Day 14: Netherlands vs USA | Argentina vs Australia (Last 16 1&2)

PieCrust

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Tactical masterclass from LVG really. Pulisic scores that goal in the 2nd minute, maybe it turns out differently, but he didn't and Holland was clinical with their chances.
 

TheGame

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A couple of things:

1. After the debacle of 2018, we were promised that the US would conduct a thorough and intense search to find a coach who could bring a progressive style to the US to match all of the young, European based, players. Instead, we hired the brother of one of the guys in charge of the hiring. A guy who had a 35% win percentage in MLS and made the finals once, and lost.

2. When he came in he could not stop talking about his "philosophy" and how it was going to be the players jobs to adapt to it. His philosophy included playing Tyler Adams as a right back and Tim Ream as a left back.

3. WCQ was almost a disaster and included some absolute debacles where the US looked outclassed tactically. If not for Pepi coming off the bench in Honduras at halftime to rescue the game we may not have qualified.

4. He is more interested in his sneaker game and wearing T-shirts on the touchline than coaching it seems.

5. He signature thing is bounce passes to players to take throw ins. You know, like he one he tried in the 88th minute that he bounced all the way back to the goalie when Yedlin was 5 feet from him.

6. He comes across as an asshole.
Thanks.
 

Scottynaldinho

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It's Messi or bust for Argentina.

I'd fancy Australia to progress. They play really well but there hasn't been a lot of discussion, sort of under the radar team.
 

Deery

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Jesus, they could have shown clips of Messi scoring instead of this shite…
 

Lay

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Linekar needs to propose to Messi at the same time Piers proposes to C.Ronaldo
 

Chairman Steve

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I’m glad that this World Cup is the last one we’ll see Messi and Ronaldo. Hopefully everyone can then shut the feck up about them, arguing who’s better and the lame sideshow of their zealots disappears off the face of the earth (shot into space preferably).
 

Big Ben Foster

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Did FIFA change the part of the Argie anthem that normally gets played pre-match? I know the full anthem is something like ten minutes long, so obviously they won't play the whole thing.
 

RedDevilQuebecois

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There's never a bad national anthem in the Commonwealth, I swear. Powerful singing of Advance Australia Fair.
 

Big Ben Foster

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Yes, before we used to sing the introduction of it, now we sing the last part of it.
No wonder it sounds so different this time.

Similar thing happened with the Brazil anthem - instead of playing the first half of the main stanza as they usually do, they played the first and last quarter before the first game (I assume to prevent the fans from continuing a cappella), and then the last two games they just went and played the whole thing.
 

VorZakone

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Aaron Mooy always left a good impression whenever I've watched him. Wonder why his career hasn't been bigger.
 

Big Ben Foster

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Aaron Mooy always left a good impression whenever I've watched him. Wonder why his career hasn't been bigger.
I vaguely remember him being an insufferable thug once or twice when we played Huddersfield
 

RobinLFC

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Isn’t that a handball “according to the new rules”?
 

PoTMS

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So this is going to be one of the football games from The Simpsons?
 

Big Ben Foster

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Weird seeing an Argentina team with players named De Paul and Mac Allister.

Reminds me of that Brazil team in the early 2010s with bobbins names like Fred and Bernard.
 

Dr. StrangeHate

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They are starting papu Gomez, surely they could have taken Garnacho. I swear most international managers won't get a job in the championship.