Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

by McLaren Wed 23 May - 13:29

First topic message reminder :

kwinigolfer wrote:
McLaren wrote:Kwini

I reckon Harry has scored a double eagle.

She's a weird looking bird, more a bogey I'd say.

Kwini, you have very high standards. I seem to remember you thought Lexi was a bit of a minger.

by kwinigolfer Mon 18 Jun - 23:26

Clearly Kane should have been awarded a penalty, but no excuse for Walker's stupidity; not convinced that he's the ideal right-sided man for a back three. Certainly doesn't make use of his assets, badly exposes his weaknesses.
Sterling was a non-entity.

by Diggers Tue 19 Jun - 7:28

If Walker was stupid then so is every defender there, what he did was nothing's compared to what I've seen over and over again at set pieces. Not a penalty for me.
When we played really well for 30 mins Sterling was our best player, watch his movement, it was fantastic. He did go off the boil as they sat deep, there was no space for him,which is why Southgate changed the set up so we tried to get behind them more.

by super_realist Tue 19 Jun - 7:34

Good start by England, not massively convincing, but a win is a win.

by **navyblueshorts** Tue 19 Jun - 9:30

Diggers wrote:If Walker was stupid then so is every defender there, what he did was nothing's compared to what I've seen over and over again at set pieces. Not a penalty for me.
When we played really well for 30 mins Sterling was our best player, watch his movement, it was fantastic. He did go off the boil as they sat deep, there was no space for him,which is why Southgate changed the set up so we tried to get behind them more.

Agree re. Sterling, but he really needs to work out how to arrange his feet when attempting to shoot. Not sure we can afford the profligacy at this level.

by Roller_Coaster Tue 19 Jun - 9:53

Pickford - not much to do so not much of an idea about him yet, nearly got to the penalty and one mad dash out of the area.

Trippier - pretty good at both ends

Young - never been convinced about him anywhere, but nothing to complain about last night except perhaps that it wasn't Rose

Maguire - better going forward, nice support in their half, good defensive headers but not great distribution

Stones - OK not perhaps a rock at the back but fairly accomplished

Walker - Agree with Kwini right of a 3 takes all his attributes out and highlights why he's out on the right at club level BUT wouldn't have Cahill there.

Lingard - seemed a bit inhibited, good link up, running around but poor in front of goal (unusually)

Henderson - pleasantly surprised usually think he's garbage but wasn't

Alli - great start, tailed off (did he actually get injured?) became pretty ineffective

Sterling - mixed bag, positioning, keenness for the ball good but finishing and use of ball poor

Kane - great positioning and 1 great finish. Lot of good work pulling the defence around. Shame he wasn't taking the corners (?!?!?!)

Dier - he did come on right? Which I guess shows that he did what he should very well for the 5 minutes.

Rashford - On, at it, at them. Always looks lively. Great attacking intent, stupidly listened to Lingard's shout when he had an opportunity to shoot. Definitely pressure on Sterling, but switch their roles and I wouldn't want to have to bring Sterling on to force anything.

Loftus cheek - eager, intent, went the right way (forward) looked raw but OK in those circumstances

Southgate - pretty good, possibly a little slow to change anything but then again they won.

Importantly, the team looked better together than all of those individual comments. Overall a good performance I thought, although after absolutely battering Tunisia for 10-15 minutes I felt that collectively they got over confident and eased off. All need a good hour finishing practise this afternoon.

Referee was utterly garbage as were the VAR team. Very soft penalty, I'm not convinced but I can see why it was given however if that is a penalty, it beggars belief why Kane's 2 bodyslams weren't.

by beninho Thu 21 Jun - 11:01

Diggers, I'll see you in March!

by Diggers Thu 21 Jun - 19:59

by Diggers Thu 21 Jun - 20:51

Ahh, a real pleasure to see Argentina get torn a new one. They've been utter dross.

by super_realist Fri 22 Jun - 7:45

Excellent volley from Rebic. Gifted to him, but still needed to finish.

by Roller_Coaster Fri 22 Jun - 9:14

Argentina were utterly terrid and deserved a thumping.

However, quite how both sides ended with 11 players is beyond me, some disgusting "play" by both sides. Actually outdid the rolling around antics of which a couple of the instant recoveries once no free kick had been given were phenomenal.

Not a very good advert for the beautiful game, which is a shame as Croatia have potential and in Modric and Rakitic they have an attacking midfield pairing at least the match of any nation.

by Diggers Fri 22 Jun - 10:30

It was dirty, but I've got to be honest, I love a match with a bit of an edge.

by wiretapper Fri 22 Jun - 12:06

Excellent Raheem Sterling interview -> https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/raheem-sterling-england-it-was-all-a-dream?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=worldcup18&utm_term=Sterling

by Eyetoldyouso Fri 22 Jun - 12:20

wiretapper

Thanks for posting the article. It is quite the most uplifting thing I've read in ages.

by **navyblueshorts** Fri 22 Jun - 12:59

Eyetoldyouso wrote:wiretapper

Thanks for posting the article. It is quite the most uplifting thing I've read in ages.

Agreed. The boy done good.

by pedro Fri 22 Jun - 16:35

The hand of god?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/stunned-parents-try-wrestle-baby-12757583

by **navyblueshorts** Fri 22 Jun - 17:11

pedro wrote:The hand of god?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/stunned-parents-try-wrestle-baby-12757583

"The hand of God?" laughing

Chuffing 'Priest'. Why am I not surprised this sort of thing happens?

by beninho Fri 22 Jun - 19:46

A member of the priesthood inappropriately touching a child. Shocked!

by raycastleunited Sat 23 Jun - 15:34

one for Mac:

https://mobile.twitter.com/bbccomedy/status/1010189882503950336?s=12

by raycastleunited Sat 23 Jun - 15:36

Belgium looked a lot better against Tunisia than England did

by Diggers Sat 23 Jun - 17:08

Belgium looked great. I do think they are though the perfect side to play not so great sides. Lukaku will terrify average defenders and they had so much space today, Tunisia couldn't sit deep. I'd be more than happy to see them win the whole thing (obviously behind England). Would be a good advert for the Premier League.

by kwinigolfer Sat 23 Jun - 18:08

A poor advert for the Premier League is Germany having the nuts to do what Wenger has so conspicuously failed to do: Drop Ozil.

by Diggers Sat 23 Jun - 21:30

Loving this World Cup. Gutted for Sweden but fair play, it's drama and atmosphere like this that reminds you why football, for all its many faults, can still be the best sport.

by **navyblueshorts** Sat 23 Jun - 21:39

Diggers wrote:Loving this World Cup. Gutted for Sweden but fair play, it's drama and atmosphere like this that reminds you why football, for all its many faults, can still be the best sport.

Hmmm....

by Diggers Sat 23 Jun - 21:43

You don't think that was dramatic, Navy? Have to say the atmosphere has been fantastic at every match Ive watched (sounds even more electric on radio coverage). I won't to France 98, not the England games but 4 other games, Cameroon, Mexico and a few others. The atmosphere was always brilliant.

by kwinigolfer Sat 23 Jun - 21:58

That would be an interesting debate:
Best sport for spectators: Football for me.
Best for playing: Cricket when I played, loved it.

by McLaren Sat 23 Jun - 22:41

raycastleunited wrote:one for Mac:

https://mobile.twitter.com/bbccomedy/status/1010189882503950336?s=12

Genuinely hilarious. :thumbsup:

by McLaren Sat 23 Jun - 22:47

navyblueshorts wrote:
Diggers wrote:Loving this World Cup. Gutted for Sweden but fair play, it's drama and atmosphere like this that reminds you why football, for all its many faults, can still be the best sport.
Hmmm....

What more are you looking for from a sports event? Sweden Germany had everything.

But in general this WC had been great fun so far.

by beninho Sun 24 Jun - 13:41

raycastleunited wrote:Belgium looked a lot better against Tunisia than England did

But we've looked much better then Belgium against Panama. They were 0-0 at half time!

by kwinigolfer Sun 24 Jun - 14:00

Panama never came to play football did they? Getting what they deserve, hopefully some sendings off in the second half.
Appropriate that Panama are mad as Hatters . . . . . . Run

by Diggers Sun 24 Jun - 14:56

Job done. We more or less know the starting 11 and it's pretty useful. Can't see Thursday being massively competitive now, nobody will want to risk either injury or cards.

by kwinigolfer Sun 24 Jun - 15:25

Apart from the goals (I know, I know) I didn't think England looked impressive; would hate to see that passing around at the back against a decent pressing team. Beyond careless.
Lovely goal by Lingard though, plus dangerous at every set-piece (including Panama's).
Job done is right.

by Diggers Sun 24 Jun - 18:32

They played very well in patches, actually at the start of the second half they moved the ball beautifully. Change of personnel and a bit of fatigue made for a ragged(ish) ending.
They can keep the ball and also move it really quickly. Lingard was excellent, Loftus Cheek and Sterling ran tirelessly on and off the ball. Kane is a very good striker with sky high confidence, always a massively bonus for a team.
I thought Walker looked really comfortable in the 3 today, I really like system and there will be a few errors, they've barely played together. Trippier should walk into anyone's team of the tournament thus far.

by Be_the_ball Sun 24 Jun - 20:34

I hope everyone is drinking responsibly after today's antics
Bubbly

Enjoy lads, it was a good win

by **navyblueshorts** Sun 24 Jun - 22:01

Diggers wrote:You don't think that was dramatic, Navy? Have to say the atmosphere has been fantastic at every match Ive watched (sounds even more electric on radio coverage). I won't to France 98, not the England games but 4 other games, Cameroon, Mexico and a few others. The atmosphere was always brilliant.

Dramatic, yes. It was the "best sport" bit, as if no other sport can have a last-minute 'winner' etc.

by **navyblueshorts** Sun 24 Jun - 22:07

Diggers wrote:They played very well in patches, actually at the start of the second half they moved the ball beautifully. Change of personnel and a bit of fatigue made for a ragged(ish) ending.
They can keep the ball and also move it really quickly. Lingard was excellent, Loftus Cheek and Sterling ran tirelessly on and off the ball. Kane is a very good striker with sky high confidence, always a massively bonus for a team.
I thought Walker looked really comfortable in the 3 today, I really like system and there will be a few errors, they've barely played together. Trippier should walk into anyone's team of the tournament thus far.

Agree with all this, although I thought there was far too much that was stupidly sloppy today. Maybe to do with the opposition, but if we do that against a team a little better than pub standard, then we'll be fooked.

by super_realist Mon 25 Jun - 7:59

Important to temper expectations lads. They haven't beaten or played anyone of any note yet.

Panama are a tiny country and are ranked one below Jamaica, so it might actually be harmful to have had two relatively easy games and they only just sneaked past a poor Tunisia.

Saying that though, probably the best start to a tournament in at least 20 years, so you've a right to be happy, maybe optimistic, but should be taken in the context of who England have played. Quite possibly the weakest group.

by dynamark Mon 25 Jun - 16:59

England will need another level of real concentration and decision making from now on .
I'm sure its there but it will need to be very accurate disciplined play with no errors.
Should be good

by Diggers Mon 25 Jun - 20:49

It's easy to say we've have the easiest group now, worth noting that Tunisia went into this as Africa's highest ranked side. Higher than Morocco who are beating Spain (Panama are pretty crap though).
Right to not get carried away, but you have to enjoy the good moments when they (infrequently) come along.
Spain v Uruguay could be tasty. We might get Colombia, that would be a corker as well, could go either way.

by Diggers Mon 25 Jun - 20:52

WTF. Most ridiculous VAR decision ever, utterly ludicrous.

by pedro Mon 25 Jun - 23:16

Exactly which decision / match are you talking about??? Seems to be plenty to choose from...

by beninho Tue 26 Jun - 7:00

I don't mind VAR. Though the handball pen seemed strange, but I think, thsts the 3rd handball given in similar circumstances, so maybe I don't know the rules! It got the Ronaldo pen correct, the spain goal was also correct, and I think the ronaldo yellow was ok.

by super_realist Tue 26 Jun - 7:21

Diggers wrote:It's easy to say we've have the easiest group now, worth noting that Tunisia went into this as Africa's highest ranked side. Higher than Morocco who are beating Spain (Panama are pretty crap though).
Right to not get carried away, but you have to enjoy the good moments when they (infrequently) come along.
Spain v Uruguay could be tasty. We might get Colombia, that would be a corker as well, could go either way.

Can totally understand why your enjoying the relative success Diggers, as it's rarer than rocking horse sh1t for England. It's been a generation since you've had a team to cheer.

We've known for years though that the FIFA rankings are no measure of how good a team are, remember when England were ranked 3 or 4? A laughable position.
Fifa rankings are probably the least representative and least reliable barometer in world sport, and although Tunisia may have been ranked higher than other African teams, you'd much rather face them, then Senegal for instance who look far better than Tunisia ever have.

by **navyblueshorts** Tue 26 Jun - 8:51

beninho wrote:I don't mind VAR. Though the handball pen seemed strange, but I think, thsts the 3rd handball given in similar circumstances, so maybe I don't know the rules! It got the Ronaldo pen correct, the spain goal was also correct, and I think the ronaldo yellow was ok.

It most certainly was not. It's either red, or nothing. Since it was Ronaldo, there's no way he was being sent off (the conniving little 5h1t), but the Referee absolutely got that wrong.

by wiretapper Tue 26 Jun - 9:05

I was flicking between both games last night and caught the two late VAR decisions.

The one in the Spain game worked perfectly; Aspas was onside, the replay showed that, the offside decision was overturned and the goal stood. It took about a minute.

The penalty decision in the Portugal game however...

by Roller_Coaster Tue 26 Jun - 9:24

VAR seems to have worked in that the referee is no longer surrounded by players futilely haranguing and barging him to change a decision which was final and irrevocable anyway.

However

VAR doesn't seem to have worked as the referee is constantly surrounded by players haranguing and barging him to look at the telly to change a decision which is now nothing like final.

The good is good when it works and works quickly, but IMO diving and play acting is worse than ever with RPM* through the roof.

*Rolls Per Minute

by McLaren Tue 26 Jun - 13:42

VAR is getting better, and in time will just seem totally normal. Like hawk eye in tennis and video refs in rugby. When it gets a bit slicker and they shave some time off the process we will have a system that hopefully means more correct decisions. And by products like players not doing WWE at corners.

by Diggers Tue 26 Jun - 21:08

Great game again, not the result I wanted but entertaining stuff.

by pedro Tue 26 Jun - 21:42

Diggers wrote:Great game again, not the result I wanted but entertaining stuff.

Even Maradona woke up...

by Be_the_ball Wed 27 Jun - 8:06

https://youtu.be/_YZ7ZZihHHI

by raycastleunited Wed 27 Jun - 12:55

McLaren wrote:VAR is getting better, and in time will just seem totally normal. Like hawk eye in tennis and video refs in rugby. When it gets a bit slicker and they shave some time off the process we will have a system that hopefully means more correct decisions. And by products like players not doing WWE at corners.

Agree with all of this. Defenders have become accustomed to committing fouls at set pieces, it will take a long time for them to adjust their style.

I think overall VAR has made a positive contribution to the tournament so far. Of course it's not perfect and there have been some debatable decisions but it seems to be working.

Only problem with this world cup has been the play acting. Was very glad to see the back of Iran, they brought nothing to the competition other than fouling, diving and cheating.

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