The Real Football Thread

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Feb 20, 2012
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Italy seemed pretty damn toothless in that 2nd half.

Meanwhile, our media are already sorta talking about the semifinals with our draw, but I'm not at all confident we'll just roll Czechia much less Denmark who seem to be hitting some good form.
 
Feb 18, 2015
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Italy seemed pretty damn toothless in that 2nd half.

Meanwhile, our media are already sorta talking about the semifinals with our draw, but I'm not at all confident we'll just roll Czechia much less Denmark who seem to be hitting some good form.
So you really think you are not just gonna roll Czechia?
 
Feb 20, 2012
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Does van der Poel now stand a chance to be regarded the saviour of the nation? :smirkcat:
We're probably too busy talking about Verstappen when Formula 1 is a 1-horse race every year depending on which team has the fastest car. Absolute joke of a sport. Biggest joke after football where referees are the most decisive dude on the field every *** game.
 
Feb 20, 2012
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And honestly I would take this loss better if it meant our media would be less arrogant next time but jesus *** you go to the Euros with literally the worst manager to have ever seen the Premier League how the hell do you expect anything good to happen
 
Apr 10, 2019
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So no Dutch donkey pride parade today?
I really underestimated Austria because they played so bland and mediocre against the Dutch, a decent, but not great team with a bad coach.
 
Jun 7, 2010
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I didn't check it myself, but I've read that Netherlands players have only gotten red cards at the Euro finals against Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia
 
Sep 1, 2012
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And the refereeing horror show continues. De Bruyne's injury is a direct result of Brych's failure (or unwillingness) to properly officiate the game. Entire oceans of crocodile tears have been cried in recent years about diving and playacting ruining the game, but I'll take ten soft penalties instead of one injured player any day of the week.
 
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Feb 20, 2012
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And the refereeing horror show continues. De Bruyne's injury is a direct result of Brych's failure (or unwillingness) to properly officiate the game. Entire oceans of crocodile tears have been cried in recent years about diving and playacting ruining the game, but I'll take ten soft penalties instead of one injured player any day of the week.
You get injuries without harsh fouls as well.
 
Apr 15, 2014
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It wasn't a good game, but Brich absolutely failed to protect the (mostly Belgian) players. How Pepe's elbow isn't a straight red is beyond me, by the way.

The pitch looked pretty bad as well, regarding injuries.
 
Sep 1, 2012
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You get injuries without harsh fouls as well.

Obviously, but this time I meant a concrete incident were Palhinha somehow escaped a booking despite clinging onto Lukaku's shirt for several seconds. That very escape allowed him to later make the dangerous lunge into De Bruyne's legs that caused the injury. Being on yellow would almost certainly have forced him to act differently in that situation and prevented the injury from happening. Problem is, these weren't isolated incidents, but part of a consistent pattern of overly lenient officiating by Brych.
 
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Feb 18, 2015
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Obviously, but this time I meant a concrete incident were Palhinha somehow escaped a booking despite clinging onto Lukaku's shirt for several seconds. That very escape allowed him to later make the dangerous lunge into De Bruyne's legs that caused the injury. Being on yellow would almost certainly have forced him to act differently in that situation and prevented the injury from happening. Problem is, these weren't isolated incidents, but part of a consistent pattern of overly lenient officiating by Brych.
I don't know if I would use Palhinha pulling Lukaku's shirt as an example for Brych's officiating being dangerous. I suppose retrospectively it's what allowed the foul leading to the de Bruyne injury to happen but that's just a coincidence. Not calling the Lukaku foul was stupid because it was a clear foul not because we have to foresee the danger of players who haven't been booked yet.

That being said, Brych still completely lost control (albeit not yet when the de Bruyne foul happened) and I also think there could have easily been a red card. Also worth mentioning that while Pepe might have made the ugliest foul in general it went both ways. The Belgians didn't exactly go easy on the Portuguese players either.
 

Wvv

Jan 3, 2019
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The Belgians didn't exactly go easy on the Portuguese players either.
There was a huge difference between both teams though. Portugal was a lot more dirty and deserved more cards, even reds. The ref was abominable.

Really hope we recover De Bruyne and Hazard. We need them.
 
Feb 20, 2012
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A lot of it was just Pepe being Pepe, the guy is probably the dirtiest high level CB since Materazzi.
Is he? I don't think his card stats are that high and I think the main reason he's seen as one of the dirtiest players in the world is a like two incidences where he lost his *** and looking like he might murder you as his happy face.

Tbh there's so many dirty af players around, even ones with a very good reputation, and they do dirty in different ways. I honestly think Kane for example is one of the dirtiest in the PL
 
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Dec 6, 2012
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Southgate's England never go beyond passing the ball to the nearest team mate or run with it, no interesting offensive off the ball movement, no undpredictable pass, no wit in their planning, relying so much on individuals to have something on his way or opponent's mistake, to the extent that Pickford is about their most creative player when it come to passing distribution. And for such bland football, they're not doing badly. One of the better teams when not having the ball, though, know when to press or to sit back deeper this far.
 
May 6, 2021
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Contrary to what has been suggested in some corners of the internet, and despite the silly chants by a lot who attend the games, most of us aren't jubilant because of some weird nationalistic historical grievances, it is simply because Germany have been so good for so long. The celebrations take root in the fact that a lot in this country, whilst they aren't good at admitting it, have a bit of admiration for the way the Germans do things.

Our actual 'rivals' are, like most countries local. The most atmospheric England games I've seen are when we were beaten by The Norn at a bouncing Windsor Park in 2005 and Scotland in 1999.