LIVE! Match discussion 2014/15

[Freddeno]

Sweden portugal in the u21 final..what a success...brazil out to paraguay in the copa america..so peru-chile and argentina-paraguay in the semis

 

[leedswolf]

Paraguay oust Brazil. Huge upset.

Mystery illness apparently...........

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Must say I'm not that surprised, they are a pretty poor team without Neymar.

Jonathan Wilson:

Some of the sense of entitlement, perhaps, has gone, but Neymar’s petulance was surely born of a combination of the demands on him to drag this team to the heights its public expects and his frustration that opponents had the effrontery to try to stop him. The tactical fouling, meanwhile, has continued into this tournament. Before the quarter-final, Brazil had committed the fifth most fouls per game, which doesn’t sound too bad until you consider they have had the third most possession. Fouls are usually a consequence of not having the ball; the two sides that have had more possession than Brazil, Chile and Argentina, have committed the fewest and second-fewest fouls per game.

Late on against Venezuela, Brazil had four centre-backs on the pitch, Dani Alves playing on the right wing and Elias as the advanced central midfielder. At one point, Elias received the ball in space in the centre-circle, turned, and – with nobody ahead of him – launched a ball into the corner to run down the clock. It is cynical and almost wilfully ugly football.


It’s not even winning football any more. It took a brilliant pass from Neymar in injury time to beat Peru. They lost to Colombia. They wobbled horribly when 2-0 up against Venezuela. Then, here, having gone ahead after Robinho converted an Alves cross – the two thirtysomethings were probably Brazil’s best players – they contrived to let a very ordinary Paraguay back into the game. Robinho’s finish was their only touch in Paraguay’s box in the first half.


What was most striking was the lack of fear about Paraguay, even while they were just humping balls into the Brazil box. No longer protected by the carapace of their reputation, what remains of Brazil is weak and unsightly. By the end, the largely Chilean crowd was hooting its derision. It’s a sound that should live with Brazil, the overture of their collapse. The beauty has gone, the aura has gone, and with them the respect of the continent has gone.

 

[YoungWolf]

Wondering whether I'm going to enjoy watching Zubar playing for a team I don't support...

Anyway, Red Bulls losing to City within first ten minutes

 

[YoungWolf]

Subbed at half time. #zubarwatch

 

[PuntsWolf]

BWP been made to look like Thierry Henry. No wonder Altidore scored a few in the MLS

 

[Alan]

Couldn't be that he's improved since joining NY, noooooo.

 

[PuntsWolf]

No not really. At the age of 28 he's not going to warp from League 1 poacher to superstar. See Leon Clarke for details (who actually has a better goal scoring record [emoji85])

 

[Alan]

Improvement = superstar?

Not at all.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Your missing the point. Let's say he has improved, best case he is going to be a lower championship striker. That's not very good, relative to his standing in the MLS

 

[Alan]

That ex-City Swedish lad whose name escapes me for some reason is a right prick but that's one of the finer penalties I've ever seen.

1-1 in the UEFA U21 Final (in shootout mode).

 

[Alan]

Well done, Sverige. Four of the finest penalties I've seen (along with one of the worst).

 

[slink]

Carvalho reminds me of Yaya, he moves like him and seems as lazy as him without actually achieving half the stuff that Yaya has. Ironic that we beat Sweden yet they win the tournament, for me it proves a half decent manager could have got our squad to win it.

 

[Alan]

Commentator was saying that Sweden basically got through the whole thing by the skin of their teeth (until the semis). A la Greece '04.

 

[slink]

Well they were extremely poor against England and i couldn't see how they could win the tournament but they have.

 

[Alan]

Magic of the cup innit

Even against Denmark they were decidedly second best and then snatched a pile of goals almost out of nowhere right at the end.

 

[Freddeno]

GOOOLLLDDD!!

Sent from my Lenovo A3500-FL using Tapatalk

 

[FrankMunro-371]

I did not realise that West Ham were playing tonight in the Europa League. It hasn't been long since last season finished...

 

[Kenny]

I did not realise that West Ham were playing tonight in the Europa League. It hasn't been long since last season finished...

The crappy Euro qualifiers have to start seconds after the season finished.

Fair play to West Ham, they have sold out despite the fact it will be a youthful team with just a few 1st teamers taking part (such as Jarvis) and Bilic will be in the stands and not in charge.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Very good pricing structure in place from the porno-twins for tonight has guaranteed a sell-out. Credit to them.