David Myers

Liberal arts | Digital media | Games | Twixt
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[David Myers @dmy3rs]

I thought exactly the same thing. Until I saw the third angle in the post linked below. Defender reaches ball first, places out of reach, then the contact.
https://t.co/r0z8FB9Lvt

[Bam²⁵ @The25thNigga]

If this wasn’t a penalty idk what is then…

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

Since I posted about this earlier, here's update.

[Liam @liamkeating7]

I was 4 hours early to Argentina match at Arrowhead, and it took me 45 minutes to get into parking lot.

Today, took me 5 minutes to get in.

Way to adapt and improve KC.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup
ESP 4 KSA 0
54 min

After 1st round, Spain heavily discounted by experts. Today, ‘expert’ commentary heavily fluffing Spain.

Overall, FOX et al WC commentary generic and superficial. Little to zero analytics. Zero innovative graphics. Historical stats only.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup
Türkiye 0 Paraguay 1
Final

Exciting game, in a tragic sort of way.

Türkiye's performance ushers USA into top spot of group. Will see how Poch plays meaningless game against Türkiye. USMNT has gift set up now.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

USMNT
Half

USA 2 AUS 0

USA gets two own goals (effectively) through aggressive play. Australia losing physically so far, needs to get ball out of own end more often, USA turnovers still possible. Yellow cards may become issue 2nd half.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

USMNT
1st quarter

About even. Balogun/et al much faster than Aussie right back. Exploit that.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

Zero transparency from usmnt, can interpret as slyness or just normal US soccer stuff. Most likely the latter.

FOX, meanwhile, operating solely on rumor and hot takes.

[FOX Sports @FOXSports]

EXCLUSIVE: USA star Christian Pulisic is OUT today with a calf injury against Australia and Ricardo Pepi will get the start, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino tells FOX Sports’ @JennyTaft.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World cup

CAN wins big
MEX wins little

Two heartbreaker games.

CAN for the injury. Fortunately, "orthopedic doctors and specialists do not consider this a career-threatening injury" [AI]

KOR for the outcome. One of the best games of the tourney. KOR looked better to me.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World cup
Round 1 notes

Okay so far.

Normal amount of ref consistency/inconsistency. Normal amount of over-under performances (notably Spain). Crowds large, enthusiastic, no huge stadium disasters (KC traffic, maybe?). FOX coverage typical, no big controversy. Was concerned early by passive play, but that balanced out. Messi's hat trick gets top round 1 MoM.

Gotta point out last minutes of round 1, how to best defend 2-1 lead: Columbia sub #19 C Hernandez does not fall back, presses hard, wins ball, takes it to opponent corner, crosses, assists on score, makes it 3-1 final. Excellent end to round.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup
Kansas City

Heads up. Lots of msgs like this one tonight, only marginally covered by local news. Attendance & atmosphere very positive but parking/transport not good. Good luck getting back fr stadium.

(Yeah, Mayor Q did his bike riding stunt — as if.)

[Pablo Iglesias Maurer @MLSist]

Absolute s**tshow here in KC. I myself sat in a shuttle on a service road before just getting out in the middle of the road and walking a mile and a half to the stadium. Left my hotel downtown around 345, arrived at Arrowhead around 7. Bet it’s never like this for an NFL game.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup
ARG ALG
Arrowhead Stadium
15min to kickoff

Ticketmaster already shut down.
StubHub has upper deck single tickets for $2-3K.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup
FRA 0 SEN 0
60 min

1. FRA sucks 1st half. Worse than Spain.
2. FRA screwed on no PK call.
3. FOX falls all over themselves supporting referee. VAR clearly shows tripping contact.

Match picking up.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World cup
IRAN 2 v NZL 2
FT

Nice game. No bus parking. Constant pressure/counter pressure. Resilience on both sides. Enjoyed it very much.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup
Compare xG to [final score]
Spain/Cape Verde 2.28/0.30 [0-0]
Switzerland/Qatar 3.20/0.60 [1-1]
Germany/Curaçao 4.41/0.41 [7-1]

Germany does build nicely in final third (see USA send-off match): https://t.co/66u3xSq1Ih

Rooney's analysis puzzling. A sample size thing.

[HK @HKFinalThird]

🚨 Wayne Rooney reacts to Spain's draw against Cape Verde:

🗣️ "I don't care how many completed passes Spain had today. If you're drawing 0-0 with Cape Verde at the World Cup, something is seriously wrong."

"People won't like hearing that because Spain are football's favourite team right now, but that was one of the most overrated performances I've seen from a World Cup favourite in a long time."

"For months I've been hearing that this is the next great Spain side, that they're miles ahead of everyone else and that teams should be scared of them. Well, Cape Verde certainly weren't scared."

"Lamine Yamal came on and, if we're being honest, he was poor. Every touch from him gets treated like a highlight nowadays, but when Spain needed somebody to make the difference, he didn't do it. The truly elite players grab games by the scruff of the neck in moments like this."

"Then there's Rodri. I keep hearing Ballon d'Or winner, best midfielder in the world, all these big titles. But where was that player today? This was the type of match where he should have completely controlled everything and carried Spain to three points. Instead, he looked ordinary."

"Cape Verde deserve huge credit because they worked their socks off, but Spain should be embarrassed. They had all the talent, all the possession and all the pressure on their side and still couldn't find a way through."

"And I'll say one thing that might upset a few people. If Spain want to win this World Cup, David Raya should be their number one. For me, he's Spain's best goalkeeper and I don't think today's performance did anything to change that."

"The hype around Spain is currently bigger than Spain themselves." 🚨

"And one last thing... if Spain are serious about winning this World Cup, I'd have David Raya in goal. For me he's the best Spanish goalkeeper right now, and after watching that performance I don't think there's much debate left."

fictional

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

I’d put up w/ a lot to get politics out of academia, but having to watch commercialization of White House, shameless ufc event is a step too far. Topped Dem craziness w/ this one.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World Cup

Germany 7 v Curaçao 1
FT

About what you’d expect. Lotsa expansion team apologia on FOX, because clearly it’s an issue.

You’ve got de facto exhibition matches all the way thru first knockout round.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

World cup
AUS 2 v TUR 0
final

Shocking. Stats won't be kind to Australia. Güler looked good on ball, lacked ideas. Two great shots by AUS.

Can't argue with score, BUT, static no-pressing low block = recipe for disaster.

Aussies had to be lucky. They were. Congrats.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

Included in Google Gemini’s trivela definition:

“Other Stars: Modern and historical stars like Roberto Carlos, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gio Reyna have also successfully utilized the trivela in major international matches.”

Omigod.

[David Myers @dmy3rs]

world cup

gg usmnt

definitely overmatched Paraguay

BUT, xG was closer (1.33 v .51) than actual score.

And it's one game.

And now everyone sees how Paraguay played -- and, if smart, will do opposite.

1. Target Pulisic harshly. He's the motorboat.

2. Mark/deny Balogun ball. He's the finisher. Others may create -- Tillman, Dest, Pepi -- but each made horrible meal of opportunities (against Germany as well).

3. Do NOT withdraw/wait for ball to come into own final third. Richards had a 100% pass completion rate. USA overall had 65% possession. Because Paraguay ALLOWED it. USA WILL struggle under high pressure/harassment.

other notes/hunches: a. Weah clearly anxious to compete (two long aggressive shots in limited time). Unclear how to best manage USA right side. Dest may be more effective further back, overlapping. b. Reyna's garbage time goal means reflame of "Gio is exceptional" narrative. Sigh. c. Do we really trust Freese? Something about composure/body language feels iffy. Leaning toward Turner.