Russia World Cup 2018 Thread

Nice! England for us then, as usual the english players will think they are far superior than these guys playing for Toulose, random Saudi Arabian team and Hull but we have this incredible team spirit that just keep us going (hello Holland/Italy etc!). ;)
 
Did we actually just win a penalty shoot out or did I dream that bit? Dirty tactics aside we totally lost our way in that game once again and worryingly have only scored one goal from open play which was a deflection off Kane's heel. We're supposed to have all this attacking talent but create little really. Fortunately we are very dangerous on set pieces and all the time they keep rugby tackling Kane in the box we'll be ok!

There does seem to be a belief in the squad though and we have as good a chance of anything that's left in our way of getting to the final but we'll have to raise our game significantly to beat a France or a Brazil on top form I think. Or a Croatia on top form come to that and I'm not dismissing Sweden either! Oh bugger I've gone all pessimistic now :LOL: Ok let's just enjoy the penalty shoot out win!
 
Didn't see Pickford's save again. The one just before the equaliser.
I couldn't watch the penalties. Even as a neutral I won't watch them. Horrible way to lose.
 
Isslander said:
England win on pens, we have obviously been transferred to an alternative and fantastical time line
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Brexit Dreamland, the Queen rules a quarter of the world, places are still called proper names like Ceylon, Formosa and Rhodesia and England's football team is superior to all those continental types.

I can feel a wave of hype, hysteria and runaway expectations coming. :COAT::COAT::COAT:
 
Titch said:
Didn't see Pickford's save again. The one just before the equaliser.
I couldn't watch the penalties. Even as a neutral I won't watch them. Horrible way to lose.
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Yeah I was hoping to see that again, looked a hell of a save but they never showed it again as they scored from the corner.

I enjoy them as a neutral but for your own team it's awful.
 
WhoAteMeDinner said:
Brexit Dreamland, the Queen rules a quarter of the world, places are still called proper names like Ceylon, Formosa and Rhodesia and England's football team is superior to all those continental types.

I can feel a wave of hype, hysteria and runaway expectations coming. :COAT::COAT::COAT:
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The expectations start when they announce the qualifying groups! Once we've beaten Lithuania or someone 3-0 we're on our way.
 
Godotelli said:
If/when we get beat by Colombia tonight we'll get accused of arrogance but the reason for not wanting to be on the other side of the draw is due to the opposite of arrogance. We'd just like a bit of hope.
This was one of the worst England squads ever and certainly the most inexperienced but this plus their attitude and desire to play the right way has rekindled something, a bit of pride, a bit of hope ...but the spectre of having Brazil and France to play to even get to the final would give us no hope at all.

IMO there isn't a difference between going out in the last 16 or going out in the QF. Thus having a decent chance of reaching a SF - which is itself a special occasion due to the prize of a WC Final, makes the gamble worth it.
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Let me tell you how things look for England from this side of the world. Not just now but before the WC started:
English football has really benefited from foreign coaches. Guardiola, Mourinho, Pocchetino, Pellegrini, etc. I know English football has always had great coaches whether they were actually British or not, but this level of managers is different. And it shows on the pitch. No more long ball and second ball. Now the CB comes out WITH the ball from their own box to the halfway line. Their inside play is much better too. And Kane is a hell of a scorer.

I don't know if this will be England's WC, but if these coaches are still managing big clubs for 2022 (you can now add Bielsa too), I'm sure Qatar will be yours.

Gunslinger said:
Bloody England. Always the hard way. Sweden will tare us apart.
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Sweden can't beat England.
Won't be an open match, but England will come out on top, you'll see.


I feel very sorry for Pekerman though. He's one of my favourite coaches ever. He's like the Argentinean Guardiola. I wish he would have stayed with us as long as he lived.
 
Chuny said:
Let me tell you how things look for England from this side of the world. Not just now but before the WC started:
English football has really benefited from foreign coaches. Guardiola, Mourinho, Pocchetino, Pellegrini, etc. I know English football has always had great coaches whether they were actually British or not, but this level of managers is different. And it shows on the pitch. No more long ball and second ball. Now the CB comes out WITH the ball from their own box to the halfway line. Their inside play is much better too. And Kane is a hell of a scorer.

I don't know if this will be England's WC, but if these coaches are still managing big clubs for 2022 (you can now add Bielsa too), I'm sure Qatar will be yours.



Sweden can't beat England.
Won't be an open match, but England will come out on top, you'll see.


I feel very sorry for Pekerman though. He's one of my favourite coaches ever. He's like the Argentinean Guardiola. I wish he would have stayed with us as long as he lived.
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I like Pekerman too. Nice guy. Feel sorry for James too. Game would have turned out different if he had played I think. England's midfield could definitely do with a James Rodriguez.
 
fregen said:
Nice! England for us then, as usual the english players will think they are far superior than these guys playing for Toulose, random Saudi Arabian team and Hull but we have this incredible team spirit that just keep us going (hello Holland/Italy etc!). ;)
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I don't think that's the case. English lads in this team seem pretty humble to me. Happy to even reach the quarters I bet.
 
Chuny said:
Let me tell you how things look for England from this side of the world. Not just now but before the WC started:
English football has really benefited from foreign coaches. Guardiola, Mourinho, Pocchetino, Pellegrini, etc. I know English football has always had great coaches whether they were actually British or not, but this level of managers is different. And it shows on the pitch. No more long ball and second ball. Now the CB comes out WITH the ball from their own box to the halfway line. Their inside play is much better too. And Kane is a hell of a scorer.

I don't know if this will be England's WC, but if these coaches are still managing big clubs for 2022 (you can now add Bielsa too), I'm sure Qatar will be yours.
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Don't see much Mourinho in this team but defo Pep, Poch and Conte. If we had the midfielders I imagine we'd play the 'free 8' system Pep plays with us, we kind of play a slight variant of it with Lingard and Sterling ducking in to receive the ball but they aren't Silva/KDB. Doubt we'll have these types of midfielders until Foden's age group is ready

Can't see us winning a WC any time soon but it would fit in with the trend of Pep managing in the country of the winners.
 
Godotelli said:
Don't see much Mourinho in this team but defo Pep, Poch and Conte. If we had the midfielders I imagine we'd play the 'free 8' system Pep plays with us, we kind of play a slight variant of it with Lingard and Sterling ducking in to receive the ball but they aren't Silva/KDB. Doubt we'll have these types of midfielders until Foden's age group is ready

Can't see us winning a WC any time soon but it would fit in with the trend of Pep managing in the country of the winners.
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I wasn't talking about styles. I'm talking about concepts and techniques these coaches give to their players. They leave a mark. They teach them. So this England is very different to others. Even if it's not a joy to watch, you can definitely appreciate the difference to other WC.
 
Plus, let's not forget Spain became WorldCup Champions after Guardiola's masterpiece at Barcelona.
Germany became WorldCup Champions after Guardiola's masterpiece at Bayern Munich (I know what you're going to say, he didn't win the UCL there, but who cares? Bayern played an excellent football but they had to deal with one of Messi's fines nights + Suarez and Neymar. And even so... most players in that Bayern said he taught stuff to them they had never done before and he made them better).

So, who knows... maybe it's England's time to be touched by Guardiola's halo.
 
Gunslinger said:
I don't think that's the case. English lads in this team seem pretty humble to me. Happy to even reach the quarters I bet.
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Yeah, I agree, bit of a different England side that we're used to tbf. But like every other team that has come up against us since our new coach took over and Zlatan ended his NT career I think there will be some level of underestimation from the England side. At least from your press there will be! ;)
Anyway, we won't be favorites and that's exactly what this team wants.
 
Looks like the brits finally did it via penalties. Never thought I’d witness that moment... ;)

I thought It was all lost when COL scored that late header. But I just can’t see them win the cup.
 
mattmid said:
The expectations start when they announce the qualifying groups! Once we've beaten Lithuania or someone 3-0 we're on our way.
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The thing is @mattmid , England would have half a chance of winning the whole thing if they just had someone in central midfield to pass the ball and keep the play fluid, not even a footballing giant like Pirlo or Der Kaiser is needed. Jonjo Shelvey would have worked or maybe Eric Dier (Portuguese trained so he has passing in his football brain) would add some craft and sense of control. It is all headless chicken stuff so far, run like crazy and win a free or a corner.

And then there is the horrible prospect of being screwed over by FIFA and Russia in the semi-finals, a
VAR fix will make Dirty Diego look like a minor annoyance. :NO::NO::NO:
 
Isslander said:
Not exactly match of the tournament, this.
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Very difficult to play football when the other team aren't interested in playing (until they concede and they absolutely have to, of course).

I celebrated last night, but after sleeping on it I honestly don't feel any joy in it.

All I can think about is how it so easily could have been us going out on penalties - and not because of the football played, but because of the absolute shithousery* of the Colombians, and (more to the point), the absolute non-existence of the referee.

Scuffing and digging the penalty spot before England's penalty? I've never even seen children do that. Certainly not in a competitive game. Is there no shame?

Is every single match England play going to be like this (Tunisia were the same)?

What the fuck is the point in VAR?

*Copyright 2018 Guardian football podcasts
 
You're right but I think you just have to accept that's part of the South American way to level the playing field if they are up against a stronger team on the day. It's not right of course but if the ref doesn't clamp down on it they'll continue. The penalty was a complete joke, start dishing the cards out straight away. It's all delaying tactics of course and all teams do it, just not to that degree. How the headbutt was not a red I don't know and I'm happy to admit why wasn't Stones' kick looked at too? No place for that even though I totally get the frustration.

@WhoAteMeDinner Oh to have Paul Scholes now in this team. From what we do have I'd much rather see Delph in there than Henderson or Dier. Henderson contributes nothing going forward but very little defensively either (1.7 tackles and 0.3 interceptions per game in 3 games, hardly a Kante, 2.8 tackles and 3.3 interceptions per game in 4 games) I lost count of the times players went by him like he wasn't there last night.

Walker, Stones and Maguire all bring the ball out from the back and contribute more going forward than him and if he's not making tackles or winning the ball anyway then from the squad we have for me it has to be Delph in there, he has improved massively under Guardiola, he can pick a pass and wins tackles.
 
fregen said:
Yeah, I agree, bit of a different England side that we're used to tbf. But like every other team that has come up against us since our new coach took over and Zlatan ended his NT career I think there will be some level of underestimation from the England side. At least from your press there will be! ;)
Anyway, we won't be favorites and that's exactly what this team wants.
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Yes its a strange one, but I don't think you can blame us to preferring a quarter final against Sweden rather than Brazil! I'm sure you'd rather take on England than Belgium. It's great that one of the finalists is gonna be Russia, Croatia, Sweden or England.

mattmid said:
You're right but I think you just have to accept that's part of the South American way to level the playing field if they are up against a stronger team on the day. It's not right of course but if the ref doesn't clamp down on it they'll continue. The penalty was a complete joke, start dishing the cards out straight away. It's all delaying tactics of course and all teams do it, just not to that degree. How the headbutt was not a red I don't know and I'm happy to admit why wasn't Stones' kick looked at too? No place for that even though I totally get the frustration.

@WhoAteMeDinner Oh to have Paul Scholes now in this team. From what we do have I'd much rather see Delph in there than Henderson or Dier. Henderson contributes nothing going forward but very little defensively either (1.7 tackles and 0.3 interceptions per game in 3 games, hardly a Kante, 2.8 tackles and 3.3 interceptions per game in 4 games) I lost count of the times players went by him like he wasn't there last night.

Walker, Stones and Maguire all bring the ball out from the back and contribute more going forward than him and if he's not making tackles or winning the ball anyway then from the squad we have for me it has to be Delph in there, he has improved massively under Guardiola, he can pick a pass and wins tackles.
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I'm not Henderson's biggest fan by any means but that seems overly harsh. Thought he had a very good game last night, for most of this World Cup he has essentially been the only central midfielder in this setup. Defensively he isn't great but so far not many teams have actually attacked us, more interested in wrestling. Think he distributes the ball very well too and that can't be underestimated in tight games like these.
 
Just read this on BBC Sport:

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Colombia thought they were unfairly treated by the referee.

Is this an actual joke? Well, I mean, it is a joke.

Any other nation would surely consider that "performance" (i.e. the aggression, the penalty spot bullshit) a national disgrace. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?
 
peterc10 said:
I'm not Henderson's biggest fan by any means but that seems overly harsh. Thought he had a very good game last night, for most of this World Cup he has essentially been the only central midfielder in this setup. Defensively he isn't great but so far not many teams have actually attacked us, more interested in wrestling. Think he distributes the ball very well too and that can't be underestimated in tight games like these.
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Maybe a bit harsh but you just said yourself defensively he isn't great, but that's supposed to be his job, together with keeping the ball flowing. I did see one quote this season that made me laugh, it was a report on a game and it said Henderson showed his full range of passing, sideways, backwards and over ambitious :) I don't mean to be harsh but I just think there are many better options than him for that role. Stones could probably play it better and put Cahill in the back three.
 
@Chris Davies Unbelievable. Mind you I remember years ago we had a guy from another branch come to work in our branch for a couple of weeks and he supported a team we were due to play that weekend. Me and my friend who also worked there are season ticket holders and this other guy went to the game as well in the away end. Monday morning discussing the game and we all thought the ref was favouring the other team :)
 
Well, maybe the attempted act of coitus in the penalty box doesn't warrant a penalty after all ... have the rule books been carefully scrutinized?

sarcasm
 
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