World Cup 2018

[Jacko51]

Not a lack of understanding, although I may be doing them a dis-service-Perhaps the quality of their players means otherwise especially highlighted by their captain who is still signed for Sunderland another who played for orient- against our lot who have prem league winners medals , champion league final appearance

 

The ref was as bad as they come but the England team were shocking after the first 20mins lacking ideas and a cutting edge the 2-1 masked a lot that needs to be put right

 

Their captain might still be a Sunderland player but in name only. He played all last season for Rennes in the French Premier League. And Harry Kane played for Leyton Orient!! We were far from the finished article but to say we were "lucky" and "totally poor" was way OTT in my opinion.

[elav trop 1876]

Their captain might still be a Sunderland player but in name only. He played all last season for Rennes in the French Premier League. And Harry Kane played for Leyton Orient!! We were far from the finished article but to say we were "lucky" and "totally poor" was way OTT in my opinion.

 

They are 3rd rate after the first 20mins we didn't do owt, Southgate kept Ali on when clearly not fit , sterling was non existent same as young, plus loads others after the first 20mins so all in all in the end very lucky to get the win(only a few minutes from drawing) and a massive improvement on this performance will be needed especially against a good team..but you are entitled to your opinion but that late goal was lucky as we created nothing in the 2nd half

[Jacko51]

21st to 12 is a massive difference in terms on international standings like saying we are 12th and the same as the top teams which we are not

 

There are 14 teams in the competition which are ranked lower than Tunisia. So they are not actually crap unless you think the competition is made up of a lot of crap teams!

[Jacko51]

They are 3rd rate after the first 20mins we didn't do owt, Southgate kept Ali on when clearly not fit , sterling was non existent same as young, plus loads others after the first 20mins so all in all in the end very lucky to get the win(only a few minutes from drawing) and a massive improvement on this performance will be needed especially against a good team..but you are entitled to your opinion but that late goal was lucky as we created nothing in the 2nd half

 

What did they create second half? Pickford could have played in his pipe and slippers. If we'd scored ten minutes from the end would we have been lucky? We had 8 shots on target to their one. We had 10 other shots on goal. That first half must have been bloody brilliant if we did nowt in the second!!

[The Kalamazoo Kid]

Our one quality top-level international player (with the possible exception of Rashford) gets us out of jail!

 

You lucky **** Southgate!

 

Lingard is f-ing dreadful, not clinical whatsoever - but you just watch him start the next (in fact, make that every) game, as he's a Southgate favourite from his under-21 days.

 

Young is woeful at left-back - anyone notice him strolling back at one point in the first-half while they bombed forward on our left and someone else was tracking back to cover Young's arse?! He's got to be replaced by Rose, despite him not having much game-time this season.

 

Maguire was dodgy & hesitant & will get punished by anyone half-decent.

 

Sterling & Alli yet again prove to be anonymous enigmas in an England shirt. (2 quality goals in friendlies apart, about 2 to 3 years ago, what has Dele Alli done for England?!)

 

Loftus-Cheek provided a spark and creativity when he came on & should start. He's got a touch of the Gazza-like inventiveness that you need to get past & unlock defences.

 

Trippier played well & was one of the positives.

 

There were still far too many sideways and backwards passes in that second-half from too many.

 

We need to improve & above all be far more clincial with the chances that we create - and that means selecting the right players to take advantage of that.

 

Rashford, Rose & Loftus-Cheek must start the next game in place of Sterling, Young & Lingard.

 

So relieved to get 3 points from that!

[elav trop 1876]

What did they create second half? Pickford could have played in his pipe and slippers. If we'd scored ten minutes from the end would we have been lucky? We had 8 shots on target to their one. We had 10 other shots on goal. That first half must have been bloody brilliant if we did nowt in the second!!

 

creating chances is one thing quality is scoring em, the fact it took an injury time winner to win the game unless we planned it that way yes we were lucky especially against a poor team which you agree they were despite their 21st ranking...England ran out of ideas as did southgate and will need to improve versus better opponents and hopefully they can

[Jacko51]

creating chances is one thing quality is scoring em, the fact it took an injury time winner to win the game unless we planned it that way yes we were lucky especially against a poor team which you agree they were despite their 21st ranking...England ran out of ideas as did southgate and will need to improve versus better opponents and hopefully they can

 

Our finishing was better than Germany's and Brazil's. I'll take that!

[valesince83]

I think that performance was about the same level as the 2 previous friendlies, just above average . I think we’ll do well this tournament . Their penalty took the wind out of our sails and we looked nervous after that . Bit more luck and composure and we would have won more clearly. Few points though

 

Ali should of come off earlier quite obviously struggling

 

Walker didn’t look happy playing in a back 3 and 2nd half tried his best get out wide where trippier was .

 

Apart from that I think it went ok .

 

3 points on the board , onwards and upwards

[SourceOfTheTrent]

Tunisia will be a tough, tough game for us on Monday. They are arguably the best team from Africa. I watched them against Spain and they looked very well organised and well drilled, decent on the ball and also quite a physical side. I remember watching England beat Tunisia in the World Cup in the 90's (98 I think?) and we bullied them in the end, I don't think we'll be doing that this time. If we don't get an early goal and make them change their gameplan a little bit it could be a very long and nervy evening.

Well that prediction wasn't a million miles out!

[Hagrid]

Thought we looked good for 30 mins, lost a bit of confidence after the penalty, got unlucky with the missed holding off set pieces, and fully deserved the win.

 

Maguire was good, Stones was decent and dangerous on corners, Kane is one of the best on the planet at being in the right place at the right time.

 

Give RLC a run against Panama and consider Vardy next to Kane. Far more positive after that.

[tommytunstall]

No need for wholesale changes. Would bring either RLC or Rashford in for Sterling.

[SourceOfTheTrent]

If we can beat Panama we're in the pound seats because only a Tunisia win against Belgium would stop us from qualifying after 2 games.

Watch us draw! Or worse!

[SourceOfTheTrent]

Also good to see the same passion we feel from Southgate, bit different to Sven & Fabio! They only got excited on pay day.

[TylerB]

I thought there were more positives than negatives myself, but christ, it was a frustrating watch at time.

 

For the first half an hour or so we were brilliant. Tunisia are no mugs at all, and often get results against the bigger teams in Europe. But had we had our finishing boots on we would have ripped them a new bum hole and been out of site by half-time. As it was, and as is usually the case in football, missed chances come back to bite you in the arse and that's what happened when they equalised. I could see why the penalty was given personally, it was a stupid thing to do by Kyle Walker, who looked nervy all evening, but England should have also had at least two penalties themselves. The refereeing was shocking throughout. In the second half we seemed to run out of steam a fair bit as Tunisia camped in, not helped by the humidity in the stadium which you wouldn't normally associate with Russia. But we kept trying and in the end we got exactly what we deserved. We certainly need to take our chances more more than we did (or didn't!) and defend better if we do make it out of the group stage, that's for sure.

 

I thought Maguire, despite some obvious nerves, was the pick of our defenders, and contributed going forward in the second half as much as anyone. Henderson did some good things, and some not so good. Tripper was excellent other than a couple of average free-kicks. Kane did what we all hoped he could do at the biggest stage. What a player. But I thought Ashley Young was absolutely diabolical. He didn't beat their full-back once, and if Danny Rose isn't starting for us on Sunday ahead of him then Southgate, someone who I've really warmed to, needs fisting. Our subs made an impact which is exactly what you want from the bench.

[TylerB]

My team for Panama -

 

Pickford

 

Walker

Stones

Maguire

 

Tripper

Henderson

Loftus-Cheek

Lingard

Rose

 

Rashford

Kane

 

It didn't happen for Sterling again and I think he might be more use as an impact player. I believe he'll be a different player if he can fluke a goal or score a worldie in an England shirt. It's a toss up between Alli and Lingard. Lingard missed a couple of sitters tonight but at least he was in the right positions. Alli started well enough but then offered next to nothing for the remainder of the game until he was subbed - Perhaps somewhat hindered by an earlier injury of some sort.

 

That said he might start with the same 11, which is fair enough. Hopefully we can be more ruthless and score a few which will give us even more confidence going into what's likely to be a very tough game against a very talented Belgium side.