Football 18/19

[Ted Dansons Wig]

3 hours ago, ThomThomDrum said:

I thought there was too many changes in the English set up to properly judge if someone deserved the call up for the next game or not, irrespective if they had performed or not.

I felt it would have been wise for Southgate to play the first 11 minus the few positions he felt there was some genuine competition and questions to be addressed/answered. 

But like Martinez he chose to conserve and protect the first 11 and there is very little wrong with doing that. 

Absolutely. Too many changes to learn anything. All I took away that I didnt have before was:

1. Pickford not as secure as first thought

2. Henderson Ya, Dier Nein.

err... Thats it.

Apart from a continuing mystification as to why anybody would think Jones is a footballer.

[eFestivals]

so, England fans have been celebrating being in the easier half of the draw, while Columbian fans have been celebrating getting the easier team.

We're on our way home, I reckon.

[jyoung]

26 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

so, England fans have been celebrating being in the easier half of the draw, while Columbian fans have been celebrating getting the easier team.

We're on our way home, I reckon.

Like when Liverpool drew Roma and that didn't end up being so easy after all

I'm positive about our chances on Tuesday. It's our first proper test of the tournament, in the past we've failed before even reaching it. I honestly do think we could do well against them and create a real positive atmosphere.

[zahidf]

6 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Like when Liverpool drew Roma and that didn't end up being so easy after all

I'm positive about our chances on Tuesday. It's our first proper test of the tournament, in the past we've failed before even reaching it. I honestly do think we could do well against them and create a real positive atmosphere.

id say we are slight favourites if james rodirugez is still out. Itll be close!

[pink_triangle]

19 hours ago, Ted Dansons Wig said:

Absolutely. Too many changes to learn anything. All I took away that I didnt have before was:

1. Pickford not as secure as first thought

2. Henderson Ya, Dier Nein.

err... Thats it.

Apart from a continuing mystification as to why anybody would think Jones is a footballer.

I don’t remember anyone thinking Pickford was particularly secure, I also don’t think it makes much difference between Dier and Henderson. I think only Kane being absent hurts England, the others are interchangeable.

[jyoung]

I'm not Henderson's biggest fan but he performed a lot more efficiently than Dier did. He has to start for me and if he doesn't we're less of a team.

[pink_triangle]

9 minutes ago, jyoung said:

, in the past we've failed before even reaching it. 

Not that often.

[pink_triangle]

Just now, jyoung said:

I'm not Henderson's biggest fan but he performed a lot more efficiently than Dier did. He has to start for me and if he doesn't we're less of a team.

I can understand people thinking Henderson is a better player, however performance in a glorified friendly shouldn’t be used in making that judgement.

[chemica]

13 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I can understand people thinking Henderson is a better player, however performance in a glorified friendly shouldn’t be used in making that judgement.

I don’t know... the actual official opta stats show him making 0 tackles and 0 interceptions during the ninety minutes. 

 

For a holding midfielder in ANY game, that’s not good enough. 

Hes been pretty poor, since 2016... time people saw that. Hendo twice the player, no matter how you rate him. 

[pink_triangle]

8 minutes ago, chemica said:

I don’t know... the actual official opta stats show him making 0 tackles and 0 interceptions during the ninety minutes. 

 

For a holding midfielder in ANY game, that’s not good enough. 

Hes been pretty poor, since 2016... time people saw that. Hendo twice the player, no matter how you rate him. 

Why risk getting injured going in for tackles? I would take zero judgement from the Belgium game with teams playing reserves and possibly not wanting to win .

My view is a parallel universe where Dier plays every game, England reach the same stage as one where Henderson plays every game.

[Hugh Jass]

I think we’ll beat Colombia, they’ve got some quality player who easily hurt us but I think we’re the better team. Losing James will be huge for them.

[chemica]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

Why risk getting injured going in for tackles? I would take zero judgement from the Belgium game with teams playing reserves and possibly not wanting to win .

My view is a parallel universe where Dier plays every game, England reach the same stage as one where Henderson plays every game.

Why risk going in front tackles? It’s your job. It’s what you’re literally on the pitch to do. 

By your account, we may as well just put robots on the pitch, simulate the match, clap and the end and congratulate the team who didn’t win. 

Ridiculous. 

[mjsell]

2 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

I think only Kane being absent hurts England, the others are interchangeable.

I don't even think Kane played that well in either of his games. That's obviously not me questioning his place or anything, it's bloody nice having a striker that takes his chances. But his 5 goal tally doesn't really reflect the influence he's had in games very fairly. 

What is it - a set piece rebound, a poachers header (from a set piece), 2 penalties and a shot that's hit his heel. 

The header and penalties were top notch mind. 

Edited June 30, 2018 by mjsell

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, chemica said:

Why risk going in front tackles? It’s your job. It’s what you’re literally on the pitch to do. 

By your account, we may as well just put robots on the pitch, simulate the match, clap and the end and congratulate the team who didn’t win. 

Ridiculous. 

Its his job in the vast majority of matches, but not that one. I don’t blame Dier, it’s a consequence of the format of the competition. Only way to stop it would be a random draw, but you would have to add a couple of weeks to accommodate.

[pink_triangle]

22 minutes ago, mjsell said:

I don't even think Kane played that well in either of his games. That's obviously not me questioning his place or anything, it's bloody nice having a striker that takes his chances. But his 5 goal tally doesn't really reflect the influence he's had in games very fairly. 

What is it - a set piece rebound, a poachers header (from a set piece), 2 penalties and a shot that's hit his heel. 

The header and penalties were top notch mind. 

One thing about the draw, I suspect Kane will take more of a physical battering from Columbia and (potentially ) Sweden/ Switzerland than he would Japan/Brazil.

[dentalplan]

4 hours ago, eFestivals said:

so, England fans have been celebrating being in the easier half of the draw, while Columbian fans have been celebrating getting the easier team.

We're on our way home, I reckon.

It's the strangest feeling I've felt about England in a tournament. There's two matches of "if we win, great. If not, serves us right".

[dentalplan]

France starting to click? These goals are wonderful.

[kaosmark2]

Mbappe looks unplayable. France are actually playing really direct in a high-quality way, it's a nice change considering that the Spanish patience model seems to have become the accepted "best" in recent tournaments.

I think in terms of squad France have the best 22 available. Possibly also the best first 11. It's whether they implode at some point.

[Hugh Jass]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Mbappe looks unplayable. France are actually playing really direct in a high-quality way, it's a nice change considering that the Spanish patience model seems to have become the accepted "best" in recent tournaments.

I think in terms of squad France have the best 22 available. Possibly also the best first 11. It's whether they implode at some point.

If Uruguay get through I’d fancy them to beat France. The French struggle against defensively solid teams and Uruguay are the best in the tournament at it. They certainly won’t leave the space that Mbappe enjoyed today. What also helps is that they’re more than good enough to nick one at the other end too.

[Hugh Jass]

That France - Argentina game was all sorts of fun though. Best tournament match I’ve seen in years.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

If Uruguay get through I’d fancy them to beat France. The French struggle against defensively solid teams and Uruguay are the best in the tournament at it. They certainly won’t leave the space that Mbappe enjoyed today. What also helps is that they’re more than good enough to nick one at the other end too.

While the French looked fantastic today, I've been slagging off the Argentina defense all tournament and as you said, they left far too much space. You're definitely right that France struggle against tight defenses, but I still think they'll back themselves. You'll prob get decent odds on Uruguay to beat them though, it'll definitely be tighter than the bookies imply.

[dentalplan]

If France didn’t turn it on for a bit today I’d have fancied Uruguay too. Great match up nonetheless and the winner will have a great chance at winning the tournament.

[kaosmark2]

France have, on paper, the best team in the tournament. Uruguay is a bad matchup for them, although possibly Spain would have disliked it more. Spain have seemed very vulnerable to solid defenses and quality counter-attacks, moreso than any of the other big nations (inc. Germany).

[mjsell]

My sunday League team would look direct and free flowing if we were playing against 2 at the back at times.

But it does seem that France have found their lineup now though - and that means Giroud not Dembele (as they already knew but thought they could get away with ignoring anyway)

 

[pink_triangle]

3 minutes ago, mjsell said:

My sunday League team would look direct and free flowing if we were playing against 2 at the back at times.

But it does seem that France have found their lineup now though - and that means Giroud not Dembele (as they already knew but thought they could get away with ignoring anyway)

 

I find Giroud a funny player. His club and national teams always seem to want to get him out, but he always finds his way back!