2022 World Cup Discussion

[supercity88]

I often think when you see our current/recent squad with their national teams that you can see them have to do a quick double take when they want to play a particular ball and they realise they can't because there is not going to be someone there. Similarly with making runs or a player moving into a particular space and even how the press works. Occasionally you see a bit of visible frustration when what they think should be on for them isn't. The possible exception is Jack who at the moment is played in a different way with England and probably knows he can get away with more with Waistcoat!

Walker always looks lost in the England side. He is never certain of what pass to make. Even when Rice might be available, he's not certain he will control the ball in the way Rodri/Bernie would for City and then he takes too many touches and we end up having to boot it forwards.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Simultaneous games and USA Fox broadcasts...

No doubt those idiots at Fox will blabbermouth the score of the simultaneous game. Total bullshit for those wanting to watch each game independently. I'll probably end up watching 1/2 the games until the knockout stage because of this (I've watched every game so far and would love to continue doing so but if I already know the outcome of a game it seriously detracts from viewing enjoyment).

More thoughts:
Can US broadcast companies just get rid of JP Dellacamera? The guy is awful. He literally makes up his own incorrect pronunciation of player names and sticks with it; typical of JP is, "Mowed-rich (sic).

I'm no linguistic expert, but JP is the only one that says "Mowed-rich" as opposed to "Mod-rick." Pretty sure that "Mod-rick" or perhaps "Mod-rich" is correct:


And Modric isn't the only name JP butchers. It's really annoying. It seems that JP is trying to appear super knowledgeable about the game and intentionally butchers names in order to stand out.

JP is the antithesis of Dereck Ray - Dereck knows what the fuck he's saying - and is extremely knowledgeable about the game and about numerous European cultures; he's also fluent in German and dabbles in several other European languages.

And JP is pretty much the "John Madden" of football (soccer) broadcasts. He states some obvious fact as if it's a pearl of wisdom, for example, his commentary might go:

"Mowdritch. He plays for Real Madrid..." (Captain obvious!)

And then it continues...

"... Perisic... INTO THE BOX!!!!!!!!."

Yeah, so-and-so dribbled or received the ball in the penalty area - but that's no reason to go completely ballistic in announcing style. Yet every time the ball lands in the penalty box, JP is sure to lose his mind. Ridiculous.

 

[stonerblue]

Have only caught a few mins of a handful of games and can't seem to muster any enthusiasm for it. The whole thing just feels off.

Made myself sad thinking I'll have to wait 4 years for a 'proper' world cup. Then made myself sadder by thinking that FIFA will doubtless come up with some sort of 'innovation' to go with the 48 teams for the next one too and that I might not see another 'proper' world cup again.

Doubtless it will be said that people are just naturally averse to change but sometimes that cliche is merely the last refuge of people who introduce crappy change that is only in their interest and who then get the arse when people don't like their crappy change.

What was it Mr Lyndon said...

What's 'not proper' about this one?
I've watched most matches and really enjoyed it, from seeing the fans loving it to watching footballers from around the world strut their stuff.

 

[stonerblue]

Well it seems that Kev has fallen out with a couple of Belgium teammates and it's no surprise that Hazard is one of them. If you watch any match of Belgiums, Hazard never passes to Kev, there is definitely bad blood there. The body language of Kev and the whole Belgium team has been shocking so far, and hopefully they don't go much further so he has a couple of weeks with us before it starts again

He's looked very frustrated during the games.

 

[Stephen230]

Simultaneous games and USA Fox broadcasts...

No doubt those idiots at Fox will blabbermouth the score of the simultaneous playing game. Total bullshit for those wanting to watch each game independently. I'll probably end up watching 1/2 the games until the knockout stage because of this (I've watched every game so far and would love to continue doing so but if I already know the outcome of a game it seriously detracts from viewing enjoyment).

More thoughts:
Can US broadcast companies just get rid of JP Dellacamera? The guy is awful. He literally makes up his own incorrect pronunciation of player names and sticks with it; typical of JP is, "Mow-dritch (sic).

I'm no linguistic expert, but JP is the only one that says "Mow-dritch" as opposed to "Mod-ritch." Pretty sure that "Mod-ritch" is correct:


JP is the antithesis of Dereck Ray - Dereck knows what the fuck he's saying - and is extremely knowledgeable about the game and about numerous European cultures; he's also fluent in German and dabbles in several other European languages.

And JP is pretty much the "John Madden" of football (soccer) broadcasts. He states some obvious fact as if it's a pearl of wisdom, for example, his commentary might go:

"Mowdritch. He plays for Real Madrid...

And then it continues...

... Perisic... INTO THE BOX!!!!!!!!."

Yeah, so-and-so dribbled or received the ball in the penalty area - but that's no reason to go completely ballistic in announcing style. Yet every time the ball lands in the penalty box, JP is sure to lose his mind. Ridiculous.

I think American football commentators are on a different level to anything we get in football. Particularly some of the co- commentators ( Colour guys ) But on the odd occasion I watch a football game with American commentators, they all seem to think they’re commentating on radio and even a half second of silence is an absolute no no. Just becomes incessant, irritating, white noise to my ears after a while.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

I think American football commentators are on a different level to anything we get in football. Particularly some of the co- commentators ( Colour guys ) But on the odd occasion I watch a football game with American commentators, they all seem to think they’re commentating on radio and even a half second of silence is an absolute no no. Just becomes incessant, irritating, white noise to my ears after a while.

Agree.

Especially about learning when to just stay silent.

I do, however, enjoy Aly Wagner's co-commentary... and Stu Holden is much improved too. It goes rapidly downhill from there though.

 

[Stoned Rose]

Have only caught a few mins of a handful of games and can't seem to muster any enthusiasm for it. The whole thing just feels off.

Made myself sad thinking I'll have to wait 4 years for a 'proper' world cup. Then made myself sadder by thinking that FIFA will doubtless come up with some sort of 'innovation' to go with the 48 teams for the next one too and that I might not see another 'proper' world cup again.

Doubtless it will be said that people are just naturally averse to change but sometimes that cliche is merely the last refuge of people who introduce crappy change that is only in their interest and who then get the arse when people don't like their crappy change.

What was it Mr Lyndon said...

I’ve watched every game as off work injured and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

I’ve watched every game as off work injured and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Me too. Great tourney so far.

 

[threespires]

What's 'not proper' about this one?
I've watched most matches and really enjoyed it, from seeing the fans loving it to watching footballers from around the world strut their stuff.

I’ve watched every game as off work injured and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think from my perspective it's the timing. To me WC's are to be watched in the off season and in the heat of a beautiful UK summer :-) I want the WC to feel like a completely standalone 'low stakes' event I can focus on fully for the fun of it (happy if England do well, but not gutted if we don't). This feels more like an imposition on the main business of the season, and I find myself thinking more about what state physically and emotionally our players will come back in especially given we've got a crap Jan.

I do think there is an element of artificiality in that there is no real football culture within the host nation and the eye watering costs to create a football environment from scratch but that's not really what's disengaging me because I'm reconciled to the fact that football is something of a geopolitical...erm football these days and tbh we've done ok out of that reality so it would be hypocritical to think otherwise (and yes I know we are not state owned and were a very sound business investment anyway but it's a bit disingenuous to suggest there is no element of soft power in play).

I've got some personal distractions at the moment too, but fundamentally I value club football more than international and so it's the really timing that has disengaged me.

 

[supercity88]

Simultaneous games and USA Fox broadcasts...

No doubt those idiots at Fox will blabbermouth the score of the simultaneous game. Total bullshit for those wanting to watch each game independently. I'll probably end up watching 1/2 the games until the knockout stage because of this (I've watched every game so far and would love to continue doing so but if I already know the outcome of a game it seriously detracts from viewing enjoyment).

More thoughts:
Can US broadcast companies just get rid of JP Dellacamera? The guy is awful. He literally makes up his own incorrect pronunciation of player names and sticks with it; typical of JP is, "Mowed-rich (sic).

I'm no linguistic expert, but JP is the only one that says "Mowed-rich" as opposed to "Mod-rick." Pretty sure that "Mod-rick" or perhaps "Mod-rich" is correct:


And Modric isn't the only name JP butchers. It's really annoying. It seems that JP is trying to appear super knowledgeable about the game and intentionally butchers names in order to stand out.

JP is the antithesis of Dereck Ray - Dereck knows what the fuck he's saying - and is extremely knowledgeable about the game and about numerous European cultures; he's also fluent in German and dabbles in several other European languages.

And JP is pretty much the "John Madden" of football (soccer) broadcasts. He states some obvious fact as if it's a pearl of wisdom, for example, his commentary might go:

"Mowdritch. He plays for Real Madrid..." (Captain obvious!)

And then it continues...

"... Perisic... INTO THE BOX!!!!!!!!."

Yeah, so-and-so dribbled or received the ball in the penalty area - but that's no reason to go completely ballistic in announcing style. Yet every time the ball lands in the penalty box, JP is sure to lose his mind. Ridiculous.

I can't watch a game if it isn't live. The games have to kick off at the same time and the tension is built by that, so they have to reflect the other game to. It's like City v Villa. We knew Liverpool were losing, then drawing but we all felt as though they would win and so we needed to. The drama was enough in our game alone, but we needed to be aware of what was happening there for it to build further. Even though the title was never Liverpool's on that final day it seemed as though they'd get it at certain points. I know in this case there are likely to be winners and losers in both games, but it needs to be discussed as they play out and not ignored.