2014 FIFA World Cup general discussion thread

[Invincibeast]

I think Japan should have finished it in the first half, they lack hungry, then Drogba came in and all Ivory Coast was like Kill theeeeeeemmmmmmmm!!!!

Actually I went to both Japan games before they flew to Brazil. Vs Costa Rica and vs Zambia. In both games they went down 1 goal and 2 goals respectively, but then came back and won each match. Japan are plenty hungry, Ivory Coast just out did them today once Drogba stepped on the pitch.

 

[aldazo]

Actually I went to both Japan games before they flew to Brazil. Vs Costa Rica and vs Zambia. In both games they went down 1 goal and 2 goals respectively, but then came back and won each match. Japan are plenty hungry, Ivory Coast just out did them today once Drogba stepped on the pitch.

I mean they lacked hungry before Drogba came in, they could increase the score but opted to slowdown their game, they were careless, it was like they thought the one goal difference would be enough, then Drogba shows them why you should keep the pace instead of change to a defensive aproach. But to be honest everyone in my house was like wtf?? All of us were expecting a Japan triumph.

 

[NKZero]

Cahill dealt with Italy's last chance superbly, huge risk to suppress the goal difference. Never saw what the fuss about Jagielka was personally though. I feel we should've brought one more centre back since I highly doubt Milner will get a game.

I think a draw would do against Uruguay but man would it throw things into chaos during the final group games.

Jagielka is ok I guess. The main problem though was dealing with set pieces and I think I'm more concerned about our right and left backs defensively than the centre backs. Johnson is allergic to defense and Baines is overrated defensively. I think England may regret not putting Cole in the squad at least, let alone starting.

A draw may do it but it would cause far too much Havik .

 

[RockTravHardpl8z]

It's a shame, really. England had it right during first 20 mins, exploited flanks. Italy's midfield is too solid. On the other hand, Chiellini is slow, Darmian keeps going forwad. Sterling, Sturridge, Welback are most certainly too pacy to be contained. Rooney should stay a bit deeper more often. Behind Sturridge, provide balls for front three and directly challenge De Rossi, it's not like he doesn't have the physique to do so. Instead he wants in on that final 3rd free formation a lot leaving Gerrad n Allen vulnerable. England did well, any team could've lost to a cleverly orchestrated set piece, and a precisely delivered long ball. Keep it up, three lions!

 

[coolwhip]

Pirlo's footsies are an another level. Seriously though, watching him with the ball, you get the impression that he's so superior to everyone else. That first half dummy leading to the goal was class, and that freek kick...god, I wish that went in.

England shouldn't be disheartened though. They're actually exciting for a change and Sterling is a potential match winner. Rooney needs a more central role (I think he takes too much flack).

 

[NKZero]

It's a shame, really. England had it right during first 20 mins, exploited flanks. Italy's midfield is too solid. On the other hand, Chiellini is slow, Darmian keeps going forwad. Sterling, Sturridge, Welback are most certainly too pacy to be contained. Rooney should stay a bit deeper more often. Behind Sturridge, provide balls for front three and directly challenge De Rossi, it's not like he doesn't have the physique to do so. Instead he wants in on that final 3rd free formation a lot leaving Gerrad n Allen vulnerable. England did well, any team could've lost to a cleverly orchestrated set piece, and a precisely delivered long ball. Keep it up, three lions!

The whole time people were talking about the need to put pressure on Pirlo. There was even a suggestion that we would put somebody on to specifically man mark him the whole match. We did neither and we paid for it. What's the point of putting on 'Michael' Jordan Henderson (apparently God's gift for athleticism) on the pitch if he cannot do anything useful. It's not like he can contribute in other ways to the team he may as well have tried to harass Pirlo. Neither he nor Gerrard got anywhere near the guy.

I think Rooney is a steaming pile of shit especially for the money he 'earns' but at the same time I'll play devil's advocate and defend the fact that he played out of position. Here's the dilemma. Either you play Rooney behind Sturridge and play Sterling on one of the wings or vice-versa. With the first option, you get the best out of Rooney (hah) and some good out of Sterling. By doing what we did yesterday for most of the match i.e. Sterling behind Sturridge, you get the best out of Sterling and NOTHING out of Rooney. Either Rooney plays in that position or we accept that we have a better player in the no.10 role and dare I say, we bench him.

We should have brought Cole and Terry because I'm not convinced by our shoddy defence. I'm not sure what the deal with Terry was and whether it was he or England management who didn't want him to play, but Cole was a huge mistake. Baines is not convincing defensively, so perhaps Luke Shaw should be given an opportunity? I'm slightly more encouraged than I have been in previous years with regards to performance and I'm aware that we lost to an experienced Italian squad who I predicted would top the group anyway. We have a lot of work to do though if we are to qualify.

Personally, this is the team I would use for game 2: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka (Jones), Baines (Shaw), Gerrard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Rooney, Lallana (Welbeck), Sturridge

 

[RockTravHardpl8z]

The whole time people were talking about the need to put pressure on Pirlo. There was even a suggestion that we would put somebody on to specifically man mark him the whole match. We did neither and we paid for it. What's the point of putting on 'Michael' Jordan Henderson (apparently God's gift for athleticism) on the pitch if he cannot do anything useful. It's not like he can contribute in other ways to the team he may as well have tried to harass Pirlo. Neither he nor Gerrard got anywhere near the guy.

I think Rooney is a steaming pile of shit especially for the money he 'earns' but at the same time I'll play devil's advocate and defend the fact that he played out of position. Here's the dilemma. Either you play Rooney behind Sturridge and play Sterling on one of the wings or vice-versa. With the first option, you get the best out of Rooney (hah) and some good out of Sterling. By doing what we did yesterday for most of the match i.e. Sterling behind Sturridge, you get the best out of Sterling and NOTHING out of Rooney. Either Rooney plays in that position or we accept that we have a better player in the no.10 role and dare I say, we bench him.

We should have brought Cole and Terry because I'm not convinced by our shoddy defence. I'm not sure what the deal with Terry was and whether it was he or England management who didn't want him to play, but Cole was a huge mistake. Baines is not convincing defensively, so perhaps Luke Shaw should be given an opportunity? I'm slightly more encouraged than I have been in previous years with regards to performance and I'm aware that we lost to an experienced Italian squad who I predicted would top the group anyway. We have a lot of work to do though if we are to qualify.

Personally, this is the team I would use for game 2: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka (Jones), Baines (Shaw), Gerrard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Rooney, Lallana (Welbeck), Sturridge

Yes, 300,000p a week, that's ridiculous. Clearly I meant Henderson, I don't know why I said Joe Allen.
Rooney must stay behind number 9 as a SS or AM, he's great at that position. But he doesn't defend.
I think Hodgson went for a safe route for picking final four, Shaw's great but young and inexperienced up front and at the back is risky. Jones was affected by injury this past season, if he's in form, I prefer him over Johnson any day bc I personally don't like the idea of CBs going forward non stop, might as well play him as RB. Luis was one of those CBs too and he ended up playing as a DMF. Terry n Cole should be included for sure.

 

[REDRUM]

Rooney's ball into the box off his left foot for the assist was worth 300k pounds

 

[NKZero]

Rooney's ball into the box off his left foot for the assist was worth 300k pounds

You are joking, right?

 

[DLA]

Yes, 300,000p a week, that's ridiculous. Clearly I meant Henderson, I don't know why I said Joe Allen.
Rooney must stay behind number 9 as a SS or AM, he's great at that position. But he doesn't defend.
I think Hodgson went for a safe route for picking final four, Shaw's great but young and inexperienced up front and at the back is risky. Jones was affected by injury this past season, if he's in form, I prefer him over Johnson any day. Terry n Cole should be included for sure.

It was a terrible decision not to bring Cole, Baines looked completely out of his depth last night.

 

[Invincibeast]

So who are your picks for Today's games?
I'm predicting:
Switzerland 2 - 2 Ecuador
France 3 - 1 Honduras
Argentina 4 - 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

 

[NKZero]

So who are your picks for Today's games?
I'm predicting:
Switzerland 2 - 2 Ecuador
France 3 - 1 Honduras
Argentina 4 - 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

I don't think there has been a draw yet so I'm hoping that continues haha.

Switzerland 1-2 Ecuador
France 1-0 Honduras
Argentina 3-0 Bosnia

 

[Invincibeast]

I don't think there has been a draw yet so I'm hoping that continues haha.

Switzerland 1-2 Ecuador
France 1-0 Honduras
Argentina 3-0 Bosnia

I'm hoping there are no draws either but it realistically HAS to happen sometime lol.
Why France v Honduras only 1-0? After watching Jamaica get hammered by France I'm sure their offense is plenty confident although I'm not sure about what Honduras is capable of. I'm curious as to why you only have it at 1-0?

 

[NKZero]

I'm hoping there are no draws either but it realistically HAS to happen sometime lol.
Why France v Honduras only 1-0? After watching Jamaica get hammered by France I'm sure their offense is plenty confident although I'm not sure about what Honduras is capable of. I'm curious as to why you only have it at 1-0?

They seem to be fairly disciplined defensively and dirty as well haha. Plus first game in the group so I don't expect France to be flying from the start. But they'll get the crucial goal enough for the 3 pts.

 

[Invincibeast]

They seem to be fairly disciplined defensively and dirty as well haha. Plus first game in the group so I don't expect France to be flying from the start. But they'll get the crucial goal enough for the 3 pts.

Ahhh fair enough haha. I guess we will see soon enough!

 

[RockTravHardpl8z]

I'm hoping there are no draws either but it realistically HAS to happen sometime lol.
Why France v Honduras only 1-0? After watching Jamaica get hammered by France I'm sure their offense is plenty confident although I'm not sure about what Honduras is capable of. I'm curious as to why you only have it at 1-0?

They seem to be fairly disciplined defensively and dirty as well haha. Plus first game in the group so I don't expect France to be flying from the start. But they'll get the crucial goal enough for the 3 pts.

Yea, Honduras doesn't strike me as a party pooper type of team. I'm thinking they'll be more used to that humid weather which caused Marchisio hallucinated all over the pitch btw than French squad.
Quality individuals, they'll ease past them.

 

[STRYKIE]

Is anyone in England watching the Switzerland/Ecuador match preview on ITV? Did their studio finally get done in by the protesters?

So who are your picks for Today's games?
I'm predicting:
Switzerland 2 - 2 Ecuador
France 3 - 1 Honduras
Argentina 4 - 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Switzerland 1-1 Ecuador
France 2-0 Honduras
Argies 3-0 Bos/Herz

As much as I'd like to see Bosnia score on their debut, I feel Demichelis and Zabaleta will have too much of an inside scoop on Dzeko.

 

[Invincibeast]

Is anyone in England watching the Switzerland/Ecuador match preview on ITV? Did their studio finally get done in by the protesters?
Switzerland 1-1 Ecuador
France 2-0 Honduras
Argies 3-0 Bos/Herz

As much as I'd like to see Bosnia score on their debut, I feel Demichelis and Zabaleta will have too much of an inside scoop on Dzeko.

I've got faith in Dzeko, that guy comes up in big moments and there is no bigger moment for his country than their debut today. Plus I think Argentina may underestimate them for that reason, so I can see Bosnia scoring at least one
I'm just excited for the matches today

 

[RockTravHardpl8z]

Is anyone in England watching the Switzerland/Ecuador match preview on ITV? Did their studio finally get done in by the protesters?
Switzerland 1-1 Ecuador
France 2-0 Honduras
Argies 3-0 Bos/Herz

As much as I'd like to see Bosnia score on their debut, I feel Demichelis and Zabaleta will have too much of an inside scoop on Dzeko.

But what if Demichelis pulls a Demichelis?

 

[STRYKIE]

But what if Demichelis pulls a Demichelis?

That's the thing, this World Cup hasn't exactly been typical/predictable so far, so it could be a double negative for Demi lol.

On the contrary, at least Bosnia-Herz won their qualifying group fairly convincingly unlike most debutants who get in through some play-off loophole.

 

[RockTravHardpl8z]

On the contrary, at least Bosnia-Herz won their qualifying group fairly convincingly unlike most debutants who get in through some play-off loophole.

Woah...there's one debutant that no one in this thread seems to care, Belgium. Speaking of, I like me some chocolates and waffles b4 the game starts. (Shaqiri to score)

 

[Crathen]

Gonna post some gifs just because why not.

#englandstayfree #typicalbalotelli

So yeah Chiellini sucked HARD , surely a mixture of the role he was put in and bad play , i still remember that shit w fabregas back in euro2012 , chiellini can't freakin run.

Balotelli has the usual mental slowness , LBSH that goal was 90% merit Candreva , if he missed that he should have been sent to the stake.He did have some good stuff especially in the first half , i wanna see him not sleeping mentally in the future.

Absolutely loving the Candreva and Pirlo ( dem homing missles mang ) play.

Siguru did badly when he went out but he was solid near the stakes , he's a good keeper in a team with a great one that's his only "fault".

Gifs:

Dem impossible trajectories by Pirlo.

Gerrard owned by the ref

Dat worst possible corner tho

Wanted to post this first but didn't want to be a total ass lol

 

[STRYKIE]

Woah...there's one debutant that no one in this thread seems to care, Belgium. Speaking of, I like me some chocolates and waffles b4 the game starts. (Shaqiri to score)

Belgium have qualified a few times before, granted, they were nowhere near as strong as they are now. If my group predictions follow suit then I have a hunch they could put Germany out.

Gonna post some gifs just because why not.

#englandstayfree #typicalbalotelli

So yeah Chiellini sucked HARD , surely a mixture of the role he was put in and bad play , i still remember that shit w fabregas back in euro2012 , chiellini can't freakin run.

Balotelli has the usual mental slowness , LBSH that goal was 90% merit Candreva , if he missed that he should have been sent to the stake.He did have some good stuff especially in the first half , i wanna see him not sleeping mentally in the future.

Absolutely loving the Candreva and Pirlo ( dem homing missles mang ) play.

Siguru did badly when he went out but he was solid near the stakes , he's a good keeper in a team with a great one that's his only "fault".

Gifs:

Dem impossible trajectories by Pirlo.

Gerrard owned by the ref

Dat worst possible corner tho

Wanted to post this first but didn't want to be a total ass lol

(Disclaimer: The above image actually represents my salt towards Crathen's trash talk, despite the strong resemblance to England manager Roy Hodgson #Kappa)

 

[REDRUM]

You are joking, right?

1000% serious

 

[Zoidberg747]

My picks for today:

SUI vs. ECU 2-1
FRA vs. HON 3-1
ARG vs. BOS 3-1