World Cup

[LRF4N]

If I went red in thee sun I’d be doing this. Genius

 

 

[Snjur]

YEEEEEEEEEEEES

[Snjur]

YEEEEEEEEEEEES from zero to hero!!!

[LRF4N]

[Kneaded_His_Chin]

Gutted!

 

I think there were three reasons England lost tonight's game: firstly, the final ball was usually poor; secondly, they didn't get in Croatia's faces as much as they should have; and, thirdly, England just didn't get the big decisions from the officials.

 

The only good thing, on the basis of tonight's performance, is that we don't have to suffer the indignity of losing to the French.

[LRF4N]

There’s only one reason why England lost- there was only 1 effort on target from 6 in 120 mins. You can’t win a World Cup with that effort

 

Looks like only scoring from set pieces isn’t the way to go  

Edited July 11, 2018 by LRF4N

[StevoD]

the same team didnt come out in the 2nd half 

[davey_83]

Croatia were solid!! Played very good, calm up front no sweat.

Edited July 12, 2018 by davey_83

[Snjur]

This was our best game so far. From second half this was our show. Till today we where lucky but tonight we deserve win

[coldel]

I would disagree it was on balance fairly even over 90 mins. Kane should have finished from the same position Croatia got their second and hit the post with the follow up (VAR would have shown that the offside call was wrong and any goal would have stood) and Stones had a header off the line. Extra time first 20 were Croatia and last 10 were England's. First Croatia goal was debatable, a foot that high was dangerous play and anywhere else on the pitch and it's a stonewall free kick. The Kane miss was pivotal as England would have seen out Croatia second half at 2-0 up. Stones went to sleep for the second goal, just walking out whilst the ball was still active in the box was bizarre. 

 

But they have done amazingly well. 28 other teams didn't get as far as England who were highly tipped to fail much earlier in the tournament, no other British teams even made it to the tournament. There are always the doom merchants moaning about opposition and basically anything that will take away any credit to the team but forget that the much lauded 1990 team only had to beat Belgium and Cameroon to get to their semi final (not to mention it was a set piece goal against Belgium and two penalties against Cameroon).

 

As for the final, its hard to look past France at the moment with Mbappe really coming on song.  It will no doubt take a fair bit of luck for Croatia to win (as well as some more generous refereeing, how Rebic stayed on the pitch last night I will never know) but luck can go with any team.  

Edited July 12, 2018 by coldel

[valy]

I must be a doom merchant then    ... but England can prove me wrong by beating Belgium on Saturday for the bronze medals 

[coldel]

Unfortunately its in the English DNA to more readily accept failure than to give credit to success 

 

That match on Saturday is such a waste of time, no idea why its even played. Can anyone even remember any 3rd placed play off winners from previous world cups?

Edited July 12, 2018 by coldel

[Ekona]

Yes.*

 

 

*No. 

[Snjur]

56 minutes ago, coldel said:

 First Croatia goal was debatable, a foot that high was dangerous play and anywhere else on the pitch and it's a stonewall free kick. 

Same like penalty kick that supposed to be for Croatia on last corner kick where D Lovren was taken down in mma style

[coldel]

8 minutes ago, Snjur said:

Same like penalty kick that supposed to be for Croatia on last corner kick where D Lovren was taken down in mma style

I think that was less clear cut and they did VAR it, Croatia did the same on Maguire at one of our corners. What Croatia did well was use their foul count efficiently, when England did look like breaking in came a body check or the like to break it all down and with the ref keeping cards in his pocket just meant the tactic could continue, and any advantage of pace in the England team was reduced. The Lovren foul on Kane on the halfway line when Kane was breaking and he ignored the ball, body checked him and didn't receive a yellow set the tone really for why we couldnt hit as hard on the break as we would have liked.

Edited July 12, 2018 by coldel

[Snjur]

5 minutes ago, coldel said:

I think that was less clear cut and they did VAR it, Croatia did the same on Maguire at one of our corners. What Croatia did well was use their foul count efficiently, when England did look like breaking in came a body check or the like to break it all down and with the ref keeping cards in his pocket just meant the tactic could continue, and any advantage of pace in the England team was reduced.

They did not VAR it tackle on Lovren.

 

I think looking on missed opportunities there was a few on each end. First half was England specially after 1st goal which drown our moral a bit.

 

But Croatia came up in second half and keept that momentum until second goal.

[coldel]

Just now, Snjur said:

They did not VAR it tackle on Lovren.

 

I think looking on missed opportunities there was a few on each end. First half was England specially after 1st goal which drown our moral a bit.

 

But Croatia came up in second half and keept that momentum until second goal.

You mean the one right at the end of the first half? That was VAR'd as the ref walked off the pitch - because you don't see a big 'moment' of players standing there waiting doesn't mean it's not VAR'd.

 

I think ultimately experience counted and a lack of depth in the England team counted against them. Alli and Lingard were not performing but there was a lack of options off the bench. Dier and Hendo in the same team has always been a disaster so can see why he resisted that. Alli especially is carried by the other 9 outfield players in most matches when playing out and out central midfield and only gets game time due to his league form.

 

Personally I think the future is bright, joint youngest team at the tournament, England are current U-17 and U-20 world champions. If these players can come through at good clubs and get game time we should expect more examples of England finishing in QFs and SFs.

 

 

[Jetpilot]

6 minutes ago, coldel said:

Personally I think the future is bright

I think this is the highlight to take out of it all, in a couple more years with other players coming in, we will have a credible side imho.

 

But....

 

You can discuss tactics, ref decisions, chances for and against etc simply put they havent beaten a really decent team yet, i personally think if they had gone up against France they would have been embarrassed, so in a way, i am pleased they havent made the finals.

 

One thing that really grated me though was all the pundits highlighting lack of experience, it wasnt so long ago we had a wealth of experience, Lampard, Ferdinand, Rooney, Gerrard etc etc and they did even worse and it was said they were too old. 

 

Lets see if they can beat Belgium this time around.

 

 

[LRF4N]

All this talk about lack of experience- one of the best players of the tournament, Mbappe is what, 19?

 

Too many excuses for me. The bottom line is the there was a lack of quality. The stats speak for themselves 

[coldel]

You are not looking at what experience brings to the game overall in the right way though - you can have inexperienced players like Mbappe play well, but they need experienced players around them to perform to that level, Greizmann has been there done it in many competitions and must be brilliant to have him in your ear as a 19 year old all match helping you through it. We didn't have enough experience to carry the less experienced players on to that next level they needed last night when things were going against us, that was obvious. Kane is our captain but still a relative novice when you look at the career of someone like Modric or Mandzukic. 

 

Greece won the Euros with a lack of quality, so did Denmark, they won the competition through excelling in other attributes. Very rarely do teams have all the attributes perfectly aligned, thinking only teams like Spain late 2000s and 70s Brazil otherwise teams win based on outstanding quality, or outstanding individuals, outstanding team work so on and so forth. This England team can only get better...we should be excited about it.

[Kneaded_His_Chin]

2 hours ago, coldel said:

Unfortunately its in the English DNA to more readily accept failure than to give credit to success 

 

That match on Saturday is such a waste of time, no idea why its even played. Can anyone even remember any 3rd placed play off winners from previous world cups?

Italy beating England in Italia 90.

 

I don't remember the score, or anything about the game, the only thing I do remember is seeing the England bench and substitutes joining in with the crowd during a Mexican wave.

 

The third-place play-off is really just for the fans of the two nations involved.  And, all things considered, I bet if England had won that game in 1990 we'd remember it better now.

[coldel]

I remember it clearly! Shilton sheparding the ball without realising the italian player was behind him...

 

Other than that one, can anyone genuinely remember another one?

[LRF4N]

I remember Holland playing in one...no idea who they played

 

 

[Kneaded_His_Chin]

The next time you see someone in an orange shirt ask them. I bet they'll know.

 

Probably.

[Jetpilot]

3 hours ago, coldel said:

This England team can only get better...we should be excited about it.

Most positive thing to take as agreed with you earlier and it is exciting for sure, plus i think Southgate is the best manager we have had for a long time, not forgetting

Pickford, a revelation, probably would have been out earlier if it wasnt for him.

 

But lets be frank, no matter how good you think they were tactically etc, they were average at best, semi's or not, played 6, won 3, lost 2, drawn 1, against average competition.