Shadow Scholar Syndicate: WM 2018--Day Four Recap

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All of the calories and none of the intoxication!

This dog don’t bite ; )

Day 4: Recap

Record—

Spread: 4-7

Straight up: 5-4-2

Hot Girl Standings

Country	Tally	Games Played
Mexico	14	1
Spain	10	1
Argentina	9	1
Russia	9	1
Denmark	8	1
Costa Rica	8	1
Brazil	8	1
Serbia	7	1
Iceland	7	1
Egypt	7	1
Peru	6	1
Morocco	6	1
Iran	6	1
Croatia	5	1
Australia	5	1
Nigeria	5	1
Portugal	4	1
Uruguay	4	1
France	4	1
Germany	4	1
Switzerland	4	1
Saudi Arabia	2	1

Your friendly bookie wishes to reiterate a little something that only his closest Syndicate members know about him. At the end of the day, I’m aware that football remains just a mere game….and what an incredible one we all witnessed today! Loved the El Tri fans. Loved the heart of their players. Loved Rafa Marquez coming in to finish the job. Loved watching Chicharito getting misty-eyed after the final whistle. Loved watching what was a thoroughly entertaining match from start to finish with all my mates.

Image result for germany vs. mexico chicharito crying

We’re all in this together!

Felicidades, Amigos!

S.S.S. Tactical Breakdown

The Jungs did well. I’ll gladly tell you how and why.

Lineup—Deutschland—PROJECTED (4-2-3-1) (6/5/18)

Timo Werner

Julian Draxler Toni Kroos Julian Brandt

Sami Khedira Meshut Özil

Jonas Hector Joshua Kimmich

Mats Hummels Jerome Boateng

Manuel Neuer

Lineup—Deutschland—ACTUAL (4-2-3-1) (6/17/18)

Timo Werner

Julian Draxler Toni Kroos Thomas Müller

Sami Khedira Meshut Özil

Marvin Plattenhardt Joshua Kimmich

Mats Hummels Jerome Boateng

Manuel Neuer

More or less as I had anticipated. Some placed Özil directly behind Werner, but it didn’t look like he occupied that position to me. Looks like Jonas Hector came down with a laqst minute illness, forcing Plattenhardt to take over at left back. Suppose I should have given Müller more love. He’s really resurrected his career after listing in mid 2016. He looked totally rejuvenated out there today (aside from the silly foul in the 83^rd). The fact that Brandt immediately took over his space after he was subbed on late shows you what the future of that position will be. Thomas still has quite a bit left in the tank, however. I expect he’ll do well in this tournament.

Hector’s absence forced Kimmich to pick up more than his fair share of the slack. I saw him hustling all over the pitch, firing off from the slot point blank and hustling all the way back to execute dazzling tackles. He’s not only inherited Phillip Lahm’s position, he’s redefining it in fascinating new ways. We’ll likely see the three-man defensive front soon as Löw’s fullbacks aren’t really meant to do much defending. For that matter neither are the centerbacks. Hummels comes forward often and Boateng essentially directs the attack.

Who really needs defenders when your goalie can clear from outside the 18? Löw demonstrates enormous faith in Neuer to reprise his role as the world’s only true “Sweeper Keeper”. Whether or not he can do this after serious metataursal surgery isn’t clear, but he looked up to the task today.

Our Jungs live exceedingly dangerously, vulnerable as all hell on the counter. La Azteca showed how to exploit that today, but the boys showed that they can bombard opposing teams with creative offensive pressure up until…well today they started flagging around the 82^nd. To be fair they ran their asses off and created many quality innovative offensive chances. Many of them came within a few centimeters of working. The timing wasn’t quite there for many and Ochoa made some sturdy saves. We’ll get there.

I’m not worried. An opening loss against the group’s only real challenger means next to nothing. Ask the 2010 Spanish side, or their German counterparts. Despite the media’s attempts to hype it, we all know that the “Group of Death” truly is dead. Easy wins against Sweden and South Korea will see us through. I’d be much more concerned if Brazil hadn't drawn today. So long as we don’t face them in the Round of 16 we should attain the Quarters.

Here are the grades. Everyone gets one

GRADES—Deutschland (Match One)

Joshua Kimmich	A+
Jerome Boateng	A+
Toni Kroos	A
Mats Hummels	A
Julian Draxler	A
Manuel Neuer	A
Julian Brandt	A
Thomas Müller	A-
Marco Reus	B+
Sami Khedira	B
Timo Werner	B-
Marvin Plattenhardt	B-
Mario Gomez	C
Meshut Özil	C-

Werner looked off, and might of injured himself. Gomez really blew that chance in the 80^th. Plattenhardt had some mighty big shoes to fill on short notice. Other than that the only one I’m really worried about is Özil. As I said at the beginning, his deteriorating form at Arsenal worries because it’s speed that he’s losing. One could clearly see that he’s down a tick today. He would have reached several more of the through balls a few years back.

We were all surprised to see Löw leave Sané at home. Let’s hope it doesn’t become a talking point further down the line.

Weighing in on VAR

Did we get all of the misbehavior sorted out at the end of Costa Rica/Serbia?

Yes and no. Prijovic got rightly slapped with a yellow after he bitchslapped an opposing player in the 96^th, but Matic probably should have been reprimanded for acting like a four-year-old on the sideline four minutes earlier….or maybe that Costa Rican coach had it coming.

“Riffs of the Day”—Day Four

Reader: Wonder if you can ever stick with anything long enough to get good at it?

Vicey: Oh it’s on, 35-M I’ve been holding on to that riff for over a week. It’s on like motherfuckin’ Donkey Kong. What’s with the snarky jab at my lack of professional success? Who do you think you are, one of my female readers?

Reader: No one expects the German Inquisition.

Vicey: Bwahahahaha

No I don’t care if half of you didn’t get that disjointed reference.

Zing, 56-M!

Reader: Thought you Krauts we’re supposed to start strongly and run out of gas later.

Vicey: In wars maybe. This isn’t Stalingrad. That’s actually the site of Nigeria vs. Iceland on Friday, by the way. I will have my revenge, 71-M!

DAY FIVE--PREVIEW

Sweden vs. South Korea