The Official 2018 FIFA World Cup Thread

#556
#556
I just want to know what this argentine manager is smoking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piss poor manager for a major soccer team as bad as sampaoli.

You leave Icardi out of the World Cup. You’ve neglected dybala throughout. And in the knockout stage you put Higauin and Aguero on the bench?

Any quality manager would have learned how to play all of these stars together.
 
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#557
#557
Argentina is literally Tennessee football. So much talent, and so much passion by the fan base. Yet wasted by a manager who had no idea how to utilize the talent on the team.
 
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#558
#558
Persian Vol said:
I just want to know what this argentine manager is smoking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piss poor manager for a major soccer team as bad as sampaoli.

You leave Icardi out of the World Cup. You’ve neglected dybala throughout. And in the knockout stage you put Higauin and Aguero on the bench?

Any quality manager would have learned how to play all of these stars together.
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Can't imagine he will still be manager by the time the plane lands in Argentina.
 
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#559
#559
Outofmyvolcanmind said:
They were old and slow. Looked like the Spurs playing golden state the past 4 years.
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I disagree completely. This Germany team wasn’t old or slow. If anything the presence of Reus and Werner only made them faster overall than the previous World Cup. They weren’t speedsters when they won it.

In regards to age, Kroos, Muller, Özil, Hummels, Reus, and so on are all in their late 20s. If anything these players are in the prime of their career. Not to mention young breakout stars like Kimmich and Werner breaking into the scene. The only washed player I can think of is Khedeira. If anything you would assume this German team even without Sane is more talented than the German team who won the World Cup.

The only reason they looked old and slow was that they pressed so high up and left Boateng and Hummels on an island during counters. And there is no Center back in the world that could keep up with quick forwards or wingers by themselves. For what it’s worth Boateng is one of the quicker Center backs in the world.
 
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#563
#563
Persian Vol said:
I disagree completely. This Germany team wasn’t old or slow. If anything the presence of Reus and Werner only made them faster overall than the previous World Cup. They weren’t speedsters when they won it.

In regards to age, Kroos, Muller, Özil, Hummels, Reus, and so on are all in their late 20s. If anything these players are in the prime of their career. Not to mention young breakout stars like Kimmich and Werner breaking into the scene. The only washed player I can think of is Khedeira. If anything you would assume this German team even without Sane is more talented than the German team who won the World Cup.

The only reason they looked old and slow was that they pressed so high up and left Boateng and Hummels on an island during counters. And there is no Center back in the world that could keep up with quick forwards or wingers by themselves. For what it’s worth Boateng is one of the quicker Center backs in the world.
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A lot of those guys are turning 30 before the end of this year. In soccer 30 is old. They are absolutely not in their soccer primes. Also Boateng is nowhere near the quickest center back in the world. He was the slowest guy in the field for Germany in this brief World Cup. If you want to see what quick center backs look like watch Uruguay.
 
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#565
#565
Outofmyvolcanmind said:
A lot of those guys are turning 30 before the end of this year. In soccer 30 is old. They are absolutely not in their soccer primes. Also Boateng is nowhere near the quickest center back in the world. He was the slowest guy in the field for Germany in this brief World Cup. If you want to see what quick center backs look like watch Uruguay.
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Let me clarify my post. I don’t think Germany was grossly old but when you have such a lack of pace with players up front and are forced to push your fullbacks that far up the field to contribute to your attack, you have no excuse for not bringing Sane or playing Goretzka. Germany’s central defense however was comical.
 
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#567
#567
Outofmyvolcanmind said:
Let me clarify my post. I don’t think Germany was grossly old but when you have such a lack of pace with players up front and are forced to push your fullbacks that far up the field to contribute to your attack, you have no excuse for not bringing Sane or playing Goretzka. Germany’s central defense however was comical.
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Marco Reus and Timo Werner are speedsters. Not only speedsters but they didn’t participate with Germany when Germany won their World Cup. So to argue a lack of pace was the reason they fell short is a flawed argument, as they had more speedsters than they did during their success in 2014. They rarely had an opportunity to display their speed since the majority of the game they were possessing the ball on the opponents third. Timo Werner was out of his element during the World Cup as he is far better off the counter and getting in behind. Germany would have benefited more with a target man/big body that could take up space and score headers. Gomez added a dimension but failed to be clinical when he had the opportunity.

I find it so flawed to assume that a player like Sane, who is very skilled and fast would have been an improvement due to the fact that Germany rarely needed pace in this tournament as most teams parked the bus on them, really mitigating any opportunity for Germany to use pace off the counter. Germany’s downfall was a lack of creativity and poor finishing when the opportunity came. If Germany were to score first in any of their games we would see a much more open game, but due to them either being tied or falling behind we never saw the opposing team push up and allow Germany an opportunity to score off the counter.

In regard to saying Boateng is slower than Godin or Giminez I flat out disagree. Boateng is objectively faster than them. It may have seemed that Boateng was slow due to the fact that he has to track back by himself to catch players like forsberg, Lozano, vela, and company. Center backs aren’t fast. They are usually the slowest position group on the pitch. The fact that Germany would even push up that high was a testament to Boatengs speed and Hummels discipline. Uruguay may have looked quicker but they never had to backtrack the way the German defenders did, so it is not a proper comparison. Like I said, Sergio Ramos would look like Mertesacker if he had to chase down Lozano from midfield.
 
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#568
#568
Persian Vol said:
Marco Reus and Timo Werner are speedsters. Not only speedsters but they didn’t participate with Germany when Germany won their World Cup. So to argue a lack of pace was the reason they fell short is a flawed argument, as they had more speedsters than they did during their success in 2014. They rarely had an opportunity to display their speed since the majority of the game they were possessing the ball on the opponents third. Timo Werner was out of his element during the World Cup as he is far better off the counter and getting in behind. Germany would have benefited more with a target man/big body that could take up space and score headers. Gomez added a dimension but failed to be clinical when he had the opportunity.

I find it so flawed to assume that a player like Sane, who is very skilled and fast would have been an improvement due to the fact that Germany rarely needed pace in this tournament as most teams parked the bus on them, really mitigating any opportunity for Germany to use pace off the counter. Germany’s downfall was a lack of creativity and poor finishing when the opportunity came. If Germany were to score first in any of their games we would see a much more open game, but due to them either being tied or falling behind we never saw the opposing team push up and allow Germany an opportunity to score off the counter.

In regard to saying Boateng is slower than Godin or Giminez I flat out disagree. Boateng is objectively faster than them. It may have seemed that Boateng was slow due to the fact that he has to track back by himself to catch players like forsberg, Lozano, vela, and company. Center backs aren’t fast. They are usually the slowest position group on the pitch. The fact that Germany would even push up that high was a testament to Boatengs speed and Hummels discipline. Uruguay may have looked quicker but they never had to backtrack the way the German defenders did, so it is not a proper comparison. Like I said, Sergio Ramos would look like Mertesacker if he had to chase down Lozano from midfield.
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World Cup 2018: Germany are done, and have to ask themselves: What now? - SBNation.com
 
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#571
#571
Persian Vol said:
Sending a link to an article saying one sentence about them being “slow or fussy” isn’t a convincing argument.
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Stating three players on a team are fast out of 20 isn’t a convincing argument that the team has enough speed. Almost all agree (at least people that get paid to cover the sport) that Germany lacked speed, midfield play and leadership this worldcup.

My kids and I have watched all the games of the big squads this Cup. I asked then what caused Germany to flop. Their answer “they play so slow.”

Argentina suffered similar fate. So slow compared to France and Croatia. I thought Nigeria was more athletic also but simply lacked skill on their end.

The writing was on the wall for many squads headed into this competition but no one wanted to believe what was happening in qualifying or friendlies was what would prevail in the cup.
 
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