Lukaku is my prediction for top goalscorer, I reckon he will get 4 or 5 in the group stage.
Same here - 18-1 I think, bloke plays in front of Hazard, De Bruyne etc, he'll get a ton of chances v Tunisia and Panama. And England.
The problem with him is he needs space to run in behind, and he's not going to get a lot of that at a major tournament. It's part of why he struggled at United this year, when teams sit deep he becomes isolated.
Didn't he get like 20 goals this season though..? Certainly didn't appear to struggle to me?
Edit - 21 in 36 games in all competitions
For the focal striker in a top 4 team, is that a good enough return?
I'm not saying he's shit or anything BTW, just for the money they spent they probably wanted a bit more from him.
I personally think Hazard will score the most Belgium goals, or depending on how much gametime he gets, Mertens
Bit of a stretch to say he struggled was my point - and that was with what, Lingard, Rashford and Pogba (who did struggle this year) behind him... with Hazard and De Bruyne it's a whole different proposition as his recent form at international level has shown - something like 5 in last 4 games I think it is.
Lukaku is my prediction for top goalscorer, I reckon he will get 4 or 5 in the group stage.
Same here - 18-1 I think, bloke plays in front of Hazard, De Bruyne etc, he'll get a ton of chances v Tunisia and Panama. And England.
The problem with him is he needs space to run in behind, and he's not going to get a lot of that at a major tournament. It's part of why he struggled at United this year, when teams sit deep he becomes isolated.
Didn't he get like 20 goals this season though..? Certainly didn't appear to struggle to me?
Edit - 21 in 36 games in all competitions
For the focal striker in a top 4 team, is that a good enough return?
I'm not saying he's shit or anything BTW, just for the money they spent they probably wanted a bit more from him.
I personally think Hazard will score the most Belgium goals, or depending on how much gametime he gets, Mertens
Bit of a stretch to say he struggled was my point - and that was with what, Lingard, Rashford and Pogba (who did struggle this year) behind him... with Hazard and De Bruyne it's a whole different proposition as his recent form at international level has shown - something like 5 in last 4 games I think it is.
Both fair points.
There was definitely a time during this season when he did struggle and looked isolated. I wanted to say it was like November-January-ish, but I might be getting that wrong. Time is a flat circle/I'm losing my memory.
His record in qualification was good, but when you look at who he has scored against, it's a lot of friendlies and minnows. He only has three tournament goals in two tournaments, two against Ireland in 2016 and one against the US in 2014.
Now, Roberto Martinez is better than Wilmots. But he's not great. And not having Nainggolan is a huge loss. I still think you can frustrate Belgium. I don't think Lukaku is a terrible shout for top scorer at those odds, I would just put in the caveat that I think he's better suited to the more open Premier League than he is to an international tournament, where is he unlikely to get the space he gets in the league*.
I think Tunisia will be a tough game. They are no mugs! But it is a great way to start as if we win - a win against Panama (which has a high probability) will see us through the group.
This is the shit I'm going to have to deal with you guys.
No one likes to be condescended to – unless you’re talking about the American soccer public. That, it appears, is the core of the strategy Fox Sports is applying to its World Cup coverage. This is, of course, virgin territory for Fox, the six previous World Cups having been beamed out to American households by ESPN. In 2011, when Fox won the bidding war to show the two tainted tournaments to come – Russia and Qatar, the blood money Cups – network executives committed to doing things differently. With the outline of Fox’s broadcast plans now clear, we can say they’ve succeeded – just not for the better. The new era is here, and if the early signs are accurate, it will mostly suck.
...If ESPN, in its slightly soft, Michael Ballack-friendly coverage of previous World Cups, tried to embody The Quiet European, Fox is going all out to be The Dumb American.
Lukaku is my prediction for top goalscorer, I reckon he will get 4 or 5 in the group stage.
Same here - 18-1 I think, bloke plays in front of Hazard, De Bruyne etc, he'll get a ton of chances v Tunisia and Panama. And England.
The problem with him is he needs space to run in behind, and he's not going to get a lot of that at a major tournament. It's part of why he struggled at United this year, when teams sit deep he becomes isolated.
Didn't he get like 20 goals this season though..? Certainly didn't appear to struggle to me?
Edit - 21 in 36 games in all competitions
For the focal striker in a top 4 team, is that a good enough return?
I'm not saying he's shit or anything BTW, just for the money they spent they probably wanted a bit more from him.
I personally think Hazard will score the most Belgium goals, or depending on how much gametime he gets, Mertens
On the other hand Lukaku plays in a Mourinho team, which hardly encourages attacking flair. You can see the difference with Rashford when he plays for England
Comparing Lukaku's goal scoring this season with say those of City attackers, you have to adjust for the Jose and Pep factors!
Thought I'd be all World Cupped out having spent my working life trading it, analysing stats, watching mind-numbingly dull friendlies all sorts - but if anything it's getting me more excited! First game all set-up to be a bit of an anti climax of a WC opener but who knows.
Think Neymar will be the star of the show, Isco also very underrated (almost matches Ronaldo's record this season - and may well take all set pieces bar Pen's), he could be a real star for Spain. I think Spain are re-hitting their prime with this current crop. 80's for Neymar Top GS/Spain Win WC.
Thought I'd be all World Cupped out having spent my working life trading it, analysing stats, watching mind-numbingly dull friendlies all sorts - but if anything it's getting me more excited! First game all set-up to be a bit of an anti climax of a WC opener but who knows.
Think Neymar will be the star of the show, Isco also very underrated (almost matches Ronaldo's record this season - and may well take all set pieces bar Pen's), he could be a real star for Spain. I think Spain are re-hitting their prime with this current crop. 80's for Neymar Top GS/Spain Win WC.
Oh can I ask what you do for a living?
Agree with Isco, the boy is class. Took a lovely free kick against Italy that basically sealed qualification. I have him in my official World Cup fantasy team (haven't done a Telegraph one for CL yet) and he's a steal at 8.5m.
Thought I'd be all World Cupped out having spent my working life trading it, analysing stats, watching mind-numbingly dull friendlies all sorts - but if anything it's getting me more excited! First game all set-up to be a bit of an anti climax of a WC opener but who knows.
Think Neymar will be the star of the show, Isco also very underrated (almost matches Ronaldo's record this season - and may well take all set pieces bar Pen's), he could be a real star for Spain. I think Spain are re-hitting their prime with this current crop. 80's for Neymar Top GS/Spain Win WC.
Oh can I ask what you do for a living?
Agree with Isco, the boy is class. Took a lovely free kick against Italy that basically sealed qualification. I have him in my official World Cup fantasy team (haven't done a Telegraph one for CL yet) and he's a steal at 8.5m.
Of course! Football trader soon to be evolved into a more general sports trader (previously professionally gambled on Football and somewhat profitably on Cricket/Darts, albeit not near as knowledgeable of the intricacies of both games!). It was quite a lonely lifestyle and not well aligned to being well respected with mortgage lenders and the like, so I'm happy to help this company out as best I can and bet personally on the side when the time is right.
You'll soon see a 'product' hitting the advertising channels very hard - Build A Bet/Bet Builder etc. (few different companies). Essentially a new 'wave' of betting, so I'm setting prices on all sorts of games lines all the way down to the player percentages (a player to score a header, outside of box, penalty etc.). It is very interesting to see it from the 'dark' side but I think that makes it a shade easier to implement an, albeit very small, amount of thinking within the prices rather than the plain and simple traditional averages etc.
Almost sounds like a perfect job - but having watched obscure football from Australia to Iceland, I've seen it all and almost fell out of love with the sport.. now enjoying every kick just as much as when I was a little'un.
Nothing to do with the World Cup yet looks like the Elland Road game against Costa Rica worked last week
England are going to play a friendly against Switzerland at the King Power Stadium (Leicester) prior to playing Croatia in the Nations League
bit of a shame as i thought the nations league would stop these ridiculous friendlies from taking place, wont be long before clubs wont let players go.
between september and november we are playing;
croatia home & away spain home & away usa. switzerland.
quite a lot of games for a team that have just won the world cup.
elland road was great atmosphere as a lot aren't travelling to russia so it was a send off before the tournament could be wrong but i don't think pointless friendlies in northern grounds will always be a blinding atmosphere
i do think that there wont be much trouble out there, last major tournament it only really kicked off in 1 place which everyone knew it would do, hope all travelling stay safe out there, the other half went with her sister to moscow and st petersberg in april and loved it.
Comments
There was definitely a time during this season when he did struggle and looked isolated. I wanted to say it was like November-January-ish, but I might be getting that wrong. Time is a flat circle/I'm losing my memory.
His record in qualification was good, but when you look at who he has scored against, it's a lot of friendlies and minnows. He only has three tournament goals in two tournaments, two against Ireland in 2016 and one against the US in 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romelu_Lukaku
Now, Roberto Martinez is better than Wilmots. But he's not great. And not having Nainggolan is a huge loss. I still think you can frustrate Belgium. I don't think Lukaku is a terrible shout for top scorer at those odds, I would just put in the caveat that I think he's better suited to the more open Premier League than he is to an international tournament, where is he unlikely to get the space he gets in the league*.
*Cue England giving him lots of space in behind.
This is the shit I'm going to have to deal with you guys.
No one likes to be condescended to – unless you’re talking about the American soccer public. That, it appears, is the core of the strategy Fox Sports is applying to its World Cup coverage. This is, of course, virgin territory for Fox, the six previous World Cups having been beamed out to American households by ESPN. In 2011, when Fox won the bidding war to show the two tainted tournaments to come – Russia and Qatar, the blood money Cups – network executives committed to doing things differently. With the outline of Fox’s broadcast plans now clear, we can say they’ve succeeded – just not for the better. The new era is here, and if the early signs are accurate, it will mostly suck.
...If ESPN, in its slightly soft, Michael Ballack-friendly coverage of previous World Cups, tried to embody The Quiet European, Fox is going all out to be The Dumb American.
I'm more surprised that its starting on a Thursday rather than Friday
Comparing Lukaku's goal scoring this season with say those of City attackers, you have to adjust for the Jose and Pep factors!
Still can't wait though.
France v Australia @ 11am
Argentina v Iceland @ 2pm
Peru v Denmark @ 5pm
Croatia v Nigeria @ 8pm
Think Neymar will be the star of the show, Isco also very underrated (almost matches Ronaldo's record this season - and may well take all set pieces bar Pen's), he could be a real star for Spain. I think Spain are re-hitting their prime with this current crop. 80's for Neymar Top GS/Spain Win WC.
Agree with Isco, the boy is class. Took a lovely free kick against Italy that basically sealed qualification. I have him in my official World Cup fantasy team (haven't done a Telegraph one for CL yet) and he's a steal at 8.5m.
England are going to play a friendly against Switzerland at the King Power Stadium (Leicester) prior to playing Croatia in the Nations League
You'll soon see a 'product' hitting the advertising channels very hard - Build A Bet/Bet Builder etc. (few different companies). Essentially a new 'wave' of betting, so I'm setting prices on all sorts of games lines all the way down to the player percentages (a player to score a header, outside of box, penalty etc.). It is very interesting to see it from the 'dark' side but I think that makes it a shade easier to implement an, albeit very small, amount of thinking within the prices rather than the plain and simple traditional averages etc.
Almost sounds like a perfect job - but having watched obscure football from Australia to Iceland, I've seen it all and almost fell out of love with the sport.. now enjoying every kick just as much as when I was a little'un.
between september and november we are playing;
croatia home & away
spain home & away
usa.
switzerland.
quite a lot of games for a team that have just won the world cup.
elland road was great atmosphere as a lot aren't travelling to russia so it was a send off before the tournament could be wrong but i don't think pointless friendlies in northern grounds will always be a blinding atmosphere
Apparently they've told the pilot... "Keep the engine running, we wont be long"