The Official World Cup 2018 Megathread

[machin05]

One Night In Turin is on History Channel tonight. Has anyone seen it?

They're showing loads of football and World Cup related stuff at the moment.

 

[Sam-Wolf]

Most teams can.

/tapin

:icon_lol::icon_lol:
He weirdly reminds me of a "manager's son" type that usually played as a CM/AM in a younger team, whenever I watch him he just picks the ball up and shoots wildly from anywhere.

 

[YoungWolf]

What's the Brazil team likely to be? Something like?

--------------------Alisson------------------

Danilo----Marquinhos----Thiago Silva-----Marcelo

-----Fernandinho---Casemiro---Coutinho-----

--------Willian--------Firmino------Neymar--------

Just seen they have Solbakken 2012 target Geromel in the squad!

Jesus instead of Firmino, Coutinho in the front three for Willian maybe.

Renato Augusto and Paulinho have got games in midfield too.

Miranda probably in the defence, Thiago Silva's place isn't guaranteed.

One Night In Turin is on History Channel tonight. Has anyone seen it?

They're showing loads of football and World Cup related stuff at the moment.

Yeah One Night in Turin is pretty good. I've read the book (All Played Out I think it is called) that it is based on which I enjoyed

 

[Alan]

Can't decide if I actively want anyone to do well or if I should try to take the opportunity of a US-less World Cup to stay 100% neutral.

That said, the winner will almost certainly be one of the utterly boring usual suspects.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

That said, the winner will almost certainly be one of the utterly boring usual suspects.

What are you actually hoping for there, because some shithouse team winning from nowhere really isn't much fun. Looking at the Euros, Greece in 2004 and Portugal in 2016 were not good teams, it wasn't much fun watching them somehow bumble through the tournament (knocking out objectively better teams along the way) and I got no pleasure out of either winning the whole thing as they were terrible as a spectacle.

I didn't find Germany to be boring in 2014, Spain hadn't quite descended into parody by 2010 either, they were one of the few watchable teams in that horror show of a tournament. There wasn't really a vintage team as a whole in 2006 but Italy were ok. Brazil were decent in 1994 and 2002, France rode their luck in 1998 but you could see what was building. West Germany more than worthy winners in 1990.

I'm not sure what's "utterly boring" about that? Good teams win tournaments, hence Real Madrid walking off with their third Champions League in a row, I don't need AEK Athens to lift the trophy for variety. In top level sport I want the best competitors facing off against each other in the final stages. Not a World Cup final of Peru vs Senegal because it's "boring" if it's Spain vs Germany again.

 

[Alan]

Let me put it like this:

If, in 2015, you could pick one of four "big" footballing countries as the winners in 2018 and be reasonably sure that you're going to be correct, that's not very interesting to me. So if it turns out to be Brazil, Argentina, France, or Germany, I'm going to yawn pretty hard at the end of the day.

 

[YoungWolf]

Argentina haven't won a world cup since 86! I'd love Messi to win it personally

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Probably best you end your interest in football as a whole then.

I'll give you a pool of four teams that might win the Premier League next season, guarantee you who'll win in France, Germany and Scotland, give you a shortlist of two in the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal and a whacking five teams that might win the Champions League.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Argentina haven't won a world cup since 86! I'd love Messi to win it personally

Indeed and France haven't won a single tournament for 18 years.

 

[Sam-Wolf]

Probably best you end your interest in football as a whole then.

I'll give you a pool of four teams that might win the Premier League next season, guarantee you who'll win in France, Germany and Scotland, give you a shortlist of two in the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal and a whacking five teams that might win the Champions League.

Off topic, are Liverpool one of your five Champions league teams? Or do you think this was a bit of a one-season wonder?

 

[Alan]

It's the possibility of the unexpected that keeps me interested.

Also a big reason why I didn't want to support one of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc. when I was looking for a club. Underdogs are always more interesting to me.

 

[YoungWolf]

Also if Spain win this one, they will do it in pretty exciting style. Lopetegui has got them playing very well. Brazil are arguably the best they have been since 2002 IMO too.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Off topic, are Liverpool one of your five Champions league teams? Or do you think this was a bit of a one-season wonder?

All depends on that goalkeeper for me! They look very good elsewhere if Keita and Fabinho bed in well and they get another centre half (Lovren is an ok squad player, but that's it).

As it stands then Real, Barca, Bayern, City and Atletico. Juve are short I think, their best chance for now has been and gone.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's the possibility of the unexpected that keeps me interested.

Also a big reason why I didn't want to support one of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc. when I was looking for a club. Underdogs are always more interesting to me.

Well, every result isn't going to go the way that we expect, someone decent will fall in the group stage...but generally the big guys win. Look at 2002, France knocked out despite being reigning World Cup and Euro holders, Argentina out in the group, Portugal out in the group, South Korea knocking out Italy AND Spain. The World Cup of upsets, all the way.

Brazil won.

You don't want elite tournaments won by shite teams, seriously.

 

[Alan]

If a shite team wins a tournament, it follows that everyone else was too shite to beat them and didn't deserve to.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'll buy you the DVD of Euro 2004 if you like and you can rejoice in how it was a triumph for football that Greece won rather than England, Portugal or the Czech Republic.

 

[Sam-Wolf]

All depends on that goalkeeper for me! They look very good elsewhere if Keita and Fabinho bed in well and they get another centre half (Lovren is an ok squad player, but that's it).

As it stands then Real, Barca, Bayern, City and Atletico. Juve are short I think, their best chance for now has been and gone.

I largely agree! Really they’ve needed that new keeper years now! I quite like Lovren as a professional, every interview I’ve seen him in he’s come across really well, but he’s just not good enough really!
I agree on Juve too, for me unless something big happens they’ll be a bit short for a long time. I would guess after this transfer window i’ll feel the same about Atheltico too.

 

[Alan]

I'll buy you the DVD of Euro 2004 if you like and you can rejoice in how it was a triumph for football that Greece won rather than England, Portugal or the Czech Republic.

Go for it. That tournament is one of the most compelling events I've read about since coming to the sport.

Sport is always competition first for me. No one beat Greece that year and they didn't deserve to.

 

[YoungWolf]

I'll buy you the DVD of Euro 2004 if you like and you can rejoice in how it was a triumph for football that Greece won rather than England, Portugal or the Czech Republic.

We really should have bloody won that tournament. Our issue, much like in 2006, being the depth in our forwards. Rooney stays fit and we win it IMO.

 

[Sam-Wolf]

Every time a tournament comes around I just get angry at the fact that we didn't get closer in 2004 and 2006 with the teams that we had.