[Archived] England World Cup Campaign

[JBiz]

95 minutes and a one man advantage needed to beat the mighty Slovakia.

Better than euro result?

papering over the cracks...that was chuffing suiciding inducing

I thought we got better as it went on.

[Gav]

Abysmal, not the managers fault.

Did anyone else see the Rovers flag bottom corner? Did is say Darwen on it?

Lalana just said we played brilliant

[onlyonejackwalker]

Go on Big Sam. That will do. Tough away from home against a well drilled defensive unit.

Clean sheet and a win. No suprise that little had changed after a few short weeks with the same players. Other than winning of course.

[Amo]

Better than euro result?

Only because of the red card & Fergietime.

[DE.]

I'm hoping Allardyce is giving some of these jokers enough rope to hang themselves with. A win's a win but that team is as bad as it's been in some time. It's frightening how little football intelligence resides on the pitch when we play.

Much like against Wales, we bundled the ball home at the death after sustained pressure. We can't continue like that.

[Jock]

Abysmal, not the managers fault.

Did anyone else see the Rovers flag bottom corner? Did is say Darwen on it?

Lalana just said we played brilliant

Yes Gav, Darwen with the Rovers badge on it.

[LewisF]

Played badly but a win is a win. Shouldn't be having to wait until the 95th minute to beat an 11 man Slokavia, let alone 10 men

[Hasta]

95 minutes and a one man advantage needed to beat the mighty Slovakia.

The mighty Slovakia who beat Spain 2-1 at home at the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying.

[JBiz]

Only because of the red card & Fergietime.

I don't see any legitimacy in that comment, we created a lot of chances, we defended pretty stoutly and kept going till the end despite a lot of bad decisions from the officials and time wasting from them.

Not an easy place to start, lots of pressure and we have to win when it goes to ten men. Subs made impact too.

Altogether good start for me - Rooney even controlled the game and played some really good passes as opposed to the pointless and aimless switching of the play he specialised in at the euros.

Negatives where full backs made a few mistakes, sterling needs to be more direct and less dallying and Kane should be dropped soon if we've got plenty of other options who serve better than a misfiring poacher!

[Parsonblue]

Excellent result and in qualifying groups the result is all that matters. Pleased for Sam and I'm sure we will get better as we go on. As Hasta said, Slovakia are no soft touch, particularly at home so three points here is an excellent return.

[Amo]

The mighty Slovakia who beat Spain 2-1 at home at the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying.

[Hasta]

Only because of the red card & Fergietime.

The biggest mistake that the ref made regards time added on was blowing straight after the kick off for the end of the game. Their goalie was down injured for well over two minutes so there should still have been 20 or 30 seconds left.

Good start by Big Sam. During his England reign he's going to have to put up with people picking up on every negative in games due to the fact they won't admit they are wrong about him.

[joey_big_nose]

Lee Dickson was spot on about us playing too high up the pitch so the midfield had no passes to pick. We only really looked threatening when Alli came on and they went down to 10 men. There's loads of work to do.

Allardyce needs to build a team around a system that works both defensively and offensively. Woy was in for 4 years and never did. I have to say I can't really see what it is - we have a lot of decent players, but it is very hard to see how they fit together well.

[Amo]

I don't see any legitimacy in that comment, we created a lot of chances, we defended pretty stoutly and kept going till the end despite a lot of bad decisions from the officials and time wasting from them.

They played almost the entirety of the second half against 10 men. And they still struggled to create a shot on goal.

Anyway, the result is par for the course. England to win group, fail spectacularly at the next major tournament. Change manager, rinse repeat.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Surreal. Its like going back in time 6 years on here. Same "abysmal" "horrific", gotta say "suicide inducing" is a new one. Same posters trying with a mixture of bewilderment and irritation to include some sense of perspective in the proceedings.

I'll join the latter, Slovakia:

Beat Germany 3-1 away in May.

Ranked above Holland.

Have lost 5 of their last 30 international matches.

We were away from home, Skrtel could have had 3 red cards and should have gone in the first half, the time wasting was ridiculous after Slovakia went down to 10 men, we hit the post, had a very​ unlucky goal disallowed, had 20 shots to their 1, 64% of the possession, basically totally dominated the game, and we won.

How does it work exactly, what do people expect? Is the minimum barometer for not venting your spleen after the match doubled whenever its a Big Sam team? It makes a complete mockery out of the positive match dissections Bowyer used to get for drawing must-win games, or the murmurs of positivity afforded Coyle for losing at home to Fulham.

[Rover_Shaun]

The mighty Slovakia who beat Spain 2-1 at home at the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying.

So if we ever play Sutton Utd and scab a 1-0 win we should hark back to Coventry in 1988 and think we did amazingly well?!!!!!

[ABBEY]

I thought we got better as it went on.

shock, horror, you post opposite of me .

[DE.]

I think Hoddle summed it up well enough when he commented it was a good win, but at the same time there wasn't enough difference from the Euro 2016 "performances" to breed any proper optimism yet.

I'm pretty confident that in time Allardyce will weed out those who can't contribute. This is his big chance - he's not going to do a Hodgson and allow these overpaid jokers to ruin his one shot at the big job.

The likes of Kane and Sterling must be on thin ice by now. I'd be very surprised if the team looks remotely similar in two years time. If Allardyce can't trust the players to carry out instructions fluidly he will revert to a rigid, know-your-role-and-stick-to-it approach. He probably didn't think he'd have to do that with such supposedly talented players, but if the Euros and tonight are anything to go by, that's likely to be where we end up. And sadly we will be better off for it.

[Hasta]

So if we ever play Sutton Utd and scab a 1-0 win we should hark back to Coventry in 1988 and think we did amazingly well?!!!!!

What an idiotic comparison.

How many of the Sutton United side would also be in that side that played in 1988?

How many Slovakia players were in that side from 2014?

[chor808]

Malta 1 Scotland 1 at half time is that right, do I really need glasses

[DE.]

Malta 1 Scotland 1 at half time is that right, do I really need glasses

Aye, bloody good result for Scotland if it stays like that.

[Stuart]

Surreal. Its like going back in time 6 years on here. Same "abysmal" "horrific", gotta say "suicide inducing" is a new one. Same posters trying with a mixture of bewilderment and irritation to include some sense of perspective in the proceedings.

I'll join the latter, Slovakia:

Beat Germany 3-1 away in May.

Ranked above Holland.

Have lost 5 of their last 30 international matches.

We were away from home, Skrtel could have had 3 red cards and should have gone in the first half, the time wasting was ridiculous after Slovakia went down to 10 men, we hit the post, had a very​ unlucky goal disallowed, had 20 shots to their 1, 64% of the possession, basically totally dominated the game, and we won.

How does it work exactly, what do people expect? Is the minimum barometer for not venting your spleen after the match doubled whenever its a Big Sam team? It makes a complete mockery out of the positive match dissections Bowyer used to get for drawing must-win games, or the murmurs of positivity afforded Coyle for losing at home to Fulham.

Boom!

(Especially the last para!)

[chor808]

There not happy with that goal, Hanley knee in the back?

[onlyonejackwalker]

Surreal. Its like going back in time 6 years on here. Same "abysmal" "horrific", gotta say "suicide inducing" is a new one. Same posters trying with a mixture of bewilderment and irritation to include some sense of perspective in the proceedings.

I'll join the latter, Slovakia:

Beat Germany 3-1 away in May.

Ranked above Holland.

Have lost 5 of their last 30 international matches.

We were away from home, Skrtel could have had 3 red cards and should have gone in the first half, the time wasting was ridiculous after Slovakia went down to 10 men, we hit the post, had a very​ unlucky goal disallowed, had 20 shots to their 1, 64% of the possession, basically totally dominated the game, and we won.

How does it work exactly, what do people expect? Is the minimum barometer for not venting your spleen after the match doubled whenever its a Big Sam team? It makes a complete mockery out of the positive match dissections Bowyer used to get for drawing must-win games, or the murmurs of positivity afforded Coyle for losing at home to Fulham.

In defence of Hodgson most knew we had a bunch of lily liveried bottlers when the heat was on.

Well Sam has inherited the same crew. I'm hoping he can give them a plan and some backbone. Very pleased for him and at long last very interested in England again. I am confident others have felt totally disinterested in England for years and may say the same.

Oh and great post.

[Rover_Shaun]

What an idiotic comparison.

How many of the Sutton United side would also be in that side that played in 1988?

How many Slovakia players were in that side from 2014?

both are just as meaningless because the sun occassionally shines on a dogs arse. So what about 2014. It means nowt. England should still beat them convincingly (by 2 or more and a comfortable performance. 9 out of 10. So far 0 out of 2.