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OT: World Cup

Drivesaitl

Drivesaitl

Finding Hyman
Oct 8, 2017
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I was thinking that Rakitic sure wasn't as good as the hype in this tournament albeit multiple other Croatians have been. Figured something was off with him. Its a great story and captures the resolve of the side. This is no country club for the Croatian players, they have taken the WC by storm thus far.

I'd rather cheer for a hardworking squad like this anyday and imposible not to love their enthusiasm and absolute desire. I liked Croatia as you know from the first game of the tournament. They sure are making a lot of friends.

Go Croatia!

Bring it home.
 
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Cloned

Cloned

Begging for Bega
Aug 25, 2003
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booyakasha said:
England were lacking a creative midfielder, ...I bet they regret leaving Jack at home now..

Click to expand...


England just has extremely poor timing. Their "golden generation" had a bevy of talented midfielders, but they had a clueless coach who tried to force them into his formation (rather poorly I might add).
 
booyakasha

booyakasha

Registered User
Oct 11, 2007
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Edmonton, AB
Cloned said:
England just has extremely poor timing. Their "golden generation" had a bevy of talented midfielders, but they had a clueless coach who tried to force them into his formation (rather poorly I might add).
Click to expand...
I watched an interview with Lampard, and he more or less said, it wouldn't have mattered what coach they had, and Gerrard was in agreement.

He basically said they didn't have that drive,, and cared more club than country.

England left one of the best, and most creative midfielders at home....one who plays the ball on the floor, and is creative that a game like Wednesdays would have suited him 100%.
If Jack Wilshere would have been there for England, they'd be playing on Sunday.
(yes, i'm bitter about his omsission)
 
AM

AM

Registered User
Nov 22, 2004
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booyakasha said:
yeah,not happening, difference in mental fortitude I guess,

Rakitic - 'I would play a final without a leg if necessary'

Click to expand...


Its the rare midfielder that pulls a sweinsteiger out of his hat in the world cup.

I just hope Croatia doesnt put his health at risk playing him.
 
Cloned

Cloned

Begging for Bega
Aug 25, 2003
79,236
64,631
booyakasha said:
I watched an interview with Lampard, and he more or less said, it wouldn't have mattered what coach they had, and Gerrard was in agreement.

He basically said they didn't have that drive,, and cared more club than country.

England left one of the best, and most creative midfielders at home....one who plays the ball on the floor, and is creative that a game like Wednesdays would have suited him 100%.
If Jack Wilshere would have been there for England, they'd be playing on Sunday.
(yes, i'm bitter about his omsission)
Click to expand...

Lampard and Gerrard have enough class not to toss their old coach under the bus. Pretty much everyone agrees that bad tactics was a huge reason why England didn't win more with their golden generation.

I actually agree about Wilshere, but my point was that it is ironic (and bad timing) that they lacked a strong midfield after having an entire generation of strong midfielders right before that never won.
 
AM

AM

Registered User
Nov 22, 2004
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Edmonton
Cloned said:
Lampard and Gerrard have enough class not to toss their old coach under the bus. Pretty much everyone agrees that bad tactics was a huge reason why England didn't win more with their golden generation.

I actually agree about Wilshere, but my point was that it is ironic (and bad timing) that they lacked a strong midfield after having an entire generation of strong midfielders right before that never won.
Click to expand...

Funny evaluating a player from one game. Henderson was a large part of the reason England was where they were at. HE came up against the best midfielder in the world and he regressed abit.

Next time he will be better.
 
Bangers

Bangers

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May 31, 2006
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Pining for Jack Wheelchair?

The guy could hardly get a game from freaking Bournemouth the season before last, and he was a squad player that Arsenal only offered a token extension to.

The guy epitomizes everything non-English supporters used to hate about English squads (prior to this one). Highly touted too young, became massively arrogant, had some serious injuries that wiped a few years out of his development and never put in the work to fulfill his early potential.

If England wanted a straight up creative mid, Jonjo Shelvey would have been a better choice (even though he can be a bit red-prone).
 
booyakasha

booyakasha

Registered User
Oct 11, 2007
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Bangers said:
Pining for Jack Wheelchair?

The guy could hardly get a game from freaking Bournemouth the season before last, and he was a squad player that Arsenal only offered a token extension to.

The guy epitomizes everything non-English supporters used to hate about English squads (prior to this one). Highly touted too young, became massively arrogant, had some serious injuries that wiped a few years out of his development and never put in the work to fulfill his early potential.

If England wanted a straight up creative mid, Jonjo Shelvey would have been a better choice (even though he can be a bit red-prone).
Click to expand...

over Wilshere?
giphy.gif
 
Bangers

Bangers

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May 31, 2006
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booyakasha said:
over Wilshere?
giphy.gif
Click to expand...

In a heartbeat. Shelvey has been the far better player over the last year. Both the eye test and the statistics bear this out:

Last year's premier league stats:
GP: Shelvey 25(5), Wilshere 12(8)
Key Passes/Game: Shelvey 1.4, Wilshere 0.8 (which is pretty pathetic as Wilshere plays further up the pitch)
Through Balls/Game: Shelvey 0.3, Wilshere 0.1
Chances Created: Shelvey 1.4, Wilshere 0.7

They had the same number of assists, but while Wilshere had Aubameyang, Lacazette and Giroud to play balls through to, Shelvey had such luminaries as Dwight Gayle, Joselu and Ayoze Perez to pass to. Wilshere did have a much higher pass %, but you can't really compare the two as, once again, Wilshere plays further ahead and his passes average 8m less in distance.

To put it in perspective, Wilshere couldn't beat out freaking Marc Pugh, Harry Arter or Andrew Surman for a starting spot at Bournemouth. He couldn't even beat out Dan Gosling as the first mid off the bench.

To the uninitiated, that's like not being able to beat out Mark Letestu, Kyle Brodziak and Jay Beagle for a spot on your top line.

Sorry for actually watching the games instead of basing my opinions off reputation from 5 years ago...
 
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Drivesaitl

Drivesaitl

Finding Hyman
Oct 8, 2017
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Canuck hunting
The pregame segment on Modric was outstanding. Hopefully its on YouTube. Really its the heart of players like this that defines why we watch sports. His play is nothing short of inspiration. If theres a player in this tournament that will never be forgotten its Modric. So far he's made this his tournament far and above how Ozil had carved out a reputation in Germany in WC's. He's on Schweinsteiger level at least.

Game is nearly on tap, a world awaits.
 
DrDrai

DrDrai

The OG
Jan 28, 2007
5,222
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Edmonton
I love the game, but all of these game are decided by own goals and penalty shots, I was actually excited to see Croatia score with a nice strike
 
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