World Cup 2018

[DE.]

The main difference  between Sterling and our other misfiring attacking midfielders is that Sterling loses possession far more often. You could argue that's because he's at least trying to beat a man, take a shot or put through a good ball, but a lot of the time against Colombia it was simply poor play. I'd like him to cut that out and try to be more patient. I think his lack of goals or impact in general for the national side is getting into his head a bit and causing him to make bad decisions. Southgate needs to remind him that the less he thinks about making an impact the more likely he actually will. 

Personally I'm not sure Sweden is the type of game a player like Sterling is going to thrive in. Their rigid, defensive formation will be very difficult to get behind, and Sterling doesn't have the strength or technical ability to get through from the front. At Manchester City he's surrounded by very skilled players who are constantly pulling defenders out of position. Not so much with England. I'm hoping and praying he proves me wrong but I'm not convinced Saturday's game will be one he plays a starring role in.

[philipl]

This is asking for trouble but I just cannot see anyway England not overcoming Sweden and failing to make the semi-final.

Reckon it will be hard fought but England will prevail with a two goal margin.

I am more certain about this than I am about any of France, Brazil and Croatia proceeding from the other Quarter Finals. 

Edited July 5, 2018 by philipl

[roverandout]

Sterling can beat a man but when he plays for england he freezes and plays it simple. At liverpool i thought he was going to be the new john barnes..but he regressed a little until last season

[AllRoverAsia]

From behind the goal it is clear that Pickford stands with his feet behind the goal line for every penalty kick he faces.

This has to be tactical hoping to confuse the kicker on distance/angle?? It worked 

 

[oldjamfan1]

1 hour ago, DE. said:

The main difference  between Sterling and our other misfiring attacking midfielders is that Sterling loses possession far more often. You could argue that's because he's at least trying to beat a man, take a shot or put through a good ball, but a lot of the time against Colombia it was simply poor play. I'd like him to cut that out and try to be more patient. I think his lack of goals or impact in general for the national side is getting into his head a bit and causing him to make bad decisions. Southgate needs to remind him that the less he thinks about making an impact the more likely he actually will. 

Personally I'm not sure Sweden is the type of game a player like Sterling is going to thrive in. Their rigid, defensive formation will be very difficult to get behind, and Sterling doesn't have the strength or technical ability to get through from the front. At Manchester City he's surrounded by very skilled players who are constantly pulling defenders out of position. Not so much with England. I'm hoping and praying he proves me wrong but I'm not convinced Saturday's game will be one he plays a starring role in.

Yes I think that is precisely why I like the kid. He doesn't hide. I understand where you are coming from with the Sweden thing but I think it is exactly players like Sterling, with quick feet, that can get the better of the more rigid 'traditional' defenders. Funnily enough I think Kane might be more to their liking.

Edited July 5, 2018 by oldjamfan1

[speeeeeeedie]

England doesn't have a great record against Sweden, but the more they go on and on about how they are going to win I think the more motivation it gives England.

I've read Hakan Mild, Andreas Grandqvist, and even Sven Eriksson talking up their chances.

It will be very tight.

[Mattyblue]

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

Sterling can beat a man but when he plays for england he freezes and plays it simple. At liverpool i thought he was going to be the new john barnes..but he regressed a little until last season

In many ways he is.

Great for his club, average for England.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

From behind the goal it is clear that Pickford stands with his feet behind the goal line for every penalty kick he faces.

This has to be tactical hoping to confuse the kicker on distance/angle?? It worked 

 

Ron Springett,  the old Sheffield Wed and England goalkeeper used to stand 1 yard to the the left of centre. He was right handed and relied on his stronger right hand to make up the difference . He always dived to his right and dared the penalty taker to go to the narrow gap on his left. I saw him do this to Fred Pickering at Ewood , Fred hammered the ball to Springett's right but he got across and turned the ball around the post.

I've never seen another goalkeeper do anything similar.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

In many ways he is.

Great for his club, average for England.

I remember the Barnes goal v Brazil, class

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

The Alli, Sterling and Lingard numbers are appalling, didn't realise it was that bad! Needs to be addressed desperately.

The one goal in four hours one is a bit daft. In the three hours before we scored eight! That's just cherry picking.

 

Edit - I just checked the official stats. Lingard has actually had eight shots. Just only two on target. Which is somewhat a different message. Sterling has had 5. Alli has had a pathetic 3 in total!

And Kane has only had 9. But he scored 6 of them! And three of them penalities.

Shots on goal by out forward players does seem a significant issue even if not quite as bad as you made it sound!

I didn't make it sound good or bad. The stats are a direct quote from today's paper. Should a " shot " that travels about 2 yards before it's blocked by an opponent count as a " shot ". I think it's pretty obvious that we've been shot shy up to now.

[DE.]

1 hour ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Yes I think that is precisely why I like the kid. He doesn't hide. I understand where you are coming from with the Sweden thing but I think it is exactly players like Sterling, with quick feet, that can get the better of the more rigid 'traditional' defenders. Funnily enough I think Kane might be more to their liking.

The problem is that Sterling isn't particularly skilful or composed - not in an England shirt, anyway. With Sweden likely to play two banks of four for much of the match he's going to need more than raw speed to get a decent chance. There's going to need to be link up play with Lingard/Ali/Kane, which so far we've seen very little of. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, AllRoverAsia said:

I remember the Barnes goal v Brazil, class

Great goal but a classic example of " dribbling when he came to a pair of feet ".

[Baz]

Sterling doesn't fit in the formation because he's primarily a winger who gets the ball to feet then runs at people. Playing centre forward he has to play the majority of time back to goal, with very little time and space afforded by defenders.

He's not clinical or strong enough to play centre forward, and not good enough defensively to play wing-back. 

He's had 3 games now, and not proved himself. I'd look to give someone else a chance.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, DE. said:

The problem is that Sterling isn't particularly skilful or composed - not in an England shirt, anyway. With Sweden likely to play two banks of four for much of the match he's going to need more than raw speed to get a decent chance. There's going to need to be link up play with Lingard/Ali/Kane, which so far we've seen very little of. 

Sterling's main failing is his decision making is awful.

[MarkBRFC71]

Lots of talk about Sterling - Alli has been worse for me (he doesn't look fit).  I'd leave Sterling in and put Loftus-Cheek in for Alli, who I think has been good when he's had the chance.  Maybe Rashford if we really want to have a go at the Swedes.  Oh, and how come no-one has mentioned Ashley Young?  He's been very poor IMO - nothing good, either offensively or defensively has come down our left side - and the set-pieces he's taken have been very hit and miss (mainly miss).  We've got two vastly superior options in Rose and Delph both fit and ready, one of them deserves a chance.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

32 minutes ago, MarkBRFC71 said:

Lots of talk about Sterling - Alli has been worse for me (he doesn't look fit).  I'd leave Sterling in and put Loftus-Cheek in for Alli, who I think has been good when he's had the chance.  Maybe Rashford if we really want to have a go at the Swedes.  Oh, and how come no-one has mentioned Ashley Young?  He's been very poor IMO - nothing good, either offensively or defensively has come down our left side - and the set-pieces he's taken have been very hit and miss (mainly miss).  We've got two vastly superior options in Rose and Delph both fit and ready, one of them deserves a chance.

Another stat  relative to  Ashley Young - England have only had 3 shots at goal from the left side of the pitch all tournament. One of those must have been the Rose one that went narrowly wide against Colombia. Belgium have had 16 and Brazil 14.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Oldgregg86]

5 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

From behind the goal it is clear that Pickford stands with his feet behind the goal line for every penalty kick he faces.

This has to be tactical hoping to confuse the kicker on distance/angle?? It worked 

 

Apparently goalkeepers are trained to do something called a power push which requires taking one step forward to then push off the leg. They stand behind the goal to use this technique so they aren't in front of the line before the ball is kicked but can still generate the power to cover the goal

[Oldgregg86]

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC71 said:

Lots of talk about Sterling - Alli has been worse for me (he doesn't look fit).  I'd leave Sterling in and put Loftus-Cheek in for Alli, who I think has been good when he's had the chance.  Maybe Rashford if we really want to have a go at the Swedes.  Oh, and how come no-one has mentioned Ashley Young?  He's been very poor IMO - nothing good, either offensively or defensively has come down our left side - and the set-pieces he's taken have been very hit and miss (mainly miss).  We've got two vastly superior options in Rose and Delph both fit and ready, one of them deserves a chance.

Bang on

[speeeeeeedie]

2 hours ago, MarkBRFC71 said:

Lots of talk about Sterling - Alli has been worse for me (he doesn't look fit).  I'd leave Sterling in and put Loftus-Cheek in for Alli, who I think has been good when he's had the chance.  Maybe Rashford if we really want to have a go at the Swedes.  Oh, and how come no-one has mentioned Ashley Young?  He's been very poor IMO - nothing good, either offensively or defensively has come down our left side - and the set-pieces he's taken have been very hit and miss (mainly miss).  We've got two vastly superior options in Rose and Delph both fit and ready, one of them deserves a chance.

 

8 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Bang on

Yep.

If I was going to make changes, those 2 would be it. I've mentioned Young a few times.

I'll go with Southgate sticking with the same 11 though.

[Stuart]

6 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

From behind the goal it is clear that Pickford stands with his feet behind the goal line for every penalty kick he faces.

This has to be tactical hoping to confuse the kicker on distance/angle?? It worked 

 

The body language of both sets of players in the background was interesting. There looked to be a lack of belief from Colombia was pretty evident. England meanwhile were together.

Not sure what Trippier was doing in the celebrations though - must’ve been caught up in the moment!

[K-Hod]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Another stat  relative to  Ashley Young - England have only had 3 shots at goal from the left side of the pitch all tournament. One of those must have been the Rose one that went narrowly wide against Colombia. Belgium have had 16 and Brazil 14.

Because we have no left footers in the team bar the goalkeeper. 

Very sad (for me as a left footer especially).

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, K-Hod said:

Because we have no left footers in the team bar the goalkeeper. 

Very sad (for me as a left footer especially).

I thought the fashion these days was for right footers playing on the left wing.

[RevidgeBlue]

14 hours ago, philipl said:

This is asking for trouble but I just cannot see anyway England not overcoming Sweden and failing to make the semi-final.

Reckon it will be hard fought but England will prevail with a two goal margin.

I'm thinking exactly the same way which is a very dangerous state of affairs given my record as a football tipster over the last couple of seasons. I can't actually see that Sweden will give us any problem at all and I expect a two or three goal victory.

I would also expect Croatia to dispose of Russia in similarly comfortable fashion and for the resulting semi final to be a completely different proposition.

In the other quarters I think Uruguay could possibly pip France and expect Brazil to edge out Belgium in an entertaining and possibly high scoring game.

So the value bet would be...... Do exactly the opposite!

[AllRoverAsia]

Sweden are a very difficult opponent and our game with them has penalty shootout written all over it. We can win in normal time but Harry will need to score at least 2 to achieve that.

I want France and Brazil to win through and fancy Russia to suprise Croatia with their 9 players back and giant CF. I'm not naming him as I tend to name a player who plays for someone else.

Cavani will be a massive miss by Uruguay but the game could go to a penalty shootout too. Uruguay will do a Colombia during this game.

Edited July 6, 2018 by AllRoverAsia

[philipl]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm thinking exactly the same way which is a very dangerous state of affairs given my record as a football tipster over the last couple of seasons. I can't actually see that Sweden will give us any problem at all and I expect a two or three goal victory.

I would also expect Croatia to dispose of Russia in similarly comfortable fashion and for the resulting semi final to be a completely different proposition.

In the other quarters I think Uruguay could possibly pip France and expect Brazil to edge out Belgium in an entertaining and possibly high scoring game.

So the value bet would be...... Do exactly the opposite!

Uruguay enormously dependent on Cavani fitness. If he is not fit, France can play further forward and Uruguay will be enormously in need of converting what few chances they will get.

Brazil v Belgium could be a classic for all time- expect 0-0 after 120 minutes then!