I’ve been thinking (& reading) about this for a bit

by Mark, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 05:37 (8 days ago) @ BillyGoat
edited by Mark, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 05:50

I think Haaland grew frustrated with his team’s lack of delivery to him. He’s still young/ on the front side of the middle of his career.

I saw a decent defense of Sorloth’s failure to get the pass to Haaland. An old premier league keeper came forward and said the English defender deserves credit for covering the passing lane that Sorloth needed to use to get the ball to Haaland. But when the play happened I remember thinking that was the type of play Messi would have nutmegged the defender and made a perfect pass to Haaland. Its a tough play, but it comes down to timing. You time the defenders step and place the ball just to the inside of the leg that the defender just stepped to the ground with (ie all the defender’s weight is on that leg).

Essentially, the pass could have been made by a more creative player, but the old GK is right, the defense was pretty good vs Haaland & Norway.

I’m bummed to see Norway go, bc I think its good for more teams to get to the Final 4, but the result is extremely common. All 4 teams in the Final Four have won a WC before … and it feels to me like that’s the most common result in WC runs. Its really tough for new nations to break through.

As for the physicality of the play (as discussed lower in this thread), I agree that England flopped on Haaland’s push (that caused a Norwegian goal to be called back), but I also agree it was bad that Haaland didnt see it coming and avoid the call. FWIW, I did think Norway lost its aggressiveness and werent creative enough or risky enough to just send constant balls in to Haaland (like they should have). I really thought Norway’s defense/ defensive midfield played scared. They were afraid to turn (and play downfield) with the ball at their feet. They constantly played the ball back to a safe player behind them. Well you cant win if you dont shoot the damn ball. So that was crap play imo. Not sure if it was their coaching guidance or just a bunch of players afraid to make an error. Regardless, it was tough to watch knowing they have the most lethal goal scorer on their front line.

On the tackles, the general rule is that tackles from behind the ball carrier almost always get cards, bc the dribbler cant see it coming and cant protect himself from the defensive attack. However, historically (ie when I was playing regularly 10+ years ago), if the tackler (1) gets to the ball first and (2) doesnt have the bottom of his cleats exposed to the ball carrier, then its considered a clean tackle and there’s no foul. So the defensive player needs to get 2 things done right to avoid getting called.

As for all the pushing/ holding/ hooking/ shirt pulling … some of that was pretty crazy and the refs need to get out in front of it and start handing out yellow cards before the play gets out of hand. The thing to look for is a bent elbow. If someone is pushing and their elbow is bent, that used to be a sign that you would get called for the foul. We always taught kids to foul by keeping your arm straight, but pushing your hand off the opposing players hip. That way you could move the opposing player off the ball but it didnt look like a foul, bc your elbow wasnt sticking in to that player. But in this WC, I’m not sure what the guidelines are anymore, some of the physical play looks like fouls that arent being given yellow cards. I really dont know what to make of it. I will add that the pulling is really well done (ie they do it in a way that is usually blocked from the refs seeing the pull). Dont doubt a quality player’s ability to understand the refs viewing angle and have a feel for when they can get away with a shirt pull at an angle the ref cant see. Some of it has been egregious, but also well done. There’s an art to it and its clear some players are aware of that art.

Keep in mind, these are fouls you make in midfield and not when defending in your own box, as you dont want to give up a PK. Its good to make the foul to stop a breakaway, but bad if you do it in a part of the field that gives up a direct goal scoring opportunity.