World Cup 2018

Well that was a fun ride. Croatia much too Wiley for us. Not sure France will be too worried at the prospect of facing them.
 
badlywornroy said:
Were coming home ! What a major letdown after all the expectations. Some of our ‘World class’ players (£250 million ?) need to question themselves.
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It was not a let for me, as a hell of a lot of folk would NEVER have thought we`d get to the semis. On a good note the players can come home proud, and they will grow.
 
Got further than I ever expected we would, draw was kind, but we also had spells of playing some decent football.
In the end we came up against a more experienced side who exploited our defensive weaknesses.

My own thoughts are that Gareth Southgate is a genuine bloke, but he isn't a winner.
Things needed changing out there tonight and he did nothing, just replaced like for like in the same formation.

Well done England, enjoyed the ride and stayed longer than Germany, Brazil or Spain, who would have thought it?
 
“ Gareth Southgate is a genuine bloke, but he isn’t a winner.”

Crikey ! Is that the first call for Southgate to be sacked ? Ridiculous. Let’s blame underperforming top players. Kane, Deli Ali, Lingard all very poor tonight. What can Southgate do about that ? If he pulled Kane off he would get crucified by all and sundry. We needed Wilshire tonight.
 
badlywornroy said:
“ Gareth Southgate is a genuine bloke, but he isn’t a winner.”

Crikey ! Is that the first call for Southgate to be sacked ? Ridiculous. Let’s blame underperforming top players. Kane, Deli Ali, Lingard all very poor tonight. What can Southgate do about that ? If he pulled Kane off he would get crucified by all and sundry. We needed Wilshire tonight.
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I never called for his head, but as a player and manager he hasn't been a winner and therefore has no experience to lean on.
Another thing we badly needed was a strong captain to organise and encourage the players, that's when it helps if your skipper is a defender or midfielder.
 
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Second goal at the end of the first half was required.

I didn’t expect us to get out the group, we have over performed whatever you expected.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I never called for his head, but as a player and manager he hasn't been a winner and therefore has no experience to lean on.
Another thing we badly needed was a strong captain to organise and encourage the players, that's when it helps if your skipper is a defender or midfielder.
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Well you never said “ I want him sacked “ but no one ever does.

You want a winner to manage England ? How about Fabio Capello, he is a winner isn’t he
 
We did bloody well in terms of results and performance this WC.

Today was disappointing - dominated the first half in terms of quality if chances, should have gone in 2-0 up. Thought the ref was weak, Lovren at least 1 yellow and allowed the Croats to surround him, they played on the edge (maybe how we should). At 60 mins, i was screaming for Vardy to come on, the would have pushed them back, instead they got the upper hand.

In ET we should have take off Ali who was shot and made put on other forward. With the last free kick why didn't Pickford go up? Happy to lose 3-1 as 2-1!

Seemed to tire in that last 30 mins, I think a poor use of subs and no plan B - BUT we were up against a useful side and overall had a great tournament!
 
badlywornroy said:
Well you never said “ I want him sacked “ but no one ever does.

You want a winner to manage England ? How about Fabio Capello, he is a winner isn’t he
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What are you going on about, all I said was when it was needed we didn't have a manager or captain who has experienced winning a major tournament.
If we had a captain like for instance John Terry or Tony Adams on there, they could have organised our defence when it was going wrong.
 
tijuana taxi said:
What are you going on about, all I said was when it was needed we didn't have a manager or captain who has experienced winning a major tournament.
If we had a captain like for instance John Terry or Tony Adams on there, they could have organised our defence when it was going wrong.
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Stop ‘weedling’ and take responsibility for your words you said “ Gareth Southgate” isn’t a winner “ now in everyone else’s language that means you want him out.
 
badlywornroy said:
Stop ‘weedling’ and take responsibility for your words you said “ Gareth Southgate” isn’t a winner “ now in everyone else’s language that means you want him out.
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Do not put words into my mouth, if I had wanted to say that I would have, I do not ever mince my words.
So is he a winner, what has he won in his footballing career?

I will say it again we badly needed someone with experience to take charge, much the same Deschamps did last night with France.
If you have won at that level you know what it takes, we badly needed someone with authority to make a change or organise those who were out there.

Is that clear now?
 
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Kell said:
I think it's been a good tournament so far - and if nothing else certainly looks like backing up the idea that there are no 'easy' draws. Big names have gone out. Poor play combined with over-confidence.

Of the teams left, only Brazil, France, Uruguay and England have won it before, so if we don't win it, I'd love to see some new blood (it's surprising how little deviation there's been over the years).

If not, England, then I'd love to see Croatia do it.
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So I said it before and I’ll say it again. If England can’t win, then I’d love to see Croatia do it.

I don’t understand the mentality of people that lose a game in a knockout competition and immediately want that team to be beaten. I’d rather lose to the eventual winner than the team in second place.

Allez les rouge et blanc.
 
Lets sum things up.

Of course we are all glad we got to the World cup semi-finals and over achieved . . . But did we ? If we all knew we would have to beat Tunisia, Panama, Columbia and Sweden we would have expected to go far. Finally we lost to Croatia a small country of 4 million who showed us how to ‘tough it out’. Many callers on 5L keep saying we did great to go so far. Let’s be realistic if we had met any one of half a dozen teams from the other half of the draw we would most likely have been home earlier. Now ‘slaughter’ me ! I am a supporter but for too many years we have thought we were better than we are. We are in danger of going down that rode again.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Do not put words into my mouth, if I had wanted to say that I would have, I do not ever mince my words.
So is he a winner, what has he won in his footballing career?
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57 England caps.

What did Big Sam ever win and he wasn’t even an international footballer.
What did Steve Mclaren the wolly with the brolly ever win ?
 
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tijuana taxi said:
I will say it again we badly needed someone with experience to take charge, much the same Deschamps did last night with France.
If you have won at that level you know what it takes, we badly needed someone with authority to make a change or organise those who were out there.

Is that clear now?
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No, not really.

Let's say we accept your assertion that we needed someone with experience to take charge. We needed a winner. And we didn't have one.

But World Cup 2018 is done and dusted now. We're looking ahead to Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022. Do we need a winner? Do we need someone with experience to take charge? If so, who is that person? It sounds to me like you're saying yes we do, and it isn't Southgate.....
 
In the first post he ( tijuana taxi) says “ Gareth Southgate” isn’t a winner. When accused of calling for his head he denies it.

So he thinks Southgate isn’t a ‘winner’ ergo England will not win anything under his management but he wants him to continue as manager. I think that sums it up. :)
 
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tijuana taxi said:
What are you going on about, all I said was when it was needed we didn't have a manager or captain who has experienced winning a major tournament.
If we had a captain like for instance John Terry or Tony Adams on there, they could have organised our defence when it was going wrong.
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Have you not seen Adam’s managerial career??? What had Low won prior to Germany WC win?

Didn’t we have Capello? Didn’t he win major tournaments?? Has the Croatia manager won anything? Didn’t Hierro win a lot but did naff all with Spain?
 
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Ok its the morning after so having thought about our defeat here is my view which ultimately means diddly squat like the rest of us here.

No I don't think Southgate will ever lead us to victory, but he deserves at least the next Euros to see how it goes
Kane is not the right choice for captain, we need someone to motivate and organise preferably at the back or midfield.

We are very average and had the luck of an exceptionally helpful draw, nearly came a cropper sitting at 1-0 vs Columbia, against a better team we did pay the price.
Thankfully we seem to have at last found a decent goalkeeper, badly need a creative midfielder and a reliable centre back pairing.

Worse thing for me was it was so obvious things needed changing after half time, their wide players had so much time and space and we were overrun in midfield.
Nothing happened and the situation just worsened, we played exactly the same with players replaced like for like.

It has been an enjoyable World Cup and hope the final is an entertaining affair, my pick of the games so far have been
Spain v Portugal
Belgium v Japan
Belgium v Brazil

Still not sure on VAR, think it needs better guidelines as to how and when its used, but sure its here to stay.
 
cambsno said:
Have you not seen Adam’s managerial career??? What had Low won prior to Germany WC win?

Didn’t we have Capello? Didn’t he win major tournaments?? Has the Croatia manager won anything? Didn’t Hierro win a lot but did naff all with Spain?
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How much time did he have to manage/coach Spain?
Five minutes possibly?
England failed yesterday, and like you I would have put Vardy on at half time, possibly Welbeck as well. Stirling and Lingard were pants.
We overachieved by getting to the SF stage, but we were flattered by the draw.

Nearly forgot.
Trippier and Pickford played great through the tournament.
 
badlywornroy said:
“ Gareth Southgate is a genuine bloke, but he isn’t a winner.”

Crikey ! Is that the first call for Southgate to be sacked ? Ridiculous. Let’s blame underperforming top players. Kane, Deli Ali, Lingard all very poor tonight. What can Southgate do about that ? If he pulled Kane off he would get crucified by all and sundry. We needed Wilshire tonight.
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Have to say that when you look past all the hype you realise that:

1) We had a real lack of goals from open play

2) Harry Kane's goals have mainly come from the penalty spot (and a dodgy deflection)

3) Where was Ali last night, seemed to be hiding somewhere.

However, in general, a great performance all round, never expected them to get this far, and some young players grew into men in the last few weeks. McQuire, Pickford and Trippier have been the stand out players for me.
 
I think Southgate surpassed expectations, best WC for 28 years and the way the players have behaved, the set pieces and the passion we saw was down to him. Can he lead us to victory... I am not sure who could lead us to victory, in terms of players we are quite a way behind Brazil, France & Belgium. I certainly think he is the best chance we have. He has led the team brilliantly. How do you think we would have fared with Sam in charge? Agree on Kane, I like captains to be defenders or midfielders and think Henderson should be, although a month ago it was not even certain he would play!

We did have a lucky draw but that does not mean too much. All Germany had to do was beat Sth Korea to get through the group and couldn't! All Spain had an easy draw and only just got through then went out to Russia! We seem to have found a good keeper, a system that works, and now have some really good players like Trippier, Maguire and Stones. We do need a creative mid but think we did well with what we had.

Easy to say with hindsight but Southgate got it wrong in 2nd half. As they attacked we should have taken off Sterling and put Vardy on, he would have put pressure on their backline and maybe forced them back a bit. Young needed to go off but Dele looked shot too and should have come off. We just ran out of steam at the end. It has been a great WC!
 
Jelster said:
Have to say that when you look past all the hype you realise that:

1) We had a real lack of goals from open play

2) Harry Kane's goals have mainly come from the penalty spot (and a dodgy deflection)

3) Where was Ali last night, seemed to be hiding somewhere.

However, in general, a great performance all round, never expected them to get this far, and some young players grew into men in the last few weeks. McQuire, Pickford and Trippier have been the stand out players for me.
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1) Who cares, a goal is a goal. You don't get extra for 30 yard screamers!!
2) And... had we not been fouled in those positions we may have scored, nothing wrong there
3) I think he has looked off the pace and should have gone off earlier
 
cambsno said:
I think Southgate surpassed expectations, best WC for 28 years and the way the players have behaved, the set pieces and the passion we saw was down to him. Can he lead us to victory... I am not sure who could lead us to victory, in terms of players we are quite a way behind Brazil, France & Belgium. I certainly think he is the best chance we have. He has led the team brilliantly. How do you think we would have fared with Sam in charge? Agree on Kane, I like captains to be defenders or midfielders and think Henderson should be, although a month ago it was not even certain he would play!

We did have a lucky draw but that does not mean too much. All Germany had to do was beat Sth Korea to get through the group and couldn't! All Spain had an easy draw and only just got through then went out to Russia! We seem to have found a good keeper, a system that works, and now have some really good players like Trippier, Maguire and Stones. We do need a creative mid but think we did well with what we had.

Easy to say with hindsight but Southgate got it wrong in 2nd half. As they attacked we should have taken off Sterling and put Vardy on, he would have put pressure on their backline and maybe forced them back a bit. Young needed to go off but Dele looked shot too and should have come off. We just ran out of steam at the end. It has been a great WC!
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Don't feel anywhere near as gutted as 1990, really thought then we could win it, didn't this time and got a lot further than expected.

Think we would have had no chance with Sam, someone like Klinsmann who knows?
Don't agree about Stones, he has a lack of awareness and often loses track of forwards as in last nights winner.
Like the look of Trippier though and personally like Rose too.

Not saying it in hindsight, said it last night at the time that he was getting it wrong, plain for all to see including ex manager Hoddle in his commentary

Onwards and upwards, small part of me is glad that I don't have to watch Monsieur Mbappe tear us apart
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I agree with most of the sentiments here. Some good points, some areas for improvement.

We did better than expected. You'd have got good odds against a semi final place before the tournament.
Yes, we didn't beat any really good teams, but then again nor did Germany, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, ...
Southgate seems to have done a good job in terms of developing a coherent style of play, but doesn't seem to have a "Plan B".
The team came across as a team that wanted to win, not a bunch of celebrities who just happen to be footballers.
We need a more effective midfield. More creativity, more drive, more steel.
But the signs are promising for 2020 and 2022. We are at least contenders again.

Still, I can't help thinking of this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiJBpTJ1hso
 
Its coming home... Its coming home... 3rd place is coming home!!!
 
Dave70D said:
Well for me I hope he stays as England manager, 28 years ago was the last time in a semi now he gets us to the semi so he is GOOD.
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It's only three years since England got to the semi finals of the world cup, it's 28 years since the men did it.
 
cambsno said:
1) Who cares, a goal is a goal. You don't get extra for 30 yard screamers!!
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But you can't rely on penalties and dead balls all the time, we need to be more creative in midfield, and although I thought Henderson played well, our midfield was found wanting.

I don't want to take anything away from what they have achieved though, nobody gave them a chance, and they have proved the doubters wrong, plus brought English International football back to the fans.
 
Steep said:
It's only three years since England got to the semi finals .....
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Yes, poor LB, she is so cool too, the image of them consoling her is heart breaking.

France next year. :)


Oh I almost forgot Stones is ultra cool also, he heads like Ronaldo, he has neat swift feet, possibly the most naturally gifted defence, a proper fella. So what if he makes mistakes, everyone does.

If your goalkeeper dropped just ONE, yes just one ball, you lot would hang him:banghead:

You should be proud, no world stars, no ego’s, they wanted to win you know !!! Remember that. Win for you as much as themselves.
 
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Jelster said:
But you can't rely on penalties and dead balls all the time, we need to be more creative in midfield, and although I thought Henderson played well, our midfield was found wanting.

I don't want to take anything away from what they have achieved though, nobody gave them a chance, and they have proved the doubters wrong, plus brought English International football back to the fans.
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But likewise you cant rely on a creative player either - Argentina did that and he was poor! Play to your strengths, we are good at set pieces!
 
What disappointed me most about last night's result was the way we reverted to old fashioned football and lost (as usual), pass back to the keeper and get him to punt it upfield in the vague hope someone/anyone gets on the end of it, which resulted, as always for Lord knows how many years, the opposition having the ball and coming forward. Why did we revert to that when the lads clearly showed they were very capable of passing out of defence and going at the opponents goal with real skill, either down the wing or varying it by going straight down the middle, there was none of that last night, just a punt up the sides and a hopefull cross virtually every time, it hasn't worked for the last 40/50 years who thought it would work last night, the coach? If so I hope he's learnt his lesson,
England last night were boring, old fashioned and lacking skill in attack, which wasnt how they had played in previous games and frankly I'd prefer to lose playing skillfull attacking football rather than what I watched last night.
Time for Southgate to go back to exciting football, he has the players to do it, both those that played last night and those that were injured or not picked.
 
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