Brazil playing Croatia right now. Their strength in depth is ridiculous.
Ederson, Marquinhos, Fred (the one about to sign for United, not the shit one from the last world cup), Douglas costa, Firmino and Neymar are only subs.
Kompany came off injured for Belgium yesterday. Requires a scan on his groin to see whether he can take part in this World Cup. Got to feel sorry for him as he is a class defender but is made of glass. Could be a good thing for England personally if he doesn't make it.
Might actually be a blessing in disguise. Instead of trying to shoehorn 3 centre backs into the lineup, Martinez could just revert to playing the Spurs pair of Vertonghen and Alderweireld
They’ve played 3 at the back for a good while now so I can’t see them changing to 4 at the back. Boyata is likely going to come in for Kompany like he did yesterday if he doesn’t make it.
Brazil playing Croatia right now. Their strength in depth is ridiculous.
Ederson, Marquinhos, Fred (the one about to sign for United, not the shit one from the last world cup), Douglas costa, Firmino and Neymar are only subs.
They’re incredibly strong. As are France and Germany on paper too.
Brazil playing Croatia right now. Their strength in depth is ridiculous.
Ederson, Marquinhos, Fred (the one about to sign for United, not the shit one from the last world cup), Douglas costa, Firmino and Neymar are only subs.
They’re incredibly strong. As are France and Germany on paper too.
And Spain - should be one of those 4 that wins it but we shall see!
I think there are seven categories of team in it - firstly the no chancers (the Saudi Arabias, Panamas and Irans), then there are the - will give you a tough gamers but unlikely to clear the group stages (Peru, Australia, Iceland, Morroco, Egypt etc...), Then you have the underdogs who could bite a bit and surprise people to the quarters (Senegal, Japan, South Korea, Iceland). Then you have the established better sides -which you can divide into four tiers. The probably wont get as far as the semis unless they are lucky (Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Poland, Columbia). Then you are looking at sides who could win it! You have the could make the later stages with a good wind and with everything aligning, they could even win it (Portugal, England, Belgium, Uruguay). Then you have the real threats on paper (France and Argentina) and finally the favourites, (Brazil, Germany & Spain).
I have a feeling for Spain. I know they are not as good as they were but they are hard to beat!
Just shows the strength of the German Squad... Maybe should be ahead of Reus yet glad for him seeing that this'll be his first World Cup after constantly being injured at the wrong time for the last two
I know it's a bit of a pie in the sky suggestion but thinking of some of the great players who never graced a world cup, (Giggs, Bale, George Best springs to mind immediately) imagine if there was like a wild card squad included in the competition - players left out of their national squads or from teams that didn't qualify could sign up. Probably a ridiculous idea but you could get some squad this year!
I know it's a bit of a pie in the sky suggestion but thinking of some of the great players who never graced a world cup, (Giggs, Bale, George Best springs to mind immediately) imagine if there was like a wild card squad included in the competition - players left out of their national squads or from teams that didn't qualify could sign up. Probably a ridiculous idea but you could get some squad this year!
You had the CIS National Team that was separate to the Soviet Union back in '82 so guess it would be something similar on a World scale - Guess the question is though, which Nation gets removed to accommodate?
I know it's a bit of a pie in the sky suggestion but thinking of some of the great players who never graced a world cup, (Giggs, Bale, George Best springs to mind immediately) imagine if there was like a wild card squad included in the competition - players left out of their national squads or from teams that didn't qualify could sign up. Probably a ridiculous idea but you could get some squad this year!
You had the CIS National Team that was separate to the Soviet Union back in '82 so guess it would be something similar on a World scale - Guess the question is though, which Nation gets removed to accommodate?
In my world it wouldn't have to replace a country, there would just be one less spot in the 32 to qualify so you would have the champs, the host and the wild-card team auto qualifiers - the wild cards would be at a disadvantage as they wouldn't have so long to prepare (since the team would be made up of players left out of their squads as well as teams that didn't qualify) and it would be likely be a different squad of 22 each world cup rotation.
It wouldn't really work if they went on to win of course and you would have the scenario of national players potentially playing their home country as well which would be awkward - plus they wouldn't really have much of fan base ( I suppose would be adopted by fans of countries that failed to qualify)
I know it's a bit of a pie in the sky suggestion but thinking of some of the great players who never graced a world cup, (Giggs, Bale, George Best springs to mind immediately) imagine if there was like a wild card squad included in the competition - players left out of their national squads or from teams that didn't qualify could sign up. Probably a ridiculous idea but you could get some squad this year!
You had the CIS National Team that was separate to the Soviet Union back in '82 so guess it would be something similar on a World scale - Guess the question is though, which Nation gets removed to accommodate?
In my world it wouldn't have to replace a country, there would just be one less spot in the 32 to qualify so you would have the champs, the host and the wild-card team auto qualifiers - the wild cards would be at a disadvantage as they wouldn't have so long to prepare (since the team would be made up of players left out of their squads as well as teams that didn't qualify) and it would be likely be a different squad of 22 each world cup rotation.
It wouldn't really work if they went on to win of course and you would have the scenario of national players potentially playing their home country as well which would be awkward - plus they wouldn't really have much of fan base ( I suppose would be adopted by fans of countries that failed to qualify)
They wouldnt be able to play their home country surely as this additional team would only be available to those who didnt manage to Qualify for the tournament with their parent nation, rather than only appearing because their parent nation has qualified and doesnt want them
Else effectively you could have two Brazil's or two Germany's at the World Cup... Instead a perfect team for this side would potentially be:
Could probably add Bonucci and Donnarumma for Italy in there too
Would help to add a rule where there cant be more than two / three players from one nation to ensure it doesnt become a loop hole to basically add Italy etc. into the World Cup under a different name
Out of those 4, Sane has to go to the World cup. Crazy decision to leave him out.
Draxler hasn't played anywhere close to Sane's level this season. Brandt is a great talent but has been doing it on a smaller stage. Reus is an amazing player but is like Wilshere in that he could literally break down at any minute.
However, what is does prove (once again) is that Germany have a ridiculous array of talent.
Also comes down to whether Sane plays well in the system and with the players that Low plans to use
This is the English issue, we're thinking of the individual name that should be in the squad rather than the squad as a whole
Based on the stats from our League One winning season (for example) that if we could have any player from League One that season then it would be Jordan Rhodes alongside Bradley Wright-Phillips instead of Yann, after all the stats show that he scored more goals, yet the system we played you'd be crazy to put Rhodes in ahead of Kermorgant
Comments
Ederson, Marquinhos, Fred (the one about to sign for United, not the shit one from the last world cup), Douglas costa, Firmino and Neymar are only subs.
Incredible that he's only 26 and it's his 54th international goal!
A
Uruguay
Russia
B
Spain
Portugal
C
France
Denmark
D
Argentina
Nigeria
E
Brazil
Serbia
F
Germany
Sweden
G
England
Belgium
H
Columbia
Japan
I have a feeling for Spain. I know they are not as good as they were but they are hard to beat!
It’s gonna get messy
Madness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIS_national_football_team
In my world it wouldn't have to replace a country, there would just be one less spot in the 32 to qualify so you would have the champs, the host and the wild-card team auto qualifiers - the wild cards would be at a disadvantage as they wouldn't have so long to prepare (since the team would be made up of players left out of their squads as well as teams that didn't qualify) and it would be likely be a different squad of 22 each world cup rotation.
It wouldn't really work if they went on to win of course and you would have the scenario of national players potentially playing their home country as well which would be awkward - plus they wouldn't really have much of fan base ( I suppose would be adopted by fans of countries that failed to qualify)
Else effectively you could have two Brazil's or two Germany's at the World Cup... Instead a perfect team for this side would potentially be:
Would help to add a rule where there cant be more than two / three players from one nation to ensure it doesnt become a loop hole to basically add Italy etc. into the World Cup under a different name
Draxler - 19 starts, 4 goals
Reus - 11 starts, 7 goals.
Brandt - 26 starts, 9 goals.
Out of those 4, Sane has to go to the World cup. Crazy decision to leave him out.
Draxler hasn't played anywhere close to Sane's level this season.
Brandt is a great talent but has been doing it on a smaller stage.
Reus is an amazing player but is like Wilshere in that he could literally break down at any minute.
However, what is does prove (once again) is that Germany have a ridiculous array of talent.
This is the English issue, we're thinking of the individual name that should be in the squad rather than the squad as a whole
Based on the stats from our League One winning season (for example) that if we could have any player from League One that season then it would be Jordan Rhodes alongside Bradley Wright-Phillips instead of Yann, after all the stats show that he scored more goals, yet the system we played you'd be crazy to put Rhodes in ahead of Kermorgant