Save for Group H, a mindlessly boring compilation of Japan, Senegal, Poland and a potentially James-less Colombia, every team has played its first group game. Given that, I wanted to go on a bit of a ramble through various thoughts:
= Scoring may be down, the number of 1-0 games may be a lot, but overall I've found the level of play quite strong. The only reason stories are coming about the play being poor is because the finishing has been terrible, and multiple top teams sleepwalked through their opener. There were multiple 1-0 games taht should have had 4-5 goals with competent finishing (Mexico vs. Germany and especially Peru vs. Denmark come to mind)
= Out of the favorites that struggled in their go around (Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Germany), the one I have the least concern for is Brazil. They absolutely dominated Switzerland in that second half, getting chance after chance, showing a good deal of flair, and reasonable defensive shape. We can't go crazy when they get unlucky. It happens. 2010 Spain lost their opener to Switzerland; they then started finding the goal, not giving up set-play goals, and all was well. I can easily see that happening for Brazil as well.
= Argentina might be in trouble. The teams biggest weakness is in midfield, and they are playing now arguably the tournaments premier midfield duo in Modric and Rakitic, for a team that can easily beat them. They need an engaged Leo Messi, not a pnealty-missing, pass spraying, generally laissez-faire Messi that we got against Iceland. Speaking of Iceland, if they manage to beat Nigeria, and Argentina loses to Croatia, they may be more or less done. We can quibble about the lack of help and the impassioned play from so many others, but at the end of the day, Messi had a win on his foot, and kicked it straight down the middle on a penalty.
= Germany has an easy enough two games to still go through, but what this really does is put them in a position to have to play Brazil in the Round of 16 (assuming Brazil win their group). They were so off against Mexico. Their tactics were consistent, but wrong, allowing Hummels and Boateng, not the fastest players even in their prime, to be left helpless against Mexico's counter. The midfield didn't dominate as usual. Muller seemed a bit hapless. The whole exercise just felt tired, which can happen at Year 12 of a modern golden era.
= Ronaldo. Ronaldo. Ronaldo. With him having a Euro to his name, and all the Champions League's in the world, and as many Ballon d'Or's as Messi, he's a man set free, and good God was that special.
= Few quick notes about the hosts and the broadcasts....
= Russia has done a great job so far. Apparently reports are all positive about the morale and energy in teh host cities - none of the 'hooliganism' that the English seemed to pain as inevitable. The pitches have been great. The weather has been great. The crowds have been very good, with more filled seats for the lesser games than we saw in Brazil. The tournament has gone off so far without a hitch.
= I wish I can say the same for FOX, though I think I'll be less critical than most. The one place I think FOX has done a really good job is their broadcasting teams. We have to get over the fact they aren't using British voices apart from Derek Rae (and Warren Barton). Who cares. I found everyone's love of ESPN's all-English voices a bit much anyway. I've like JP Dellacamara, John Strong, Stu Holden, Aly Wagner, the two Latin guys who called the Peru vs. Denmark game (more about them next), and everyone bar Tony Meola (who wasn't too bad, just more generic than the otehrs). I haven't been bothered at all that most of the teams are calling teh games from the US. In fact, I guarantee if you asked people listening if they thought the announcers were on location or not, probably no one has any clue. FOX in-game work has been absolutely fine.
= Their studio show, however, is a mess. I like Rob Stone, and Guus Hiddink is very good. Alexi Lalas can be good at times, but his analysis is so surface - a problem with FOX's general coverage. When the team is important (attractive) enough to have a special guest, like the did for Mexico and England, it improves, but otherwise the pre-game, halftime and post-game show is useless.
= The nightly recap show is interesting, and Fernando Fiore's shtick is fairly timeless for me, but this is the one place that pales compared to what ESPN did for 2014. Their nightly show with Bob Ley was great. FOX's is fairly good, but a little too loose. I really like Aly Wagner, and Grant Wahl (who I've read for years on Sports Illustrated), but ESPN's nightly show on Copacabana beach was quite impeccable.
= Overall, I think FOX is getting a bad rap. They were unlucky the US didn't qualify, which will doom its overall ratings compared to 2014. What they haven't done is dumb down their coverage to unrecognizable levels. Even the announcing can get fairly specific, especially when it is Stu Holden, Aly Wagner, Warren Burton or the Latin Guys.
= Speaking of which, the Latin Guys need to call more games. Not only did they provide an incredible amount of energy that somehow never got grating, they had a great rapport with each other. I really hope they do more games - hoping they are on the call for the Columbia game tomorrow, and maybe even get a knockout stage game if Mexico, Peru or Colombia make it.
= Back to the games, it was nice to see Belgium actually make good for once. Always beloved for their talent, they lived up to it, albeit against the 2nd worst team in the field. Hazard was great. De Bruyne was great. Lukaku was great. Courtouis was great snuffing out the few chances Panama had. I'm very skeptical of them due to my lack of trust in Roberto Martinez as a coach, but I think in international football we overrate coaches - just look at Spain.
= There is no Colombia-like revelation so far, but in reality to me it would have been Peru if they just took their chances against Denmark. They deserved that game 2-1 or 3-1, playing a fantastically open game - almost too open, though Denmark had few real chances,. I know basically none of their players, but it was fantastic to watch them fly around the pitch. Hopefully they bring that same openness to their games against France and Australia, even if they are somewhat doomed by that loss.
= Finally, Mexico. Both for their incredible win over Germany, easily the result of the first set of games, and also the Landon Donovan controversy. Personally, I don't care about the Donovan issue. Espetically right now, when we have a President trying to create divides with our close neighbors, what is wrong with giving El Tri some support. For people saying 'Would Brazil root for Argentina?', that is an incredible overstatement about where the Mexico - USA rivarly it. It is not Brazil vs. Argentina; it is not any number of European rivalries that have political undertones all throughout.
= As for the team, that was a star performance. They are young, fast, explosive, can counter, can keep possession when need be. They are set up so well to win the group assuming they get four points from their two games. They can avoid Brazil in the Round of 16, maybe make a quarterfinal for once, and get a date with Spain/Portugal in the Quarterfinal, which they can win. This can be a dream run.
= Scoring may be down, the number of 1-0 games may be a lot, but overall I've found the level of play quite strong. The only reason stories are coming about the play being poor is because the finishing has been terrible, and multiple top teams sleepwalked through their opener. There were multiple 1-0 games taht should have had 4-5 goals with competent finishing (Mexico vs. Germany and especially Peru vs. Denmark come to mind)
= Out of the favorites that struggled in their go around (Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Germany), the one I have the least concern for is Brazil. They absolutely dominated Switzerland in that second half, getting chance after chance, showing a good deal of flair, and reasonable defensive shape. We can't go crazy when they get unlucky. It happens. 2010 Spain lost their opener to Switzerland; they then started finding the goal, not giving up set-play goals, and all was well. I can easily see that happening for Brazil as well.
= Argentina might be in trouble. The teams biggest weakness is in midfield, and they are playing now arguably the tournaments premier midfield duo in Modric and Rakitic, for a team that can easily beat them. They need an engaged Leo Messi, not a pnealty-missing, pass spraying, generally laissez-faire Messi that we got against Iceland. Speaking of Iceland, if they manage to beat Nigeria, and Argentina loses to Croatia, they may be more or less done. We can quibble about the lack of help and the impassioned play from so many others, but at the end of the day, Messi had a win on his foot, and kicked it straight down the middle on a penalty.
= Germany has an easy enough two games to still go through, but what this really does is put them in a position to have to play Brazil in the Round of 16 (assuming Brazil win their group). They were so off against Mexico. Their tactics were consistent, but wrong, allowing Hummels and Boateng, not the fastest players even in their prime, to be left helpless against Mexico's counter. The midfield didn't dominate as usual. Muller seemed a bit hapless. The whole exercise just felt tired, which can happen at Year 12 of a modern golden era.
= Ronaldo. Ronaldo. Ronaldo. With him having a Euro to his name, and all the Champions League's in the world, and as many Ballon d'Or's as Messi, he's a man set free, and good God was that special.
= Few quick notes about the hosts and the broadcasts....
= Russia has done a great job so far. Apparently reports are all positive about the morale and energy in teh host cities - none of the 'hooliganism' that the English seemed to pain as inevitable. The pitches have been great. The weather has been great. The crowds have been very good, with more filled seats for the lesser games than we saw in Brazil. The tournament has gone off so far without a hitch.
= I wish I can say the same for FOX, though I think I'll be less critical than most. The one place I think FOX has done a really good job is their broadcasting teams. We have to get over the fact they aren't using British voices apart from Derek Rae (and Warren Barton). Who cares. I found everyone's love of ESPN's all-English voices a bit much anyway. I've like JP Dellacamara, John Strong, Stu Holden, Aly Wagner, the two Latin guys who called the Peru vs. Denmark game (more about them next), and everyone bar Tony Meola (who wasn't too bad, just more generic than the otehrs). I haven't been bothered at all that most of the teams are calling teh games from the US. In fact, I guarantee if you asked people listening if they thought the announcers were on location or not, probably no one has any clue. FOX in-game work has been absolutely fine.
= Their studio show, however, is a mess. I like Rob Stone, and Guus Hiddink is very good. Alexi Lalas can be good at times, but his analysis is so surface - a problem with FOX's general coverage. When the team is important (attractive) enough to have a special guest, like the did for Mexico and England, it improves, but otherwise the pre-game, halftime and post-game show is useless.
= The nightly recap show is interesting, and Fernando Fiore's shtick is fairly timeless for me, but this is the one place that pales compared to what ESPN did for 2014. Their nightly show with Bob Ley was great. FOX's is fairly good, but a little too loose. I really like Aly Wagner, and Grant Wahl (who I've read for years on Sports Illustrated), but ESPN's nightly show on Copacabana beach was quite impeccable.
= Overall, I think FOX is getting a bad rap. They were unlucky the US didn't qualify, which will doom its overall ratings compared to 2014. What they haven't done is dumb down their coverage to unrecognizable levels. Even the announcing can get fairly specific, especially when it is Stu Holden, Aly Wagner, Warren Burton or the Latin Guys.
= Speaking of which, the Latin Guys need to call more games. Not only did they provide an incredible amount of energy that somehow never got grating, they had a great rapport with each other. I really hope they do more games - hoping they are on the call for the Columbia game tomorrow, and maybe even get a knockout stage game if Mexico, Peru or Colombia make it.
= Back to the games, it was nice to see Belgium actually make good for once. Always beloved for their talent, they lived up to it, albeit against the 2nd worst team in the field. Hazard was great. De Bruyne was great. Lukaku was great. Courtouis was great snuffing out the few chances Panama had. I'm very skeptical of them due to my lack of trust in Roberto Martinez as a coach, but I think in international football we overrate coaches - just look at Spain.
= There is no Colombia-like revelation so far, but in reality to me it would have been Peru if they just took their chances against Denmark. They deserved that game 2-1 or 3-1, playing a fantastically open game - almost too open, though Denmark had few real chances,. I know basically none of their players, but it was fantastic to watch them fly around the pitch. Hopefully they bring that same openness to their games against France and Australia, even if they are somewhat doomed by that loss.
= Finally, Mexico. Both for their incredible win over Germany, easily the result of the first set of games, and also the Landon Donovan controversy. Personally, I don't care about the Donovan issue. Espetically right now, when we have a President trying to create divides with our close neighbors, what is wrong with giving El Tri some support. For people saying 'Would Brazil root for Argentina?', that is an incredible overstatement about where the Mexico - USA rivarly it. It is not Brazil vs. Argentina; it is not any number of European rivalries that have political undertones all throughout.
= As for the team, that was a star performance. They are young, fast, explosive, can counter, can keep possession when need be. They are set up so well to win the group assuming they get four points from their two games. They can avoid Brazil in the Round of 16, maybe make a quarterfinal for once, and get a date with Spain/Portugal in the Quarterfinal, which they can win. This can be a dream run.
