World Cup General Chit Chat

[Mike Oxlong]

Would love to see some footage of one of the Japanese players furtively dropping some litter then looking round to see if anyone had seen him 

[Koke]

Anyone else enjoyed this World Cup so far? The games has been good, England are decent, and a fair number of underdog surprises. 

[Heathrow fox]

2 hours ago, Koke said:

Anyone else enjoyed this World Cup so far? The games has been good, England are decent, and a fair number of underdog surprises. 

A Nov/Dec W/C originally filled me with horror.Changed my mind now.It’s made a refreshing change.If it makes the P/L go a bit haywire when it restarts,even better 

[Guest Col city fan]

A completely different take on this World Cup being in our winter is that it’s given us something to look forward and to brighten up the long, dark evenings.

I’m enjoying it tons personally 

[Mike Oxlong]

I reckon Roy Keane is hiding a termite nest in his beard 

[tom27111]

On 04/12/2022 at 21:28, Parafox said:

Sterling going home after ARMED INTRUDERS broke into his home.

No disrespect to you, or Raheem Sterling.

 

But imagine finding out the facts and the police saying nobody was home and nobody was armed.

 

Southgate is that bad, his players are finding excuses to leave 

 

Anyone know why Ben White left? 

Edited 5 December 2022 by tom27111

[FoyleFox]

5 hours ago, Koke said:

Anyone else enjoyed this World Cup so far? The games has been good, England are decent, and a fair number of underdog surprises. 

Far more than I was expecting. Some great games, some gigs upsets and it's great excuse to stay in on a cold wet day. 

[CosbehFox]

🤣

[StriderHiryu]

16 hours ago, Koke said:

Anyone else enjoyed this World Cup so far? The games has been good, England are decent, and a fair number of underdog surprises. 

It's still farcical that it was given to Qatar, a country whose "fans" do not care about the competition. But the World Cup is the World Cup and the games really have delivered. Though the quarter finals might be a bit predictable, countries across the globe really upped their game. Some of the final round of group games were crazy, the Argentina, Spain and Portugal groups come to mind there. Also any world cup where Brazil have their swagger really makes it stand out.

[cruzFOX]

I’ve loved if so far. For a while I thought the under dogs were going to take over but slowly but surely the usual heavy weights are going thru.

 

for me watching on the US west coast has been hard with the early kickoffs at 2am!

to say it’s messed up my whole sleep cycle is an understatement  but was worth it.

With games now starting at 7am it’s getting easier. I’m already worrying about the withdrawal symptoms of when the tournament ends sadly. Flipping to the premier league will be a bit dull at first but I’m sure will get used to it. There’s nothing quite like the razzmatazz of a World Cup and enjoying something with billions of other passionate sports fans around the world all in unison!

[davieG]

 

Maddison in 2030

[RoboFox]

18 hours ago, Koke said:

Anyone else enjoyed this World Cup so far? The games has been good, England are decent, and a fair number of underdog surprises. 

 

The majority of the games have delivered. Enjoyed very much the 10am kick offs during the group stages... Basically had football on all working day in the background. The so-called "smaller" nations have easily brought the most excitement. 

 

Largely the atmospheres have looked and sounded pretty shit, and it's an absolute travesty to have half-empty grounds at any world cup match. Compare it with something like South Africa or Brazil and it's embarrassing and tragic. 

 

Glad FIFA and Qatar have had pelters over it though. I think it's done both parties reputations far more damage than it has good TBH and only served to highlight the issues. 

[Raj]

As much as it pains me to say and give FIFA any credit but I've enjoyed it.

A WC in Winters dark gloomy rainy cold days is actually something  to look forward to.

 

[Balj]

Perfect time zone for us in Western Europe, the lack of alcohol actually seems to have helped if anything, decent games and you can see some cracking fixtures ahead over the remainder of the tournament and a bit of a lift as we hit some proper cold weather. I hate FIFA and all it stands for but I'm watching and enjoying as much as anyone so I guess I'm the kind of fan hypocrite that FIFA was assuming most of us are. I'm not going to Qatar on holiday though.

[AjcW]

This is a tricky one to write, as it's clearly come at a horrendous cost but...

 

I think one thing that's helped make the games good and the coverage watchable is that every single stadium is brand new and well proportioned, with pitches close to stands as much as possible.

 

There's no ridiculous running tracks or old crumbling grounds being used (the euros had a lot of this!)

 

For me it just makes it significantly more watchable and I think it has an impact on the play too. 

 

I'm intrigued to see what the contrast is going to be like in 2026... essentially a load of NFL stadiums and then the Azteca which is arguably one of the most famous in the world  

 

 

Edited 6 December 2022 by AjcW

[David Hankey]

Beating Brazil in the Final won't be easy.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

Does anyone else hate penalty shoot-outs or am I alone?

I always feel short changed when a match is decided on penalties.

 

If everyone loves them so bloody much why not get rid of the two hours of football before them and just have effing penalties. You could do the whole World Cup in a weekend.

[TJQuik]

3 minutes ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Does anyone else hate penalty shoot-outs or am I alone?

I always feel short changed when a match is decided on penalties.

 

If everyone loves them so bloody much why not get rid of the two hours of football before them and just have effing penalties. You could do the whole World Cup in a weekend.

Hola Manuel Farrintono-Marrón

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

4 minutes ago, TJQuik said:

Hola Manuel Farrintono-Marrón

?

 

Ah - you think I'm Spanish? No, I just don't like penalty shootouts. I said a bit ago I hope there aren't any, but I expected to be disappointed. And have been twice now. So far. Plenty more to come, I imagine.

 

 

Edited 6 December 2022 by Manley Farrington-Brown
Edited because I belatedly realised the point of the post I questioned.

[Paninistickers]

Anyone else enjoying ITV's coverage more? 

 

Laura Woods is a breath of fresh air. I like Pougatch anyway. Panellists seem a bit more alive than the beeb (I guess they've been 'Skyd' alot of them). I've felt the all female panels have been for real, not crowbarred in (like Alex Scott, who I find the weakest of pundits. Little insight)

[TJQuik]

No football for the next two days!!!

 

What will we do?

[Aus Fox]

3 hours ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

Does anyone else hate penalty shoot-outs or am I alone?

I always feel short changed when a match is decided on penalties.

 

If everyone loves them so bloody much why not get rid of the two hours of football before them and just have effing penalties. You could do the whole World Cup in a weekend.

It’s not the ideal way to finish a game, but I suppose other than a replay what’s the other alternative to ensuring a game is finished and the fair winner goes through? 
An idea I had, but I don’t know how much it works with tired legs was to pull off a player every 10 minutes in extra time - so ET starts as a 10 v 10 , at 10 minutes it be 9v 9 thus opening up space to attack - managers would also have to work out do they take off an attacker or a defender and teams that sit 10 men behind the ball and play for a bore draw would be disadvantaged more.

ultimately football would be the winner - I’m sure there are many problems with this, but the penalty shootout isn’t ideal either

 

[Raj]

32 minutes ago, TJQuik said:

No football for the next two days!!!

 

What will we do?

Might talk to the Mrs...if shes still around...

[Heathrow fox]

3 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

Anyone else enjoying ITV's coverage more? 

 

Laura Woods is a breath of fresh air. I like Pougatch anyway. Panellists seem a bit more alive than the beeb (I guess they've been 'Skyd' alot of them). I've felt the all female panels have been for real, not crowbarred in (like Alex Scott, who I find the weakest of pundits. Little insight)

itv should stop mucking around and get Laura Woods signed up to present everything 24/7

[MattFox]

3 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

Anyone else enjoying ITV's coverage more? 

 

Laura Woods is a breath of fresh air. I like Pougatch anyway. Panellists seem a bit more alive than the beeb (I guess they've been 'Skyd' alot of them). I've felt the all female panels have been for real, not crowbarred in (like Alex Scott, who I find the weakest of pundits. Little insight)

They’ve had pretty good coverage for a few tournaments now since they binned off Chiles.

 

Always find them less smug than the BBC can be at times

 

Only thing is they persist with Matterface and Dixon who are truly shit when they have much better options on their books

Edited 6 December 2022 by MattFox