The Ref Stop

England v Croatia

The Ref Stop
I won’t be watching either as away with the little one down the parents & they detest football.

I’ll be having a tenner on Pogba man of the match in the final as he’s done sweet FA so far & I can see him saving his best game for the final.

That’s me and the World Cup done thanks Fifa for making my job ten times harder next season & good luck to Rochi if he gets the final.
 
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Will France be the 3rd team to underestimate Croatia?
France struggled through the group, played a great game against Argentina where everyone decide Mbappe was the world's best player and have been hardly earth shattering in their QF and SF.
I don't know where this "France will smash them" attitude is coming from
 
I think Mbappe will be the deciding factor. France is starting to gel as a team but his is critical to their success. GK play as well
 
Men in Black said:
I won’t be watching either as away with the little one down the parents & they detest football.

I’ll be having a tenner on Pogba man of the match in the final as he’s done sweet FA so far & I can see him saving his best game for the final.

That’s me and the World Cup done thanks Fifa for making my job ten times harder next season & good luck to Rochi if he gets the final.
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Sweet FA? Did you watch the Semi final? Pogba and Kante were the perfect midfield pairing!
 
QuaverRef said:
Sweet FA? Did you watch the Semi final? Pogba and Kante were the perfect midfield pairing!
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Nah didn’t watch it properly from what I saw France looked slightly better, Pogba didn’t exactly pull up any trees did he.

Has he scored or assisted yet? Or won a man of the match award.
 
Men in Black said:
Nah didn’t watch it properly from what I saw France looked slightly better, Pogba didn’t exactly pull up any trees did he.

Has he scored or assisted yet? Or won a man of the match award.
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Don't get bogged down on stats. He's been a huge influence for France this tournament., especially on the defensive side of his game. When you're in a top quality side like France and have players like Lloris, Mbappe and Greizemann around you, it's easy to have a great performance in midfield but get over shadowed by the players infront and behind you.

That's me agreeing with you saying that Pogba would be a good MOTM bet, decent odds as well I expect
 
QuaverRef said:
Don't get bogged down on stats. He's been a huge influence for France this tournament., especially on the defensive side of his game. When you're in a top quality side like France and have players like Lloris, Mbappe and Greizemann around you, it's easy to have a great performance in midfield but get over shadowed by the players infront and behind you.

That's me agreeing with you saying that Pogba would be a good MOTM bet, decent odds as well I expect
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I’m a fan & believe me I’m aware that players that anchor midfields are often overlooked they are as important as your Neymars & Messi’s.

Pogba can look unplayable at times for Utd & France but I’m still unconvinced he’s living upto the price tag & form he showed for Juve.

But yeah he’s won me a fair few quid before on Man of the match so I’ll have a tickle on it.

Problem with this World Cup they seem to give it to goalscorers or keepers.
 
Men in Black said:
I’m a fan & believe me I’m aware that players that anchor midfields are often overlooked they are as important as your Neymars & Messi’s.

Pogba can look unplayable at times for Utd & France but I’m still unconvinced he’s living upto the price tag & form he showed for Juve.

But yeah he’s won me a fair few quid before on Man of the match so I’ll have a tickle on it.

Problem with this World Cup they seem to give it to goalscorers or keepers.
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Exactly right with your last sentence. Take England as an example ... Kane has 3 MOTM and Pickford 1 ... arguably their best player of the tournament has been Trippier
 
GraemeS said:
Very messy with the delayed (and wrong) offside flag, commentators still can't work it out
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Was it wrong Graeme? Only seen 1 quick freeze frame and to me only the defender's arm played him onside, but lotg says all players arms don't count, so you could argue he was offside. They certainly got a fk for it.
 
PinnerPaul said:
Was it wrong Graeme? Only seen 1 quick freeze frame and to me only the defender's arm played him onside, but lotg says all players arms don't count, so you could argue he was offside. They certainly got a fk for it.
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Looked onside to me, but again, I've only seen it once so am happy to accept I may be wrong on that.

What looked messy to me was how long the game was allowed to continue before the flag eventually did go up. The striker had two shots, the ball bounced (only just) out of play and was then hoofed upfield, and because of the delay, it took a second watch for me to work out what had happened. And the commentators still hadn't worked it out later, referring to the IFK as a goal kick and then wondering why a corner wasn't given as it clearly touched a defender last. Flags and signals etc are supposed to add clarity, and by waiting until the ball went out to use his flag, the offside decision was made less clear.
 
Apparently Cakir recently applied for Croatian citizenship!

Nice1 Fifa
 
GraemeS said:
Looked onside to me, but again, I've only seen it once so am happy to accept I may be wrong on that.

What looked messy to me was how long the game was allowed to continue before the flag eventually did go up. The striker had two shots, the ball bounced (only just) out of play and was then hoofed upfield, and because of the delay, it took a second watch for me to work out what had happened. And the commentators still hadn't worked it out later, referring to the IFK as a goal kick and then wondering why a corner wasn't given as it clearly touched a defender last. Flags and signals etc are supposed to add clarity, and by waiting until the ball went out to use his flag, the offside decision was made less clear.
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Agree with all that Graeme - like you - saw only 1 quick look so wouldn't like to argue too much either way! Also as you say, commentators totally confused and I've only seen 1 match report that called it correctly as well. On a wider note, despite being very anti VAR before the tournament, I think its worked as well as it could have here.

Several things I still don't like and don't think most can be changed

1) This example of a non then late flag - as you say 'messsy'
2) Delay to the game
3) Some 50/50 judgement calls (Not what I would call 'clear & obvious') being reviewed
4) And of course as predicted it certainly has NOT stopped players surrounding the referee arguing - in fact its made it worse as players/managers have quickly worked out that VAR actually gives two appeals for a pen, try the ref, if that doesn't work get him to look at VAR!

PS Sorry about bold type - me/computer not at our best yesterday!
 
GraemeS said:
What looked messy to me was how long the game was allowed to continue before the flag eventually did go up. The striker had two shots, the ball bounced (only just) out of play and was then hoofed upfield, and because of the delay, it took a second watch for me to work out what had happened
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As I understand it, the AR was just following the instructions they have been given. These are apparently that when there is a marginal offside with a potential goal in the offing, the AR should delay the flag until the goal opportunity is over. If Kane had scored on either attempt, the preceding play including the potential offside would automatically have been looked at by VAR.

However, had he flagged earlier, say before Kane's second attempt, and if the whistle had gone and Kane had then put the ball in the net, a potentially good goal would have been ruled out. By delaying the flag until there is no longer any immediate chance of a goal being scored (or so the theory goes) the 'best' outcome for the game can be reached.

I agree that it looks incredibly messy and is very confusing. As has been said, almost none of the commentators or media outlets were able to figure out what had happened - but this is apparently the way the authorities want it to work. There have been several previous incidents with a similarly delayed flag that I have noticed and again, they were usually misinterpreted by the commentators.
 
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