FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group Stage

[Young Stapler]

Foye

At least I know who we will be playing!

[Foye]

Foye

At least I know who we will be playing!

As long as the defense is fielding slalom poles like David Raum, Niklas Süle, Benjamin Henrichs or Thilo Kehrer Germany won't win the tournament anyway. And Schlotterbeck will probably continue to hand out free penalty kicks or goals to the opponent. Flick is a good coach but I don't think he can overcome the limitations of the defenders. Rüdiger is about the only good defender he has.

[LDNMagic90]

Damn Mane is out for the World Cup, Senegal will still have a good team but I was thinking I can see Senegal doing really well in this tournament.

[ZoLo]

France can afford to leave Kolo Muani at home. Germany has Adeyemi.

10 games, 0 goals 0 assists

Not that it really matters bc he is probably warming the bench through the whole tournament. But what a difference in depth.

[jofan]

At this World Cup, the US team is really strong. I'm sure 1/8 is done. By the way, Senegal and the Netherlands are not so strong now, so 1/4 is also quite possible.

[HIF]

This is who I'd like to see in the England team - given the squad Southgate has picked:

GK Pope (tbf all 3 keepers have their positive points but I prefer Pope's quiet demeanour as I feel the other 2 are too volatile when things go wrong).

Defenders: Trippier is a must, first name on the sheet for me. Stones is the only CB I'd definitely choose, makes mistakes defensively but knows how to go forward and has good ball control. Definitely NOT Dier or Maguire, which leaves a choice of Coady, Walker or Ben white to partner him. I'd have Ben White in either at FB/CB. not sure if Walker is fit otherwise I'm happy for him to play. TAA is possible at FB too but his defensive frailties worry me. Luke Shaw really isn't an international level player is he?

Midfielders: Seems to me that some midfielders are being classed as attackers in the England squad. Foden, Grealish and Maddison are not wingers they are attacking midfielders. Personally I'd play Foden and Maddison in the Enfland midfield, Grealish is a good midfielder but I'd never play him on the wing. Phillips (good player last year) isn't fit and shouldn't be there, Gallagher is a poor player and only there because he plays for chelsea, Mount is so out of form he shouldn't be there either. Henderson is an old cart horse who is only there because he plays for Liverpool and shouldn't see any match time. I've not seen enough of Bellingham, so I don't know if his German league form is really comparable to England, if it is then he's in too. My CDM without a doubt is Rice who has developed into an extremely good and progressive midfielder.

Yes I'd be playing 4 "midfielders" and 2 forwards. I think Forward is a problem for us, as I've said Foden/Grealish /Maddison are not forwards, Sterling who was our best forward is badly out of form. Kane is more a second striker/link to main striker which he is great at but as the main striker he doesn't have the speed. Toney would have been the ideal man here but he's not available leaving us with Callum Wilson who is decent but not international class. Rashford and Saka who on their day are great but Rashford has confidence/self belief problems and Saka is hit and miss on the day. So who am I playing? Not sure. Sterling if he was on form with either Rashford or Saka alongside. As it is, I'd probably choose Rashford and Saka as they are best equipped to chase through the wonderful passes that our midfield 4 could provide.

[Baphomet]

This is who I'd like to see in the England team - given the squad Southgate has picked:

GK Pope (tbf all 3 keepers have their positive points but I prefer Pope's quiet demeanour as I feel the other 2 are too volatile when things go wrong).

Defenders: Trippier is a must, first name on the sheet for me. Stones is the only CB I'd definitely choose, makes mistakes defensively but knows how to go forward and has good ball control. Definitely NOT Dier or Maguire, which leaves a choice of Coady, Walker or Ben white to partner him. I'd have Ben White in either at FB/CB. not sure if Walker is fit otherwise I'm happy for him to play. TAA is possible at FB too but his defensive frailties worry me. Luke Shaw really isn't an international level player is he?

Midfielders: Seems to me that some midfielders are being classed as attackers in the England squad. Foden, Grealish and Maddison are not wingers they are attacking midfielders. Personally I'd play Foden and Maddison in the Enfland midfield, Grealish is a good midfielder but I'd never play him on the wing. Phillips (good player last year) isn't fit and shouldn't be there, Gallagher is a poor player and only there because he plays for chelsea, Mount is so out of form he shouldn't be there either. Henderson is an old cart horse who is only there because he plays for Liverpool and shouldn't see any match time. I've not seen enough of Bellingham, so I don't know if his German league form is really comparable to England, if it is then he's in too. My CDM without a doubt is Rice who has developed into an extremely good and progressive midfielder.

Yes I'd be playing 4 "midfielders" and 2 forwards. I think Forward is a problem for us, as I've said Foden/Grealish /Maddison are not forwards, Sterling who was our best forward is badly out of form. Kane is more a second striker/link to main striker which he is great at but as the main striker he doesn't have the speed. Toney would have been the ideal man here but he's not available leaving us with Callum Wilson who is decent but not international class. Rashford and Saka who on their day are great but Rashford has confidence/self belief problems and Saka is hit and miss on the day. So who am I playing? Not sure. Sterling if he was on form with either Rashford or Saka alongside. As it is, I'd probably choose Rashford and Saka as they are best equipped to chase through the wonderful passes that our midfield 4 could provide.

Great write-up and I actually agree with every point you've made.

I would add, regarding Bellingham, that his incredible performances have extended to the Champions League as well. He's the real deal, and even after Haaland left they're essential viewing because of Bellingham and Moukoko.

[magik9113]

This is who I'd like to see in the England team - given the squad Southgate has picked:

GK Pope (tbf all 3 keepers have their positive points but I prefer Pope's quiet demeanour as I feel the other 2 are too volatile when things go wrong).

Defenders: Trippier is a must, first name on the sheet for me. Stones is the only CB I'd definitely choose, makes mistakes defensively but knows how to go forward and has good ball control. Definitely NOT Dier or Maguire, which leaves a choice of Coady, Walker or Ben white to partner him. I'd have Ben White in either at FB/CB. not sure if Walker is fit otherwise I'm happy for him to play. TAA is possible at FB too but his defensive frailties worry me. Luke Shaw really isn't an international level player is he?

Midfielders: Seems to me that some midfielders are being classed as attackers in the England squad. Foden, Grealish and Maddison are not wingers they are attacking midfielders. Personally I'd play Foden and Maddison in the Enfland midfield, Grealish is a good midfielder but I'd never play him on the wing. Phillips (good player last year) isn't fit and shouldn't be there, Gallagher is a poor player and only there because he plays for chelsea, Mount is so out of form he shouldn't be there either. Henderson is an old cart horse who is only there because he plays for Liverpool and shouldn't see any match time. I've not seen enough of Bellingham, so I don't know if his German league form is really comparable to England, if it is then he's in too. My CDM without a doubt is Rice who has developed into an extremely good and progressive midfielder.

Yes I'd be playing 4 "midfielders" and 2 forwards. I think Forward is a problem for us, as I've said Foden/Grealish /Maddison are not forwards, Sterling who was our best forward is badly out of form. Kane is more a second striker/link to main striker which he is great at but as the main striker he doesn't have the speed. Toney would have been the ideal man here but he's not available leaving us with Callum Wilson who is decent but not international class. Rashford and Saka who on their day are great but Rashford has confidence/self belief problems and Saka is hit and miss on the day. So who am I playing? Not sure. Sterling if he was on form with either Rashford or Saka alongside. As it is, I'd probably choose Rashford and Saka as they are best equipped to chase through the wonderful passes that our midfield 4 could provide.

Great write-up and I actually agree with every point you've made.

I would add, regarding Bellingham, that his incredible performances have extended to the Champions League as well. He's the real deal, and even after Haaland left they're essential viewing because of Bellingham and Moukoko.

Thoughts on his decision to leave Tomori, Smalling, and Abraham home? The Italian press got their panties in a bunch over those decisions

[darmani]

Read on Twitter

[HIF]

This is who I'd like to see in the England team - given the squad Southgate has picked:

GK Pope (tbf all 3 keepers have their positive points but I prefer Pope's quiet demeanour as I feel the other 2 are too volatile when things go wrong).

Defenders: Trippier is a must, first name on the sheet for me. Stones is the only CB I'd definitely choose, makes mistakes defensively but knows how to go forward and has good ball control. Definitely NOT Dier or Maguire, which leaves a choice of Coady, Walker or Ben white to partner him. I'd have Ben White in either at FB/CB. not sure if Walker is fit otherwise I'm happy for him to play. TAA is possible at FB too but his defensive frailties worry me. Luke Shaw really isn't an international level player is he?

Midfielders: Seems to me that some midfielders are being classed as attackers in the England squad. Foden, Grealish and Maddison are not wingers they are attacking midfielders. Personally I'd play Foden and Maddison in the Enfland midfield, Grealish is a good midfielder but I'd never play him on the wing. Phillips (good player last year) isn't fit and shouldn't be there, Gallagher is a poor player and only there because he plays for chelsea, Mount is so out of form he shouldn't be there either. Henderson is an old cart horse who is only there because he plays for Liverpool and shouldn't see any match time. I've not seen enough of Bellingham, so I don't know if his German league form is really comparable to England, if it is then he's in too. My CDM without a doubt is Rice who has developed into an extremely good and progressive midfielder.

Yes I'd be playing 4 "midfielders" and 2 forwards. I think Forward is a problem for us, as I've said Foden/Grealish /Maddison are not forwards, Sterling who was our best forward is badly out of form. Kane is more a second striker/link to main striker which he is great at but as the main striker he doesn't have the speed. Toney would have been the ideal man here but he's not available leaving us with Callum Wilson who is decent but not international class. Rashford and Saka who on their day are great but Rashford has confidence/self belief problems and Saka is hit and miss on the day. So who am I playing? Not sure. Sterling if he was on form with either Rashford or Saka alongside. As it is, I'd probably choose Rashford and Saka as they are best equipped to chase through the wonderful passes that our midfield 4 could provide.

Great write-up and I actually agree with every point you've made.

I would add, regarding Bellingham, that his incredible performances have extended to the Champions League as well. He's the real deal, and even after Haaland left they're essential viewing because of Bellingham and Moukoko.

Thoughts on his decision to leave Tomori, Smalling, and Abraham home? The Italian press got their panties in a bunch over those decisions

I haven't seen them play very often so it's hard for me to judge. From what I've read Tomori hasn't been playing well this season. From what I saw of Smalling and Abraham last season I'd have Abraham starting as my lone attacker getting passes behind the lines from Madders, Rice, Foden and Trippier. Smalling would be a good call for starting alongside Stones. I guess you've been watching them this season, how are they doing?

[fbalmeida]

I'm torn between two lovers in this World Cup, but I won't have to choose unless they play each other.

Canada has a fair shot of making it to the 2nd round and I suppose their key game is the 2nd one against Croatia.

Meanwhile Portugal played to a convincing 4-0 win in a prep game yesterday over Nigeria.
Man of the match was the disgruntled Atlético Madrid star João Félix.
He tormented defenders the whole game, created 3 of Portugal's 4 goals and could've easily scored himself a hattrick. He was electric chaos.

Read on Twitter

It's official: Diego Simeone is an idiot.

Yesterday was also Benfica wonderkid centre-back, António Silva's first appearance for the national squad. Played the full 90, leading many to speculate on who the starter will be next to Rúben Dias.



Gosh. This would be a lot of protein.

[LDNMagic90]

Surprise surprise, Qatar has banned alcohol in stadiums. Lol FIFA are probably surprised as this wasn't agreed 12 years ago, but this is what happens when Qatar was handed the World Cup in a dodgy way. Do you think a nation that bribed its way into getting it will be honest about the terms? I don't even blame Qatar for any of this, they are just applying their country's laws. This is all on FIFA, I understand you want football to be seen all around the world and EVERY country should have a fair chance at hosting, but not through corrupt means. Plus if you wanted a world cup in that region I'm sure there were more tolerable countries to have your standard World Cup hosted in.

Anyway, I'm not exactly a big drinker myself so I don't really care so much, I guess a positive from this is that in theory, this should eliminate some of the hooliganism.

[AK47MVP]

Surprise surprise, Qatar has banned alcohol in stadiums.

This world cup is such an abomination in numerous ways. Timing, alcohol issue, human rights, location, everything screams big WTF about it. Now there are rumors that Qatari offered 7.5 mil USD to 7 Ecuador players to lose their match vs Qatar - could be fake but I would not be surprised if it is true.

[magik9113]

I haven't seen them play very often so it's hard for me to judge. From what I've read Tomori hasn't been playing well this season. From what I saw of Smalling and Abraham last season I'd have Abraham starting as my lone attacker getting passes behind the lines from Madders, Rice, Foden and Trippier. Smalling would be a good call for starting alongside Stones. I guess you've been watching them this season, how are they doing?

Tomori for the most part has been incredible IMO aside from the two matches vs Chelsea (one in which he got an extremely questionable red card). Smalling as well, they’ve been two of the best CBs in serie A.
Abraham was almost unstoppable last season but has been in a drought this season up until recently. It is hard for me to believe they’ve all missed it, but I don’t follow epl as closely.

[LDNMagic90]

Surprise surprise, Qatar has banned alcohol in stadiums.

This world cup is such an abomination in numerous ways. Timing, alcohol issue, human rights, location, everything screams big WTF about it. Now there are rumors that Qatari offered 7.5 mil USD to 7 Ecuador players to lose their match vs Qatar - could be fake but I would not be surprised if it is true.

It's such a shame that FIFA did not take the World Cup away from them, I also want to say again I have no issue with any country hosting a World Cup as Football is a global sport. However, if you are bribing people to host it then you should not be eligible to host it. RIP to the workers that have lost their lives building the stadiums and infrastructure for this World Cup, it's such a shame because a lot of the workers are from nations that are not as privileged as some of the Western/oil/natural gas-rich nations.

Ha, you know what's funny I've put money down before that report about Qatar bribing Ecuadoring players to fix the game. I said to my people I can see Qatar winning 1-0 or 2-1 just because that's the script lol. I also can see one of Portugal or Argentina in the final, although they are both capable of making it into the final on merit I can see refs favoring them a bit more due to Ronaldo/Messi

[Baphomet]

Thoughts on his decision to leave Tomori, Smalling, and Abraham home? The Italian press got their panties in a bunch over those decisions

HIF basically covered it. However, personally, I prefer Smalling and Tomori to Maguire, Dier and Coady. They're rubbish, imo. Even if Tomori hasn't yet replicated his form of last season, which I can't personally vouch for as I've only seen a small smattering of Milan matches this season (mostly CL, though I watched them play Spezia a couple of weeks ago where Giroud got sent off, and the Derby della Madonnina back in September), it's not like the above players that are in the squad have done much this season either.

Abraham, he's a good striker but I think Callum Wilson will do fine as Kane's backup. I do echo some of HIF's concerns about Kane's lack of pace, and he's especially struggling with conditioning this season because it feels like he's played every minute of every game for a whole year now and is exhausted, although he's still scoring well despite that. So, with that in mind, Abraham's energy and verve could perhaps have compensated for that.

I've such little enthusiasm for England and the World Cup this year that I can't find the energy to complain about the squad choices anymore.

[MaliBrah]

Man we got a tough group but i'm hoping the Canadians put on a good showing.

[OhayoKD]

interesting world cup previews i come across:
https://chasingacup.com/grouped-or-glory-breakdown-analysis-and-predictions-for-all-32-national-teams-at-the-2022-world-cup/

https://chasingacup.com/grouped-or-glory-group-a/

First time i've seen someoone pick qatar

[magik9113]

Was going to ask if we’re witnessing the fix with that disallowed goal but the penalty restores faith.

Qatar are trash, as expected

[CalamityX12]

I'm still looking for the reason why it was disallowed.