It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Right here's my view on England's chances.

First off they have an easy group to get out of so last 16 should be a gimme.

Secondly , regardless if they finish first or second in the group they will play a crap team in the last 16 so that's the quarters nailed on without even breaking a sweat.

If things go to form England should face either Brazil or Germany in the quarter final and if they win that which I don't think is beyond them then who cares who they face after.

I think this England team could surprise a few people and for the right reasons for a change.

Good luck but I'm still cheering for Tunisia Monday :-)

You already doing well Stan , 3 days gone and still unbeaten :-)

...oh yes this is so true 😎

It's refreshing to see teams actually go all out for a win innit , instead of playing chess , lets hope it continues , gotta love Mexico .

Just had a look at the knockout stages....it's a distinct possibility that the Germans could now meet Brazil in the next round......crikey !....because now Mexico could win their group...!...

Anyway...Good luck England !....let's play some exciting soccer !....

RF you seem to be getting excited again, but remember what happened last time and the time before that etc 😂

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Tonight's match:



Bugs strife: Swarms cause chaos in Volgograd before England v Tunisia
Mosquitoes and midges cause Sky to abandon interviews
England players taking precautions before game with Tunisia
Martha Kelner in Volgograd

Mon 18 Jun 2018 12.46 BST Last modified on Mon 18 Jun 2018 12.50 BST

Swarms of mosquitoes and midges have led to Sky Sports News cancelling live interviews.

Swarms of flying bugs are causing chaos for fans and broadcasters around Volgograd with fears they may be a nuisance to England players when they face Tunisia in their opening game of the World Cup on Monday evening.

It is understood the city of Volgograd, which is in the south east of the country, knew that the bugs – a mixture of mosquitoes and midges - would be a nuisance. Two days ago they deployed helicopters to spray the nearby marshland with pesticides.

It is understood City of Volgograd officials asked the Visit Russia tourism board to include in their guide to the city the fact they had “deployed chemical weapons” to target the insects. But it was pointed out to them, in light of the Sergei Skripal poisoning in Sailsbury, that this might not be the best choice of words.

It is thought that the pesticide did reduce the number of mosquitoes in the area over the weekend but they have returned with a vengeance and are wreaking havoc. Sky Sports News had to abandon a series of live interviews they had planned at the England team hotel on Sunday evening when their presenter Kaveh Solhekol was attacked by a swarm of bugs.

It is thought the position of the stadium, which is directly by the river Volga around which this city is built, might mean the number of bugs is even higher during the game on Monday evening.

The FA were aware of the potential issue of bugs in Volgograd having done a couple of reconnaissance visits to the city since the draw was made last December and England players are thought to be taking precautions before the game.

At the fan zone, where supporters are gathering to watch the games on a giant cinema style screen, security procedures mean liquids are banned. But officials have relaxed regulations to allow people to bring insect repellent into the area because the problem is deemed to be so serious.

Grrrr! Oh blimey!

England, sorry not good enough. Lucky win. Not impressed.

"It's OK. You can come out from behind the sofa."

England 2 Tunisia 1

The Tunisians stopped grappling Kane onto the floor (for the n'th time) just long enough to let him score his second goal.

Yes. Lucky win. I'm not impressed either. Dilly Alley being the worst. The flies and bugs won easily.

We play Panama next on Sunday.

Last minute win ok but hardly lucky. England were by far the better team. It is the standard of refereeing that I consider way below par. Pierluigi would be tearing his hair out if he had any.

You need to go to Specsavers. England walked over in the second half.

England 61% possession. 8 shots on target v 1 . 7 corners v 2. 8 fouls v 14 forgetting all those by Tunisia that the ref missed. Oh yes, England were walked over in your opinion but facts were never your strong point.

I'm disappointed in Southgate , why leave Stirling and Alli on so long when they were poor at best , why did he stay in his bunker and not get on the touchline , why was the refereeing so biased , and what a load of fannies Tunisia were , should have booked them for faking injury , pathetic is the only word .

I have never been impressed with Sterling. He is talented and hard working but the end product is usually woeful. If dreamer had his way Ricketts would be in the line up. Never mind, just think of what the Germans are going through for a change.

Can't believe you lot are moaning after winning ! Thought England played well and stuck to the task but I can't believe Ashley Young is in the squad let alone the team.

Bit too much tippy tappy crap along the back line at times for my liking but a win is a win so rejoice.

That was a good win, well deserved against a difficult side that cheated for a penalty......I mean the guy just walked into Walker and goes down like he was shot by a stalingrad sniper...I mean really !!…..Kane should have had two penalties to ad to his tally.... the ref wasn't good.....good performance overall from the team.....

The World Cup games now have VAR but it concerns me, how fouls such as we witnessed against Harry Kane last night where he was repeatedly pulled down to the ground in the penalty area, never seemed to get to be considered by the referee.

Surely, we should have been given two penalty spot kicks for these fouls against Kane?

I wondered just how VAR works and how we should be getting VAR to work for us in such circumstances and how could the players draw blatant fouls like this to the attention of the referee.

What does VAR stand for?
Video Assistant Referee. The system is football’s first attempt at using video technology to aid in refereeing decisions. The idea is to help the on-field official make the right call – and stop them making a howler that could cost a side the game.

The system was trialled in the FA Cup last season, but this will be the first time the technology has been used at a World Cup.

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, who officiated at the Euro 2016 final, expects that the VAR at the World Cup will be much better than the early trials in England.

“After what happened in the early rounds of the FA Cup, there’s a lot of negativity in England around VAR,” he says. “But Fifa have been doing a lot over the past two years, putting training in place to make sure that it’s a success.”

How does VAR work?
Four referees sit in a video operation room in Moscow (in full kit) and follow the action live from the stadium on a series of TV screens. Thirty-three different cameras plus two dedicated offside cameras theoretically give them all the angles they could ever need. The referee can communicate directly with the VAR team via their radio microphone.


The Video Assistant Referee’s Room in Russia 2018 (Getty) MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JUNE 09: A general view of the Video Assistant Referee's Room home of the VAR system to be used at all FIFA World Cup matches during the Official Opening of the International Broadcast Centre on June 9, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

When can VAR be used at the World Cup?
VAR can only be used in four “match-changing situations”: goals, penalty decisions, red cards and cases of mistaken identity.

This is very important to remember says Clattenburg: “The mistakes using VAR in England were that they were reviewing too many debatable decisions. That’s not what the video assistant referees are for. VAR was brought in to stop the scandalous decisions where everybody in football goes, ‘That’s not correct’.”

If the ref makes a clear mistake in any of the four situations above, the VAR team will advise the ref to check the call – you should see the ref point to his earpiece to show that he’s receiving advice.

If the ref draws a square in the air with his hands, that means the video team are reviewing the incident. The on-field ref can also watch the same replays as the VAR team on a pitch-side screen.

The referee will draw a square in the air to signify a TV screen when he wants to refer a decision to VAR.

VAR can only advise on a decision: it’s up to the official on the pitch to make the final call.

Goals This includes any offences made in the play building up to a goal. Crucially this includes offside decisions. Referee Clattenburg explains that while in the past the decision would have been debatable, with some wanting to give the “benefit of the doubt” to the attacking player, now with technology there is no wriggle room.

“It’s very similar to ball over the line. If the ball is a millimetre over the line, it’s a goal. If a player is a millimetre offside then he’s offside,” he says. “It’s a matter of fact.”

The VAR team will superimpose a – hopefully straight – line over the footage in order to work out whether a player is offside or not.

Penalty decisions Any foul in the box will be checked to confirm whether it is a penalty. If the decision is debatable, the VAR team can advise the referee to check the replays on his own screen. Again, the ref’s decision is final.

Red cards If a referee has made a decision on a foul but it appears that the offence could be more serious, then the VAR team could ask the ref to check the call. Similarly, the video referee could get in touch with the referee if they think a red card is unduly harsh, as can be seen in the video below.

Even more intriguingly, if the ref has missed a violent play incident off the ball that should result in a straight red, then the VAR can pick up on that and let the ref know, even as play is continuing. Clattenburg says theoretically a player could even be given a red card at half time for an incident earlier in the half.

“If a player commits a violent act and it gets picked up on the TV cameras, then VAR will get to know about it and it will be dealt with,” says Clattenburg.

“If somebody does something stupid like hitting someone off the ball, then they know that will be dealt with. That’s why Gareth Southgate has warned his players to be ‘squeaky clean’, because he knows that if they do something stupid, VAR will punish them.”

Mistaken identity Remember the time English referee Graham Poll booked the same player three times in one match? VAR could step in to sort out the confusion. Similarly if the ref has penalised the wrong person, VAR will let them know they’ve made a mistake.

What are the criticisms of VAR?
It’s still a new system, so both players and fans could be confused about how it’s actually being used. Unlike rugby where you can hear the referee’s communications, in football it can be hard to tell when a decision is being reviewed.

The VAR footage is set to be shown on the big screen in the World Cup, but Clattenburg says that viewers at home being able to hear the video referee is the obvious next step in order to make things clearer.

“The video referee should be able to speak and help the people understand the decision-making process,” he says. “There shouldn’t be any hiding. It should be transparent.”

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg will be working as a pundit for ITV during the World Cup, explaining how VAR will be used in Russia

Also, different people have different ideas about exactly what is meant by a “clear mistake”. If pundits can argue for hours over whether it should have been a penalty or whether a goal was offside, will four refs in a control booth really be able to make things any clearer? Clattenburg says that the system was used too often in the trials in England on debatable decisions, and that in the World Cup he hopes the system is restricted to clear mistakes.

However, with referees under fierce spotlight at the World Cup, there is also the danger they could turn to VAR for every major call, disrupting the flow of the game and meaning even more stoppage time.

Clattenburg says that his one big concern – which can’t be fixed by better refereeing – is how the VAR system will affect players and how they celebrate a goal: “The only concern I have as a football fan is that as a player scores a goal, we don’t want him to be worrying about VAR. You need to see them celebrate, you need to see them enjoy the moment. What I’m scared of is that players will be worried about celebrating because they’re thinking about VAR.”

Is VAR ready for the World Cup?
“The technology is ready,” Clattenburg asserts. “It’s how it’s implemented that will be the key. What I will say is Fifa have spent a lot of money educating the referees; there have been courses and seminars in the build-up to the World Cup. In the past there have been maybe two meetings before the World Cup of all the referees. I understand this time there have been six.”

Other pundits that Radio Times has spoken to are not so sure. “I always loved the fact that the naked eye gives you an immediate decision and causes a debate,” says BBC pundit Rio Ferdinand. “But now we’ve got technology causing the debate. What have we gained?”

Frank Lampard agrees: “To me, VAR doesn’t bode well because it doesn’t feel ready. Referees all over the world have a slightly different interpretation of it and what it should be used for. I get that it’s intended to rule out huge errors – and, having been on the end of one [his goal against Germany at the 2010 World Cup was wrongly ruled not to have crossed the line], I agree with that. But it’s whether they’re going to use it to look at every decision. It’ll be terrible if we end up talking about VAR instead of some of the world’s greatest players.”

Clattenburg disagrees: “I’m confident that Fifa will get it right,” he says. “What they can’t get is a situation in the World Cup where everyone is talking about the refereeing decisions. I don’t mind talking about VAR, about whether it should or should not have been used. But what we can’t have is a scandal that knocks a team out of the World Cup.”
.....................................

So my conclusion, after reading the above?

1. The players on the "apparently wronged side" (the side whose player has been fouled - but that foul hasn't been spotted by the referee) have to be able to make a verbal appeal to the referee and ask him to consult the VAR for a check.

2. The team captain has to be the man empowered to talk to the referee and he has to be given a formal power to be able to do this (or the captain's deputy if the captain has been injured and made unable to do this).

(It might be an idea to limit the number given of these types of communication to, say three per half of the game, so that it doesn't spoil the run of the play, just like line call appeals are limited in tennis.)

3. This would have been the way in which Harry Kane could have officially appealed to the referee to review with the VAR and find out how he had been pulled down in the penalty area and thereby show the referee how he had missed these fouls.

Here they are: Shown in HD on YouTube

Obviously, since we ended up winning the game, the importance of this is reduced.

But what if we had lost that match? Then this captain power would have been vital.

ExecLine [Go to ExecLine's website] [Send an email to ExecLine] [View ExecLine's profile] - 18 Jun 2018 15:15 - 6292 of 6303
Tonight's match:

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The England players lost around a stone each, except Kane who gained two.