CC 2017--Round Two

Привет Syndicate Members,

If you’re just joining us, welcome to what 56-M has so penetratingly and poignantly termed “The Summer of Vicey slowly talking himself into Russia”. Caustic brilliance. Couldn’t have put it better myself, even on my most sardonic of days ; ). I’m getting there, brothers. Good football helps. There’s been plenty of that during the tournament’s opening round. We still need a more diverse flag/fan selection in the stands. We’ll also need to sort out all of these well-intentioned, yet wholly imperfect, efforts at rule changes. The unwelcome intrusion of sordid imbecilic geopolitical analysis can also get lost, but there really isn’t really much one can do about that in the “Infotainment Age”.

All four matches have provided us with solid captivating football, both visually and tactically. Your friendly bookie and his core group of old mates presently engage in vigorous debates over “VAR” until Sunrise forces them to concede a point and finally go to bed. A heinous sounding acronym, no? Sounds like some sort of evil AI that has recently become self-aware. “VAR” might as well be the evil Damien Demon Baby of “Skynet” and “HAL”. Goal-Line Technology was one thing, but football fans need time to adjust to the idea of an “eye in the sky” calling borderline offside decisions.

To the uninitiated, the acronym “VAR” stands for “Video-Assisted-Refereeing”. Depending on who you talk to, it’s either a sincere attempt at making the game fairer or a horrid affront to the hard-working linesmen who actually run the pitch with the players. As I wrote in my Daily yesterday, I can learn to accept it so long as it doesn’t interfere with the flow of the game.

Allow me to reiterate that the Confederations Cup is a “Dress Rehearsal” in every last respect. It’s supremely ironic that we’re debating a so-called “Electronic Encroachment” upon our beautiful game when we’re really talking about a bunch of half-drunk Uzbeks in a booth trying to figure out what the rules are.      

We’ve got a year to get it together. ; )

How about some Lines?

Wednesday, June 21^st   

Russia vs. Portugal

  vs. 

Putin won’t be attending this one as he’s far too crafty to allow himself to be filmed witnessing a beat-down. Give the man props for some consistently conniving PR. It now necessitates his absence.  Match one confirmed what most of us football watchers have suspected all along: This team isn’t up to the task. Nowhere close. Zhirkov looks to be about done. No real creativity from Golovin or Yerokhin. Smolov got a quality goal, but otherwise looked lost all evening.

Don’t be fooled by that “Potemkin Village” of a result against the Kiwis on Saturday. Moreover, don’t listen to all the overblown hype about Ronaldo’s lack of effort in his debut match. It’s all a sham. Media types desperately need to even the odds here. They're merely doing their job. Make the match interesting. Your friendly bookie, fairly enough, baited you too. I debuted the line at Portugal +1 to get a few nibbles ; )

I’ve since exercised my privilege to roll it. Feel free to wager if you’re feeling an “UPSET ALERT”.

THE LINE: Portugal +2 Goals (rolling up soft from Portugal +1)

Mexico vs. New Zealand

  vs.  

Received a little action on this one too. It would appear that I’m not the only one bedazzled by “Kiwi Charm”. Smeltz and Wood will certainly play better. Patterson and Thomas might find it easier to procure space as well. A well-organized 5-3-2 often proves enough to keep any team in the game long enough to snatch a lucky winner.

We could be in for a surprise here….though probably not.

Note that EVERYONE wins when Jorge Perez Navarro calls a match.  

THE LINE: Mexico +1 Goal (rolling down soft from Mexico +2)

Thursday, June 22^nd    

Cameroon vs. Australia

  vs. 

Still can’t make sense of Hugo Broos’s defensive selections. Might be the case that he wished to make a soft debut and thereby play his hand as close to the vest as possible. We’ve seen such strategies from him in tournaments past. For all the talk of the unexpectedly feisty performance of the Aussies against the German “Prospect Team”, Leckie and Sainsbury were the only ones who demonstrated promise in this oddsmaker’s eyes.

Have to tip the Lions here. There’s simply too much talent. If only Sizwe Mabena were here to call it ; (

THE LINE: Cameroon +1 Goal (debuting)

Deutschland vs. Chile

  vs. 

Oh man this one can’t get here soon enough. Love watching the “German Talent Engine” churn out prospective talent in real time. You can read all about it in yesterday’s daily. Tomes of material for you there. I knew it would be fun to scout a mostly new squad of players auditioning for more permanent roles in next Summer’s WM, but even your friendly bookie couldn’t have envisaged just how much fun Löw had in store for us. The manner in which he cultivates new talent, giving every last player with potential a chance on the “Proving Grounds” is just so immensely entertaining. Amateur Speculators such as myself get the pleasure of being proven dead wrong at every turn.

I projected the wrong lineup, as did Arne Friedrich and Lothar Matthäus ; ) I could spend all day writing about it…just like I did yesterday. ; )

We’ll try to keep it somewhat briefer this evening.

A stern test awaits. Yesterday’s projected lineup.

Experimentation will take a back seat to the need to qualify for the Knockout Stages of this tournament in the next match against Chile. Löw will start more experienced players in the interest of clinching the group.

Here are my thoughts on what that eleven might look like:

 LINEUP—Deutschland—Match Two—Projected (4-1-2-3) 

6/19/2017

Timo Werner

Julian Draxler             Lars Stindl

Leon Goretzka  Sebastian Rudy

Emre Can

J. Hector  M. Ginter  A. Rüdiger J. Kimmich

Marc Andre ter Stegen

Having scrutinized the Chilean Squad a bit more, here's what the revision looks like:

 LINEUP—Deutschland—Match Two—Projected (4-1-2-3) 

6/20/2017

Timo Werner

Julian Draxler             Lars Stindl

Amin Younes   Leon Goretzka

Kerem Demirbay

J. Hector  S. Mustafi  A. Rüdiger J. Kimmich

Marc Andre ter Stegen

Switching Goretzka, inserting Demirbay, and retaining Mustafi makes more sense…..but let’s go ahead and play already!!

THE LINE: Die Nationalmannschaft +1 Goal (debuting)

GENTLEMEN, ENTER YOUR WAGERS