10 - Lionel Messi - v5

[Icarium]

I mean of course the match could have ended completely different if one of the crosses were converted, but it did not and Uruguay held out. That was their game plan and they executed it well.

 

[DonAndres]

No it wasnt and doesnt matter anyway as Atletico did not defend that game well enough to see out result.

Uruguay did and Portugal had no answers how to break through.

Portugal were not a 'balanced side' in a single game this WC.

They saw out game like Atletico have done and won on countless ocassions.

So if they did see out the result and Ramos didn't have that chance at the last moment, they would've been "undoubtedly the better side" and "playing the game exactly as they wanted it to go" eh?

Confirmation bias, nothing else. Defending a lead well doesn't consist of allowing that many close cut chances and deliveries into the box through. Everywhere from twitter to the commentators was openly saying how Portugal were building momentum and forcing brilliant last ditch defending. While the likes of Godin, Laxalt, etc. came up huge it isn't anywhere near 'safe' to have to rely on that level of last man defense and the rest of the team was struggling hard to contain Portugal offensively.

 

[dakt]

No they succeeded as scored twice so conceding once was enough to go through.

Uruguay were better side and defended well and Portugal did not have enough ideas to break them down.

Lets agree that we don't agree and just carry on with our lives. We have totally different look on the game.

 

[Raketa10]

IMHO second retirement at this age would be a much bigger shadow over his career than not having won a WC with this awful Argentina NT. He simply can’t surrender now! Come on Leo you can still do it!

 

[JamDav1982]

So if they did see out the result and Ramos didn't have that chance at the last moment, they would've been "undoubtedly the better side" and "playing the game exactly as they wanted it to go" eh?

Confirmation bias, nothing else. Defending a lead well doesn't consist of allowing that many close cut chances and deliveries into the box through. Everywhere from twitter to the commentators was openly saying how Portugal were building momentum and forcing brilliant last ditch defending. While the likes of Godin, Laxalt, etc. came up huge it isn't anywhere near 'safe' to have to rely on that level of last man defense and the rest of the team was struggling hard to contain Portugal offensively.

Your dealing in what ifs.

Uruguay were better side and defended well as they needed to.

Scored when they needed to.

Portugal were not a good side in this tournament and were frstrated and struggling to break them down.

 

[ThwiX]

IMHO second retirement at this age would be a much bigger shadow over his career than not having won a WC with this awful Argentina NT. He simply can’t surrender now!

He won’t. Said he wouldn’t until he wins something for Argentina. So alternatively, we could see him playing for them a really, really, long time...

 

[JamDav1982]

Lets agree that we don't agree and just carry on with our lives. We have totally different look on the game.

Agree to whatever you want but Portugal were not even close to unlucky or the better side in that game.

 

[DonAndres]

Your dealing in what ifs.

Uruguay were better side and defended well as they needed to.

Portugal were not a good side in this tournament.

What ifs in cases like this normalize things to the mean. Cavani's goal was brilliant, and obviously a very low probability event. And last ditch defending at the level required today is rarely ever that clean and successful. The fact that in one case a late goal was conceded by the defensive team while in the other case it was not is a matter of circumstance. That alone does not make the difference between a side that "played the game exactly how they wanted to" and one that was being beaten down to the end and "didn't defend well enough to win".

Would you say that Chelsea against Barca in 2012 "were quite clearly the better side" and "played the game out exactly as they wanted it to go"? No, they were fucking lucky.

 

[dakt]

Agree to whatever you want but Portugal were not even close to unlucky or the better side in that game.

Portugal dominated and it was matter of luck if Uruguay can hold for 90 minutes of constant pressure. This is a strategy that heavily relies on the luck.
If someone showed you the statistics, without the final result, you would say that the team which had better numbers probably won. And anyone with clear pair of eyes can see that Portugal has dominated the game.

 

[jairzinho]

I feel really bad for Messi. There was nothing he could do with this team and with this clueless coach. He did as much as he could, the team was really disjointed and dis organized. The defending was chaotic, it looked like they would concede everytime France went forward. The warning signs were there all along, needing Messi to pull them through against Ecuador, the thrashing that Spain gave them before the World Cup and then scraping out of the group stage.

 

[JamDav1982]

What ifs in cases like this normalize things to the mean. Cavani's goal was brilliant, and obviously a very low probability event. And last ditch defending at the level required today is rarely ever that clean and successful. The fact that in one case a late goal was conceded while in the other case it was not is a matter of circumstance. That alone does not make the difference between a side that "played the game exactly how they wanted to" and one that was being beaten down to the end and "didn't defend well enough to win".

Would you say that Chelsea against Barca in 2012 "were quite clearly the better side" and "played the game out exactly as they wanted it to go"? No, they were fucking lucky.

The fact that Uruguay went ahead early and then scored again fairly soon after the equaliser dictated that they would sit back and defend lead which they did well.

Atletico do it all the time and if doesnt come off and defence cant hold up then its not good enough but they did and were better side.

 

[Morten]

What ifs in cases like this normalize things to the mean. Cavani's goal was brilliant, and obviously a very low probability event. And last ditch defending at the level required today is rarely ever that clean and successful. The fact that in one case a late goal was conceded by the defensive team while in the other case it was not is a matter of circumstance. That alone does not make the difference between a side that "played the game exactly how they wanted to" and one that was being beaten down to the end and "didn't defend well enough to win".

Would you say that Chelsea against Barca in 2012 "were quite clearly the better side" and "played the game out exactly as they wanted it to go"? No, they were fucking lucky.

Silly comparison, Barca had a neverending stream of clear cut chances in that game, Portugal had....one(besides the goal)?

 

[Stoichkov1]

He won’t. Said he wouldn’t until he wins something for Argentina. So alternatively, we could see him playing for them a really, really, long time...

If they don't fire Sampaoli they won't win shit.

They just have to hire Simeone who will teach them to park the bus and will start the best players upfront, just like Sabella.

 

[JamDav1982]

Portugal dominated and it was matter of luck if Uruguay can hold for 90 minutes of constant pressure. This is a strategy that heavily relies on the luck.
If someone showed you the statistics, without the final result, you would say that the team which had better numbers probably won. And anyone with clear pair of eyes can see that Portugal has dominated the game.

They dominated nothing but possession and were frustrated as were struggling to break through.

Uruguay defended for most of game.... as were winning for most of it.

Atletico do it all the time. Watch them.

 

[DonAndres]

Silly comparison, Barca had a neverending stream of clear cut chances in that game, Portugal had....one(besides the goal)?

A cross mere inches away from connecting to the target is just as much a matter of "unpredictable circumstance" as a shot inches away from going in. And Portugal definitely had more than one chance.