The Official World Cup 2018 Megathread

[Paddingtonwolf]

The interesting bit is if Argentina sneak into second in their group tonight. I think they will as I expect them to thump Nigeria. Then the top quarter of the draw is France v Argentina and Uruguay v Portugal. That is a tough quarter, and whomever comes through it is likely to have had two really taxing games before their semi-final.

 

[Banjo]

I don't get the VAR meltdown to be honest. It revealed a perfectly good goal had been scored in the Spain match and showed clearly that it wasn't a penalty in the Portugal match. The fact the ref in the latter case was blind is a refereeing problem, not a VAR problem.

 

[machin05]

Well, VAR was wrong to ask the ref to take another look at the Iran peno. But on the whole it's been pretty good.

 

[Tony Towner]

We will know our potential routes to the semi before the game. If it ends up being Columbia followed by Germany/Brazil or Japan followed by Mexico/Switzerland it would be madness to not try and influence that. That equally applies to Belgium though which is why if that does become reality I think we'll see a nothing game with two reserve sides, hopefully with a Phil Jones injury time red card.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The possible scenario is that Japan followed by Mexico / Switzerland is for winning the group.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

I dont know how this could be done , but one of the reasons video reviews work in cricket is the "umpires call". I suppose that is where the " clear and obvious" definition is setting the bar. [Personally I think the pen was an "umpires call"80% not given 20% given. The fact he reversed the decision was not VAR it was the dimwitted ref.

On the whole its got most things right.Perhaps if it was two reviews per team max like cricket and if they are not upheld you lose them? As I say I dont know. I am musing on the internet.

As regards England , just to throw the usual Cyber supersition arent we 12 games unbeaten? Belgium the 13th?

You know what I am like. At least an ex player wont score- or perhaps players based in England will score? Lukaku? Hazard? OMG we are doomed we are all doomed:nod: ( you know I am joking right? Lets not go breaking the internet!)

 

[machin05]

Whilst I agree the ref was terrible, I think it's the fault of the VAR team to ask him to review that Iran penalty decision (that he got correct in real time).

 

[GLASGOWOLF]

Interesting.

Part of me agrees with Dan, part of me would prefer an easier route.

I actually saw an interview where Martinez suggested the reason for whole sale changes would be the favourable draw. Is Paddy said though Football's a strange thing we could see some big wins and all of a sudden it changes.
I am not sure on the Argie front they look shockingly bad, Mexico look really good, Germany do not look their usual team, however you just know Germany will pull it out the bag

 

[machin05]

If football was played out on paper and was easily predictable the bookmakers would cease to exist overnight (much to Langers' delight!). I just reckon the confidence and momentum from beating a pretty damn good Belgium side, topping the group and having the best record in the tournament would be far more beneficial than trying to micro-mange any potential route to the latter stages.

 

[SLA]

On the subject of VAR - I think giving teams the power to review, even a limited amount of times, would be a fucking disaster. In cricket, there's generally a relatively few people involved in making the decision to review - the captain and one or two others, and all of them on the pitch. In football, you'd have every member of the team, the entire bench and all of the management crew wanting to get involved. It'd be a nightmare. Football's ill-disciplined enough, without inviting them into the decision making process.

I reckon how they have it at the moment is pretty good, but to essentially beta test it in the biggest tournament was a mistake. But on the whole, it's been OK and will only improve. Definitely bookings for players/managers making the TV sign though - just as there should be for the card waving gesture.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

IF everything came out according to how FIFA seeded the draw the both sides would be pretty equal

Of course, Russia were seeded as host country when Uruguay would really be the Pot A team in that group. Well that has corrected itself so the draw is still balanced at the moment.

The highest that Argentina can finish is second, putting them into the top half of the draw potentially, when they should have been in the bottom half, so you could argue that makes going into the bottom half look more attractive, but would you really choose to put yourself in with Croatia.

As I say, the only time things look unbalanced is if Brazil or Germany finish second in their group, and the other one is a group winner. If Brazil are a group winner and Germany are second, then the top half of the draw looks very strong potentially. If Brazil finish second and Germany win, then the bottom half looks slightly nastier. Especially as it would mean that all the big guns (assuming France win their group) in the top half would all be playing each other in the same quarter.

The only other unbalancing factors left really are England potentially finishing above Belgium to go into the top half, and possibly Japan finishing in a qualification spot ahead of Poland on rankings. If Japan finish second then they go into the top half, weakening that quarter further. If they finish top and Colombia also win then Japan are in the bottom half and Colombia are in the top, which balances it back out a bit.

Like I keep saying, the key questions for draw strength are whether Argentina make it through and the outcomes of the Brazil and Germany groups.

 

[machin05]

Agreed SLA.

 

[b3h]

Those suggesting each team having a couple of goes on the VAR each, how does that even work? Your team has to call it out, then the VAR team and ref will check it? That's not the point of VAR at all, don't get what you're suggesting

EDIT: Sort of covered by SLA

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

I have a ten quid bet with my lady who is Belgian, so bollocks to the permutations, england should go out to win anyway, but I really would like the tenner to put in a frame, ha ha ha .

 

[Tony Towner]

It's fairly simple. If you are convinced you have been wronged then you appeal, but you are only going to do this for serious incidents like penalties and sending offs. Goal line technology works and offsides seem to be effectively handled so these stay in place. As with cricket only one person gets to choose whether they go with a review, be that the captain or the manager. If you take cricket as the example I'd estimate only about 1 in 4 appeals for LBW end up being reviewed, players ultimately know if they are trying it on or not, so teams will learn quickly not to waste them.

I appreciate cricket has more natural breaks in play than football, but I'd rather see the above than what happened in the game last night.

 

[east-coast-wolves]

The game last night was a simple misuse of the tech.

VAR team were totally entitled to suggest the ref have another look - there was enough in it to be worth that. At that point it's entirely within the ref's hands. He then made the wrong call, not VAR.

However, VAR has made mistakes, such as how Mitrovic didn't get a pen in the Swiss game after being held down by two defenders I do not know. VAR should absolutely have told the ref to check that. The blame for that does lie with VAR.

I think this system as it is, is fine. But the people using it are the problem. Maybe with some more time they'll get the hang of it. For that reason I think it has been rushed too quickly into this tournament.

 

[machin05]

VAR should only be asking the ref to review if they believe he's made a clear and obvious error. There was no need for them to ask him to review the handball as it was 100% no penalty. That was VAR's mistake initially. Then the ref, after only being given one camera angle of the incident, bottled it under pressure and gave the pen. Both as bad as each other in that instance, imo.

 

[machin05]

When does the VAR get involved?

This is key. Only when they spot a clear and obvious error. If they do, they need to communicate that to the referee. If they don’t, they stay out of it and let the referee’s decision stand.

Are you saying that not giving the handball was a clear and obvious error, East-Coast?

 

[east-coast-wolves]

Okay, I was under the idea that the clear and obvious was on the ref changing his decision rather than on the VAR team making the suggestion.

It's still a problem with the people rather than the system though.

 

[leedswolf]

micro-mange

Smaller portions perhaps?