The World Cup Thread

[The Cat]

Very bizarre. Can only think that Foden's pissed off Southgate somehow. He's one of the best players around but can't get a run out.

[LiberalCommunist]

Worst game of the tournament by a mile. Impressive.

[saintant]

When Maguire is your best player you know you've been crap.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Been impressed with the US keeper. Too good to be Arsenal number 2

[egg]

6 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Very bizarre. Can only think that Foden's pissed off Southgate somehow. He's one of the best players around but can't get a run out.

Yep. Makes no sense. Arguably our best player. Not sure what Mount offers that Foden doesn't. 

[saintant]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Been impressed with the US keeper. Too good to be Arsenal number 2

How can you tell he's any good? We gave him nothing to do.

[saintant]

Clueless from start to finish thanks to Southgate not being very bright.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just now, saintant said:

How can you tell he's any good? We gave him nothing to do.

Thought he did the basics very well. Decent kicking and good command of his area. 

[egg]

Wow. Completely shite. We were like Brazil on Monday, but were back to being like England tonight. 

[RedArmy]

Should have sacked him when we had the chance. 
 

Never going to win anything with that clown in charge. 

[egg]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Thought he did the basics very well. Decent kicking and good command of his area. 

Yep, he was decent. Commanded his box. Went on a better run with the ball than any of our lads did. 

[saintant]

Southgate will be over the moon with a clean sheet

[Nordic Saint]

16 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Why is Mount still on the pitch and Foden still on the bench? Mystifying.

I didn't know Mount was on the pitch. I'm not sure he did either. At least we've got Tunisia vs Australia to look forward to tomorrow.

[Micky]

About as uninspiring as football can get, typical Southgate, typical England, pretty much what I expected to be honest. 

[Toussaint]

Just now, saintant said:

Southgate will be over the moon with a clean sheet

I think he will, I was worried when he was so upset  by conceding two goals against Iran when we had scored six, I thought he might prioritise not conceding, which we just about did. I detest the man.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2nd match tournament football, following a first match win. Don't get carried away, make sure every move forward is built from a solid defence if you lose it, even if it allows the opponent to regain their shape. Exploit any obvious gaps in the opponent if they look to over extend. Don't lose the game, taking a solid 4 points into game 3 against a team desperate to win.

USA worked hard, had more and better attacks, while not leaving themselves exposed. So, a safe draw for England and a point gained for USA against the group favourites.

Edit: While the timing may have been a little (very) late, the subs were the right choices too.

Edited 25 November, 2022 by Holmes_and_Watson

[Toussaint]

I looked forward all week to that shit, now I feel the need to drink myself unconscious 

[saintant]

Harry avoiding the obvious - You're fooling nobody Kane.

[cloggy saint]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

2nd match tournament football, following a first match win. Don't get carried away, make sure every move forward is built from a solid defence if you lose it, even if it allows the opponent to regain their shape. Exploit any obvious gaps in the opponent if they look to over extend. Don't lose the game, taking a solid 4 points into game 3 against a team desperate to win.

USA worked hard, had more and better attacks, while not leaving themselves exposed. So, a safe draw for England and a point gained for USA against the group favourites.

How dare you come here posting sense & reason?? 

[Toussaint]

2 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

How dare you come here posting sense & reason?? 

So it wasn’t absolute shit then?

[East Kent Saint]

USA organisation was excellent usually 6 men defending the box if England crept over the halfway line , had best chances to score . Can only assume England were under orders not to lose by committing too many forward at any one time . It’s no good sticking with off form players like Sterling every match . Meanwhile Maguire stood out by not making any mistakes/howlers ! 

Edited 25 November, 2022 by East Kent Saint

[niceandfriendly]

20 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Been impressed with the US keeper. Too good to be Arsenal number 2

Yes he stood there and watched the game beautifully. 

[Ted Bates Statue]

Kudos to ITV for using Eminence Front as their backing music

[AlexLaw76]

Pretty solid, but his love affair with mount is weird!

[egg]

17 minutes ago, saintant said:

Southgate will be over the moon with a clean sheet

He is! 

[egg]

13 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

2nd match tournament football, following a first match win. Don't get carried away, make sure every move forward is built from a solid defence if you lose it, even if it allows the opponent to regain their shape. Exploit any obvious gaps in the opponent if they look to over extend. Don't lose the game, taking a solid 4 points into game 3 against a team desperate to win.

USA worked hard, had more and better attacks, while not leaving themselves exposed. So, a safe draw for England and a point gained for USA against the group favourites.

Edit: While the timing may have been a little (very) late, the subs were the right choices too.

Nah, we were poor. Negative. Risk averse. Overrun in midfield. Poor performance. 

[saintant]

He was pleased with the way we built from the back! What game was this idiot watching. We built nothing from the back and looked nervous on the ball leading to hoof ball. There was too much side to side between the two centre backs right from the first minute and that set the tone. 

[saintant]

Gary Neville talking a lot of sense.

[Mixedkebab]

Englands strength in their squad is attacking players. Best way to play is get the ball forward quickly to those attacking players (one of whom should be Foden)

It does seem like England were just under instruction not to lose this one.

[cloggy saint]

17 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

So it wasn’t absolute shit then?

No, it wasn't absolute shit. It was below par and well below Monday's standards but it wasn't absolute shit.

[The Kraken]

4 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

No, it wasn't absolute shit. It was below par and well below Monday's standards but it wasn't absolute shit.

We didn’t have a shot in the second half. We had one shot on target all game. If that doesn’t count as an absolutely shit spectacle then I’d hate to watch us playing worse. It was abject all over the pitch.

Edit, stats say we had 3 on target all game so I was wrong, I can barely remember any apart from Mount’s shot in the first half. Though I nearly dozed off second half so I might have missed bits.

Edited 25 November, 2022 by The Kraken

[stknowle]

Well, got ourselves in a position where it's virtually impossible not to qualify but that was properly uninspiring and can't help feeling as soon as we come up against a top team we're gone. 

[Midfield_General]

Top of the group after two games. Shite, Southgate out!!!11 

Jesus

[FarehamSaintJames]

I think everyone in the bar I was in could see Mount was extremely poor and that the game was crying out for a change with Foden and Rashford sat on the bench. 
The bewilderment of the place when Mount stayed on and Henderson came on - baffled.

[Crab Lungs]

Sick of watching England letting lesser teams impose themselves on us. The moment we play anyone half decent with a bit of organisation and fight, we go into our shells.

And with all that attacking talent just sat there, watching, like us.

Be brave ffs. Play some match winners.

[Turkish]

11 minutes ago, Crab Lungs said:

Sick of watching England letting lesser teams impose themselves on us. The moment we play anyone half decent with a bit of organisation and fight, we go into our shells.

And with all that attacking talent just sat there, watching, like us.

Be brave ffs. Play some match winners.

Was Foden injured? Surely the perfect game for him to play and unlock a well organised team. Can’t think of any other reason why he wouldn’t get at least half hour.

[Turkish]

42 minutes ago, stknowle said:

Well, got ourselves in a position where it's virtually impossible not to qualify but that was properly uninspiring and can't help feeling as soon as we come up against a top team we're gone. 

Like it’s been for the last 50 years you mean?

[Turkish]

48 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

We didn’t have a shot in the second half. We had one shot on target all game. If that doesn’t count as an absolutely shit spectacle then I’d hate to watch us playing worse. It was abject all over the pitch.

Edit, stats say we had 3 on target all game so I was wrong, I can barely remember any apart from Mount’s shot in the first half. Though I nearly dozed off second half so I might have missed bits.

Rashford came on and hit a poor curler straight at the USA glovesman. Mounts shot which was in reality a fairly routine save despite them making out it was harder to save than it looked. 🤦

a really crap game with both teams happy not to lose rather than go for a win. Guess that’s understandable given the way the group has panned out but as an attacking force it was awful, Kane looked like a fish up a tree again like he did for most of the euros.

[egg]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Was Foden injured? Surely the perfect game for him to play and unlock a well organised team. Can’t think of any other reason why he wouldn’t get at least half hour.

Nope. I agree with Rob Green's take on it - Southgate only sees him as a wide player. Obviously to me he should have replaced Mount and played as an attacking midfielder. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/60976197?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6381342ce7e8f473cfbfb862%26'Foden only considered for wide role'%262022-11-25T22%3A19%3A55.142Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:9c77a604-2ce4-4a92-9051-d96c53a73b8b&pinned_post_asset_id=6381342ce7e8f473cfbfb862&pinned_post_type=share

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, egg said:

Nope. I agree with Rob Green's take on it - Southgate only sees him as a wide player. Obviously to me he should have replaced Mount and played as an attacking midfielder. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/60976197?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6381342ce7e8f473cfbfb862%26'Foden only considered for wide role'%262022-11-25T22%3A19%3A55.142Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:9c77a604-2ce4-4a92-9051-d96c53a73b8b&pinned_post_asset_id=6381342ce7e8f473cfbfb862&pinned_post_type=share

Mad, I was with 4 mates and we all said get Foden on from Mount who offered nothing. Someone at the next table piped up And said Foden was not fit, yet he came on against Iran. He must have been sitting on the bench going nuts at Mount toiling whilst one of the best attacking players in Europe didn’t get even a minute. But he brought Henderson on 🙄

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Pretty solid, but his love affair with mount is weird!

I don’t get him, okayish player but just there, doesn’t so much. Surely against a team like the US set up to defend you for with Rice and Bellingham at the two them 3 attacking midfielders and a striker?

grealish, Foden, Saka from the start 

[stknowle]

40 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Like it’s been for the last 50 years you mean?

YEP!

[Jazzfunk]

2 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

2nd match tournament football, following a first match win. Don't get carried away, make sure every move forward is built from a solid defence if you lose it, even if it allows the opponent to regain their shape. Exploit any obvious gaps in the opponent if they look to over extend. Don't lose the game, taking a solid 4 points into game 3 against a team desperate to win.

USA worked hard, had more and better attacks, while not leaving themselves exposed. So, a safe draw for England and a point gained for USA against the group favourites.

Edit: While the timing may have been a little (very) late, the subs were the right choices too.

Came to post pretty much this. 4 points, and a game  to come against the worst team in the group by a country mile. 

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, Jazzfunk said:

Came to post pretty much this. 4 points, and a game  to come against the worst team in the group by a country mile. 

But come on, Foden is world class and has only played 30 minutes so far. Surely has to start against wales 

[saintant]

My impression is that Southgate doesn't trust Foden and thinks he is a bit of a luxury who might sometimes give the ball away. Doesn't quite fit with his dour ambition which always seems to come across as wanting clean sheets above all else - as exemplified when he was so angry that we conceded two against Iran despite the fact that we scored six. He's a fairly joyless coach who will always opt for safety first so is unlikely ever to win either of the two big prizes in his remit.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, egg said:

Nah, we were poor. Negative. Risk averse. Overrun in midfield. Poor performance. 

Yup. Risk averse. Passed it around the back early on and in spells later, looking to draw them out/ check their attacking intent.

When they weren't going to go for that, yup the midfield looked a man short. England struggled to find a way to pass through the middle.

Southgate eventually changed this with the subs, but could have done so earlier.

But while poor on the eye, Southgate's goal is tournament progression, not entertainment. He could have been a lot more positive, but at increased risk. So that wasn't going to happen.

He'd have wanted a win, but will be content in having a strong position going into the last group game.

[cloggy saint]

5 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Ecuador making the Dutch look very average.

Because they are very average.

[Turkish]

29 minutes ago, saintant said:

My impression is that Southgate doesn't trust Foden and thinks he is a bit of a luxury who might sometimes give the ball away. Doesn't quite fit with his dour ambition which always seems to come across as wanting clean sheets above all else - as exemplified when he was so angry that we conceded two against Iran despite the fact that we scored six. He's a fairly joyless coach who will always opt for safety first so is unlikely ever to win either of the two big prizes in his remit.

If you judge Southgate on results only he’s done better than anyone. A World Cup semi and a euro final lost on pens. Despite the criticism that someone else  could have done better the reality is no one else has, ever. Arguably with far better players 

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, Toussaint said:

I think he will, I was worried when he was so upset  by conceding two goals against Iran when we had scored six, I thought he might prioritise not conceding, which we just about did. I detest the man.

The interview after the first game summed him up perfectly. Most managers would be delighted that they had just won 6-2 but his first thoughts were about the goals we conceded. Fair play to the USA tonight, they had a game plan and stuck to it and probably should have win the match.We had no ambition and no guile and were happy just not to lose. Southgate in a nutshell. You win World Cups by gambling and having balls. Southgate is a nice man but is not a gambler and doesn’t have any balls. We will get out of the group which he will see as job done, but what he has demonstrated yet again is that he can play safe and get the basics done but doesn’t have the nous to actually be a winner. He will never get a top job in the EPL when he leaves the England job.

[Raging Bull]

It might have finished 0-0 on paper, but Arizona aren’t likely to finish counting the result until December. So who knows what the final outcome will be.