It’s what you do with the ball that counts. Yes we might have had 57% possession, but ran around like clueless blue arsed flies with the desperation showing more as time went on. The best teams don’t care if you have 99% possession, if it’s mostly away from the goal it’s a useless stat.
The main difference? Good teams take their chances and convert them in to goals. England rarely do this. Anyone got money on Morocco? They have pace and skill….
I was just about to edit my last post to include Morocco, not as tournament winners, I think experience is a requirement there, but the attitude they displayed was first class. A great example of teamwork and laying it in the line for your country . Their pride was evident every minute, did not seem to be carrying the same over inflated egos and wallets of many other so called teams from the establishment.
Southgate is not an elite manager, ( cannot stand the bloke personally) , until England can get an elite manager then they will always be a top 8 team, ask yourself why the big 6 always float to the top in the premiership , world class managers, England probably will never attract a top class manager. But and here is the but, Southgate is the manager and you have to put trust in him , he see’s what we don’t see, ask why Maguire is in the team when he cannot get a kick for United, Calvin Phillips has played 30 minutes of football in the last 6 months, Trent cannot get a sniff, Grealish a part bit player, we all see the game differently, England did ok, Southgate did ok, just unlucky on the night.
Lots but that is what I saw, a bore fest of England players short passing the ball sideways or backwards. Short flashes of skill and timing but failing to deliver that last killer punch. You can rail at poor refereeing (and it was poor at times on the night) you can criticise the French physicality and the play acting but England did not produce an inspired team performance that could rise above the challenge. Sad but true and it’s time to sweep away the old guard and try and find something that delivers results and entertainment. Andy
Those clueless blue arse flys , missed a penalty and hit the post on another day it could have easily been 3-2, France weren’t exactly brilliant were they. England had a game plan, didn’t quite work, do I care no, club over country for me, I tipped Argentina to win, so far so good, UTV
Top 6 teams are where they are purely for the money they can spend. Look at the difference it has made at Newcastle. The top English league hasn't always been that way, at one time it was the best teams and manager, now big pockets makes all the difference. England did ok? 'OK' isn't enough in knockout competition. Especially with the quality of players we had at our disposal. I think most other countries will look at England and wonder why they didn't do better. When we come up against the better quality teams, Southgate falls a long way short.
That pretty much sums up every single game of football. Not one team have produced consistently good football.
I agree England have some very good players, but I really think it comes down to right mental attitude, which comes from the top. We were ok in the night, But not sharp, incisive nor deadly . Now take a player like Giroud, no spring chicken, but he only needs to be in sniffing distance and the goalie is picking the ball out of the net, might be his only touch in a game, but that mental state is the difference.
England are a good team and played well last night. France played well too. I could see France’s killer goal coming though. England just started giving them all an extra yard- bosh, back of the net. It was a great cross and the finish was equally good. Kane fluffed his pen. How the fuck top pro’s miss the target from 12 yards, I’ll never know, but hey ho… France will sweep Morocco aside easily. France v Argentina final. France will probably win it.
One of the issues as I see it with English soccer is that many of the good players in the U.K. leagues aren’t English. France have a similar issue in their rugby leagues. I am baffled as to how it’s become so popular though. We aren’t all that great at it, and realistically it’s a bunch of extremely feminine guys pretending they’re injured for 90 minutes. I really don’t get it.
The reason we don’t have many English players in the Premier League is because fewer youngsters are interested in playing the game.The emphasis these days is in cycling which we appear to be good at.The girls on the other hand are doing well at playing football.
Sorry wrong, Man United are top spenders, remind me where they are, Wolves ,West Ham, Villa, Chelsea all top spenders, Man City 10th biggest spenders over the last 5 years, name the 2 best consistent managers in the Prem, Pep and Klopp I reckon.England ranked 5th in the world, France 4th, France won just, England are not as good as a lot of people think they are, who picks the team, who chooses the formation, who chooses the game plan, who picks the subs, not the players. For England to progress they need a elite manager and buy into his logic, same as City do for Pep.
The French team had the edge last night so they won the match. England have played well overall, though embarrassingly badly against the USA. Its too bad that many people are so obsessed with some notion of national pride, that they don't appreciate the sport for what it is. The World Cup is a game, no big deal. So who do we think will win the Cup?
