PitchVerdict

ꜰᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ ᴇɴᴛʜᴜꜱɪᴀꜱᴛ, ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ.

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Schjelderup is exactly the type of player Liverpool should be embarrassed they are not pursuing. The intelligence, the technical quality, the positional flexibility: that profile doesn't stay available forever and someone sharper will take it.

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@umirf1 It works specifically because England's defensive shape against wide delivery is reactive instead of anticipatory. The backline drops to deal with the initial cross, which is the correct individual response, but it creates a predictable second phase problem.

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Stop forcing Jude into a midfield role out of tactical conservatism, his movement, box arrivals, and finishing instincts are fundamentally those of a striker, and a false 9 framework without Kane would finally let England build a system around what he actually is.

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By far the most underrated team.

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Norway - a team with genuine positional structure and a clear pressing identity that dont really depend on Haaland to function. The possession dominance against Brazil is a team comfortable dictating the tempo and tempo of a match instead of just absorbing pressure and...

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...dangerous positions. But the thing is that, they are comfortable without the ball going forward immediately. They build, they circulate, they wait for the right moment. That patience is a coaching achievement not a talent one.

[Meia Armador - Mufaddal Idris Burhani @MeiaArmador__]

Norway deserve tremendous credit. They were extremely professional and killed the game by keeping an extremely low tempo. If you emphasise keeping so much of the ball and actually manage to achieve it, it is highly likely you win the game.

Brazil and Ancelotti only have themselves to blame. Having 34% possession is unacceptable. You don’t press from restarts, nor in settled possession, that has always been the case until now, but unlike previous games you rushed your settled possession by trying to focus on transitions and depth. Yes, you create chances by forcing depth, but you also completely give up control and make the opposition very comfortable.

The best way to control and defend is always with the ball.

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When Ronaldo eventually leaves this squad, the rebuilding question will not be who replaces his goals. It'll be who finally builds Portugal a real system....

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Portugal has one of the most individually gifted squads in this tournament and they produced nothing today. That gap between talent inventory and collective output is Portugal's oldest and most persistent problem, a squad full of players who are exceptional when the game...

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The problem is that Portugal have never built a genuine tactical identity that exists independently of their best individual, Spain have a system, Germany have a system, Portugal have Ronaldo and then a collection of talented players trying to make sense of the space around him.

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@SteveBeregi Olise's movement is instinctive in tight central spaces while Dembele's genius is fundamentally directional, he needs a runway, and a 10 rarely gets one.

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@FabrizioRomano And that tells you everything about where Milan currently are, a historic club with a recruiting budget and a top 4 ambition that keeps settling for players who are fine instead of players who are frightening.

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His best football happens when he has freedom to interpret space instead of just to execute a fixed role, and Alonso's history as a manager suggests he values exactly that kind of football intelligence over mechanical structure.

[🏹💔🐯🏄‍♂️ @TK221996]

Marco Palestra vs Sassuolo (H)

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Argentina's problem is that their defensive structure relies too heavily on individual heroics instead of collective shape. When Messi loses the ball high up the pitch, the recovery mechanics behind him are disorganized in ways that elite KO opponents will identify and exploit.

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@SebOnFootball Both the league and the player.