World Cup 2018

[roverandout]

Voodoos are there to be broken..we have just broken one tonight

[SBlue]

https://mobile.twitter.com/tom_usher_/status/1014169507311575042

[Norbert Rassragr]

Don't encourage him Phil.

[Norbert Rassragr]

It is good to see England players without the baggage, of either being over hyped hollywood stars like Beckham, one last shot of success like many others in recent tournaments and just not been scarred by previous failures. They seem to turn up, try their best and get on with it. 

[Mike E]

My players of the tournament so far are Kane and Maguire. Consistently strong positionally as well as on the ball.

Trippier too has been a revelation at rwb but was badly at fault for the equaliser tonight. If he keeps his form vs Sweden, I'll add him too.

I'm pleased particular that Kane is showing himself to be so much more than a mere 'striker'. Tonight he dropped deep to help dictate the play to Sterling, Vardy, and Rashford showing just what a real, proper footballer he is. Strong with a cool head too. Proper captain.

Maguire too, isn't just a defender. He's able to move into midfield and dominate there too, as well as moving up the left wing.

They are 2 excellent footballers.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Mike E

[speeeeeeedie]

4 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Gareth Southgate you lucky lucky man. No shot on target over 120 mins.

Still his gamble has now paid off so good luck to him. Having put all his eggs in one basket of going down this side of the draw it would be a massive failure now if we fail to reach the semi final.

Thereafter Croatia are a decent side so whilst it Wouldn't be failure to go out to them it would still be a massive disappointment to get so close and go out to a mid ranking sort of side.

It's on. Somehow.

You've done nothing but moan and groan about England. You need to give it a rest. We are through to the last 8. Enjoy it.  

[Audax]

Just now, speeeeeeedie said:

You've done nothing but moan and groan about England. You need to give it a rest. We are through to the last 8. Enjoy it.  

Amen

[philipl]

5 hours ago, Audax said:

Crowd against England, no one has commented on that, crowd was for Colombians, I'm sure a lot of Colombians were there but I wonder if some Russians might have joined in? Big bend but don't break moment, I'd say overall, England's best World Cup match since 2002...2006, drew Sweden in the group stage, I think Sweden, diving or fouling or not, are going to be a challenge and after all, defeated Switzerland.

Perhaps as many as 30,000 Colombians in the stadium apparently. Many Colombians are students in Russia. 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/03/england-clinch-first-world-cup-shootout-win-in-intimidating-sea-of-yellow

The crowd here in Malta was only 2:1 English:Colombian as there is a sizeable number of Colombians here as students and workers.

Edited July 4, 2018 by philipl

[philipl]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

My players of the tournament so far are Kane and Maguire. Consistently strong positionally as well as on the ball.

Trippier too has been a revelation at rwb but was badly at fault for the equaliser tonight. If he keeps his form vs Sweden, I'll add him too.

I'm pleased particular that Kane is showing himself to be so much more than a mere 'striker'. Tonight he dropped deep to help dictate the play to Sterling, Vardy, and Rashford showing just what a real, proper footballer he is. Strong with a cool head too. Proper captain.

Maguire too, isn't just a defender. He's able to move into midfield and dominate there too, as well as moving up the left wing.

They are 2 excellent footballers.

Agreed.

Worried about Walker though- he seems to be on the edge of making a catastrophic mistake all the time. I know he was cramping but he escaped from being caught in possession as last man by the skin of his teeth in the first period of extra time and gifted possession to a Colombian break in the second period.

Otherwise all players are growing into their roles and the subs were not overawed coming late into a game for the first time last night. I thought Kane dropping deep during extra time was magnificently disruptive particularly in the first half of ET when the Colombians had some momentum.

 

 

[davulsukur]

Never.

Ever.

Let ANYONE tell you,

that its “just a game”

[joey_big_nose]

2 hours ago, philipl said:

Agreed.

Worried about Walker though- he seems to be on the edge of making a catastrophic mistake all the time. I know he was cramping but he escaped from being caught in possession as last man by the skin of his teeth in the first period of extra time and gifted possession to a Colombian break in the second period.

Otherwise all players are growing into their roles and the subs were not overawed coming late into a game for the first time last night. I thought Kane dropping deep during extra time was magnificently disruptive particularly in the first half of ET when the Colombians had some momentum.

 

 

Agree that Walker is not convincing, we don't seem to be getting the benfits of his recovery pace or overlap in attack . Plus his passing range seems limited.

Arguably we could move Dier in there. More composed, and will pass his way out like Stones and Maguire. Not quick though if we get caught on the break.

Jones and Cahill both just don't have the quality on the ball to slot in.

[Garage Flower]

3 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Agree that Walker is not convincing, we don't seem to be getting the benfits of his recovery pace or overlap in attack . Plus his passing range seems limited.

Arguably we could move Dier in there. More composed, and will pass his way out like Stones and Maguire. Not quick though if we get caught on the break.

Jones and Cahill both just don't have the quality on the ball to slot in.

Walkers in there for his pace. He won’t drop him and I don’t think he should. 

[JacknOry]

8 hours ago, Vinjay17 said:

The so called "penalty curse" is it anything more than cherry picking? England won a penalty shootout in Euro 96 (granted at that point there was only one significant penalty shootout loss 6 years prior) so it's hardly implausible. I think there's something to be said about the mental aspects having failed England in the past (you could argue that in general) but the current players shouldn't have that weight constantly hanging over them. In WC 98 yeah Batty missed but I think that was more about him not being a naturally brilliant penalty taken than some curse. In 1996 it was SOUTHGATE of all people (LOL at that irony now he's the one to end this "curse" right?) and he wasn't a brilliant natural taker either. The other penalties since to be honest I've forgotten who missed/failed.

Why am I being controversial ladyboys? Try sticking to some other of the posts on this thread though guess it's "controversial" to call them out as well?Just suggesting the criticism of Colombia might be excessive. If that's controversial then bloody hell must be losing my touch. ? I didn't watch the game but knowing posters on here like I do it's hardly a stretch to wonder if the claims aren't a bit exaggerated. 

Then you seriously need to watch the game before making statements on something you know nothing about.

[JacknOry]

11 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Agree that Walker is not convincing, we don't seem to be getting the benfits of his recovery pace or overlap in attack . Plus his passing range seems limited.

Arguably we could move Dier in there. More composed, and will pass his way out like Stones and Maguire. Not quick though if we get caught on the break.

Jones and Cahill both just don't have the quality on the ball to slot in.

He does have a mistake in him but he does give us that recovery pace - early on in the first half when the Colombians were hitting us on the break at speed, on a couple of occasions it was his pace which allowed us to thwart them.

[JacknOry]

I am a bit worried that we did not seem to have the creativity to get a shot on goal though. Ali, Sterling and to a degree Lingard were pretty anonymous. Whther this is due to their lack of physicality against the athletic Columbians or whatnot but something really needs addressing.

[DE.]

Our creativity void is an issue, but more worrying for me is our attempts to play out from the back. I understand the idea, particularly as we have a lot of small players in attack who aren't going to win headers, but the way we go about it is all wrong. We continually get into situations where the back three are passing it between themselves (and sometimes one of the wing backs) with no outlet. Ultimately it ends up going back to Pickford who boots it up the pitch, negating the point of passing it around the back to begin with.

It's mainly because not enough players are dropping back to make themselves available for the pass. Multiple times last night Kyle Walker was calling for players to come back and help them out, which shouldn't be necessary. If we're going to play like this then players should automatically be ready to drop back and pick up a pass. Southgate must see this as a problem as we've had the same issue since the start of the tournament. If we want to pass it around like we're Spain then OK, but unless players make themselves available for the ball it's not going to work. Far too often last night there was a huge gap between the first and final third of the pitch, where nobody was dropping back to try and receive the ball from defence. In extra time Kane ended up coming back to do it as nobody else was stepping up. 

Southgate needs to tell some of these players to be braver and show for the ball. Hiding up the final third of the pitch waiting for a ball to be hoofed up is no good when we've got Alli, Sterling and Lingard trying to win headers. One of the three needs to drop back to pick up the ball on the floor from either the defence or Henderson/Dier.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Decent performance by England, although ye very nearly threw it away. I was rooting for ye. A lot of the behaviour by the Colombians was a disgrace. Never going to have a better chance to win a world cup, or at least get to a Semi. I think Croatia, France or Brazil would cause you too many problems with how they control the midfield in games, but at this stage literally anything can happen. Whatever about him as a manager, Southgate comes across as a very likable person too. Well done. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

I am a bit worried that we did not seem to have the creativity to get a shot on goal though. Ali, Sterling and to a degree Lingard were pretty anonymous. Whther this is due to their lack of physicality against the athletic Columbians or whatnot but something really needs addressing.

It's the way we're set up to play. Both of Alli and Lingard are expected to run up with and beyond Kane yet most of the time they aren't doing. Other than that they don't contribute much to build up play. I think we can only afford one of those two playing. What we could do with is a Scholes or Gascoigne style player in there in place of one of those two. Problem is Loftus- Cheek isn't quite there yet.  Lingard is too easily brushed off the ball. Alli isn't much better for a pretty big guy. We're used to Premier League referees were the slightest touch and it's a free kick, in this comp more realistic rules apply. How many times were those two left on the floor appealing for free kicks that never came last night ? 

Sterling is supposed to one of two strikers yet I can't remember the last time he even looked like scoring a goal. Neither of the two wing backs are a goal threat from open play. Only Danny Rose looked the part when he came, he came so close to winning the game for us in extra time

That's why we won't get a lot further. The teams with creators in midfield will see us off.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

24 minutes ago, DE. said:

Our creativity void is an issue, but more worrying for me is our attempts to play out from the back. I understand the idea, particularly as we have a lot of small players in attack who aren't going to win headers, but the way we go about it is all wrong. We continually get into situations where the back three are passing it between themselves (and sometimes one of the wing backs) with no outlet. Ultimately it ends up going back to Pickford who boots it up the pitch, negating the point of passing it around the back to begin with.

It's mainly because not enough players are dropping back to make themselves available for the pass. Multiple times last night Kyle Walker was calling for players to come back and help them out, which shouldn't be necessary. If we're going to play like this then players should automatically be ready to drop back and pick up a pass. Southgate must see this as a problem as we've had the same issue since the start of the tournament. If we want to pass it around like we're Spain then OK, but unless players make themselves available for the ball it's not going to work. Far too often last night there was a huge gap between the first and final third of the pitch, where nobody was dropping back to try and receive the ball from defence. In extra time Kane ended up coming back to do it as nobody else was stepping up. 

Southgate needs to tell some of these players to be braver and show for the ball. Hiding up the final third of the pitch waiting for a ball to be hoofed up is no good when we've got Alli, Sterling and Lingard trying to win headers. One of the three needs to drop back to pick up the ball on the floor from either the defence or Henderson/Dier.

I agree with a lot of that. The midfield is unbalanced. The issue is all three of those 3 key players natural first movement is away from the ball. They are more comfortable running onto balls played into space than receiving the ball with their back to opponents and turning with it. Last night Henderson was taking the ball off the back three lots of times yet kept giving it them back because nobody was there to pass to and he hasn't got a Tugayesque range of passes.

[Oldgregg86]

Pickford , Maguire, stones, Henderson , Kane. Is that a spine I'm seeing develop to go with hunger, desire, an identity and belief. Unless they get completely embarrassed ala Brazil v Germany then from this point they deserve nothing but praise and proper welcome home. Well done lads your doing us proud

[DE.]

22 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I agree with a lot of that. The midfield is unbalanced. The issue is all three of those 3 key players natural first movement is away from the ball. They are more comfortable running onto balls played into space than receiving the ball with their back to opponents and turning with it. Last night Henderson was taking the ball off the back three lots of times yet kept giving it them back because nobody was there to pass to and he hasn't got a Tugayesque range of passes.

Agreed. Part of me feels like we need another natural midfielder in the centre to drop back and distribute passes alongside Henderson, but obviously that would come at the expense of our attacking options and would mean dropping one of Ali, Lingard or Sterling. I'm not sure that would necessarily be in our best interests as we're already struggling to score from open play (Panama aside). On the other hand Sterling's inability to keep possession and lack of end product is arguably more of a detriment. 

Fortunately in Maguire we have a player who is willing and able to carry the ball out of defence himself if need be, but our issues come when the opponent starts to box us into a corner, which either leads to us losing possession or knocking it back to Pickford for the big punt up the pitch. Hopefully Southgate is looking at this as it's one of our biggest weaknesses and had we come up against top opposition at any point in this tournament (Belgium's second string not being counted) I feel we would have been harshly punished for it by now.  

[benhben]

Agreed with many of the comments on here. Amazing to finally win a penalty shootout but last night confirms to me there are some pretty big issues to sort out. The team that finished last night seemed completely unbalanced. We finished with 5 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders then a huge gap to lingard kane and vardy. English football has long since missed a playmaker type player..one of the reasons I would have had Wilshire or Shelvey at least in the squad. 

Stones also worries me that he needs 15 touches on the ball before passing, though thats likely due to lack of options. Im impressed with McGuire..think some of the big PL teams will have an eye on him. 

I think Colombia will turn out to be a harder game than Sweeden but to actually win against the big boys we need to link defense to attack and be more fluid. 

Edited July 4, 2018 by benhben

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It's the way we're set up to play. Both of Alli and Lingard are expected to run up with and beyond Kane yet most of the time they aren't doing. Other than that they don't contribute much to build up play. I think we can only afford one of those two playing. What we could do with is a Scholes or Gascoigne style player in there in place of one of those two. Problem is Loftus- Cheek isn't quite there yet.  Lingard is too easily brushed off the ball. Alli isn't much better for a pretty big guy. We're used to Premier League referees were the slightest touch and it's a free kick, in this comp more realistic rules apply. How many times were those two left on the floor appealing for free kicks that never came last night ? 

Sterling is supposed to one of two strikers yet I can't remember the last time he even looked like scoring a goal. Neither of the two wing backs are a goal threat from open play. Only Danny Rose looked the part when he came, he came so close to winning the game for us in extra time

That's why we won't get a lot further. The teams with creators in midfield will see us off.

Agree but if we do start taking some of the few good chances that do occur we can go far.

Dier's appalling late header being the latest example where the keeper was not even troubled.

I am encouraged that we have got to the QFs whilst not really playing that well as a team and also certain individuals will know they must do better. We are far off peaking and imo will improve.

Sweden though are a clear and present danger not to be underestimated.

[Admiral Nelsen]

25 minutes ago, benhben said:

Agreed with many of the comments on here. Amazing to finally win a penalty shootout but last night confirms to me there are some pretty big issues to sort out. The team that finished last night seemed completely unbalanced. We finished with 5 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders then a huge gap to lingard kane and vardy. English football has long since missed a playmaker type player..one of the reasons I would have had Wilshire or Shelvey at least in the squad. 

Stones also worries me that he needs 15 touches on the ball before passing, though thats likely due to lack of options. Im impressed with McGuire..think some of the big PL teams will have an eye on him. 

I think Colombia will turn out to be a harder game than Sweeden but to actually win against the big boys we need to link defense to attack and be more fluid. 

That's pretty much exactly how I feel about where we're at.

Only thing I'd add is that as much as we've not been tremendously creative until now, I think our players and the way that we set up is better placed to counter attack against better sides, rather than the sorts of teams that we've played so far. The likes of Sterling, Alli, Lingard, Rashford and Vardy are all different players if we can play slightly more direct into space, and whilst this obviously won't be helpful against Sweden, if we can get past them then it might come to the fore if we play Croatia in the semis, or without getting carried away, whoever in the final. 

[47er]

13 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I was pleased to see that cheats don't prosper. Colombia behaved disgracefully. The furore around the penalty was disgraceful. FIFA should do something about that but they won't.

 

I think the Columbian astonishment at the penalty being awarded was completely genuine. 

They thought "we've been doing this the entire game, how come its a penalty now?"