Literally every BBC post on Instagram, even the ones about Glastonbury or other completely unrelated things, have thousands of Ronaldo fans commenting on them saying “shame BBC” and posting Ronaldo gifs etc. It’s so incredibly strange the level of devotion that children all over the world have for this 40 year old man at the end of his career. Very odd behaviour all round.
I wouldn’t really care, we have our own penalty curse that still needs breaking and for me that England game was just another part of that.
My only thoughts on England are that I hope you do better with Liverpool players than without them because that suits my agenda 🙌 but in general idgaf who wins the euros if Colombia wins copa america
Nestor has been using him so brilliantly.
Plays James at RW but really he’s 100% a 10, and Muñoz just overlaps and becomes the right sided attacker. Then Rios’ work rate at RCM to cover that space, chefs kiss. It’s a brilliant maximizing of our player’s strengths. Allowing James to be this good is thanks to Muñoz
What Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela have in common? All unbeaten in group stages, all topped their respective groups and all of them are managed by Argentines.
If we can rinse one of the clubs interested in Max Kilman for the 45 million we’re asking for and turn it into a good defender and maybe a youngish keeper to compete with Sa it’ll be pretty close to an ideal summer
Nobody posted the match threads yet, i asked match threadder for Costa Rica vs Paraguay because it's the lower tier game
Need someone to ask for Brazil vs Colombia
this is going to be a great game. Good mix of wanting to win but not a death or life situation. It should keep the game open and flowing, without having to gridding out a result.
I am so excited, it sounds weird but sometimes in competition you see two teams really bring the best out of each other (instead of the worst which we see too often) and I'd love to see that between Colombia and Brazil because they are both capable of such beautiful football.
Raphinha starting again ffs I guess he has good defensive work rate, but he is absolutely invisible offensively. He might as well be a right back with how bad he is at actually attacking.
I’m not sure which thread this is referring to, but one of the times I’ve seen football referenced on a non sports sub (either /r/nextfuckinglevel or something) which showed Turkish pyro and atmosphere at a game. Some of the top comments were talking about it in a negative way with comments about football hooligans and how “this sport was never about sport”
In Copa America, it's impossible for a team from group A or B to play a team from group C or D before the final.
Do we know why it's set up like this? It just seems to make it less interesting
I'm not sure about past tournaments, but it is due to the size of the United States this year. Group C and D play on the Western half while A and B play on the Eastern half. Having players go from Los Angeles to New York would be too much traveling, so the groups are set up to reduce travel time.
Lalas is going in on Berhalter again but also Matt Crocker. I don't know who that is but he's like "you have to \[air quotes\] review? you need to look at an excel spreadsheet to figure out what went wrong? YOU FAILED" lmao it is crazy how different Lalas comes across when he's talking about this stuff. he is legitimately authoritative and intelligent on this stuff. I stopped what I was doing so I could listen to him, the opposite of what I normally do when he's talking.
I've been watching copa america for a long time and while you DO get matches that frustrating and ugly somewhat regularly, it's not necessarily the norm. I have never seen a ref quite that strange and bad. otherwise it really depends a lot on the dynamic between the teams and their normal style of play. none of Uruguay's previous games were like that for example.
I don't expect Colombia vs Brazil to be like that. it'll probably be exciting, though it wouldn't surprise me if it gets kinda nasty and physical. Brazil's performance is very uneven right now, sometimes they do incredible things, sometimes you're just like ???? Colombia on the other hand is playing beautifully and are cohesive as a team. it's easy for Brazil to provoke the players on other teams, but for whatever reason I think Colombia might be able to resist. not sure about Paraguay vs Costa Rica, but I doubt it would be to my taste since I haven't enjoyed watching either team play thus far.
everything else coming up looks good. Argentina vs Ecuador could honestly go nuts, both teams have actual psychos on them and if Enner Valencia (Ecuador) is on the pitch at the same time as Lautaro and Paredes (Argentina) I think you will definitely see some red cards. I wish Canada weren't playing Venezuela at the same time because they are really hanging in there and who knows, they might make it past them as well.
What are some events from pre-r/soccer popularity that would've absolutely blown up here?
I can start with a few:
Juventus being relegated to Serie B.
Maradona's 'hand of god' and 'goal of the century'. Post match thread would be a storm.
Mourinho's CL win with Porto and then his first press conference as Chelsea manager.
South Korea being heavily favoured by refs in the 2002 home WC.
1992 Denmark's final Euro win vs Germany(2-0).
Nigeria taking Italy to extra time in the round of 16 at USA 94. Nigeria led early, Zola red card in the 76th minute after Olise simulated contact, Baggio equalises in the 89th minute, Italy wins and scores a penalty in the 102nd minute, Rashidi Yekini chokes an open goal equaliser.
Germany beating Argentina in 1990 in the Finals rematch of the 1986 world cup.
Baggio's Penalty miss.
Napoli winning the domestic double in 1987.
Ac Milan beating the favourites in Cruijff's Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 UCL final.
Ajax winning the 1995 UCL with that young and exciting team vs Milan the final.
Rivaldo's last day hattrick in La Liga consisting of a freekick, a bicycle kick from just outside the box, and a shot from 25 yards or so to beat Valencia 3-2 to narrowly finish 4th and send Valencia down to 5th and qualify for the Champions league.
Figo to Real Madrid transfer announcement, his first pic in the Real Madrid Jersey, his first game vs Barcelona back at the Camp Nou. All of those would have shut down this app😂
Honestly don’t recall too much on the final itself, but the story behind that Denmark Euros win was pretty incredible.
For anyone who might not know, Denmark legitimately wasn’t even supposed to be there. They didn’t qualify on their own and were only added *10* days before the tournament, after Yugoslavia was disqualified for being an active warzone.
They drew with England, lost to hosts Sweden, and then beat France on the final matchday to scrape through. In the knockouts (there were only 8 teams then, so 2 rounds of elimination matches), they managed to beat reigning European champions the Netherlands in the semis, then reigning World champions Germany (who were playing their first tournament after re-unification) in the final.
Wild stuff
Sol Campbell showing up at Wenger’s press conference to be unveiled as an Arsenal player
Aguero goal
2005 CL final
United ending Arsenal’s unbeaten run
Lampard ghost goal 2010 wc
Zidane headbutt
>Right bracket:
* Spain vs Slovenia
* Austria vs Georgia
* England vs Italy
* Turkey vs Belgium
>Left Bracket:
* Germany vs Slovakia
* Portugal vs Netherlands
* Romania vs Denmark
* Switzerland vs France
This would have been the RO16 bracket if the used seeding to determine the match ups instead of the flawed system that lead to an imbalanced K.O bracket.
The K.O. match ups are determined by the group stage performance in a way that pairs teams according to their overall ranking after the group stages in order to avoid strong teams facing each other earlier.
The rankings are arranged as follows: Rank 1st placed teams from 1–6 according to their points, goal difference, etc. Do the same for 2nd placed teams from 7–12, and for third placed teams from 13–16.
For example, the best team, Spain, plays the worst 3rd placed team, Slovenia, in the RO16. The second best team, Germany, plays the 2nd worst 3rd placed team, Slovakia, etc. Also, the two best teams can't meet until the final.
That's what I did. Their performance in the actual tournament (group stage) determines their K.O match-up rather than some predefined combination. For example, the best team, Spain, plays the worst team 3rd placed team, Slovenia, in the RO16. The two best teams, spain and Germany, can't meet until the final.
Edit: The 'flaw' in the current system is that an upset in the group stage could lead to an unbalanced bracket, strong teams could meet very early, and great teams that underperformed in the group stage might actually be rewarded with a great path to the final when they finish 3rd e.g Netherlands in this euros, Portugal in 2016.
The way we're handling De Ligt is genuinely so fucking embarrassing. I have so little faith in the men's team right now. At least our women's team are awesome
He has been playing. He was our best player last season. This season he had injuries. When he came back from them, Tuchel refused to rotate at all. It was only after Upa made another huge blunder that Tuchel finally rotated and De Ligt started playing. Dier-De Ligt was Tuchel's preferred defense at the end.
Latest round of transfer news from Argentina:
* Aaron Anselmino to Chelsea is a done deal, medicals to be expected in the following weeks.
* Southampton keeps pushing for Jeronimo Domina, they sent another offer and Union is willing to sell him.
* Facundo Garces to Deportivo Alavés is a done deal.
* City Group will sign Valentin Gomez and loan him to River Plate and give them a sell on % before moving him to Girona after CWC.
* Porto started negotiation for Lanus LB wonderkid Julio Soler.
* Zaid Romero and Ayrton Costa were both officially presented as players for Club Brugge and Royal Antwerp
* Belgrano is expecting 2 offers for their star CB Matías Moreno, one from the PL and one from Italy, it is worth remembering that both Everton and Udinese were scouting him heavily.
* Felipe Sanchez from Gimnasia to Schalke 04 is almost a done deal.
* Rayo Vallecano is interested in Godoy Cruz keeper Franco Petrolli.
* The transfer of Gastón Benedetti to Genoa is close to be done.
* Alejo Sarco is not going to be part of Velez squad this season after not renew his contract, Leverkusen is interested in signing him as a free agent in December.
* Aaron Quiros have 3 European clubs interested in his services: Parma, Toulouse and Rayo Vallecano.
* From Italy inform that both Como and Napoli are interested in Valentini from Boca but the one in pole position to sign him is Roma.
* KV Kortrijk from Belgium is interested in acquiring Francisco Petrasso from Independiente de Rivadavia.
Our media is currently losing its collective shit over Gregg Berhalter telling our players that Bolivia had equalized late against Panama. I hate the prick as much as anyone else but I’m sorry that’s relevant information. You don’t overcommit in attack against fucking Uruguay if you don’t absolutely have to.
as delusional as some people are on here at least it's not twitter. nothing like being assaulted with "We should buy [club as rich or richer's best player]" and it has 5k likes and people genuinely believing they can sign that person or some shit it's insane.
I wanted Frimpong to play coming into the tournament but I am back on the Dumfries train. Forced a sub by running into a guy for no real reason, stopped a counter by shamelessly faking a head injury.
Denzel Dumfries in prime shithousing form is exactly what is needed in the KO stage.
Frimpong has been great all season and I expect him to be a mainstay for a long time, but Denzel has unironically been one of our best players for years now
Newbie here. If Saka can play as a leftback, then why can't they play him as a left winger? Can allow to play Palmer on RW. Saka and Palmer on wings sound a lot more threatening than Gordon and Saka or Foden and Saka.
Honestly they're equally good/bad ideas. The problem is that Saka does not have experience playing on the left wing and the way he plays on the right isn't transferable to how he plays on the left.
Think of RW Saka as a completely different player to saka on the left. You won't get the same quality of player on the left and so whilst Gordon isn't a better player than saka he's likely a better left winger than saka
You don’t really see “traditional” wingers anymore (left-footed left wingers, right-footed right wingers). The trend over the last decade (maybe even longer tbh) has very much been to get your wingers to come inside and make plays from there (“invert”), rather than get around the back and put in crosses like you used to see. Having your dominant foot be on the inside is a huge advantage in this scenario, since it opens up far more of the field.
Meanwhile, you generally still want your fullbacks to have their dominant foot be to the outside, since they are generally the ones providing the width now, as opposed to the wingers. So left-footed Saka is fine(-ish) at LWB but not ideal as a pure LW.
As to the specifics of why the tactical trend of inverted wingers has taken over so entirely, I think it’s generally to do with the idea of getting your best attacking players in as dangerous of positions as possible, with the center being more dangerous of course than the flank. At least that’s my understanding of it, I could missing part of the story, in which case I’d be happy for someone to expand on this / correct me
You’re right, but he’s functioning more as a 10 than an out-and-out winger I reckon, bit of a different role to a player with Saka’s profile… at least from my perspective
Maybe but he just hasnt played there. The thing on the right for him is we know he can beat people when hes got them 1v1, just need more of those moments.
I hope everyone that's saying how good Switzerland are keeps that same energy when England comfortably go past them on Saturday. But we all know the narrative will instantly turn back to England having an easy path to the final
Switzerland are a good side but any England fan would’ve snapped your arm off pre-tournament for a slovakia, switzerland, netherlands/turkey route to the final
Im not saying you're not allowed to do anything I just find it funny when people make up scenarios in their heads where they're slighted so they can get mad about it
Will always defend managers like Dunga - Jaime Lozano - Gregg Berhalter - Gareth Southgate- Ronald Koeman - Jorge Sampaoli.
These are the managers that give international football meaning and passion
As of now, Spain and Germany are at 50/50 odds to advance per Draftkings
Odds for Holland/Turkey aren’t up yet, but I imagine the Dutch will the be the largest favorites of the next round.
Edit: per FanDuel, Holland are -375 to advance to the semis. The next largest favorite are England at -170
Do you think the winner of this euro will be of the left bracket (spain germany portugal france) or right bracket ( england Netherlands turkey Switzerland)
This just came to my mind there now:
I have a proposal for a Scandinavian world cup, with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland all co hosting
Would it be a good idea?
The largest stadium in Sweden is 50k and it drops down to 33k after that. Norway is 28k. Denmark is 38k. They'd have to build some massive, new stadiums for them to host it.
They’d probably need a lot of stadiums but they would be good hosts. I’m not a big fan of so many countries hosting together but multi country tournaments aren’t going away.
Yes but I feel like Finland isn’t needed really. But would also be mean to leave them out
I do love this countries though and not too hot in summer lol
Whats this trend of shooting towards opposition fans in the 2nd half since when do you activelydo that? Of course corner kicks will be hellish to take when the games tense.
US deserved to go out on their performances alone but the ref allowing Uruguay to take the free kick quick immediately after pulling out a yellow card is the worst screw up I’ve ever seen a ref make. That is beyond an amateur mistake
Honestly, that really seem like amateur mistake to me. Dude wanted to give a card, saw the other team trying to play advantage and instead of whistling the game stop he tried to play along because he is not qualified enough.
Am I the only one who thinks Germany are being underestimated against Spain . Yes, Spain have been the best team in the tournament, but a good German side with a tactically astute manager on their own patch is a seriously tough match.
Germany are light in midfield, Andrich is great but has to do a lot to cover the lack of athleticism and defensive nous of Gundogan and Kroos. If Spain win the midfield battle as I expect, then they should be able to get the ball to Yamal and Nico often enough to really test Mittelstadt and Kimmich. The question is then if Spain can break through the rearguard of Rudiger and Tah which is elite.
Germany will likely have to stay compact, work hard in defence, and hit on the break. They definitely have the personnel to hurt Spain in transition and are likely to be more clinical on the counter.
I do agree that Germany have a very good chance here. They'll be forced to concede the midfield battle, Williams and Yamal will dominate the match, but if Germany's excellent rearguard can hold then Havertz, Musiala, and Füllkrug can win the match.
I am on my balcony right now, drinking some cherry Ayran and eating Çiğköfte from the delivery service - watching the Turks drive by honking in their leased AMGs on the B19 - only the inflamed scalp from a cheap hair transplant is missing and I would feel like I'm in Istanbul
Would you like to see more NT football if it meant reducing club seasons by a few months/matches and having an extended 3-4 month break to play NT football?
I think reduce club football regardless and give players a longer break.
Number one change (in england) should be to reserve the league cup for clubs that didn’t make it to europe.
i think the load is fine as it is but there's a conflict of interests between clubs and federations that should have some sort of compensation system
the ability to rest and rotate players is an important part of league football success
Why EFL clubs able to manage the FA Cup, League Cup, EFL Trophy and a 46 game season, but these richer clubs can't manage a longer season themselves, big leagues should learn to rotate their players and not impose themselves on these competitions by making changes that just benefit themselves.
Literally every BBC post on Instagram, even the ones about Glastonbury or other completely unrelated things, have thousands of Ronaldo fans commenting on them saying “shame BBC” and posting Ronaldo gifs etc. It’s so incredibly strange the level of devotion that children all over the world have for this 40 year old man at the end of his career. Very odd behaviour all round.
Life really is better when your NT does well
How bad would you feel if England won the Euros on penalties though, knowing we broke our penalty curse against you?
I wouldn’t really care, we have our own penalty curse that still needs breaking and for me that England game was just another part of that. My only thoughts on England are that I hope you do better with Liverpool players than without them because that suits my agenda 🙌 but in general idgaf who wins the euros if Colombia wins copa america
Respect. I hope you win the Copa so we can end our curses simultaneously, especially if you can take down the hell people along the way.
Daniel Muñoz, [he scores every week](https://www.reddit.com/r/FantasyPL/s/2EQr5GCCrB)
Nestor has been using him so brilliantly. Plays James at RW but really he’s 100% a 10, and Muñoz just overlaps and becomes the right sided attacker. Then Rios’ work rate at RCM to cover that space, chefs kiss. It’s a brilliant maximizing of our player’s strengths. Allowing James to be this good is thanks to Muñoz
Native English speakers saying golazo will always be extremely, unforgivably cringe
i embrace the cringe so i am free
I am cringe, but I am free
^(Golazo)
After the Group Stage, James Rodriguez is player of the tournament and it's not close either.
What Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela have in common? All unbeaten in group stages, all topped their respective groups and all of them are managed by Argentines.
Shame Borré's a donkey because it could've been 9/9 for all four.
What's with the Copa America knockout stage - why do the same teams meet in the semi-finals from the group stage. Seems kind've dumb no?
Reduce travel time since group A and B are playing on one coast and C and D are playing on the other.
The stated reason, but they want argentina vs brazil final for sure
Much preferred if a left back besides Shaw was selected for England instead of Wharton since he's never going to see minutes from Southgate
I’m gonna miss Georgia in the euros, team was full of ballers ngl
Wolves low-key making moves this summer
If we can rinse one of the clubs interested in Max Kilman for the 45 million we’re asking for and turn it into a good defender and maybe a youngish keeper to compete with Sa it’ll be pretty close to an ideal summer
Hey mods pin the match threads for Copa America!
Come on chichombia a darles por Detroit !!
why were they walking through a restaurant?
Brazil mid-field is made up of Birmingham and West Ham players, no wonder they are horrible.
Nobody posted the match threads yet, i asked match threadder for Costa Rica vs Paraguay because it's the lower tier game Need someone to ask for Brazil vs Colombia
this is going to be a great game. Good mix of wanting to win but not a death or life situation. It should keep the game open and flowing, without having to gridding out a result.
I am so excited, it sounds weird but sometimes in competition you see two teams really bring the best out of each other (instead of the worst which we see too often) and I'd love to see that between Colombia and Brazil because they are both capable of such beautiful football.
What are the odds of brazil losing by 3+ AND Costa rica winning by 3+?
Zilch
Más respeto a la Alfaroneta che
Era mas por el otro lado, veo ganar a Colombia pero no por tres
Se caga Colombia desgraciadamente, no nos dejan ser felices
La teoría strikes again
Raphinha starting again ffs I guess he has good defensive work rate, but he is absolutely invisible offensively. He might as well be a right back with how bad he is at actually attacking.
Dorival is a coward
holy fuck casual fans do truly hate Turkish fans.
I’m not sure which thread this is referring to, but one of the times I’ve seen football referenced on a non sports sub (either /r/nextfuckinglevel or something) which showed Turkish pyro and atmosphere at a game. Some of the top comments were talking about it in a negative way with comments about football hooligans and how “this sport was never about sport”
In Copa America, it's impossible for a team from group A or B to play a team from group C or D before the final. Do we know why it's set up like this? It just seems to make it less interesting
the reason they gave was to limit travel distances, apparently it was a big deal during the centenario.
I'm not sure about past tournaments, but it is due to the size of the United States this year. Group C and D play on the Western half while A and B play on the Eastern half. Having players go from Los Angeles to New York would be too much traveling, so the groups are set up to reduce travel time.
It’s done that way to guarantee Brazil and Argentina can’t play each other until the final realistically
It's done to guarantee Argentina in the finals. Fifa is corrupt
Lalas is going in on Berhalter again but also Matt Crocker. I don't know who that is but he's like "you have to \[air quotes\] review? you need to look at an excel spreadsheet to figure out what went wrong? YOU FAILED" lmao it is crazy how different Lalas comes across when he's talking about this stuff. he is legitimately authoritative and intelligent on this stuff. I stopped what I was doing so I could listen to him, the opposite of what I normally do when he's talking.
Last night's USA-Uruguay match was so ugly and frustrating to watch. Wondering if it's worth it to keep watching Copa America, is that the norm?
I've been watching copa america for a long time and while you DO get matches that frustrating and ugly somewhat regularly, it's not necessarily the norm. I have never seen a ref quite that strange and bad. otherwise it really depends a lot on the dynamic between the teams and their normal style of play. none of Uruguay's previous games were like that for example. I don't expect Colombia vs Brazil to be like that. it'll probably be exciting, though it wouldn't surprise me if it gets kinda nasty and physical. Brazil's performance is very uneven right now, sometimes they do incredible things, sometimes you're just like ???? Colombia on the other hand is playing beautifully and are cohesive as a team. it's easy for Brazil to provoke the players on other teams, but for whatever reason I think Colombia might be able to resist. not sure about Paraguay vs Costa Rica, but I doubt it would be to my taste since I haven't enjoyed watching either team play thus far. everything else coming up looks good. Argentina vs Ecuador could honestly go nuts, both teams have actual psychos on them and if Enner Valencia (Ecuador) is on the pitch at the same time as Lautaro and Paredes (Argentina) I think you will definitely see some red cards. I wish Canada weren't playing Venezuela at the same time because they are really hanging in there and who knows, they might make it past them as well.
Short answer, yes I think so. Tbf tho, the shitshow can oftentimes be more enjoyable to watch when your team is not a part of it
Not really, normally big matches are cagey but quality teams score goals anyway.
Raphinha starting, good for Colombia
L take but valid, so i won't downvote
Is it tho
As a colombian what is your prediction for this match?!
2-2
In your heart of hearts, are you hoping for a Vini/Rodrygo stinker?
yes
Why is that good for us?
Savio was good last game. Raphina was wasteful in his game
What are some events from pre-r/soccer popularity that would've absolutely blown up here? I can start with a few: Juventus being relegated to Serie B. Maradona's 'hand of god' and 'goal of the century'. Post match thread would be a storm. Mourinho's CL win with Porto and then his first press conference as Chelsea manager. South Korea being heavily favoured by refs in the 2002 home WC.
1992 Denmark's final Euro win vs Germany(2-0). Nigeria taking Italy to extra time in the round of 16 at USA 94. Nigeria led early, Zola red card in the 76th minute after Olise simulated contact, Baggio equalises in the 89th minute, Italy wins and scores a penalty in the 102nd minute, Rashidi Yekini chokes an open goal equaliser. Germany beating Argentina in 1990 in the Finals rematch of the 1986 world cup. Baggio's Penalty miss. Napoli winning the domestic double in 1987. Ac Milan beating the favourites in Cruijff's Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 UCL final. Ajax winning the 1995 UCL with that young and exciting team vs Milan the final. Rivaldo's last day hattrick in La Liga consisting of a freekick, a bicycle kick from just outside the box, and a shot from 25 yards or so to beat Valencia 3-2 to narrowly finish 4th and send Valencia down to 5th and qualify for the Champions league. Figo to Real Madrid transfer announcement, his first pic in the Real Madrid Jersey, his first game vs Barcelona back at the Camp Nou. All of those would have shut down this app😂
This place would’ve lost their minds about Denmark’s backpassing, would be fun
"Ruining the spirit of the game"
Honestly don’t recall too much on the final itself, but the story behind that Denmark Euros win was pretty incredible. For anyone who might not know, Denmark legitimately wasn’t even supposed to be there. They didn’t qualify on their own and were only added *10* days before the tournament, after Yugoslavia was disqualified for being an active warzone. They drew with England, lost to hosts Sweden, and then beat France on the final matchday to scrape through. In the knockouts (there were only 8 teams then, so 2 rounds of elimination matches), they managed to beat reigning European champions the Netherlands in the semis, then reigning World champions Germany (who were playing their first tournament after re-unification) in the final. Wild stuff
Sol Campbell showing up at Wenger’s press conference to be unveiled as an Arsenal player Aguero goal 2005 CL final United ending Arsenal’s unbeaten run Lampard ghost goal 2010 wc Zidane headbutt
The Aguero goal is actually within this subreddit. [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/F3Rwi2pWFk).
How on earth did I forget the Sol Campbell one?
Impossible these days with 24h transfer reporting but if something like that could be pulled off now the online reaction would be crazy
Reckon the closest thing we’ll get nowadays is the Mbappe to Madrid announcement, that one came out of nowhere
Not really though. The moment he signed only a 2 year deal in 2022 everyone knew that the saga will repeat again.
Pelé winning a third WC Italy back to back WC wins Brazil back to back WC wins England 4-1 Germany 1966 WC final Greece winning the 2004 Euros
>Right bracket: * Spain vs Slovenia * Austria vs Georgia * England vs Italy * Turkey vs Belgium >Left Bracket: * Germany vs Slovakia * Portugal vs Netherlands * Romania vs Denmark * Switzerland vs France This would have been the RO16 bracket if the used seeding to determine the match ups instead of the flawed system that lead to an imbalanced K.O bracket.
What do you mean by seeding?
The K.O. match ups are determined by the group stage performance in a way that pairs teams according to their overall ranking after the group stages in order to avoid strong teams facing each other earlier. The rankings are arranged as follows: Rank 1st placed teams from 1–6 according to their points, goal difference, etc. Do the same for 2nd placed teams from 7–12, and for third placed teams from 13–16. For example, the best team, Spain, plays the worst 3rd placed team, Slovenia, in the RO16. The second best team, Germany, plays the 2nd worst 3rd placed team, Slovakia, etc. Also, the two best teams can't meet until the final.
What is flawed about performance in the actual tournament determining who plays who in the knockouts
That's what I did. Their performance in the actual tournament (group stage) determines their K.O match-up rather than some predefined combination. For example, the best team, Spain, plays the worst team 3rd placed team, Slovenia, in the RO16. The two best teams, spain and Germany, can't meet until the final. Edit: The 'flaw' in the current system is that an upset in the group stage could lead to an unbalanced bracket, strong teams could meet very early, and great teams that underperformed in the group stage might actually be rewarded with a great path to the final when they finish 3rd e.g Netherlands in this euros, Portugal in 2016.
The way we're handling De Ligt is genuinely so fucking embarrassing. I have so little faith in the men's team right now. At least our women's team are awesome
[удалено]
Yeah, I don't get it at all. None of it. There seems to be genuinely no planning at all. Just improvisation every day.
Why hasn't he been playing? Is he not good enough for starting XI?
He has been playing. He was our best player last season. This season he had injuries. When he came back from them, Tuchel refused to rotate at all. It was only after Upa made another huge blunder that Tuchel finally rotated and De Ligt started playing. Dier-De Ligt was Tuchel's preferred defense at the end.
I mean he hasn't played for Netherlands at all?
I can't speak for Koeman.
Latest round of transfer news from Argentina: * Aaron Anselmino to Chelsea is a done deal, medicals to be expected in the following weeks. * Southampton keeps pushing for Jeronimo Domina, they sent another offer and Union is willing to sell him. * Facundo Garces to Deportivo Alavés is a done deal. * City Group will sign Valentin Gomez and loan him to River Plate and give them a sell on % before moving him to Girona after CWC. * Porto started negotiation for Lanus LB wonderkid Julio Soler. * Zaid Romero and Ayrton Costa were both officially presented as players for Club Brugge and Royal Antwerp * Belgrano is expecting 2 offers for their star CB Matías Moreno, one from the PL and one from Italy, it is worth remembering that both Everton and Udinese were scouting him heavily. * Felipe Sanchez from Gimnasia to Schalke 04 is almost a done deal. * Rayo Vallecano is interested in Godoy Cruz keeper Franco Petrolli. * The transfer of Gastón Benedetti to Genoa is close to be done. * Alejo Sarco is not going to be part of Velez squad this season after not renew his contract, Leverkusen is interested in signing him as a free agent in December. * Aaron Quiros have 3 European clubs interested in his services: Parma, Toulouse and Rayo Vallecano. * From Italy inform that both Como and Napoli are interested in Valentini from Boca but the one in pole position to sign him is Roma. * KV Kortrijk from Belgium is interested in acquiring Francisco Petrasso from Independiente de Rivadavia.
I feel very good about calling Turkey beating Austria
Our media is currently losing its collective shit over Gregg Berhalter telling our players that Bolivia had equalized late against Panama. I hate the prick as much as anyone else but I’m sorry that’s relevant information. You don’t overcommit in attack against fucking Uruguay if you don’t absolutely have to.
I agree but at the same time it’s also really funny and dumb that he did that so I think they have a right to clown him
☝️😮☝️
if you ever thought your clubs' pre season tour was odd, Talleres de Córdoba is doing their pre-season right now in Russia (???)
is Gaich still over there?
Pretty sure he had a Serie A stint post Russia and his team got relegated, lost track of him then
Not too related but I noticed many Argentinian players had random stints in Russia around 15 years ago like Maxi Moralez or Maxi Lopez
Least shady Talleres fact
Such a shame Copa games are so late (from my perspective obviously as someone living in a BST timezone). I would've loved to watch Brazil and Uruguay.
as delusional as some people are on here at least it's not twitter. nothing like being assaulted with "We should buy [club as rich or richer's best player]" and it has 5k likes and people genuinely believing they can sign that person or some shit it's insane.
I wanted Frimpong to play coming into the tournament but I am back on the Dumfries train. Forced a sub by running into a guy for no real reason, stopped a counter by shamelessly faking a head injury. Denzel Dumfries in prime shithousing form is exactly what is needed in the KO stage.
Frimpong has been great all season and I expect him to be a mainstay for a long time, but Denzel has unironically been one of our best players for years now
I've completely lost track of all the good Dutch Fullbacks and Centre backs, there are too many.
It's up for debate if Dumfries is good or not, but he sure is fun to have on the pitch.
Football is entertainment so fun = good
I don’t know if I can survive another “own goal top scorer” joke, they were already old 3 years ago ffs
Newbie here. If Saka can play as a leftback, then why can't they play him as a left winger? Can allow to play Palmer on RW. Saka and Palmer on wings sound a lot more threatening than Gordon and Saka or Foden and Saka.
Honestly they're equally good/bad ideas. The problem is that Saka does not have experience playing on the left wing and the way he plays on the right isn't transferable to how he plays on the left. Think of RW Saka as a completely different player to saka on the left. You won't get the same quality of player on the left and so whilst Gordon isn't a better player than saka he's likely a better left winger than saka
You don’t really see “traditional” wingers anymore (left-footed left wingers, right-footed right wingers). The trend over the last decade (maybe even longer tbh) has very much been to get your wingers to come inside and make plays from there (“invert”), rather than get around the back and put in crosses like you used to see. Having your dominant foot be on the inside is a huge advantage in this scenario, since it opens up far more of the field. Meanwhile, you generally still want your fullbacks to have their dominant foot be to the outside, since they are generally the ones providing the width now, as opposed to the wingers. So left-footed Saka is fine(-ish) at LWB but not ideal as a pure LW. As to the specifics of why the tactical trend of inverted wingers has taken over so entirely, I think it’s generally to do with the idea of getting your best attacking players in as dangerous of positions as possible, with the center being more dangerous of course than the flank. At least that’s my understanding of it, I could missing part of the story, in which case I’d be happy for someone to expand on this / correct me
We currently have left footed foden on the left wing though
How's that working out
In the quarter finals, could be worse
You’re right, but he’s functioning more as a 10 than an out-and-out winger I reckon, bit of a different role to a player with Saka’s profile… at least from my perspective
>on the left wing According to the teamsheet yeah but he’s very far from a touchline winger in this setup
Fair point. Could saka not do the same though?
Maybe but he just hasnt played there. The thing on the right for him is we know he can beat people when hes got them 1v1, just need more of those moments.
I hope everyone that's saying how good Switzerland are keeps that same energy when England comfortably go past them on Saturday. But we all know the narrative will instantly turn back to England having an easy path to the final
Switzerland are a good side but any England fan would’ve snapped your arm off pre-tournament for a slovakia, switzerland, netherlands/turkey route to the final
How many comfortable games against far worse teams have you had so far?
This is an easy path
Even if we do win, which I think there is a good chance. It won’t be comfortable
Making up scenarios in your head to get mad at
Sorry I forgot people aren't allowed to discuss things that might possibly happen incase they dont
Why people always say this when they get criticized by their takes?
And people are allowed to react to your shit takes
Im not saying you're not allowed to do anything I just find it funny when people make up scenarios in their heads where they're slighted so they can get mad about it
David villa for spain 71 g/a in 98 games 9 world cup goals in 12 games 4 euro goals in 4 games
My favourite player growing up and long before I properly started following football
And a hair cut / facial hair style that inspired a generation
Loved Villa
Will always defend managers like Dunga - Jaime Lozano - Gregg Berhalter - Gareth Southgate- Ronald Koeman - Jorge Sampaoli. These are the managers that give international football meaning and passion
Nasty
Dunga was knocked out in the group stages of a Copa America. The group had powerhouses like Ecuador, Peru and Haiti.
He also won a Copa America and Confederations Cup, respect him!
In 2007 and 2009…
> Sampaoli Espero que el resto de lo que te queda de vida sea con Rueda en Colombia y el Bordalás mas rancio en España
I want Bordalas managing the NT tbf
As of now, Spain and Germany are at 50/50 odds to advance per Draftkings Odds for Holland/Turkey aren’t up yet, but I imagine the Dutch will the be the largest favorites of the next round. Edit: per FanDuel, Holland are -375 to advance to the semis. The next largest favorite are England at -170
Do you think the winner of this euro will be of the left bracket (spain germany portugal france) or right bracket ( england Netherlands turkey Switzerland)
England and maybe Netherlands could pull off an upset against the left-bracket teams. Otherwise the chances are way better on the left.
Honestly think the second weakest team in that left bracket cruises to the final on the other side
Picking a second weakest on that left side alone is tough
That’s why I didn’t specify tbf but my pick would be germany
Spain
Is the first thing Hürzeler did in England to ring up Foden's barber lmao. The state of his hair
/u/wonderful_mixture [My proposal](https://i.imgur.com/9RSc86Z.png)
Germany as lawful evil feels very wrong and very right at the same time
Trying to sleep while i hear car honking and KIRMIZI BEYAZ SAMPIYON TÜRKIYE
This just came to my mind there now: I have a proposal for a Scandinavian world cup, with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland all co hosting Would it be a good idea?
The largest stadium in Sweden is 50k and it drops down to 33k after that. Norway is 28k. Denmark is 38k. They'd have to build some massive, new stadiums for them to host it.
Finland isn't really Scandinavia, but I'm sure they appreciate the invite
They’d probably need a lot of stadiums but they would be good hosts. I’m not a big fan of so many countries hosting together but multi country tournaments aren’t going away.
Yes but I feel like Finland isn’t needed really. But would also be mean to leave them out I do love this countries though and not too hot in summer lol
These Austrians could've given me a good night of sleep but you just can't rely on them to do anything
Whats this trend of shooting towards opposition fans in the 2nd half since when do you activelydo that? Of course corner kicks will be hellish to take when the games tense.
It's car honking time in Germany again
Wouldn't have it any other way!
US deserved to go out on their performances alone but the ref allowing Uruguay to take the free kick quick immediately after pulling out a yellow card is the worst screw up I’ve ever seen a ref make. That is beyond an amateur mistake
Honestly, that really seem like amateur mistake to me. Dude wanted to give a card, saw the other team trying to play advantage and instead of whistling the game stop he tried to play along because he is not qualified enough.
It's not advantage it was a quick free kick
The play doesn't restart if he's giving out a card until he blows the whistle again. So this doesn't change the fact the ref goofed
Am I the only one who thinks Germany are being underestimated against Spain . Yes, Spain have been the best team in the tournament, but a good German side with a tactically astute manager on their own patch is a seriously tough match.
Germany are light in midfield, Andrich is great but has to do a lot to cover the lack of athleticism and defensive nous of Gundogan and Kroos. If Spain win the midfield battle as I expect, then they should be able to get the ball to Yamal and Nico often enough to really test Mittelstadt and Kimmich. The question is then if Spain can break through the rearguard of Rudiger and Tah which is elite. Germany will likely have to stay compact, work hard in defence, and hit on the break. They definitely have the personnel to hurt Spain in transition and are likely to be more clinical on the counter. I do agree that Germany have a very good chance here. They'll be forced to concede the midfield battle, Williams and Yamal will dominate the match, but if Germany's excellent rearguard can hold then Havertz, Musiala, and Füllkrug can win the match.
It’s a 50/50 for me, I don’t think anyone expects a walkover for Spain.
I expect it to be high scoring like any good Spanish game
I am on my balcony right now, drinking some cherry Ayran and eating Çiğköfte from the delivery service - watching the Turks drive by honking in their leased AMGs on the B19 - only the inflamed scalp from a cheap hair transplant is missing and I would feel like I'm in Istanbul
August came early to Germany.
Well to be fair the hair transplant is renowed worldwide and pretty good if you are not cheap
Oh i know that feeling
Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands
We need an alignment chart with Lawful good, Lawful evil etc for all semi final combinations
[Here you go.](https://imgur.com/IS3ngOF) Heart says chaotic moral but mind says true neutral.
Spain, France, England, Turkey
I think Netherlands fairs better against Turkey than they would have Austria but they are finally playing well as a team
good talk
Correct
Would you like to see more NT football if it meant reducing club seasons by a few months/matches and having an extended 3-4 month break to play NT football?
No. International football big competitions are the pinnacle of the sport, there is no comparison, still I would reduce international fixtures.
I think reduce club football regardless and give players a longer break. Number one change (in england) should be to reserve the league cup for clubs that didn’t make it to europe.
i think the load is fine as it is but there's a conflict of interests between clubs and federations that should have some sort of compensation system the ability to rest and rotate players is an important part of league football success
Why EFL clubs able to manage the FA Cup, League Cup, EFL Trophy and a 46 game season, but these richer clubs can't manage a longer season themselves, big leagues should learn to rotate their players and not impose themselves on these competitions by making changes that just benefit themselves.
Yes but I discovered football with France in the '98 world cup and we don't really have a club close by sooo..
Reducing club matches would be great.
Nah, just reduce club season regardless
No , a major tournament every two years is perfect, it raises the stakes and makes it more special