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***Official*** 2018 World Cup thread (and Drinking Guide) (3 Viewers)

roadkill1292 said:
Am I a bad person for thinking that it's crazy to get really riled up about stuff like this? Or am I just a bad person in general?
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I suppose it depends on how the sex workers are treated (and whether we have Ribery/Benzema situation with an underage working girl).

But stuff like this is just the ready-made narrative to go to if/when Mexico are eliminated in the first knock-out round.  The players didn't care enough.  They were all about being celebrities.  JCO couldn't instill discipline.  Yadda yadda yadda.  

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
I suppose it depends on how the sex workers are treated (and whether we have Ribery/Benzema situation with an underage working girl).

But stuff like this is just the ready-made narrative to go to if/when Mexico are eliminated in the first knock-out round.  The players didn't care enough.  They were all about being celebrities.  JCO couldn't instill discipline.  Yadda yadda yadda.  
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Plus, you know, the donkeys. 

 
Ciman started for Belgium in what looks like their first choice squad.   When do teams have to make the final decisions for injury replacement for someone like Kompany?

 
'Allo Guvnuh's why don't you pour yourselves a cuppa or maybe a pint of your best bitter while I talk about Jolly Olde, yeah?

I have to admit that I find this England team fascinating.  On paper, it might be the least accomplished England team that I can remember, but on the other hand, Ithink Gareth Southgate has put a lot of thought into how he wants the team to play and has constructed a roster that makes sense.  This is really a test about the adage of whether its' about picking the best players or picking the best team.  So let's get to it.

Formation:  Southgate is going with a very un-English 3-5-2/5-3-2.  And he's playing one of the best attacking right backs in the world as a right-sided center back.  Gutsy!  But I figure they'll burn him in effigy if England underperforms in any way so he might as well not throw away his shot.

GK -  Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope

Yikes!  Remember when England was known for churning out world class goalkeepers? Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, David Seaman,  Ray Clemence, heck even David James.  This lot, ..., is a step down.  Butland got relegated with Stoke this year.  Pickford was relegated with Sunderland last year (and didn't really set the world on fire this season with Everton although I suppose he passed the "better than Joel Robles" test).  I had to wiki to remeber that Pope started for the Ginger Mourinho's Burnley side.  Pickford started the Nigeria friendly and has been tabbed as England's next great goalkeeper ever since he was being kept on the bench by Vito Mannone and Costel Pantillimon.  I am unconvinced.  Butland and Pope are, to me, perfectly acceptable goalkeepers.  You can make a decent run in the World Cup with perfectly acceptable goalkeeping.  Jesper Cillison and the Netherlands did so in Brazil.  But I don't think you can count on one of these guys to stand on his head to steal a victory from an otherwise dominating team.

Defenders:  Gary Cahill, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Trent-Alexander Arnold

Southgate has played Walker as a RCB in the last two friendlies.  He's stated that he wants Walker's skill on the ball in that position.  It's a ballsy move, but I understand the rationale.  It also leaves room for Trippier.  Whatever else you can say about Kieran Trippier, he hits an exquisite right-footed early cross.  And Harry Kane positively feeds on those type of crosses.  In the early part of this last season, John Stones put together an amazing run of form for Pep Guardiola.  He finally seemed to be putting together all the potential that everyone saw in him.  He got injured, though, and was not nearly as good after coming back.  Stones, like Walker, is extremely comfortable on the ball. Some might say he's too confident on the ball, but with three good distributors in the back (Cahill is also a very good passer out of the back), Southgate saves the need to start a distributing holding midfield and can just play a pure anchor man and two attacking CM's.  Young started the Nigeria friendly at LWB.  Rose has been penciled in that slot for a while, even as he rotted away on Spurs's bench.  Rose dealt with a ton of stuff this year, from his injury, to a family suicide, to his mum getting racially abused.  So I'm pulling for him.  

Midfield:  Eric Dier, Jessie Lingard, Dele Alli, Jordan Henderson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph

Dier will play as the 6.  As I mention above, because the center backs all pass the ball well, a distributor like Henderson isn't necessary.  Which allows Southgate to play two CAMs in Alli and Lingard.  Lingard seemed to take an inordinate amount of #### from Man U fans for the sin of being the second-best offensive threat on the second-best team in the league.  Weird.  Alli was in Southgate's doghouse and had lost his job to Lingard, but they looked bright playing together.  You could easily see Henderson, Delph, or Loftus-Cheek playing in a game where Southgate might not expect to have a lot of the ball, but he seems to be inclined to go for it in general.  This is another example of whether "fit" matters more than sheer talent.  There's not a Scholes, a Lampard, or a Gerrard here.  Alli may have that type of career, but he's still young.  But you can see how this group fits together, which you often couldn't in the years that managers were constantly trying to find a way to play Gerrard and Lamps together.

Forwards:  Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck

So much pressure will be on Kane.  He's England's one uncontested world-class player and this formation has been tweaked to suit his strengths.  I love the idea of playing Sterling centrally to stretch the CBs.  The four attackers are going to be very fluid, and Kane's underrated passing should mesh well with Sterling's excellent movement.  Welbeck is a bit of a surprise, but he's been excellent for England, for whatever reason.  Almost any one of these forwards can play on at least one wing if Southgate has to change a system.

Projected Lineup:

                            Pickford

         Walker          Stones           Cahill

Trippier                      Dier                      Rose

                     Lingard          Alli

                    Sterling           Kane

Projected Finish:

I like England as surprise group G winners over Belgium.  But the draw seems destined to leave them with either Brazil or Germany in the quarterfinals.  I think they'll be credible quarterfinalists, but that's a far as they'll go.  

 
I like England this year.  Really not having Henderson on the field will help them get forward faster, and more fluidly in my eyes.

Do we get good Dele Alli from 2016, or the pretty much non-impactful Alli from this past season?  Nice attacking options on the bench with Vardy and Rashford too.  A step below world class team though and having to face Brazil or Germany early is ungood.  

 
I admit, I lost a lot of my zeal for this WC when we failed to qualify, but these write-ups are stoking my interest.  Awesome stuff, RHE - your knowledge of the game is mind-boggling to me.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
I admit, I lost a lot of my zeal for this WC when we failed to qualify, but these write-ups are stoking my interest.  Awesome stuff, RHE - your knowledge of the game is mind-boggling to me.
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Pick a team,;root for them... what better excuse do you have to day-drink for the next month+?

 
England has the youngest team in the WC.  I think it spells good things for England in the future.  That being said, I don't like anything at the back for England.  I think the back four, the GK and Dier are a disaster and will be their undoing.  Especially when you try to get Kane, Alli, Sterling and Lingard on the field at the same time. 

It will be interesting to see if this aggressive lineup will work and I'll be glued to the TV, but I think they'll fall apart defensively against a good team or two and that will be their undoing.

Personally if I were England and wanted to get aggressive, I'd play Vardy and Kane together.  I don't personally feel Lingard is good enough to be a starter.

 
shader said:
England has the youngest team in the WC.  I think it spells good things for England in the future.  That being said, I don't like anything at the back for England.  I think the back four, the GK and Dier are a disaster and will be their undoing.  Especially when you try to get Kane, Alli, Sterling and Lingard on the field at the same time. 
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Nigeria has the youngest squad in this year's tournament.  Their average age is 0.1 years less than Engerland.

If RHE is going to stick to the glamour teams, I'll post a preview of the Super Eagles.  

 
Jaysus said:
Pick a team,;root for them... what better excuse do you have to day-drink for the next month+?
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I'll root for England and Germany but it's not the same.  4 years ago I took a week off to stay home and watch games all day, this time I'll be working.

 
Eephus said:
Nigeria has the youngest squad in this year's tournament.  Their average age is 0.1 years less than Engerland.

If RHE is going to stick to the glamour teams, I'll post a preview of the Super Eagles.  
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Which of the CAF teams has the best chance at making a run this summer?  I was thinking Senegal - best kits, strongest voodoo.

 
CletiusMaximus said:
Which of the CAF teams has the best chance at making a run this summer?  I was thinking Senegal - best kits, strongest voodoo.
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The Africans were always dark horses to advance but they've been hit by injury and tough draws.  Mo Salah status has been discussed a lot but Tunisia's loss of Youssef Msakni to a knee injury is just as significant.  Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia were all placed in top heavy groups and will need to pull off upsets to get through.

I agree about Senegal (except that Nigeria's strip is better).  Their group is one of the weaker ones.  They have Mane of course but also seem more balanced between attack and defense than the other African sides.  I could definitely see them winning Group H and beating England on penalties in the knockouts.

 
This time 4 years ago I had a friend telling me I should really devote some time to soccer for the WC, since the NFL is entering it's dead period.  I figured, what the heck?

In the midst of watching as much as I could over a 3-week period, I fell in love with the sport.  4 years later here I am, a huge fan and I can barely watch American football.  I've enjoyed the last 4 years with you guys, starting as the annoying rookie with dumb questions and now I'm the semi-annoying novice who thinks he's smarter than he really is.

I'll always kick myself for not enjoying the sport for the first 36 years of my life, but I'm sure as heck gonna enjoy the next 36.

 
CletiusMaximus said:
I gotta disagree on this.  I know they made a huge splash last week or two and sold out in hours supposedly, but they remind me of the old school Zubazz pants.

U.G.L.Y. they ain't got no alibi.
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Well, they're different that's for sure.  They're a break from the heavily templated designs that have become the norm for both national and club teams.

I can't see myself wearing one of the 2018 shirts but I do own a Thai-knockoff of the Super Eagles 2002 WC strip (Jay-Jay Okocha #10 on his shirt, #1 in our hearts :wub: ) that I'll probably dig out of the closet this month.

 
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Jaysus said:
Pick a team,;root for them... what better excuse do you have to day-drink for the next month+?
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I have been to lazy to look at the time difference between the east coast and Russia.

What time will the games be on?

 
berndog said:
I have been to lazy to look at the time difference between the east coast and Russia.

What time will the games be on?
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First game is Thursday (6/14) at 11am.  Friday games are at 8am, 11am, and 2pm.  Saturday at 6am, 8am, 10am,  and 1pm.  (All times Eastern)

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
I'll root for England and Germany but it's not the same.  4 years ago I took a week off to stay home and watch games all day, this time I'll be working.
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I'll be retired for the next World Cup. And weed should be legal in my state by then. I'll be taking a month off.

 
My first rooting interest in "whoever plays Mexico"

After that, I'm not really all that invested. Wouldn't mind seeing France win as I like a lot of their individual players.

 
I think I'm going to enjoy being able to develop a rooting interest based on what I see.  I think Colombia looks like a fun team, though.  I'd kind of love to see Falcao have a big tournament after all he went through around 2014.

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
I think I'm going to enjoy being able to develop a rooting interest based on what I see.  I think Colombia looks like a fun team, though.  I'd kind of love to see Falcao have a big tournament after all he went through around 2014.
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I'm feeling similar.  I have a bunch of teams I like.  I never thought I'd pull for France but based on the friendlies, they are starting to jump ahead of Brazil/Belgium/England.  But I'm not even worrying about that.  I'm going to enjoy the group stages then pick a team for the knockout stages once the first games are over. 

 
Mjolnirs said:
Does not compute.  But, hey, if it works for you.
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My ancestry is German and English.  Mostly German, so I typically root for them if the US is not in play.  I do also pull for England a little as well, there are always LOTS of UK tourists around where I live and I often find myself in English pubs for the games surrounded by hundreds of drunken Englishmen on holiday.  It's way more fun to root with them than against them.

 
I always support African teams and am hoping for a good run by France so I can get some quality day drinking with my daughter.

I'd like to see English hopes raised by a strong showing in the groups because it'll make their inevitable failure more fun. :stirspot:

 
Christo said:
Yeah, I'll root for the US and Mexico.
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Not quite the same to me.  I'm a US fan first and foremost, Mexico is a mortal enemy.  I don't really give a rat's ### about Germany or England, so any animus between them is irrelevant to me.  I'll root for both teams to advance because it means the most fun for me (I also have a buddy from Germany who's a giant Die Mannschaft fan) and if they run into one another in the knockout rounds, I'll root for Germany.  England sticking around provides me with more opportunities to watch the games with interested parties (to say the least,) which provides a fun atmosphere for me as a fan.

 
How can you not root for a country as hilariously entertaining as Belgium?  They invented the "french" fry! Their Minister of "Health" is 400 pounds! Their most famous monument is a kid taking a piss!  The political infighting makes the political forum here look like an episode of Barney the Dinosaur!  They make the best beer in the world!  

 
Scoresman said:
How can you not root for a country as hilariously entertaining as Belgium?  They invented the "french" fry! Their Minister of "Health" is 400 pounds! Their most famous monument is a kid taking a piss!  The political infighting makes the political forum here look like an episode of Barney the Dinosaur!  They make the best beer in the world!  
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My son has thrown his lot in with the Belsh.  I think its a huge mistake, but he's a big Eden Hazard fan. I wouldn't buy him the $80 replica, got him a t-shirt.

 
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