International Friendlies May/June

Fenomeno9 said:
I believe that our players mentally checked out even before the Germany game once Neymar was ruled out for the rest of the tournament. They feed off the crowd energy early on but after the 2nd goal, they quit.

David Luiz gets a lot of flack and rightly so but Marcelo was a disaster as well. Thiago Silva was an excellent partner for David Luiz as he covered his weakness and this is why his lost was underrated.
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I dont like to put so much weight in the psychological side because we never know for sure what happened inside the mind of a player. My main concern is about the technical and tactical aspect.

If you watched Brazil x Austria you saw that Danilo could not defend against Alaba. Especially in the first half. Of course Alaba is a superb footballer, but if Brazil play against Germany, for example, you can expect they will put Reus in the left to explore Danilo, and they will tell Werner to go to the left too, to link with Reus. I was watching Germany x Saudi Arabia and thinking about that. Danilo is a massive downgrade on Dani Alves. That is why is still think Marquinhos is going to play as RB at some point in the world cup.
 
Ish said:
Agree with that.

On the bolded bit - has anyone dismissed them/Tite? I've read mostly positive comments. Maybe the word "solid" is used a bit more - because they're still quite entertaining to watch. But that's about mostly the comments i've experienced.
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Constant dismissal maybe a strong word but 1 year ago I heard and read here Brazil was behind those 3 teams .
 
Charles Miller said:
I dont like to put so much weight in the psychological side because we never know for sure what happened inside the mind of a player. My main concern is about the technical and tactical aspect.

If you watched Brazil x Austria you saw that Danilo could not defend against Alaba. Especially in the first half. Of course Alaba is a superb footballer, but if Brazil play against Germany, for example, you can expect they will put Reus in the left to explore Danilo, and they will tell Werner to go to the left too, to link with Reus. I was watching Germany x Saudi Arabia and thinking about that. Danilo is a massive downgrade on Dani Alves. That is why is still think Marquinhos is going to play as RB at some point in the world cup.
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Germany's goals usually come from the right. Kimmich and Müller had 16 assists together in the qualification and no, there weren't many of them against San Marino. It is not just the left wing that with Reus is dangerous. One side with speed - the other one with "head".

It is so difficult to judge the performances of the recent weeks and guess for the next weeks - there is so many factors that weigh in.

Germany went into the match against Saudi Arabia pretty knackered. You saw the heavy legs they had. But that usually tells that they will be absolutely fit the next weeks until the end as the American fitness crew always does a great job. Spain and France scraped results in their last match against "minors", too, and did not look like world beaters.

Brasil looks great now - but how much does that say for the next weeks? Is their preparation that smart? They e.g. booked their hotel in Sotschi prior to the draw - now they have very lengthy travels to do. Does the second row keep quiet when they do not get so many playing time. Ederson, Firmino, Douglas Costa, Marquinhos, Fernandinho who play at big clubs did not start yesterday.

There is so much that is important for this tournaments.
 
Blackwidow said:
Germany's goals usually come from the right. Kimmich and Müller had 16 assists together in the qualification and no, there weren't many of them against San Marino. It is not just the left wing that with Reus is dangerous. One side with speed - the other one with "head".

It is so difficult to judge the performances of the recent weeks and guess for the next weeks - there is so many factors that weigh in.

Germany went into the match against Saudi Arabia pretty knackered. You saw the heavy legs they had. But that usually tells that they will be absolutely fit the next weeks until the end as the American fitness crew always does a great job. Spain and France scraped results in their last match against "minors", too, and did not look like world beaters.

Brasil looks great now - but how much does that say for the next weeks? Is their preparation that smart? They e.g. booked their hotel in Sotschi prior to the draw - now they have very lengthy travels to do. Does the second row keep quiet when they do not get so many playing time. Ederson, Firmino, Douglas Costa, Marquinhos, Fernandinho who play at big clubs did not start yesterday.

There is so much that is important for this tournaments.
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I think Brazil pick Sotschi due to the local weather. The long distances is not big deal. It will be only 400 kilometers more than in Brazil 2014. Also despite the fact the players are living in Europe for many years, to travel long distances for a game is nothing new to them because is common in Brazil. The teams in the South of the country need to travel 4.000 kilometers to play in the North sometimes.
 
Seems like hardly any pre-cup friendlies are on TV. I've sure in previous ones they've been on ITV4, Eurosport and others.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
Thought you hated watching him
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Yes and of course that means I can’t admit when he does something well for a change? He scores goals, but that’s about it. He doesn’t suit our style of play and apart from his goals simply annoys me. That doesn’t mean I won’t cheer if he scores next week.
 
Nice goal Rom. If he stays on the pitch he’ll probably get another.

RobinLFC said:
Yes and of course that means I can’t admit when he does something well for a change?
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You're acting like he rarely does well?
 
Lukaku is a poacher, and the first half against Costa Rica has shown why. He's either been on the end of, or very close to the ball, following a cross.

We (Man United) really need to work the ball better in wide areas and get more crosses in for him next season, because he will score goals.

Fantastic finish for him today.
 
Lukaku's movement inside the box when waiting for a cross has improved I see. Different from the beginning of the season when he would just be sandwiched between two big CBs.
 
haram said:
Nice goal Rom. If he stays on the pitch he’ll probably get another.



You're acting like he rarely does well?
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He rarely has an all-round good performance for us yeah, which is often masked because he scores a goal. His game against Saudi Arabia was very good that I can recently think of.

I also think he misses too many good opportunities to be considered a world class striker just for his goals alone. Could’ve had a hattrick today already, if he wasn’t offside for the first miss.

Nothing to do with the Utd link btw, I’ve had this view since his Anderlecht days.
 
haram said:
Nice goal Rom. If he stays on the pitch he’ll probably get another.



You're acting like he rarely does well?
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The issue with Rom is that he’s not a technical striker. He’s a poacher that does well in space.

That’s why Benteke used to start, he was much better than Rom with his back to the goal.

Belgium is missing the striker who can play the intricate 1-2 passing at the necessary speed. Rom isn’t great at it.
 
Hojoon said:
Lukaku's movement inside the box when waiting for a cross has improved I see. Different from the beginning of the season when he would just be sandwiched between two big CBs.
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He was fantastic at this at Everton. We like to pratt about with the ball in wide areas.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
He was fantastic at this at Everton. We like to pratt about with the ball in wide areas.
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Spot on. He used to make runs in behind the defence all the time and also run at them. I can only think of Huddersfield in the Cup where he reminded me of the Lukaku of Everton
 
Personally, I dont think the Belgium midfield looks right. That includes the wingbacks.
 
AllezLesDiables said:
The issue with Rom is that he’s not a technical striker. He’s a poacher that does well in space.

That’s why Benteke used to start, he was much better than Rom with his back to the goal.

Belgium is missing the striker who can play the intricate 1-2 passing at the necessary speed. Rom isn’t great at it.
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They could go the Napoli way and play Mertens as a false 9, but that won't happen.

Hazard Mertens Carrasco
 
AllezLesDiables said:
The issue with Rom is that he’s not a technical striker. He’s a poacher that does well in space.

That’s why Benteke used to start, he was much better than Rom with his back to the goal.

Belgium is missing the striker who can play the intricate 1-2 passing at the necessary speed. Rom isn’t great at it.
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Surely Mertens is that player
 
Lukaku can score goals but I don't think he naturally fits in with the other players - KDB, Mertens, Hazard. He doesn't do a lot in the build up because technically he isn't as good as the other 3 so it does seem at times like he's the odd one out .Of course he will continue to score goals and what he is good at he's very good at but I don't think it compliments the players that Belgium has. Unfortunately also there are too many inconsistencies with his first touch, 1-2's and even 1 on 1 finishing that will stop him from being WC.
 
abdo99 said:
Lukaku can score goals but I don't think he naturally fits in with the other players - KDB, Mertens, Hazard. He doesn't do a lot in the build up because technically he isn't as good as the other 3 so it does seem at times like he's the odd one out .Of course he will continue to score goals but there are too many inconsistencies with his first touch, 1-2's and even 1 on 1 finishing that will stop him from being WC.
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A toilet? Bit harsh
 
Take Hazard off and put him in a box until next week.
 

Quality CF play. He has been showing it all season.
 
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