I think he did. And, don't call me Schurle...Originally Posted by Razors left peg
Tears aplenty for Algeria from their fans, I think we've been in the exact same place.
In fairness, Germany had much the better of the second half and extra time. Made more chances, took one. Boatang cut out so many Algerian passes forward and from the flanks. Neuer was immense at just coming out when he had to. I'm delighted they're through, because I know they can play better football than this, and they've been doing it for several years.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
That has to the first game I saw that Schurrle didn't make some ridiculous dive and he managed to make a real impact based on his skill.
Valiant Algerian effort. They can go home with their heads held high. Could Bougherra have done better on the line for Ozil's goal? He seemed to just stand there almost leaning back. Maybe the slow-mo replay didn't do him any justice. He should have done a Suarez and thrown his hands (not his teeth!) at it. For a second there, I thought I was seeing Robbie'sgoal in Ibaraki about to be re-enacted. Fair play to Algeria for managing at least one after conceding the second.
That was a cracker.
This is getting silly. Schurrle tomorrow won't be any use?
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Big parallels to Italia '90 I think. We go home kicking ourselves because we know we really could have won it, but ultimately they had better players and teams with better players tend to do just enough.
That late goal for Algeria just shows that with a bit more belief added on top of their game, they coulda been contenders for the 1/4 finals.
I think it proved if they had some better crossing and lax German defending on top of their game, they could have been contenders for the 1/4 finals.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Its hard to call between the French and Germans now, bit I fancy the French to just about sneak it
Its really not that complicated!!!
They had plenty of lax German defending during the game, unless one would regard it as normal to be bailed out by the goalkeeper, time and time again, outside his box.
Well, bail them out he did. Algeria never looked fast enough in those situations.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Their frequent re-occurrence and the total German success rate in dealing with them would indicate it might be crude to put these situations down to careless lapses though. I think it was actually part of the German game-plan to run such a high-risk strategy. I think it would be to misinterpret their game-plan to view this as a failing with them requiring constant bailing out by a flailing keeper. They weren't being caught out and Neuer was no deer caught in the headlights; they just seemed content to play a type of game where this fairly non-threatening (as was proven) type of thing was allowed happen.
Not that Germany would have specifically intended for Algeria to find themselves one-on-one with Neuer so often, but these situations would surely have been more design than accident in the sense that they were an inevitable result of the German game-plan; Germany were happy to allow Algeria in behind them safe in the knowledge that the ever-alert Neuer would be there to cover anyway, thus negating a need for the defence to play deep and allowing them to devote attentions elsewhere.
Neuer's known ability in this area allowed Germany to play a high line with the keeper as designated sweeper. He was by no means that last-gasp desperado stretching to get anything to the ball on each occasion. His permanent starting position was at the edge of the box from where he attacked any oncoming ball. ITV showed a graphic and a huge proportion of his touches occurred outside the box. He has form here and cleaned up everything in controlled fashion with composure and finesse. Did Algeria ever really threaten from any of those situations? Neuer nipped everything in the bud before it had a chance to develop behind the back four. The slow-motion replays were majestic. Why needlessly commit men to deep positions at the back when your keeper can deal with it all instead? It looked risky - perhaps because Neuer was always out of frame from our televised perspective - but I think Germany had them sussed. Algeria managed two shots on target during the first 90 minutes.
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 01/07/2014 at 4:44 PM.
Germany will need to play much much better come Freitag. Their defence is very dodgy. Even Herr Keogh has scored against them.
Algeria ran out of steam and did as well to go as far as they did. Not just in this game but the 4 games they played.
Not as good as Ireland in 1990, light years ahead of what we have now (& tbf half the teams in Europe)... their spirit and organisation was tremendous.
That's also all of the AFC and CAF teams out before the Last Eight. A huge portion of the world that just can't get it right.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Do you mean Japan Korea 2002?
In Italia 90 Italy were easily the better team, had numerous chances and a goal wrongly disallowed, while we created very very little. One Quinn header was about it.
Last edited by osarusan; 01/07/2014 at 12:54 AM.
No, although 2002 could equally apply. Maybe I'm remembering Italia 90 through green-tinted spectacles but I never thought we were in that much danger in that match.
But you should know better that danger always lurks. And it's usually "here".
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
For me, he took an unwarranted tumble. It was a dive. My all-time favourite dive, mind. But still a dive. And thank God for it!
I think I hear what you say though; it was a careless enough tackle to have impeded Duff and would have warranted the awarding of a penalty irrespective of whether he remained on his feet or not. Whether the ref would have given it though had Duff tried to keep going along his "natural" path is not certain, unfortunately.
Just looking back at this video:
Duffer played an absolute blinder. Lovely re-watching his input.
Jumping out of the way to avoid injury is fine. It's only what you'd expect. There'll be no archer's bow on show there though and an astute referee should be wise to careless/reckless attempts by tacklers that could potentially injure if not for a player getting himself out of the way.What about Huth on David Meyler? No contact but definite foul. Meyler jumped away to avoid having his ankle broken.
Hehe, maybe so. To be honest, I'm possibly being a tad pedantic in debate, or polemic even, as we're dealing with such fine margins. When there's uncertainty in practice, I suppose I look towards the rules in hope of clarity. Nevertheless, I'd have an instinctive idea, like any regular viewer of the game, of what generally constitutes a foul just from seeing a contentious incident. In most cases, you just know. I swear, I don't actually have the rule-book open next to me whilst a game is playing! Well, not always anyway. Usually, I can only do two things at once, and seeing as I'll already be on here typing away during a match, I can so little else...Danny, I think you read these situations like a lawyer would rather than a guy who just gets what's a foul and what isn't, if you don't mind me saying.
I do like to get a feel for the rule-book too though when an incident raises questions. It's fascinating to see how its words are interpreted and applied. Is there consistency and whatnot? Admittedly, more often than not, I can end up getting bogged down and confusing myself more by looking at it from a somewhat literal perspective! The rules are the foundation of the game though so it's only sensible to try and understand them. I often wonder how the game would be played if it was derived purely from the rules as written rather than the rule-book having been developed around what we understand to be the general or original spirit of the game. Of course, it's impossible that you could first draw up rules with meaning and significance without some over-riding spirit, but if you gave two alien managers and their alien teams a rule-book and asked them to devise complex strategies based solely on the words therein, it would be fascinating to witness what type of would unfold. Maybe the creativity and inventiveness of Brazilian football, for example, has something to do with this. They're not burdened, like the English might be, with this notion of being the inventors, and thus the self-assumed protectors, of the game. In carrying such a burden, possibly the English game is held back from truly breaking free and moving beyond what the English feel to be its original conception, spirit or ethos. Flash individualism and the like is frowned upon with tough tackling and defensive work appreciated. Maybe, maybe not... I'm rambling again and must get ready for work!
Go to work ya loon.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
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