Handicapping the World Cup?

Three Lions strategic lapses wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the rest of their passes into the box in the second half were an exact replay of the first one??
 
originally posted by .sasha:
Three Lions strategic lapses wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the rest of their passes into the box in the second half were an exact replay of the first one??
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Yeah, there does seem to be a leaden denial of reality there.

P.s. Ghana!

Mark Lipton
 
First real bummers of the tournament; annoying late goal from Portugal, vile munching Suarez triumphs again; very sad to see les Éléphants depart. My god, the poor Touré brothers...
 
Well, can't say that it played exactly as I imagined... Apart from the rip-roaring Brazil-Chile match, the other one that intrigues me is NL-Mx. Can't wait too who comes out of that one. Biggest surprises so far are Spain (negative) and Costa Rica (positive).

Mark Lipton
 
What a finish for Costa Rica! They were playing on nothing but heart and guts for the final 40 min. I don't know if they'll be able to recover in time for Robben and company.

Mark Lipton
 
I will defend Robben 4 out of 5 times, but this last one was not a penalty.
On the other hand, the one at the very end of the first half was similar to but far worse than the one Costa got against Holland. Not that it should matter.
 
And (shades of the '10 final) that last dive followed an earlier challenge in the box when he didn't go down (Beeb announcers: "the ref hasn't been calling them, so he's not even trying" then...) Contrary to expectations, Mexico looked to be more affected by the heat. Their defense played tired at the end and it cost them dearly.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
I will defend Robben 4 out of 5 times, but this last one was not a penalty.
On the other hand, the one at the very end of the first half was similar to but far worse than the one Costa got against Holland. Not that it should matter.
Click to expand...
I wince every time I watch that airborne spaz-move he sold. Since when does pinning one's foot to the turf cause them to go up? 2-3 out of five is reasonable with him, 4 shows too much bias.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
And (shades of the '10 final) that last dive followed an earlier challenge in the box when he didn't go down (Beeb announcers: "the ref hasn't been calling them, so he's not even trying" then...) Contrary to expectations, Mexico looked to be more affected by the heat. Their defense played tired at the end and it cost them dearly.
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Bad coaching decision to swap out the attack for a bunker formation halfway through the second half. They ran all over the Dutch before they decided to get behind the ball and try to absorb waves of attack.
 
originally posted by Brian C:
originally posted by .sasha:
I will defend Robben 4 out of 5 times, but this last one was not a penalty.
On the other hand, the one at the very end of the first half was similar to but far worse than the one Costa got against Holland. Not that it should matter.
Click to expand...
I wince every time I watch that airborne spaz-move he sold. Since when does pinning one's foot to the turf cause them to go up? 2-3 out of five is reasonable with him, 4 shows too much bias.
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Nope, it shows a statistical sample of about 45 games (would have been more like 55 if not for the big injury on Dec 5th) in 2013-2014 season alone.
Yes, I even watch their early round DFB Pokal games.

We can also talk about what IMO motivates guys like Suarez and Robben, when compared to the other con artists, but that would be tangential and immaterial here as I fully agree that this Mexico incident was technically a dive, no matter how motivated.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
originally posted by Brian C:
originally posted by .sasha:
I will defend Robben 4 out of 5 times, but this last one was not a penalty.
On the other hand, the one at the very end of the first half was similar to but far worse than the one Costa got against Holland. Not that it should matter.
Click to expand...
I wince every time I watch that airborne spaz-move he sold. Since when does pinning one's foot to the turf cause them to go up? 2-3 out of five is reasonable with him, 4 shows too much bias.
Click to expand...

Nope, it shows a statistical sample of about 45 games (would have been more like 55 if not for the big injury on Dec 5th) in 2013-2014 season alone.
Yes, I even watch their early round DFB Pokal games.

We can also talk about what IMO motivates guys like Suarez and Robben, when compared to the other con artists, but that would be tangential and immaterial here as I fully agree that this Mexico incident was technically a dive, no matter how motivated.
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Fuck that. It was a foul and he had every right to go down and every motivation to sell it. Fuck Marquez, that dirty bastard. What an idiot. He had no reason to stick a foot in and was duly punished. I hope he rots in hell.

Robben dives because if he doesn't, he won't get the calls because he's moving at such a different pace than everyone else. Frankly, I don't know why anyone bothers to try and tackle him that way when you can just body him a little bit and give him enough space to launch shots from bad angles and too much distance. That's how you deal with him.

Saurez is just not right is all.

Fucking Herrera, though. REALLY impressive. No way he stays at Porto, right?
 
Holy shit! Were the Germans just handed a berth in the finals, or is this going to rise to some legendary, made-for-film type drama? I guess we'll see. Robben is a force to be reckoned with, even in these conditions, and Argentina did nothing to impress me.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
Holy shit! Were the Germans just handed a berth in the finals, or is this going to rise to some legendary, made-for-film type drama? I guess we'll see. Robben is a force to be reckoned with, even in these conditions, and Argentina did nothing to impress me.
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So are so ahead of me, Prof.
I am still caught in a time warp from the Germany-France game.
 
Party's over, for me. Same old same old for the final four, none of them my teams (real or adopted). I guess I hope Brazil wins, as host nation (also with the largest population to be saddened by losing). Robbens is a force, but the diving is so bad as to completely undo any admiration. The fact that he's so skilled at it makes it all the worse.
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
Party's over, for me. Same old same old for the final four...
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Doesn't that help instill confidence in the integrity of the game?

When you have too many upsets then something is wrong. Unless you like sports where the outcome has lots of random elements.
 
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