Flopping has been a little less since VAR. The only way to stop it is to give yellow cards for flops which refs have been doing in the box more and more.
OT: 2022 World Cup Thread
- Thread starter cshelley
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They have been instructed to add every second of time. We will be seeing this throughout. Injury stoppage, time waisting etc.
I haven't either but I'm hoping they're getting a little more accurate with the injury time and "flopping time." Only way to stop flopping is if you yellow card them and then also add all the amount of time that flopping time used so it will make no difference
And Tunisia is playing similarly well against Denmark so far - their intensity has been off the charts, so I do wonder if they might run out of gas, late. Schmeichel made an incredible save in the first half to keep this one scoreless.
I didn't realize the Danish player who had the heart issue was back playing. Good to hear.
Still nil nil late at the 80 min mark.
Yep, he has an implantable defibrillator and is now playing for ManU. Nice to see.
Christian Eriksen, one of my favorite players, former Tottenham player.
These are basically home games for the Middle Eastern teams so it’s fun to see them play well.
Still disappointed with yesterday’s result. I still think Sargent could have been utilized better but no y even tried to get him the ball. Haji didn’t even run - I know we were playing with 3 up top but he should have been the runner trying to lead the press.
Still disappointed with yesterday’s result. I still think Sargent could have been utilized better but no y even tried to get him the ball. Haji didn’t even run - I know we were playing with 3 up top but he should have been the runner trying to lead the press.
I’m fine with him. But he has more than his fair share of detractors. Criticizing whomever the USMNT coach is at any given time is kind of a popular pastime.
Some of the hosts were questioning the lack of Reyna in yesterday's game just like some here so was wondering what the thoughts on the coach were.
I think he is better than his predecessor. The team definitely has had ups and downs in form but then again we are very young. But then again it is the best collection of talent we've ever had. But then again they've never really played together - always injuries etc. Can I give him a B-ish?
Argentina had a million chances and couldn't capitalize. Had 3 goals called offside in the first half but but couldn't do anything in the second half
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Reyna fits well with GB’s approach, so I suspect there is a good reason he didn’t see the field even as a sub. The prevailing thought seems to be that he’s not fully recovered. The media seems to be trying to make a story out of it, but that’s meaningless as always.
Big sequence there in the Mexico/Poland match. PK awarded after VAR review to Poland, save by Ochoa.
Berhalter managed Columbus Crew for 5 seasons and didn’t win anything of note. The general consensus on his team’s style was “possession without purpose.”
Prior to managing Columbus Crew Gregg Berhalter managed a mid-table Norwegian team and fired because his team was not playing attacking/exciting enough.
So he had no notable managerial record at the club level and really only had foreign experience and was a former player whose brother is also in a position to hire him.
We had Bielsa or Martino available during this cycle. I hope the US moves on regardless if they advance.
Prior to managing Columbus Crew Gregg Berhalter managed a mid-table Norwegian team and fired because his team was not playing attacking/exciting enough.
So he had no notable managerial record at the club level and really only had foreign experience and was a former player whose brother is also in a position to hire him.
We had Bielsa or Martino available during this cycle. I hope the US moves on regardless if they advance.
I would take Donovan 10000 games over the legendarily nails-on-a-chalkboard Lalas. I actually like Donovan because he talks about the game mostly, and his observations speak to his intelligence about the game. And he has a good dry sense of humor.
Whereas Lalas is an overly loud, overly effusive, pure drama-queen - babbling about player's feelings instead of talking about soccer. Which is just as well since Lalas epitomizes the not uncommon situation where a player has played a sport at a high level but doesn't actually understand it beyond a very basic level (i.e. they can play but could never coach). His analyses are often irritatingly (sometimes hilariously) inaccurate.
Lalas is the prototypically loud obnoxious American that gives us a bad name. Other than that, though, I'm a big fan.
I haven't watched the NBA in a long time but he reminds me of Bill Walton when he did NBA games.I would take Donovan 10000 games over the legendarily nails-on-a-chalkboard Lalas. I actually like Donovan because he talks about the game mostly, and his observations speak to his intelligence about the game. And he has a good dry sense of humor.
Whereas Lalas is an overly loud, overly effusive, pure drama-queen - babbling about player's feelings instead of talking about soccer. Which is just as well since Lalas epitomizes the not uncommon situation where a player has played a sport at a high level but doesn't actually understand it beyond a very basic level (i.e. they can play but could never coach). His analyses are often irritatingly (sometimes hilariously) inaccurate.
Lalas is the prototypically loud obnoxious American that gives us a bad name. Other than that, though, I'm a big fan.
I haven’t really watched much of the Fox studio show but, after years of getting used to the style of the match commentary on the EPL games, the way the announcers doing USMNT games in qualifying and yesterday never seem to shut up gets pretty frustrating.I would take Donovan 10000 games over the legendarily nails-on-a-chalkboard Lalas. I actually like Donovan because he talks about the game mostly, and his observations speak to his intelligence about the game. And he has a good dry sense of humor.
Whereas Lalas is an overly loud, overly effusive, pure drama-queen - babbling about player's feelings instead of talking about soccer. Which is just as well since Lalas epitomizes the not uncommon situation where a player has played a sport at a high level but doesn't actually understand it beyond a very basic level (i.e. they can play but could never coach). His analyses are often irritatingly (sometimes hilariously) inaccurate.
Lalas is the prototypically loud obnoxious American that gives us a bad name. Other than that, though, I'm a big fan.
I don't get attached to coaches, so I don't much care who coaches. I can see why people would criticize the USMNT for possession without a purpose, although, to my eyes, GB and staff are encouraging a more aggressive form of possession play and the players are just inconsistent at delivering.
I think, in some qualifiers like against Mexico, that aggressive attacking possession style was on display. But in some other games, like on Monday, where opponents test the patience of our backs and mids, the players stall out against teams that recover back to defend mostly in their own half. We lack players in the midfield who consistently demonstrate the kind of creativity to unbalance organized defenses.
IMO, Reyna is the one the guy who can do that consistently while on the ball against good competition, with McKennie capable of doing so, but only inconsistently. The other mids can do it via incisive passing, but again, not super consistently and not so much when on the ball.
To me, the most obviously missing component of the USMNT play, even when they have good games, is the near total lack of small group combination play (wall passes, overlaps, one-twos, takeovers, etc.). Our D was doing some of that to beat high pressure when M Robinson was healthy. But our mids and forwards? Not so much. I don't understand why not because it's just fundamental soccer. It's baffling to me.
Anyway, I think the USMNT is finally close to being able to field a national team deep enough w/talent and skill and international experience to play a quality game of soccer against the best competition in the world. So I hope whomever the US might get to replace GB continues to encourage quality play and creativity versus going backwards to the ugly style of prior USMNT teams which was entirely based on long balls, set pieces, and brutish physical play.
Agreed, the USA game was hard to listen to yesterday and the Mexican love fest today was palpable.
Exactly. 100%. EPL commentators use understatement and quiet observations to great effect.
American commentators never shut up. They need to STFU and let the play on the field entertain. I have a feeling that they are encouraged by the network to explain everything or talk about everything and to "make it more exciting" because the perception is Americans don't understand or appreciate soccer.
This isn't baseball where there's about 90% dead time and 10% action so the commentators need to fill up all the dead time w/talk (thus statistics are such big a deal).
Soccer is low-scoring, and international play isn't as exciting as club play from a technical standpoint, but it's still non-stop action on the field for 45 minutes. Talking over it takes away from what's happening on the field, from the beauty of the game.
At least that's how I see it.
I never saw/heard him commentate.
Saw some of his games in replays or in documentaries, though. That boy could play. Holy cow.
Oh well instead of up 2-0, down 2-1. That second goal for France I think demonstrates some of the difference between the top teams and others.
Even the little things like passing or receiving the ball aren’t done with consistent touch or finesse, especially in traffic.
John Madden kind of did that too, sometimes, right? But Madden did it w/a kind of understated, matter-of-fact tone. Not faking drama so much as adding color and depth.
His "doink!" commentary, for examples, was as joyful as it was a colorfully accurate description of the moment he was describing.
Madden I’d say was more exuberance, humor and charm than hyperbole.
Love Lalas, which means, once again, that you are WRONG!I would take Donovan 10000 games over the legendarily nails-on-a-chalkboard Lalas. I actually like Donovan because he talks about the game mostly, and his observations speak to his intelligence about the game. And he has a good dry sense of humor.
Whereas Lalas is an overly loud, overly effusive, pure drama-queen - babbling about player's feelings instead of talking about soccer. Which is just as well since Lalas epitomizes the not uncommon situation where a player has played a sport at a high level but doesn't actually understand it beyond a very basic level (i.e. they can play but could never coach). His analyses are often irritatingly (sometimes hilariously) inaccurate.
Lalas is the prototypically loud obnoxious American that gives us a bad name. Other than that, though, I'm a big fan.
I find Donovan annoying also and Dempsey doesn't do much for me either; like Edu, though. Give me Premier League announcers and please not that buffoon from Mexican TV.