Shit this was a poor game.
England - Euro 2021 Discussion | FA chairman: Southgate to be offered new contract until Euro 2024
- Thread starter Samid
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I thought apart from the goal he was his usual self, makes good runs but spaffs opportunity after opportunity and can't make a decent pass to save his life.
There's certainly a worry. Shaw could have done everything Trips did and more; perhaps as Southgate knew he didn't want any overlapping he thought there wasn't much point using Shaw but we know our man can do a rock solid defensive job when needed.
Having said that I didn't find today that objectionable to be honest. We've won our first ever opening Euro fixture, against the best team in our group on a hot day that many of the squad won't be used to (Mings and Phillips both mentioned the heat as I doubt they've ever played top level football in June). The system looked solid enough, I'm sure we can play better and there'll certainly be tougher tests ahead but that was fine today.
That's why Grealish is so important, imo. He's our best player in this regard. A lot does come down to coaching and instilling that mentality of we're going to dominate regardless of who we play, but having a player like Grealish is a huge asset to waste.
Did he do more than Foden?
Yes he did. But Foden is more tidy. I'd drop him for Sancho in a second though, but thats never happening.
There are 4 teams in each group and 3 games per day. This format is normal.
So we got Germany or Portugal in last 16 (even France if they under perform in group) what are our chances?
What better players ? Mount was great.
Yes, Grealish is a big component of a player capable of playing this game, as is Foden and Sancho.
Big issue is we don't have enough of these players in the centre. Phillips seems the strongest option at the moment but Rice ? not confident and Jude is too young/inexperienced.
People wanting to see Grealish and Shaw etc. better give up after we won that game. It won't happen. Southgate will see the decisions as vindicated despite the terrible performance against a bunch of pensioners in chequered shirts.
He has shown today his intentions are to be as defensive as possible. We dropped deep after 20 minutes, and dropped deep straight after the goal to defend the lead. There was barely any forward thinking today.
I think the only player that really deserves credit is Phillips.
He has shown today his intentions are to be as defensive as possible. We dropped deep after 20 minutes, and dropped deep straight after the goal to defend the lead. There was barely any forward thinking today.
I think the only player that really deserves credit is Phillips.
I think I love Reece James, bastard!
I wonder how much playing in the heat in the middle of the day impacted the performance.
What did he do? I think Phillips is our only player whose performance could be labelled as such, and even that's a stretch.
Sterling was good. Kane anonymous. Foden was tidy but was hindered by having Walker on his side being a hindrance in possession. Mount, like Kane, was anonymous, but, unlike Kane, has a top player as competition in Grealish.
Why are your posts so shit? If you're going to WUM at least be crafty about it!
Why do you whinge when people have different opinions to you? Yes, unbelievably, people don't all agree with you. Cry me a river.
Do you deny that we were defensive?
Do you deny that Southgate does not play Grealish and Shaw?
The evidence goes against you, I'm afraid.
Yeah, we're desperately lacking a Modric. It's why I'd go 4-3-3 and give Grealish and Foden a go at dictating games ahead of a Rice.
I think Mount is a good player and well rounded midfielder. He did fine today.
That's not true at all. Mount worked his socks off all game linked up play well drive forward well.
Put sterling clean through in the first half bottled the shot on his left
Laid a chance to kane on a plate who missed a sitter.
Try watching the game next time. It helps
What competition grealish plays off the lw.
I'm not whining just saying you're posting shit saying it was a poor performance.
Definitely wouldn't be dropping Mount.
Yep.
England's process seems to be : 10/15 minutes high press + adventurous passing followed by 15 minutes of pragmatism which is then followed by 15 minutes of out-and-out defending/ crap your pants time/ oh my god what are we doing ?
Mount was excellent, as was Phillips.
Some people are utterly clueless and like to find fault when there is none.
The rest were ok, except Walker who was abysmal.
He did do fine, but if we want to achieve something we need better than fine from our 10.
Mount better than Sterling and Foden? No.
Come on Chelsea fans don't go ott on Mount. Like every other offensive player he went quite after 20 minutes.
But Southgate will be the death of this team, so we've got that to look forward to.
But Southgate will be the death of this team, so we've got that to look forward to.
Trippier selected at left back ahead of Shaw and even Chilwell is an absolute disgrace - the epitome of favouritism.
Tripper is worthy of a place, but it should be at right back.
Phillips had an impressive display, Rice was quiet but did his job well. Mount was energetic.
I think Sancho should start ahead of Foden. Foden is very talented, but Sancho is a more complete attacker at this time.
Tripper is worthy of a place, but it should be at right back.
Phillips had an impressive display, Rice was quiet but did his job well. Mount was energetic.
I think Sancho should start ahead of Foden. Foden is very talented, but Sancho is a more complete attacker at this time.
Will be hilarious if Southgate changes things by bringing Rashford in at RW.
Why is it not a bad performance?
Croatia are not the team of three years ago, so I'm not sure why people are treating them as such tough opponents. Rakitic is retired; Modric is an old man by football standards; Perisic is the same.
We created three chances in ninety minutes with home advantage. Most of the time we were in our own half, playing the ball around slowly. We ceded a lot of possession to Croatia, putting us on the backfoot for long periods of the game. It is fortunate that they are not the team of three years ago, otherwise, we would have come away with a loss after being dominated.
A goal doesn't change the fact that we barely even ventured out of our half after the first twenty minutes.
Exactly. There's a reason why Kane was dropping so deep. We had no midfield control. It was quite laughable really.
I have bets on England reaching the final, if my group stage bets aren't miles off i reckon you'll have a fairly easy road. Depends a bit on who finishes second in the group of 3 teams that will qualify aka group of death...If you're unlucky it'll be France, and that's it.
Not entirely sure about the praise that Sterling and Foden is receiving. 3 situations where he's close to goal and he goes for the cross instead of trying to get it on target, from such close distance you just hammer it, extremely lucky with his goal.
Walker was a disaster.
Kane offered nothing up top.
You'd be better off, i reckon, by playing Trippier on the right.
Not entirely sure about the praise that Sterling and Foden is receiving. 3 situations where he's close to goal and he goes for the cross instead of trying to get it on target, from such close distance you just hammer it, extremely lucky with his goal.
Walker was a disaster.
Kane offered nothing up top.
You'd be better off, i reckon, by playing Trippier on the right.
What's this crazy talk ? ! Get outta here you absolute mad man.
Why are people moaning? We completely dominated the exact sort of team we notoriously struggle against. It was only 1 nil, but the difference was far greater. Coratia were completely outclassed.
Foden?
On what basis were they "completely outclassed"? England were better and deserved to win but were themselves nothing special. Also, this Croatia team is mediocre anyway.
England created little and had little control in midfield. Doesn't scream domination to me.
Dominated in what way?
Possession: England 49% v 51% Croatia
8 shots each - 2 shots on target each
In fact, every single thing is almost equal between the teams. Literally, the only difference was the goal.
Had Croatia scored instead, their performance would have been identical to ours.
Being tidy means feck all really. Van de Beek is tidier than Bruno but I'd always prefer the latter. That's not to say I prefer Sterling over Foden but he offered much more of a threat than him today. This is why I'm confused as to why you would drop Sterling for the next game based on his performance today.
I think you're way off the mark here. Possession was pretty much dead even as was pass completion, at half time possession was 60% to England. The xG was 1.47 - 0.53 in England's favour. Croatia didn't have a single big chance. England had two big chances and scored one. Later in the second half we did drop off and allowed them possession and they didn't create any big chances. Croatia are not a team of old men, they had 3 players on the pitch over the age of 30 and one over 32 with Modric at 35. That is not washed up age in the modern game by a long shot. Whilst Croatia are not the team of 3 years ago they're a decent side with one of the best midfields in the competition. It was a very professional performance and a deserved win. If your opponent can't create a proper chance then you have controlled the game, its as simple as that.
Cheer up.
I'm slightly concerned that fan and media 'expectation' has crept back in where England are concerned.
For years at every tournament, England were overhyped, from the outset of every group stage, it was persistently 'our year' - always made worse by qualification from group stages before inevitably a cannon-ball sized dose of reality was administered, usually courtesy of a team that the tabloids had declared "should be no trouble for England". Then in 2018, for the first time in decades, England had a strange and unfamiliar underdog spirit about them. We had an unproven manager, a young team and it felt like we had nothing to lose. Southgate was plucky, always stoical but modest in his ambitions - he never spoke of winning the tournament, but we played consistently well and found ourselves in the last four. That was our lot and we were delighted with it, we probably should have beaten Croatia in the semi final but that's neither here nor there.
Fast forward 3 years, even before a ball was kicked, serious commentators and pundits were suggesting England 'have the means' to win it. The arrogance seems to be rising again. Southgate hasn't changed much, but everybody else's evaluations of him certainly have. The expectation is creeping back in again.
On the real - we've just beaten Croatia, this is a great result for England but it was never a given. I hope that if we qualify from the group, the frenzy doesn't kick in like in years of old, because this weight of expectation has a real habit of not only burdening our players but biting us in the arse when we play a team that is perceived to be 'beatable'.
For years at every tournament, England were overhyped, from the outset of every group stage, it was persistently 'our year' - always made worse by qualification from group stages before inevitably a cannon-ball sized dose of reality was administered, usually courtesy of a team that the tabloids had declared "should be no trouble for England". Then in 2018, for the first time in decades, England had a strange and unfamiliar underdog spirit about them. We had an unproven manager, a young team and it felt like we had nothing to lose. Southgate was plucky, always stoical but modest in his ambitions - he never spoke of winning the tournament, but we played consistently well and found ourselves in the last four. That was our lot and we were delighted with it, we probably should have beaten Croatia in the semi final but that's neither here nor there.
Fast forward 3 years, even before a ball was kicked, serious commentators and pundits were suggesting England 'have the means' to win it. The arrogance seems to be rising again. Southgate hasn't changed much, but everybody else's evaluations of him certainly have. The expectation is creeping back in again.
I can already feel the frenzy on its way if we win our next game, the premature belief that we're definitely the best national team in Europe. Just wait, 3 points against Scotland and at least one sports journo will write a hot take piece about how England will overcome France and Belgium, including the obligatory 'route to the final chart' that has us winning every game without a single draw after 90 minutes.
On the real - we've just beaten Croatia, this is a great result for England but it was never a given. I hope that if we qualify from the group, the frenzy doesn't kick in like in years of old, because this weight of expectation has a real habit of not only burdening our players but biting us in the arse when we play a team that is perceived to be 'beatable'.
