15 Jul 2018 22:29:42
A few final thoughts on the world cup, not many strikers hit the heights lewandowski, Costa, Jesus, aguero, Suarez, giroud, Werner and falcoa may feel a little disappointed and lukaku and kane will be grateful for a pretty easy group .
Not many keepers caught the eye even the very best ones ddg and neuer .
In defense trippier played well but varane was truely world class .
Midfield, modric showed he can run a game and pogba and kante have shone for their discipline .
The star of the show has been mbabbe who has looked electric in the later stages .
The big guns had mixed fortune, Ronaldo had one great game, Messi disappointed and maybe has a little too much influence if reports are correct and neymar has undoubtedly got talent but is a bit embarrassing sometimes play acting .
I wasn't left feeling there was a truely outstanding team even the final the dominant team lost, but fair does France were probably just about the best team in it .
I'm not as critical of England as others have been, we are half decent but badly lack a player or two with stardust but then again that applies to a fair few teams I guess.
16 Jul 2018 01:39:57
Good shout Slate. I noticed that as well, many strikers scoring in the group stages, but not as much in the knockout rounds. I thought Subasic and Courtois each put in a big performance along the way. Mbappe's pace is breathtaking. Even that brilliant pass today from Pogba, Mbappe began 10 yards behind the defender before blowing by him. Perisic deserves a mention for an outstanding performance, capped off by his goal today. He doesn't just beat his man and get crosses off, he overpowers opponents offensively and defensively.
But most of all, I thought Luka Modric was absolutely brilliant. That said, I think France won simply because of too much quality - Varane, Umtiti, Kante and Pogba controlled the middle and then you have Pogba combining with Mbappe and Griezmann going forward. That is a lot of quality right down the spine of the team, and they are deserved winners.