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Everyone two games in

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    Everyone two games in

    Is it just me, or has this failed to really spring to life yet? It's all very nice and everything, but it's all a little... safe somehow. We need a shock result or two.

    Anyway, my third place predictions per group

    Group A - Nigeria with 3 points and -4 GD
    Group B - China, 4 0
    Group C - Brazil, 6 +3
    Group D - Argentina, 2 -1
    Group E - Cameroon, 3 -1
    Group F - Chile, 3 -3

    Which would be Brazil, China, Nigeria and Cameroon through.

    Edit - no, it wouldn't. Brazil, China, Cameroon and Chile.
    Last edited by Janik; 17-06-2019, 08:35.

    #2
    The nature of the field doesn't lend itself to shocks.

    Though Sweden-US should be interesting.

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      #3
      So will Netherlands v Canada

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        #4
        It's the problem with the 24-team tournament - as someone put it very well on another thread, the group phase is more about maths than football. They should have kept it at 16, of course, but adding too many teams is pretty much the only thing that Fifa stands for (apart from fucking up the handball law and making a hash of VAR). So it's two weeks and 36 games to reduce the field from 24 to 16, losing the eight teams which shouldn't have been there to start with. Games are mostly lopsided or one team playing backs-to-the-wall defence, while the stronger teams have one foot on the brake with an eye on the knockout phase.

        Having said that, I've really enjoyed a lot of the games, but yes, we could absolutely do with some humdingers.

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          #5
          FRA-NOR and BRA-AUS were really good games I saw but I fear the knockouts are as likely to produce ENG-ARG or CAN-NZ -style plodding mismatches.

          The VAR/handballs affecting the outcome of some games leave a bad taste and bode Ill for future football if it goes on like this

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            #6
            The late offside flags are also really tiresome.

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              #7
              Seriously. We're losing minutes of playing time to entire sequences of play that everybody knows started from an offside pass and won't count whatever happens. It's a complete waste of everybody's time. This Germany-South Africa game has been especially bad for that, it's like watching big chunks of pretend football with pretend goals, waiting for the flag to go up each time.

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                #8
                It‘s driving me nuts too. There have been a few stares in the press-box at my spontaneous reactions and language, which I suppose are deemed unprofessional.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Janik View Post
                  Is it just me, or has this failed to really spring to life yet? It's all very nice and everything, but it's all a little... safe somehow. We need a shock result or two.

                  Anyway, my third place predictions per group

                  Group A - Nigeria with 3 points and -4 GD
                  Group B - China, 4 0
                  Group C - Brazil, 6 +3
                  Group D - Argentina, 2 -1
                  Group E - Cameroon, 3 -1
                  Group F - Chile, 3 -3

                  Which would be Brazil, China, Nigeria and Cameroon through.

                  Edit - no, it wouldn't. Brazil, China, Cameroon and Chile.
                  Just -2 for Nigeria in the end, then, which might alter janik’s line-up.

                  I’m finding the permutations fascinating, more than some of the games anyway

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by imp View Post
                    It‘s driving me nuts too. There have been a few stares in the press-box at my spontaneous reactions and language, which I suppose are deemed unprofessional.
                    I do hope your accreditation says 'Author of The Quiet Fan'.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post

                      Just -2 for Nigeria in the end, then, which might alter janik’s line-up.
                      It does. Whilst I believed Chile could go out and get a 2-0 against Thailand if they needed it, I think requiring four will put too much pressure on them.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Fussbudget View Post
                        Seriously. We're losing minutes of playing time to entire sequences of play that everybody knows started from an offside pass and won't count whatever happens. It's a complete waste of everybody's time. This Germany-South Africa game has been especially bad for that, it's like watching big chunks of pretend football with pretend goals, waiting for the flag to go up each time.
                        Then there was the flag that disadvantaged the team being given the free kick. I think it was Cameroon against the Dutch, can't remember now. If it was that game, the Dutch were off in an attack, but the flag delayed in case the Dutch scored to allow VAR to rule. However Cameroon made a clean tackle, and then played it out quickly and neatly. They were just beginning a promising counter with Holland players committed upfield when the Assistant was given the go ahead to flag the initial offence.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by delicatemoth View Post

                          I do hope your accreditation says 'Author of The Quiet Fan'.
                          Ha! Fortunately not.

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