The official 2018 World Cup thread

[BodiesInFlight]

De Bruyne didn't show up yesterday, cost Belgium the match imo. No idea who wins tonight, but I think a lot of England fans are looking past Croatia.


Posted from Boxingscene.com App for Android

What did you think of Lukaku's performance?

I thought he was terrible. Had a great chance for a diving header but opted to just poke his neck out instead and failed to make contact. He really lacks an edge that big top drawer strikers need.

[El Fenomeno]

Unconfirmed reports state that his stamped addressed envelope with the contract was returned containing human s.hit.

I don’t even this player. If Fenomeno likes him I’m slightly worried as our boy is a bit of a football hipster no matter what he says.

Our recent track record says there is a 50/50 chance he’ll be a massive Carlos Sanchez-esque bum

I don't know how he'd get on with Chelsea if I'm honest, I just know he would've fit into our team and system like a glove. Same with Sanchez. Those 2 players were perfect for us.

I like our recent transfer policy though, we have a price and we won't pay over it. Serves us well for future dealings.

He's a brilliant ball-playing DM/CM but Sanchez is a brilliant player too, could be another square-peg-round-holes job.

[TheBigLug]

Not sure how we're going to deal with Croatia's midfield later tbh

Honestly, their midfield hasn't been that dominant overall, despite the names in it. Russia and Denmark didn't allow themselves to be dominated in midfield.

They're dining out on a 3-0 win against Argentina who were absolute turd and had no desire to win battles on the pitch. The other games in the group were against teams they should beat. Since then, they have come up against teams that worked hard but lacked quality and ended up in a draw (not including pens).

Don't get me wrong, they're a very good side and if their players turn up, it will be tough.

As good as some of their players are, i'm sure they will be looking at our threats too and wondering how to deal with some players. obviously they must not be looking forward to defending set pieces against us and they will be well aware that they can't give someone like Kane a sniff at goal.

They have just as much to fear as us.

[Roy Jones Jnr]

We've been playing hardball over fees for a while now. If we paid the original asking price we'd have signed him 2 months ago, same with the Sanchez deal. Dunno if we were ever in for VVD tbh.

Sometimes it works (Leicester wanted 95m for Mahrez, they got 60m), sometimes it doesn't.

If you think Jorginho would rather play for Chelsea in the Europa League than in the CL under Pep with a team who've just smashed all records then that's fine.

Haha I'm just messing.

Don't think I've ever seen him play tbh, maybe I have but never paid any attention to him so haven't a clue how good he is.

Apparently he's being signed as Kantes replacement because Sarri doesnt play with a pure DM like Kante whose off to PSG?

Wouldn't be happy with that if I was a Chelsea fan, Kante is pure sex.

Oh and Mahrez is a great signing, quality player that boy. The beginning of the end for Sterling at City doe, like I told u ages ago mark my words he'll be back at QPR within 2 years. Pep ain't no fool, can't be winning CL's with that bum missing three sitters per game up front. Mahrez in his place yous might break your own record for goals scored next season.

[BigZ44]

Who's winning today? Somebody break down the style match up on English cuunts vs Croatian cuunts

Too late for all that, throw that analysis **** out the window, it means nothing now. You only need to know one thing.....it's coming home

[Beercules]

Is the US playing today

[mlac]

Honestly, their midfield hasn't been that dominant overall, despite the names in it. Russia and Denmark didn't allow themselves to be dominated in midfield.

They're dining out on a 3-0 win against Argentina who were absolute turd and had no desire to win battles on the pitch. The other games in the group were against teams they should beat. Since then, they have come up against teams that worked hard but lacked quality and ended up in a draw (not including pens).

Don't get me wrong, they're a very good side and if their players turn up, it will be tough.

As good as some of their players are, i'm sure they will be looking at our threats too and wondering how to deal with some players. obviously they must not be looking forward to defending set pieces against us and they will be well aware that they can't give someone like Kane a sniff at goal.

They have just as much to fear as us.

who are we dining out on? going life and death with Columbia... - their best player ?

[siablo14]

I got England. You know why????


Because I speak English.

[siablo14]

England! Let's Go!






I wonder if Szef has any connection to England?

[TheBigLug]

who are we dining out on? going life and death with Columbia... - their best player ?

i never said we had great wins either. I'm just saying that everyone that seems petrified of Croatia's midfield clearly haven't been watching their games that closely. overall, they haven't looked anything special apart from against Argentina who let them look great because they were a mess.

Besides, beating Sweden 2-0 on their current form is a good result. Better than beating Colombia.

Also, people are putting too much stock in teams names and history. Would it really have been better beating badly performing Argentina and Spain sides instead of playing Sweden & Colombia? - i'm not so sure. of course on paper it'll look far better having wins against big names, but in reality it may not have been more impressive in a footballing sense, given how poor some of them have been. Sometimes you have to forget about the big names and history and look at things as they are right now.

If we had beaten this s.hite Argentina side or something, i think it may have given us a false belief of where we are as a side. The route we've had probably gives a more realistic picture, which isn't a bad thing.

Anyway, back to the point, Croatia can be excellent and might well prove that tonight. Nobody is denying their talent in midfield. My point was that we have players that Croatia should be worried about too. They have to cope with aspects of our side, just as much as we have to cope with their midfield.

Croatia need to improve massively from their last 2 games, but they have big game players that can do it.