World Cup 2022

[IrishTitansFan]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:48 PM, Jamalisms said:

That'll do it. Nice to watch a team that knows how to finish. Wish it was the US and not their opponent.

 

This team had no clue how to unlock the middle against this defense and Zimmerman remains a horrible weak link when in possession of the ball.

 

They've done a lot of things well but they're just not quite good enough.

They got tactically a little outdone because of the quality difference.

 

Van Gaal and Netherlands were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure while hitting them on the break. He knew the US don't have the guile in midfield or forward to finish the chances the same way his guys would. I thought the US lacking a prolific goalscorer would cost them and it did

 

The Pulisic miss vs the Depay finish were a microcosm of the teams quality

[reo]

7 hours ago, IrishTitansFan said:

They got tactically a little outdone because of the quality difference.

 

Van Gaal and Netherlands were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure while hitting them on the break. He knew the US don't have the guile in midfield or forward to finish the chances the same way his guys would. I thought the US lacking a prolific goalscorer would cost them and it did

 

The Pulisic miss vs the Depay finish were a microcosm of the teams quality

 

They knew the Americans were very good at counter pressing and winning back possession so they let them have possession instead and countered. The fact that a very good European squad who typically presses and possesses instead decided to cede possession instead of risking losing it b/c they were afraid of the chances that would be created... is pretty telling toward how much they actually respected the US midfield. 

 

Look at their possession stats for their previous games. 

vs Senegal: 54%

vs Ecuador: 55%

vs Qatar: 63%

 

vs US: 41%

 

You have to go back to their game against Belgium to find something similar when they had 45% possession.

 

Them ceding possession to the US is pretty telling to how much they respected the US ability to counter press possession teams to create chances.

 

Yeah, they got beat tactically to a degree but in the end, they had their chances but didn't capitalize. Berhalter just wasn't expecting them to cede possession like that b/c good teams don't normally do that against the US.

 

Hopefully Pepi improves over the next 4 years and becomes the striker the US needs or some 16-17 yr old comes out of nowhere b/c it's a definitely a glaring weakness.

 

Ream and Zimmerman played well but at the very least Ream will be gone by 2026. Richards (who is injured and Ream started for) will probably be back. Hopefully his transfer to Crystal Palace from Bayern will get him more playing time and experience in the next few years too.

 

Looking like McKennie might get a transfer to Tottenham and Musah is getting looks as well. I'd really like Gio to get away from Dortmund and Pepi out of the Dutch league too but we'll see how that goes. I'm torn on what I want from Pulisic. 

Edited December 7, 2022 by reo

[croatian22]

Semifinals here we come!! Crushed Brazil on penalties. LFG

[Jamalisms]

Argentina tried so hard to come away this game. Went into such a deep shell and gave up 2 late goals, probably should have had the one guy on a double yellow for the foul and kick into bench, Messi probably should have had a second yellow ... 17 god damn yellows in a game is wild as hell.

 

I admit I hate penalty shootouts. I've always been a fan of golden goal. Play as long as you have to but it should end on the field. Penalty kicks is high drama but feels like ending an NFL game in a field goal competition. I'll never understand why people accept it.

[reo]

I don't mind shootouts. If they're still tied after 2 hours of play everyone is exhausted anyway. Time to just end the game b/c they're obviously fairly evenly matched.

[Jamalisms]

Sooooooo predictable that the shift to a defensive look would work against Argentina. It happened immediately. France started holding possession and generating opportunities immediately.

 

Thanks, I hate it.

 

 

[Jamalisms]

[Jamalisms]

A lot of play flowed through Di Maria on that left side. Tactically and emotionally. It was palpable and swapping him out shifted the energy of the game immediately ... an energy shift Argentina has already priced it struggled to handle well ... in addition to shifting much of how their attacks built. This team wins with pressure and suffocating the opponent's offensive attack. Giving that space, giving that time gave France immediate opportunities. And, yes, you can most certainly sustain that. Instead, they went with a sub that represented a very clear defensive shift. It was simply bad strategy.

 

The coach (not to mention an entire nation) will regret it until the end of his days if he loses.

[Jamalisms]

Like I said before but I hate penalty kicks to win games. End it with the real game on the field and go back to golden goal ... But I'll never do that

 

Oh well, happy for Messi and I think the result is fair. They had the better game overall and we're pretty unlucky the unintentional but obvious handball that gave France their third goal.

 

Argentina's goalkeeper is fantastic at penalty shootouts. His recent history has a a pretty good argument for being the best ever on that front.

[reo]

 

Argentina subbed in part in response to France's tactical shift that started to shut down what they were doing offensively in the 1st half... and b/c they got tired and couldn't keep it up. 

[IrishTitansFan]

15 hours ago, Jamalisms said:

A lot of play flowed through Di Maria on that left side. Tactically and emotionally. It was palpable and swapping him out shifted the energy of the game immediately ... an energy shift Argentina has already priced it struggled to handle well ... in addition to shifting much of how their attacks built. This team wins with pressure and suffocating the opponent's offensive attack. Giving that space, giving that time gave France immediate opportunities. And, yes, you can most certainly sustain that. Instead, they went with a sub that represented a very clear defensive shift. It was simply bad strategy.

 

The coach (not to mention an entire nation) will regret it until the end of his days if he loses.

Di Maria was an injury doubt for the game. He was only ever going to play 60 mins no matter how it was going because he was hurt

 

I think Argentina actually should have went more defensive. They should have brought on Lisandro Martinez at centre back

[croatian22]

Third in the world. Last time in Russia, we were second. Good result for the small country

[IrishTitansFan]

58 minutes ago, croatian22 said:

Third in the world. Last time in Russia, we were second. Good result for the small country

Incredible few years for such a small country

 

Modric will go down as arguably the best midfielder to ever play, I will be sad when he retires

[croatian22]

Just now, IrishTitansFan said:

Incredible few years for such a small country

 

Modric will go down as arguably the best midfielder to ever play, I will be sad when he retires

Yes, Luka is a genius. And what about Kovačić and Brozović, we really have a premium midfielders. Gvardiol will be one of the best defenders in the world. Just lack a pure goalscorer in order to win the gold

[Jamalisms]

5 hours ago, IrishTitansFan said:

I think Argentina actually should have went more defensive. They should have brought on Lisandro Martinez at centre back

 

We saw time and again that this particular team was incapable of shifting into a defensive mindset and nursing a lead without giving up heavy pressure. They're just not built for it mentally, if nothing else.

 

At some point every coach has to assess their team and what they do well. I've rarely seen a team with such a clear distinction and the fact that he refused to recognize it and almost lost them the game, again, was astounding.