Football

[DavidM]

I haven’t watched England play since the Euro final tbh but it doesn’t sound to optimistic for the WC

[ivans82]

Convoluted money making FIFA gimmick , a competition no one is interested in , the top Countries only target the World Cup and European Champs ,far too much football being played anyway .

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

As far as England are concerned, it looks like the ITV curse has now become the Channel 4 curse.

[HawkMan]

1 hour ago, ivans82 said:

Convoluted money making FIFA gimmick , a competition no one is interested in , the top Countries only target the World Cup and European Champs ,far too much football being played anyway .

For the top nations I'd agree,but it is important for lesser ones. Convoluted it is but it creates a pathway to Euro and WC qualification. To put it simply, play off places for Euros and WC are left available for 4 ( I think) teams who fail to qualify via the groups who preformed best in Nations League. 

Scotland earned a play off place and qualified for Euros 2021 because they did well in the NL, but didn't qualify via their Euros group.

Also I remember commentators saying Wales had a qualification place for the WC play offs " in reserve " from their NL performance if they failed in  the WC qualifying group. They didn't fail so didn't need it.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by HawkMan

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, ivans82 said:

Convoluted money making FIFA gimmick , a competition no one is interested in , the top Countries only target the World Cup and European Champs ,far too much football being played anyway .

It isn't organised by FIFA, its a UEFA competition that was organised to replace friendlies. It was created to allow teams at the same level to have more competitive games rather than top nations easily battering smaller teams with neither team gaining anything from it. Because it replaced friendlies there isn't actually any more football being played because the games are played during the weekends designated for international friendlies. 

I'm not particularly a fan of the competition but it's better watching England playing Germany or Italy for a trophy than watching England play some random African team in a meaningless friendly and putting 6 goals on them. It does seem to be helping smaller nations develop which is the point. 

[Maximus Decimus]

It's not positive but it's also not necessarily that negative when it comes to the World Cup. Put it this way France could still get relegated from a group with Denmark, Croatia and Austria.

Last night was one of those games where either team could've nicked a goal. There were passages where we looked quite good without being massively threatening. It was certainly much better than the games in the summer with Bellingham and Foden looking good. I've seen many games where we've played worse and won. I'm convinced 50%+ of people judge the game entirely on the result. 

If we put in a good performance against Germany and dare I say it get a win, it would represent decent preparation for the WC.

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, Maximus Decimus said:

It's not positive but it's also not necessarily that negative when it comes to the World Cup. Put it this way France could still get relegated from a group with Denmark, Croatia and Austria.

Last night was one of those games where either team could've nicked a goal. There were passages where we looked quite good without being massively threatening. It was certainly much better than the games in the summer with Bellingham and Foden looking good. I've seen many games where we've played worse and won. I'm convinced 50%+ of people judge the game entirely on the result. 

If we put in a good performance against Germany and dare I say it get a win, it would represent decent preparation for the WC.

Looking longer term, being in the second tier whilst qualifying for a Euro should be a positive.

I like the Nations League. I like that it really doesn't matter so it's fun if it comes off but you can shrug about it if it doesn't. It's so much better than meaningless friendlies.

 

[HawkMan]

58 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Looking longer term, being in the second tier whilst qualifying for a Euro should be a positive.

I like the Nations League. I like that it really doesn't matter so it's fun if it comes off but you can shrug about it if it doesn't. It's so much better than meaningless friendlies.

 

England won't be in second tier qualifying for Euros, only Nations League matches,  next NL qualifying is mostly in second half of 2024 after Euro 2024, (first matches likely to be just before Euro '24.) England will be tier one for Euro '24 qualifying UNLESS they really mess up in Qatar and lose co efficient points.

However if they do well in Nations League 2024 in tier 2, then they will earn a guaranteed World Cup 2026 play off berth if they mess up the WC 2026 qualifying.  Phew !! Complicated or what?!!

Edited September 24, 2022 by HawkMan

[gingerjon]

Just now, HawkMan said:

England won't be in second tier qualifying for Euros, only Nations League matches,  next NL qualifying is in second half of 2024 after Euro 2024. England will be tier one for Euro '24 qualifying UNLESS they really #### up in Qatar and lose co efficient points.

However if they do well in Nations League 2024 in tier 2, then they will earn a guaranteed World Cup 2026 play off berth if they balls that the WC 2026 qualifying.  Phew !! Complicated or what?!!

Sorry, my bad typing.

I meant, England will almost certainly qualify for Euro 2024.

Being in the second tier of the Nations League before then will be a good thing for England as it will be challenging but we really should come out on top. Thus, confidence grows whilst so does players playing in formations prior to the tournament.

[HawkMan]

If you have BT sport there's a terrific daily footy chat show, with top pundits called ESPNF.C.

I agree here with Stewart Robson's assessment of Southgate.

However it's not doom and gloom.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by HawkMan

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Currently there are 8 teams confirmed for League B in 2024. By the looks of things England could have a right dodgy group. 

The teams absolutely confirmed for League B are: Albania, England, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Montenegro and Turkey. 

I'm a bit of a Cold War aficionado and am quite fancying away days to Podgorica, Tbilisi and Astana!

Edited September 24, 2022 by The Hallucinating Goose

[HawkMan]

Edwards sacked at Watford must be the craziest decision EVER at Watford. He only lost 2 games out of ten,  and are ONE point outside  playoffs. They deserve relegation to League 1 for this madness. 

[Maximus Decimus]

25 minutes ago and we were facing absolute crisis going into the WC, with an incredible 10 minutes we managed to save some semblance of hope.

Obviously not perfect, but at 2-0 down their heads seemed to have really dropped. As soon as we scored 1, we dominated the rest of the game. Couple of silly individual errors cost us a win but hopefully Slabhead and Pope won't start in the WC. 

[HawkMan]

Slabhead strikes again, 

" Sir Gareth you've realised the problem is a center half who gives away a penalty and gives away goals,  but you can't blame Tyrone Mings ,he wasn't in the squad Sir Gareth, best manager in the world."

On a serious note,  disappointed for Nick Pope,  he is a good shotstopper but obviously struggles with ball at feet.

Reluctantly can't take him to Qatar,  my three goalies are Pickford, Ramsdale and Henderson. 

Edited September 27, 2022 by HawkMan

[Gerrumonside ref]

Anybody else watch the story about the unexplained death of British man Marc Bennett in Qatar on Channel 4 news?

He had been hired to do a PR video for Qatar ahead of the World Cup.

I’ve posted the details in the political thread for those interested but I don’t think this is the last you will have heard of this in the run in to the World Cup.

[bobbruce]

City 4-0 up against Utd at half time. Just too good and Haalands a beast. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, bobbruce said:

City 4-0 up against Utd at half time. Just too good and Haalands a beast. 

That run and pass for the goal he set up was unbelievable too.

[Maximus Decimus]

Haaland might become the first player in PL history to get bored of scoring goals.

[tonyXIII]

A good win, but, if I were Guardiola, I'd be fuming about United's last 2 goals. Still, it's always nice to beat your local rivals.

And, no, Haaland will never get bored with scoring goals. No true striker ever has nor ever will. When they retire, they may get bored with being unable to score more.

[HawkMan]

Everyone is saying we knew Haaland was good but not this good. But what Haaland is showing is that Premier League defending is not great, never has been a strength of the English game. I can't imagine he would score so readily in Italy or Spain. He's a very good player,  probably take over the mantle of superstar from Messi and Ronaldo and he's certainly made sure of Manchester City winning the title. What they'll do in the champions league will be interesting. 

 

[gingerjon]

Up for the Vitality Women's FA Cup.

Second Qualifying Round at the Pilot Field. Hastings in a 'limited edition' third shirt. (It does look cool.)

1-1. Dying seconds.

Then, this ...

 

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

Everyone is saying we knew Haaland was good but not this good. But what Haaland is showing is that Premier League defending is not great, never has been a strength of the English game. I can't imagine he would score so readily in Italy or Spain. He's a very good player,  probably take over the mantle of superstar from Messi and Ronaldo and he's certainly made sure of Manchester City winning the title. What they'll do in the champions league will be interesting. 

 

Italy maybe but Messi and Ronaldo had no problem scoring lots of goals in Spain. 

[RayCee]

2 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Everyone is saying we knew Haaland was good but not this good. But what Haaland is showing is that Premier League defending is not great, never has been a strength of the English game. I can't imagine he would score so readily in Italy or Spain. He's a very good player,  probably take over the mantle of superstar from Messi and Ronaldo and he's certainly made sure of Manchester City winning the title. What they'll do in the champions league will be interesting. 

Liverpool's defending this season hasn't been a good but I'm not sure why. I only see highlights clips.

[Gerrumonside ref]

13 hours ago, RayCee said:

Liverpool's defending this season hasn't been a good but I'm not sure why. I only see highlights clips.

Everyone will have their own opinion I am sure.

Talking to a couple of friends who are season ticket holders this weekend suggested to me that as well as individual mistakes and loss of form/confidence, there are structural issues too.

Klopp’s tactical approach involves pushing TAA far forward on the right as the main instigator of creativity and also to link up with Mo Salah amongst others more closely.  That’s not to say everything happens there, but all teams had to address it which can lead to space elsewhere.

Obviously when this happens a space is vacated down Liverpool’s right defensive flank.  This needs to be covered by either the right sided CB or a central midfielder to block passing lanes or the counter attacking left side of the opposition.

My friends who watch Liverpool from the main stand every week say previously Henderson then Fabinho were very good at this unrecognised water-carrying type work in midfield.  There was also a good hand off between themselves and the centre backs.

Now this appears to be breaking down and although not every goal is coming down the right, the root cause of the pressure on the counter certainly is.  This then gets played out as, “Trent can’t defend,”  and there have been mistakes, but I think a combination of tactics and things happening off the ball are at play too.

Hope this makes sense as it was the view of a couple of season ticket holders.

 

 

 

[Josef K]

My lad showed me a clip of Oldham/Wrexham fans fighting on a main road before their match on Saturday. Violence before & after football matches does seem to be getting worse. The GMP seem to be coming in for a lot of stick but i don’t know what more they can do as they’re so overstretched & understaffed as it is. Banning those fools is the only thing i can see happening.