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On the plus side I don't have to hear people telling me It's Coming Home, including members of the Royal Family.
Perhaps we could save that until the second immediately after England win a world cup.
Dele Ali has done very little in this world cup, he has looked bang average. I hate to say it but Rashford didnt really affect the game at all tonight. I think that England team needed a better passer in midfield, carrick in his day would have been ideal.
I think that England team needed a better passer
Jonjo 🙂
Oh well. Now the country can go back to it's natural state of grumpy mild depression.
Put the kettle on.
Lowest expectation I can remember of an England team, so should be happier, but<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I It actually seemed possible that it could 'come home'</span>
Glorifying 1966 always seemed pretty sad, it was over half a century ago.
Would have been great to actually have it in my lifetime.
My kids are 7 & 5 and they've been so excited, o just wish they could've had the memory of England getting the trophy.
Anyway too many beers for a school night
Can't understand these 3rd or 4th place ..play-offs
What's the point ?
Can anyone remember ( without looking it up ) who finished 3rd & 4th in Brazil last time out ?
I won't be watching or even that interested in hearing the result ..
More bike time now ..methinks
They should be proud of their own efforts and the team. Evidently, Gareth is a world-class leader too.
I would be proud as hell to work in a group as loyal, dedicated and skilled as that.
Carrick 🤣🤣🤣🤣
has southgate tendered his resignation yet ?
Disagree klunk - at least Lingard makes good runs and stretches teams. Alli just strolls! Perhaps he's playing deeper than usual or he's carrying that injury from the first match, guess if that's the case he has to be honest about his fitness.
It’s enough for me that the England football team isn’t populated in the main by tossers, which appeared to be the case for the last 30 years or so.
As a lifelong horrible **** and scotsman I really want to take the piss but... that was awesome. I really hope England can manage to be proud of the team even though they "failed" because just look at the state of them at the end, they'd given everything and done better than dreamed and basically deserve to go home proud.
As well as the misfiring Stirling and ineffectual rashford, where was Kane? Totally anonymous since the group stages. Gary Neville reckoned he was was injured. Or maybe just overrated?
I am Northwind. Very.
least the tories can't call a snap election on the back of world cup feel good factor. thanks gareth.
So who's favourite to replace Southgate then?
Good effort from a limited team. I think England can potentially improve if some of the currently emerging players, such as Foden and Sancho, get time playing for their clubs.
As someone previously commented it was great that the team seemed to play as a team rather than sticking with petty club cliques.
Definitely sack the manager and to save time sack the next one too. Croatia are a damm good side, full of stars from the best teams in Europe. No shame losing to these guys.
If only the forwards could play more one or two touch football rather than trying to hold onto the ball in front of the box before kicking to to the next man along.
So many missed opportunities where just whacking the ball at the goal or into the defence would have likely led to a corner.
Fair play to them, mind.... Lots for them to work on.
Pickford is solid.
Just wish football could use VAR in the same vein as rugby. Felt there were a lot of decisions being given based on theatrics. Although this isn't specific to this game, rather the world cup as a whole.
The take away from tonight for me is this:
My generation of players have shown more class than every previous team since 1966. It's my generation that went to school and University during the 2008 financial crash and the realisation that we now had to compete with the developing world. It's my generation that voted against Brexit and were happy to compete and test themselves against immigrants from Europe.
My generation are harder than everyone but the wartime generation - so a big **** you to all you boomers and 70's kids. We showed more class than you bellends tonight.
😀
We're going to do a better job of running this country than you entitled ****s. Genuinely proud of the class shown by the England team and the camaraderie shown between my colleagues and friends of my generation..... of all persuasions (Muslim immigrants, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Kiwis, and Aussies who were all out in force to support England tonight in London).
ffs 😆 That is as good a reason as any to illustrate why I prefer world cup without the home nations in it!
**** ya'll, you lot produced this snivelling long haired gimpy shitbag.
c'mon rayban, you're making it very difficult to hold back on taking the piss here! 😆
No unattended bin or for sale sign will be safe. Lets prey.
Raybanwomble ..
Unfortunately my generation produced some tosspots like yourself ..get a grip for f--ksake you moron
Member(and Lee Dixon knows nothing about football).
Bit harsh. You might not agree with him ....but 4 league titles, 3 FA Cup wins, 1 league cup win, 700 plus professional appearances from old 4th division to champions league and internationals .... Would suggest he knows something.
Genuine LOL at Rayban 😂
In other news, a bloke gave his life to help dig 12 little boys out of a cave, and someone on here is burying his partner and mother to their four young kids today.
Let's not turn into a bunch of ***** over a football match. We know what Shankly said, but there are more important things.
Hey you know what .... It's coming home.
It's not going to be on Sunday and it may not be in four years time. But one day.... one day .... It's coming home.
This team has me believing that, even if it ends up not any of them doing it. ... They should be proud of themselves.
Well said! Your post has convinced me that you are the man to solve all the countries problems and bring unity to a fractured land.
Get on the blower to Theresa and tell her you are taking over!
Article on one of the news sites. It already has. Not the World Cup, maybe, but football. This team has brought people together, and if we want it to and allow it to, will continue to do so through another qualification, the Euros (where we are co-hosting and have the semi's and final in 2020) and on.
I think it was Gary Neville last night hit the nail on the head. The 'international break' - when players leave their clubs and go to play game (often friendlies) - was seen as a hindrance, getting in the way of club loyalties for fans, and more games that players didn't want in a congested season. It doesn't have to be like that.
My daughter was in bits last night, but we already agreed we're going to their first game back to applaud them again. I want to look forward to the international break to see how this bunch develop, and I want them to look forward to it too, where they meet up again with a bunch of mates and enjoy playing for their country.
They'll still kick lumps out of each other on all the other Saturdays though....it's the English way 😉
<div class="bbp-reply-content">
Genuine LOL at Rayban
The best bit is that he's 31, so not even the same generation as the team anyway 🙂
</div>
Impressive first 30 minutes. Second half they really switched off, so many times they were back to the ball and the second goal was the same - ball in the air on the 18 yard line and Stone walking back, couldn’t turn and defend. Not good enough.
croatias midfield utterly bossed the second half and we lost our structure. Shame, young team undone by the situation. Kane was completely invisible ?
In other news, a bloke gave his life to help dig 12 little boys out of a cave, and someone on here is burying his partner and mother to their four young kids today.
Let’s not turn into a bunch of ***** over a football match. We know what Shankly said, but there are more important things
Agreed - of course these tragic events also have separate thread to comment and support on.
Dele Alli or Sterling for me but not both. Jonjo in that midfield pinging crosses in from anywhere / playing Vardy through would have been useful
Hope Croatia win, I think France will be too good though.
Good post rayban 👌
However you generation brought us Love Island so that’s mitigated every good point in your post.
💄💋
I think 30 technically makes me a Millenial.
Also, I resent the Love Island charge. It was you lot who brought us this shit in the first place, with Big Brother.
Anyway, now I need to get rid of the taste of stale whiskey lol. arghhh.
I hope they also look at how the whole country got behind the team, and start touring games around other city's again. It is really hard to get behind a national team that only plays in one city.
Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Leeds all have top class grounds for major internationals, and I would even play some friendlies in Bristol, Derby and Nottingham etc.
Radio etc full of people talking about kicking on towards Euro2020. Frankly I’d be worried for this England side in the group stage of a European Championship. (EDIT, talking out of my arse about qualification... 😀 )
Disappointed for England this morning - but also delighted for Croatia - they’ve had to work much harder to get to this point. I’d love them to beat France. I think #LesCheats will have too much for them but if they can rattle the French with a little cynicism the way they did England, anything could happen.
I didn’t know there were so many Croatians around my way. Well judging from the cheers anyway.
Werent in scotland were you?
A few what ifs, a couple of Croatians should've been booked early on, but... they were the better side & I will be cheering them on in the final.
As yet we don't have a plan B or tactical flexibility.
The signs are very positive for the future. Actually looking forward to seeing this team develop.
Well it was very quiet on the tram this morning on the way to work, France can move it closer to home and we can collect it next time.
Love the way some people have turned a bit on here through no hope to we can do it to we were rubbish....
Listening to the stuff Southgate has done at a structural level through the English game from grassroots to the junior teams English football has a bright future.
He has done a fantastic job, shown maturity and calmness, shown class and compassion to his opponents and hopefully made England more current.
the last 2 Semi Finals I watched both had Paul Gasgoine in them, this generation is starting on their journey, they will learn from this and get better.
It's been a fantastic tournament so far and hopefully the last time games can cap it off.
Yeah we were short in midfield and didn't create anything for Kane to feed off, but the plan to play Walker in the middle of defence finally got found out. He made some bad mistakes last night and Young wasn't any better, but got away with it. Not sure why he didn't put Cahill in, when we were under pressure in the second half?
There you go, 10/10 for effort, but needed some better decisions on the night. #gutted!
Lets face it... Ingerland have always had a terrible reputation. And rightly so. Teams consisting of preening, smug, aloof, entitled, self-satisfied cockwombles who would, absolutely guaranteed, fail to deliver the results their planet-sized ego's suggested. The epitome of this was 'Englands Lionheart' and captain John ****ing Terry. A man so utterly loathsome and repellent that he not only embodied everything that was wrong with modern football, but everything that was wrong with England. And it was him that was held up by the media of a certain type of Englishness. Is it any wonder the national team attracted gangs of shit-thick, racist nobheads when thats the 'role model' you're promoting?
This squad under Southgate has been the polar opposite of that in every conceivable way
Thats good enough for me. They've made it ok to watch England again, without feeling slightly soiled afterwards
Wasn't that just what you'd expect. We didn't really have a midfield - two slightly lumpen defensive mids plus a bunch of wannabe number 10s and nothing in between. Nothing linking defence and attack. I still have no idea why Southgate took neither Lallana or Wilshere, but included Delph and Welbeck, who between them did pretty much nothing whatsoever. We didn't have anyone who could keep the ball in tight spaces and play a inspired, precision through ball, it was like watching a table tennis match.
Don't get me wrong, there's good stuff about this England team, mostly the wider mentality and lack of ego, but it's a bit limited. Shame really, but a good foundation to build on.
My money is on Mbappe terrorising Croatia's defence in the final.
. I still have no idea why Southgate took neither Lallana or Wilshere,
For Wiltshire they didn't have enough bubble wrap and the insurance would have been ridiculous.
Wilshere would have fallen down the stairs at the airport and broke his leg
And if he hadn't done that, he'd have got a red card against Colombia retaliating to a shady challenge.
Wasn’t/isn’t Lallana injured?
Except that he actually played a shedload of games for Arsenal last season and looked good doing it. And six months ago you'd have put Dele Alli down as most likely England player to see red. Like I said, they got the mentality somewhere right.
But don't let your tight embrace of generalisations get in the way of the truth. Let's lump it over the top towards Sterling and see if he can run up another dead end or fire off another almost pass to Lingard. I get that Wilshere isn't everyone's favourite player, but he can at least play a pass in the final third, which is something no-one we took to the World Cup actually seemed capable of managing.
Anyway, my general point is that we didn't really have a midfield, just a team loaded with full-backs, two defensive mids and a generous helping of players who aren't quite midfielders and aren't quite forwards and aren't really wide players either.
Wasn’t/isn’t Lallana injured?
He was fit enough to be on the stand-by list, so presumably fit enough... there was a whole load of nonsense about not taking players who weren't fit or playing regularly for their club sides, then we took Stones, who was on the bench for pretty much the entire second half of the season and a bunch of others. Wilshere was fit enough to play almost 40 games for Arsenal, I think, but wasn't fit enough to take. But Lallana, who barely played all season, was fit enough for the stand-by list.
And then we played Dele, who looked semi-injured all tournament instead of Ruben Loftus Cheek, who looked fit and talented. So yes Lallana was injured, but not so injured that he wasn't on stand-by.
I actually think he should have brought Welbeck on last night. He seems to score regular, scruffy, slightly flukey goals for England, which is pretty much what we needed...
Anyway, it's all counter factual. None of this happened, so it doesn't really matter.
I think he has been for most of the season, but was fit towards the end, got very little time for his team though, so maybe an understandable decision. Personally with Kane, Rashford, Sterling and Lingard in the squad he would have been a better and more versatile addition than Wellbeck.
I also think that the biggest problem the front players have had, has been the poor link up play by Ali, Southgates' reluctance to replace him with Loftus-Cheek is probably his biggest tactical error (maybe also Rose could have had more time on the pitch instead of Young).
But these are generally small niggles and hopefully learning experiences for the team and management.
Anyway, it’s all counter factual. None of this happened, so it doesn’t really matter.
True, I think one thing we can all agree on though is if Big Sam was manager we wouldn't be getting disappointed about going on in the semi final.
Those calling for Jack Wilshere, if he's so good, why have Arsenal let him go?
If he's so good, why can he only get a contract with West Ham?
Because he gets injured so much. This England team has lots of attacking midfielders i think what was needed last night when Cro started getting on top was an additional defensive/ ball playing midfielder.
Those calling for Jack Wilshere, if he’s so good, why have Arsenal let him go?
Because we have other players who do the same thing in the team already - Ramsay, Ozil to a degree, Maitland Niles, Xhaka, and the new Uruguayan signing - and yes, historically, he's been injured a fair bit. But not this season. He was a luxury for Arsenal, but not for England, who have no-one with his skill-set.
He could have stayed at Arsenal, but the new manager was straight with him and said he couldn't be guaranteed a starting place. Fwiw, I think he could have done better than West Ham, but I'm guessing they offered him good money and he gets to stay in London and not uproot his family.
Why would you not take him instead of Delph? My take would be it's worth taking a chance on a player who could change a game rather than a middling utility man who did very little when he played. Obviously everyone's take differs, but that's mine.
It's good to see the normal priorities of the English public returning in the wake of World Cup Fever.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44809213
A mother in Milton Keynes said she had taken her five-year-old daughter out of school to ensure they could get in the queue for a discounted bear.
"She's only five, they're not really doing much in school that's important at that age," she said.
Regards the question about Adam L above. He is playing all the Liverpool pre season friendlies at present so is playing but still gaining fitness from being out most of last season.
He’ll have a test on Saturday. He’s playing not Belgium, but Bury. If he can get through that he’ll be nailed on for the next Euros 😂
So, who's looking forward to the 3/4 playoff then!
WTF does it even exist....Belgium 2XI vs England 2XI was poor first time, do we need to see it again? Do the players* really need to go through another 90 mins even if it is at 80% effort, with no-one wanting to injure themselves before the regular season starts again?
* few remaining ones that aren't currently carrying some sort of injury
I wonder if Harry Kane will play to cement his chance of a golden boot.
Doubt I’ll be watching the 3/4ters, not 100% sure what it will achieve unless it’s a party atmosphere and they’re all dressed in tutus and carrying fluffy unicorns and glittery wands...
Stay upright 😷
I think there was a collective misunderstanding about just how stuffed with talent the Croatian team actually is by many people who should have know better (I'm looking at you Rio)
Modric, Ratikic, Mandzukic Lovren...they have between them more winners medals than probably the entire England team
Not a massive surprise they beat a relatively young and inexperienced bunch of lads really.
So, who’s looking forward to the 3/4 playoff then!
Don't think I've ever watched it, not about to start now!
I see the deserting of the ship has started,nevermind next time England do well you will see it on the news and you can run back.
I like the playoffs. I see it as a free bonus game for entertainment. Call me strange, but I just enjoy international football, even if we aren't definitely going to win the world cup.
The only game more pointless than a mid-season international friendly against Liechtenstein
@binners - not always. I know it's not the final but some countries take it seriously. Being 3rd in the world is an achievement if you are not Brazil/Germany/Argentina etc. Sweden thrashing Bulgaria in '94 was a good game,
I see the deserting of the ship has started,nevermind next time England do well you will see it on the news and you can run back.
We was robbed!
Joking aside, I think most people appreciate that England did well with a young, likeable team. They benefitted from a slightly fortunate draw and maybe lacked a plan B, but basically played well and are still learning. Croatia have two genuinely world class midfielders and more experience than us, but if we'd taken one more of the chances we had in the first half, it might have ended differently.
What's actually refreshing has been the general lack of mindless jingoism and knee-jerk excessive expectation. It's possible to support a team without being blind to its limitations, no?
Well that want actually a bad match. Woeful first half performance but we looked better (as always) when he took Sterling off.
Hes consistent, I’ll give him that. His performance has got progressively worse with every game. He was particularly useless today. Never ever a final ball. Couldn’t hit a barn door with a shovel. He very nearly hit the corner flag with a shot today
Tomorrow should be a belter! I’ve topped off my shocking betting record with chucking a fiver on Croatia at 5/1. I think France might be in for a bit of a surprise. Then again, me putting money on them is usually the kiss of death
I decided to have a change today so instead of watching England I sat down and watched the Belgium game, decent team that, got it sorted good manager and fairly sound tactics. They could go a long way 😉
So last game of the tournament, just the small matter of the winners to decide.
Classic or ground out?
Will we see another headbutt?
Has there ever been a less deserving winner of golden boot than kane. 2 headers against Tunisia,'3 penalties, a deflection, and nothing against the only 3 decent sides he played against.
2006 – Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 5 Goals
The most prolific World Cup goal-scorer ever topped the chart in 2006 with five goals. He scored twice against Costa Rica and Ecuador during the group stages and then once against Argentina during the quarter-finals. Germany would come third overall.
Read more at https://www.worldsoccer.com/world-cup/world-cup-golden-boot-401078#ET4pIstzOqMJY5kM.99
I'll go with Klose 😉
As for this tournament no striker has got close to being in the right place at the right time. The penalties really for me showed England working out how play teams that didn't want to play football.
Anyway France can't sit back for this one, the same niggling little fouls from Croatia though which might get worse depending on how it goes
France have been the more cynical side so far. Griezman continuing the fine French tradition of making goals out of blatant cheating.
Should have been a few more French players in the book before Kante eventually got one.
Good game so far though.
Beautiful.
Whoa!! That is probably a step too far for VAR there, was it anything other than accidental?
The French really are stuffy gits! There’s no way that was a penalty. They’ve got two goals with the only two times they’ve got out of their own half
More worryingly, they now know the ref is a bottler, so I expect they’ll be up to all kind of shenanigans now
https://www.accuweather.com/en/ru/moscow/294021/satellite/294021
Could be a storm coming there!!
And can we get a stopped clock system for football please.