World Cup 2018

[roverandout 1599]

I used to think rashford was as good as mbappe..not anymore. Rashford has all the skills of mbappe..but he doesnt have the explosive pace that mbappe has..that is what sets him apart from the rest of the world..he will never be a patch on the great ronaldo though

[speeeeeeedie 874]

Belgium started better then once France got to grips with Belgium's system it was only a matter of time. Fellaini got caught out on the goal.

When you have Hazard starting in his own half you are doing something right. He is some talent though.

Lukaku keeps his flat track bully tag intact. Goals against Tunisia and Panama, nothing since. Although he did play well against Brazil. 

Matuidi was man of the match for me; he was everywhere. I wonder if he's concussed. Although even if he is he'll be back out for the final as FIFA aren't bothered about it.

[AllRoverAsia 5798]

  V

                     

Early WC Final advert awaiting confirmation on who plays Coyote.

[Husky 1961]

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

Mbappe brilliantly talented but an absolute diving cheat

The new Pele? More like the new Neymar.

[roverandout 1599]

14 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

  V

                     

Early WC Final advert awaiting confirmation on who plays Coyote.

Harry maguire

[AllRoverAsia 5798]

Just now, roverandout said:

Harry maguire

There is a likeness! I'll take that as a good omen. Problem is Coyote never catches him.

[Audax 439]

11 minutes ago, Husky said:

The new Pele? More like the new Neymar.

Neymar has two World Cups under his belt. I don't think there is anything extraordinary with either.

Pele helped Brazil win the World Cup and.....

 

[joey_big_nose 3058]

2 hours ago, roverandout said:

Confident of winning tomorrow but i think france will slaughter us

That's basically my assessment. If you had a combined England France XI only Kane and Tripper would get in it. The rest all French players and by absolutelu miles too.

It's a real shame that tactically Deschamps is so conservative as off the leash that is some team. 

If we make it through to the final I guess we'll just have to go in defensive and hope to get something from a set play. If we attack them on the front foot they will absolutely crucify us on the break.

[roverandout 1599]

The only positive is portugal were expected to be hammered and they beat them on their own turf

[RevidgeBlue 8167]

1 hour ago, Audax said:

Pele helped Brazil win the World Cup and.....

 

Errr......3 times, the first time in 1958 at age 17 and was kicked out of a 4th World Cup in 1966.

Plus scored 1000 goals at domestic level which seems to get sniffed at these days because it was only the Brazilian League but you can only beat what's in front of you, there was no Champions League in those days, and no-one seems to  particularly mind the fact that Messi and Ronaldo scored most of their goals against far weaker sides.

By far the greatest player of all time for me.

[Mike E 6375]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

Errr......3 times, the first time in 1958 at age 17 and was kicked out of a 4th World Cup in 1966.

Plus scored 1000 goals at domestic level which seems to get sniffed at these days because it was only the Brazilian League but you can only beat what's in front of you, there was no Champions League in those days, and no-one seems to  particularly mind the fact that Messi and Ronaldo scored most of their goals against far weaker sides.

By far the greatest player of all time for me.

And with money not being No#1 in football back then, the 'lesser' Brazilian league was most likely the equivalent of Second Division at the time at worst.

Those same 'lesser' Brazilian league's produced 3 WC winning sides out of 4 comps. No doubt Pele was fricking phenomenal.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Mike E

[Audax 439]

3 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Errr......3 times, the first time in 1958 at age 17 and was kicked out of a 4th World Cup in 1966.

Plus scored 1000 goals at domestic level which seems to get sniffed at these days because it was only the Brazilian League but you can only beat what's in front of you, there was no Champions League in those days, and no-one seems to  particularly mind the fact that Messi and Ronaldo scored most of their goals against far weaker sides.

By far the greatest player of all time for me.

What I was trying to say, is Mbappe is 19, Pele was I believe 17-18 when Brazil won it in 1958, the first time, so there was a parallel there. Thanks for showing us the knowledge that Brazil won it 5 times.  I know how Brazil won 3 World Cups with him and many will say he had plenty of talent on some of those teams to help him such as Garrrincha in 1962 where read the chart, Garrincha was pivotal. I am not sure Pele was that pivotal in 1970, maybe. 

It may well be wrong that Neymar is so high; but they make these ratings current some time. I don't think Neymar is even as good as Ronaldinho at his best.

Jairzinho,  Carlos Torres,  Rivellino,  Nilton Santos, Njamba Santos,  Gerson and Didi all played for Brazil..  Looks like Brazil had a lot of players. I give Ronaldo, Romario and Ronaldhno all a lot of credit for being great players also, of course, at least the latter two, not on the same par.

In the 1930s, Brazil had the "Black Pearl" Leonidas, of course, very famous as well. 

There is a whole website dedicated to Brazilian football history from Brazil in English,  This one, they may not update it anymore http://www.v-brazil.com/world-cup/history/1934-Italy.php 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by Audax

[philipl 7032]

Unlike last night's encounter with quality all over he park, there are weaknesses all over the park tonight. England coming into the game probably fitter. Both sides have players and systems which can hurt the other but sticking with my 60-40 odds in favour of England despite my 60-40 in favour of Belgium getting upset last night.

Both sides will lose the respective Final/Third place game irrespective of which one is in which.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller 3322]

If we go through tonight, then no need to fear France.  Sit deep and play on the break. Just like they did against Belgium.  Negate their pace.  They may try to do the same.  Boring spectacle but would fancy us to nick it on a set piece.  They are no wonder team.

IF!

 

Come on England!!!

[Tyrone Shoelaces 12342]

10 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Lukaku had about 2 passes received in dangerous attcking positions.

First half a slight deflection caused an odd bounce with the ball hitiing his arm. Second half an absolute lamped cross from De Bruyne, maybe he could have dived but it was a missile.

If you are not fed you can't eat.

Varane gave the best CB display I've seen this WC ably assisted by Om and Pogba who kept that tall fuzzy headed bloke in check.

Giroud ran his socks off as did Griezman packing the French midfield and blunting De Bruyne in particular.

Another set piece settled a close game.

Yeah Varane was outstanding, he got his head onto everything at the back. He had Lukaku in his back pocket all night. Watching him and the other centre back if we were to play them we wouldn't have it all our own way at set pieces. They're strong all over the park, only Giroud is a weak link. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces 12342]

10 hours ago, Husky said:

The new Pele? More like the new Neymar.

I was really impressed with what I saw last night. He has everything that the young Pele had plus explosive pace and a bit more size. It's really up to him how far he goes in the game. If he looks after himself he could be right up there with Pele. He needs to cut out the play acting though. The other Ronaldo was some player as a kid, only injuries hampered his career.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Tyrone Shoelaces 12342]

9 hours ago, Audax said:

What I was trying to say, is Mbappe is 19, Pele was I believe 17-18 when Brazil won it in 1958, the first time, so there was a parallel there. Thanks for showing us the knowledge that Brazil won it 5 times.  I know how Brazil won 3 World Cups with him and many will say he had plenty of talent on some of those teams to help him such as Garrrincha in 1962 where read the chart, Garrincha was pivotal. I am not sure Pele was that pivotal in 1970, maybe. 

It may well be wrong that Neymar is so high; but they make these ratings current some time. I don't think Neymar is even as good as Ronaldinho at his best.

Jairzinho,  Carlos Torres,  Rivellino,  Nilton Santos, Njamba Santos,  Gerson and Didi all played for Brazil..  Looks like Brazil had a lot of players. I give Ronaldo, Romario and Ronaldhno all a lot of credit for being great players also, of course, at least the latter two, not on the same par.

In the 1930s, Brazil had the "Black Pearl" Leonidas, of course, very famous as well. 

There is a whole website dedicated to Brazilian football history from Brazil in English,  This one, they may not update it anymore http://www.v-brazil.com/world-cup/history/1934-Italy.php 

 

 

 

 

 

Sad to see two great players down there at the bottom. Didi and Gerson were two of the best midfield playmakers I ever saw. Like our Tugay in style,  they could run the show without ever having to bust a gut and their range of passes was tremendous.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[joey_big_nose 3058]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I was really impressed with what I saw last night. He has everything that the young Pele had plus explosive pace and a bit more size. It's really up to him how far he goes in the game. If he looks after himself he could be right up there with Pele. He needs to cut out the play acting though. The other Ronaldo was some player as a kid, only injuries hampered his career.

Though he lost I thought the best player was Hazard. He was let down by Lukaku and De Bruyne.

Mbappe looks fantastic too though. If they get their tactics sorted this France team could dominate like Spain did 10 years ago. Only weak link is Giroud and they have the talent to replace him easily.

[K-Hod 9651]

Interesting that Giroud is getting so much stick on here. He's got a very good record for France and usually always chips in with vital goals. Admittedly though, he wasn't great last night.

With that being said, I do think France could easily line up without him and look stronger. If England get to the final, we've one hell of a fight on our hands to bring football home against the French IMO......

[Mattyblue 14876]

Injuries or not, the Original Ronaldo still had a fantastic career. In his pomp he was even better than Shearer, can't say more than that!

[roverandout 1599]

Everyone said rooney was the new pele after euro 04 so i will hold off my judgement on mbappe for another couple of years

[roverandout 1599]

I also believe if rashford had been coached properly and given more time in his proper position he could have been as good as mbappe

[JacknOry 4792]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Injuries or not, the Original Ronaldo still had a fantastic career. In his pomp he was even better than Shearer, can't say more than that!

He had it all.

[Audax 439]

Giroud was all over the pitch, helped the French team immeasurably and in all of their matches. Unfortunately, they seem like they will be in the favourites for the silverware now.  I was hoping for a Belgium win, they totally shut them down. It's a bit sad it went that way. Sometimes, it is the teams  that don't come out all flashy but perform consistently that win. When did we last see Jogo Bonito? At least, the Argentines did some of that in 2010.

Perhaps Giroud should look like he came from some colonised land, then, he might get positive reviews.

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by Audax

[frosty 1014]

Pre-injury Ronaldo (he essentially missed 3 full seasons around the turn of the century) had it all. He did exceptionally well to reinvent himself as a pure goalscorer after that but yeah, he was on another level before his injuries.