[Soccer] World Cup 2018
- Thread starter mikerc
- Start date
Some thoughts on the Spain-Russia match.
This Spain team's a pale shadow of the great Spain teams of the past decade, by which I mean they tried to use the same tactics yesterday, but were much worse at making it work. Spain's famous for playing a style called tiki taka, which was popularized in their domestic league by Barcelona around the 00's and early 10's, and is characterized by its short passes, quick movement, and possession-oriented philosophy. Back then, Spain could pretty much directly transfer Barcelona's tactics to the national team, because many of Barcelona's key players were Spanish. The midfield trio of Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets could tiki taka all day long, because they played with each other every day and had an almost psychic connection with one another. Without those key players, Spain's tiki taka yesterday lacked any real urgency or incision; they'd pass the ball around, but play very few killer passes towards Russia's penalty area, and there wasn't as much movement off the ball to create openings for productive passes. It felt very much like a neutered version of tiki taka, one where Spain was keeping possession just for possession's sake.
What's more, Russia were quite happy to let Spain have possession, because they were quite well organized defensively, and could afford to be patient. I think the game ended with Spain having had something like 70% or 75% possession, which is a ridiculous amount. Russia's game plan was to sit back and deny Spain any space. In the past, Spanish teams would be able to tiki taka their way through such defensive tactics, or if they couldn't then they'd use big, strong, and skillful center forwards like Villa, Morata, and Torres to bludgeon their way through the opposition. Yesterday, though, Diego Costa was having no success bludgeoning his way through the Russian defense, because... well... they're Russians. On the whole I was impressed with what the Russians could do. They didn't play particularly well, but they didn't have to. They may not be as fancy or as skillful as the Spains and Brazils of the world, but they're well drilled, well organized, and had a clear gameplan they managed to execute fairly well. Their objective was to not give Spain any openings, and to their credit, they mostly didn't.
As a final note, I don't know why De Gea is so bad at saving penalties. Even when he gets contact on the ball, it'll still go in.
This Spain team's a pale shadow of the great Spain teams of the past decade, by which I mean they tried to use the same tactics yesterday, but were much worse at making it work. Spain's famous for playing a style called tiki taka, which was popularized in their domestic league by Barcelona around the 00's and early 10's, and is characterized by its short passes, quick movement, and possession-oriented philosophy. Back then, Spain could pretty much directly transfer Barcelona's tactics to the national team, because many of Barcelona's key players were Spanish. The midfield trio of Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets could tiki taka all day long, because they played with each other every day and had an almost psychic connection with one another. Without those key players, Spain's tiki taka yesterday lacked any real urgency or incision; they'd pass the ball around, but play very few killer passes towards Russia's penalty area, and there wasn't as much movement off the ball to create openings for productive passes. It felt very much like a neutered version of tiki taka, one where Spain was keeping possession just for possession's sake.
What's more, Russia were quite happy to let Spain have possession, because they were quite well organized defensively, and could afford to be patient. I think the game ended with Spain having had something like 70% or 75% possession, which is a ridiculous amount. Russia's game plan was to sit back and deny Spain any space. In the past, Spanish teams would be able to tiki taka their way through such defensive tactics, or if they couldn't then they'd use big, strong, and skillful center forwards like Villa, Morata, and Torres to bludgeon their way through the opposition. Yesterday, though, Diego Costa was having no success bludgeoning his way through the Russian defense, because... well... they're Russians. On the whole I was impressed with what the Russians could do. They didn't play particularly well, but they didn't have to. They may not be as fancy or as skillful as the Spains and Brazils of the world, but they're well drilled, well organized, and had a clear gameplan they managed to execute fairly well. Their objective was to not give Spain any openings, and to their credit, they mostly didn't.
As a final note, I don't know why De Gea is so bad at saving penalties. Even when he gets contact on the ball, it'll still go in.
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Someone check on @Bubble181
Dammit, Belgium, why couldn't you have shit the bed against the underdogs like so many other teams have at this World Cup? 
Anyway, credit where it's due, that was a good comeback. Japan played well too, they can go home with their heads held high.
The Brazil-Mexico match was fairly interesting too. Mexico largely gave as good as they got for the first 30 minutes or so, but then Brazil had another gear they could step into, and Mexico couldn't keep up. Brazil this year doesn't play with the same swagger or panache of the great Brazil teams of the past, but they're still a very dangerous team.
Anyway, credit where it's due, that was a good comeback. Japan played well too, they can go home with their heads held high.
The Brazil-Mexico match was fairly interesting too. Mexico largely gave as good as they got for the first 30 minutes or so, but then Brazil had another gear they could step into, and Mexico couldn't keep up. Brazil this year doesn't play with the same swagger or panache of the great Brazil teams of the past, but they're still a very dangerous team.
Psht, what sort of fantasyland have you entered if you don't think England are going to beat Colombia by double digits.And today the last quarter final is decided...who will Columbia face - Sweden or Switzerland?
Okay, yeah, in rugby maybe.
...because one Columbian couldn't keep a penalty in the box.
Tell the world, it's coming home.
I just want to re-emphasize how unlikely this is. England have NEVER won a World Cup penalty shootout before. To say penalties are England's kryptonite is to ignore the fact that Superman has beaten enemies armed with kryptonite before. England always lose shootouts, simple as that. It's a truth as immutable as the fact that the Earth revolves around the sun, or that I am a porn addict. This is truly a World Cup of unexpected surprises.
On the whole I'd say England were the better team on the night, though it was a very scrappy game that wasn't very pleasing to the eye. The ref was pretty bad, he lost control of the game and let players get away with way too much. Maybe I'm biased, but I thought the Colombians were the bigger aggressors in this regard, and several of them probably should've been red carded. Anyway, for much of the game England managed to keep Colombia at bay, in fact I don't think Colombia had any really good chances until late on, when Pickford pulled off that miracle save against Uribe and Mina finally scored. And then in extra time, I don't know if England were fatigued or demoralized or what, but Colombia got back into the game and had a host of good chances. England will need to be more clinical and more mentally disciplined than this if they want to keep going in this tournament.
Speaking of Pickford, wow I completely underrated him before the tournament. I called him inexperienced and mediocre. Well, he may not have much international experience, but he showed he was anything but mediocre in this game. Apart from the key saves he made, it felt like he was always in full control of his penalty area, and was a calming presence for his outfielders through much of the game. There wasn't much he could do about Colombia's equalizer, the ball went to the post, where it was Trippier's responsibility to clear it, but it bounced too high for Trippier to reach.
Based on current form, I'd say England have a chance of beating Sweden, but Russia and Croatia will be much, much sterner tests. Not to mention whoever's waiting in the final from the other side of the bracket (currently I'm inclined to say France).
On the whole I'd say England were the better team on the night, though it was a very scrappy game that wasn't very pleasing to the eye. The ref was pretty bad, he lost control of the game and let players get away with way too much. Maybe I'm biased, but I thought the Colombians were the bigger aggressors in this regard, and several of them probably should've been red carded. Anyway, for much of the game England managed to keep Colombia at bay, in fact I don't think Colombia had any really good chances until late on, when Pickford pulled off that miracle save against Uribe and Mina finally scored. And then in extra time, I don't know if England were fatigued or demoralized or what, but Colombia got back into the game and had a host of good chances. England will need to be more clinical and more mentally disciplined than this if they want to keep going in this tournament.
Speaking of Pickford, wow I completely underrated him before the tournament. I called him inexperienced and mediocre. Well, he may not have much international experience, but he showed he was anything but mediocre in this game. Apart from the key saves he made, it felt like he was always in full control of his penalty area, and was a calming presence for his outfielders through much of the game. There wasn't much he could do about Colombia's equalizer, the ball went to the post, where it was Trippier's responsibility to clear it, but it bounced too high for Trippier to reach.
Based on current form, I'd say England have a chance of beating Sweden, but Russia and Croatia will be much, much sterner tests. Not to mention whoever's waiting in the final from the other side of the bracket (currently I'm inclined to say France).
To add to @bhamv3's point about England & penalty shootouts, here is a picture of current England manager Gareth Southgate after he missed the crucial penalty in the shootout with Germany to put England out of Euro 96
Here is a picture of Southgate after Mateus Uribe missed the penalty to put Colombia out of the World Cup
As much as I want to see England fall flat on their faces (particularly now the British media are going full ENG-ER-LUND) I also kinda want to see Southgate do well. Maybe Belgium could sack their manager before the Brazil game & he could take over & lead them to the trophy?
Here is a picture of Southgate after Mateus Uribe missed the penalty to put Colombia out of the World Cup
As much as I want to see England fall flat on their faces (particularly now the British media are going full ENG-ER-LUND) I also kinda want to see Southgate do well. Maybe Belgium could sack their manager before the Brazil game & he could take over & lead them to the trophy?
No matter what happened, the British media were going to embarrass themselves.
So, @Bubble181, nervous yet?
Dave
Staff member