Must admit I have looked forward to this like a little schoolkid for months but to be honest I feel cheated so far. What a load of old shit the games have been since the opener.
Teams just dont want to lose their opening game and are basically waiting for the other side to make errors. Usually sparks to life 2nd or 3rd group games, when teams actually need to come out and get a result.
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]Teams just dont want to lose their opening game and are basically waiting for the other side to make errors. Usually sparks to life 2nd or 3rd group games, when teams actually need to come out and get a result.
Spot on, won't really get going until the 2nd or 3rd group games really when things really start to matter.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Elthamaddick[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]Teams just dont want to lose their opening game and are basically waiting for the other side to make errors. Usually sparks to life 2nd or 3rd group games, when teams actually need to come out and get a result.[/quote]
Spot on, won't really get going until the 2nd or 3rd group games really when things really start to matter.[/quote]
Bit like the champions league really, just condensed over a shorter period.
I know the first games are a little cagey but there has been nothing of note.No great goals,pieces of skill.Nothing.
Just misplaced passes,goalkeeping cock ups and a noise from the crowds that basically sounds like booing for ninety minutes.
And to think i normally rely on the world cup as a form of valley escapism.
[cite]Posted By: Charltonparklane[/cite]Must admit I have looked forward to this like a little schoolkid for months but to be honest I feel cheated so far. What a load of old shit the games have been since the opener.
Really hope it kicks into life soon.
I don't know how many World Cups you've seen but I've seen more than I care to admit these days and I can confirm that, in general, the first round matchs are always very scrappy, boring, defensive minded affairs for the reasons above. As a neutral the best thing you can hope for is for the underdog to take the lead which means the favourite has to come out and attack. Stick with it CPL!
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]and to be fair, out of the pre-tournament favourites, only us and the argies have played. France dont count as they are jank.
These are of course your favourites, which is not the same as the realistic favourites ;-
Have to agree with CPL but I think the Germans put the spark into it tonight. I reluctantly pay my respect.
The game tonight was the best so far, reckon there will be a few more tasty games in the next few days- Hollan v Denmark is one that should be entertaining whilst Brazil v North Korea could be a goal feast.
[cite]Posted By: nth london addick[/cite]it certainly kicked in this evening i am off to the bookies in the morning and lumping on the germans sinbce when did they learn 2 touch football
They were good and very exciting in 2006 and pretty decent up front from what little I saw in 2008.
When Robben miss hits a shot tonight and it flys wide, what are the odds on the commentator saying something like "Thats heading for RobbenIsland..." ?
[cite]Posted By: nth london addick[/cite]it certainly kicked in this evening i am off to the bookies in the morning and lumping on the germans sinbce when did they learn 2 touch football
What if they're peaking too early ;-) Remember Argentina winning 7-1 or something in the last WC, they couldn't play like that again after that.
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]and to be fair, out of the pre-tournament favourites, only us and the argies have played. France dont count as they are jank.
The footie feast never starts til the third group game when its a bit more do or die, and the knockout phase, the first two games in the groups are usually dull affairs as others have stated on here, it will pick up soon enough, just hate those bloody horns.
[cite]Posted By: Miserableold-ish git[/cite]When Robben miss hits a shot tonight and it flys wide, what are the odds on the commentator saying something like "Thats heading for RobbenIsland..." ?
I think one of Holland's games is actually pretty close to Robben Island, so expecting plenty of that througout their games!
Leadley King could be out of the World Cup now. I read somewhere over the weekend he was signalling to the bench after our goal that he was injured and needed to come off! He's a great player but it's such a waste of a place having him out there if he's not going to play now. Could have taken Johnson, Walcott or Bent instead.
its the same in every WC (bar a few) Slow starts because teams are scared of loosing their first games as its uphill from there if you do. Hopefully we can trust in Brazil to score a few goals at leats 8-0 vs N.Korea Brazil 1st in Fifa worlrd rankings N.Korea are 105th should be fun.
[cite]Posted By: Ru1986[/cite]its the same in every WC (bar a few) Slow starts because teams are scared of loosing their first games as its uphill from there if you do. Hopefully we can trust in Brazil to score a few goals at leats 8-0 vs N.Korea Brazil 1st in Fifa worlrd rankings N.Korea are 105th should be fun.
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]and to be fair, out of the pre-tournament favourites, only us and the argies have played. France dont count as they are jank.
What's jank btw - a cross between wank and junk?
jank means shite.
Jank used to mean horrible as in "this tastes Jank" but now it is used far too frequently by people
[cite]Posted By: Ru1986[/cite]its the same in every WC (bar a few) Slow starts because teams are scared of loosing their first games as its uphill from there if you do. Hopefully we can trust in Brazil to score a few goals at leats 8-0 vs N.Korea Brazil 1st in Fifa worlrd rankings N.Korea are 105th should be fun.
How much do you want to bet that ends up 2-0?
Yea your probably not wrong mate as sttated above i am not the only one who is disapointed wiuth the WC so far Algeria vs Slovenia was a classic.
[cite]Posted By: Ru1986[/cite]its the same in every WC (bar a few) Slow starts because teams are scared of loosing their first games as its uphill from there if you do. Hopefully we can trust in Brazil to score a few goals at leats 8-0 vs N.Korea Brazil 1st in Fifa worlrd rankings N.Korea are 105th should be fun.
How much do you want to bet that ends up 2-0?
Yea your probably not wrong mate as sttated above i am not the only one who is disapointed wiuth the WC so far Algeria vs Slovenia was a classic.
I think it's been absolute pony so far. The only exciting game was the Germany-Australia one (and then only because it was fun watching the Aussies get, quite literally, 'mullered'). The vuvuzelas are pissing me off, ITV's coverage is (as usual) wretched, the football itself has been dire - France v Uruguay, Argentina v Nigeria and - God help me - Slovenia v Algeria have probably been the worst three competitive internationals seen since the Germany-Austria debacle 30-odd years ago.
[cite]Posted By: Ru1986[/cite]its the same in every WC (bar a few) Slow starts because teams are scared of loosing their first games as its uphill from there if you do. Hopefully we can trust in Brazil to score a few goals at leats 8-0 vs N.Korea Brazil 1st in Fifa worlrd rankings N.Korea are 105th should be fun.
How much do you want to bet that ends up 2-0?
Yea your probably not wrong mate as sttated above i am not the only one who is disapointed wiuth the WC so far Algeria vs Slovenia was a classic.
I think it's been absolute pony so far. The only exciting game was the Germany-Australia one (and then only because it was fun watching the Aussies get, quite literally, 'mullered'). The vuvuzelas are pissing me off, ITV's coverage is (as usual) wretched, the football itself has been dire - France v Uruguay, Argentina v Nigeria and - God help me - Slovenia v Algeria have probably been the worst three competitive internationals seen since the Germany-Austria debacle 30-odd years ago.
It has and to be honest i would rather see the aussies win than the Germans (being English) but your right. We all know that France are not the world class movers they were in 98 and early 2000's so not too surprised there tbh but Argentina have one of the best squads in the cup (miles ahead of Nigeria anyway) so how they managed to only win 1-0 and it was only entertaining for 20mins then they just fizzled out, so far very disapointing. Big pressure on Brazil now to bring the WC back to life anyone who mentions Spain just has to look back over the years Spain + World Cup = Poor quality football from brilliant players i dont get it maybe they all just turn into bottle jobs once the WC starts.
[cite]Posted By: Ru1986[/cite]its the same in every WC (bar a few) Slow starts because teams are scared of loosing their first games as its uphill from there if you do. Hopefully we can trust in Brazil to score a few goals at leats 8-0 vs N.Korea Brazil 1st in Fifa worlrd rankings N.Korea are 105th should be fun.
How much do you want to bet that ends up 2-0?
Yea your probably not wrong mate as sttated above i am not the only one who is disapointed wiuth the WC so far Algeria vs Slovenia was a classic.
I think it's been absolute pony so far. The only exciting game was the Germany-Australia one (and then only because it was fun watching the Aussies get, quite literally, 'mullered'). The vuvuzelas are pissing me off, ITV's coverage is (as usual) wretched, the football itself has been dire - France v Uruguay, Argentina v Nigeria and - God help me - Slovenia v Algeria have probably been the worst three competitive internationals seen since the Germany-Austria debacle 30-odd years ago.
It has and to be honest i would rather see the aussies win than the Germans (being English) but your right. We all know that France are not the world class movers they were in 98 and early 2000's so not too surprised there tbh but Argentina have one of the best squads in the cup (miles ahead of Nigeria anyway) so how they managed to only win 1-0 and it was only entertaining for 20mins then they just fizzled out, so far very disapointing. Big pressure on Brazil now to bring the WC back to life anyone who mentions Spain just has to look back over the years Spain + World Cup = Poor quality football from brilliant players i dont get it maybe they all just turn into bottle jobs once the WC starts.
Spot on about Spain. 98 was a perfect example. As soon as zubi palmed that ball into the net against Nigeria you could see the arsehole drop out of the whole team. Sincerely hope it will be different this time. If Iniesta is fit it will make the world of difference.
Thing is now with world level football is that a lot of high calibre coaches are in charge of some of the traditionally smaller footballing nations.
Once they beat into them a few of the basics that they previously did not have they set them up as hard to beat and play against, which in turn stifles both sides in an attacking sense.
I was impressed with how Japan were set up defensively but then the Cameroon coach had one of the best centre forwards in the world playing wide right. Similarly Nigeria were well drilled although their keeper had a blinder.
Add to that no-one wants to get rolled in the first game and you have a dull spectacle!
Im loving every minute of it. After a few depressing Charlton seasons and not having sky im loving just coming in and watching all the games.
Think we are sometimes spoilt with the high volume of quality fast paced football in the prem and the top quality in the CL whereas perhaps in 1990 for example it was a different story.
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]New Zealand just equalised in the 93rd minute. Finally something exciting has happened.
Aye. AT the end of another mind-nimbingly tedious borefest. Lets hope the Ivory Coast and Portugal at least kick lumps out of each other to make that game interesting
[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]New Zealand just equalised in the 93rd minute. Finally something exciting has happened.
Aye. AT the end of another mind-nimbingly tedious borefest. Lets hope the Ivory Coast and Portugal at least kick lumps out of each other to make that game interesting
Problem i have with it all is that New Zealand and Slovakia should not be playing conservatively when they face each other. Same for Japan & Cameroon, Algeria & Slovenia, Ghana & Serbia. These teams all face tougher group games and should be looking to pick points up against each other. Granted Japan, Slovenia & Ghana all picked up 3 points but it came more from opposition mistakes rather than attacking flair.
Just get the feeling the standard is severly low this year.....Spain & Brazil must be licking their lips....and so should England.
Comments
Spot on, won't really get going until the 2nd or 3rd group games really when things really start to matter.
Spot on, won't really get going until the 2nd or 3rd group games really when things really start to matter.[/quote]
Bit like the champions league really, just condensed over a shorter period.
Just misplaced passes,goalkeeping cock ups and a noise from the crowds that basically sounds like booing for ninety minutes.
And to think i normally rely on the world cup as a form of valley escapism.
I don't know how many World Cups you've seen but I've seen more than I care to admit these days and I can confirm that, in general, the first round matchs are always very scrappy, boring, defensive minded affairs for the reasons above. As a neutral the best thing you can hope for is for the underdog to take the lead which means the favourite has to come out and attack. Stick with it CPL!
These are of course your favourites, which is not the same as the realistic favourites ;-
Have to agree with CPL but I think the Germans put the spark into it tonight. I reluctantly pay my respect.
What's jank btw - a cross between wank and junk?
They were good and very exciting in 2006 and pretty decent up front from what little I saw in 2008.
Ivory Coast v Portugal should be a good one.
jank means shite.
I think one of Holland's games is actually pretty close to Robben Island, so expecting plenty of that througout their games!
Leadley King could be out of the World Cup now. I read somewhere over the weekend he was signalling to the bench after our goal that he was injured and needed to come off! He's a great player but it's such a waste of a place having him out there if he's not going to play now. Could have taken Johnson, Walcott or Bent instead.
Jank used to mean horrible as in "this tastes Jank" but now it is used far too frequently by people
Yea your probably not wrong mate as sttated above i am not the only one who is disapointed wiuth the WC so far Algeria vs Slovenia was a classic.
It has and to be honest i would rather see the aussies win than the Germans (being English) but your right. We all know that France are not the world class movers they were in 98 and early 2000's so not too surprised there tbh but Argentina have one of the best squads in the cup (miles ahead of Nigeria anyway) so how they managed to only win 1-0 and it was only entertaining for 20mins then they just fizzled out, so far very disapointing. Big pressure on Brazil now to bring the WC back to life anyone who mentions Spain just has to look back over the years Spain + World Cup = Poor quality football from brilliant players i dont get it maybe they all just turn into bottle jobs once the WC starts.
This is total shit so far. Think the atmosphere is awful, you cant just blame them poxy things for that.Maybe even down to mic positioning.
When I watched the FA cup final, Skys coverage was crap because of the Audio, ITV (although they are crap) was much better.
Once they beat into them a few of the basics that they previously did not have they set them up as hard to beat and play against, which in turn stifles both sides in an attacking sense.
I was impressed with how Japan were set up defensively but then the Cameroon coach had one of the best centre forwards in the world playing wide right. Similarly Nigeria were well drilled although their keeper had a blinder.
Add to that no-one wants to get rolled in the first game and you have a dull spectacle!
Think we are sometimes spoilt with the high volume of quality fast paced football in the prem and the top quality in the CL whereas perhaps in 1990 for example it was a different story.
Problem i have with it all is that New Zealand and Slovakia should not be playing conservatively when they face each other. Same for Japan & Cameroon, Algeria & Slovenia, Ghana & Serbia. These teams all face tougher group games and should be looking to pick points up against each other. Granted Japan, Slovenia & Ghana all picked up 3 points but it came more from opposition mistakes rather than attacking flair.
Just get the feeling the standard is severly low this year.....Spain & Brazil must be licking their lips....and so should England.