2022 FIFA World Cup Predictions and Thread

BleachedAnusDawg said:

What do you say about someone who says baseball is the worst, most boring sport ever invented? Soccer people are the most sensitive sports fans on the planet.

That they're close, but golf exists.

coronabruin said:

Two major issues with the US.

1. Inability to control tempo in midfield when holding a lead.
2. Poor decision-making on counter attacks, which left goals on the table. Need to recognize runs and play the pass early before defenders can react.

The first half was probably the best I’ve ever seen them play at a WC. Should have been up 2-3 at halftime.

Also, Ronaldo is a diving cunt snd Gareth Southgate is driving his Ferrari like a Ford.

The US' glaring problem is that they don't have a pure goal scorer on the roster. I'm starting to wonder if I'm the curse, as every team I follow in every sport plays a brand of that sport that makes you hate watching even when they win. This is the international soccer version of watching the 2019 Huskies. They're trying to set the record for how far a team can go in the tournament on the fewest number of goals scored. The chances have been there, they're just not being putting them in.

I hate to give the talking heads credit, but they're right about the midfield. I wasn't sold on it at all during the buildup, but it's elite. The problem is that you can't just put 11 elite midfielders on the field at the same time.

The Iran game was a frustrating win both strategically and in terms of the play from some of the stars. Sure, Pulisic got the goal, but that was the easiest part of a play that included a beautiful pass to Dest, who made an amazing run and even better inch-perfect cross off his head. Otherwise, Pulisic drew defenders but not much else. He suffered from the same heavy touch that Weah and Robinson suddenly developed out of nowhere. He also keeps putting his corner kicks right to the first defender. McKinney, Dest, Ream, Turner, and Adams had great games; I have very low expectations for Sargent, so I was pleasantly surprised with his holdup play, although he's the last person I expect to put the ball in the net; Musah, Carter Vickers were hit and miss; everyone else played poorly by their standards.

And then there's Berhalter's Pete-Carroll-prevent-defense-FS strategy of subbing literally all of your offense off the field with over 20 minutes left to play and up by only one. I was 100% sure that Iran would equalize--one of their flops in the box was eventually going to convince the wef--and there would be nobody left on the field capable of scoring and no subs left to make. I absolutely hate packing it in to protect a single goal lead, as I've seen it blow up in a team's face a million times. With nearly every threatening player on the bench, the US suddenly couldn't maintain possession at all and were left absorbing wave after wave of attacks. Berhalter got away with playing with fire there, and I was yelling at a screen.

I found myself googling "what's the fewest number of goals scored by a team that advanced past the group stage" after the game. Mathematically, that number could be zero, but so far I haven't read of a team that's pulled that off. TrumpSad.gif.

I hope all the American fans who thought we could compete are enjoying watching a REAL football team kick our ass with superior finishing ability.

Next time will be different LOL