Prospects for the last 8 (OT fan stuff)

[Big Cat]

Gotta say, Quarter Final of the World Cup and I'm not feeling it at all. I'm really not bothered if England progress and only mildly interested in them winning the competition. My kids are very keen, so I'll watch them and cheer them on for that reason. Maybe something will happen in the game that'll get me up for it, or maybe I'm just too far gone with modern Elite Football (and the way the game is refereed FWIW)

Obviously I still get on with the grass roots game which is stuck in time, but the higher the level, the more I turn my back on the hyped up nonsense

 

[Kes]

Nerves kicking in now.
Surprised at how confident some people are (that I've spoken to) of an England win.

Fact is, France are the first decent side we've met in this tournament so far. They're looking good and are current holders. Our defence hasn't been tested yet ...

Fingers crossed for a night of good play and good fortune... ️

 

[Mooseybaby]

If England repeat their performance of the first half hour against Senegal, the match could be effectively over by half time!..

 

[Big Cat]

Nerves kicking in now.
Surprised at how confident some people are (that I've spoken to) of an England win.

Fact is, France are the first decent side we've met in this tournament so far. They're looking good and are current holders. Our defence hasn't been tested yet ...

Fingers crossed for a night of good play and good fortune... ️

How man.... I was killing the atmos....
Maybe I'll be up for it after my 5th bottle of Greene King Abbot. Am a reet misery! Even when I am excited (which ain't very often) , I don't tell anyone

 

[cwyeary]

Nerves kicking in now.
Surprised at how confident some people are (that I've spoken to) of an England win.

Fact is, France are the first decent side we've met in this tournament so far. They're looking good and are current holders. Our defence hasn't been tested yet ...

Fingers crossed for a night of good play and good fortune... ️

England is also the first top side France has met...

 

[Kes]

How man.... I was killing the atmos....
Maybe I'll be up for it after my 5th bottle of Greene King Abbot. Am a reet misery!

You had me worried for a minute there big lad. Had away an shyte ... x

 

[Kes]

Slab-head looks tense ...

 

[santa sangria]

Great interview on Talksh*** with French journo supporting my thoughts… Southgate really could have taken the initiative with 60-65 gone and e.g. hooked Foden and/or Hendo.

The French did well to do to Foden what we tried to do to Mbappe - they had three players on him forcing him to the touchline and back.

I also thought that England were one paced and this was criminal after the 2-1 goal. The players were not so well coordinated - the sight of Hendo pressing alone, players taking an age on free kicks. Maybe we were also a bit too nice. I would have liked us to get right into Giroud for standing over every dead ball.

 

[RustyRef]

Great interview on Talksh*** with French journo supporting my thoughts… Southgate really could have taken the initiative with 60-65 gone and e.g. hooked Foden and/or Hendo.

The French did well to do to Foden what we tried to do to Mbappe - they had three players on him forcing him to the touchline and back.

I also thought that England were one paced and this was criminal after the 2-1 goal. The players were not so well coordinated - the sight of Hendo pressing alone, players taking an age on free kicks. Maybe we were also a bit too nice. I would have liked us to get right into Giroud for standing over every dead ball.

I thought the performance was fine. England had more possession, more attempts on goal, and were generally the better team, especially in the 2nd half, France were just more clinical.

I think people sometimes forget this is a very young and relatively inexperienced England team. Aside from Henderson, and possibly Walker and Trippier, everyone will probably be around for the next World Cup. There is an argument to say there were too nice though, has it ever happened before that a team picks up their first caution of a tournament after 90 minutes of their 5th game?

 

[Big Cat]

I actually thought England were terrific, in particular last night
A big sense of injustice. A curse over the decades

VAR just deepens the hatred towards our Community

The result was another hard one to take when all said and done

 

[RustyRef]

I actually thought England were terrific, in particular last night
A big sense of injustice. A curse over the decades

VAR just deepens the hatred towards our Community

The result was another hard one to take when all said and done

Would that be the same VAR that gave us a penalty, which we duly missed?

 

[Kes]

Would that be the same VAR that gave us a penalty, which we duly missed?

 

[RustyRef]

Just saw this, a bit of self depreciating English humour. Southgate, Pearce and Waddle took the rise out of themselves after their penalty misses with the Pizza Hut advert.

Mr Kane did it before his miss ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1601897654786588673

 

[Jorik0907]

I'm also assuming that these results mean that Makkelie is now favorite for the final, right? That's assuming FIFA will accept that Argentina knocked out NL and that won't affect him, but if Croatia progress, I'm not seeing anyone contesting him for it. Tello is out, Lahoz did himself no real favors with all the attention that game got and Turpin is also a victim of his country's fortune. I'm thinking that Taylor and Oliver also won't get to officiate France.

Who are you betting on?

 

[RustyRef]

For the past two tournaments it has been given to one of the quarter final referees, if they stick with that approach it can only be Oliver or Tello.

 

[Jorik0907]

For the past two tournaments it has been given to one of the quarter final referees, if they stick with that approach it can only be Oliver or Tello.

Yello is never getting it with Argentina in the semis, I'd wager. So that'd mean that Oliver would be a near-garuantee. (I'd be happy with that, he's been really good this tournament.)

Edit: I'm completely forgetting that Marciniak also exists. Orsato got the first semi, curious to see the others. I'm going with Marciniak for the other semi, or Makkelie and then Oliver in the final

 

[cwyeary]

I'm also assuming that these results mean that Makkelie is now favorite for the final, right? That's assuming FIFA will accept that Argentina knocked out NL and that won't affect him, but if Croatia progress, I'm not seeing anyone contesting him for it. Tello is out, Lahoz did himself no real favors with all the attention that game got and Turpin is also a victim of his country's fortune. I'm thinking that Taylor and Oliver also won't get to officiate France.

Who are you betting on?

I'm pretty confident in betting on Marciniak for the final. I'm thinking Ramos (sigh) for the 2nd SF. Unfortunately Moracco took away the easy choice of using the American since he was born in Moracco.

Also, an English ref is never getting an Argentina match (especially the WC final). That's why I think it's Marciniak. He can do any combination of the final without issues.

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

Would love to see a supplementary cup between the 16 teams knocked out. Some of them were proper mince.

You're going to love the 2026 World Cup then - 48 teams, playing in 3 countries, each of which has different visa requirements, some different time zones - luckily FIFA have found some experts on here to sort out the appointments of the officials, including some Level 6 and Level 7's for the first time.

 

[GraemeS]

I'm pretty confident in betting on Marciniak for the final. I'm thinking Ramos (sigh) for the 2nd SF. Unfortunately Moracco took away the easy choice of using the American since he was born in Moracco.

Also, an English ref is never getting an Argentina match (especially the WC final). That's why I think it's Marciniak. He can do any combination of the final without issues.

I understand what you're saying, but is he actually top-tier? Genuine question as I don't know him that well compared to most of the other names being discussed, but it seems like some weird factors are being considered when it should really be down to assigning the best that you plausibly can.

MO having clearly the best match of the 4 QF refs and then getting sent home because AT needs to get his go is a great example of FIFA painting themselves into corners with referee appointments. I imagine they were hoping Lahoz would nail his QF and book the final as a result, but even those claiming FIFA conspiracies to keep every match 11 v 11 can't imagine that his performance went down well.

 

[cwyeary]

I think Marciniak is top tier now. He's been fantastic in the last two years. With guys like Brych and Kuipers retiring, there isn't exactly a guy who screams " this is the best referee in the world right now". Makkelie, Oliver, Turpin, and Marciniak all might be there in 2024/26 but not yet. The closest is probably Orsato but we're they really going to give an Italian the final again?

Simply put I think had Fagahni rejected the on field review for that handball in Uruguay versus Portugal he would have cemented his spot in the final.