There are lotsa poor teams, not just Brazil, and one cannot omit the fact it will be a 'long season' for lotsa top league players who are effectively extending their 2017-18 footie season and participating in this gruelling World Cup tourney as well. I'm expecting many poor matches and that is materialising so far. Footie players are not robots, as we all know, and the expectancy of many people to see consistent top class matches/performances is unrealistic as we discovered in the last Euro championship in France.
Brazil V Switzerland
18-06-2018, 00:07
(This post was last modified: 18-06-2018, 00:08 by Lord Snooty.)
Aye. Good point. Maybe they should play the next one in the middle of the domestic season. 
![[Image: 2ZJuVRk.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/2ZJuVRk.gif)
Aye! But lotsa compromised FAs eh! Fresher players all the same in air conditioned Quatari stadia for example!
18-06-2018, 11:53
First half brazil were brilliant and looked the best team i've seen so far in the competition.
18-06-2018, 13:32
It were a bit like when Town went to Man City and Chelsea at the end of the season. Loads of big names, no team work, clueless what to do against well organised opposition.
18-06-2018, 16:59
I hope you realise that Brazil haven't lost a game for three years ........
I think they make a mistake not starting Firmino and there are loads of highly rated younger centre backs in Brazil than that particular 68-year-old combo ....... but wouldn't you sooner watch them every week than the teams you support?
Neymar's greedy, but so are Ronaldo and Messi. Play the game at any level and the player with most skill almost always hangs on too long - it's harnessing him or her to the team is the trick ......
The Swiss were organised and difficult to beat - lucky to score but that's football. But Behrami, Xhaka and Leichtensteiner were just spoilers throughout the game who contributed to no-one's evening. A player who might have something to see, Embolo was only brought on towards the end and instead we were treated to Seferovic, the quintessence of everything ordinary and orthodox.
Coutinho provided the ultimate demonstration of the benefit of having a player with a right foot coming in from the left (and vice versa). A top keeper can reach the corners of his goal, but the ball is curled beyond the post and brought back, the shot IS unstoppable. The sheer fact Coutinho can do that will worry every keeper he comes up against over his positioning - what if crosses, what if he shoots, and when a player can change feet and still deliver something decent, you're in trouble.
I thought Brazil in the first half were a delight.
I think they make a mistake not starting Firmino and there are loads of highly rated younger centre backs in Brazil than that particular 68-year-old combo ....... but wouldn't you sooner watch them every week than the teams you support?
Neymar's greedy, but so are Ronaldo and Messi. Play the game at any level and the player with most skill almost always hangs on too long - it's harnessing him or her to the team is the trick ......
The Swiss were organised and difficult to beat - lucky to score but that's football. But Behrami, Xhaka and Leichtensteiner were just spoilers throughout the game who contributed to no-one's evening. A player who might have something to see, Embolo was only brought on towards the end and instead we were treated to Seferovic, the quintessence of everything ordinary and orthodox.
Coutinho provided the ultimate demonstration of the benefit of having a player with a right foot coming in from the left (and vice versa). A top keeper can reach the corners of his goal, but the ball is curled beyond the post and brought back, the shot IS unstoppable. The sheer fact Coutinho can do that will worry every keeper he comes up against over his positioning - what if crosses, what if he shoots, and when a player can change feet and still deliver something decent, you're in trouble.
I thought Brazil in the first half were a delight.
Touche! It is what the 'beautiful game' is all about! Will Brazil improve to a higher level? I suspect they will (and Neymar needs to acknowledge it is a team game that will make him far more effective!) and could well 'have the last laugh' on Germany after that 7-1 thrashing in Brazil 2014.
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