falkirkthebigclub Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Noteable the tournament's more successful teams featured a physical presence in central attack, taking a couple of defenders out of the game and providing space for the ballers. All 4 semi finalists employed this tactic at some point. For this reason I think Giroud did a decent job, Deschamps seemed happy with his contribution even if internet hipsters weren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 What a fantastic festival of football. Thoroughly enthralling throughout. Magnificent men making many memorable matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 17 minutes ago, badgerthewitness said: Noteable the tournament's more successful teams featured a physical presence in central attack, taking a couple of defenders out of the game and providing space for the ballers. All 4 semi finalists employed this tactic at some point. For this reason I think Giroud did a decent job, Deschamps seemed happy with his contribution even if internet hipsters weren't. Good point, though I wonder how much of it was because there's a lack of really good forwards around, especially among European teams. Uruguay had more options and if Cavani hadn't been injured, leaving Suarez like a lost soul, I wonder if France would have even had made the semis. Deschamps also made a choice to stick Mbappé out on the right wing and withdraw Griezmann when he could have played one or both more centrally, both of which I regard as shitfestery. He also left out Dembélé. Weaker teams are entitled to play like that, but sides with great players ought to play on the front foot. Everybody will say he got it right but I genuinely believe his squad were capable of more if he'd deployed them more offensively, and before the tournament that was the dominant view in France. Would France have won without the ref falling for a dive and awarding a dubious penalty? Those moments changed the game. Anyway, lesson for Scotland is, bring back Steven Fletcher... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I thought that was one of the best finals of recent times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackdaybob Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 4 minutes ago, Richey Edwards said: I thought that was one of the best finals of recent times. Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a wee bit of everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falkirkthebigclub Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 6 hours ago, Barry Ferguson's Hat said: What a fantastic festival of football. Thoroughly enthralling throughout. Magnificent men making many memorable matches. Have a greenie for the alliteration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdog Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 On 30/06/2018 at 15:16, Jdog said: Tipped France from the start, can't believe people were slating them in the group stage, they're playing this tournament like Champs, walked through the group stage then turn it on when it matters. Just saying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiemunster Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Woke up still pished in France. Le scenes were formidablè Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMc99 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 france were very efficient all tournament , but got to feel fro the croatians very hard done by , ref got crucial decisions wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty dingus Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Cracking Tournament. Only thing missing was Gammon England fans nursing cuts and bruises after the plastic chairs revolted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marten Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I loved this tournament, some great surprises. In the end, the best & most consistent team won. France might not play the most exciting football all the time, they are effective. And they're still much better to watch than plain boring (but effective) sides like Spain 2012 (and 2010/2008 to a lesser extend). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloPerth Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 8 hours ago, GordonS said: Good point, though I wonder how much of it was because there's a lack of really good forwards around, especially among European teams. Uruguay had more options and if Cavani hadn't been injured, leaving Suarez like a lost soul, I wonder if France would have even had made the semis. Deschamps also made a choice to stick Mbappé out on the right wing and withdraw Griezmann when he could have played one or both more centrally, both of which I regard as shitfestery. He also left out Dembélé. Weaker teams are entitled to play like that, but sides with great players ought to play on the front foot. Everybody will say he got it right but I genuinely believe his squad were capable of more if he'd deployed them more offensively, and before the tournament that was the dominant view in France. Would France have won without the ref falling for a dive and awarding a dubious penalty? Those moments changed the game. Anyway, lesson for Scotland is, bring back Steven Fletcher... Agree. A team with that squad at its disposal playing a game of sitting behind the ball hitting on the counter is such a waste. People will argue they won the tournament and that's all that matters, but I'd far rather have seen Croatia win the way they played. Possibly sour grapes from me, but it does always feel like the big teams get the decisions in these games. It's similar to Real Madrid in the Champions League. The free kick and penalty were very poor shouts for a game of that significance. A final moan would be about the ceremony. Politicians desperately trying to be part of the show. A shake of the hand at most if they have to be there. Reminds me of when St Johnstone won the Scottish Cup and Stewart Regan brought his wife on the pitch to make the presentation, someone has to keep their egos in check. Otherwise, a great tournament, didn't really want it to end, and Saints v East Fife on Saturday just didn't fill the void. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accies1874 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-44844447/paris-celebrations-turn-violent-on-the-champs-elysees What a way to celebrate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7-2 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 46 minutes ago, PauloPerth said: A final moan would be about the ceremony. Politicians desperately trying to be part of the show. A shake of the hand at most if they have to be there. Reminds me of when St Johnstone won the Scottish Cup and Stewart Regan brought his wife on the pitch to make the presentation, someone has to keep their egos in check. With you 100% on all points but it was actually a bigger disgrace to Scottish football than Regan, Campbell Ogilvie, that did the honours and brought his wife along to dish out the runners up medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Tremendous end to a very entertaining World Cup. Hard not to feel sympathy for Croatia, but France have some utterly outstanding individuals and were probably the best team overall. Just a shame it took a couple of controversial decisions to get them ahead in the final. Kudos to Vlad for not giving a single f**k about anyone else on the podium staying dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameus Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Croatia looked absolutely fucked to be fair. They had played another 90 minutes of football through extra-time, with all the mental and physical stress that brings, and came up against a side that was fresher and ultimately better. Don't think they can have any complaints about the defeat, nor about their own performance. 4-1 would have been harsh on them, and although 4-2 looks like a bit of a pumping, it wasn't. Special credit to the both of them for serving up the sort of final you want to see, rather than the traditional shitshow of two teams desperate not to lose. And also credit for Lloris for seeing it was going that way, and going a bit Frank Spencer. And also, if I was an England fan, I'd be quite happy in a way that they could exit the tournament pretty quietly. Croatia put up a fight because they still had it in their legs. England would have been absolutely dismantled had they stumbled past Croatia and faced that France side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 1 hour ago, forameus said: And also, if I was an England fan, I'd be quite happy in a way that they could exit the tournament pretty quietly. Croatia put up a fight because they still had it in their legs. England would have been absolutely dismantled had they stumbled past Croatia and faced that France side. I'm almost disappointed this didn't happen. Building up the hype for a few more days before being utterly eviscerated by France would have been entertaining, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 32 minutes ago, Gordon EF said: I'm almost disappointed this didn't happen. Building up the hype for a few more days before being utterly eviscerated by France would have been entertaining, Nah. Papped in the group stages is always the preferred outcome for me. That way you get all the LOLZ plus the more jingoistic of the commentators are slightly less inclined to use the "but for..." excuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeTillEhDeh Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Croatian president is a bit touchy feelyShe can be touchy feely with me any day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeTillEhDeh Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Won’t be long until the Scottish Championship season starts. Does that count as football when it involves United? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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