Glad we got the right winners in the end. Even if Argentina earned their right to get to the final, they did not earn the right to win that final. They played so bad. Not a single shot until the 116th minute. Then to punch Rodri as well. Argentina are an absolute shit show and were such a...

One of the things about a kit for me is that I can tell you the team without needing to see the logo. Some of these kits are just random designs. They seem to not really have any key features or feel to them. We are getting to the point where kits have lost their meaning. Just recycle a new...

He clearly clips his foot. It's a foul every day of the week

I think the commentator was referencing that they did hear from both of them, we just never saw the Saka interview. When the stream came back on SBS, they were showing Mbappe and he was already halfway through the last question he got. So we basically missed all the post match stuff. *cough* I...

Biggest sporting event in the world, seems a bit of the wrong time to be cutting corners.

It's the world cup. Surely they could have had their analysis team in the studio. Just a one off. Or, use the FIFA feed.

SBS coverage is crap. Why did they cut away to like 10 minutes of adverts after the game. Where is the post match analysis, interviews etc. When they came back to coverage it was Mbappe talking in French. And the commentator goes, "thought of Saka and Mbappe". So we heard the french, but not...

I think we all see that catering to Ronaldo was affecting Portugal. England claims to have the best league in the world, yet they are saying their 2nd best striker plays in the Saudi league. Kind of questions the strikers playing week in week out in what is meant to be the best league in the...

I've never really rated Toney. Don't see the hype around him. And you're right. If you are picking someone from the Saudi league to be your lead striker, then you have some major issues in your system.

Tuchel learnt absolutely nothing against Argentina. It's clear that France are in control, and he is sitting there doing absolutely nothing. It's so obvious to see the midfield is over run, and what's the bet he brings on Dan Burn and John Stones.

I was thinking more about it and I reckon switching to A-league might be a good idea. After all, we are an aussie football forum. If there is enough interest in an EPL or Champions League one even, then I am happy to do that.

I'm definitely anti-Liberal, but that does not mean I am pro-Labor. I'm not sure what else to tell you, but I don't support Labor. Ok. I'll just go back to living in my fantasy then.

I'm well aware of African corruption. It's so sad though, because they could genuinely have amazing infrastructure and world beating teams. The Vilda thing was annoying because it happened somewhat soon after the whole saga, and it was just like, "how tone deaf are you". I guess the desire to...

You used Sky as your critical evidence to make a point. If that's not claiming them to be the truth, then why use them? Sky will never even give credit to the ABC for anything, so they are hardly a credible witness against ABC I never once said the ABC were bastions of impartiality. If you...

I'd consider A-league if there was interest. Would probably have to cap to 10 for an A-league one.

Dude, I am not a Labor supporter. I have never voted Labor and have no intention of voting for them. I've not even defended them. I've only spoken about the media. And as someone who has history working in the media -including for newscorp- I've got a bit more knowledge of the inside than from...

I don't vote Labor. Never have. I literally agreed with you that the ABC should be impartial. I was simply saying that using a biased organisation to try and prove another is biased isn't necessarily strong evidence, especially when the source is one that has been a crusade against the ABC...

I never claimed to have all the answers. Was just highlighting the hypocrisy of you calling out the Guardian as biased and not trustworthy, yet using Sky as trustworthy. It's obvious you're anti-labor and that's fine. People can vote how they want, but let's not pretend that media outlets like...

My point is simple. If you refuse to acknowledge the Guardian as a source, you can't acknowledge Sky. I'm not going to sit here and attack the ABC or any other news outlet. Australia has a media issue in which we have not protected our media and its legitimacy, which has led to private control...

I did actually watch it. Andrew Probyn says, "certain parts of the media". There is no clear mention of the ABC (although he probably eludes to them, but then again he works for NINE who are right leaning). In saying that, The lady from the Guardian called out what Albanese said and labelled it...

It doesn't prove anything. Sky is the most biased news outlet in the country. Trusting them on this matter means absolutely nothing. Sky have a long running agenda against the ABC and try to discredit them at any possible moment. I'm not defending the ABC. But people who claim about unbiased...

For someone who gets annoyed with someone posting The Guardian and claiming them biased, you sure do post a lot of Sky

TBF, there's probably not that many nations capable of hosting major tournaments. But this begs the bigger question. Where is all the money that Infantino promised? CAF keeps voting for him for the promise of investment, but I don't see any of it. Even when Zim was barred by FIFA, they offered...

No one agrees with how he expressed anything, but lets not pretend that Barco is innocent here.

I don't think making it to penalties is a sign of success. Cape Verde got more positives out of their loss than we did out of ours. Our WC feels worse because there was more we could have given, and didn't. We left so much in the dressing room, and then he made that stupid goalkeeper decision...

I wouldn't say anyone is better. We just think that could have shown more. That we left a fair bit in the dressing room. I think there are better options, but I would certainly not be jumping at anyone. We also agree that there are off field issues, but we don't see that as an excuse to play...

Again though, even if I accept their values are more, does not mean they are instantly better players. I find values to be a false metric to judge by. Antony was bought for $80m, was never worth it, but on paper that would make it a better player than most - which is/was not true. His value...

I'm not a big fan when people use values and such. Values are so inflated in Football. Take Egypt for example, their $200m is made up mostly by 2-3 players. In a squad of 26, that's not really a true indication of the squad worth and quality. Also, values are overly inflated depending on who is...

I don't really think so. If you are sitting deep in your half, then I'd say it's pretty clear you have no attacking intent. Also, your point about isolating the number 9 would suggest very little attacking intent. I'm not asking for Pep style football. I'm simply on the same wavelength as...

Let's be serious. It was not a king hit at all. It was a little slap on the back of the head. Stop fabricating. And to clarify, it was not the bench. He ran onto the pitch and purposely went in front of the England players. You can't excuse Barco by saying, "it was emotionally charged" but...

Both of them did the wrong thing. Both of them behaved in a stupid manner. One can understand why Bellingham did what he did, however, it does not mean what he did was the right thing. Both should receive some sort of fine or punishment.

He acted like a prick by celebrating in front of the English players which is a provocation. It was stupid. Actions have consequences. Again, not condoning Bellingham's actions, but I can understand why he was pissed off. Barco was a sub. He specifically ran to celebrate infront of the england...

How many times do I have to say it. It's not a dislike for Popa, it's a dislike for the tactics. I said it on the podcast too. The same people out here calling for Milligan to be in the set up are the same ones disagreeing with what I said, even though Milligan is of the same viewpoint. I...

Yeah. Barco initiated by doing a stupid act, Bellingham in the heat of the raw emotion reacted. I didn't say it was right, but I understand it.

Turns out Barca ran to celebrate in front of the English players on the field after Argentina's second goal. Bellingham took umbrage to that. Fully understandable. Normally what Barca did would be a cardable offence. Edit: Corrected for accuracy.

Because if a team like Cape Verde can show fight, then playing club football at elite level is not a pre-requisite to showing fight. Also, we have players who play in La Liga, Bundesliga, Championship, Eridivisie, Serie A, SPL...who also play in European competitions. No We didn't. Turkiye game...

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. I was responding to you saying we were not as high on the list of players playing at elite levels at club, and so our journey was a success. I was simply saying that if a team like Cape Verde could take Argentina to where they did, then why...

Stares at you in Cape Verde. I think the point most people are making is that hiding behind these stats is defeatist. We keep trying to play ourselves as underdogs and these battlers, but when are we going to go to the next level? How often can we keep being at this stage? At tournaments like...

I don't know how much people learn as an assistant. It's easy enough to learn, but when placed on the top job, people change up quickly because the stakes are higher. I'd be content with seeing him more in the top role at club and how he responds to different situations. Milligan said the...

Wild that Morocco are hosting this gain. Third time in a row. Didn't even change the logo from last time. They've unlocked the key to constant qualification.

Not here to take a side, but I think everyone would claim that a news source that opposes their view would not be balanced or fair. I feel like confirmation bias is such a big thing now, on both sides.

Not just that. Pay attention to the "fans". Who is in the venues, who get's the tickets, the rise of the social influencer in the game...You can't ignore it, because it's what controls most of it. Sure, you can go to your local club and enjoy football away from all that. However, what I...

Nah. Not just 15 year olds. We can talk as much as we want about it's not certain people, but football has not been for football fans for at least the last 5 years.

It's not just with Messi. It happens with Ronaldo and Mbappe too. So many have become player supporters as opposed to team supporters, and only want a team to win for the individual player. You mean to tell me all the people walking around with Al-Nassr shirts follow the Saudi league.

Spain. I'm sick of this GOAT debate crap. Messi and Ronaldo are both amazing players. I feel like Ronaldo gets given more shit, but that man has worked hard to get to where he has got to. Let's be honest, Portugal have always been a lesser quality side, so they were never really expected to win...

Being said after 1 season of success. This is the point. We look at whoever is having success and going for them. We don't have a clear structure and identity because if we did, yes we could identify these managers, but we would be aligning them with that national structure

Pretty sure there is more to this story. Not saying what Belling ham did is good in any way, but you can see the Argentinian player facing him at one point. Could have said anything.

Was it unfair? You literally want Milligan in the national setup and he has only had one season at the Jets. After Arnie won the title in 2017, there were chats in the media about Arnie as the future Socceroos coach. Renard as well, someone who has success at places for a short period of time...

Do you always take everything so literally. I wasn't implying any coaches got hired after one year, but if you think talk about Popa or Arnie as they did with their club careers, they were definitely being spoken about as national coaches after their first season,.

This discussion has been had, but losing multiple finals is not success. This is like the England thinking that Southgate was super successful because he made semis and finals, but never actually won

One can easily work out the thinking based on decisions, past and present, and the current processes and chats around appointments, and managers currently in the A-league.

I think people would be more than willing to give credit. However, the fact that almost every game brings up these debates about Argentina and how they got to where they are, and the calls they have got away with, that's the issue. It sullies the game. Argentina fans and Mess fanboys can go...

I'm surprised not more is being made of this. It was clear and it allowed Messi to get down that side to get the cross in. Granted, England dropped off and their tactics let Argentina back in, but this is the consistency I've been talking about. It leads directly to a goal. Free kick is...

Foul on Spence not even looked at in the lead up to that 2nd goal.

It was a general statement around the thinking. We are already talking about Milligan, but he has only had one season with the Jets. I saw something today about Aloisi. Yeah he won an A-league in 2022, and is doing well in his first season in China, but other than that, what success does he...

This is the thing for me. People and the FA see one season of success and think they should be next in line. I like that we want to have local coaches be successful, but we need to look at what is required for the moment. Local coaches come in and because it is such a big job, only focus on...

If England can win, it sets up a 2022 World Cup final replay, and a Euro 2024 final replay.

He's my number 1 pick, but the FA clearly won't be letting Popa go. So our best bet is that after the Asia Cup, the FA grows some balls and decides to move a different direction, and that Marcelo is still available. I think we need to get our local and Aussie coaches to get more experience in...

Yeah, that's why the idea behind this is that you don't have to do anything on a weekly/game day basis. Once you buy/pick your team, it's done. Then you just sit back and let the points play themselves out depending on the players you have. You don't make weekly changes or anything like that...

There's a video showing the SA team after their win against South Korea having fun, and Adams is just sitting in the corner by himself not having fun. I think he also lost his grandmother during the comp, or just before. The thing with VAR, is that it was meant to be for calls that are clear...

Switzerland were winning that game until the brain fade from Embolo I don't think Argentina have the quality to win. France and Spain are far better teams. Still waiting on the other angle btw on that Macallister challenge.

We've played so shit this game. England always doing England things. Won't be surprised if we lose.

I think you just said what I said. People can be proud of their heritage, and that's why they choose to represent those countries. But that's not up to them though. Some players are good enough, but the football federation or the coach just refuses to pick them, and mistreats them., or maybe...

This was something done by one of the core regulars at the old forum, and I thought I'd try and bring over the idea to here. I'm trying to see if anyone would be interested. I've adjusted it a bit to make it a bit simpler and easier to manage. How it works Each player gets a budget of 100m to...

People can be born in another country and migrate to another country, but still feel a strong connection to their home nation. Sometimes this comes with the idea of wanting to honour their parents, or give back, and in their way, playing for that country is doing that. Whilst some of these...

Amazing that there has never ever been incidents of football hooliganism before this.

Football hooliganism...I don't see how that's not British.

My dad was watching the Egypt Argentina game again. I remember many people saying, "it's Egypt's own fault they couldn't hold on". I don't think people realise just how much momentum is a thing. How much calls can affect a game. I still think some of - not all - were unfair calls. When calls...

Where did I say conspiracy? Others may have, and honestly, with the way things have been going, I'm not blaming them

They did support and assist in invasions in 2006 in Somalia and 2008 in Anjouan. Whilst they also are not specifically boots on the ground, I would say they are big contributor to the invasions of Lebanon in 2026 and 2024, and 2024 in Syria that were carried out by Israel.

I mean, I can't imagine many people in Australia were setting their alarms for Switzerland vs Colombia. This is hardly a comparison of anything.

Care to share? I think what people are frustrated with is that in pretty much every Argentinian game there has been a contentious call and all of them have gone Argentinas way. From the very 1st game in which Messi should have got a straight red, all the way through, there have been calls in...

Bombing another country isn't much better though, especially as that bombing is done on the part of another country, and also is causing global issues in supply chains for oil. I think the stat is that the US has been involved or at war for 233 of its 250 year history

I think it's the "full scale military invasion" part of your comment that people are baffled by

That's like many of the fouls, where should a foot go. He moves his for forward on top of Salah. By the law, it's a foul, simple as. Where do you want the Egyptian player to put his foot on the foul leading up to their goal? No doubt there has been crap calls, but Argentina have gotten away...

Hahah, tripped over him? Come on now. There is clear movement towards Salah and he makes contact with the player. The Argentina player has his foot on top of Salah's. Its 'lear in the picture. That prevents him from moving his foot naturally. The amount of ways people have been going out to...

You're welcome Richard Reed. But that last part shouldn't matter. If it's a foul, it's a foul, and as others were called like this, this should have been called too. Refs don't get to decide not to call things because a player once feigned so they must all be feigning. He does not trip on his...

He get's the ball, but Salah regains it straight after, so it's a new phase. He then goes for a 2nd tackle and gets the foot. If the egypt foul is called, then surely the same applies here. The fact that there has been a contentious call in pretty much all of Argentinas games and those calls...

So I try to give you the benefit of the doubt and be courteous, but then you respond as you usually do. The patronising "champ", and racial divisiveness. I stand by my original post of you being bigoted.

I'm all for humour and if it was genuinely intended that way, then fine But you can't blame me for my response based on your post history. I mean, only one player in the french team is born outside of France.

He's being bigoted

Can we just save the rest of the teams the time. Hive Argentina the trophy already and let all the players get some rest before their seasons. I can't wait for Messi to retire

He also won us a major tournament. Yeah, we came close and I'm not saying that defensive football doesn't have its place. Essentially, that talent pool dropping in 2010 is not Guus fault because he laid the foundations, it was whoever took over that was meant to continue

Djimi Traore has a Champions League medal, but he's probably not the defender you're taking analysis from. At yet his tenure is still being spoken about 20 years later. He wasn't given a mandate to do any of that, you're right, yet he still did. Any competent football fan or leader looks at...

He set us up to play attacking football and play with belief. We went from being a side that always stumbled at the last hurdle to matching it with the worlds best, and had it not been for a Grosso dive, we could have taken Italy. He brought in top level training methods and ideas and a...

You, me, and just about everyone else in the world.

Infantino is more corrupt than any head of FIFA there has ever been. That man does not care about football one bit, and he is ready to sell the fans and the game if it means he gets money in his pocket. The amount of air travel he has racked up this world cup, man is doing his fair share to...

If we want to splash some cash, Paul Mitchell and Txiki Begiristain are available. They would be fantastic TD's. Lower price would be Sebastien Kehl, Oliver Ruhnert, Rob Newman

We've got a few of our ex players overseas doing things. Grella is working in Italy as TD I believe. The golden generation have often spoken about this in terms of having a TD and bringing in a clear structure and system. A lot of them got shut out, some are here, but I don't think it's the...

That's a bad comparison. Obviously if Brisbane were to lose in the Grand Final it would be considered more of a positive because of their position the year before. So it would be progress. If they made the final again and lost, it wouldn't be considered progress. Popa though kept making the...

I think it's too soon to change him and expect the kind of changes we want. It would also look bad on the FA to sack him now considering they renewed him just before the WC. My gripe is the language from the FA. I get they want to back him and show a united front, but the language is bad...

Players behaviour has gotten so much worse over the years. The way they role around from slight touches, crowd refs, demand cards, taunt each other...it's all horrible. Football authorities really need to do something about it. Doesn't happen in any other sport.

Constantly losing in a Grand Final is no achievement. 2 Major trophies in 10 years is also no major achievement.

Are you serious? Losing a grand final is not a negative? Is the point not to win competitions? No one really remembers the runners up. No one loses a Grand Final and goes, "you know what, at least we participated. I am so happy". This is participation medals in primary school level. He may put...

I think we all know Popa is staying on till the Asia Cup, but I don't think that means he is free of criticism for his World Cup exploits.

I bet you spend some time practicing your swing in the loungeroom or on the range. And when you shank it, you go back and reassess what you did, try to make it better. Why can't the same apply to the coach. We go back and reassess where we went wrong and fix it. If the coach is where we went...

My main issue with local coaches is that they all have different ideas and views that don't align with long term growth of the Socceroos. It's very much focused on immediate results and not on developing a long term sustainable pathway that produces talent to sustain us for a longer period of...

Yeah, I thought they meant the Asian Champions League.

I shouldn't have read the thread straight after waking up. Saw a C in the name. Perennial winners are people/teams who win consistently year after year. 2 trophies does not equate to perennial winner. I think we just need to look at what the US have done. Brought in a top quality manager and...

You said A-league level. He's never won the A-League. Credit for the Asia Cup for sure, but nothing more. So perennial winner is a bit false

Saw an interesting point today. We subbed Ryan for Redmayne last time in the penalty shoot out. It was known that Ryan is not great at penalties, so why was he subbed on. Its easy to put hypotheticals and be like, "would you be saying this if". I think everyone was fair to praise him after...

I doubt Popa will resign. I doubt the FA will sack him. We were always said to not be getting out of the group, and we did, So the FA will see that as a pass. We were not expected to beat Turkiye, and we did, so FA will see that as a pass. They will also look at the young age of the squad and...

I don't think it's as good as your suggesting I didn't say they are better. That was me being facetious. They are clearly worse than us. My point was, how can a team much weaker be more impressive. Agree to disagree. Not a pass for me. If he's not the guy to get the best out of this group...

On a side note, Italy may not have qualified for a world cup but they won a Euros not too long ago. Germany will be back up and running once Klopp takes over

Anything sounds good when you exclude all the info. Imagine celebrating not winning in 90 minutes, and scoring 2 goals all campaign.. Sadly, England is my first team, so I've had my all life waiting for the improvement. I get that you're trying to be positive, but that's the same attitude that...

And look at us now. 2 goals from open play in 4 games. Some improvement that is

You are saying Cape Verde have better flair players. I'm.noy disagreeing with you. I'm saying that if that's the case, then our system is broken. Considering our infrastructure, more money, and system, we should not have less flair players than a Cape Verde. No. I've seen a team ranked way...

So we're back to, cape verde are better than us which means our system and structure is broken and needs fixing. Is Popovic the right man to do so? No.

I think they were alluding more to the fearless and go get it attitude. Not being overawed by who they played, and giving it a go. You have to play with the players you have, but Popa takes that to a whole new level. Are we really saying we have zero technically gifted attacking players

Which then means the system is wrong and needs to be changed. That won't happen with the defensive minded coach Also says a lot that with a better infrastructure and more money, we can't produce any flair players

This implies cape verde are better than us, but also have players of a better quality?

There's a few good options available. The question is if the FA has the balls to want to go that way. I don't think they do. The FA will obviously be sticking with him till after the Asia cup, then they'll look internal again

That is akin to when Hodgson said "it's not my fault, I have resigned, why are you asking me questions?" After England got knocked out against Iceland in 2016 at the Euro. Poppa is a good manager and the tactics worked against Turkiye, but he then showed no adaptability or tactical nous. He...

You can't do that at this level. You just have to go for it and see what happens. You can't leave "what ifs" on the field. They'll probably lose this game, but will be able to hold their head up so high

Seeing cape verde take Argentina to ET makes what we did worse. Poppa is just a shit manager for this level

Yeah, and having a great game can play into confidence in the penalties. Almost guaranteed that Egypt saw the early movements and immediately relaxed. I'm not blaming Luke for anything. Maybe he did put up his hand. I think this is where the coach needs to consider all things. It's almost like...

I'm a keeper coach. i picked up on it straight away.

To some degree yes, however, when you send on a specialist goalkeeper for penalties, you expect them to save at least 1 and put more pressure. It was clear after the 1st one that Egypt worked out he was moving too early and just waited for that. As for the penalty takers, its pressure. You...

Can't say we didn't get ourselves into that position. Ryan was not saving any penalty. Kept moving far too early, so they were just watching that and slotting the easy option.

Japan would totally suit Ange. They have the players and the mentality to want to play the type of football he plays. Would be tough as a rival though

No one is trying to suppress discussion. They are simply stating that migration is not the only cause of the problems to suggest is it is is false. We can't fix the issues by just stopping migration. There are multiple facets to address, so the constant harping on about migration -when disproved...

What doesn't work? Migration? I wouldn't say it's the result of a fear, because it is actually happening. Cases of racism have risen and continue to do so. Racism is the rhetoric of One Nation, and it is rampant. Can't go on social media anymore without seeing racism rampant. Just the other day...

I get that. You play what's in front of you. I think it would have just been better for confidence and mentality to pick up that win. A players picks up a goal or two that boosts their confidence for the next game. In tournament football there are so many variables. Picking up a win and playing...

I'm not saying we did poorly. We definitely exceeded what many expected of us. TBH, I always thought that Paraguay and USA were there for the taking, and we could have beat them. It's why I'm a little frustrated we didn't take the game to those teams, and played the way we did. Popa gets his...

Germany have been wanting Klopp for some time. He has always been in their plans. The problem is that Klopp wants something part time and chill, so unless Germany are going to give him a bit more flexibility in the role, he is going to stick with his current role.

I don't really like when people do this. "We lost by 1 to the eventual champions" "We held out for 90 minutes against the number 1 team" etc It kind of finds excuses for being poor. I get that it seems impressive, but Paraguay won in penalties. That's a lottery. It's not a matter of being...

I think Skilled Park is too small for a World Cup. We would need to upgrade a few of our stadiums. It's a bit disappointing that when we build new stadiums, they all tend to be round for AFL or cricket. Our Football leaders need to be a bit stronger at pushing for stadia in this country.