England World Cup Progress

[IslandBee]

Feel strangely optimistic, more so than any time since shortly before we beat Germany 1-5! I liked the way we played last couple of friendlies. Sure, there are obvious weaknesses, but we seem to have a clear plan, and that makes a big change. It is good too that there aren't that many in the squad who have experienced all the recent failures.

 

[Leonardo]

Compare the England squad to Spain and there really is no comparison. Compare to most other teams and with a bit of luck, we may do a lot better than people expect.

 

[sonofabee]

With the potential to score goals we have a fighting chance. I’m a ridiculously positive type and with a bit of luck feel we will have decent tournament. Last 8 is well within our grasp I have a sneaky feeling we might go a bit better.

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

we are now the 1-0 bore specialists...anything could happen

 

[Alan D]

With the potential to score goals we have a fighting chance. I’m a ridiculously positive type and with a bit of luck feel we will have decent tournament. Last 8 is well within our grasp I have a sneaky feeling we might go a bit better.

I'm more worried about the potential to give, more than, a few goals away with the likes of Jones in the defence.

 

[IslandBee]

I'm more worried about the potential to give, more than, a few goals away with the likes of Jones in the defence.

I doubt Jones will get a look in unless there are injuries. Tarky can count himself pretty unlucky losing out to him in the squad!

 

[sonofabee]

I'm more worried about the potential to give, more than, a few goals away with the likes of Jones in the defence.

No argument I've said that will be our Achilles heel, we are far too weak in the centre at the back whichever pairing we opt for so why I guess it's maybe worth the three centre backs with Walker and Stones being two and then the least worst making up the third one. The choice of Cahill, Donkey Maguire and Calamity Jones is scary, guess I'd probably go Cahill.

 

[BFC1997]

No argument I've said that will be our Achilles heel, we are far too weak in the centre at the back whichever pairing we opt for so why I guess it's maybe worth the three centre backs with Walker and Stones being two and then the least worst making up the third one. The choice of Cahill, Donkey Maguire and Calamity Jones is scary, guess I'd probably go Cahill.

I think Maguire will start, picked up Leicester’s POTS awards and has played well for England so far

 

[CTBee]

No argument I've said that will be our Achilles heel, we are far too weak in the centre at the back whichever pairing we opt for so why I guess it's maybe worth the three centre backs with Walker and Stones being two and then the least worst making up the third one. The choice of Cahill, Donkey Maguire and Calamity Jones is scary, guess I'd probably go Cahill.

Could play Dier there.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

Feel strangely optimistic, more so than any time since shortly before we beat Germany 1-5! I liked the way we played last couple of friendlies. Sure, there are obvious weaknesses, but we seem to have a clear plan, and that makes a big change. It is good too that there aren't that many in the squad who have experienced all the recent failures.

Agree with most of this, but.... they do this to us every time just before the start of a tournament. Don't get sucked in!

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

Agree with most of this, but.... they do this to us every time just before the start of a tournament. Don't get sucked in!

No, lets go ferkin mental about it as england and its the world cup....the scots, irish and welsh can only dream of such things so lets fkin enjoy the ride wherever it may take us....and i reckon it will be far 3weeks to go and i personally cant wait !!!!

 

[Mr Tree]

No, lets go ferkin mental about it as england and its the world cup....the scots, irish and welsh can only dream of such things so lets fkin enjoy the ride wherever it may take us....and i reckon it will be far 3weeks to go and i personally cant wait !!!!

exactly - don't understand why the doom'n'gloomers can't just relax and enjoy! chill summer football, games on at good times, and hopefully a team that we can proud of, rather than a bunch of millionaire pansies who look inconvenienced by the whole thing

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

No, lets go ferkin mental about it as england and its the world cup....the scots, irish and welsh can only dream of such things so lets fkin enjoy the ride wherever it may take us....and i reckon it will be far 3weeks to go and i personally cant wait !!!!

exactly - don't understand why the doom'n'gloomers can't just relax and enjoy! chill summer football, games on at good times, and hopefully a team that we can proud of, rather than a bunch of millionaire pansies who look inconvenienced by the whole thing

It's precisely by remaining calm and realistic that I am going to enjoy this thing. I always do. So if England get knocked out prematurely as is usually the case, I will sit back and enjoy the festival.

 

[ruislip bee]

It's precisely by remaining calm and realistic that I am going to enjoy this thing. I always do. So if England get knocked out prematurely as is usually the case, I will sit back and enjoy the festival.

But what is your view on the proposed breakaway Yorkshire super league. They could also invite York, Harrogate, Ripon and Bridlington to join. Does Malton have a side.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

But what is your view on the proposed breakaway Yorkshire super league. They could also invite York, Harrogate, Ripon and Bridlington to join. Does Malton have a side.

Harrogate Town or Harrogate Railway? Brid Town or Bridlington Trinity?

 

[Wooburn Bee]

Could play Dier there.

and then we are down to only two central midfield players in Henderson and Loftus-Cheek, however I wouldn't be surprised if Dier doesn't end up as one of three centre backs if were to progress

 

[IslandBee]

Agree with most of this, but.... they do this to us every time just before the start of a tournament. Don't get sucked in!

That's just not the way I do football! I always jump in with both feet. Sure, the lows are a bit lower but, wow, the highs are stratospheric!

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

That's just not the way I do football! I always jump in with both feet. Sure, the lows are a bit lower but, wow, the highs are stratospheric!

Stratospheric highs with England? You must be older than me! There have been one or two moments, I suppose (semi-finals in the dimming past, 5-1 in Germany), but not much else. I have always been a whole-hearted supporter of our national team and have been to many internationals over the years. The cynicism has come upon me quite recently and is partly born out of a dislike for the modern day cocooned top flight player with his ridiculous wealth and disconnect with his fans. Come the day though, it won't stop me getting stuck in as usual!

 

[IslandBee]

Stratospheric highs with England? You must be older than me! There have been one or two moments, I suppose (semi-finals in the dimming past, 5-1 in Germany), but not much else. I have always been a whole-hearted supporter of our national team and have been to many internationals over the years. The cynicism has come upon me quite recently and is partly born out of a dislike for the modern day cocooned top flight player with his ridiculous wealth and disconnect with his fans. Come the day though, it won't stop me getting stuck in as usual!

I wasn't just talking about England tbh, but the main highs with them have been:

- Lineker's hat-trick against Poland in Mexico 86
- Belgium last minute, Cameroon extra-time and the Lineker semi-final equaliser at Italia 90
- the win on penalties against Spain in Euro 96 ( a game I attended) and the NL game of course
- the 1-5 of course. I have never been more confident that England were going to win a game than on that occasion. I was actually confident that we would win big. I wish I had put money on it!
- Owen's goal v Argentina in France 98
- Beckham's Greece equaliser
- Rooney's goal against Croatia at Portugal Euro 2004

So, quite a few, but fewer in recent years it is true.

 

[badgerbee]

I wasn't just talking about England tbh, but the main highs with them have been:

- Lineker's hat-trick against Poland in Mexico 86
- Belgium last minute, Cameroon extra-time and the Lineker semi-final equaliser at Italia 90
- the win on penalties against Spain in Euro 96 ( a game I attended) and the NL game of course
- the 1-5 of course. I have never been more confident that England were going to win a game than on that occasion. I was actually confident that we would win big. I wish I had put money on it!
- Owen's goal v Argentina in France 98
- Beckham's Greece equaliser
- Rooney's goal against Croatia at Portugal Euro 2004

So, quite a few, but fewer in recent years it is true.

A few more:

Scotland Euro 1996
Argentina WC 2002
Sweden Euro 2012

 

[BFC1997]

A few more:

Scotland Euro 1996
Argentina WC 2002
Sweden Euro 2012

I must say, despite it being a friendly the experience of playing Germany away in Berlin in 2016 and coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the 93rd minute was special.

Packed away end all in good voice for the whole game and there was genuine belief we were onto something leading up to Euro 2016. Shame the way it panned out to be Rooneys last tournament.

 

[IslandBee]

I must say, despite it being a friendly the experience of playing Germany away in Berlin in 2016 and coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the 93rd minute was special.

Packed away end all in good voice for the whole game and there was genuine belief we were onto something leading up to Euro 2016. Shame the way it panned out to be Rooneys last tournament.

Yeah, Euro 2016 is a bit of a mystery: Hodgson seemed to be getting a lot of things right in the couple of years before but things completely collapsed when we got there. Odd!

 

[nick logan]

Yeah, Euro 2016 is a bit of a mystery: Hodgson seemed to be getting a lot of things right in the couple of years before but things completely collapsed when we got there. Odd!

I had just started to forgive his F**ham past a tiny bit then he got Kane taking corners the tit

 

[BFC1997]

Yeah, Euro 2016 is a bit of a mystery: Hodgson seemed to be getting a lot of things right in the couple of years before but things completely collapsed when we got there. Odd!

Just didn't know who to pick in what position really. Or, maybe he did but bottled it and went with media pressure to drop/play certain players. Don't think that'll be an issue with GS

 

[IDontBeeLieveIt]

I had just started to forgive his F**ham past a tiny bit then he got Kane taking corners the tit

lol

 

[IDontBeeLieveIt]

Just didn't know who to pick in what position really. Or, maybe he did but bottled it and went with media pressure to drop/play certain players. Don't think that'll be an issue with GS

I had just started to forgive his F**ham past a tiny bit then he got Kane taking corners the tit

This is the thing, I think we've had sets of players that were more than capable of doing far better than we did in the past decade, but we've conspired against ourselves, whether it being selections or tactics, etc.

With a united team, busting a gut for each other, with people playing in their natural position and not shoehorned in, we should easily be competing against all but the top few sides, and even the top sides we have enough to beat with a bit of luck (which is always a factor in football).

There're encouraging signs from GS (if you ignore his Livermore moment) and hopefully he'll be the breath of fresh air we've needed for a long time.

 

[IslandBee]

I had just started to forgive his F**ham past a tiny bit then he got Kane taking corners the tit

Just didn't know who to pick in what position really. Or, maybe he did but bottled it and went with media pressure to drop/play certain players. Don't think that'll be an issue with GS

I heard that the involvement late on of a certain Gary Neville threw a bit of a spanner (if you will excuse the pun) in the works! Certainly sounds plausible.

 

[IslandBee]

I had just started to forgive his F**ham past a tiny bit then he got Kane taking corners the tit

I blame Lily Allen!

 

[IDontBeeLieveIt]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44391862

He's only going to play one of them. Phew.

 

[TW3Bee]

I will be happy if we make the last 16. But over the moon if we get into the final 8.

Last 16 should be the minimum.

 

[nick logan]

Last 16 should be the minimum.

said all along we will be back to unlucky quarter final penalty shoot out defeats .

 

[AB]

I think we really ought to be able to make the QFs. In fact, if we don't make the QFs it'll be because of a really terrible set of performances. Worse than 2014 when we had a group that Italy also didn't get out of and which even if Costa Rica hadn't been surprisingly good still had Italy and Uruguay. I don't think any of the teams in our group are as good as the ones we faced in 2014 - Italy are usually stronger than Belgium, Uruguay particularly with Suarez were much tougher than Tunisia, and Costa Rica better than Panama.

Our group is not ultra hard as long as we approach it sensibly. We really ought to be able to set up to win against both Panama and Tunisia. I don't mind us doing it in a dour way and eking out 1-0s, that should be enough to guarantee qualification for R16 without putting too much pressure on the last match against Belgium (who we ought also be able to get a result against anyway). Whether we finish first or second I don't think we should particularly fear any of the teams we'd get in R16 (Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan).

The problem would be at the QF stage we're highly likely to face either Brazil or Germany. There's never really any ignominy in losing to either of them. Indeed, apart from 1966, I'm not sure that we've ever beaten either in a tournament finals. If we do manage to do so, I think anything could happen in the SF as we'll have a huge lift in morale and momentum from getting that far by beating one of the giants of world football. Even if we don't then come up against Spain, Portugal, France or Argentina, whoever we play will probably have beaten at least one of those teams to get there so will be no mugs themselves. So pass the QF and we've as good a chance of winning the whole thing as anyone.

 

[mhead bee]

There have been so many world cups threads opened I don’t know where to go to talk about the Costa Rica friendly.

Anyway, here goes.

Worldy from rashford but worryingly we haven’t created another chance against a woeful league one level cost rica. Sideways, sideways, backwards, dink into the channel and give it away.

No creativity in the middle, nobody having a pop.

 

[sonofabee]

There have been so many world cups threads opened I don’t know where to go to talk about the Costa Rica friendly.

Anyway, here goes.

Worldy from rashford but worryingly we haven’t created another chance against a woeful league one level cost rica. Sideways, sideways, backwards, sink into the channel and give it away.

No creativity in the middle, nobody having a pop.

Don’t agree Vardy should have scored and we’re forcing corners and looking dangerous with what is in the main our b team.

 

[wanderer paul]

There have been so many world cups threads opened I don’t know where to go to talk about the Costa Rica friendly.

Anyway, here goes.

Worldy from rashford but worryingly we haven’t created another chance against a woeful league one level cost rica. Sideways, sideways, backwards, dink into the channel and give it away.

No creativity in the middle, nobody having a pop.

In the England v Costa Rica thread in the Sport forum. It isn't a WC match. :shrug:

https://griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130292&p=3262644#post3262644

 

[mhead bee]

Don’t agree Vardy should have scored and we’re forcing corners and looking dangerous with what is in the main our b team.

You don’t agree about the thread or my report.

I would quite like to see Delph as the holding player, I think if he can become a bit less obvious and a bit more cute with his fouls he would be a really decent Paul ince type.

 

[Brentford 4 Life]

We have so many options that our starting 11 for the finals is anyone’s guess, only a few with a cemented place in the side.

That could be a blessing but equally we could be on our way home without knowing our best side. It’s gonna be fascinating to see how we get on, I can’t wait for it now.

 

[sonofabee]

You don’t agree about the thread or my report.

I would quite like to see Delph as the holding player, I think if he can become a bit less obvious and a bit more cute with his fouls he would be a really decent Paul ince type.

Don’t agree we’ve only created one chance all game. Delphi worries me as prone to rash
lunges and at WC it’s a yellow or red for the first challenge leaving us sweating every time he challenges.

 

[mhead bee]

Don’t agree we’ve only created one chance all game. Delphi worries me as prone to rash
lunges and at WC it’s a yellow or red for the first challenge leaving us sweating every time he challenges.

That’s why I said if he could be a bit cuter, a bit more like Ramos.

Anyway, enough of the football, did anyone see the size of the blonde girls jugs sat in the crowd when we made the subs ?

 

[sonofabee]

That’s why I said if he could be a bit cuter, a bit more like Ramos.

Anyway, enough of the football, did anyone see the size of the blonde girls jugs sat in the crowd when we made the subs ?

Nice legs, wish they’d open

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

That’s why I said if he could be a bit cuter, a bit more like Ramos.

Anyway, enough of the football, did anyone see the size of the blonde girls jugs sat in the crowd when we made the subs ��

Sorry, what substitutions?

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

That’s why I said if he could be a bit cuter, a bit more like Ramos.

Anyway, enough of the football, did anyone see the size of the blonde girls jugs sat in the crowd when we made the subs ��

Once again, so much in favour of playing internationals in the provinces (Yorkshire).

 

[Owlsmoor_Bee]

Don’t agree we’ve only created one chance all game. Delphi worries me as prone to rash
lunges and at WC it’s a yellow or red for the first challenge leaving us sweating every time he challenges.

There’s something I really like about Deplh though. Played very well today I thought. Mind you, so did Henderson.

 

[sonofabee]

There’s something I really like about Deplh though. Played very well today I thought. Mind you, so did Henderson.

Delph was excellent today and Henderson picked 3 or 4 excellent passes in dangerous areas. Rose and Terence Trent Darby did well. It was a decent team performance and a couple of players did their chances no harm at all of starting.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

Delph was excellent today and Henderson picked 3 or 4 excellent passes in dangerous areas. Rose and Terence Trent Darby did well. It was a decent team performance and a couple of players did their chances no harm at all of starting.

rofl That's exactly what I instinctively call him before I remember his name. Got to say, he has a very cool head for a youngster.

 

[sonofabee]

rofl That's exactly what I instinctively call him before I remember his name. Got to say, he has a very cool head for a youngster.

He looks a class act and forget how young and how little top class football he’s played. Another one for the future who will benefit from being in the squad whether he plays a big part or not.
Assuming Pickford or Pope or Butland continue to develop, Arnold, Stones. Rashford, Kane,Alli, Dier, will all be around in 2 and 4 years time so the future looks brighter than it did a couple of years ago when Rooney, Hart, Barry and Milner were our mainstays

 

[mhead bee]

He looks a class act and forget how young and how little top class football he’s played. Another one for the future who will benefit from being in the squad whether he plays a big part or not.
Assuming Pickford or Pope or Butland continue to develop, Arnold, Stones. Rashford, Kane,Alli, Dier, will all be around in 2 and 4 years time so the future looks brighter than it did a couple of years ago when Rooney, Hart, Barry and Milner were our mainstays

I hope GS sticks to his guns whatever the outcome and we keep him and the players together for another 4-6 years without panicking and sacking him etc.

 

[nick logan]

My team fwiw v Tunisia

......................Pickford

----------Walker--Cahill-- Stones

Trippier - Henderson - Loftus-Cheek - Rose

----Rashford----- Kane----- Sterling

 

[wibs]

My team fwiw v Tunisia

......................Pickford

----------Walker--Cahill-- Stones

Trippier - Henderson - Loftus-Cheek - Rose

----Rashford----- Kane----- Sterling

Strange isnt it, if you change that midfield 4 for Beckham Lampard Gerrard and Joe Cole you'd think that would be a team with a great chance of doing really well, yet we know that never really worked out. funny old game football

 

[AB]

Strange isnt it, if you change that midfield 4 for Beckham Lampard Gerrard and Joe Cole you'd think that would be a team with a great chance of doing really well, yet we know that never really worked out. funny old game football

The difference might be that our current players look like they can play together and to play in the shape that Southgate wants. Maybe it is because nobody apart from Kane in the squad is the out and out star player in their club team so they all have a bit of humility and willingness to learn. Last night's game was largely a B team but they all looked much more comfortable on the ball than I can remember our Golden Generation teams did barring a few rare occasions. I thought last night England were quite Brentford. Costa Rica are probably not as good as they were 4 years ago but they're almost certainly a lot better than Panama. I wouldn't rule them out of qualifying from their group (are Switzerland and Serbia really better than Italy and England?). So a comfortable 2-0 where we kept our shape until the mass substitutions and never needed to push on to a higher gear were encouraging.