Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

England
USA
Iran
Wales/Scotland/Ukraine

the only decent thing to do is let Ukraine win (have they got any oil?)

Although I'd be very happy to see Ukraine make it through. I hate these opponents where a match against England is more like their WC final rather than just a group game

England are rubbish at managing the passion, because they are mentally rather frail

Can't complain. England never make it easy, and dfm is right about passion, but they should top that group.

It's a good group for England, I think

made even better by playing Iran first up and not another tricky game with the pot 2 group that ends up in a draw and only serves to pile all the pressure on for the rest of the groups

Not only was the Hungary/England game as dull as ditchwater, but it was like watching England from a few years ago. Hungary were thoroughly deserving of their win

England started with half a first choice team, in a terrible formation and then made substitutions in a predetermined fashion, as if all they had to do was rock up and give Hungary the thumping they should have deserved. Instead it was England who got what they deserved

dreadful performance

I assume the referee has ties to Putin after yesterday.

Ukraine were denied the most blatant penalty you could ever see, but VAR decided despite Joe Allen just kicking the Ukraine player in the ankle and sending him to the floor, it wasnt a foul. Ukraine then scored a free-kick, only for the referee to decide he wasn't ready for it and disallow it. The Welsh player then totally dives, and Wales score from the free-kick.

then in the second half, the Welsh keeper flattens the Ukraine striker without playing the ball, and no penalty again. Wales were totally outplayed, but fate and a terrible referring performance were against the Ukrainian team.

And of course, it was another game where the team 1-0 up after 70 minutes spent the rest of the match pretending to be dead. Got about 2 minutes of football in the end 25. When are referees going to do what they need to, and actually add on the time?

I think I counted about 30 minutes of play in the 5 minutes IT.... ref blows after an extra 20 seconds. If refs did their jobs and just added on 28 minutes at the end for about 2 months of the season, time wasting would end. But why stop when its so beneficial.

sussexpob wrote: Ukraine then scored a free-kick, only for the referee to decide he wasn't ready for it and disallow it.

It was about the only part of the match that I watched and there wasn't a single Wales player looking at the ball when he took that free kick, becuse the ref hadn't blown for him to take it. I didn't spot any player asking the ref if he could take the kick early, and the ref was busy organising everyone else when he took it. If it had been allowed to stand it would have been a pretty outrageous decision. Those sorts of things are only allowed to stand if it's against England in a WC finals knock out match.

The rest I couldn't comment on, but it was mentioned on comms at the start of the game that this ref was one of those who absolutely likes to be the centre of attention at all times

Durhamfootman wrote:It was about the only part of the match that I watched and there wasn't a single Wales player looking at the ball when he took that free kick, becuse the ref hadn't blown for him to take it. I didn't spot any player asking the ref if he could take the kick early, and the ref was busy organising everyone else when he took it. If it had been allowed to stand it would have been a pretty outrageous decision

Save from quoting loads of rules, the short of it is a referee does not need to blow the whistle to restart from a free-kick unless there is an expectation that there will be a clear chance on goal, and that the team defending will form a defensive wall. In this situation, the attacking taker does indeed need to seek permission to restart before the defending team has formed a wall, and often the referee will ask if the player prefers to go on the whistle or take it immediately, and once decided he must wait or take it.....

But in this situation there was no defensive wall and no requirement for Wales to have retreated 10 yards before the free kick was taken. People take free-kicks like this 30 times a game without the referee blowing, the only difference is this was a clever player noticing the keeper had gone awol and chipping it in from miles out into an empty net.

The rules actually state the referee can only stop the attacking team playing on if he quite specifically indicates he wants to hold up play, which at no stage he did. And even if he wants to book a player, he has to give the attacking team the advantage and book him AFTER the next phase if they are ready to play on. So, in short..... the referee didnt follow protocol and disallowed the goal for no reason.

Wales werent ready and the goalie was busy scratching his a*se having a chat on the sideline? Well why should that matter? That's his own unprofessional nature and dim awareness, he deserves to be punished for it.

The non penalty decision was a horrendous error. That said it'll be good to see Bale at a world cup.

Sounds like this is the referee that will knock England out of the WC at some point in the tournament.

A portent of things to come

England were handed a very welcome 'get out of jail free' card tonight.

another poor performance

we spent all night getting skinned down the German left and what did the master tactician do to help a beleaguered right back and ease the pressure at the back?

yes... of course... nothing at all

perhaps he hadn't noticed

I can't help but think that in a normal year the World cup would be starting any time about now and this England squad look bone tired and in need of a bit of rest. If the WC wasn't in Qatar they'd be facing another month of high intensity football and a lot of these players have been playing 2 matches a week for weeks now. There's something very wrong with the scheduling of the PL. The season should be finishing in early May, not late May to give these players time to recover and catch their breath before embarking on another major tournament.

Durhamfootman wrote:England were handed a very welcome 'get out of jail free' card tonight.

another poor performance

we spent all night getting skinned down the German left and what did the master tactician do to help a beleaguered right back and ease the pressure at the back?

yes... of course... nothing at all

perhaps he hadn't noticed

didn't he do (fail to do) the very same thing in the WC 4 years ago against Croatia?

does the man learn nothing?

Failed to do anything against an experimental, youth XI from Italy too. Of course this nations league tournament is throwing a few abnormal results around, but you get the feeling other teams are playing B teams and don't actually care.

We seem to have 10 first teamers out and still can't beat Hungrays B team

the good news is that the master tactician has said that he won't overstay his welcome and will leave his post the moment the team stops progressing (or words to that effect)

2018 we made the semis of the WC
last year we made the final of the EC

so the only way to progress further is to win the WC this winter

I'm choosing to interpret what he said, perhaps hopefully, as meaning he's going to step down if England don't win the WC. If we do win the WC, then I don't care what he does... we will have won the WC