FIFA World Cup 2022

[Lineker]

 

[DavidMarrio]

1 hour ago, Colly said:

Are there actually more injuries? It feels like when anyone gets an injury we jump to "winter World Cup", even if it isn't a wear and tear muscular one. Obviously there's less time between the last domestic fixtures and the first game so slightly less time to recover from something little, but other than that there are always a couple of high profile casualties on the way in.

Think one thing you could say is there'll be teams towards the end of a season with nothing to play for so some players can either be rested or they can coast a bit. 

I do think there are instances this season of players coasting a bit with the World Cup in mind. 

I do agree you can't solely blame it being in the winter but there have been things such as you said shorter breaks, shorter rest between last season and this season etc that have played into account. 

[Lineker]

 

[gunnar hendershow]

The Athletic did an article researching this question about more injuries and didn't conclude that there are more. But they did point out November is a very attritional time in the standard calendar, as condensed scheduling from leagues & cups really accelerate.

My sneaking suspicion is we'll see a slightly higher number of injuries during the WC than we normally see in any case. Players will simply not be as fresh.

[GoGo Yubari]

Extremely happy for Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris, and also how unbelievably mad that's probably going to make the worst parts of USMNT fandom.

[DFF]

Surprised Ricardo Pepi hasn't made the US squad. In his 8 games for Groningen he has 5 goals and 2 assists. 

[Lineker]

 

 

[Naitch]

EDIT - Lineker added another tweet that makes my post redundant.

[Szumi]

3 minutes ago, DFF said:

Surprised Ricardo Pepi hasn't made the US squad. In his 8 games for Groningen he has 5 goals and 2 assists. 

Yeah it makes no sense. Morris has no business on that roster. Sargent can be your fifth winger while still playing as a ST. Pepi should be there. Played the most at ST during WCQ and is in red hot form. Haji Wright is in great scoring form in Turkey too, but also has no real chemistry with these guys. It's been years since he played with Pulisic in youth squads.

The most Gregg thing ever is this moron has preached "verticality" nonstop but we only have one player in our entire front 3 that offers a direct, run in behind, stretch the defense player in Tim Weah...who isn't even a guarantee to start since Gio Reyna has played there when he's actually been healthy. None of our STs are fast, run in behind players. Reyna doesn't run without the ball ever, and Pulisic just cuts in and plays hero ball.

Honestly think we crash out in the Group Stage.

[Colly]

I know I'm really old fashioned, but I hate this thing where only central midfielders are midfielders and Phil Foden gets listed as a forward. Realistically there's only Kane, Wilson, Rashford and at a push Sterling in there who are forwards.

Not that it matters whatsoever...

[Hobo]

That england squad reveal video was... a much better idea in concept than execution.

 

[Colly]

I quite liked it, but the midfielders really weren't on screen for long enough, and Pickford's arm is unrealistically long.

[TheGrandAvatar]

Expected Wilson and Maddison with their recent form. The usual England team selection with two or three new faces. Just wondering how good they will be at the World Cup this year and if they build on the success of the last two tournaments. Would like them to win. Just don't see it though. Unless they play as good as they did in Euro 2020, and if some of the big guns underperform on the big stage like in 2018. 

[Bobfoc]

Given their recent form, I wouldn't totally rule out a group stage exit. USA ought to fancy their chances of at least a draw, and Wales will be very up for taking them down. If the usual cagey start to tournaments is apparent, they could drop points against Iran as well.

[TheGrandAvatar]

Yes recent form in Nation's League has been awful for England. However they usually manage to recover form at the tournament group game's in the last two under Southgate. But as you said yes that is a possible that we may not even make it out of the group stage. Wales will be like the Scotland game at the Euros a cagey and tense affair with it being a possible draw.

I do like the England squad player's. Think this is the most I've ever been happy with an England Squad of players. While yes form is bad on some of them. For some reason they always seem more hungrier than the England of the past and work together well. This coming from me who hated Football for so long. Now I can't get enough of the international game's. Think in a way it is reliving it for a family member who was a big fan of Football. 

Look forward to reading in here during the game's and watching you all have fun. 

[Adam]

19 minutes ago, Bobfoc said:

Given their recent form, I wouldn't totally rule out a group stage exit. USA ought to fancy their chances of at least a draw, and Wales will be very up for taking them down. If the usual cagey start to tournaments is apparent, they could drop points against Iran as well.

I just cannot see it. The majority of this bad run was in a clutch of Nations League games in the summer when the players sorely needed a break, and the group is frankly one of the easiest *on paper* for a top seed to have.

There is no reason England shouldn't win 2 or 3 out of 3 in the groups. You never know, and I certainly wouldn't back England to win the whole tournament, but we should have too much quality for that group to be a problem.

[The Lusophone]

Hell if we wanna talk recent form... Wales also finished bottom of their Nations League group and the US finished behind El Salvador in their Nations League group.

The only team in the group with more wins than losses and draws in their recent form is Iran.

[Gorka]

To be fair, our entire Nations League campaign was messed about by the play-off being shifted. It's a big demand of any squad to play five matches in two weeks, let alone a squad where the reserves rarely feature for Football League sides.

Looking for positives, least our back-ups only lost to big sides by a single goal (even if they played their own B-team).

[DFF]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/63576021

Woop, so happy for Ndaiye to make the Senegal squad, it'll be a great experience for him and no more than he deserves on form. 

[Szumi]

17 hours ago, Bobfoc said:

Given their recent form, I wouldn't totally rule out a group stage exit. USA ought to fancy their chances of at least a draw, and Wales will be very up for taking them down. If the usual cagey start to tournaments is apparent, they could drop points against Iran as well.

USA is so incredibly over hyped by our fans & media because we finally have (squad) players are top clubs. It's a string of promising players who have mainly achieved very little, we struggle heavily to create and score, no idea who our starting 9 is, who our starting 11 is, and our probable starting CBs will have gone well over a month without having played a competitive match of football by Match 1, one of whom is clearly a shell of his former self after rupturing his Achilles May 2021. We also have probably the worst manager at the World Cup.

 

England will be fine.