World Cup 2022.

[leedsvaliant]

Don’t disagree with that. England and France did both look suspect at the back when put under pressure, suppose you could say that about Germany too. Will the Spanish be sharper? Or will they play their normal tippy tapping?

With the high press style nowadays, that tippy tappy style isn't as effective as it once was. They haven't really had a great striker since Villa or Torres and their midfield is nowhere near Xavi and Iniesta..be interesting to see how they go on.France have such a strong attack that they will more often than not outscore the opposition....although Giroud and Griezmann are probably not at their peak. I suppose if you can stop Mbappe then you've got a chance.

I think we could see a bit of a changing of the guard in terms of the traditional world powerhouses.

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[eh up nah]

Absolutely nothing for us to worry about,  I think this is probably the best chance we've had of a world Cup in my lifetime (ie, since 1982).

Just got this feeling we could come up against Portugal in the semis and how would we do against an absolute <ovf censored> House team like them.  Not sure about us winning ugly.

We'd need to get past France in quarters though, they look the best of the rest so far.

Overall, international football ain't as strong as it was.  Not by a long chalk.

[fuzzyvalefan]

Spain looking strong.

[leedsvaliant]

Spain looking strong.

Yes they do, but if you stand and watch them play like Costa Rica are, you're going to get smashed.

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[NorthwoodValiant]

Spain doing the usual Spanish thing of making 300,000 passes a game

[Emile]

Ben Garner will be drooling at his TV

[Tony Rodriguez]

1 hour ago, leedsvaliant said:

Only really England and France who have looked half decent so far. The Dutch looked laboured and don't have anywhere near the quality of previous years, the Argies look like they're relying on players past their best, the Germans look cumbersome in defence. We'll see how Brazil get on but I always feel like they are massively overhyped. Belgium look to have passed their peak. Spain could have a chance but they haven't quite got the midfield that they once had or leaders in defence. It's a tournament where a surprise name could win.

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Unless you watch La Liga you may not have seen much of Pedri and Gavi. They might both still be teenagers but they are fantastic footballers.

[philpvfc]

1 hour ago, fuzzyvalefan said:

Spain looking strong.

Had a wager on Spain to win the cup before it started, my only reservation was whether they could score enough goals…..got to be dead cert now!

[philpvfc]

1 hour ago, Tony Rodriguez said:

Unless you watch La Liga you may not have seen much of Pedri and Gavi. They might both still be teenagers but they are fantastic footballers.

Pedri was one of the best 5 players in the Euros

[leedsvaliant]

Unless you watch La Liga you may not have seen much of Pedri and Gavi. They might both still be teenagers but they are fantastic footballers.

Both class but still young. Spain looked fantastic albeit against opposition that stood and let them play. Certainly looked up there with the best teams so far.

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[eh up nah]

Think we can safely rule Belgium out.

They were DIRE tonight.

[leedsvaliant]

Think we can safely rule Belgium out.
They were DIRE tonight.

Absolutely dreadful. They were very lucky to win and against a better forward line they could have lost by 4 or 5. They're too reliant on a number of players way past their peak and Batshuayi upfront is a league one player. I'd be amazed if they got much further than the round of 16.

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[DaneValiant]

Wow, Iran beat Wales 2-0 by scoring in 90+8 and 90+11 mins. Page out

[Warren]

Wales persist with Bale. He's not fit enough. But Page won't drop him. I know there can be key moments but they are always up against it the rest of the game. 

They need to look at how they qualified. Ukraine outplayed them and were dead unlucky. Wales goal was a Bale goal by way of a massive deflection. He weren't great then either. 

England need to beat USA absolutely and also to be able to give the squad a chance v Wales. And especially to keep Kane in reserve. Can expect a Wales storming the castle nutting and kicking every Englishman in sight type game. Best not need to battle that way back and just calmly pick them off on the counter with pace. 

Ward is the main reason Leicester were bottom of the league. Surely we can score past him. He's only at PL level because Leicester have financial fair play issues. 

[Warren]

On 23/11/2022 at 23:58, leedsvaliant said:

Absolutely dreadful. They were very lucky to win and against a better forward line they could have lost by 4 or 5. They're too reliant on a number of players way past their peak and Batshuayi upfront is a league one player. I'd be amazed if they got much further than the round of 16.

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2/3 of central defence left Spurs a while back. But Courtois won Real Madrid the Champions League final. If he performs miracles they still have an outside shout.