World Cup: National Team threads #2

[Jersey Fresh]

Croatia won’t be making it out of their WC group if they play like they did today.

 

[gary69]

Danes got better as the match progressed, and Cornelius blasts in a likely winner few minutes from the end.

 

[Savi]

Awful 2nd half from Belgium, probably one of the only bright spots was Amadou Onana, the young kid from Lille.

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

Danes got better as the match progressed, and Cornelius blasts in a likely winner few minutes from the end.

It was a weird game imo.

Danes looked better the first 10, then France took over, then the Danes looked better as the game progressed.

Benzema is a beast tho - Danes really missed AC this game.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Just Neuer's corpse left to remove from the starting 11...luckily Süle & Schlotterbeck are so dominant that not even Neuer clinging to the job can stop us. Süle's been such a force that he's even making Kehrer look legit when they play together for the NT


We're probably going to be starting those 3 CBs* + a FB (Raum, Baku, Gosens, Hofmann) behind Kimmich-Goretzka & four of: Sane, Gnabry, Havertz, Musiala, Adeyemi, Werner, Müller, Nmecha / Burkardt / Schade.


*though I'm still rooting for Klostermann to take Kehrer's spot...especially if we opt for Raum or Gosens as the FB.

So a bunch of kids up front and unproven Cbs....I'll take my chances.

Keep in mind DD's France scored the most goals in WC history.
Welcome back!

I give him no such credit... he has a stacked team and almost fumbled against a shit Argentina team. What I saw in Euros gives me a lot more confidence this time around.

and thanks... I couldn't help rubbing it after the match... Really hope Mpabbe was watching.

 

[cgf]

So a bunch of kids up front and unproven Cbs....I'll take my chances.




I give him no such credit... he has a stacked team and almost fumbled against a shit Argentina team. What I saw in Euros gives me a lot more confidence this time around.

and thanks... I couldn't help rubbing it after the match... Really hope Mpabbe was watching.

When it happens, at least you’ll see it coming ;-)

 

[Savant]

 

[Gecklund]

England is going to get absolutely dominated against any team with pace if you’re starting Maguire, Bellingham, Rice and Coady. Especially when you consider who is in goal.

Also Maguire is the worst supposed to be good player I’ve ever seen.

 

[Jussi]

Finland gets a penalty vs Bosnia, Pukki scores.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

England is going to get absolutely dominated against any team with pace if you’re starting Maguire, Bellingham, Rice and Coady. Especially when you consider who is in goal.

Also Maguire is the worst supposed to be good player I’ve ever seen.

Both Rice and Bellingham are plenty pacey.

Haven’t watched because my wi-fi is out, but sounds like Bowen has been good. He’s a player that can mesh with Kane really well. Probably be more apparent against a better team that doesn’t bunker like Hungary, though.

 

[Gecklund]

Both Rice and Bellingham are plenty pacey.

Haven’t watched because my wi-fi is out, but sounds like Bowen has been good. He’s a player that can mesh with Kane really well. Probably be more apparent against a better team that doesn’t bunker like Hungary, though.

I wouldn’t say plenty pacey for either especially with the freaking cruise ships behind them.

Yeah Bowen has been good. Bunker is not anywhere close to the right word for this game. Yes England has had the possession (I think) but Hungary has had by far the better chances.

 

[cgf]

England is going to get absolutely dominated against any team with pace if you’re starting Maguire, Bellingham, Rice and Coady. Especially when you consider who is in goal.

Also Maguire is the worst supposed to be good player I’ve ever seen.

Like all knockoffs, English-Süle only matches big Nik’s low end, not his high end.

Maguire just doesn’t have Süle’s pace, skill, or mind with which to read the play.

 

[Jussi]

Bosnia equalized in injury time...

 

[cgf]

Flick experimenting a little in the back with Rüdiger getting a start after his transfer and Henrichs getting a look alongside Süle & Kehrer.

 

[Jussi]

Well that penalty against England was definitely something.

 

[Ben Grimm]

After the way England looked today, does the US have a chance of beating them in the WC?

 

[Gecklund]

Well that penalty against England was definitely something.

Yeah I mean 100% not a penalty but that score line actually flattered England. Hungary outplayed them. They had 5-6 clear cut chances that should have been finished. England had absolutely nothing except a chance towards the end by Coady who got on the end of a free kick. Hungary got lucky on the penalty (really lucky) but definitely deserved the win.

 

[koyvoo]

Watching Italy v Germany and without the context of history, you’d never know that these are the two most decorated national teams in Europe.

 

[Islesfan22]

After the way England looked today, does the US have a chance of beating them in the WC?

Not really! Most of these players are physically exhausted and don’t even want to play these games. Lots of players already pulled out because of slight injuries Come late November most of these players will be in mid season form.

 

[cgf]

I turn on the game, not a minute later Toni is already giving the italian forward a great look at goal...sounds about right...

I'm getting big Friendly energy from this one.

Got too cute in the Italian box, but that was a nice movement leading up to the chance.

 

[SimpleJack]

Idk…this looks like the same old Germany to me. All that tight dribbling and passing in the build ups…but when it comes time to actually finish/shoot/score they lack the quality. There still isn’t a legit striker or anyone that can be counted on to be a consistent goal scoring threat.

 

[cgf]

Idk…this looks like the same old Germany to me. All that tight dribbling and passing in the build ups…but when it comes time to actually finish/shoot/score they lack the quality. There still isn’t a legit striker or anyone that can be counted on to be a consistent goal scoring threat.

Missed all but the last 10 minutes, but we're still thin at a couple of spots that can undermine the whole when we're not playing our best 11...which has shown in some of these matches where Flick has been experimenting.

The depth in attack is great, but Müller & Werner are just a bad combo. Müller is just too slow to take full advantage of the space Timo creates or support the press when Timo's leading it...and if Timo's not making space for Havertz, Wirtz, Musiala, or Sane at the "10", there's no reason to start him ahead of Havertz, Adeyemi, or Gnabry.

While Henrichs playing with anyone is a bad combo; despite how great he was as a youth level midfielder, he's just not senior NT caliber. If none of Raum, Baku, Gosens, or Hofmann are available, we need to just go full 3-2-5.

And Rüdiger being his usual mess never helps


...but the german NT has never exactly shined in friendlies, so who knows how much to take from anything that happens in these games

 

[koyvoo]

Pellegrini clumsily hacking at that volley attempt really is representative of the lack of quality on the pitch.

 

[Gecklund]

Yeah this is a very boring game.

 

[koyvoo]

Hungary beating England at least has given the potential of the relegation battle being noteworthy.

Label these matches whatever you’d like, I can’t imagine any one of Germany, Italy or England being happy playing the next edition of this tournament in the “B” league. Germany was relegated in the first edition of the tournament, and the rules were changed to save them the embarrassment of going down a league.

Neither one of these two teams exactly look like an elite “A” level side these days, but going down a league is just a bad look.