World Cup 2022

[K-Hod]

That England game Friday was absolutely awful. Southgate must be the only person in the country that things Mount is better than Foden, or that the latter wouldn’t have made a huge difference by coming on. This isn’t about an over reaction, entitlement or expectation, but it’s about knowing we could have done better and we didn’t. You always regret the chances you don’t take and all that. 
Southgate held us back on Friday and it’s seeped into the mentality of the players. Maguire said post game ‘if you don’t play well, you need to make sure you don’t lose’. Good grief, we’ve better players on the bench than on the pitch and everyone can see it, why aren’t we using them? Henderson getting on first was an absolute joke too.

I heard a description of Southgate yesterday as someone that drives a Fiat 500, being given the keys to a Ferrari and I felt it was fitting.

(I’m sure someone will be along to say Southgate isn’t holding us back as he had delivered a semi final and a final in the last two tournaments. But, if you watched the final last year and didn’t think Southgate held us back in that match, I cant help you).

[roverandout]

When you look at our bench. And he rarely utilities it, its criminal.  Surely someone like trent would have made a difference.  Definitely foden. Callum Wilson would have done more than kane. I'm hoping maddison is fit on Tuesday and he can play that third midfielder 

[Darrenbot]

Maybe its just me but i'd rather Germany and Argentina made the knockout stages than Japan and Saudi Arabia ,you can say what about the dream of an underdog but i want better match ups in the last 16 than watching teams with literally no chance of winning the cup giving teams a virtual bye through to the QF

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

Typical Germans. Always find away out. Probably go and win it now

I'm going to do the late watch tonight only because I hope to see Germany lose.

I also hope Uruguay stick it to Portugal, for some unknown reason I've always quite liked Uruguay who tend to be hard but can also take it, usually without Brazilian or Argie histrionics.

[roverandout]

Belgium another dogshit team that get away with things 

[DE.]

Another HT 0-0 (thanks to VAR). I swear at least half if not more of all the matches in this tournament have been goalless after the first 45 minutes? Is it the conditions, the time of year it's being played, the overall attitude of the teams? You can basically skip the first half of most matches and not have to worry about missing anything important or interesting.

[K-Hod]

Absolutely no idea what that Morocco goal was disallowed for.

Prime example of if the ref had a mic and explained his decision, we would at least get an explanation….

[K-Hod]

7 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Belgium another dogshit team that get away with things 

Hardly dogshit, they’ve got some very good players but a bang average manager…

[roverandout]

Against wales I would love to see, I know it won't happen.

Ramsdale Shaw maguire White trent Bellingham Rice maddison grealish kane foden. That team is good enough to stick 3 or 4 past wales. This is all providing maddison is fit enough

[roverandout]

3 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Hardly dogshit, they’ve got some very good players but a bang average manager…

Just like England and Southgate 

[Ianrally]

9 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Belgium another dogshit team that get away with things 

One of my best World Cup moments was watching England beat Belgium in Italia90 while sitting in a Belgian bar. 

[Gordon Gekko]

14 minutes ago, Ianrally said:

One of my best World Cup moments was watching England beat Belgium in Italia90 while sitting in a Belgian bar. 

Remember watching the game and the great Enzo Scifo in his prime, absolutely cannoning shots off the woodwork that Peter Shilton was getting nowhere near to! Up step substitute David Platt and the rest is history lol great moment. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Gordon Gekko

[oldjamfan1]

14 minutes ago, Ianrally said:

One of my best World Cup moments was watching England beat Belgium in Italia90 while sitting in a Belgian bar. 

Especially with how late the goal was as well. 

[RoverDom]

28 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Absolutely no idea what that Morocco goal was disallowed for.

Prime example of if the ref had a mic and explained his decision, we would at least get an explanation….

Saiss(?) was interfering 

[RoverDom]

This Belgium squad should have won something. They'll be remembered in a similar way as our 2002-2006 squad

[roversfan99]

4 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I think you are being far too jeckle & hyde at the minute. I think people are overreacting to the draw with USA. Other teams are struggling in the tournament like Germany, France and Argentina. Germany lost to Japan; France struggled last night even tho they got the win they were poor. Argentina was very poor despite them winning. 

I disagree that Southgate can't motivated cos over his time in charge he has proven that point wrong. 

Also, none of the goodwill from the opening game has gone but people do overreact to games whether we win convincedly or play poorly and get a draw or lose. People need to calm down. The Iran win didn't make me think we would win the world cup any more than before the world cup started, just like the USA game didn't affect my thinking either. 

I don't think that Southgate has lost lots of goodwill in that I don't think he had much to begin with, I think the majority of England supporters (impossible to quantify I admit) don't rate Southgate and would prefer someone else in charge.

Agreed on the motivation point, impossible to know for sure on the outside but I think that is what Southgate is good at. That will only take us so far and he for me has obvious tactical deficiencies that will always limit us. 

The thing with international tournament football is that the best country will not always win, one bad day and you are done and in the last 2 major tournaments we have had incredibly lucky paths to the latter stages with really fortunate draws. Our 2 previous eliminations came against quality opposition whereby we scored early goals and had no tactical know how on how to then adapt from there. 

I also have never felt that he is the man to get the best out of our better attacking players, notably Phil Foden who Pep Guardiola and a blank chequebook still trusts implicitly to start and perform in the very big games, he is a special talent and should be the main man yet he is so far down the pecking order with a poorer manager who simply cannot get the best from him.

[Mattyblue]

39 minutes ago, DE. said:

Another HT 0-0 (thanks to VAR). I swear at least half if not more of all the matches in this tournament have been goalless after the first 45 minutes? Is it the conditions, the time of year it's being played, 

Can’t be that. As the media were telling us that we’d have a much more intense tournament when the players were firing on all cylinders in mid season instead of when they are all sooo tired in June…

[DE.]

I think we're seeing Belgium's so-called golden generation at the end of their road, having not really achieved anything. How much of that is down to having a bang average manager in the dugout is open to debate, but they've been very poor in this tournament and look like a tired, stale team.

[roverandout]

Belgium really are poor. Take out de bruyne and this team is so mediocre 

[simongarnerisgod]

6 minutes ago, RoverDom said:

This Belgium squad should have won something. They'll be remembered in a similar way as our 2002-2006 squad

this belgian generation have never had a good manager,wilmots was never popular with his players and martinez is a poor manager all round,how he got the job is a mystery

[DE.]

7 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

this belgian generation have never had a good manager,wilmots was never popular with his players and martinez is a poor manager all round,how he got the job is a mystery

"Plays football the right way" - which typically means a manager who can't set up a team to defend and relies on the quality of the attack tipping the balance compared to the weaker defensive area. This doesn't necessarily mean the defenders themselves are poor, just that the manager doesn't really have a good grasp on how to set up a side to be defensively solid at the same time as being offensively potent.

[Ianrally]

Belgium on their way to the retirement home

[Ianrally]

This result is fully deserved by Morocco. 

[Mattyblue]

5 minutes ago, DE. said:

"Plays football the right way" - which typically means a manager who can't set up a team to defend and relies on the quality of the attack tipping the balance compared to the weaker defensive area. This doesn't necessarily mean the defenders themselves are poor, just that the manager doesn't really have a good grasp on how to set up a side to be defensively solid at the same time as being offensively potent.

Winning football is the right way. Something a lot of Rovers fans have struggled to grasp too…

[simongarnerisgod]

1 minute ago, Mattyblue said:

Winning football is the right way. Something a lot of Rovers fans have struggled to grasp too…

give me football the winning way rather than the right way🙂