Can't blame you for remaining optimistic either but I just can't bring myself to believe any matches going forward are going to unfold better. And if they are, it's going to be due to the player's individual class and mentality, and definitely not due to any successful coaching.

Ah, good, then I suppose I misunderstood as I fully agree that Memphis was ineffectual today, but that was due to tactical distaster by the egomaniac coach.

It did feel like watching a slow car crash, I suppose.

I don't think they're a bad crop, just woefully unbalanced. There are a few absolutely class players for several positions, but like you're saying, no proper defensive midfielders, or actually pacey wingers, or proper overlapping attacking fullbacks (miss you Gio). Dumfries is really good but more like a wide midfielder most of the time I feel like.

Well-deserved, too, Austria actually played like a team, with cohesion and togetherness and a willingness to press the whole game, not resting on their laurels at 1-0 or 2-1 up.

Even though everyone is deservedly shitting on the Dutch team (trust me, I've been having an aneurysm watching my team today), the Austrian definitely deserve plaudits aplenty.

The 60th minute Wijnaldum substitutions, however, sure are a stroke of genius every time.

Koeman is ridiculous and, for all the shit the Dutch players used to get for having an ego, definitely has one of his own that's ran totally unchecked for a decade at this point.

That's probably fair, but you can't really blame Memphis for being selected into a role he can't actually play either, he's a fast, technical player, not a large striker that can be utilized for hold-up play or aerial challenges. He can run in behind which in theory would be good against a high press, but we also already have Gakpo and Malen that could fulfill that role, so all three naturally drift towards occupying the same tiny space...

We got the usual Wijnaldum at 60 mins into disappearing in the minimal space between the opposition midfield and defense while being utterly incapable of being reached, though, so that's nice.

Edit: A space that was already being occupied by 4 to 5 of our attacking-minded players, mind you.

Agreed. Geertruida actually looked much more comfortable and effective when he could roam away from the touchline (though even then he looked a little out of his depth on occassion). But if you want a roaming wingback, why not go with 3 at the back, Aké is probably one of the very best left-sided centrebacks in a 3CB system, and we have 3 attackers that all drift inside with 0 overlap because they have to remain disciplined.

Biggest cope of the day if you think Koeman is going to do anything but sub on Wijnaldum the 60th minute when we're trailing 2-0 in the RO16.

If we somehow manage not to flunk out of the RO16 I'm buying a full fucking kit of our lord and saviour... well whoever manages to piss one into the opposition's net, probably Weghorst again by the looks of things.

Disagree, Sabitzer is a fucking powerhouse, that guy rocks.

But for the most part they just showed eagerness and drive to press, and push, not resting on their 1-0 or 2-1 scorelines and they got their payoff in the end.

It is insane, their pressing was atrocious. I felt like it was a byproduct of the clogged centre, where the midfield playmakers constantly had to move into the channels to have any chance of receiving the ball but then being nowhere if possession was lost, as well as they really wanting to catch up to the attack leaving a massive gap behind them. With Geertruida joining in as well, all we had was three central-ish defenders, plus Schouten which had to try his best to help them out as our 6.

I have to partially disagree. While it is in vogue to hate on Depay, I thought he was actually pretty good for the most part. He came deep, moved well, and when he got a touch in it was usually quite good.

However, with him dropping deep, there was no end product. I don't really know a good way to capitalise fully off of Memphis' skills as we don't play with an offensively-minded midfielder that doesn't track back. It felt like he'd play nicely in the 10 position but then we really need wingers with more width that works hard defensively, or something.

Another set of baffling coaching choices, as well as an incredibly weak performance by several of our (Dutch) players.

Wijnaldum, as ever, was completely ineffectual after coming on.

Geertruida looked like a fish out of water when he was playing as an actual fullback, and got slightly into the match when he was allowed to roam and play more like an inside wing-back, which brought to the forefront the reason we have been so woeful at pushing forwards: every one of our players want to play through the centre of the pitch, and barely anyone actually likes playing towards the touchline. Malen and Gakpo are both players that want to cut inside, waiting for overlap as a passing outlet for the space they create which never comes because Geertruida is not on the outside and neither is Aké. So we end up clogging the middle while having fast, technical players trying to play through a mass of bodies.

Full props to the Austrians, though. They kept pushing even when ahead, displayed cohesive pressing for the full 90 and had some absolutely steller performances with Sabitzer as a particular highlight, what a player.

Fully deserved victory for the Österreichers, and a deserve loss for the Netherlands. I can't wait until Koemanball is over.

Edit because I got triggered again:
Even though Mickey van de Ven is a 6'4 beast of a central defender, he was effective as an attacking fullback because for the first time in the match someone actually fucking barrelled down the sideline, and lo and behold, found space there.

Verstappen actually holds dual citizenship of Belgium and the Netherlands, while Nico Rosberg has the German and Finnish nationalities.

Just a honest dude with hateful beliefs*

Typical reddit mindset in this thread, wew. OP posts a funny clip, gets absolutely picked apart in the comments for not playing the game the 'right' way.

I thought it was funny OP. Very dumb move. I'd have done the same. +1

Oh, my bad, I thought you asked a genuine question but you're not actually interested in the answer. It's not hard to figure out why 'moon landing fake' is a ridiculous proposition but nothing I say is going to be able to change your mind anyway.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here. Is there technology advanced enough to put people on the surface of the moon and bring them back now? Sure. Are you wondering why no organisation is doing so?

The simple answer is, as always: money. A manned moon mission is a HUGE undertaking with incredible constraints. It is safe to assume safety norms are now considerably higher than in a cold war era 1960s-1970s USA, which makes any undertaking involving humans exponentially more expensive.But more importantly: what's the point? The moon, for all it's human wonder, is not particularly interesting, scientifically speaking.

So why go there? Why put boots on the ground? In the cold war it was a propaganda thing, a political and technological drive, but now... there's really not much of a point of doing it other than showing that we still can. And any scientific goals are served equally well by robots, without the extreme safety constraints and without the need to have a way back home.

The reason Space X is talking about it is because they apparently believe there is in fact money to be made, namely in the form of extremely rich folk that have nothing else to burn their cash on but do the most exclusive thing they can get someone to sell to them (see also: Titan X or whatever that whole nonsense was called).

He does look like a fun guy, for sure.

I feel like it has mellowed to the point of being reciprocal. He gives exactly the same amount of space that he is given - that is, with Leclerc, they give each other JUST enough, and with Lewis, they force each other to back out or crash. He doesn't treat them the same, because they treat him differently, where before, he was more aggro with everyone.

Solving everything > solving something > solving nothing

Is this supposed to be funny?

So, let me get this straight: the biggest highlights this Jigglypuff player could scramble together for a hype video is.... a bunch of planking and stalling?

I mean I know Jigglypuff's reputation as lame is sometimes overblown, but they're really not doing them any favours here lmao.