Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales

[J. James]

11 hours ago, filbertway said:

What a waste of a world cup spot Wales have been

If you (correctly imo) think the overall standard of football has been poor just wait until next time with 48 teams "competing ".

Wales will be a powerhouse compared to some of those!

[fuchsntf]

Blah,blah,blah..negatives Nero’s just keep having a go..

I just wish we had fans,like the Welsh,Irish, Scots,even Isle of Man.

Or is it just social-media & this Forum,who are so downright miserable.

Lads n lasses in Qatar, support their team..
but we have to have & read…nag,nag,nag,nag, and oh yes,nag..

I don’t think the sun shines out of Southgate’s,nor Rodgers Arse,but both are doing their job,well above the norm….

Southgate & Rodgers have had bad days,just like their charges..

This is now Southgate’s moment,if not winning the Wcup,at least bringing competitive performances..Germany/Italy have shown the way how to be Tournament teams..& god did they play some doggo over the years,but turned

it on when it mattered..often only short periods in a game.

 

Social Media has given everybody a voice…but Jesus the status quo don’t half

nag,& complain. Then take our sporting entertainers and treat and give them headlines that only a serial killer deserves..

Being British,we have lost that humerous cynical,sarcastic wit…now it’s just Hate,

and demeaning of character..

caustic,wit ,sarcasm & banter is the way the Brit/Irish get through our lives,but its

taken on another modern lifeless hateful plane.

 

 

 

[David Hankey]

1 hour ago, ARTY_FOX said:

Still right here. Expecting him to go after we go out with a whimper. 

Yeah, well he's done nowt really, best he's gone.

[Col city fan]

[fuchsntf]

10 minutes ago, J. James said:

If you (correctly imo) think the overall standard of football has been poor just wait until next time with 48 teams "competing ".

Wales will be a powerhouse compared to some of those!

The world opens up….

but the football won’t change…

Since the 50s,

# how many top international games have been really special

# how many have been above damn worth seeing

# how many even with great names have just been interesting

# how many have been..so so

 

We over evaluate what we expect to see,then when a good average game

is presented,we today prefer to call them poor,and start over-analysing instead of accepting it’s what it is..

These new teams though losing,show today more skill than ever,the names will come & go,but over the years it’s interesting and “entertaining” to see their slow

developement. Also within their societies,some 3-4 cycles of regrowth,& the next

time slight improvement on human rights..I mean look at Russia they never started,but their people’s awareness is no longer enclosed though still suppressed

With sparks of revolt..

 

That’s why I am for opening up the World Cup…Sport is one of the master players in interfacing and getting all cultures to evolve & exchange…the more no names can master a Cryuff turn,the more they become acceptable..but we have to understand  it rolls over more lifetimes

[AKCJ]

Wales were unbelievably shite. We even gave them a leg up in the first half by having Jordan Henderson play for them.

[ARTY_FOX]

57 minutes ago, David Hankey said:

Yeah, well he's done nowt really, best he's gone.

Exactly. Had he not been so unbelievably negative we'd probably have atleast one trophy now. I'm sure you'll make excuses when we crash out vs France without a shot on goal. 

[gerblod]

12 hours ago, Koke said:

 

On paper it should be a great game, but Southgate and Deschamps will turn it into a tragic game.

It appears that you have a 'downer' on Monsieur Didier - which can't be substantiated by the results he's achieved and by the manner in which his teams perform.

Southgate, ah oui, certainement - il est un âne, mais Deschamps est simplement le mâitre.

[RonnieTodger]

In all seriousness, I admire Wales fans for not going after their players. 
 

I do find Page’s words a bit defeatist. Going on about how amazing it is to qualify should be done when you qualify. Not when you’ve bombed out with 3 poor performances. 

[The Bear]

Deschamps is shite. He should have that team in the semis in every tournament. File him along with Southgate, Martinez and Ross' Dad from Friends in charge of the Portugese. 

[Super_horns]

3 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Deschamps is shite. He should have that team in the semis in every tournament. File him along with Southgate, Martinez and Ross' Dad from Friends in charge of the Portugese. 

TBF he has in 2 out of 3 tournaments

 

Admittedly  the Eurios was disappointing for France.

 

Probably got complacent thinking the job was done v Switzerland. .

 

 

[KrefelderFox666]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

It was the only group to contain four teams in the Fifa top 20 rankings. By that metric it was the strongest group. 

Shows how pointless that ranking is.

[Spudulike]

16 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

In all seriousness, I admire Wales fans for not going after their players. 
 

I do find Page’s words a bit defeatist. Going on about how amazing it is to qualify should be done when you qualify. Not when you’ve bombed out with 3 poor performances. 

Wales came into the tournament expecting that pride and passion would carry them through. It didn't and was never likely to. The players might not be anywhere near good enough but I think the fans could've expected something similar to their emotions. I'd be furious if I was a Wales supporter. No passion, pride or will to win despite whatever they say in public. Complete letdown and the just happy to have qualified mantra is a smokescreen. I'm surprised that so many seemed to have fallen for it and giving them an easy ride. 

[Deeg67]

13 hours ago, Jordan said:

I’m more exhausted and relieved than delighted, but onwards we go! 🇺🇸 

Well, we were certainly the second-best team in the group.  Hamstrung by Berhalter's daft tactics and personnel decisions but well better than Wales and Iran even so.

 

The whole goal of this WC for me was to get into the 16s, get some experience for an extremely young and talented side, and set ourselves up for what's hopefully a deep run in 4 years with a better manager.  So mission accomplished there.  Netherlands is a free hit, but if Berhalter actually played his best players we'd have a chance - they're suspect at the back.

[David Hankey]

1 hour ago, ARTY_FOX said:

Exactly. Had he not been so unbelievably negative we'd probably have atleast one trophy now. I'm sure you'll make excuses when we crash out vs France without a shot on goal. 

Rather than surmise I think I'll wait and see.

[KrefelderFox666]

11 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

Well, we were certainly the second-best team in the group.  Hamstrung by Berhalter's daft tactics and personnel decisions but well better than Wales and Iran even so.

 

The whole goal of this WC for me was to get into the 16s, get some experience for an extremely young and talented side, and set ourselves up for what's hopefully a deep run in 4 years with a better manager.  So mission accomplished there.  Netherlands is a free hit, but if Berhalter actually played his best players we'd have a chance - they're suspect at the back.

The preview of this match by the pundits on German TV yesterday pretty much said this. It should be a very open game because one team's weakness, is the other team's strength. Should make for an interesting contest.

[ARTY_FOX]

13 minutes ago, David Hankey said:

Rather than surmise I think I'll wait and see.

The previous 2 tournaments would suggest it'll be Southgate shitting his pants again. Anti entertainment at its finest.

[Ric Flair]

43 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

Well, we were certainly the second-best team in the group.  Hamstrung by Berhalter's daft tactics and personnel decisions but well better than Wales and Iran even so.

 

The whole goal of this WC for me was to get into the 16s, get some experience for an extremely young and talented side, and set ourselves up for what's hopefully a deep run in 4 years with a better manager.  So mission accomplished there.  Netherlands is a free hit, but if Berhalter actually played his best players we'd have a chance - they're suspect at the back.

Agreed, Netherlands are nothing special. I'd be livid if England went out to them, you have a chance.

[Deeg67]

19 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Agreed, Netherlands are nothing special. I'd be livid if England went out to them, you have a chance.

We'd have a better chance if Soccer Southgate would use Aaronson from the beginning and Reyna at all.  His insistence on playing our mediocre strikers (sometimes two of them at once) ahead of far better attacking options is truly exasperating.

 

Still, I love a midfield of Adams-McKinnie-Musa - all fantastic young talents, as is Dest.  We're going to need Pulisic to be healthy enough to start against Holland though - not only is he the one guy Berhalter will use who can be clinical in the opposing box, he's pretty much a big-match talisman for us at this point.  Hard to imagine busted nuts keeping him out of the biggest match of his life, though.

[Plastik Man]

12 hours ago, The_77 said:

Foden would be just as bad as Pulisic if he had to play carrying around a gigantic pair of bollocks for 90 minutes. And no, I’m not talking about Harry Maguire and Mason Mount. 

 

9 hours ago, KingsX said:

 

 

 

Now I get why Pulisic has been diagnosed with a "pelvic contusion".

 

I'm reliably informed that the USMNT has borrowed the gynecologist off the Women's team to get his pelvis back into shape for Saturday.

 

It's a condition easily managed ...

 

 

[KingsX]

Another way to look at the relative strength of the groups would be fivethirtyeight’s SPI ratings.  Using that as of today -- vice going into the tournament -- they rank like this:

 

 

TBH, I don’t understand how you can reliably rank national sides  -- posh pickup teams that gather sometimes for friendlies, and just occasionally for matches that count.  Unlike club football, there aren’t enough data points.  The ratings get out of date.

 

But that said, SPI passes my eye test better than the FIFA rankings.  With Group B sixth hardest out of eight.

 

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-world-cup-predictions

[Finnegan]

27 minutes ago, KingsX said:

Another way to look at the relative strength of the groups would be fivethirtyeight’s SPI ratings.  Using that as of today -- vice going into the tournament -- they rank like this:

 

 

TBH, I don’t understand how you can reliably rank national sides  -- posh pickup teams that gather sometimes for friendlies, and just occasionally for matches that count.  Unlike club football, there aren’t enough data points.  The ratings get out of date.

 

But that said, SPI passes my eye test better than the FIFA rankings.  With Group B sixth hardest out of eight.

 

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-world-cup-predictions

 

Obviously the USA and Iran benefit from being in weak confederations so they're going to pick up a lot of wins in qualifying. The Nations League has had a bit of a similar influence on some of the mid ranking European sides too which benefited Wales. I mean obviously we got pumped by Netherlands and Belgium but prior to that we'd gone a whole "season" playing rubbish teams and topping our group.

 

FIFA's official rankings will always be pretty rubbish to be honest. It works better in rugby and cricket where the top sides are all consistently playing each other every year but in international football with such sporadic scheduling its very meh.

 

Edited 30 November 2022 by Finnegan

[Detroit Blues]

1 hour ago, Deeg67 said:

We'd have a better chance if Soccer Southgate would use Aaronson from the beginning and Reyna at all.  His insistence on playing our mediocre strikers (sometimes two of them at once) ahead of far better attacking options is truly exasperating.

 

Still, I love a midfield of Adams-McKinnie-Musa - all fantastic young talents, as is Dest.  We're going to need Pulisic to be healthy enough to start against Holland though - not only is he the one guy Berhalter will use who can be clinical in the opposing box, he's pretty much a big-match talisman for us at this point.  Hard to imagine busted nuts keeping him out of the biggest match of his life, though.

 

I don't really agree at all. MMA midfield has been dominant, and Pulisic/Weah on the wings have been great. That leaves no place in the starting XI for Reyna or Aaronson unless you are going to start a winger out of position at striker. If Berhalter wanted to do that, fine, but he's never tried it, and the last place to do that is at the World Cup, in a must win game. I think Sargent actually played pretty well against Iran, and I was disappointed to see him go down in the second half. He would be my preference (If  healthy) for the game against the Netherlands.

 

I think Berhalter, for all of his criticisms, has gotten his starting XI right at the World Cup. Ream's inclusion in the starting XI has been a delightful surprise. Picking CCV over Zimmerman in the last game vs Iran so we have better passers against a low block was correct. Going with a 4-4-2 with Weah/Wright up top against England worked. I don't think his subs have been particularly the best, but i think it more shows the relative lack of depth the USMNT has compared to the actual top nations. 

 

A lot of those dual-national players we are enjoying are also thanks to Gregg Berhalter's recruitment - Sergino Dest picked the USMNT over the Netherlands. Yunus Musah picked the USMNT over Italy/England. Where would this team be without them? There's also plenty of others like Gabriel Slonina (Poland), Ricardo Pepi (Mexico), etc. A big reason they chose the US is because they like the culture/vibes of the team. It would be unfair to say he has nothing to do with that.  

 

Berhalter is similar in a lot of ways to Southgate. Nobody likes a cautious, pragmatic manager. Everyone wants attacking, free flowing football until their team concedes a bunch of goals and they're out of the tournament. But the proof is in the pudding. USMNT didn't concede a single goal from open play, and only goal allowed in 270 minutes of the group stage. If you are doing that well defensively, you give your team a great chance to go far in the tournament. 

[TJQuik]

4 hours ago, AKCJ said:

Wales were unbelievably shite. We even gave them a leg up in the first half by having Jordan Henderson play for them.

Eh? I thought Henderson was great. He got stuck in to break up the play to help us control the midfield, put in some great passes and communicated with our team throughout like a proper captain. Definitely should be starting from now on.

[BlueSi13]

Kieffer Moore & Sorba Thomas...GET IT RIGHT ****IN' UP YE!!!