It is a set menu in this feast of football

I’VE really enjoyed this World Cup so far, even if the English media have been as insufferable as ever, but what I’ve found remarkable is how important set-pieces have been.

At the top level, you’d expect all these top-class players to be able to open defences up and find the net.

Almost every game has been very even – whether that’s because the good players haven’t got going properly yet or, more likely, teams have been defending well.

Finishing has been found wanting for a few sides, Sweden and Serbia come to mind, but, overall, teams have been well set-up defensively – Saudi Arabia apart.

That’s seen teams rely on set-pieces to be able to find the net.

There have been more penalties per game at Russia 2018 than any other tournament which is no doubt an effect of the VAR system.

I was a bit worried the new video refs would be a shambles this World Cup but it’s been pretty good so far.

I disagreed with the awarding of the France penalty and they definitely should have picked up the Tunisian defence’s wrestling moves brought out to stop Harry Kane on Monday.

However, a bit of confusion apart over whether they’re using it, I think it’s been a success.

Where the problem will be is that, just like the Antoine Griezmann’s penalty, using VAR doesn’t take away the fact that it’s still the referee’s decision over what is and what isn’t a foul.

Football managers and pundits have cried out for consistency from refs – that does my head in, by the way – and that’s impossible because they’re not robots.

With VAR, they are just better informed about the decision and it won’t stop a few wrong ones being made all the same.

Before today’s matches we’ve had 10 penalties in 17 games.

Add in goals from free-kicks – a few of which have been very tasty – and corners, of the 42 scored up to today there’s been 21 goals from set-pieces.

With teams getting desperate and elimination on the horizon, we will see a lot more strikes on the counter-attack as sides push forward.

With only the first round of fixtures played, the good stuff is just starting and I’m enjoying every minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo pings in the pick of the bunch of this summer’s flurry of free-kick goals in Russia.