England V Tunisia 19.00 Hrs Monday 18 th June (Volgograd Arena)

[The39thStep]

Yeah, I thought that was Egypt (without, of course, checking).

edit: Egypt miles behind in 45th.

Egypt overhyped in lots of peoples minds prob because of Salah tbh

 

[Teaboy]

I think this sort of problem was inevitable with VAR tbh. I think a certain level of what are technically fouls has always been an accepted part of the game and even though that's changed a lot in recent years I still don't think anyone wants to see penalties given for every infringement in the box. The Kane wrestling was a pretty extreme example but they're opening a can of worms if they give it - every corner is going to have examples that at least require a review.

Sure. But the ref had already made a very clear statement about what was and what wasn't acceptable in the box (as he'd been instructed to apparently). As such, with the 1st incident especially, he should have been given the opportunity to review and it be consistent. That decision was taken out of his hands for no good reason.

 

[Lord Camomile]

he seemed entirely unbothered by a Tunisian player stopping every free kick from being taken

There was one that really bothered me in the last few minutes, Trippier taking one down on the right touchline. The guy wouldn't get back 10m, the ref was miles away doing some mild gesturing, and then when the kick was taken the Tunisian player even did that lurch forward fake out thing that pissed-up wankers do in bars to try and make you flinch. It was pathetic, but the ref needed to be stronger and just get the damned spray out.

 

[strung out]

The thing about VAR was that it was supposed to give the ref on the pitch more opportunity to reach the right decision. With either of the Kane incidents the VAR team should have given the ref the chance to review it on the side of the pitch. With everything going on at corners its hard to have eyes everywhere so that's what VAR is for. The ref had already decided what was OK in the box and what wasn't so he should have been given the chance to adjudicate. As it happens I thought the 1st one was a clear pen (given what he'd already penailised Walker for) and the second one was less clear cut and the ref had a better view.

Its a clear failure of the system and everyone expects some problems but it would be good to get some sort of clarification from FIFA.

All we're asking for is consistency

 

[skyscraper101]

It was by far the worst refereeing I've seen this tournament.

 

[Badgers]

There was one that really bothered me in the last few minutes, Trippier taking one down on the right touchline. The guy wouldn't get back 10m, the ref was miles away doing some mild gesturing, and then when the kick was taken the Tunisian player even did that lurch forward fake out thing that pissed-up wankers do in bars to try and make you flinch. It was pathetic, but the ref needed to be stronger and just get the damned spray out.

That was really shitty behaviour. Players doing that sort of thing will usually take a card just to waste time. The ref should have booked him for dissent/time wasting.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It was by far the worst refereeing I've seen this tournament.

Yep. I've been quite impressed by many of the other refs. Hopefully this one will be ditched after this game - he wasn't unsighted, he had a clear view and somehow managed not to work out what was going on.

 

[Badgers]

Yep. I've been quite impressed by many of the other refs. Hopefully this one will be ditched after this game - he wasn't unsighted, he had a clear view and somehow managed not to work out what was going on.

Was just about to post the same thing ^

 

[Wilf]

Egypt overhyped in lots of peoples minds prob because of Salah tbh

Aye, though I think it's possible to describe them as '2nd best in Africa' in one sense - they were runners up in the African Nations Cup last year. That aside, am I right in thinking African football has failed to make much progress against the Europeans and South Americans? At least in this WC the African qualifiers don't seem that great.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Aye, though I think it's possible to describe them as '2nd best in Africa' in one sense - they were runners up in the African Nations Cup last year. That aside, am I right in thinking African football has failed to make much progress against the Europeans and South Americans? At least in this WC the African qualifiers don't seem that great.

They seem to have slipped back a bit don't they. There's no one who looks likely to match the Ghana team that should have made the semis in 2010.

 

[Teaboy]

That was really shitty behaviour. Players doing that sort of thing will usually take a card just to waste time. The ref should have booked him for dissent/time wasting.

tbh I don't really blame the Tunisian players. They had been given a task and a set of tactics, all sport is about pushing the boundaries of the laws and its down to the ref to sort it. The ref didn't care so why wouldn't you carry on if you're getting away with it?

If FIFA want a fast flowing WC full of action they need to get the message to the ref because he was a willing ally for Tunisia in killing the game.

 

[Badgers]

tbh I don't really blame the Tunisian players. They had been given a task and a set of tactics, all sport is about pushing the boundaries of the laws and its down to the ref to sort it. The ref didn't care so why wouldn't you carry on if you're getting away with it?

If FIFA want a fast flowing WC full of action they need to get the message to the ref because he was a willing ally for Tunisia in killing the game.

Indeed

 

[littlebabyjesus]

tbh I don't really blame the Tunisian players. They had been given a task and a set of tactics, all sport is about pushing the boundaries of the laws and its down to the ref to sort it. The ref didn't care so why wouldn't you carry on if you're getting away with it?

If FIFA want a fast flowing WC full of action they need to get the message to the ref because he was a willing ally for Tunisia in killing the game.

Yep, thought the same thing as Switzerland were taking turns kicking Neymar off the pitch. I applaud the desire to keep the game going, but they seem to have gone from one extreme, where they buy even the most blatant dives, to the other, where they allow rugby tackles.

 

[skyscraper101]

The constant fouling of Neymar going unpunished was a disgrace.

 

[Wilf]

There was one that really bothered me in the last few minutes, Trippier taking one down on the right touchline. The guy wouldn't get back 10m, the ref was miles away doing some mild gesturing, and then when the kick was taken the Tunisian player even did that lurch forward fake out thing that pissed-up wankers do in bars to try and make you flinch. It was pathetic, but the ref needed to be stronger and just get the damned spray out.

Yeah, you can't really blame the ref for the missed penalty decisions, it was his lack of control on free kicks. In terms of players delaying free kicks, that was just about the worst reffing performance I can remember. There was also the long running battle between Sassi* and one of the England full backs. Weak performance all round.

Edit: I'm probably thinking about the Ben Youssef - Ashley Young duel. Young got played a bit there, but the ref should have told Ben Youssef to get the fuck up a couple of times.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

The constant fouling of Neymar going unpunished was a disgrace.

To temper ideas of anti-England conspiracy, both Brazil and England were victims of weak reffing. Loads of parallels - both started off amazingly, then faded somewhat. Both had star strikers targetted by the opposition with the ref doing nothing to stop it. Switzerland were extremely disciplined in their fouling, if that makes sense - they played the ref and worked it out so that nobody got sent off. It was smart.

I can only think that the VAR panel didn't intervene yesterday because the ref had a clear view of the incident each time. He made his ridiculous decisions based on good evidence! ( The Tunisia pen wasn't ridiculous, though - that was a penalty, and a really really daft one.)

 

[Wilf]

To temper ideas of anti-England conspiracy, both Brazil and England were victims of weak reffing. Loads of parallels - both started off amazingly, then faded somewhat. Both had star strikers targetted by the opposition with the ref doing nothing to stop it. Switzerland were extremely disciplined in their fouling, if that makes sense - they played the ref and worked it out so that nobody got sent off. It was smart.

I can only think that the VAR panel didn't intervene yesterday because the ref had a clear view of the incident each time. He made his ridiculous decisions based on good evidence! ( The Tunisia pen wasn't ridiculous, though - that was a penalty, and a really really daft one.)

One thing that is interesting about the Wc is that, from memory, they sometimes tweak the instructions to referees. A few days of tolerant reffing leads to a crackdown etc. Leads to wailing that somebody was harshly sent off compared with games the previous week, but adds to the fun.

Must admit, unless there's some purring pure football going on, I love a good narky game with multiple sendings off, kicked waterbottles, international incidents and the rest. Particularly of course if Ronaldo is the victim of all of the above.

 

[Teaboy]

, I love a good narky game with multiple sendings off, kicked waterbottles, international incidents and the rest.

Long live the Battle of Santiago. Football: The beautiful game.

 

[imposs1904]

The failure to break Neymar's neck was a disgrace.

Corrected it for you.

 

[Wilf]

Ah, yes, that's a proper WC game:

Battle of Nuremberg (2006 FIFA World Cup) - Wikipedia

 

[skyscraper101]

my sides

 

[Wilf]

Long live the Battle of Santiago. Football: The beautiful game.

Ha!, great minds (nearly) think alike!

 

[imposs1904]

my sides

Who's joking? The bloke's a bona fide prick.

 

[nuffsaid]

If FIFA want a fast flowing WC full of action they need to get the message to the ref because he was a willing ally for Tunisia in killing the game.

More like a willing ally of Putin - probably had a bung to give us harsh decisions.

 

[nuffsaid]

The refs mught be using VAR as a safety net. Not giving a decision they are less than 90% on and thinking VAR will bail them out if they miss one.

 

[imposs1904]

Long live the Battle of Santiago. Football: The beautiful game.

Holland Brazil in '74 was also rather tasty:

 

[The39thStep]

The constant fouling of Neymar going unpunished was a disgrace.

It was but so was his constant going to ground in the most dramatic fashion on every opportunity. Think it became a a wolfs cry situation for the ref.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It was but so was his constant going to ground in the most dramatic fashion on every opportunity. Think it became a a wolfs cry situation for the ref.

Bloke who wanted to change shirts with him after 5 mins finally got substituted an hour later when he was booked. Would have been a very different game if he'd been booked after 5 minutes given he was just about Switzerland's best player.

 

[Wilf]

I'm a fan of var really, the main issue seems to be accuracy Vs a desire to get it sorted quickly and the game resumed. Bungs and conspiracy theories aside, the Kane penalty would definitely/presumably have been given if the var person had had even another 30 seconds to review camera angles one by one. Not saying that all potential var interventions should lead to a 2 minute stoppage in play but, well, maybe the balance between speed and precision isn't right at the moment.

 

[xenon]

They seem to have slipped back a bit don't they. There's no one who looks likely to match the Ghana team that should have made the semis in 2010.

Yeah. What's happened to the Ivory Coast too.

Anyway, not a bad game I thought. Refereeing aside. England should have been 3 up by half time. I'd be tempted to start Sterling against Panama to see if he can sharpen up.