World cup 2018

[Von Broad]

I agree with the last sentence, though I doubt if your loyalties woulod allow you to substitute Loftus-Cheek for Lingard.

More important is the fact the the manger needs to keep all players feeling that they're wanted throughout a tournament.
England have always been capable of playing well in an isolated game against the very best teams in he world. What we've never been very good at is playing tournaments. And they're two different things. So while it's tempting [and often necessary] to drop one player in favour of another in a knee jerk reaction on the basis of a performance [as us arm chair managers], you earn your money when you're the real manager and know that it's crucial to keep everybody one board and equally valued as the next person because the chances are you're going to need them further down the line.

You saw that with Southgate's generous reaction to Stirling when he was substituted.

[Peter]

I understand what you're saying and by that token it will be important to keep players like Loftus-Cheek "on board".  I suspect Jamie Vardy may have to wait for an injury to Kane, which is inevitable (the injury, I mean).

[fuzzy]

Trippier was my Man of the Match tonight.

Lots of good balls into the danger area. Shame about the end results.

We did however score one more than them so, all in all, a right result.

Did someone switch off the VAR cameras though?

[LEE]

In a previous post I complimented Gareth Southgate for keeping it simple and playing players in their normal positions.

However he played Kyle Walker as a centre back and it almost cost us.  I don't understand the logic of playing people "out of position"  I understand that Southgate plays 3 at the back, which create a square peg/round hole situation for Walker, but centre-back is ALL about position and tactical awareness.  Walker isn't that player.  Walker is a super-quick right-back who never needs to think beyond "tracking back".

He was painfully exposed last night, the one time he had to perform a centre-back role, and I see the better teams turning him inside out and leaving him isolated.

Raheem Sterling couldn't hit a Cow's arse with a banjo (Yes, he'll now prove me wrong).

We fell apart drastically when things started to go wrong but, up to that point, the first 20 minutes was as good as I've seen England in years.  The pressure of that first "must win" game is off now.  I think we may play well without that pressure.
Nobody expects us to win the competition and that could take the pressure off if we get to meet teams who ARE expected to win it.

Great result, average performance (from a very good start).  I have predicted  3-0 against Panama in our works World Cup predictor competition. (And getting beaten 2-1 by Belgium)

[DuncanM]

I didn't watch the game but...
Playing as a wide CB in a back 3 needs specific attributes. Pace and the ability to defend 1v1 in space are crucial. This generally suits hybrid fullback/centreback type players - the best example in recent times at club level is Azpilicueta. Joe Gomez did well for England in that position recently, and he's a similar hybrid, but he's not fit (and neither is Clyne, who could suit the role). This sort of player also offers you potential going forward - it means that opponents can't sit off the CBs and press the first ball into midfield.
I suspect Walker is too good to leave out, but doesn't really have a position in the 3-5-2 because in a 4, attacking fullbacks get some space to run into - once you become a wingback you often have someone who is right on you before you can move. As such, he can fill a problem position and let the other RBs in the squad do an equivalent job at wingback.

[citoyen]

Typical England fans - can't even enjoy it when they win.

The second half was tough going for England, and frustrating to watch. Better sides than them would have struggled against that well organised and rather crafty Tunisian defence. But they made enough chances that one of them was going to go in eventually, and ultimately they deserved to win.

I thought there were lots of positives to take from the game, and the Belgium game has the potential to be a real corker along the lines of Portugal vs Spain, as both sides will be totally up for it. For now, though, they just need to focus on Panama and getting that job done.

[citoyen]

Raheem Sterling couldn't hit a Cow's arse with a banjo (Yes, he'll now prove me wrong).

He's not the Messi, he's a naughty boy.

[pcolbeck]

How good are this England squad, I don't follow The Premiership enough these days to know really?
The only teams I thought were good and stood a good chance of reaching the final were the 1990 team (and they did reach the semis) and the 2002 team (who got knocked out in the quarters). Other than that in my my lifetime England teams have been consistently a bit rubbish (I'll give the 1996 Euo's team a pass on that as they were good as well).

[citoyen]

Great start to the Colombia vs Japan game!

[De Sisti]

It would have been hard not to give a penalty for that - it was practically a rugby tackle.

Those sorts of player 'interaction' outside of the penalty area would result in a foul and yellow
card at the very least.

[sg37409]

Great start. Not perfect but a win while having things to consider and improve on is about as good as it gets.  No winners play their best in the 1st game.

I thought england would win all their group stage games (fingers crossed) and go on to the semi's at least. So far so good. 

[Von Broad]

(I'll give the 1996 Euo's team a pass on that as they were good as well).

As were the subsequent 98 team under Hoddle who lost to Argentina on penalties - nicely balanced team that and a terrific game [Southgate was playing in that team of course]. For better of for worse, system wise, Southgate's very much picking up where Hoddle left off.

Reflecting on Italia 90, England started very lacklustre in that tournament and then gradually got it together [mainly because, as legend has it, that the players wanted Robson to change the formation, which he did], and by the semis were playing really well -  Gascoigne was key then of course.

[Von Broad]

The second half was tough going for England, and frustrating to watch. Better sides than them would have struggled against that well organised and rather crafty Tunisian defence. But they made enough chances that one of them was going to go in eventually, and ultimately they deserved to win.

It's always going to be a slog when you meet a team, that at half time decide to park the bus and have no interest whatsoever in trying to get a result themselves. And this, the first game in the group stages when you've just equalized! Boring, negative and cynical and the best place for Tunisia is a seat on a plane home. Best team in Africa, did I hear? They really screwed up tactically big time then.

[Jacques]

Has anyone else noticed that just as a player is about to take a corner, almost without fail the referees seem to take great delight in stopping them, then giving a lecture to a couple of players about them holding or pushing each other? Then as soon as the corner is on it's way they completely ignore the same two players doing the same thing to each other they just wasted time telling off. Do those two players suddenly become invisible to the ref when the corner is taken?

As for organising things at free kicks near the penalty area, I sometimes think the refs waste more time than players and should show themselves a yellow card occasionally to speed themselves up!

[De Sisti]

Has anyone else noticed that just as a player is about to take a corner, almost without fail the referees seem to take great delight in stopping them, then giving a lecture to a couple of players about them holding or pushing each other? Then as soon as the corner is on it's way they completely ignore the same two players doing the same thing to each other they just wasted time telling off. Do those two players suddenly become invisible to the ref when the corner is taken?

As for organising things at free kicks near the penalty area, I sometimes think the refs waste more time than players and should show themselves a yellow card occasionally to speed themselves up!

I totally agree.

[LEE]

Typical England fans - can't even enjoy it when they win.

I enjoyed the first 20 minutes and the final 3.

England traditionally don't make it very easy to enjoy tournament games.  Not since Euro 96 that I can remember.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Result a bit flattering to Russia, I'd say; and to Egypt! Really don't think that was a penalty. Cheryshev's goal was ace though.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Judging by the press responses, losing to Senegal was a bigger deal for Poland than winning against Tunisia was for England. Apparently it's "the return of Copenhagen syndrome"!

[citoyen]

England traditionally don't make it very easy to enjoy tournament games.  Not since Euro 96 that I can remember.

Ah, 1996.... I watched the England-Netherlands game in the pub after work. On my way to the station for the train home, I was accosted by two chaps who thought I looked a bit Dutch. I only escaped a kicking because I convinced them I was English. You'd have thought the result and England's brilliant performance in that match would have put them in a good mood. Apparently not.

[Mr Larrington]

We got free BEER in a bar in Assen after the England-Germany game in Italia '90, coz they're totally not keen on Germans in that part of the Nether Regions.  We didn't have the heart to tell mine host that half the party was Scots or Irish.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

There has been a bit of a stooshie on Twitter. Alan Sugar tweeted a pic of the Senegal team. Said that he recognised them from selling trinkets on the beach in Marbella.
The tweet has been deleted but expect some ructions I think.

[Greenbank]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44544897

[Deano]

Bugger, I thought Iran had scored there.

[hatler]

England traditionally don't make it very easy to enjoy tournament games.  Not since Euro 96 that I can remember.

Ah, 1996.... I watched the England-Netherlands game in the pub after work. On my way to the station for the train home, I was accosted by two chaps who thought I looked a bit Dutch. I only escaped a kicking because I convinced them I was English. You'd have thought the result and England's brilliant performance in that match would have put them in a good mood. Apparently not.

I was at that game. As the final whistle went word sped round the entire stadium that the Cloggies had qualified as well as a result of the Scotland v Switzerland result. I don't think there are many times in one's life when you could be surrounded by 100,000 barmily happy people.

[LEE]

Some of the England 96 squad

David Seaman - World Class
Paul Ince - World Class
Paul Gascoigne - Arguably the most talented player in the World at that precise moment in time
Alan Shearer - World Class
Teddy Sheringham - World Class
David Platt - World Class
Steve McManaman - World Class
Stuart Pearce - Not World class but absolutely what you need in an English midfield.

There were others, some of whom went on to become World class level.

When I look at that list of names it strikes me now as a dream team.  It sums up precisely what we've missed since then.  Some genuine talent but mixed with true-grit and a non-stop work ethic.

Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy are the only 2 such "throwbacks" that I spot in the England team for 2018.