MikeO Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Brilliant for Costa Rica; keep playing like they have been and they could get through another round or two, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Well, that's 90 minutes of my life I won't get back. Both teams were awful - boring, unimaginative, and without passion...If I was the manager of Costa Rica, I'd feel rather confident right now if this is the calibre of the opposition. Btw I think we played well and Italy will go far again because they play it like a chess game. Semi finals at least for Italy. It was a decent game for me and this England side looks much better than the previous two tournaments sides. We disagree again. Based on this performance, both England and Italy will struggle to get out of the group. England may have been dreadful, but Italy weren't much better. I still suspect that Costa Rica and Uruguay will go through. Maybe Pirlo will prove me wrong. Each to their own mate but that's wild logic and completely against the status quo. Stranger things have happened. We'll find out tomorrow I guess We did find out, didn't we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newty82 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 We did find out, didn't we. Haha...The poor bloke gets 'owned' too often!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Robbie Savage: "An unbelievable performance from Costa Rica. In every single department they have been better than Italy. Second balls, first into the tackle, a great goal and should have had a penalty. But how can Italy be so good against England, with everyone lauding Pirlo, yet be so poor today?" Maybe because, in trying to believe that England was not really dreadful, too many pretended that Italy are a good time. The truth is, they were no better against England than they were against Costa Rica, but the opposition this time around was of higher quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newty82 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Gotta be honest, pre world cup, didn't see Costa Rica getting out of the group. Thought Italy would win group and be between England and Uruguay for 2nd. Been a few surprises in this world cup so far. It's great!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newty82 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Robbie Savage: "An unbelievable performance from Costa Rica. In every single department they have been better than Italy. Second balls, first into the tackle, a great goal and should have had a penalty. But how can Italy be so good against England, with everyone lauding Pirlo, yet be so poor today?" Maybe because, in trying to believe that England was not really dreadful, too many pretended that Italy are a good time. The truth is, they were no better against England than they were against Costa Rica, but the opposition this time around was of higher quality. Well said. And fair enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Haha...The poor bloke gets 'owned' too often!!! Miguel provides a lot of useful insights, but he's been so arrogant and cocksure about Italy and England. I'm wrong more than most, but I knew I was right on this one. Might as well take advantage of my moment to gloat, because I don't get that many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newty82 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Miguel provides a lot of useful insights, but he's been so arrogant and cocksure about Italy and England. I'm wrong more than most, but I knew I was right on this one. Might as well take advantage of my moment to gloat, because I don't get that many. Haha.. neither do I, so I had to jump on someone else's gloat!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Fair play to Steve - he was right here. I did say ages ago that CR weren't the whipping boys they're made out to be, but I did think they'd finish third or fourth, possibly second with a great tournament. However, they've been excellent and now only about a five goal swing in the final games will see them not top the section. REALLY wish I'd have put that tenner on England 10/1 to finish bottom of the group. But hindsight makes things easier I guess. In Cotto's defence - we all get things right and wrong, that's the beauty of football. I do think it's dangerous to write off Italy though. Right now it looks like Colombia vs Italy/Uruguay in the last sixteen. Edited June 20, 2014 by Nikica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC11 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Hold on hold on.... You said Italy won't go through.... Costa Rica and Uruguay will - not happened yet. Anybody that thought Costa Rica would go through would have been laughed at a week ago. It's a massive shock and totally against the grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC11 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 We did find out, didn't we. Haha...The poor bloke gets 'owned' too often!!! Miguel provides a lot of useful insights, but he's been so arrogant and cocksure about Italy and England. I'm wrong more than most, but I knew I was right on this one. Might as well take advantage of my moment to gloat, because I don't get that many. Hold on hold on.... You said Italy won't go through.... Costa Rica and Uruguay will - not happened yet. Anybody that thought Costa Rica would go through would have been laughed at a week ago. It's a massive shock and totally against the grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC11 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Watch England put 6 past Costa Rica now.... It's a Nack Cornish Steve and BlueBlood81 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Hold on hold on.... You said Italy won't go through.... Costa Rica and Uruguay will - not happened yet. Anybody that thought Costa Rica would go through would have been laughed at a week ago. It's a massive shock and totally against the grain. Yes, I know. I'm not being too serious - just pleased that for once I was right, especially after you were so insistent! You have my full permission to gloat even more if Italy do make the semis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC11 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 I hope Italy go far but after that performance I just don't know. They seem to lack anything positive in the final third. I thought that Insigni had a shocker when he came on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 I hope Italy go far but after that performance I just don't know. They seem to lack anything positive in the final third. I thought that Insigni had a shocker when he came on. I was being too simplistic when I suggested that Italy played just as poorly against England as they did against Costa Rica. There was one big difference: Costa Rica shut Pirlo down. They gave him little time or space, whereas England gave him as much as he wanted (symptomatic of England's very weak midfield). When Pirlo is taken out, Italy lack any kind of spark or creativity. They depend as much on him as Uruguay depend on Suarez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Good recent posts, which I agree with for the majority. France have been excellent here, but Switzerland's tactics are really playing into their hands. Have Valbuena as fantasy captain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeO Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Good recent posts, which I agree with for the majority. France have been excellent here, but Switzerland's tactics are really playing into their hands. Have Valbuena as fantasy captain Was talking to my brother last night pre the England game; he lived ten years in France and is currently working in Abu Dhabi with a lot of French nationals and he says that every French person he knows wants them to fail; because of what happened four years ago and the fact that the "ringleader" (Evra) is still in the squad. Actively cheering the opposition apparently; so they'll be a bit pissed off tonight. Don't know how widespread the feeling is across France in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafnia Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 16/1 both Honduras and Ecuador to get red card... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newty82 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Watch England put 6 past Costa Rica now.... It's a Nack Yes. Like it. Barkley hattrick too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Was talking to my brother last night pre the England game; he lived ten years in France and is currently working in Abu Dhabi with a lot of French nationals and he says that every French person he knows wants them to fail; because of what happened four years ago and the fact that the "ringleader" (Evra) is still in the squad. Actively cheering the opposition apparently; so they'll be a bit pissed off tonight. Don't know how widespread the feeling is across France in general. I can understand that - Evra was one of the ringleaders and he apparently bullied Gourcuff. Something about him being too middle-class for the like sof Evra and Ribery. Focusing purely on the football. Digne should probably start over him anyway. Switzerland were poor tonight, but take nothing away from France as they were great. They've come into the tournament quietly but they have quality all over the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 I can understand that - Evra was one of the ringleaders and he apparently bullied Gourcuff. Something about him being too middle-class for the like sof Evra and Ribery. Focusing purely on the football. Digne should probably start over him anyway. Switzerland were poor tonight, but take nothing away from France as they were great. They've come into the tournament quietly but they have quality all over the park. Switzerland were lucky to claim a win against Ecuador. Maybe what results in this group are revealing is how off-base are the FIFA team rankings. However could Switzerland be ranked #6? Also, Portugal are ranked #4, Italy #9, and England #10. Costa Rica, on the other hand, are ranked behind Scotland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newty82 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Switzerland were lucky to claim a win against Ecuador. Maybe what results in this group are revealing is how off-base are the FIFA team rankings. However could Switzerland be ranked #6? Also, Portugal are ranked #4, Italy #9, and England #10. Costa Rica, on the other hand, are ranked behind Scotland. Yes! How the hell do FIFA do the rankings these days? I know they changed the method within the last 5-10 years. I nearly fainted when I seen Switzerland at 6th! Honestly....what the ffffff?!!! It's all some sort of points system based on meaningful games in the last 4 years. One thing for sure...England are about to slip!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 (edited) Switzerland were lucky to claim a win against Ecuador. Maybe what results in this group are revealing is how off-base are the FIFA team rankings. However could Switzerland be ranked #6? Also, Portugal are ranked #4, Italy #9, and England #10. Costa Rica, on the other hand, are ranked behind Scotland. Yes! How the hell do FIFA do the rankings these days? I know they changed the method within the last 5-10 years. I nearly fainted when I seen Switzerland at 6th! Honestly....what the ffffff?!!! It's all some sort of points system based on meaningful games in the last 4 years. One thing for sure...England are about to slip!!! Yeah, the world rankings are utter bollocks, as are the UEFA coefficients but we all know FIFA AND UEFA are pricks. Their forumlae for determining the rankings seem very flawed. The problem is that the rankings determined the seeds in this tournament. UEFA's rankings might be a bigger problem because they decide all pots in the Euros, whereas after the seeded pot everything goes by geography in the WC. Another issue with the Euros is that there are only four groups, but often two hosts, so we end up with Poland/Ukraine or Switzerland/Austria being the top pot, leaving only space for the defending champions and another team. Although you could argue this makes things more exciting as it leads to tougher groups in some instances. You only have to look at groups A and B of the last Euros to see how contrasting the groups can be in terms of quality (although that's going on paper because Holland were garbage anyway). Switzerland were lucky with their qualifying group. I believe Norway were a pot 1 team somehow, and the rest of the teams in the group were weak - it was the group of life. That allowed Switzerland to build up their rankings points. Often you just need a single stroke of luck and it spirals. For evidence of the above, look at Greece. They won Euro 2004 playing a very organised, defensive game under Rehhagel. That improved their ranking and meant they were seeded for qualifying groups in future. Since winning Euro 2004 they've generally drawn pretty easy groups, so because they keep avoiding the big boys because they keep fluking gentle groups and hence their ranking doesn't really drop, even though they do nothing in tournaments. FIFA and UEFA have flawed systems but we have to put up with them unfortunately. In truth Switzerland, Belgium and maybe even Colombia (as much as I like them) haven't done enough over the last 5 years to deserve their top pot status in this tournament. Colombia are a possible exception due to finishing second only to Argentina in what is probably the strongest confederation on the planet pound for pound (although it didn't include Brazil as they are hosts). Still, all three shouldn't really be seeded. Italy and Netherlands have did more recently, by getting to the final of the last two tournaments between them. Uruguay deserve to be seeded because they are South American champions, and they made the semis of the last WC. Colombia are better than Uruguay but it should go by what was achieved in the recent past. Unfortunately pointless friendlies and easyish qualifiers hold too much weight. But as I say it only really affects the WC in terms of the top pot as the rest go by geography (although you could argue that good teams like USA and Japan face an uphill struggle by being grouped amongst what have historically been the weaker teams when they are put in the AFC/CONCACAF pot). To sum up, I do think it should go by what is achieved recently because that's as objective as we can get. If Uruguay are seeded and I say 'yeah, but Colombia are better', I can be refuted, because even though I think that's correct, Colombia haven't achieved what Uruguay have recently. Therefore it becomes too subjective. Edited June 21, 2014 by Nikica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeO Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Another issue with the Euros is that there are only four groups Minor point but they're increasing it to twenty four teams from 2016 so there'll be six groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Minor point but they're increasing it to twenty four teams from 2016 so there'll be six groups. Yep. I just mean for the last few tournaments (and two goups before that). 2016 will more or less mirror the 24 team Worlds cups in format. Four third place teams going through is very convoluted. I've said I am against the expansion despite there being more games to enjoy, simply because I think it will dilute the quality. You might think that as a Scot I'd be happy about the increased chance to see my team in a competition again, but I think it will lead to more one-sided games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 iran with the bus fully parked. mourinho would be proud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 But now they are taking on Argentina. Frankly, the latter are rather messi at the back, and Iran should have had a penalty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blueboy122 Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 iran with the bus fully parked. mourinho would be proud. Good for them and it's working. Argentina with all there superstars earning stupid money can't find a way through. Mirallas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 i blame the argentine coach. like Roberto said at the half, 10 people behind the ball for iran, only 6 attackers for argentina. they need to take off the holding midfielders and put on more attackers to even it up a little. every time messi gets the ball 4 people are all over him. tactics are all wrong. aguero and higuain come off for 2 others, like for like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 iran with the bus fully parked. mourinho would be proud. Most of their players play in an amateur league so it's not a bad thing. And they're giving Argentina a right scare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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