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2014 FIFA World Cup | Official Thread (pg. 35)
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| Vector A |
| Also this Ghana vs Germany is definitely the match with the lowest rate of diving and writhing so far. :toothless |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
I went home at half time, because the PA in the pub was damaging my ears and I'd rather lose my hearing to techno than to an obviously doomed England performance.
To answer your question Marcus, in this particular instance it was rather obviously because we had no presence in the centre of the park. The Uruguayan midfielders were pressing aggressively in the centre of the pitch and preventing Gerrard and Henderson from being able to get on the ball and control the pace of the game. Consequently, we were unable to slow the game down or speed it up when it suited us, and all our play came down the flanks. Generally the pattern of the first half was lots of very scrappy play with no real spells of calm possession for either side. I didn't watch the second half but I can't imagine it was much different. When your defence is as weak as ours you need to be able to take pressure off them by maintaining possession.
Part of our perennial failure is this inability to exert control over a match - most of England's best players, past and present, are quite explosive players who can suddenly do something spectacular. There isn't really a culture of measured play and English coaching doesn't emphasise the technique required to come short and play the ball quickly and calmly under physical pressure in tight spaces, traditionally focusing instead on explosive and physically rugged attributes like strong tackling, long range shooting, long balls and crosses. It adds up to a national side that consistently can't take a game by the scruff of the neck and always seems to end up playing high stakes games in a state of desperate mania.
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I find this a truly insightful and poignant analysis; I actually can;t believe so little has been said in this thread about England's absolutely pathetic presence resulting in the the worst WC result in over 50 years.
That last sentence in your paragraph is the anvil around the neck of English football that they just cannot ever seem to play themselves out of. The thing that almost staggers me the most is that this is nothing new - as long as I can remember tournaments (Italia 90') we have always played this way and not a single coach or captain has ever done anything about it.
I say almost the most staggering, because for outrageously ridiculous money, fame, praise and status we give our footballers, they play like nervous amateurs whenever it really counts. I hope at some point English football and it's "stars" get taken down several pegs both in terms of what they're worth and how they are perceived, both domestically and internationally.
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
The real problem, however, is simply a complete lack of nerve under pressure which I believe finds its roots in the collective post-colonial neurosis that characterises the English national psyche. We used to rule the world, we used to bully all these other nations and we even invented the game of association football which is the one medium in which we can now test our international might. We should be the greatest in the world! But of course we're not, and football instead becomes a re-enactment of our fall from imperial grace. I read a stat that we've lost gone out of something like 6 of the last 8 World Cups to former wartime enemies, usually Germany. No coincidence there. |
I'm not sure about this, and I don't really give the players enough geopolitical or intellectual presence to suffer from post colonial guilt; Personally, even with the pressure of "we invented the game", I think it's more because they are treated like gods in the UK but reality is swiftly reminded to them whenever they have to step up to the plate and deliver.
I'm glad that Shrek got the monkey off his back, and that StevieG made a couple of beautiful long passes, but other than that, England were abysmal. |
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| Vector A |
| Ghana ties Germany 2-2! Very nice match. |
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| Jon_Snow |
| Germany didn't beat Ghana because they felt guilty about ww II. :p |
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| Lira |
I feel bad for Bosnia. They had a goal wrongly taken from them, and now Nigeria is winning the game :(
| quote: | Originally posted by Swamper
Iran deserved the tie |
They truly did. I was sad for Messi's goal, not because I'm Brazilian, but because Iran deserved the result. |
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| DOOMBOT |
Two big mistakes made by the referees that altered outcomes. A foul/penalty that was never awarded to Iran and the goal stripped from Boznia for an offsides that never occurred.
The refereeing is beginning to overshadow, what is otherwise, fantastic competition. It's really hard to enjoy this tournament when the fate is being decided by these s. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by DOOMBOT
Two big mistakes made by the referees that altered outcomes. A foul/penalty that was never awarded to Iran and the goal stripped from Boznia for an offsides that never occurred.
The refereeing is beginning to overshadow, what is otherwise, fantastic competition. It's really hard to enjoy this tournament when the fate is being decided by these s. |
I completely forgot about the Iranian penalty, yeah, there's that!
I'm glad we scored an extra goal against Croatia that day, otherwise that victory would've felt like a tie. |
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| DOOMBOT |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
I completely forgot about the Iranian penalty, yeah, there's that!
I'm glad we scored an extra goal against Croatia that day, otherwise that victory would've felt like a tie. |
Yeah, that penalty awarded to Brazil was awful. You know, after it happened, I was actually giving the referee the benefit of the doubt, saying that I could understand why he may have possibly got that call wrong. Little did I know, this type of refereeing was going to be taking place in almost every match. I won't be making excuses for these guys anymore because again, it's ruining what are otherwise fantastic games.
I don't know if I'm in the majority or minority with this but I believe more technology needs to be used in this sport. If the technology is out there and available to use, then I believe it should be, in order to minimize human error. It's great that goal line technology is being used, as it has already proven to be useful but it shouldn't end there. I'm sure the technology exists to assist in offsides calls; use it. There should also be a way to implement instant replay. Going back to the Boznia/Nigeria game; that guy was onsides by at least 2 feet. That is a monumental error that completely changed the outcome of that game. It's not fair to anyone, players or fans. |
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| Jon_Snow |
| It's a little late in the game to be complaining. One ref and no replay to decide subjective calls. You have the benefit of viewing it in slow mo, at your leisure, from the best angle, on your hd tv. It's illogical to keep doing things the same way and expect different results. |
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| DOOMBOT |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jon_Snow
It's a little late in the game to be complaining. One ref and no replay to decide subjective calls. You have the benefit of viewing it in slow mo, at your leisure, from the best angle, on your hd tv. It's illogical to keeping doing things the same way and expect different results. |
There are actually 2 assistant referees, in addition to the pitch referee. While I agree, the close calls are easier to make from the comfort of our living rooms, there are also those mind boggling calls that should be easy to detect on the pitch. FIFA seems to understand this, somewhat, given the fact that they have already sent one of the assistant referees from the Mexico/Camaroon game, home. |
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| Jon_Snow |
| quote: | Originally posted by DOOMBOT
There are actually 2 assistant referees, in addition to the pitch referee. While I agree, the close calls are easier to make from the comfort of our living rooms, there are also those mind boggling calls that should be easy to detect on the pitch. FIFA seems to understand this, somewhat, given the fact that they have already sent one of the assistant referees from the Mexico/Camaroon game, home. |
I was under the impression one assistant is in charge of the time and the other does subs. Neither has the power to over rule the pitch ref. I was working all day so I didn't see any of the games. The weakness in the game is that one call can effect the outcome and that's why players flop at every opportunity making the officiating all that much harder. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
I'm not sure about this, and I don't really give the players enough geopolitical or intellectual presence to suffer from post colonial guilt; Personally, even with the pressure of "we invented the game", I think it's more because they are treated like gods in the UK but reality is swiftly reminded to them whenever they have to step up to the plate and deliver. |
I don't think any of what I described is consciously going through their heads, but I think it is the English national character to expect us to be a top nation but then go into "Typical England" pessimism when things aren't going our way. After the Italy game I read and heard people across the Internet and the country complaining about every single aspect of England's performance, from Rooney to Gerrard to the manager to the tactics to the players being overpaid and undermotivated. When really, we actually played pretty well against Italy and were good value for a draw.
ITV showed a brief piece before the Uruguay game when the players talked about what playing for their country meant to them - almost all of them mentioned their family and friends, and how they grew up watching England playing at World Cups. The point was that when you play for Manchester United or Liverpool you might be loved by the fans and paid well by the club, but when you play for England it's something every single one of your family and friends wants to happen, and the mood of everyone in the nation is affected by how well you do. Even though the players might live in a multi-millionaire bubble away from the man in the street, they're still only in their 20s, they still grew up watching England on TV (the same games we did) and they still know what it means to everyone. And at that point their behaviour and mentality becomes a reflection of the English character. I've been watching England since Euro '96 and 18 years of different players, different managers and different formations have all had exactly the same mental fragility and nervousness in these big games. It all goes back to when they're 10 years old, crossing their fingers and biting their lips in front of the TV as the English national side tries to face off against another top nation in an international tournament. |
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