The Official Football Thread

[KiraYamatoFan]

No one talking about transfers so close to the new European season? I expected more. Anyway, I'll talk about some of the transfers that caught my attention during summer.

Mohamed Salah @Liverpool: I think they did a good deal in signing him in order to add more wide attacking options. However, I don't think they have done enough to strengthen their defence.

Alexandre Lacazette @Arsenal: So far, he looks good in front of goal, and should help Arsenal scoring more goals. Nevertheless, one could feel that the team hasn't changed much from last season.

Alvaro Morata @Chelsea: He has now the responsibility to replace Diego Costa. Regardless, he would have to change from being a super sub to become a regular starter; that's not the easiest task for any striker. He has the potential to be very good though.

Tiemoué Bakayoko @Chelsea: Signed from Monaco, he will have the task to partner his fellow countryman N'Golo Kanté in midfield. He's still young and a little raw, so it's difficult for me to say how he will do. Still, David Seaman compared him to Patrick Vieira on the other day.

??? @Tottenham: Signed nobody so far, and that's almost like taking the piss at their own fans.

Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Danilo @Manchester City: Knowing that they had to replace their older full-backs, they had to sign players. However, paying that kind of money now makes City's defence the most expensive ever assembled if you add Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones.

Romelu Lukaku @Manchester United: After Zlatan has been ruled out until the end of the calendar year, it was clear that we needed a proven goalscorer. Since our problem was goalscoring against lower teams, I'm happy that we brought him in as a flat track bully who can score against those teams. At the same time, I'm confident Zlatan will sign a short contract in January.

Victor Lindelof @Manchester United: Although he was very good at Benfica, he will need time to adapt himself at United. Still, I have learned last year that Mourinho can teach most defenders how to play as solid proper defenders.

Nemanja Matic @Manchester United: People knew that we need a proper defensive midfielder, but I didn't think it was possible to sign him from Chelsea even when they signed Bakayoko. Since the plan is to give Pogba full freedom in midfield, I'm happy at the signing.

James Rodriguez @Bayern Munich (loan for 2 seasons): According to what I can get among Bayern fans, he's one player they will love. He's always creating danger out there.

Corentin Tolisso @Bayern Munich: Record Bundesliga signing at €41.5 million, plus up to €6m in potential bonuses. That signing looks like coming out of nowhere, but it appears that he was signed to be a direct replacement for Xabi Alonso. It's quite a lot of pressure for this product from Lyon.

Leonardo Bonucci @AC Milan: It was a surprise for me. I really thought that Juventus would work harder to keep him, but there probably was a beef between him and Allegri. Bonucci will be a very good leader for AC Milan.

Neymar Jr. @PSG (to be confirmed): If this happens, he will become the most expensive player in the world. The transfer market is already out of control to a big extent, and it will be even more after that. On a humorous note, here is how JOE.co.uk describes the Neymar saga in the light of recent developments: WWE style.

Feel free to share your impressions. Let's talk about other transfers that slipped under my radar if any.

[justavisitor]

well, seems like Neymar to PSG is a done deal. La Liga rejects payment from PSG, but they can't do anything against Neymar whose representative pays the fee instead.

I am a Man U and real (basically CR7 ) fans so naturally I am welcomed with the news. More competition among the rich teams is better than nothing I guess.

Neymar has managed to anger not only barca, but la liga, and even Spain in some degree as well another tax scandal related to Neymar may be coming up in Spain in the near future XD

[germanturkey]

aside from neymar, it has been a pretty boring summer. nothing truly surprising yet, at least until barca decide to spend on replacements. the whole saga is kind of really sketchy. they qatar paid neymar for an "unrelated" expense (being ambassador of the 2018 world cup) and he used that money to buy out his contract and move to psg (which is owned by qatar). i would love if uefa or fifa investigated and found it was a breach of FFP and banned them from the CL.

Barca really messed up here. their board has been slacking the last few years, and now they only have an aging messi and suarez until they sign someone new. real on the other hand, have basically spain's u21 team on their bench.

[germanturkey]

oh my god, my heart almost gave out.

[Toukairin]

I thought this would be the right place to discuss about the World Cup. What are your expectatons? Who will win?

Discuss.

[justavisitor]

I want C Ronaldo to win...the way they play tho, getting the top two spot is imo actually more challenging (since they can't score at will), after that, if they make it tho, just one game at a time like the euro

[Toukairin]

Day 2 at the World Cup saw 2 late dramas and an epic 3-3 draw for the ages. it was definitely better than the disgraceful 0-5 from the Saudis against Russia.

First, an Egyptian side without Mo Salah held its ground for as long as possible until Uruguay won the match on a set piece at the last minute of normal time or so. Overall, the result followed the logic because Uruguay dominated the match. Egypt 0-1 Uruguay

Second, that was arguably the biggest nonsense of a finish between Morocco and Iran. For most of the time, it was one-way traffic in favor of Morocco with several chances of scoring the elusive goal. Then in injury time, Iran made the great escape through an own goal from a Moroccan defender on a free kick. Can't think of a worst way to have a heartbreaker. Morocco 0-1 Iran

Last but not least, Portugal vs. Spain was the opening match to end all opening matches in World Cup history. Portugal started quickly with a penalty converted by Cristiano Ronaldo (I must say that I was slightly skeptical on the call because I have seen players getting yellow cards for going down on the most innocuous of contacts). Spain retaliated with a controversy of their own with Diego Costa scoring a nice individual goal after elbowing Pepe in the buildup. Then Ronaldo scores again on a very rare mistake by David de Gea before halftime. In the second half, Spain replied with 2 quick goals, including a real bomb from Real Madrid's Nacho. And finally, Ronaldo finished his hat-trick with a free kick into the top corner. Portugal 3-3 Spain

Speaking of the Portugal/Spain match, I don't think I have ever seen an opening group match that has shown such level of competitiveness before. It was back and forth. Both teams had their chances. As for Portugal, you have to wonder where they would be without Cristiano Ronaldo doing a LeBron James out there. Meanwhile, David de Gea will need to be a lot stronger than that because football viewers out there know he deserves to be among the 2 best goalkeepers in the world.

[Sheba]

Fucking C Ronaldo Carry. Its no wonder the BF of my second sister, who is French Portuguese, believes his team have all his chances for a first title.

[grecefar]

What a way for argentina to start the world cup.

[Sakuratsuki]

All the matches I've seen so far haven't gotten me excited yet. The level of this World cup is so bad. The only exception was the match between Portugal and Spain. That was an exceptional match with high quality football. Tomorrow Germany and Brazil, hopefully they have something better for us.

[Toukairin]

Too many teams so far have been underwhelming. You have to question about what the level of preparation is with them.

France 2-1 Australia: I was expecting one-way traffic from the French, but it looked like the presence of so many young French players was the reason why France looked disjointed for most of the time. We saw the first time that a decision was reversed into a penalty after a VAR review, so I'm quite happy since we have been crying for years about the need for video replays. Other than that, the goal line technology did wonders for France when Pogba's deflected shot went off the crossbar and barely over the goal line. Again, you have to appreciate the new age of tech support for referees.

Argentina 1-1 Iceland: it was the proof that talent alone wins you nothing unless you work hard to get a result. If you are a fan of Argentina, it's the usual question marks with the usual suspects who do not perform. As for Lionel Messi and his penalty miss...

Peru 0-1 Denmark: Very poor game overall. I don't need to say more.

Croatia 2-0 Nigeria: Both goals were scored from unusual circumstances. Croatia were the better team, but Nigeria came up very flat.

I hope for a better show from Die Mannschaft tomorrow against Mexico as well as from Brazil against the Swiss.

[Guido]

Congratulations, Mexico.

For the first time in a World Cup they succeeded to beat Die Mannschaft.

Germany vs. Mexico 0 - 1.

Actually, the Mexicans barely scrapped the victory since in the last, closing minutes the German team created consecutive chances to score goals, but either the shots went amiss or thanks to Ochoa's timely performance that Mexico secured victory.

[James Rye]

Löw should have let Reus and Brand play from the start. When those guys got in then all those goal chances suddenly came, before that the team was like dead in their shoes. They nearly always played over the right side, they didn't went into the 1-1 fights, they made so many missing passes and failed flanks, it was frustrating to watch...

But the Mexicans played really well, they were so good, they could have easily won 0:2 if they had been a little calmer in the 2nd half with their counter attacks.

[Sakuratsuki]

only 0:2? The Mexicans had the chance to score 3 or 4. the problem they had when the managed to get to the other goal they finished it off poorly. Germany deserved this loss, imho I didn't see Germany showing any passion to win the match. Most players where like, ''I want to have vacation already''. As for Mexico they gave it all and deserved this win.

What a disappointing World Cup, big teams are just plain horrible. Just finished watching Brazil. They have great talent but they don't function as a team. It's just 11 individuals with a lot of skills. Look at Swiss even though they don't have the big names that Brazil but they manage to do well because they do each their part to support each other as a team. South America should drop taking those third rate coaches and get an experienced coach instead. They have the best players of the world. But in a way or another those coaches do a horrible job to create a good function team out of them. That's just a waste.

[Toukairin]

Originally Posted by James Rye

Löw should have let Reus and Brand play from the start. When those guys got in then all those goal chances suddenly came, before that the team was like dead in their shoes. They nearly always played over the right side, they didn't went into the 1-1 fights, they made so many missing passes and failed flanks, it was frustrating to watch...

Being a fan of Germany myself, I was very displeased at the way the team played for most of the time in the match. I felt that the starting XI was extremely slow, especially at the back. I don't know what Löw was thinking by putting most his 2014 guys out there, but they were a major reason why things went as badly as they did. For all the talk of France playing too many young players yesterday, Germany played too many old boys today. Khedira was slow and left spaces in behind. Hummels fell over too many times, especially on the Mexican goal. Özil is as lazy today as he often is at Arsenal. Boateng saved his team a few times, but he's clueless when the ball comes to his feet and thus should not be forced to make plays. And Müller still has not recovered from his woes at Euro 2016.

I have to tip my hat to Julian Draxler. He was among the very few who kept on fighting until the very end for Die Mannschaft. He has earned his money today, but they will need more fighters out there for the next match against Sweden. I hope and expect Löw to make several changes to the starting XI, even perhaps changing the tactical setup.

My personal opinion is that Löw should try going with a 4-3-3 formation that would look like this:

Kimmich------Boateng------Süle------Hector
-----Gündogan-----Goretzka----Kroos-------
-----Reus----------Werner--------Draxler------

Outs: Hummels, Khedira, Plattenhardt, and Özil shouldn't start anymore. Müller better understand that he's no untouchable unless he plays better.
On a tight leash: Kimmich... On the first thing that goes wrong, he should make way for others.
Ins and why: Hector... natural first choice and expected to come back from illness. Süle... younger and faster than Hummels. Gündogan... provides more energy and better defensive workrate than Khedira these days. Goretzka... he makes more effort than Özil. Reus... Germany looked more dangerous today with him. It's all about passion and hunger now.

[Guido]

Originally Posted by James Rye

But the Mexicans played really well, they were so good, they could have easily won 0:2 if they had been a little calmer in the 2nd half with their counter attacks.

Originally Posted by Sakuratsuki

only 0:2? The Mexicans had the chance to score 3 or 4. the problem they had when the managed to get to the other goal they finished it off poorly. Germany deserved this loss, imho I didn't see Germany showing any passion to win the match. Most players where like, ''I want to have vacation already''. As for Mexico they gave it all and deserved this win. That's just a waste.

It's very kind of you to say that, but as a Mexican I had low expectations for my team due to their poor performance and game play in previous World Cups.

It truly frustrates and exasperates me watching Mexico playing with the same, old-fashioned, endurance style. Never pushing forward but always passing the ball backwards and always missing the long shots.

The reason why Mexico won this match was partially due that the Germans thought of the Mexicans as neither a big deal nor a threat while watching recordings of the friendly games Mexico played prior to this World Cup, and Mexico lost all those friendly matches disastrously, particularly the one against Denmark.

If we factor in the Germans' lack of enthusiasm to take their rivals seriously plus the Mexicans well played counter attacks and stout defensive game, then it became pretty obvious in the last, closing minutes of the match that Mexico deserved to win.


Honestly, the beginning of this World Cup feels lagging and insipid:
first Argentina, then Germany, and now Brazil have faltered; behold, how the mighty have fallen so low.

[justavisitor]

Originally Posted by Guido

Honestly, the beginning of this World Cup feels lagging and insipid:
first Argentina, then Germany, and now Brazil have faltered; behold, how the mighty have fallen so low.

That may be a good thing so we could have new winner!!
Watching the game today, Swiss was so organized as a team, they just lack some talented forwards (most teams have this problem anyway unless you are the traditional powerhouse )

[SidVicious]

Nice.
Japan won.

[Toukairin]

That was an historical moment in itself. Japan is the first Asian nation to defeat a South American side in World Cup history.

The Japanese players took the game to the Colombians when they had to. Of course, it helped that Colombia went down to 10 men before the penalty. But still, it took good character from the Japanese team to fight for the winning goal after they got scored on a free kick that should perhaps not have existed in the first place. Finally, the boys in blue fully deserved the win on the balance of the match.

[Sakuratsuki]

What a bad performance by Portugal. After the early goal of Cristiano I thought this is going to finish in 5-0 or more but man I was wrong. Morocco dominating the match but again like in their first match against Iran, playing good but not a good attacker to finish it off. They need a Cristiano . Portugal didn't deserve this win at all. Based on this match and the match against Spain, I think Portugal should get it's act together because they will have a very tough time facing the more difficult teams later on. Portugal has been saved by Cristiano against Spain and now he did it again, I wonder if they can keep depending on Cristiano the whole world cup.