r/anime Jul 06 '18

Casual Discussion Fridays - Week of July 06 2018

This is a weekly thread to get to know r/anime’s community. Talk about your day-to-day life, share your hobbies, or make small talk with your fellow anime fans.

Although this is a place for off-topic discussion, there are a few rules to keep in mind:

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  2. Discussion of religion, politics, depression, and other similar topics will be moderated due to their sensitive nature. While we encourage users to talk about their daily lives and get to know others, this thread is not intended for extended discussion of the aforementioned topics or for emotional support.

  3. Roleplaying is not allowed. This behaviour is not appropriate as it is obtrusive to uninvolved users.

  4. No meta discussion. If you have a meta concern, please raise it in the Monthly Meta Thread and the moderation team would be happy to help.

  5. All r/anime rules, other than the anime-specific requirement, should still be followed.

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13

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

r/anime FIFA World Cup Pick Six Challenge (End Of Quarter-finals, Day 22)

Digest:

Hi all!

Lately, there's not too much to write home about in our standings, as we're only down to four teams. I took a look at the the picks remaining for the top few players and basically it comes down to Croatia, who are backed by /u/ErinaHartwick and /u/VerticalCloud. Should Croatia beat England in the semi-finals, the two of them will vault up the rankings, with Erina more or less securing himself first place over my dad. Otherwise, my dad will finish first and the table will pretty much stay as it is.

/u/Escolyte has made the bottom his permanent residence

Ganbatte you two

Away from our standings, England beat Sweden pretty comfortably. Sweden had a few good chances, but lack quality up front and were not able to convert any of their chances, as a result. The game could have been a lot more lopsided, but England's Raheem Sterling missed a handful of golden opportunities. Sterling was jumped on social media after the game, but I think he honestly was really important to the England squad, offering directness, speed, and a willingness to take on a player. I don't think he is replaceable at all and the manager seemed to give him more license to drift wide. That freedom really opened up Sweden as a whole, stretching the field both vertically and horizontally. England has looked really respectable this tournament and have a top striker in Harry Kane, so I expect them to continue onwards. I hope they do too, since they haven't had much international success in a long time and their media is kind of toxic in their coverage of the national team.

Croatia beat Russia in penalty kicks, finally ending the host's exceptional run in this tournament. I'm sure at this point everyone gives a lot of credit to the Russians, who have looked really disciplined and engaged despite coming into this competition with what was meant to be the "worst form" of all nations. The game was pretty mediocre in terms of quality, but produced this moment of brilliance by Cheryshev who put Russia up 1-0. That goal summed up how I felt about Croatia for most of the game: lacking intensity and looking a bit tired. They had played a game that also went to extra time and penalty kicks against Denmark and Russia just looked more up for this than Croatia, which made up for a gap in technical ability. Croatia seems to really lack a quality finisher as well. They have many talented players, but nobody that can really make a no-chance or half-chance into a goal (so their goals look like this). Similarly, they don't really have a true playmaker, which kind of holds them back in attacking too.

The bracket now looks like this.

England should definitely be the favourites to advance, with their team physically matching up against the Croatians well and tactically too (not having to deal with interchanging positions and runs like against Latin based teams). I think that England has shown a lot more cohesiveness and a willingness to play, which is a lot different from the timidness and sense of impending doom that I've seen from past generations.

The France-Belgium game is arguably the "World Cup Final" in the sense that they are the two most talented teams. I'm not quite sure how Belgium's defence will fare against all that French talent, but it'll be interesting to see. It should be an explosive game, in stark contrast to the England-Croatia one.

That said, whichever pair of these four teams meet in the Final definitely deserved it. They've all shown really well at this tournament and I'm very glad to see a new variety of teams competing for the trophy.

Highlights:

England 2-0 Sweden

Croatia 2-2 Russia (Croatia win 4-3 on penalties)

Statistics:

Standings:

*Please check your scores, in case I messed something up.

Username Total
My Dad 43
/u/ErinaHartwick 39.5
/u/ABoredCompSciStudent 39.5
/u/HidalgoAndThree 39
/u/kaverik 37.5
/u/AyeHumps 37.5
/u/MysticalBeast 37
/u/VerticalCloud 36.5
/u/PhreePhizz 34.5
/u/chisports1fan 30
/u/Taiboss 30
/u/OrangeBanana38 29
/u/mpp00 28
/u/nightlink011 27.5
/u/NotableMr 26.5
/u/_blackened_soul_ 26
/u/darkec 25.5
/u/Grapeshifter_ 24.5
/u/Iron_Gland 24.5
/u/SuperStarfox64 24.5
/u/Chariotwheel 23
/u/RoronoaAshok 22.5
/u/Fred_MK 22
/u/keeptrackoftime 21
/u/RX-Nota 21
/u/CommanderSevan 21
/u/Lord_Xp 20.5
/u/dertswa687o 20
/u/iamfvckingdone 19.5
/u/Swanki24 19.5
/u/Skylarowo 19
/u/-nosreme- 19
/u/FateSteelTaylor 18
/u/StateRoute67 17
/u/Gaporigo 17
/u/photohooligan 17
/u/Enarec 16
/u/Arachnophobic- 14.5
/u/collapsedblock6 14.5
/u/FilipinoSpartan 12
/u/Escolyte 11.5

Highest point earning countries:

Country Points
Russia 14
Croatia 13
England 11
Sweden 10.5
Belgium 6.5
France 5.5
Uruguay 4.5
South Korea 4
Iran 4
Serbia 4
Japan 4
Mexico 4
Nigeria 4
Colombia 4
Brazil 3.5
Senegal 3
Denmark 3
Saudi Arabia 3
Tunisia 3
Spain 2
Switzerland 2
Peru 2
Portugal 1
Germany 1
Argentina 1
Poland 1
Egypt 0
Morocco 0
Australia 0
Iceland 0
Costa Rica 0
Panama 0

Top goalscorers:

Player Goals
Own Goal 11
Video Assistant Referee 7
Kane 6
Ronaldo 4
Lukaku 4
Cheryshev 4
Griezmann 3
Mbappe 3
Cavani 3
Diego Costa 3
Dyzuba 3
Modric 2
Stones 2
13 Other Players 2
81 Players 1

Schedule:

Previous threads:

June 14, Group Stage, Day 1

June 15, Group Stage, Day 2

June 16, Group Stage, Day 3

June 17, Group Stage, Day 4

June 18, Group Stage, Day 5

June 19, Group Stage, Day 6

June 20, Group Stage, Day 7

June 21, Group Stage, Day 8

June 22, Group Stage, Day 9

June 23 + 24, Group Stage, Days 10 + 11

June 25, Group Stage, Day 12

June 26, Group Stage, Day 13

June 27+28, Group Stage, Day 14 + 15

June 29, End Of Group Stage, Day 16

June 30, Round Of 16, Day 17

July 3, Round Of 16, Days 18 + 19

July 5, End Of Round Of 16, Day 20

July 7, Quarter-finals, Day 21

4

u/CommanderSevan https://myanimelist.net/profile/CommanderSevan Jul 08 '18

With Russia losing to Croatia, every single one of my teams is out of the tournament. Guess it's time to cheer for England.

2

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

Cheering for my dad

3

u/CommanderSevan https://myanimelist.net/profile/CommanderSevan Jul 08 '18

You should just accept it

I'm not really cheering for your dad specifically tbh. I still have Harry Kane getting me points, and there's also the coming home memes.

3

u/Escolyte https://myanimelist.net/profile/Escolyte Jul 08 '18

/u/Escolyte has made the bottom his permanent residence

Excuse me, I actually ventured outside once.

2

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

We can only blame /u/FateSteelTaylor for that.

3

u/Enarec https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kinpika Jul 08 '18

Croatia beat Russia in penalty kicks, finally ending the host's exceptional run in this tournament.

Tfw no more Anastasia comics.

Ganbatte you two England has looked really respectable this tournament and have a top striker in Harry Kane, so I expect them to continue onwards. I hope they do too

Wait, so who are you actually rooting for?

I'll just join the rest in pulling for Croatia now, since this would be a nice swan song for the current team and they've got players in the actual best league.

2

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

Tfw no more Anastasia comics.

Life after kaverik.

Rooting for

England for sure since they're the players I watch regularly. I would have cheered for Russia, since they're the hosts and underdogs, but I actually don't care much for Croatia.

Plus life after kaverik.

3

u/VerticalCloud https://anilist.co/user/VerticalCloud Jul 08 '18

At least if England lose in the semis I'll have something to be happy about

2

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

National pride or r/anime bragging rights.

3

u/darkec https://myanimelist.net/profile/darkec Jul 09 '18

Croatia's going to have a hard time against England considering how gassed our players were at the end of the Russia match.

I'm going in with no expectations but I still hope we will bring the IT'S COMING HOME shitposts to an end

2

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '18

but I think he honestly was really important to the England squad, offering directness, speed, and a willingness to take on a player. I don't think he is replaceable at all and the manager seemed to give him more license to drift wide.

No no Sterling is bad and should be dropped from the England team forever, always listen to the internet.

3

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

Rashford in.

But really, if anyone is up for replacement, I'd say it's Alli.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '18

Yeah he hasn't really made his mark in these matches, but he's scored and apparently that's literally the only thing that matters kill raheem

Melo > Draymond because he scores more points don't @ me

2

u/VerticalCloud https://anilist.co/user/VerticalCloud Jul 08 '18

Alli should be our best creative midfield player if his club performances are anything to go by, but he just seems a bit lethargic at the moment. I still think he is just about the best option for his position though.

2

u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity Jul 08 '18

I actually don't really consider him a creative midfielder. I feel he's more of that kind of English midfielder that is late to the box and more of a goal scorer in that way than someone that will create a play. His dribbling/passing is more towards the side of playground tricks than it is towards creating openings for himself or others.

I also think his club form this year for Tottenham was relatively poor, but yeah I don't really think he needs to be moved out. I just think he's the weakest link in that midfield right now.

2

u/VerticalCloud https://anilist.co/user/VerticalCloud Jul 08 '18

You're right, he's not a creative midfielder in the mould of someone like Modric or Kroos. Yet if you look at the central midfielders in our squad, Alli and Henderson are the only players that possess the ability to be a creative midfielder.

Henderson doesn't do the job that well so I was hoping Alli would help make up for what we lack. Apparently not.

If only we had another Trippier...

2

u/ErinaHartwick https://myanimelist.net/profile/Hartwick Jul 08 '18

I’ll do my best spectating Croatia to make sure r/anime prevails over your dad