Soccer World Cup 2018

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Iron Thigh Girl May 2018 7:39pm, 23 May 2018 5,600 posts	0 Iron Thigh Girl We saw Iceland coming. You didn't even send the scouts to watch them train because you thought it was a shoe-in.
Chrisull May 2018 8:21pm, 23 May 2018 12,732 posts	0 Chrisull I saw Iceland coming! Proof. I had money on it. Cashed out a bit earlyish mind you, but easy money. Full of championship players wanting to see premiership charlies laid flat on their arses. Having seen some of the players first hand, we knew they had the ability to cause a surprise.
TRO Toddslayer May 2018 9:30pm, 23 May 2018 16,857 posts	0 TRO Toddslayer Trouble with our 'football DNA' is that everyone knows how we will play. This means two scenarios: Good sides are simply better at it. They'll knock the ball around a bit quicker, have more creativity. As they say in boxing 'don't hook with a hooker, or you'll get hooked'. Poor sides will still have a very good chance: sit back, defend well and we will think everything's going well with 65% possession, but barely create a chance and get nabbed on the break. It's probably the right thing to do, probably, but suspect it will be the next crop of players, or the one after before it's ingrained enough for us to make an impact.
mattglen_ May 2018 9:51pm, 23 May 2018 37 posts	0 mattglen_ Never been a big believer in planning for the next world cup or waiting for the youth to come trough, gets said every 4/2 years and never happens! I remember people saying the call to take Walcott to the Germany was mad, but he'd be ready a in a few years time... he eventually didn't play then and has fallen out of the squad for the last few years now!
Iron Thigh Girl May 2018 9:20am, 24 May 2018 5,604 posts	0 Iron Thigh Girl There are high expectations in Iceland now after the Euro success. The team is more or less the same, the opposition probably weaker in the group. I think they were a bit lucky last time and they had the huge advantage of being completely underrated and unknown. The other times won't make that mistake again. Lars Lagerback's only objective was to get them to qualify for the Euros. He did this by playing pretty much the same team for 6 years and working on how they could work as a team. There are no prime donne in the squad but they work very effectively because they know each other so well. They got through the Euros by playing a very defensive game, very far back (terrifying to watch) and a few miracle saves from Hannes Þór. I expect the same model this time but the other teams will be ready for it. One problem is they cannot change their game; they don't have the flexibility. I'm thinking of the Liverpool-Roma game (I'm a Roma fan, sob.) Roma looked good in the first 15 minutes; but when Liverpool saw they could not get through midfield, they changed their game and started playing like Scotland - long balls and chase after them. They could outrun the Roma defence. Roma had no answer and were decimated (sobs some more).
Wriggling Snake May 2018 3:41pm, 26 May 2018 18,669 posts	0 Wriggling Snake That is right. They, England, do not have the skill or imagination to play differently and think on their feet. I have my world cup football odds in front of me. Looks very open bar Germany.