The Ref Stop

Prospects for the last 8 (OT fan stuff)

Tealeaf said:
Less than12 hours later, ask and ye shall receive.

Morocco eliminate Spain. More than just a game this one with lots of non-football stuff in the margins
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Of course I meant Portugal and Spain haha.

Tempted fate, obviously!!
 
The Ref Stop
Highlight of the World Cup so far for me.... Morocco player fouling his own teammate, who was in the process of trying to tackle a Spanish attacker on the corner of the Morocco penalty area with 4 minutes of extra time left! :D

Sarabia will be having nightmares, hit the post with the final kick on extra time, then hits the post with his penalty.

People complained 6 subs in International friendlies was too much and killing the spectacle, then they go and vote to bring in 5 subs in the domestic & International competitions! :confused:
 
Kes said:
Had a feeling they'd (Portugal) click soon enough. Poor from the Swiss though.
Can't see the Morroccans turning them over ... 🤔
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Morocco won't be open like that defensively though, they will sit in and play for a counter attack goal or penalties.
 
And . . . my other potential upset call went 6-1 to Portugal.

I'm done making predictions for this tournament. Thank goodness I don't bet on sports, as I'd be broke by now.
 
What about GS’ team selection… does he double up with Walker at RCB and Trippier outside him?

If not, I think the team that started against Senegal is an easy selection (Foden, Saka, Hendo in).

If it is a back 5, surely Walker at CB, Trippier… is it as simple as dropping Hendo.. what’s GS’ normal with 5 at the back… is it a 532 - he’s had Saka at wingback before and Sterling was it in the 3-3 with Germany for a while IIRC.

But I can’t see how the back 5 works. It should be a 532 with Rice, Jude and Mount… but then big man little man Kane Saka up front?

Doesn’t compute for me. I think the 433 makes most sense as we have 3 reliable midfielders to close down Griezeman and fill the space in front of the defence… hmm?
 
santa sangria said:
What about GS’ team selection… does he double up with Walker at RCB and Trippier outside him?

If not, I think the team that started against Senegal is an easy selection (Foden, Saka, Hendo in).

If it is a back 5, surely Walker at CB, Trippier… is it as simple as dropping Hendo.. what’s GS’ normal with 5 at the back… is it a 532 - he’s had Saka at wingback before and Sterling was it in the 3-3 with Germany for a while IIRC.

But I can’t see how the back 5 works. It should be a 532 with Rice, Jude and Mount… but then big man little man Kane Saka up front?

Doesn’t compute for me. I think the 433 makes most sense as we have 3 reliable midfielders to close down Griezeman and fill the space in front of the defence… hmm?
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I think the Southgate of old would absolutely have switched to 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 against France to try and counter Mbappe, but this version of Southgate seems to be a bit more adventurous and I think (and hope) he will stay 4-3-3. The other factor is we don't really have anyone who regularly plays as a support striker, arguably Sterling but he won't have trained all week. Mount, Foden, Maddison, Saka, Grealish all tend to start in midfield or wide, rarely as a number 10. We are way better going forward than defensively, and taking one of Foden, Saka or Henderson out would leave us just as weak in defence but also weakened going forward. Also, if I was the French manager and England switched to a back 3 I would absolutely switch Mbappe and Dembele, which then leads to the very frightening prospect of Mbappe running at Shaw and Maguire instead of Tripper and Walker.

P.S. A few weeks ago I would have had myself sectioned for thinking, let alone writing down, that Henderson should start ahead of the likes of Mount, Grealish, Maddison, etc, but he is pretty much undroppable after the last game.
 
RustyRef said:
I think the Southgate of old would absolutely have switched to 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 against France to try and counter Mbappe, but this version of Southgate seems to be a bit more adventurous and I think (and hope) he will stay 4-3-3. The other factor is we don't really have anyone who regularly plays as a support striker, arguably Sterling but he won't have trained all week. Mount, Foden, Maddison, Saka, Grealish all tend to start in midfield or wide, rarely as a number 10. We are way better going forward than defensively, and taking one of Foden, Saka or Henderson out would leave us just as weak in defence but also weakened going forward. Also, if I was the French manager and England switched to a back 3 I would absolutely switch Mbappe and Dembele, which then leads to the very frightening prospect of Mbappe running at Shaw and Maguire instead of Tripper and Walker.

P.S. A few weeks ago I would have had myself sectioned for thinking, let alone writing down, that Henderson should start ahead of the likes of Mount, Grealish, Maddison, etc, but he is pretty much undroppable after the last game.
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Yes, well said.

Pretty crazy that Shaw is an automatic starter in the WC QF and I’m not panicking.

All the players in defence and attack, well, bar Spurs - play 433 religiously… and Mount, Hendo, and Spurs mostly… surely much easier to go with the familiar.
 
All l know is that I'm loving the football from Morocco but I really need them to get knocked out for Sweepstake purposes.
 
RustyRef said:
I think the Southgate of old would absolutely have switched to 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 against France to try and counter Mbappe, but this version of Southgate seems to be a bit more adventurous and I think (and hope) he will stay 4-3-3. The other factor is we don't really have anyone who regularly plays as a support striker, arguably Sterling but he won't have trained all week. Mount, Foden, Maddison, Saka, Grealish all tend to start in midfield or wide, rarely as a number 10. We are way better going forward than defensively, and taking one of Foden, Saka or Henderson out would leave us just as weak in defence but also weakened going forward. Also, if I was the French manager and England switched to a back 3 I would absolutely switch Mbappe and Dembele, which then leads to the very frightening prospect of Mbappe running at Shaw and Maguire instead of Tripper and Walker.

P.S. A few weeks ago I would have had myself sectioned for thinking, let alone writing down, that Henderson should start ahead of the likes of Mount, Grealish, Maddison, etc, but he is pretty much undroppable after the last game.
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I've never been a huge fan of the idea of a formation being innately defensive, and I think this England team shows why. 3-4-3 leaves England 2 vs 3 in the midfield, which puts the defence under constant pressure for 90 minutes, and 3-5-2 completely blunts the attack, which will allow France's full backs to push on and get involved.

The best "defensive" option will be the 4-3-3 that the players know and that plays to this squad's strengths. What do your opponents least want you to do? In this case, I think the answer to that is 4-3-3 with in-form players playing mostly in positions they know well from their club experience - that's what will scare France more than anything else tricksy, so that's what Southgate should do.
 
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On a totally random topic, today is a fantastic "football kit" day. Argentina's blue and white vs the orange of the Dutch, while Brazil's canary yellow goes up against Croatia's checkers. It's just a shame Nike and the Dutch decided to go with more of this yellowish tint instead of the classic deep orange we've come to associate with the Oranje. But in any case, it will be a visually appealing day of football.
 
RefIADad said:
On a totally random topic, today is a fantastic "football kit" day. Argentina's blue and white vs the orange of the Dutch, while Brazil's canary yellow goes up against Croatia's checkers. It's just a shame Nike and the Dutch decided to go with more of this yellowish tint instead of the classic deep orange we've come to associate with the Oranje. But in any case, it will be a visually appealing day of football.
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And none of those F*CKING AWFUL Puma kits with the central shield design thing.
 
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