World Cup 2022 thread (football only)

[Barkhamred]

Just now, cidercity1987 said:

Local or National?

National

[Port Said Red]

Much like a City match day thread, I can't be bothered to work my way through the comments of those who know so much more about football than the professionals, so hopefully someone else has said....

That was as close to a perfect performance as you will see in modern day football. Wales are not a great side, but there was always a chance that they would ride in to the game on a wave of nationalism and emotion, so England took any chance of that away from them. 

They held on to the ball for about 30 minutes and stopped the Welsh from getting a foothold, then the rest off the first half they slowly turned the screw, tighter and tighter. In the 2nd half they put their foot on their neck and never let them off the floor, they were completely demolished and demoralised. It was beautiful to watch. 

The good news for the Welsh fans is, they can go back to watching rugby now.

The bad news for the England fans is that a 96th minute winner by Famara is now inevitable.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Port Said Red

[pillred]

8 hours ago, BigTone said:

You and me both

Not sure whether Holland or Senegal would be any easier having watched both games. I suppose it depends on which England turn up , have you ever thought that watching city seems to mirror our national team you never know which team will turn up?

[pillred]

3 hours ago, Wanderingred said:

Easier said than done when the opposition is sticking ten men behind the ball and showing zero ambition. As the game goes on, we’ll have more chances because Wales will have to open up a bit.

Said exactly the same thing live, some people including my own brother expect miracles we were proved right in the end though.

[pillred]

3 hours ago, RedorDead BCFC said:

It’s called the World Cup. Meaning the world, not just a few. 
 

And exactly how long should the tournament be? it's already nearly a month and already that seems an eternity, yes in the summer under a normal schedule we could fit it in but clubs are already complaining the season is too long. 

[Tin Soldier]

Nuff said

 

[pillred]

55 minutes ago, Robbored said:

The BBC are trying to promote equality - that’s why we see and hear so many female pundits and commentators these days.

Personally I find one particular female commentator extremely grating whenever there’s an exciting episode of play. Her high pitched excitable voice doesn’t sit right to me. 

I actually watch BBC far more than ITV. I find the absence of advertising a significant bonus.

As for the Welsh - well done for reaching the WC finals but unfortunately they were cruelly exposed.

Vickie Sparks by any chance?

[bearded_red]

Fair play, what a genuine waste of time Wales are.

[downendcity]

1 hour ago, WessexPest said:

Sort of. Everyone in Great Britain is of mixed genetic stock, though. The Welsh didnt sprout out of the ground from the Rhonda and were “comeovers” themselves albeit earlier (I think from Azerbaijan). 

Their footballing decendents......

 

 

Sorry Wessex. I thought you said combovers!

 

[WessexPest]

1 hour ago, downendcity said:

Their footballing decendents......

 

 

Sorry Wessex. I thought you said combovers!

 

Thanks for

i. The Laugh

ii. Reminding me why I wholeheartedly embrace my baldness. 

[ExiledAjax]

8 hours ago, Sir Colby-Tit said:

The trouble is a UK team would probably have to have Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish players in it to keep everyone happy, and then we'd be shit.

But it wouldn't be thought of like that. You'd just be drawing from the full pool of 70million British Citizens (plus others who qualify) rather than the pool of 60million "English", 5million "Scots" or 3million "Welsh". It would be no different to drawing players from Yorkshire, Kent or Warwickshire for the England team. Yes they're culturally distinct, but there's no need to "keep people happy".

You'd also no longer have the Welsh FA sniffing around the best English players who happen to have a great aunt in Caernarfon, and you'd have the whole nation under one FA, with a restructured League system, and all with one goal.

It might in time also help us to move away from the mediaeval notion of the four "countries" and towards a sensible, and properly United Kingdom. But that's for the politics forum, so I'll leave it there.

 

Big day for Australia today. Hopefully the Mighty Socceroos can do the Danes and get through.

Edited November 30, 2022 by ExiledAjax

[BigTone]

7 hours ago, pillred said:

Not sure whether Holland or Senegal would be any easier having watched both games. I suppose it depends on which England turn up , have you ever thought that watching city seems to mirror our national team you never know which team will turn up?

I certainly see similarities in the inconsistencies of them both.

[The Bard]

10 hours ago, Northern Red said:

I've seen many comments from Man Utd fans about how watching the Dutch is triggering their PTSD from his time in charge of them.

Bunch of knobs. They actually won a trophy with him in charge

[BCFC11]

Media still banging on about this so say amazing Welsh support, Red Wall my ass, more like piss stained ropey old fence.

[RedLionLad]

How the hell does one player who played 45 minutes and only got to touch the ball seven times get all the attention, even with his team finishing bottom of the group and most likely heading home on a plane this morning?

[Port Said Red]

1 minute ago, RedLionLad said:

How the hell does one player who played 45 minutes and only got to touch the ball seven times get all the attention, even with his team finishing bottom of the group and most likely heading home on a plane this morning?

I thought he was shocking all tournament, one penalty does not make a great player. I thought Ramsey was poor too, and spent the game going around kicking people, in an attempt to show "passion".

Kieffer Moore was shown to be nowhere near international quality along with many of their squad. 

[Open End Numb Legs]

Any sympathy I might have had towards the Welsh team disappeared when watching that video from 2016 where they celebrated England getting knocked out.

Ian Rush spoke well after the game, didn't try to bluff anything away, saw the game for what it was.

Well done to the Welsh fans who were there to genuinely support their team, I have no time for the 'Anyone But England' lot and their unbalanced view of the world.

[The Gasbuster]

8 hours ago, bearded_red said:

Fair play, what a genuine waste of time Wales are is.

FTFY

[Talk Of The Town]

Bloody hell

Bbc breakfast are flogging the sympathy Welsh story to death.

yes they’re a small nation but the Welsh team put in such a poor showing over the tournament.

 

[The Gasbuster]

10 hours ago, Malago said:

Surprised no one’s started the Norwegian commentator's rant, obviously adapted for tonight’s purposes.

Dylan Thomas, Shirley Bassey, The Manic Street Preachers, Neil Kinnock, Gladys from Hi De Hi, Tony Pulis……….

"David Lloyd George, Tom Jones, Neil Kinnock, Michael Sheen, Catherine Jenkins, bloke and his wife two doors down, Anthony Hopkins, Richard Burton, annoying loudmouth *** down the pub, Max Boyce...... Max Boyce, can you hear me ??!! Your boyos took one hell of a beating !!!"

[MarcusX]

12 hours ago, Bris Red said:

We do tournament football really well under Southgate, the man knows how to grind out and get results at this level.

Would not bet against us getting to at least the semi’s again.

Yep, I don't care if we're "exciting" and go out and smash teams. Results are all that matters, yes he makes mistakes but we're worlds apart from the England team of 2016.

Also, has any team really been that exciting yet? Spain's first game (but you could argue ours too) France perhaps have been the "best" so far across 2 games.

12 hours ago, ExiledAjax said:

I appreciate the respect.

But it is silly that we have four FAs and four teams for one sovereign state. Might as well let Spain enter a Spanish team, a Basque team and a Catalan team, or let Bavaria, Prussia, Hanover and Swabia all form an FA and get involved.

I'll leave it there and let everyone enjoy the 3-0, but it's a stupid, divisive, archaic system.

I know it's off topic but genuine question, why a UK team and not a GB team like the Olympics? I believe NI athletes can choose between GB or Eire (dont know the history behind that allowance though)

12 hours ago, Sheltons Army said:

Alex Scott would be starting  for the Taffs 

The pundit? Probably just as good to be honest

[Robbored]

11 minutes ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

Any sympathy I might have had towards the Welsh team disappeared when watching that video from 2016 where they celebrated England getting knocked out.

Ian Rush spoke well after the game, didn't try to bluff anything away, saw the game for what it was.

Well done to the Welsh fans who were there to genuinely support their team, I have no time for the 'Anyone But England' lot and their unbalanced view of the world.

The Jocks are by far the worst for crowing over any poor England result. The Welsh aren’t anywhere near as bad. I actually wanted them to finish second in the group but losing to Iran scuppered that.

[Red-Robbo]

2 minutes ago, Robbored said:

The Jocks are by far the worst for crowing over any poor England result. The Welsh aren’t anywhere near as bad. I actually wanted them to finish second in the group but losing to Iran scuppered that.

 

Me too. I have Welsh relatives who have wished England well for the rest of the campaign. Most are switched on enough to realise that merely making the finals was their team's achievement. 

Maybe it's because I grew up well to the south of Bristol, but I don't share this loathing of all things Welsh that some Bristolians seem to have. There's a hell of a lot of Bristolians with Welsh surnames, suggesting quite a lot of south Walesians came over and were Anglicised in the past. 

[Open End Numb Legs]

Rush made a point after the game that Wales need the older players to guide their next generation through the next Euros campaign.

We've all seen teams that have a good era then fade when a few stars leave the team. Page has a job on his hands I think. He says they are still on the upward slope, carry on the momentum etc. but it feels to me more like it could go downhill for a while.

[Port Said Red]

10 minutes ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

Rush made a point after the game that Wales need the older players to guide their next generation through the next Euros campaign.

We've all seen teams that have a good era then fade when a few stars leave the team. Page has a job on his hands I think. He says they are still on the upward slope, carry on the momentum etc. but it feels to me more like it could go downhill for a while.

Yes the problem in that is they have old, players, not older players. By that I mean, they would find it easier bringing through some U23 players if Bale etc were in their late 20's. Of course they may have all just been out of form at the same time, but the old guard looked incapable of leading through a next generation to me.

[Midred]

10 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

Local or National?

Radio 4 .

[MarcusX]

If you'd offered me before the tournament 7 points, 9 goals scored and 2 clean sheets I'd have bit your hand off, so to speak

I think the nerves only crept in for most because we played the supposed weakest team first, then a fairly drab 0-0 in the middle leaving us a showdown that's effectively a derby and anything can happen in those.

I didn't want to go into the Wales game needing a result, and although we didn't really need anything out of the game (other than avoid a 4 goal turnover) it felt like we needed a performance to get our belief back.

If we'd played Wales first, then Iran and finished with a 0-0 having already qualified I think the mood would have been quite different. Instead it was shades of 2020 where we drew in the middle and needed a result in the last game.

We should beat Senegal, then it's likely France or Argentina which will be tough but we've got a chance. The Semi actually looks "easier" then

 

[W-S-M Seagull]

19 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Me too. I have Welsh relatives who have wished England well for the rest of the campaign. Most are switched on enough to realise that merely making the finals was their team's achievement. 

Maybe it's because I grew up well to the south of Bristol, but I don't share this loathing of all things Welsh that some Bristolians seem to have. There's a hell of a lot of Bristolians with Welsh surnames, suggesting quite a lot of south Walesians came over and were Anglicised in the past. 

I love Wales. I have many friends that are Welsh. They don't ever stop talking tho mind but they are all quite funny. One of my best friends lives in Merthyr and he is so passionate about his homeland and I admire that. 

I appreciate the Welsh identity and culture. As an Englishman, I'm somewhat quite envious of that. 

Wales is right on our doorsteps and is a beautiful country (Newport aside) Pembrokeshire being my favourite place in Wales. With there now not being any bridge tolls then it's never been easier to visit Wales. Anyone would be quite foolish to not enjoy Wales simply because of their small minded loathing of all things Welsh. 

I would be all for them building a bridge between Cardiff and Weston to make it even easier to visit there would sort out a lot of the traffic problems on the M4. 

When it's us Vs Cardiff then the rivalry is intense however as they are a British country, I'd much rather they would have progressed. 

 

[And Its Smith]

34 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

If you'd offered me before the tournament 7 points, 9 goals scored and 2 clean sheets I'd have bit your hand off, so to speak

I think the nerves only crept in for most because we played the supposed weakest team first, then a fairly drab 0-0 in the middle leaving us a showdown that's effectively a derby and anything can happen in those.

I didn't want to go into the Wales game needing a result, and although we didn't really need anything out of the game (other than avoid a 4 goal turnover) it felt like we needed a performance to get our belief back.

If we'd played Wales first, then Iran and finished with a 0-0 having already qualified I think the mood would have been quite different. Instead it was shades of 2020 where we drew in the middle and needed a result in the last game.

We should beat Senegal, then it's likely France or Argentina which will be tough but we've got a chance. The Semi actually looks "easier" then

 

Anyone who watched Wales v Iran shouldn’t have been nervous before last night. I said 4-0 as realised how shocking Wales are.  Passion is all well and good but the vast majority of the time that gulf in class will show. 

[And Its Smith]

26 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I love Wales. I have many friends that are Welsh. They don't ever stop talking tho mind but they are all quite funny. One of my best friends lives in Merthyr and he is so passionate about his homeland and I admire that. 

I appreciate the Welsh identity and culture. As an Englishman, I'm somewhat quite envious of that. 

Wales is right on our doorsteps and is a beautiful country (Newport aside) Pembrokeshire being my favourite place in Wales. With there now not being any bridge tolls then it's never been easier to visit Wales. Anyone would be quite foolish to not enjoy Wales simply because of their small minded loathing of all things Welsh. 

I would be all for them building a bridge between Cardiff and Weston to make it even easier to visit there would sort out a lot of the traffic problems on the M4. 

When it's us Vs Cardiff then the rivalry is intense however as they are a British country, I'd much rather they would have progressed. 

 

Couldn’t agree more. My family and I holiday in Wales every year, this year 5 times for a total of about 20 odd days.  So many beautiful places to see and Welsh people are lovely.  

[chinapig]

49 minutes ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

Rush made a point after the game that Wales need the older players to guide their next generation through the next Euros campaign.

I'm always sceptical of this argument. Southgate had the sense and the nerve to drop Rooney and rebuild from there with younger players. Rooney would have been a drag on progress not an inspiration. For Rooney read Bale.

[Nuno Gomes]

Interesting stats on passing. Good to see England at the top even with their long range efforts  

https://fbref.com/en/comps/1/passing/World-Cup-Stats

[And Its Smith]

3 minutes ago, chinapig said:

I'm always sceptical of this argument. Southgate had the sense and the nerve to drop Rooney and rebuild from there with younger players. Rooney would have been a drag on progress not an inspiration. For Rooney read Bale.

Absolutely. The best thing wales can do is axe anyone over 30 and rebuild.  If you replace the minutes of Allen, Bale and Ramsey in this World Cup with players like Johnson, Wilson, Cabango and Thomas they certainly wouldn’t have done any worse and more that likely a lot better. 

[AshtonGreat]

2 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Absolutely. The best thing wales can do is axe anyone over 30 and rebuild.  If you replace the minutes of Allen, Bale and Ramsey in this World Cup with players like Johnson, Wilson, Cabango and Thomas they certainly wouldn’t have done any worse and more that likely a lot better. 

I think you always have to put Bale in your team if he's fit. He's their only world-class player and, pardon the pun, he's bailed them out time and time again. 

[RedRock]

41 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I love Wales. I have many friends that are Welsh. They don't ever stop talking tho mind but they are all quite funny. One of my best friends lives in Merthyr and he is so passionate about his homeland and I admire that. 

I appreciate the Welsh identity and culture. As an Englishman, I'm somewhat quite envious of that. 

Wales is right on our doorsteps and is a beautiful country (Newport aside) Pembrokeshire being my favourite place in Wales. With there now not being any bridge tolls then it's never been easier to visit Wales. Anyone would be quite foolish to not enjoy Wales simply because of their small minded loathing of all things Welsh. 

I would be all for them building a bridge between Cardiff and Weston to make it even easier to visit there would sort out a lot of the traffic problems on the M4. 

When it's us Vs Cardiff then the rivalry is intense however as they are a British country, I'd much rather they would have progressed. 

 

Newport aside….. I’ll raise you Ebbw Vale, or was it Merthyr Tydfil? …. can’t remember which but I’ve tried to erase the place from my memory as I went for an interview in one of those places and was so depressed by the place even I was stunned at the crap answers I gave to the interviewees. It was such a bad interview they blocked my claim for travel expenses!

Having said that, I do admire the Welsh people in many ways and have even learnt basic Welsh out of respect for when I visit ( as imo all should do when visiting another Country with a different language … still struggling with Brummie mind).

 

[And Its Smith]

7 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

I think you always have to put Bale in your team if he's fit. He's their only world-class player and, pardon the pun, he's bailed them out time and time again. 

He’s barely played football for months and it showed so I would say he wasn’t match fit. Obviously was going to play in this World Cup but from here he needs to be dropped. 

[Super]

3 minutes ago, RedRock said:

Newport aside….. I’ll raise you Ebbw Vale, or was it Merthyr Tydfil? …. can’t remember which but I’ve tried to erase the place from my memory as I went for an interview in one of those places and was so depressed by the place even I was stunned at the crap answers I gave to the interviewees. It was such a bad interview they blocked my claim for travel expenses!

Having said that, I do admire the Welsh people in many ways and have even learnt basic Welsh out of respect for when I visit ( as imo all should do when visiting another Country with a different language … still struggling with Brummie mind).

 

I'll raise you Port Talbot.

[Davefevs]

15 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Anyone who watched Wales v Iran shouldn’t have been nervous before last night. I said 4-0 as realised how shocking Wales are.  Passion is all well and good but the vast majority of the time that gulf in class will show. 

But on the same premise, anyone who watched Wales v USA second half, might think that they’re capable of soaking up a bit of pressure and scoring from a set piece or a bit of magic from Bale.  How many of us were sat there last night at 45 mins, going into first half injury time with Conor Roberts, ball in hand level with our penalty area, about to take a long throw, thinking Wales might create something here, and for all our control, we could go in at h-t 0-1?  I did.  Although he didn’t hurl it into the area, they did create from it.

I agree that class tends to win out overall, but you are talking bigger sample sizes than one game!

FWIW I wasn’t nervous, never been so relaxed, because the objective was to get out of the group…and we weren’t gonna lose by 4 goals, so we’d achieved goal no1.  But would I have been surprised by a 0-0?  Nope.  Or even Wales getting dominated but scoring some show?  Nope.  

[cidercity1987]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

But on the same premise, anyone who watched Wales v USA second half, might think that they’re capable of soaking up a bit of pressure and scoring from a set piece or a bit of magic from Bale.  How many of us were sat there last night at 45 mins, going into first half injury time with Conor Roberts, ball in hand level with our penalty area, about to take a long throw, thinking Wales might create something here, and for all our control, we could go in at h-t 0-1?  I did.  Although he didn’t hurl it into the area, they did create from it.

I agree that class tends to win out overall, but you are talking bigger sample sizes than one game!

FWIW I wasn’t nervous, never been so relaxed, because the objective was to get out of the group…and we weren’t gonna lose by 4 goals, so we’d achieved goal no1.  But would I have been surprised by a 0-0?  Nope.  Or even Wales getting dominated but scoring some show?  Nope.  

How are you gonna cope big D with the sample size of one in the knock outs?

Absolutely take your point through which is why I didn't understand the hissy fits after the USA draw

[Port Said Red]

I missed a few games over the weekend, but was that the first goal from a direct free kick this tournament?

[Red-Robbo]

I know the Welsh select a number of English-born players, but let's not forget that only Qatar has a smaller population in this contest - and look how they did (even with lots of non-Qatari born recruits). 

Football isn't even the most popular sport in large swathes of Wales. 

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Me too. I have Welsh relatives who have wished England well for the rest of the campaign. Most are switched on enough to realise that merely making the finals was their team's achievement. 

Maybe it's because I grew up well to the south of Bristol, but I don't share this loathing of all things Welsh that some Bristolians seem to have. There's a hell of a lot of Bristolians with Welsh surnames, suggesting quite a lot of south Walesians came over and were Anglicised in the past. 

Yes my dad was a city fan but born in Mountain Ash, grew up in WSM. 
I have a friend from Bristol who loves to belittle the Welsh, directly to my face, in a snidey kind of way, picking away (not crowing about English superiority or anything). I think her and her husband just like to make me feel small, they wouldn’t do it to any of my other friends, who have more direct Welsh heritage than me. 

[ExiledAjax]

1 hour ago, MarcusX said:

I know it's off topic but genuine question, why a UK team and not a GB team like the Olympics? I believe NI athletes can choose between GB or Eire (dont know the history behind that allowance though)

Because we live in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, abbreviated to "UK". I just used that rather than GB. The Irish question would be tricky, but ultimately as you say probably solved by allowing NI footballers to choose between representing the UK/GB team or the RoI.

@W-S-M Seagull likewise I love Wales, and share none of this animosity towards it as a place or its people for celebrating their language or culture. It is a stunning part of Britain and I've had many a wonderful holiday there.

I do think though that insisting on each nation having it's own FA, its own leagues, its own national sides, is regressive and archaic. I'd rather Wales, England, Scotland, and NI (although appreciate the history there) could coalesce under one national banner so that we could be stronger together.

Edited November 30, 2022 by ExiledAjax

[And Its Smith]

18 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

But on the same premise, anyone who watched Wales v USA second half, might think that they’re capable of soaking up a bit of pressure and scoring from a set piece or a bit of magic from Bale.  How many of us were sat there last night at 45 mins, going into first half injury time with Conor Roberts, ball in hand level with our penalty area, about to take a long throw, thinking Wales might create something here, and for all our control, we could go in at h-t 0-1?  I did.  Although he didn’t hurl it into the area, they did create from it.

I agree that class tends to win out overall, but you are talking bigger sample sizes than one game!

FWIW I wasn’t nervous, never been so relaxed, because the objective was to get out of the group…and we weren’t gonna lose by 4 goals, so we’d achieved goal no1.  But would I have been surprised by a 0-0?  Nope.  Or even Wales getting dominated but scoring some show?  Nope.  

A good 25 minutes out of 180 minutes, with 135 of those being awful wasn’t enough to worry me one bit. Class nearly always shows and so it proved again.  Even as we approached half time. If anything I was even more confident at that point as Wales had not threatened at all. It was only a matter of time. 

[Red-Robbo]

4 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Yes my dad was a city fan but born in Mountain Ash, grew up in WSM. 
I have a friend from Bristol who loves to belittle the Welsh, directly to my face, in a snidey kind of way, picking away (not crowing about English superiority or anything). I think her and her husband just like to make me feel small, they wouldn’t do it to any of my other friends, who have more direct Welsh heritage than me. 

 

I guess there's banter and banter. I have a short friend of Welsh heritage who I occasionally remark was bred that way so he never hit his head on the roof of the mine. In fact, he's as posh as you like and it's my ancestors who worked in coal mines (in Bristol) - not his.

He lent his support to us on Friday night, but like many from the Principality, rugby's his main thing. 

[ExiledAjax]

7 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

A good 25 minutes out of 180 minutes, with 135 of those being awful wasn’t enough to worry me one bit. Class nearly always shows and so it proved again.  Even as we approached half time. If anything I was even more confident at that point as Wales had not threatened at all. It was only a matter of time. 

I thought it was a really complete and controlled game from England last night. The first half was slow, but it was England dictating the pace. Maybe it's frustrating that we took 40 minutes to test and probe and feel the game out, but that's what it took.

Then the shackles were let off in the second half and we went up a gear or two, at will and of our own volition. It was good.

[ExiledAjax]

51 minutes ago, Nuno Gomes said:

Interesting stats on passing. Good to see England at the top even with their long range efforts  

https://fbref.com/en/comps/1/passing/World-Cup-Stats

Second highest in all xG stats as well, behind France. We're a good team.

[Never to the dark side]

Welsh fan and historian Meilyr Emrys speaking on BBC news at 11:17 on Wednesday,

talking about the "neighbour" and he was not referring to those he lives next door in North Wales

[Never to the dark side]

Viewing figures from Tuesday night for England v the other lot 15:9 million

[Robbored]

8 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

I thought it was a really complete and controlled game from England last night. The first half was slow, but it was England dictating the pace. Maybe it's frustrating that we took 40 minutes to test and probe and feel the game out, but that's what it took.

Then the shackles were let off in the second half and we went up a gear or two, at will and of our own volition. It was good.

The second half was far better after Southgate had swapped the two wingers in Rashford and Foden to opposite sides and they both scored. SG deserves credit for that. It was a clever move.

[Robbored]

Just now, Never to the dark side said:

Viewing figures from Tuesday night for England v the other lot 15:9 million

I hope they all had a TV license……….…..

[Dredd]

35 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I missed a few games over the weekend, but was that the first goal from a direct free kick this tournament?

Lineker said in the post match that it is the first direct free kick goal this WC, with the last one being Trippiers against Croatia in the semi final in 2018

[The Bard]

3 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

I thought he was shocking all tournament, one penalty does not make a great player. I thought Ramsey was poor too, and spent the game going around kicking people, in an attempt to show "passion".

Kieffer Moore was shown to be nowhere near international quality along with many of their squad. 

There was a telling moment in the first half where they hit a long ball to Moore.  Maguire and Stones just stood off him, allowed him to flick it on and one of them just controlled the flick on in acres of space.  League 1 football at the world cup basically.

[RedRock]

59 minutes ago, Super said:

I'll raise you Port Talbot.

Yep, I think that place triggered our ancestors to dig the Bristol Channel. 

[The Bard]

2 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Me too. I have Welsh relatives who have wished England well for the rest of the campaign. Most are switched on enough to realise that merely making the finals was their team's achievement. 

Maybe it's because I grew up well to the south of Bristol, but I don't share this loathing of all things Welsh that some Bristolians seem to have. There's a hell of a lot of Bristolians with Welsh surnames, suggesting quite a lot of south Walesians came over and were Anglicised in the past. 

Maybe you've not been subjected to the consistent hatred of Bristol and England from a number of Welsh people I've had the misfortune to work with over the years.  Perhaps it's because I also like Rugby that I find them particularly irksome as they are vile around the England / Wales games.   The amount of funding going into Cardiff from Bristol.  Test matches etc.

Then there is the treatment we've received from Heddlu over the years.  

In contrast, Scottish people I've known in Bristol have been ace, whether they support Rangers, Celtic or another side.   

 

[AberRed]

1 hour ago, And Its Smith said:

He’s barely played football for months and it showed so I would say he wasn’t match fit. Obviously was going to play in this World Cup but from here he needs to be dropped. 

One of the stranger things about Wales' fanbase has been to take the whole "Wales, Golf, Madrid" jokes a bit too literally. I laughed at that flag at the time tbf, but it went a bit far.

Some Wales fans don't  seem to think that their players never getting a game at club level and only turning up for international duty is a bad thing. In fact, some of them actively celebrate it.
Bale, Ramsey, Allen and Hennessey (to name a few) have hardly featured for their clubs at all in 2022. In cases like Bale and Hennessey they've hardly featured since about 2019. Bizarre that anyone can think this is good for their international careers.

[RedRock]

13 minutes ago, The Bard said:

There was a telling moment in the first half where they hit a long ball to Moore.  Maguire and Stones just stood off him, allowed him to flick it on and one of them just controlled the flick on in acres of space.  League 1 football at the world cup basically.

Yes, I noted that. Woeful defending, one can only hope we sort ourselves out very soon to avoid such naive stuff as, surely, we’ll get punished against top rank strikers. 

For me, despite having some decent players, we still look very ‘clunky’ with little fluency rhythm to our play. 

[AberRed]

Another strange thing has been the constant sharing of Michael Sheen's speech or talking about their national anthem.

I think the Welsh national anthem is a cracker. One of the best in the world. But that isn't as relevant to sporting competitions as people think it is. 'Passion' will only get you so far.

[Son of Fred]

5 minutes ago, The Bard said:

the consistent hatred of Bristol and England from a number of Welsh people I've had the misfortune to work with

I'm sure you refer here in the main to "Valley Commandos"....indeed an irksome bunch.

Not to be confused with the vast majority of welcoming/friendly Welsh.

I spend a fair bit of time in Pembrokeshire & the natives are lovely.

[TonyTonyTony]

I like the Welsh. I worked in the steelworks in Newport, Port Talbot, Ebbw Vale and Llanelli for years. Great, friendly, funny and loyal people. 

North Waliens are an odd bunch however

[Davefevs]

Not sure if this has been covered in the previous 120 pages, but…

…how many players who’ve played for City have played in a World Cup at some point:

• Hunter (70)
• Cooper (70)
• Jordan (74, 78, 82)
• Semenyo (22)
• Diedhiou (22)
• Morrell (22)
• Odemwingie (10, 14)

any others?

[ExiledAjax]

50 minutes ago, Robbored said:

The second half was far better after Southgate had swapped the two wingers in Rashford and Foden to opposite sides and they both scored. SG deserves credit for that. It was a clever move.

Getting Chesney Hawkes to perform was the clever move. Hopefully we can persuade him to do all our halftime shows.

[Super]

Just now, Davefevs said:

Not sure if this has been covered in the previous 120 pages, but…

…how many players who’ve played for City have played in a World Cup at some point:

• Hunter (70)
• Cooper (70)
• Jordan (74, 78, 82)
• Semenyo (22)
• Diedhiou (22)
• Morrell (22)
• Odemwingie (10, 14)

any others?

David James

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Super said:

David James

I knew I’d miss some.

Just remembered Magnússon (18) too

Wilkshire (06, 10)

Edited November 30, 2022 by Davefevs

[ExiledAjax]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

I knew I’d miss some.

Just remembered Magnússon (18) too

Jacki played in '86.

Bailey Wright as well!

Edited November 30, 2022 by ExiledAjax

[pillred]

15 hours ago, Red Army 75 said:

Fantastic English support. Not even a mention. Just keep talking about 3 thousand quiet welsh fans and their shit team. 

You should have watched BBC breakfast this morning my god did they ever go on Wales this Wales that.

[Davefevs]

Jan Moller was in 78 squad but didn’t play, so I didn’t include him

[BCFC11]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Not sure if this has been covered in the previous 120 pages, but…

…how many players who’ve played for City have played in a World Cup at some point:

• Hunter (70)
• Cooper (70)
• Jordan (74, 78, 82)
• Semenyo (22)
• Diedhiou (22)
• Morrell (22)
• Odemwingie (10, 14)

any others?

Luke Wilkshire.

[pillred]

15 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

Never been Rashford's biggest fan but he has got to start on Saturday

Sunday.

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

Jacki played in '86.

Bailey Wright as well!

Wright hasn’t played…yet (didn’t play in 14).