World Cup 2014 discussion thread.

SBSP wrote:Please don't.

Roloman4 wrote:So, when the World Cup is over, are we all going to leave again?

dena wrote:

Roloman4 wrote:So, when the World Cup is over, are we all going to leave again?

Already packing my bags tbh

Glen Miller wrote:

Scuba Steve wrote:

There was no uncertainty to what my comment pertained to. I was speaking specifically about Ashley Cole's record in penalty shootouts. Never once did I mention Ashley Young, though you conveniently lumped him into "my" argument that you created for me (I could have looked up Young's record, and it could have supported either you or me, but I'm not for peddling shit and pushing it as gospel). I'm all for questioning Hodgson and his tactics, and man management, and press management, but that doesn't mean taking uneducated swipes at people. Its unbecoming. 

As for when he hasn't taken them -- I didn't venture deep enough in to even see if he had taken part of the games in which they occurred. I know he didn't participate in the League Cup penalty shootout against Middlesborough in 1999, which was his professional debut for Arsenal. He was on the field at the time, but you might excuse Wenger for not using an 18 year old left back in the penalties (which shouldn't be compared to a seasoned pro in 2012 anyways). He wasn't even on the bench for the 2003 9-8 penalty win over Rotherham, and he wasn't on the field during Chelsea's 4-5 shootout loss to Burnley in 2008 (in fact, Wayne Bridge missed his penalty kick, presumably in place of Cole). I don't recall the couple of others, maybe he was part of them, maybe he wasn't.

But again, your comment about being overlooked "on so many occasions" lacks any sort of merit or evidence to back it up. And sure, his sample size of taking penalties late on in the shootout is small, but its quite a bit bigger than his sample size from taking them in the earlier rounds (just a shade over an infinity times larger). So, as my original (sure sarcastic) counter-point proves, Hodgson by no means was throwing Cole (remember, I just referred to Cole) into the frying pan. In fact (this may be true, may not be, sorry I don't know Hodgson's line of thinking), it's likely that Hodgson or an assistant knew Cole's penchant for timing on his penalty kicks, and used him justly. The ends obviously didn't justify the means, but that's certainly not a way to construct an argument.

Fair enough, I was wrong to use such hyperbolic language.  I just checked the lineups and saw that we were left with a bunch of youngsters, scrubs, and defenders for the shootout.

Maybe we were right to use Cole after all, but I still maintain that he would have been better off going second. Regarding the sample size, I am talking about his penalty-taking exploits as a whole-I do find it interesting that he's taken so many from 4th in the shootout, but ultimately he proved that whatever penchant he has for taking it from that time didn't pay off, presumably because of the enormous amount of pressure placed on a not overly experienced penalty-kick taker. He's succeeded in similar situations a few times before, but I think that we would have been better off with Rooney or Gerrard in that position-almost a miss & you're out situation, a momentum shift because of Ashley Young's miss, the added psychological pressure resulting from England's history with penalties.  I can't recall the circumstances of the shootout when he took his penalties in other shootouts, but I imagine they were not quite as trying.  Maybe it wasn't the frying pan, but it was an extremely testing situation.

Rei Andros wrote:To be honest, I missed this place - when it ran across my mind. Twitter and reddit don't offer the same sense of fake community.

Scuba Steve wrote:I'd have to imagine that most of the personalities on here aren't quite the same as their real life counterparts.

Roloman4 wrote:So, when the World Cup is over, are we all going to leave again?

benqbiggis wrote:

Roloman4 wrote:So, when the World Cup is over, are we all going to leave again?

copa america 2015, to see little ecuador  

Scuba Steve wrote:Looks like it actually did hit Vlaar before bouncing back towards goal. And it stopped on the line. 

Ra's al Ghul wrote:Valbuena or Ruiz should have been nominated ahead of Di Maria.

Glen Miller wrote:

Ra's al Ghul wrote:Valbuena or Ruiz should have been nominated ahead of Di Maria.

A few of those players are on that list because of their reputations.