England Discussion | Finish 4th

[DannyCAFC]

Second-half was massively disappointing, not sure whether it was tactics or players going in to their shell, but dropping off trying to sit-back and soak up pressure at 1-0 for me didn't make sense if it was the manager's call.

The only player they have with any great deal of pace who could get in behind was Perisic, who was having a largely off-night and isn't as quite as the likes of Walker.

Thought we just needlessly invited pressure in the 2nd half and played right in to their hands. I would rather we have pushed the defensive line up, remained ball-positive and lost 5-1 getting hammered on the counter than meekly go out the way we did yesterday.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I am amazed how this england is soft. Mantra in football always was that england players are tough, does not dive( go down easy) and can run 2 days. England was symbol in football for man's game.

 

[Buchan]

Overrated Croata. Also, tired Croatia.

 

[Judas]

I am amazed how this england is soft. Mantra in football always was that england players are tough, does not dive( go down easy) and can run 2 days. England was symbol in football for man's game.

It's not 1991 anymore.

 

[Buchan]

This will be surprisingly easy for England.

Love this.

@Ban

 

[Buchan]

England's best hope is going to be playing the ball over the top to someone like Sterling. If they try and play football, they'll be fecked.

Very prescient post by @prateik here. Called Southgate’s ‘tactics’ to a tee. Long-ball merchants who hoof it as soon as there’s any token pressure put on the defence/midfield.

There was only one football team out there last night and thankfully they’re not going home yet.

 

[Andycoleno9]

It's not 1991 anymore.

Ha ha. I would not go that far. Your golden generation maybe failed but they were tough as it gets. Lampard, scholes, rio, terry, gerrard were monsters on the pitch.
I forgot rooney. He was manace to defenders with his strength

 

[Judas]

The stereotype of the English tough man in footballing terms is very much a early 90s thing. None of the "golden generation" really fit into that mould for me.

 

[Kopral Jono]

Second-half was massively disappointing, not sure whether it was tactics or players going in to their shell, but dropping off trying to sit-back and soak up pressure at 1-0 for me didn't make sense if it was the manager's call.

The only player they have with any great deal of pace who could get in behind was Perisic, who was having a largely off-night and isn't as quite as the likes of Walker.

Thought we just needlessly invited pressure in the 2nd half and played right in to their hands. I would rather we have pushed the defensive line up, remained ball-positive and lost 5-1 getting hammered on the counter than meekly go out the way we did yesterday.

It's the utter lack of bottle to come out and play in the second half that makes last night a disappointment for England fans. I don't know if something was said at half time, because if you recall the first half well there were times when England were passing it around at the back a bit too casually, but in any case it could be just they panicked out of the blue for whatever reason and that does happen every now and then.

That said, on another day Croatia could have missed all their chances in front of goal regardless of what England do and if that'd been the case last night England would have gone through. Football, ultimately, is a game of very fine margins and when it's not your time it just won't happen no matter what.

 

[Andycoleno9]

The stereotype of the English tough man in footballing terms is very much a early 90s thing. None of the "golden generation" really fit into that mould for me.

I remember euro 2004. Golden generation vs croatia. You destroyed us. Like grown man playing with children. Sorry but that generation was tough . For me at least

 

[Coxy]

Really disappointing considering the first half - such a shame we couldn't finish our chances in the first half.

Kane for me was miles below his best - same for Alli. Lingard and Sterling had their moments but weren't much better either.

Such a shame.

 

[Wal2Fra]

Bronze cup final ? The most pointless game in the history of football. ( I know that no-one is asking me but i'm telling you anyway)

Nobody asked, but think plenty agree.

 

[Ban]

@Ban

@Alabaster Codify7, how are you today?

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Which keeper was best at this WC? Courtois didn't keept clean sheet in knock outs either and was dodgy in Japan game, Muslera let in a shocker v France, Alisson was very well protected by a good Brazil backline but was rooted to his line when Swiss scored. Don't think any of those would get higher than 7.

Lloris overall been best although his form at club level has dipped last 18 months.

No standout goalkeeping performances for me.

Lloris perhaps the best. Still not great.

 

[Judas]

I remember euro 2004. Golden generation vs croatia. You destroyed us. Like grown man playing with children. Sorry but that generation was tough . For me at least

Because we were better technically, I wouldn't say it had anything to do with "toughness".

 

[FootballHQ]

Croatia had weak period after 98, likes of Ivica Molnar was "star" striker in those days. Dado Prso was another player I remember from those times, scored 5 in a CL game didn't he?

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

@Alabaster Codify7, how are you today?

How do you mean?!

 

[Ban]

How do you mean?!

Just a wee joke. You said England will have it easy.

 

[hasanejaz88]

England need to go all out and win the third place match. Its great for the morale of the team and country coming out of a semi final loss, I remember I really enjoyed the win over Portugal in 2006 with Schweinsteiger putting in a great performance. Saying you came in third place sounds better than 'reached the semi final'.

 

[Alex99]

Nah. He was decent (bar yesterday) but I would have Maguire and Kane easily ahead of him, likely Stones and Henderson too. People dislike Henderson because of the team he plays, but he was in an impossible mission, essentially being the only midfielder in the team.

There's definitely a bit of bias there but I thought Jesse acquitted himself very well. Maguire is a good shout though, sort of disregarded him. Kane I think was actually fairly average this tournament (although in part due to a lack of any real service) with his standout moment being stepping up and absolutely nailing that first penalty in the shootout. Of the three supporting Kane, I felt Lingard was clearly the standout. Henderson was decent too, as you said, and I agree he was left in the lurch somewhat by being the only man in the midfield. I did think they might swap out Alli for Delph to have someone sit more alongside Henderson for last night. Could do with someone who can actually pick a pass if they're going to insist on that system though.

 

[RedDevil@84]

England 2nd string vs Belgium 2nd string.
A 0-0 draw with no one interested in this farce

 

[Alex99]

Very prescient post by @prateik here. Called Southgate’s ‘tactics’ to a tee. Long-ball merchants who hoof it as soon as there’s any token pressure put on the defence/midfield.

There was only one football team out there last night and thankfully they’re not going home yet.

I'm not sure it's fair to say England were playing hoof ball, but their tactic relied heavily on the chaos caused by having three, very pacy attackers supporting Kane, worrying defenders and winning deep free-kicks and corners. I'd like to see it evolve into actually providing some proper service to Kane, because there's definitely room for it.

England had enough chances to put the game to bed before half-time, and had a few after the break. The Kane chance was obviously the standout, but he also missed a free header from a corner, and of course Stones had one cleared off the line. They reverted to long balls after the break because they ended up sat so deep it was the only way to get out, and I think that contributed to them being so tired by the end.

 

[Revan]

England 2nd string vs Belgium 2nd string.
A 0-0 draw with no one interested in this farce

A penalty shootout in the bronze medal match is the only worse thing than a bronze medal match.

 

[shamans]

The stereotype of the English tough man in footballing terms is very much a early 90s thing. None of the "golden generation" really fit into that mould for me.

They were pretty good physically. Their physical strengths outweighed technical

 

[Bestietom]

Maybe play a 4-2-3-1 system and give a chance to some of the ones who did not play.

 

[FootyGirl88]

England have some good players - I think Maguire and Pickford need to play at a higher level to tech their full potential. They won't do that at Everton and Leicester.

 

[djdhrubs]

What most disappointed me and actually surprised me was how quickly a young supposedly fit energetic team seemed to tire in the 2nd half compared to an older team who've had more game time.

 

[Oldyella]

What most disappointed me and actually surprised me was how quickly a young supposedly fit energetic team seemed to tire in the 2nd half compared to an older team who've had more game time.

Yeah even in the second half when Croatia were on top, I expected us to get through via a second wind, but we ran out of steam and Croatia seemed to get better and better.

 

[Spiersey]

It's quite interesting that the media have probably went a full 180 after this World Cup. In the past, Good England sides have played good football and lost to good sides (2002,04,06 etc). In my opinion, England were incredibly average this time. They created next to nothing in open play over the course of the World Cup and scored mainly from Set pieces. They played poor sides generally and struggled against the only good sides they faced. Southgate was awful last night and he is poor tactically. After 70 minutes, England were mentally shot and desperately needed some subs. A good manager would have taken off Alli for sure as he had lost his head. None of this will actually be mentioned because everyone is just hung up on the fact that England reached the Semis and nothing else.

 

[Yagami]

That will all change when Betis live stream Inui's first training session next week.

Even then, I end up thinking about Japan blowing a 2-0 lead and get down. A break will do me good.

 

[Harry190]

Recycling it for the final.

 

[Wanderlust_09]

England 2nd string vs Belgium 2nd string.
A 0-0 draw with no one interested in this farce

Very unlikely. 3rd place playoffs have always been high scoring games with teams going all out offensive with nothing left to lose or gain.

 

[Beobachter]

Yea, the 3rd-place matches I watched were always more entertaining than the actual final. Germany-Uruguay 2010 was an absolute cracker, as did Netherlands-Croatia 1998, Turkey-South Korea 2002 (fastest World Cup goal ever!), and Germany-Portugal 2006. Oh, and it was also pretty hilarious to see Brazil got smacked (again) in 2014.

 

[Jonno]

What most disappointed me and actually surprised me was how quickly a young supposedly fit energetic team seemed to tire in the 2nd half compared to an older team who've had more game time.

That was down to chasing shadows of a considerably better midfield for 120 minutes.

 

[sh4d]

Nobody asked, but think plenty agree.

I don't know. I was pretty excited when we were playing against the Netherlands in '98. and many enjoyed the win. It's anti-climactic after losing the semi for sure but come game time, it's still tense. And it's better to say "we came in third" then "we were in the semi-finals"

 

[Judas]

Now the dust is beginning to settle, I realise unless this team really grows and does get better, which I hope it does but there's no guarantees, we really did blow a massive opportunity to really do something special.

 

[onemanarmy]

That was down to chasing shadows of a considerably better midfield for 120 minutes.

I noticed that already against Sweden. Kane could barely run in the end.

 

[squiggle]

I don't know. I was pretty excited when we were playing against the Netherlands in '98. and many enjoyed the win. It's anti-climactic after losing the semi for sure but come game time, it's still tense. And it's better to say "we came in third" then "we were in the semi-finals"

I was surprised when, long ago, I realised other people didn't like the 3rd place match. For me, thinking of the Olympics or motorsports, it was the fight for bronze or the third step.

The matches are often good, too.

The downside is I don't really want either of these teams to lose third place.

 

[onemanarmy]

Looks like we finally are getting over the loss against France

 

[simplyared]

3rd place doesn't mean a shit. Motivating the players for this will be difficult I can imagine when all they wanted to do after their semi-final defeats was to get on a plane homeward bound. Meaningless game imo!