I don't expect Morocco to go any further but I would like them to. I think it may be a repeat of the last final?
There is more to spending than just the transfer fees paid out. Only the biggest and wealthiest clubs can sustain the wages that go with the top players.
Newcastle are the richest team by miles , look at their squad, a group of average players buying into the system, no 100 million pound super stars. Villa owners rebuilding the club from ground up first, facilities , youth system, ground expansion.Man united the ground falling apart, no investment for years with the Glaziers pillaging the club. Money isn’t everything but granted it helps.
Don't Newcastle have a handful of £40million players, and Isak cost almost twice that. I think they will have many more expensive players next season now that are getting some results? Top players would have likely declined transfers previously. Aston are doing OK with relatively inexpensive players, but Stoke did that for years too and look what happened to them... The Glazers / MU are an extreme case of bad owners gutting a business for all they can.
Yep. Me. I drew Morocco in the chambers sweepstake, so I have a couple of hundred quid riding on their continued (and refreshing) success. Even if I didn’t, I’d still be shouting for them as I do love a plucky underdog. I also like the fact that their manager has a bit of a rags to riches story, as until a few years ago he was scratching around doing roadside repairs and now he’s on the verge of a World Cup final.
Fir me having Eddie Howe as manager is also a factor, his players want to play good football under him. Unpopular or useless managers can’t motivate players.
Did you see their scumbag fans rioting in Brussels after they beat Belgium? Don’t suppose The Guardian or BBC gave it much exposure. Jars against the narrative. Nah, I hope Morocco get stuffed by France. Lots of Moroccan’s in Paris too. And Marseille. That’ll be an interesting night for the local Gendarmerie.
Terrible scenes. England fans would never behave in such a disgraceful fashion! If we based our loyalties on the behaviour of the supporters, we’d all have to support Japan, whose fans even tidy up the stadiums before they leave.
Blouarghhhhh…. Splash…. (That’s me spewing btw ) That’s soooo sweet… such lovely people, I wish we were like that Tip- stop reading wokey Guardian shite. It’s turning your brain to mush…. The Senegalese might like to take the cleaning up bug home with them. Have you been to Dakar?
I didn’t fully appreciate how good he is until I saw him play in person, where you can see all of the pitch all of the time. My son and I went to the Argentina v Italy Finalissima at Wembley earlier this year and what you don’t really see on the telly is that he spends a lot of time basically just wandering around, trying different positions and sussing out weak points in the defence. He also spends a lot of time in offside positions but then quietly slips back onside and unmarked in an unexpected area while the back line is preoccupied with an attack. He’s one of those savant-like people who seem to process information at a higher rate, so it appears as if they’re seeing into the future - that “no look” pass which set up Molina’s goal against Holland, being an example. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to see him in the flesh.
France - England : I am not a great football fan myself. I like rugby a LOT more, to be honest. So the only times I watch football on TV are World Cup and Euro final rounds, if France is still a contender. I really enjoyed yesterday’s game first 60ish minutes. Both teams very focused, clean play, lots of nice technical moves on both sides. Then things started to go south. Utter indiscipline on the French side leading to two penalties, yellow cards everywhere, English players trying to bullshit the ref every 2 minutes (reminded me of Owen Farrell at some point… ). Overall, I believe there are more individual skills on the French side and they collectively function better, as a team. Nobody here mentioned their coach (Deschamps) who is second to none, imho, or their goal keeper (Lloris), who made quite a few phenomenal stops, probably saving his team from elimination, unlike Pickford… Morocco? Yeah, nice story and all. But the amount of shit their fans end up doing after each game is unacceptable and the reason why nobody over here will root for them. They can go to hell, for all I care. Argentina? I did not see the game vs the Netherlands, but read about it the day after. Both teams should have been banned from the competition. 18 yellow cards? Some after the end of the game? Players bullying the kicker in the final phase?Shame on these players. Messi like the others. They behaved like dicks in a bar fight… Ronaldo? Unable to rally a team around his talent. Not a team leader. At all. So why is he captain, eh? So by default, for me, hopefully, that will be a replay of last final between France and Croatia, even though, for some reason, I keep a bad memory of 2018. As far as England coaching goes, wouldn’t you guys like David Beckham to take a chance? That would be awesome, I think. Here, we are all hoping to see Zidane being Deschamps’ successor, some day. It seems that great (both charismatic and altruistic) players make for great coaches. They tend to impress the younger players which helps keeping them in line. Galtier (France’s rugby coach) is as good an example as Deschamps, imho.
Yes they have spent money but a drop in the ocean to what they have to spend, Howe has done a great job, great to see them mixing it up at the top of the table.
Dont get so triggered. Stories about the Japanese fans’ politeness are all over the media - that one just happened to be the top result (it’s also from 2018).
