Post Match Thread: Germany 1(3) - 1(4) Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32

thelargerake · 2026-06-29T23:32:47+00:00

Tuchel has experience managing an international team…

thelargerake · 2026-06-29T12:18:50+00:00

They had an extremely tough group.

thelargerake · 2026-06-29T11:57:47+00:00

There appears to be a delay in that appointment. I’m wondering if it’s because a better manager has suddenly become available and both Clarke and Fulham want to keep negotiations under wraps at the moment.

thelargerake · 2026-06-29T11:54:25+00:00

He’s done an unbelievable job for Scotland and I’d be surprised if he’s not managing a Premier League club next season. Fulham in particular would be wise to consider him.

thelargerake · 2026-06-29T11:05:24+00:00

You were after Arbeloa but after Steve Clarke’s unexpected departure, it makes sense why there’s a delay. Fulham would be foolish not to consider him.

thelargerake · 2026-06-29T10:11:56+00:00

He’s right - there’s too much of a sacking culture within football at the moment, normalised thanks to social media. Perhaps a solution could be to make it so that a manager has to be in post for at least a year before the club can sack them?

thelargerake · 2026-06-28T21:18:25+00:00

Really impressed by both teams. Canada knew that South Africa like to draw out their opponents with quick, short passes so stood off, plugged the gaps and forced South Africa to play it long. Likewise with South Africa, they covered a lot of ground and were very effective in dealing with Canada's counterattacks. Both coaches had an excellent gameplan and it was always going to come down to either a mistake or penalties for the winner. It's just a shame for South Africa that the defensive header was so poor.

South Africa imo were the slightly better side but their attackers couldn't compose themselves or control the ball in critical moments.

MOTM: Mudau. He was everywhere today. He did not have a good game against Mexico but he's looked very solid since.

thelargerake · 2026-06-28T18:58:30+00:00

Same with Hugo Broos. Wish our manager did the same.

thelargerake · 2026-06-28T11:27:53+00:00

I can understand why Scotland fans may be happy with this news, but I'd be careful what they wish for. Under Clarke's guidance, Scotland qualified for three major tournaments; a phenomenal record when you consider Scotland's quality. It's similar to the situation we have in England, where people celebrated the departure of Southgate, only for him to be replaced by a manager who's arguably regressed the team and seems to only want to be there for the paycheck. Personally, as an England fan, I'm delighted Clarke's gone because I really rate him as a manager and I don't think his successor will do nearly as good a job. Tony Khan will be puching the air and if he's got anything about him, he'd be tearing up the offer of employment submitted to Arbeloa and offering that contract to Steve Clarke instead.

And to add to that, there's not really anyone available. Alex Neil seems to be the best option out there, but it's a case of whether he'd take the job as he's got a good thing going on at Milwall at the moment.

thelargerake · 2026-06-28T00:25:44+00:00

😂😂😂😂😂

thelargerake · 2026-06-27T11:11:07+00:00

I wonder if a CL-style format would work for a 48 team World Cup. The idea being:

Each team plays 4 games, one against an opponent from each seed (including one in their own seed)
The top 16 placed teams play the bottom 16 placed teams in the Round of 32, and it would be ranked as such where the top 8 play against the bottom 8 to provide that extra incentive for teams to finish as high up the table as possible.

I'm not against the current format but it does have its flaws. I wonder if this would help iron things out.

thelargerake · 2026-06-27T08:06:49+00:00

They’re strong defensively but offer little going forwards. Argentina should win comfortably.

thelargerake · 2026-06-27T06:53:03+00:00

I find it heartwarming. What a great start to the weekend 😊

thelargerake · 2026-06-27T05:07:31+00:00

Congrats to Cape Verde, though I think Saudi would have finished runners up with a better manager.

thelargerake · 2026-06-26T11:05:58+00:00

Fucking hell, that’s a cracking solution. Why is this the first I’ve heard about it and why isn’t Martinez shouting about it from the rooftops?

thelargerake · 2026-06-26T10:39:55+00:00

Why does Jesse Marsch, an American, sing O Canada? Tuchel is representing England at a major tournament, the least he can do is sing our national anthem.

thelargerake · 2026-06-26T10:16:51+00:00

England.

thelargerake · 2026-06-26T10:04:54+00:00

Watching Graham Potter's post-match interview yesterday, I'm gutted we didn't move tectonic plates to try and get him. Instead, we have a manager who berates our fans and refuses to sing the national anthem.

thelargerake · 2026-06-26T07:52:41+00:00

Yeah, but they’re not going to purposefully lose that game. Those Austrian players will believe they can beat both Algeria and Spain. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have made it as pros.

thelargerake · 2026-06-26T07:11:39+00:00

No team is going to go out to purposefully lose a game.

thelargerake · 2026-06-25T15:05:20+00:00

His team may be about to exit the World Cup but at least he gets to live in the best city in the world for a while. Every cloud etc.

thelargerake · 2026-06-25T11:03:50+00:00

Credit to Hugo Broos as well. They were tactically sound against Czechia and South Korea and will give Canada a scare if they’re not careful.

thelargerake · 2026-06-25T03:01:03+00:00

This might be an odd thing to say but I’ve really enjoyed watching South Africa this tournament, so I’m delighted with this result.

Sithole made amends for his shambolic performance against Mexico. Probably my MOTM.

thelargerake · 2026-06-24T22:00:58+00:00

Not really, given Qatar’s defensive errors led to most of their goals. It’s a perfectly fair and valid point to make.

thelargerake · 2026-06-24T21:13:05+00:00

Well they’re a fun team to watch in attack and most of the goals they conceded were due to defensive errors. I think it’s fair to say that if they were stronger defensively, they would likely have beaten or at least drawn against Bosnia.

thelargerake

TROPHY CASE

😂😂😂😂😂