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2014 Brazil World Cup- Join the BL World Cup Pickems!

5-1 fucking crazy. Maybe its all part of the Spanish plan? Throw the Netherlands game knowing them to be the toughest challenge, and beat up on Chile/Australia? Didn't actually get to see the game cause I was out, but Spain cannot have fallen that hard that fast.
 
Agreed, alasdairm. And it wasn't all that long ago that Casillas was considered one of the best (if not THE best) in the world. He coughed up a ball to Van Persie, of all people. That was just bad. Robben's goals were sexy, but the Spanish defense looked out of their league trying to stop him.
 
That is what is so weird. Spain usually has a good defense due to good midfield involvement, relatively conservative play, and a solid back field. Casillas IS an excellent keeper.

Spain had 57% ball control and 5 fouls, but 4 less shots on goal (which the dutch made count half the time). Wonder if Casillas is sick lol
 
Shimmer.Fade said:
Maybe its all part of the Spanish plan? Throw the Netherlands game knowing them to be the toughest challenge, and beat up on Chile/Australia?
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they only play 6 games so there's not a lot of room for giving away games. what would that achieve anyway? definitely losing a game instead of maybe winning? how does throwing a game against the netherlands make them any more likely to win against chile and australia?

makes no sense at all.

alasdair
 
alasdairm said:
makes no sense at all.
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It sort of does if you are that confident in your ability. Chile and Australia should not challenge Spain, and if they do then Spain most likely would not win the Cup anyhow. Tell your men to save themselves, don't foul and don't get injured (which is what the stats indicate) against one of your toughest opponents (where you don't have to win!). Get through the first round where there is no single elimination, pass on the most dangerous opponent in your group to the runner-up in Group A, and be injury free for Brazil. This way the Spanish know exactly what they have to do, and who they more than likely have to plan for.

The other option is that the Spanish are getting old, which is possible, but time will tell.
 
Wow that was unexpected. Nobody here in NL gave anything for our chances so the party was all the better because of it..

My head hurts though :(
 
Shimmer.Fade said:
It sort of does if you are that confident in your ability. Chile and Australia should not challenge Spain, and if they do then Spain most likely would not win the Cup anyhow. Tell your men to save themselves, don't foul and don't get injured (which is what the stats indicate) against one of your toughest opponents (where you don't have to win!). Get through the first round where there is no single elimination, pass on the most dangerous opponent in your group to the runner-up in Group A, and be injury free for Brazil. This way the Spanish know exactly what they have to do, and who they more than likely have to plan for.

The other option is that the Spanish are getting old, which is possible, but time will tell.
Click to expand...

There's no way in hell Spain would play their game down to the Dutch in the hopes of playing Brazil in the first round of the knockout stage. That would be absolutely stupid. They'd be better suited playing conservatively (but with purpose) against the Dutch in hopes of winning their group and playing the runner up in Group A (which I'd assume will probably be Mexico) in the knockout stage.

Besides that... you could tell just by watching the game that Spain was simply not ready for the speed and all out assault that the Dutch were about to employ. Van Persie and Robben alone just plain outworked the Spanish defense and Casillas looked completely panicked. Spain didn't expect the Netherlands to play the way they did, they simply weren't prepared to play at that level that early.
 
^ Agreed. In the first half Spain did try to put NL under pressure constantly, but at some point they just couldn't keep it up
 
The first half of the England v Italy game has been pretty exciting. I have no idea why Marchisio keeps finding himself in so much space, especially after he scored the first goal of the game, but the Rooney/Sturridge connection moments later was a beauty. And Welbeck has been a workhorse so far. I assume the second half will be pretty exciting!
 
Rooney looks slow and cumbersome compared to the rest of the English forward line. Sterling is so confident with the ball in comparison.
 
No kidding, wtf was that corner all about?! Then Johnson put a cross in the stands... then Sterling... England just lost their shit.
 
Wow. England looked decent the first half, but fell apart completely in the second.
 
^ agreed. the first half was a pretty good game. second half not so much. but, with uruguay losing to costa rica, that group is still wide open.

alasdair
 
True. If today's games are any indication, I could totally see Costa Rica moving on and the likelihood of Italy also moving on is pretty good. England has some serious issues to work out before the Uruguay game if they stand much of a chance. Especially if Suarez is cleared to play by then.
 
undead said:
There's no way in hell Spain would play their game down to the Dutch in the hopes of playing Brazil in the first round of the knockout stage. That would be absolutely stupid. They'd be better suited playing conservatively (but with purpose) against the Dutch in hopes of winning their group and playing the runner up in Group A (which I'd assume will probably be Mexico) in the knockout stage.

Besides that... you could tell just by watching the game that Spain was simply not ready for the speed and all out assault that the Dutch were about to employ. Van Persie and Robben alone just plain outworked the Spanish defense and Casillas looked completely panicked. Spain didn't expect the Netherlands to play the way they did, they simply weren't prepared to play at that level that early.
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We will see =)

Playing a young, inexperienced, but extremely promising Brazilian team early on would be to Spain's advantage as opposed to having to play them later in the tournament. Losing 5-1 when it doesn't matter is going to seriously messing with their opponents heads as well.

Their record and stats indicate a far better team. Their stats against the NL do not equal a 5-1 loss in most cases. I know Spain fairly well being my third favorite international team, and considering they beat the NL last time, they knew that the NL would come out hitting as hard as they could. There is an old strategy in not giving all of yourself when it isn't necessary.
 
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I'm not trying to be rude, so I hope it doesn't come across that way, but did you watch the game? Spain wasn't playing conservatively, that's not why they lost, they were playing badly. Making stupid mistakes, getting too eager, taking bad angles defensively, etc. they just plain had no answer for how the Dutch rammed their offensive attack down their throats. Casillas was rusty because he hadn't been playing regularly at the club level as of late and it showed. Spain's tiki-taka possession game was enough to win the 2010 World Cup, but the Dutch didn't let them get possession in the second half and every time the Dutch had the ball, they had an aggressive attack. Had Spain on their heels. The Spanish defense hasn't had to work THAT hard in a while and they simply looked lost trying to defend Robben.

I'm sorry, but your theory holds no water. Spain just plain couldn't handle the Dutch.
 
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