The World Cup Thread

[Jonnyboy]

Bertie would've done better than Rose for their goal surely?

[Toadhall Saint]

We’re not as good as the media have claimed. We beat two amateur outfits, but that still gave us momentum and sort of galvanised the country. Should never have made 8 changes. A performance like this kills it. I expect us to get to the quarters or semis tbh. But there’s no denying that momentum can take you into unexpected territory.

 

Cheers - personally I think quarters at best. Our defence is not good enough even when the first picks are playing.

[Toadhall Saint]

Alexander-Arnold wtf, why is he in the team? his passing and dead ball kicks are effing awful x

 

Agreed

[Saint Billy]

Rashford is looklng particularly crap tonight, Vardy is very none Leicester, lets face it, we look very ordinary against anyone half decent. We are a one man team in Kane, very much like saints in the past without Legod.

[whelk]

Columbia will be licking their lips. Play like this against them and it will turn into another utter non World Cup.

 

But we will be playing Colombia

[DT]

That's why Bertrand should have gone. Rose is gash

 

 

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[DT]

Alexander-Arnold wtf, why is he in the team? his passing and dead ball kicks are effing awful x

 

Ridiculous Liverpool bias. He's been terrible

 

 

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[whelk]

Rashford ‘ struck it very well’ - centre of goal never coming down and about 2 ft over bar. Apart for that yeah

[S-Clarke]

It’s been a better last 20 or so, still lacking that bit of quality though.

[Cabbage_Face]

Hope everyone who wanted the “easy” route are happy. Utter trash

 

 

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[Lets B Avenue]

Tyldesley " Where's David Platt when you need him?"

 

Funny that. I've spent the whole game thinking of Kenneth Wolstenholme.

[angelman]

That's why Bertrand should have gone. Rose is gash

 

 

Have to agree that is looks pretty ****

[Cabbage_Face]

Pickford is horrid

 

 

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[hackedoff]

Honestly,is this the best players this country can muster ? Set pieces and crosses have been park football.

[ChiefScummer]

Well now we can look forward to columbia giving us a right good spanking.

[S-Clarke]

Not sure why they bought Wellbeck on. Waste of a sub.

 

Our midfield is where our problems are tbh.

[S-Clarke]

Well that was pretty dreadful all being said.

[Lets B Avenue]

Great. I can now go and watch Hampshire's first T20 match next Friday.

 

Well done, Gareth.

[Batman]

We have been that bad with our first 11. Which is the only positive.

 

None of that lot who came in out any of the others under pressure.

 

We clearly were not that bothered about winning and you can see why

[northam soul]

That was like watching saints under Pellegrino and what an awful player Dier is.

[Saint Billy]

Not sure why they bought Wellbeck on. Waste of a sub.

 

Our midfield is where our problems are tbh.

 

Agree with that, no creativity in the middle, no killer passes, absolute gash all round tbh.

[qwertyell]

Pickford is too small for a keeper.

 

He concedes an awful lot of goals that don't go in the corner of the net.

 

Not sure it's a size issue - Lloris seems to do okay in spite of a similar stature. Pickford's just a bit crap, imho.

 

 

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[Cabrone]

That was hilarious, they couldn't have shown less enthusiasm if they tried. Funny how none of their shots were on target atall. 1-0 down and meandering around like it's a practice game.

 

FWIW I think they should have gone for the win but it's obvious they wanted to lose.

 

Don't know why, Colombia are a fine team and will tear strips off England if they aren't at their very best.

[whelk]

Well now we can look forward to columbia giving us a right good spanking.

 

Who were sh1te today by all accounts.

[Lets B Avenue]

We have been that bad with our first 11. Which is the only positive.

 

None of that lot who came in out any of the others under pressure.

 

We clearly were not that bothered about winning and you can see why

 

Care to try that one again?

[redkeith]

The next England game, is on ITV, which not only means Clive Tydlesy, but also that England have a terrible record in tournament ganes that are on ITV ( Belgiom, Iceland .....) .

[verlaine1979]

Colombia were very lucky against Senegal earlier. Really struggled against the pace of their attack, but Senegal just couldn't find a final ball. Obviously England could easily come a cropper in the knockouts as they have so many times before, but Colombia without a fit James Rodriguez are a pretty mediocre side and England have the right style of attack to worry them.

[Plastic]

That was disgraceful. Dreadful football. I would have been ok with a loss if they had gone out hell-for-leather kamikaze football. That was just bad, felt like they gave up at 80 minutes, big risk it will kill the momentum.

 

It really is a much better route though. Not just the teams, the travel and locations also. Something to hold on to...

[Manuel]

So England B-team are pretty average. Hopefully we won't need too many of those on the pitch in the coming game(s).

[Cabbage_Face]

Dier, Trent, Delph shouldn’t be anywhere near that side. Very very poor footballers

 

 

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[aintforever]

Happy with that. Great chance to get to the semis now.

[LuckyNumber7]

That was terrible, Southgate got what he deserved for making so many changes. Colombia are a good side, can't see England beating them.

[Batman]

Dier, Trent, Delph shouldn’t be anywhere near that side. Very very poor footballers

 

 

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“Trent” will be lauded.

He is a lovable scouser you know

[Kingsland Codger]

The few corners that actually made it off the ground were straight into the arms of a 6ft 6in goalkeeper. I even found myself wondering if JWP should have been in the squad for his delivery alone.

 

Still, Kirsty MacColl has a song for us

[S-Clarke]

Glad I’m not the only one who thought Pickford should have saved that...

[John Boy Saint]

That was like watching saints under Pellegrino and what an awful player Dier is.

Thought exactly the same, amazed none of them busted a gut to pose the manager a question, Trent-Alexander looked like a Rabbit in the headlights which considering he has played Champions League was a surprise Prowsey must have had his head in his hands at the appalling deliveries from the corners and that free kick.

Bertie is probably on his way to hospital to have his sides stitched up from laughing so much at Rose being picked ahead of him.

 

Still at least the result keeps the lid on the nations expectations.

[Nordic Saint]

Southgate showed a ruthless streak tonight. He steadfastly refused to bring on Kane and risk scoring an equaliser and so has given us the opportunity to reach the semi-finals, which, let's face it, was beyond our wildest dreams at the start of the tournament. By winning, Belgium have shown limited ambition and as a consequence they will be knocked out in the quarter-finals.

 

It's an awful way to progress, I know, but that's the way the tournament is organised.

[Useful Idiot]

Seriously, everyone over reacts one way and then the other with England.

 

This performance could easily be a wake-up call. Kane wasn't playing so we had no focal point up front. Alli and Lingard weren't playing so we lacked goals and pace in midfield. Dyer is just average, a converted CB who needs to work in a pair with a more creative DM next to him and Gary Cahill has been 5hit for England for the best part of a decade so there's no surprise there, either. Jones is good at going red in the face and that's about it.

 

We were obviously going to struggle to retain the ball without Kane up top, but we were trying to play as if we did have a big target man. Quite frankly, the game was a dead rubber and the players knew they wouldn't have a chance to displace the usual starters so played with half the energy they normally would.

 

I think the regular starters have a decent chance to beat Colombia if they play well and this game meant very little. Last time we tried to go thorough the group stages with a virtually unchanged team we were knackered during the knockout rounds and got thumped. I think this made sense tactically and from a player fitness perspective, and now we're in the better half of the draw, anyway.

[Heisenberg]

Clever result, clever performance.

[stknowle]

Lot of mythering about **** all on here. We lost fairly narrowly in a game effectively between 2 reserve sides and now find ourselves in a more advantageous position than if we had won it or drawn it.

[Saint Billy]

The trouble with English players is that they very rarely have the ability to transfer their club form to the international stage apart from a very few exceptions like Kane. They seem to become inhibited when they pull on an England shirt and become totally unrecognisable. As an example, Rashford would of buried that chance playing for Man U.

[Jimmy_D]

Always disappointing to lose but you do feel like Belgium dropped a bit of a clanger and gave us the result we wanted.

 

We didn't exactly turn to the bench desperate to turn it around.

[St_Tel49]

Win 2 games against mediocre opposition and, according to some fans out there, England are going to win the World Cup. Lose 1 game and , according to some on here, England are sh1te. The truth is that all this game told us was that Belgium B are considerably better that England B. I would be disappointed if England lost to the Columbians. However, I think that defensive weakness will limit their progress mush beyond that.

[stknowle]

Always disappointing to lose but you do feel like Belgium dropped a bit of a clanger and gave us the result we wanted.

 

We didn't exactly turn to the bench desperate to turn it around.

 

Exactly, and why the hell would we want to turn it around? Take the old "no no no we MUST go all out to win every game regardless of the consequences" specs off and it makes perfect sense to lose that match. Ideally draw secure a worse disciplinary record but failing that lose it narrowly which is exactly what we did.

[scotty]

Southgate came as close as he possibly could to admitting they wanted second place in his interview afterwards, without actually saying it outright.

[waylander]

This game meant nothing.

Colombia looked dreadful against Senegal in a game they had to win .

All to play for

[the saint in winchester]

Always disappointing to lose but you do feel like Belgium dropped a bit of a clanger and gave us the result we wanted.

 

We didn't exactly turn to the bench desperate to turn it around.

 

Really? The result we wanted? I would have preferred to play Japan rather Colombia

[Ohio Saint]

Really? The result we wanted? I would have preferred to play Japan rather Colombia

 

And I prefer the right side of the bracket. In the end, we just have to win all our matches from now on.

[striker]

All that matters is first getting out of groups, and then making the final. Anything else is useless. We achieved the group stage, and I really like our bracket after the loss. I'm happy. I'd be bummed if we don't get to the semifinals. In fact I could see both England and Belgium in the final 4.

[Lord Duckhunter]

God, some of you are complete ****ing idiots. Great result, we now have Columbia, Switzerland or Sweden standing before us and a semi final. Who wouldn’t have taken that beforehand?

 

I want us to win it so bad, not just because I’m a proud Englishman but because it’ll show some of you lot up for the plums you are. Every single player deserves to be there, every single one.

 

 

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Edited 28 June, 2018 by Lord Duckhunter