ozvillafan

I think Emery will be a welcome reset for Ollie. He was at his best under Smith and clearly struggled a bit under our last manager (which seemed to be a common theme). He'll improve vastly under the Emery system - but we won't see it immediately. It's going to take a while for him to come good (half a season, I reckon)

Anyone else get annoyed by that? Who gives a fig who he used to play for? He's ours!

I used to think ManUre fans were entitled and clueless..... ... then I read some of this thread from English fans. "Southgate is crap!", "We've only beaten smaller teams", "A loss against France is a failure" You've cruised it so far, played some good football and losing to France is no shame - they are tournament favourites. You've every chance to progress but will turn on the coach and players if they lose. Embarrassing.

Big bad Mark Bosnich giving props to Martinez for his save at the end. Big stuff from Emi. Last time we made it to the last 16 we were beaten by the eventual winners. History repeating itself?

Not just score in every game, but score first and all from open play.

Messi scores the opening goal for Argentina with a beautiful finish from outside the box. Immediately runs to his teammates to celebrate. Ronaldo "scores" for Portugal by missing a header at close range but claims the goal as the ball goes in anyway. Immediately runs to the corner to celebrate on his own in front of the cameras. Sums it up, really.

Wuss! That's standard fodder watching the Villa from down here.

Justice. If you are going to slow down play to look for contact you are always going to find it. Player was looking for it an minimal contact sent him down like being shot. Ridiculous decision

I don''t have a problem with that.... ... but it's hardly consistent. Ronaldo got breathed on and they gave a penalty. In the same vein, this one was cast iron.

What a turnaround for Iran! Thoroughly deserved.

Aye, we are the lowest ranking team in Asia to qualify for this WC - and we scraped that. Only 7 years ago we were Asian champions.

Hello all. Australia here. Just want to say thank you for letting us turn up to the WC. See you again in 4 years time.... maybe.

Ouch. https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/football-news-2022-rangers-sack-manager-giovanni-van-bronckhorst-replacement-kevin-muscat-ange-postecoglou-scottish-premiership/news-story/f783f368ad56fa5802a71b8ce9f42fec the interesting bit: I suppose you can't blame them for simply stating the truth

They really have been bad. 16% possession and 54% pass completion rate

Everton won on penalties. They managed 0 shots on goal over the 90 minutes (no extra time played - straight to penalties) Celtic missed a hat-full of chances, including an open goal, and generally played them off the park.

Hmm... There has been so much talk about human rights with migrant workers and the LGBT community from just about every football association (well.. at least from those in the western world) ..... ... and yet not one of them boycotted the event. Can you guess why? Yep - money. My home nation is a classic example. We put out a social media statement from the players themselves condemning the human rights record in Qatar - but we still went because we want the money. It's not like we need it - the old administration managed to get by while we didn't make a world cup for 40 years. Qatar should never have won the rights and the Australian bid was one that suffered as a result. Despite being one of the strongest bids, we went out in the first round. Suss, no? Another reason for Football Australia to boycott. ... but that's the thing about principles, innit?. When it hurts... suddenly they are more like guidelines.

No. As risky as it was, the pass from Emi actually made it to Luiz. Olsen, on the other hand, passed straight to an unmarked opposition player.

I think England have bigger problems than Southgate that they just won't be used to, such as the temperature and pre-cup build up. Iran, on the other hand, are used to adversity on the national stage during a grueling qualification stage that includes heat, humidity, height and poor facilities. Add to that, they've already been in Qatar acclimatising since their league broke/finished at the end of October. An upset isn't really that hard to imagine.

I only remember Staunton from the twilight of his career, which probably taints things. Still... shudder

Every team does this. I don't know how many times we've been in a losing position (big sample size with Gerrard in command) and when it comes to the 75th minute you know the game is over. The opposition knows how to run the game down, including substitutions, delaying restarts, fake injuries, whatever. Emi Martinez is a master of the dark arts and I love it how he riles up the opposition fans - because you know it has the same effect on the opposition players too. What annoys me more is cynicism. Man City get away with this all the time. Whenever it looks like the opposition might do something they tactically foul. They are so good at it that the person committing the foul is never the same and they are rarely booked for it. And this is despite them already having the majority of the ball. For mine, that is more anti-football than anything we are doing to run down the clock.

My word that was gritty, turgid, cynical and even a bit agricultural at times...... .... and I loved every minute of it! Been a long time since I have seen us be ruthless enough to do everything inside the rules (and a fair few outside) to get the win. Great stuff.

Interesting watching us working the ball in tight spaces in midfield. Some can do it easy... others less. Would like to see Sanson on for McGinn or JJ

Interesting that Japan didn't take him, preferring his teammate Daizen Maeda instead. I like them both, but Kyogo is the better of the 2. That said, I don't think he's what we are looking for - but, then, what do I know?

Olsen clearly MOTM. Of all the players on the pitch, he had the biggest impact. Sadly, it was for them.

Has he played a game for us where he hasn't shipped 3 or more?