Match 27: Croatia vs Canada 4pm UK time from Khalifa International Stadium

[Astafjevs]

2 minutes ago, ginnybob said:

Was the semi wasn't it? Whining about the pen.

Genuinely can't remember . Know it was one of England's final games just can't recall which one. Sterling penalty sounds a more likely trigger than a normal match that ends in a shootout

 

[skybluedave]

Yeah was when Sterling was brutally hacked down by those Danish thugs

[GunmaN1905]

7 minutes ago, Lucas said:

while trying to say Croatia are also loads better at the same time.   

I never said Croatia is loads better, I just said that there's plenty of upcoming talent.

As seen here:

1 hour ago, GunmaN1905 said:

This team gets to QF, best case scenario.

Noone in this squad except for Modrić and Perišić is old.

Well, Lovren is, but everyone wants him gone.

Quantity wise, there's plenty of talent coming up and we'll be on more or less the same level...except that you can't expect another Modrić level players. But as far as quality players playing for top clubs goes, it shouldn't be a concern over the next years.

 

You want a full confession?

Rob is a really nice guy, I admire his passion for NT football, not just England, but overall.

But his posts defending Southgate are so triggering I want to pull my ethernet cable out of the wall.

I got mad because he talked about Croatia playing poor against Morocco (which I was the first one to criticize for cowardly setup), but in England topic he's defending Southgate as if he planned all along to not create a single chance against USA, a way worse team than Morocco. And a way worse performance. That was a part of the plan.

90%+ of the users here think Southgate doesn't know what to do with a top3 attacking roster in the tournament, but Rob always manages to find an excuse, and it's been like that for years.

Then he applies a completely different logic to another team, not even close to the same criteria.

There you go, full confession.

Now I'm done with this topic.

[Bunkerossian]

1 hour ago, buffalo said:

great game by Kramaric indeed, no more Mandzukic to keep him out

He never was a central striker. He played a free role today, similar to his club role. Killed it, but Livaja- the bearded brute from the Croatian league also proved his credentials as a more typical striker.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Bunkerossian

[kpain16]

For those comparing 2018 and 2022 Croatia, I'd say that if you compare a collective of players, this is a 100% percent better balanced team. More overall quality.

BUT, we had more world class players back then. We had some rather average players mixed with world class midfielders and strikers. Bar Modrić, we miss the likes of Rakitić and Mandžukić who were winning CL finals for their teams. But we have more talent and better future outlook than we had in 2018.

I'm 99% certain that some of these players that have their stocks priced low, will be considered as world class 4 years from now. We have a well balanced set of old + young players.

Edited November 27, 2022 by kpain16

[XuluBak]

21 minutes ago, Darius1998 said:

Can't really agree with Croatia being worse than in 2018. Even back then, they played at a similar level to whoever their opponents were. All their knockout stage matches went to ET/pens and then there was nothing left against France.

If anything, they look a better side on paper.

[Lucas]

9 minutes ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Now I'm done with this topic.

I think you're getting a bit too reactive to Rob's posts tbh. And thanks for the context, makes a bit more sense to me now at least. But fair enough, there's another game now anyway 

[Bunkerossian]

15 minutes ago, kpain16 said:

For those comparing 2018 and 2022 Croatia, I'd say that if you compare a collective of players, this is a 100% percent better balanced team. More overall quality.

BUT, we had more world class players back then. We had some rather average players mixed with world class midfielders and strikers. Bar Modrić, we miss the likes of Rakitić and Mandžukić who were winning CL finals for their teams. But we have more talent and better future outlook than we had in 2018.

I'm 99% certain that some of these players that have their stocks priced low, will be considered as world class 4 years from now. We have a well balanced set of old + young players.

Better defense in theory, but Lovren is playing, so I don't know. Attack was supposed to be worse, but now a deadly fix to the striker/right wing problems has surfaced. And the zombie mode has worked again- we must be the world's specialists for coming back from behind. One more hurdle until the knockouts though.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Bunkerossian

[Rob1981]

15 minutes ago, GunmaN1905 said:

in England topic he's defending Southgate as if he planned all along to not create a single chance

Then he applies a completely different logic to another team

Not sure I'm defending him, it would have been better if we'd gone and won the game against USA and then we could have rested a load of players against Wales.  But I think you saw an England performance like that because he had set up to avoid defeat, not because we are suddenly incapable of playing any better against a half decent team.  That's all.

You are the one comparing England and Croata, not me.

Anyway, go and watch Spain-Germany pal.  Plenty of time for this on the rest days

[XuluBak]

3 minutes ago, Rob1981 said:

Not sure I'm defending him, it would have been better if we'd gone and won the game against USA and then we could have rested a load of players against Wales.  But I think you saw an England performance like that because he had set up to avoid defeat, not because we are suddenly incapable of playing any better against a half decent team.  That's all.

You are the one comparing England and Croata, not me.

Anyway, go and watch Spain-Germany pal.  Plenty of time for this on the rest days

That's exactly why everyone is so critical of him. On player talent, you should've been massive favorites against us. Yet, you played to not lose, when you really should've (essentially) clinched the group. 

[noikeee]

44 minutes ago, kpain16 said:

For those comparing 2018 and 2022 Croatia, I'd say that if you compare a collective of players, this is a 100% percent better balanced team. More overall quality.

BUT, we had more world class players back then. We had some rather average players mixed with world class midfielders and strikers. Bar Modrić, we miss the likes of Rakitić and Mandžukić who were winning CL finals for their teams. But we have more talent and better future outlook than we had in 2018.

I'm 99% certain that some of these players that have their stocks priced low, will be considered as world class 4 years from now. We have a well balanced set of old + young players.

Who has the potential to be great here, other than Gvardiol who is well known? Genuine question

[Bunkerossian]

4 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Who has the potential to be great here, other than Gvardiol who is well known? Genuine question

Šutalo and Erlić kept France quiet in the League of Nations, but Lovren forced his way into the CB slot with seniority. Hasn't made any silly errors yet, TBF. Majer is great, but in order to see him more, we'd need to rest Modrić a bit.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Bunkerossian

[kpain16]

3 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Who has the potential to be great here, other than Gvardiol who is well known? Genuine question

I think Majer is a late bloomer. He could sneak in through the back door to a top club and be great there. Basically the same what Modrić did, but surely not that good.

Šutalo could also be a top player. Already a first 11 player for me. Erlić is also basically unknown to non-Serie A fans, but he's really good. A good tall defender with very high pace. 

Sučić is a guaranteed top club player in a year or two. Wanted by Liverpool already.

We have some fantastic talents back home as well that are too early to know yet, but the potential is huge, etc.

[Darius1998]

Stanisic at Bayern looks pretty good as well. I don't think he will be world class but should turn out to be a decent player nevertheless.

[kpain16]

Probably. He's defensively quite solid, but just lack pace and passing ability to play a full-back at a high level. Might be good as a CB.

[Coulthard's Jaw]

Dunno how the groups are going to look in 2026, but I'd fancy Canada to reach last 16, they'll have learnt so much from these two matches.

[deltablue]

2 hours ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Of course I will call you out when you can't be objective for one second.

You are probably the worst poster on these forums, which is quite an achievement, and posts like this are why. On this very thread you boasted about being right as if you always were (like when you go "Call me Nostradamus"), yet that is conveniently overlooking all the times you got it badly wrong. You called Salah and Verstappen one-season wonders, you said Chiellini and Bonucci were too old and slow at last year's Euro's, you made similar comments about a lot of Spain's players before they beat Costa Rica 7-0... you are so full of it with your terrible 'hot' takes and you get it wrong so often that you are in no position to try and dare claim that you are some sort of genius who always calls it right.

Whenever you get it wrong you often move the goalposts to suit your agenda, like when everyone pointed out that you were attacking an Irishman as an example of a 'typical Englishman's response' to the Denmark semi, or England haven't beaten a big team in years, and somehow Germany didn't count because they had a single poor World Cup a few years before. It didn't fit in with your argument so you decided to dismiss it and think that you could get away with it. You're the last person in the world to accuse anyone of terrible takes, as well as not being objective when you treat any joke or legitimate viewpoint as bait or trolling just because you don't agree with it, ironically being the most irrationally tribal and least objective person on here and incapable of debating in good faith. That's bad enough, but as I pointed out above, the fact that you are that delusional that you keep thinking that you're the one always in the right and it's everyone else that's the problem. Maybe it's about time you developed some self-awareness.

[Mahzun_Savas]

1 hour ago, Coulthard's Jaw said:

Dunno how the groups are going to look in 2026, but I'd fancy Canada to reach last 16, they'll have learnt so much from these two matches.

Canada need a better defense and central midfield although it was better in the second half than the first half. They get forward well at times down the wings but David and Larin did not do much. They obviously have an excellent coach who is getting the absolute best out of them. If they can find a high quality CB and central midfeilder they will be in with a decent chance in 2026 unless they get a particularly strong group.

[Constantine]

Well, that was way too easy, it's almost like Croatia had an inside man between Canada's posts...

Joking aside, you guys can be scary when you have to try/can be bothered. Some lovely plays yesterday.