Soccer World Cup 2018

10 watchers

CharlieP May 2018 9:59pm, 15 May 2018 1,168 posts	0 CharlieP Soccer is football, but so are the other footballs.
lammo May 2018 10:13pm, 15 May 2018 8,939 posts	0 lammo OK enough pedantry. So, no Jack Wilshire or Joe Hart, no great loss as far as I can see.
Oscar the grouch May 2018 10:49am, 16 May 2018 667 posts	0 Oscar the grouch What would be a mark of progress - round of 16, Q/F? Agree that art and Wilshere have not done enough but there is a lack of compelling evidence all round. However, the age group teams suggest that the future may be brighter... mostly because they have all grown up playing a technical game imho. But then, no-one even attempted a Cruyff turn in my formative years...
lammo May 2018 11:47am, 16 May 2018 8,942 posts	0 lammo If i attempted a Cruyff turn when i was playing, somebody would have battered me
TRO Toddslayer May 2018 12:06pm, 16 May 2018 16,821 posts	0 TRO Toddslayer No one attempted a Cruyff turn but after Ossie Ardiles arrived we ALL attempted that run over the ball and flick it up with your heel from behind trick. If you got this even slightly wrong you'd trip over the ball....
Wriggling Snake May 2018 12:19pm, 16 May 2018 18,541 posts	0 Wriggling Snake The age group teams mean fuck all. You will hardly see any of them at the highest level again. Been there before. I used to trip over the ball just trying to trap it in the first place.
Bazoaxe May 2018 12:20pm, 16 May 2018 13,063 posts	0 Bazoaxe I saw a bunch of bearded Saudi Arabians win the u16 world cup a long time ago.
Oscar the grouch May 2018 1:54pm, 16 May 2018 668 posts	0 Oscar the grouch WS hence my use of terms suggest as suggest and may... I'm not completely delusional. I was never good enough to do any tricks except accidentally. I actually heard one of the coaches of my lads' team of u16 suggest that a player 'watch his (opposition's) feet' when defending. I knew then why they were bottom of the league. Watch the BALL ffs. Baz - I suspect they may not have in fact been u16...
TRO Toddslayer May 2018 2:08pm, 16 May 2018 16,824 posts	0 TRO Toddslayer Age Groups here in England mean fuck all. There were dominant age group teams from Spain, France, Germany amongst others that went on to form the basis of successful senior sides. We have always 'lost' the age groups - somewhere about when they really need to push on they get lost, too much money/adulation too soon, poor lifestyle plus not getting first team football opportunities and stagnating. Quite a few of our current crop, those with their heads screwed on at least, seem to be heading abroad, Germany etc, to try and bridge this gap.
mattglen_ May 2018 2:20pm, 16 May 2018 32 posts	0 mattglen_ Glad to see Alexander-Arnold included in the squad, will be annoyed if Southgate doesn't use him the same way Klopp does, he's been excellent for Liverpool in Europe this year