding England .....
.....played seven won 4 lost 3 ...mmmmmm
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Agree to an extent, it's hardly like Southgate has come up with a great system that gets the best out of some average players, this system just doesn't score or create anything in open play, but he just keeps on and on with it .

As for Harry, as your namesake said , it's a funny old game.
He's probably going to finish up with the golden boot, but for the last 3 games has looked hopeless.
 
Another depressing reminder of what we are losing in Toby.

Levy will be delighted as his price has gone up.

6/7 games in 3 weeks, not bad for an injured player
 
Greavswasthegreatest said:
What a load of hype regarding England .....
.....played seven won 4 lost 3 ...mmmmmm
Click to expand...
Not sure I go with you here mate. What hype. We were hoping for last 16 we got to the semis. With one class forward we failed to service, no midfield and CB and full backs played out of position. Plus an untested Gk and no understudy. Chuck in a novice manager and that sounds like a result. As Gareth said one knock out win in fifteen odd years we need to stay humble. As for the 3rd place did they even have this game prior to Italia 90? I also heard folk saying stuff about poor teams played and lost games so had a look a few prior winners. This is often the story of WC Spain in 2010 spring to mind. Losing games and scraping past crap teams (the hosts then).
 
Nick Real Deal said:
I count 8 Spurs players on view in this last game .
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My girlfriend who has no more than a passing interest in the game looked up at the screen above the bar at a restaurant as we waited to be seated. Loris had just made a great stop to deny I think Hazard. "There' s something I don't understand. Everywhere I look good international teams with players I recognise from spurs...why you no win anything. Something is wrong"?
 
Real Deal said:
Toby with Varne has been the best CB in the tournament.

If we lose him and Dembele next season we are going to struggle.
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For me, England's defensive unsung hero of this tournament has been John Stones. He's always had an abundance of talent and doesn't have the luxury of guys like Umtiti and Vertonghen next to him like Varane and Toby do. Stones has amateurs like Walker and Maguire alongside him, very limited defenders at the highest level. Stones has come out of the tournament with a lot of kudos and a lot of credit must go to Pep who is nurturing him at City.

As for Toby, he can win back the hearts of the Spurs fans when he starts acting professionally and publicly says the right things about our club. He has chosen not to for 2-3 months now and I hope Levy continues to use that to our advantage around the negotiation table. Just like Belgium, it's no good being a great defence on paper. He was part of an old and slow back 3 that were found out at the highest level during the tournament. Just ask Vertonghen. He has found his younger partner in Sanchez at club level and that will lengthen his own career.

Toby must be concerned now about football and trophies, but will find money easy to come by in teams like Utd who are a rung down from the very best teams.
 
Disgraceful...France gets first goal off set play due to a little bitch dive. Pathetic, hope Croatia pulls back.
 
Bit harsh on Croatia to be down at half time. Remember we made Croatia look poor in the first half and didn't go behind until 110 minutes. They are a good side and we were not disgraced.
 
spurdon said:
My girlfriend who has no more than a passing interest in the game looked up at the screen above the bar at a restaurant as we waited to be seated. Loris had just made a great stop to deny I think Hazard. "There' s something I don't understand. Everywhere I look good international teams with players I recognise from spurs...why you no win anything. Something is wrong"?
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Poch has his weaknse
muttley said:
For me, England's defensive unsung hero of this tournament has been John Stones. He's always had an abundance of talent and doesn't have the luxury of guys like Umtiti and Vertonghen next to him like Varane and Toby do. Stones has amateurs like Walker and Maguire alongside him, very limited defenders at the highest level. Stones has come out of the tournament with a lot of kudos and a lot of credit must go to Pep who is nurturing him at City.

As for Toby, he can win back the hearts of the Spurs fans when he starts acting professionally and publicly says the right things about our club. He has chosen not to for 2-3 months now and I hope Levy continues to use that to our advantage around the negotiation table. Just like Belgium, it's no good being a great defence on paper. He was part of an old and slow back 3 that were found out at the highest level during the tournament. Just ask Vertonghen. He has found his younger partner in Sanchez at club level and that will lengthen his own career.

Toby must be concerned now about football and trophies, but will find money easy to come by in teams like Utd who are a rung down from the very best teams.
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Agree about Stones. Looked the business. Him and Maguire are England's best CB's.
 
So now we have to deal with the fall out. Kane, Trippier, Vert, Eriksen , Sanchez, Alli, Dier are all in need of rest. Some have started resting already but how are we going to cope if some are behind on readiness for the PL ?

I havnt included Hugo but maybe should have. Vorm is good cover IMO.

Son will be in front of Harry for freshness I assume so could cover , Lamela and Moura will be some sort of cover for Alli and Eriksen. Sanchez may be ok but the CB positions look weak for cover, Davis can play there but Foyth and CCV are risky.

Aurier and KWP are ok cover for Tripps, Davis will be fresh and Rose didn't play much but I guess will be behind in preparation.

I am not including Toby as he was kind of being excluded anyway.

Any I have forgotten and any thoughts ?
 
think Son will be off to the Asian games... It starts 1 week after opening weekend so I don't know if we can expect him to really be a part of anything til end of September!
 
Well done Russia in containing the message. I am sure things will come out in the future but very well stage managed.
 
One interesting question about this WC is whether Russia made the difference, or whether the sport itself naturally entertained us despite the significant contributions of the hosts?

I don't want to belittle the hosts, but I sort of favour the purist football. It was just a great time for football to entertain us, with no truly great teams, and as a consequence a bunch of entertaining games. France are the champions that nobody fears.
 
think everyone in the world fears Mbappe tbh. Griezmann is dangerous too. Kante and Pogba in midfield is a pairing most won't be able to handle either. Why do you say no one fears them?

To be able to leave out Martial, Benzema and Lacazette and still have one of the most exciting attacking lines in the world says a hell of a lot.

I'm not saying they're going to walk the next few international tournaments but they looked strong going in and maintained it through to the end.

All in all an excellent tournament, mostly down to the football rather than anything Russia did. Almost every team in the tournament fought hard and produced some brilliant moments. Gutted it's over tbh.
 
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