2018 World Cup

James, maybe not politics...well maybe politics VAR has opened up a whole new can of worms that's for sure. Dr. Joe (the Fox ref consultant) says the refs have been instructed to let more plays go and VAR will take care of it. However, what happens for example when Sweden has a PK (as bad as Mitro's) shout against Germany and somehow the VAR didn't review it...hmmmm??? The Portugal-Iran match had so much controversy w/VAR it's just better to read it yourself:

http://www.espn.com/soccer/story/35...-failed-on-handling-of-cristiano-ronaldo-card

The late matches today, Morroco v Spain (how do countries 9 miles apart not play since 1961?) along w/the Portugal game were drama-filled and fantastic. Iran had a great chance to justly advance in stoppage, but it went side netting. The heavy favorites advanced, but both Iran & Morocco were within a whisker of being in the knockout stage themselves.

 

VAR is a whole different kettle of fish. While I think technology should be used, I think it should be used judiciously and sparingly. And that certainly has not been the case.
I could be wrong, but it seems that every time they’ve gone to VAR for a penalty that wasn’t given on the pitch, it’s been awarded.
Which brings us to another topic: who has been the worst referee you’ve seen so far?
Haven’t seen any blatant displays of ineptness that have occurred at previous WC’s, but if the announcers are mentioning your name early and often, that might be a clue. Enrique Caceras of Paraguay didn’t distinguish himself in the Portugal-Iran matchup. Mark Geiger (USA)and Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands) are gonna need talent agents when this over, because EVERYBODY should know their names by now. And I think it was Mexico’s Cesar Ramos who, per one of the Fox announcers, “just yells and points at players.”
Who ya’ got?

 

Martin Atkinson

 

From Wikipedia:

With no English officials going to the 2018 World Cup for the first time since 1938,[16] Atkinson refereed his last international match in March 2018, a friendly between Argentina and Italy at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. [17] Atkinson would referee the Manchester Derby at the same stadium less than a month later, a performance that was criticised by former Premier League referee Keith Hackett who stated "if you want proof of why no English referee will be represented at this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia, look no further than Martin Atkinson’s performance at the Etihad on Saturday."[18]

 

Based what I've seen so far in the World Cup, I think FIFA needs to make some major revisions to VAR. I have no idea what the difference was between the penalty given against Portugal and the one not given against Argentina. In both cases a defender went up, the ball was headed (in Portugal's case, headed by the other team), and then inadvertently bounced off the defender's arm. Both were reviewed and came to entirely different conclusions (I think no penalty would be the correct call in both). To me that lack of consistency in a review process in a sign of something rotten.

In general, the use of VAR to make judgement calls - like if someone was shoved hard enough to warrant a penalty - is a poor use of the system. Things always look worse in slow-motion and have led to some unwarranted fouls. I think it is best to consider those things in the flow of play. Sure the refs don't get them right all of the time, but VAR has not improved anything in that regard. It has just led to a new way to blow calls rather than better officiating.

I know the NFL isn't perfect with instant replay, but you can't go back and call a personal foul or pass interference with replay (if there is an egregious foul caught on camera but missed by officials the player can still be fined or suspended after the game). Instead it sticks with clearly definable criteria in most cases - did the foot step out of bounds, did the ball cross the plane, was a knee down, etc. Where instant replay is the most controversial is where there is the most judgement involved - was it a catch or not. I'd like to see FIFA stick to similar definable issues in soccer - did the ball cross the goal line, was the player offside, who touched the ball last. The way it is now it leads to worse officiating and disrupts the flow of the game.

 

Say what you will about Alexi Lalas, love him or hate him (and most seem to hate him), he is putting in some serious overtime on this gig. He is out on that set in Red Square EVERY time they go to it. Every. Time. The others (Gus Hiidink, etc.), drop in and out around nap time and happy hour or whatever, but Lalas is there every time. I wonder how many hours he’s putting in every day. He can’t be getting much sleep due to the time difference. Trust me, that stuff looks easy, but it is a grind. Fox is getting their money’s worth from him.

 

I wonder who feels worse, us for not making the World Cup or Germany for crashing out in round one?

 

Knockout stage time, who you got??:

Argentina v France; France miss Dimitri Payet (hurt in the Europa Final) and his play-making. Nigeria had a couple great chances to put the dagger to Argentina late before giving up one themselves. TV coverage loves showing Maradonna acting like a buffoon; mummy celebration (arms crossed), sleeping mid-match, and then flipping the double bird on the winning goal. I'm just hope they show him crying in defeat. I'll say France, but won't be surprised if they lose.

Uruguay v Portugal; 2 summers ago Portugal won the Euro Title in a strangely pedestrian fashion, and here they go again. Uruguay won a weak group, have Suarez and Cavani, but they're both past their prime albeit still dangerous. Portugal shouldn't win, but I'll go w/them.

 

I was impressed with France and Mbappe in particular.

 

Those were my takeaways from today's games -- Mbappe and the Uruguay team.

 

I like Mbappe too, but his name always makes me think of MMMBop and then I get a little sad because I shouldn't be thinking of Hanson:


Mbappe played very well, but Pavard's shot was the best of the 10 we saw today IMO

I thought Uruguay looked really good in the group stage, but they were playing in the easiest group so I wasn't sure if they were for real. They looked for real today. I just wish I didn't hate Suarez so much.

 

Not gonna lie, kinda makes the hair on the back of my head stand up a little, too...

 

For my money, these are the two best goals I’ve seen so far: wicked, wicked sidewinders from distance from Nacho vs. Portugal and the aforementioned strike by Benjamin Pavard yesterday against Argentina. Just nasty.

 

Hoping the hosts and the pragmatic Danes (especially the latter) don't mess up a classic Quarterfinal showdown between Spain & Croatia.

 

Spain failed because they didn't push the tempo.


That was one of the worst matches I've seen in a while, but congratulations to the Russians for sticking to their game plan.