• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

2018 FIFA World Cup Thread [W:87]

Sterling was again one of our best players. I'd say that the least impressive tonight were Young, Kane, and Henderson. I really think we lost it in midfield. Lost too many 50/50 balls and couldn't provide any service to the strikers. Shame.
 
Rexedgar said:
Croatia may not have enough left for France, but it has been a whale of a run. I think I had them before the close of the group stage.....
Click to expand...
On paper they should be carrying the Croatians onto the final field with stretchers.

But it IS the final and a better form of doping has yet to be advised.

If i were prone to betting I'd put my money on France though, yet after this tournament I'm even less prone to betting and wouldn't bank on anything anymore.
 
It’s the hope that kills you
 
They've already set their own historical records and they're a young team. Plenty time.

Allez les Bleus now! (and regroup for the Belgium game)..
 
Exactly why I couldn't believe too much.

But it was nice to hope, if even for a moment.

Some positives to come out of this, Young Squad, 2 more years experience, who knows what they can do it Euro 2020...
 
Commiserations for the England supporters here. I was hopeful and the lone nutter cheering them on in my local cafe. The first goal was a great free kick and the first half looked promising. Croatia came out a new team for the second half, and when I saw England defending that deep I knew an equalizer was inevitable. England had some good chances, but I felt Croatia did a better job of controlling the midfield and creating chances. Sterling was dreadfully frustrating to watch because I kept hoping he would create chances with the possession he had but would only see him trip himself up.
 
Rexedgar said:
Croatia may not have enough left for France, but it has been a whale of a run. I think I had them before the close of the group stage.....
Click to expand...

I hope you are wrong, because I know a lot of people cheering for Croatia...
 
Jetboogieman said:
Exactly why I couldn't believe too much.

But it was nice to hope, if even for a moment.

Some positives to come out of this, Young Squad, 2 more years experience, who knows what they can do it Euro 2020...
Click to expand...

There are many positives. I think England fans should be proud.
 
Chagos said:
We lost because we weren't up to it and if we keep blaming everybody else (our favourite pastime), we never will be.

What prevailed was experience, routine and absolute professionalism. All things this young team has every chance of acquiring but did not possess at the moment and could not be expected to possess.
Click to expand...

No I wasn't trying to make excuses - we didn't put the game away in the first half when we ran Croatia ragged. It will always haunt you if you have lots of chances not converted.

I did however watch replays of balls cleared from outside the match lines and under the nose of a linesman who instead of giving a corner to us gave a throw in to Croatia. There were two of these. The professional foul and body charge - they were better at this than we were. Throwing yourself into a ball challenge and leaving an opponent on the ground rarely threw up a foul for them while our guys were too young to know they could do the same. Rashford rarely threatened the keeper in 50/50 balls the way the Croats did Pickford.

I leave you withe the name Dejan Lovren - how was he not booked for his repeated fouls - or even still on the pitch? The referring has been poor this WC - even with VAR available.

Anyhow, I'll stop there we didn't play the man as well as they did. (A rugby term) We played out from the back and we made brilliant chances before the game turned. What we did however was we found an England team that actually wore the shirt with pride and played with their hearts and minds. It's been a long time since I've watched an England team where our "stars" played their 3rd best game as compared to the game they brought to their club games. I was proud of that team, especially of how they became a "team."
 
Hoping France will win their second World Cup - they play a cleaner game.




Sorry if I'm not so happy for Croatia.
 
Infinite Chaos said:
No I wasn't trying to make excuses - we didn't put the game away in the first half when we ran Croatia ragged. It will always haunt you if you have lots of chances not converted.
Click to expand...
Oh I was using the "we" in a general term, not aimed at either you or myself (or anyone else here, for that matter). I simply remembered the "we wuz robbed" whines of 2010 after the linesman had quite obviously moved the German goal line about a yard back. Implication having been at the time that without that England would have won the game. Where anyone watching could see that the Germans were out for slaughter with or without that stupid incident.

Beyond which I totally agree with your assessment of the first half yesterday in which England held air, ground and field superiority but made nothing of it. Which actually served to demonstrate the lacking "strike" quality, already outlined by the fact that England scored most of its goals in this tournament from set pieces.

Now I'm not knocking Southgate having trained that angle to perfection, especially seeing how hopeless England was at those in the past, one just can't hope to win every game solely on those while being unable to convert any of the other (numerous) chances.

I did however watch replays of balls cleared from outside the match lines and under the nose of a linesman who instead of giving a corner to us gave a throw in to Croatia. There were two of these. The professional foul and body charge - they were better at this than we were. Throwing yourself into a ball challenge and leaving an opponent on the ground rarely threw up a foul for them while our guys were too young to know they could do the same. Rashford rarely threatened the keeper in 50/50 balls the way the Croats did Pickford.

I leave you withe the name Dejan Lovren - how was he not booked for his repeated fouls - or even still on the pitch? The referring has been poor this WC - even with VAR available.
Click to expand...
My perception is quite different, even with a couple of clangers and one truly abominable referee performance thruout a whole game, but I'm inclined to leave it as well, but not before pointing out that bad referee-ing (where it occurs) always harms everyone or benefits the others, depending which side you're on..
Anyhow, I'll stop there we didn't play the man as well as they did. (A rugby term) We played out from the back and we made brilliant chances before the game turned. What we did however was we found an England team that actually wore the shirt with pride and played with their hearts and minds. It's been a long time since I've watched an England team where our "stars" played their 3rd best game as compared to the game they brought to their club games. I was proud of that team, especially of how they became a "team."
Click to expand...
They were a pleasure to watch and where there is still much for them to learn, I have no doubt that they will do precisely that. And I'm lookin forward to seeing them in two years time for the Euros.
 
I'm actually rooting for Croatia. Or would be if I could get fanatical about any of this.:2razz:

Basically the "with the underdog" syndrome and also on account of France already having won the title once.
 
Trivia break:

what three things did not exist when England last won the World Cup?

i-Phones
Facebook

and




wait for it






wait for it







wait for it














Croatia

:mrgreen:
 
After a nights sleep, I can say the following is needed for England.

Goalkeeping is safe... Pickford needs to switch to a top team.
Defensively, the wings are safe and great, but central defenders need more experience and you need more of them.
Defensive midfield... Dier is one of the best in the world imo... and yet is not an automatic starter.
Central midfield. Henderson is getting old, and there is no real replacement and you lack a creative midfielder.. someone with a brain. The players you had this time around showed their lack of experience and their hotheadness... more of this later.
Wings.. great stuff there.
Attack.. Kane but not much else for now.

As we have seen the last few England games, the team tended to disappear from the game after scoring. The lack of midfield control, a general.. aka Modric or Rakatic, was clear as day. Kane cant score if he does not get the ball... same for Sterling and so on.

But finally what I noticed and that is a problem.. the hotheads... almost all the young players showed a short fuse. Dele Alli and Lingard especially showed that they need to get a few red cards asap before it is too late. Rashford and Alli tend to playact... and it has to stop. It will hurt them and the team (including their domestic teams) if they dont learn.

Other than that... England will be a contender at least at the next Euros and maybe at the next World..
 
Disappointment comes in waves today. Just so gutted and the country as a whole is just flat. Just when you think it can’t get worse you turn on the TV and remember that orange twat Trump is visiting.
 
Higgins86 said:
Disappointment comes in waves today. Just so gutted and the country as a whole is just flat. Just when you think it can’t get worse you turn on the TV and remember that orange twat Trump is visiting.
Click to expand...
I hear (as an aside that really has nothing to do with FIFA) that his plane has been renamed to Hair Farce One.
 
Higgins86 said:
Disappointment comes in waves today. Just so gutted and the country as a whole is just flat. Just when you think it can’t get worse you turn on the TV and remember that orange twat Trump is visiting.
Click to expand...

Trump took a question from a Croatian journalist and congratulated him on the victory, and quickly mentioned that he is a stable genius. It made me want to puke.
 
PeteEU said:
After a nights sleep, I can say the following is needed for England.

Goalkeeping is safe... Pickford needs to switch to a top team.
Defensively, the wings are safe and great, but central defenders need more experience and you need more of them.
Defensive midfield... Dier is one of the best in the world imo... and yet is not an automatic starter.
Central midfield. Henderson is getting old, and there is no real replacement and you lack a creative midfielder.. someone with a brain. The players you had this time around showed their lack of experience and their hotheadness... more of this later.
Wings.. great stuff there.
Attack.. Kane but not much else for now.

As we have seen the last few England games, the team tended to disappear from the game after scoring. The lack of midfield control, a general.. aka Modric or Rakatic, was clear as day. Kane cant score if he does not get the ball... same for Sterling and so on.

But finally what I noticed and that is a problem.. the hotheads... almost all the young players showed a short fuse. Dele Alli and Lingard especially showed that they need to get a few red cards asap before it is too late. Rashford and Alli tend to playact... and it has to stop. It will hurt them and the team (including their domestic teams) if they dont learn.

Other than that... England will be a contender at least at the next Euros and maybe at the next World..
Click to expand...

I think I agree with your every point. I'm not so keen on a defensive 3 with wing-backs. It forces good players like Walker to have to play a more central role when they are so used to and successful as full backs.

I also agree that England lack creative midfielders of the likes of Modric, or even of players of the past like Scholes. I've never been a Henderson fan; he blows hot and cold, some days great others sloppy, like yesterday. I think the same of Kane tbh. He was great for the first two games and then became anonymous, isolated and ineffectual. That's not all his fault, but it is something Southgate has to address. As I think Dion Dublin was saying on the radio this morning, Rahim Sterling has been the player that most defences fear and the most influential player for dictating the course of the game for England. We saw that Rashford, when he replaced Sterling, couldn't offer anything in temrs of linking the strikers to midfield.

I agree with you about the hotheads too. For some reason Dele Alli gets away with murder and Lingard just has a short fuse. If they don't start to get the disclipline they need Southgate should start looking elsewhere. Both of them had just one good game at this WC.

I feel sad but optimistic after last night. I predicted they'd make it to the quarters, somewhere back in this thread, and they made it one step further, so I ought to be satisfied, but I'm not really.
 
Andalublue said:
I think I agree with your every point. I'm not so keen on a defensive 3 with wing-backs. It forces good players like Walker to have to play a more central role when they are so used to and successful as full backs.

I also agree that England lack creative midfielders of the likes of Modric, or even of players of the past like Scholes. I've never been a Henderson fan; he blows hot and cold, some days great others sloppy, like yesterday. I think the same of Kane tbh. He was great for the first two games and then became anonymous, isolated and ineffectual. That's not all his fault, but it is something Southgate has to address. As I think Dion Dublin was saying on the radio this morning, Rahim Sterling has been the player that most defences fear and the most influential player for dictating the course of the game for England. We saw that Rashford, when he replaced Sterling, couldn't offer anything in temrs of linking the strikers to midfield.

I agree with you about the hotheads too. For some reason Dele Alli gets away with murder and Lingard just has a short fuse. If they don't start to get the disclipline they need Southgate should start looking elsewhere. Both of them had just one good game at this WC.

I feel sad but optimistic after last night. I predicted they'd make it to the quarters, somewhere back in this thread, and they made it one step further, so I ought to be satisfied, but I'm not really.
Click to expand...
Henderson is a box to box player and not he brain of a midfield like Modric. He is however a needed type of player just as Dier is for the defensive midfield.

I can't think of any English player that fits the Modric, Eriksen, Inestia role.. and that is a creative problem.

And of course you need more central defenders in the EPL.

As for Kane... he is no Ronaldo or Messi skill wise but he does have Ronaldos eye to be at the right place at the right time... but still requires he gets the ball and that is the problem area. As I read today somewhere... England is still a long ball team.

Oh and Rashford is being played out of position imo. He ain't a Sterling replacement.... more a Kane replacement or maybe a more offensive Ali replacement.

Sendt fra min SM-N9005 med Tapatalk
 
PeteEU said:
Henderson is a box to box player and not he brain of a midfield like Modric. He is however a needed type of player just as Dier is for the defensive midfield.

I can't think of any English player that fits the Modric, Eriksen, Inestia role.. and that is a creative problem.

And of course you need more central defenders in the EPL.

As for Kane... he is no Ronaldo or Messi skill wise but he does have Ronaldos eye to be at the right place at the right time... but still requires he gets the ball and that is the problem area. As I read today somewhere... England is still a long ball team.

Oh and Rashford is being played out of position imo. He ain't a Sterling replacement.... more a Kane replacement or maybe a more offensive Ali replacement.

Sendt fra min SM-N9005 med Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Southgate was also exposed in the 2nd and i hope he learns from it as he’s a young manager. It was obvious that Croatia had worked out that there was space on the flanks and they exploited it. We needed to bring on an extra midfielder and revert to a traditional 3-5-2. Didn’t happen though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom