What did Enlgand do on this tournament that all of you are pride and pleased with their game? Win against Tunisia, Panama, Colombia (without James and on penalties), and Sweden without Ibra. Lost twice to Belgium and Croatia. When they played against teams that are more than average or amateur they lost.
posted on 15/7/18
comment by England are going to win the World Cup (U1608)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Cornelius Oofterom (U15867)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by England are going to win the World Cup (U1608)
posted 16 seconds ago
I expect France to give us a demonstration on how you beat Croatia later on.
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So do I.
Tbf, Croatia are lucky to be in the final, having the easy side of the draw, avoiding all the big teams. If they were on the other side of the draw they would probably have lost to the first good side they played against.
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They destroyed Argentina. That's better than we managed.
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We didn't play Argentina
posted on 15/7/18
comment by Bobby Dazzler (U1449)
posted 3 seconds ago
comment by England are going to win the World Cup (U1608)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Cornelius Oofterom (U15867)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by England are going to win the World Cup (U1608)
posted 16 seconds ago
I expect France to give us a demonstration on how you beat Croatia later on.
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So do I.
Tbf, Croatia are lucky to be in the final, having the easy side of the draw, avoiding all the big teams. If they were on the other side of the draw they would probably have lost to the first good side they played against.
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They destroyed Argentina. That's better than we managed.
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We didn't play Argentina
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Just as well for us we didn't.
posted on 15/7/18
comment by England are going to win the World Cup (U1608)
posted 2 hours, 19 minutes ago
comment by Bobby Dazzler (U1449)
posted 6 minutes ago
You can't please everyone, if they'd won the World Cup some people would still complain about creating enough chances in open play or not having to play Brazil etc
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No way would we have beaten France.
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That’s not the point, he’s saying even if England had won the World Cup, people would still manage to find things to criticise them for.
People go on about losing three games, one was essentially a dead rubber group game and one was a third place play-off. The Croatia game we were the better side for 45 minutes and came to within 22 minutes of making the final.
People talk like we got mauled by Belgium and Croatia and went out at the groups
posted on 15/7/18
They gave hope for a better future at international tournaments.
posted on 15/7/18
England did OK, but like his predecessor, Hodgson, momentum all but vanished when he decided to change almost the entire team in the last game of the group stages. Should just left the team as it was, and I am sure they would have played a lot better in the knockout stages.
Managers just do not learn that a settled side is absolutely the best thing ever. Tinkering with the side is about the worse thing ever.
posted on 15/7/18
Actually, if the team had one or two changes now and then, it's not an issue it's when wholesale changes are made a team needs at least two ways to go about things. England only had one. A lack of a creative mf limits what they can do, especially when Plan A isn't working and luck is going against them.
posted on 15/7/18
England have done well, despite losing against two decent teams. Before the tournament, expectations were very low. People just wanted the team to at least get to next round and anything after was seen as a bonus. So to get to the Semi was an achievement Regards to expectations. I'm sure sides such as Germany or Argentina would have loved to have performed and get as far as England did.
On Colombia, they equalised in the last minute and played very dirty. They are not as bad as they are made out to be.
Sweden are a team England have strugled against and were a side that France and knocked out Italy in the qualifying stages. They also did quite well in the group stages. Now, the point about Zlatan is nonsense. He has retired. He didn't come out of retirement and there didn't seem like the Swedish coach nor the FA wanted him. It would be akin to saying Croatia only beat England as they didn't have a Carrick type midfielder and only if England had him, they'd go through.
Croatia should be a learning curve for not just the players but the Coaches, especially Southgate. While his set up and man management has been great. His focus on making the most out of the limited team is something to be praise. Substitutions should be something he needs to look at.
He also needs the team to be more adaptable. A 3421 might have worked better than the 532/352. Kane should be spear heading of the attack, not Sterling. Our best finisher ended up coming deeper and deeper where he isn't the most effective. He ended up doing a Rooney at a world cup. Sterling may suck at finishing but other aspects of his gameplay is useful, I'd prefer him as one of the two supporting Kane with the other spot going to Lingard or Dele depending on the opponent. Hopefully for England, they can find someone to be a Cm who can past and control the tempo of the game. It would improve the team and allow players like Kane, Lingard/Dele, Sterling and their replacements such as Rashford to cause damage.
A comparison of this team and the one at the 2014 World Cup, this side had a slightly better defence, midfield worse but the striking options were more or less equal. But while they under performed, they were in a group with Italy and Uruguay (Uruguay was underestimated by the press and fans before the tournament started) and Costa Rica (who had an exceptional tournament). I'm not sure the current team would have done much better then.
posted on 15/7/18
comment by sandy (U20567)
posted 44 minutes ago
England did OK, but like his predecessor, Hodgson, momentum all but vanished when he decided to change almost the entire team in the last game of the group stages. Should just left the team as it was, and I am sure they would have played a lot better in the knockout stages.
Managers just do not learn that a settled side is absolutely the best thing ever. Tinkering with the side is about the worse thing ever.
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Point taken
Momentum is one thing but keeping things fresh is another. It's not lack of momentum that lost the game for England againgst Croatia but:
- lack of experience
- lack of quality to a certain degree
- lack of freshness
- lack of a plan b
- lack of squad depth
A lot of the players were gone physically and mentally by the second half. Croatia showcased their quality and experience by grinding England down, often forcing errors.
Although no one will know had England converted all their chances in the first half and gone in 3-0 up if Croatia would have played the way they did in the second half. Those wasted chances were costly in the end.
posted on 15/7/18
England were easily the most impressive team in the tournament
posted on 15/7/18
I do think Harry Kane looked tired in the last few games and can’t help think that he wasn’t rested as much as he could have been