They’re only allowed French player, which means lots of drama queens.
... most games, like a lot of team sports, and this was no exception. Mbappe's wasn't that bad in my view.
How does a coach with that much talent lose?
1. A comparatively less talented midfield (less talented than the forwards and center backs, and less talented than Spain's midfield).
2. Not getting the ball to the talented forwards (see point one).
3. Playing against a team with at least a similarly large amount of talent.
4. Olise and Dembele having particularly poor games -- again.
Norway should have advanced if they'd had better team linkup.
I think England has a good shot tomorrow, their locker room seems dialed in, but the Argies have the all time goat at their disposal.
Going to be interesting viewing.
Rumors are Saka and Rice aren’t going to play until October.
I wonder if it will be longer than that for Saliba now.
Hopefully the younger guys can step in and get some much needed playing time through the early parts of the schedule.
I have faith in Arteta, and maybe 1-2 big signings.
When I saw him go down today, my first thought was we may be without his services for the entire season. Back injuries are so tricky and fragile.
Mbappe was trying to make a desperation play to steal it from the keeper and you can see in the replay that he try to pull up with his feet to not land on him and he even pulled up with his upper body. The goalie definitely sold it and I doubt the contact is what made him go down.
What a pussy play by the goalie. You'd think he was shot instead of grazed.
Simon did his best 'Suarez has been shot by a sniper!' impression.
At least he was actually touched but the turn and pause before clearly making a decision to go down isn’t exactly tough guy stuff.
Mbappe gave him an elbow for his trouble. That’s soccer and I am good with it.
As a long life Spain fan I could not be happier.. They played a near flawless game and dominated the proceedings. On to the final.
In *just about* complete control the whole way. I like their chances, no matter who comes out of the other semi.
Btw, I also will take my lumps. A couple weeks ago, I replied to BI's thread about who he should root for. I called out Spain for poor play early in the tournament, and suggested that they were reverting to their underachieving mean. Boy was I wrong. They've grown into the tournament remarkably, and I hope they have one more left in the tank.
"You have to admire the French commitment to not working on a holiday."
(Today is Bastille Day)
Knicks in Five!