Day 5: Hungary vs Portugal | France vs Germany

Pavl3n

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Should've put some white text. Okay. The comparison to Walcott and Welbeck was a bit harsh/trollish. Yes, he has scored 42 goals this season.
When most people talk of Mbappe, they put him in the same bracket with Messi and Ronaldo. He's not there yet. He's got a lot of bread to eat, before he gets there.
I just think that people over hype him. He's a very good footballer, but the superlatives he gets come rather easy.
 

RooneyLegend

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I don't see how Mbappe wasn't culpable for that offside. The job of the striker is to assess the situation and the opponent and time the run. It doesn't take much awareness to realise he had plenty of leeway against this Germany side so need to steal a march at all. So that's Mbappe's timing and reading of the situation, just hold or bend the run and play the percentages considering his relative pace. I think he himself would know he's made a slight error there when he sees it back and sees how much latitude he had there.

Pogba's job is to play a good pass, which he did. Not necessarily to play a first time pass or play it within X seconds.

It's at the very least joint culpability.
Pogba delayed on both, Mbappe s timing was great. First time I think just got confused by another player who was offside and saw Mbappe late and the second one it took Pogba some time to get the ball under control. Timing is a big part of passing.
 

NasirTimothy

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Should've put some white text. Okay. The comparison to Walcott and Welbeck was a bit harsh/trollish. Yes, he has scored 42 goals this season.
When most people talk of Mbappe, they put him in the same bracket with Messi and Ronaldo. He's not there yet. He's got a lot of bread to eat, before he gets there.
I just think that people over hype him. He's a very good footballer, but the superlatives he gets come rather easy.
I mean, it’s not surprising seeing as he was the youngest player to ever score in a World Cup final except for a certain other wunderkind 60 years ago. He was very good tonight, from what I saw. The disallowed goal was brilliant.
 

Sayros

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Should've put some white text. Okay. The comparison to Walcott and Welbeck was a bit harsh/trollish. Yes, he has scored 42 goals this season.
When most people talk of Mbappe, they put him in the same bracket with Messi and Ronaldo. He's not there yet. He's got a lot of bread to eat, before he gets there.
I just think that people over hype him. He's a very good footballer, but the superlatives he gets come rather easy.
I don't think I've seen anyone put Mbappe in the same bracket as CR7/Messi. He's just considered the next in line to take over, the heir apparent, that doesn't mean he will get near the heights of those two but he's brilliant in his own right and will only get better IMO. When you have people like Maradona, R9, Pele etc talking about you at 18-19, there's going to be overhype.
 

Marwood

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Should've put some white text. Okay. The comparison to Walcott and Welbeck was a bit harsh/trollish. Yes, he has scored 42 goals this season.
When most people talk of Mbappe, they put him in the same bracket with Messi and Ronaldo. He's not there yet. He's got a lot of bread to eat, before he gets there.
I just think that people over hype him. He's a very good footballer, but the superlatives he gets come rather easy.
I'm convinced part of his problem(if he has a problem) is being right footed on the left.

When the players so fast I think having to check back inside so often really stunts them. Disrupts the flow.

Couple of times tonight, had he been left footed, he was in. But instead he stops, starts jinking around. When he does end up on his left the finishing is obviously hit and miss.

I think the same of Rashford and at a lower level I've thought the same of Elanga at U23 level.

But they're so used to playing there they can't now get used to playing on the right.
 

A-man

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They sit back because they have a very cautious coach who plays that way. It’s criminal really, with the resources at his disposal. I like so many of their players but I just wish they were coached by someone more cavalier.
It’s obviously working :)
They have the best counter attack player in Mbappe and they have a good defence when they sit back, but maybe not the best to play a high line. Then a strong midfield that is hard to penetrate and will both protect the defence and pass the ball to Mbappe with precision. I don’t really see the role of Benzema in this but he is a master of adapting to tactics so I’m sure he’ll be most useful as well.
 

Sayros

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It’s obviously working :)
They have the best counter attack player in Mbappe and they have a good defence when they sit back, but maybe not the best to play a high line. Then a strong midfield that is hard to penetrate and will both protect the defence and pass the ball to Mbappe with precision. I don’t really see the role of Benzema in this but he is a master of adapting to tactics so I’m sure he’ll be most useful as well.
The same as Giroud but with Benzema's qualities. Meaning more passes to his feet, on the ground, quick movements, dropping deeper than Giroud and turning with the ball. His quick flick to put Mbappe through for his insane sprint against Hummels with a questionable call for possible penalty is one example of what Benzema brings that Giroud can't. I expect an intelligent player like Benzema to find more and more impact on the game as he gets more time on the field.
 

NasirTimothy

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It’s obviously working :)
They have the best counter attack player in Mbappe and they have a good defence when they sit back, but maybe not the best to play a high line. Then a strong midfield that is hard to penetrate and will both protect the defence and pass the ball to Mbappe with precision. I don’t really see the role of Benzema in this but he is a master of adapting to tactics so I’m sure he’ll be most useful as well.
It gets results but I really believe they could get the same results or better playing a more fluid, attacking style with all the weapons they have.
 

RooneyLegend

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Why didn’t you say Harry Kane? He gets praised for his defensive work also..

Nothing he can do if he doesn’t get the pass..
If Harry Kane plays like that then he'd also have had a bad game, he did nothing all match going forward which is his primary responsibility. That's the sort of stuff Shane Long long subjected us to for many years. Lots of workrate, zero productivity.
 

A-man

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The same as Giroud but with Benzema's qualities. Meaning more passes to his feet, on the ground, quick movements, dropping deeper than Giroud and turning with the ball. His quick flick to put Mbappe through for his insane sprint against Hummels with a questionable call for possible penalty is one example of what Benzema brings that Giroud can't. I expect an intelligent player like Benzema to find more and more impact on the game as he gets more time on the field.
Yea that flick was wonderful, but he deserves a bigger role than that. Against most other teams he will also be very useful as a traditional striker in the box.
 

A-man

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It gets results but I really believe they could get the same results or better playing a more fluid, attacking style with all the weapons they have.
Agree. Reminds of Spain/Barcelona 10 years ago. So good but so boring to watch Zzzzzzzzz
 

Gringo

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When you give up the ball as often as France do you're asking for the opposition to do something special. Got away with it vs Germany but a Portugal or Belgium could make them pay.
 

croadyman

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Know it's still only the first set of matches but already feels like Germany could end up third, therefore IF we can win our group then I think it's gonna be Portugal or maybe even France if Ronny finds some magic in the last group game
 

Wolf1992

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Both Germany and France defended pretty well, which is why they weren't many occasions of goal.
If you want to watch a super open game with 8-10 shots on goal per team, wait for Austria vs Ukraine,Czech Republic vs Croatia,etc...

Also, kind of ridiculous to read people asking France to score 4 against Germany because they are "weak".
Suddenly Germany became Latvia/Finland, and France should score 4 against this "weak" german side... hilarious.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Germany were awful to watch. They keep the ball really well but other than that their football has no dynamism or flair to it. Pogba alone has more entertainment value than that entire German team put together. They badly need A) a number 9, which muller is not and B) a few genuinely exciting wide players - shame Sane has lived up to his potential.
 

sourdough satellite

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Both Germany and France defended pretty well, which is why they weren't many occasions of goal.
If you want to watch a super open game with 8-10 shots on goal per team, wait for Austria vs Ukraine,Czech Republic vs Croatia,etc...

Also, kind of ridiculous to read people asking France to score 4 against Germany because they are "weak".
Suddenly Germany became Latvia/Finland, and France should score 4 against this "weak" german side... hilarious.
It's international tournament time, which means a whole wave of idiots who barely understand the game decide to share their dumb opinions.
 

Dante

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I think France will win this group, with Portugal 2nd and Germany 3rd.

England would probably slight favourites against against either Portugal or Germany. We can both shithouse it like Hungary, or hit on the counter like France. Our strengths seem to match their weaknesses.
 

BalanceUnAutreJoint

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Mbappe is arguably better than any english player currently active and the best comparison some people can come up with is Walcott? Like for real?
 

Cnaiür urs Skiötha

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Good game by Pogba. Overall deserved win for France although it's not like as if they dominated the whole game. I expect Germany to find their groove and get quite far. Generally speaking I fancy all 3 top teams of that group also winning against each team of the other groups so depending on how the route to the semis is designed I would not be too surprised to see them all within the last 4.
 

Murder on Zidane's Floor

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Try counting the number of times a single player creates more big chances in a game than all of his team mates and the opposition combined, in a game between two of the biggest teams in the tournament. It tends to be quite uncommon, and therefore, a high bar…
The game was poor, the quality was very low and Germany was useless. I think he played well but people are chatting like he Zidane'd the game.
 

Brwned

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The game was poor, the quality was very low and Germany was useless. I think he played well but people are chatting like he Zidane'd the game.
I dunno I just think you're paying attention to the extremes. There seemed to be widespread recognition that it wasn't a classic game but there were a few very good performances out there, Pogba's obviously deserved a particular mention given he won MOTM. Certainly it won't be a performance people will remember years later. But if he creates more chances than all his team-mates and opposition players combined in every game this tournament, it would go down as a classic tournament performance from a world class player. It was a good standard to set, not a low bar. It would put him in the running for player of the tournament, although I reckon Kante goes into this tournament with a head-start on that front.