World Cup 2018 thread

[hackey lad]

But we've been up against poor opposition in the last euros and a couple of world cups and have come undone. This is definitely a step up.

 

Im happy that you are positive about it but for me theres still a long way to go

[Padders]

Im happy that you are positive about it but for me theres still a long way to go

 

The general consensus among the media, pundits, etc. is this team will get better and better, I"m not qualified enough to give a valid opinion, so the jury is still out for me.

[MAC33]

It was a draw with Colombia over the 120 minutes.

 

Three losses doesn't lie.

 

There's no Da Bruyne,Hazard,Modric,Messi etc to play the final ball - that much is crystal clear.

 

Foden of Man.City should be given more game time for England as he appears to have that spark via his dribbling that most of the others lack.

 

I'm not seeing a Gascoyne,Beardsly or Hoddle on the horizon though.

 

From open play in the last third of the field - England were terrible in a creative sense for the whole tournament.

 

A win against Panama - it's like beating the Faroe Islands or Luxembourg.

[Ontarian1981]

are you always surrounded by taller than average soldier escorts/bodyguards like Napoleon was? That sometimes made bystanders in crowds, etc, think that Napoleon was shorter than he actually was. Many of the people around him were selected for their large size.

 

later, in the age of photography, leaders who really are short, like Russia's Stalin, Putin and France's Sahkozy always take care to surround themselves with no-so-tall people so they don't look like a midget. Trudeau's a bit short, for a Canadian these days, isn't he. Only 5.8. I bet he doesn't have too many really tall bodyguards.

 

LOL, I think my little joke flew over your cuckoo's nest

[pss60]

The general consensus among the media, pundits, etc. is this team will get better and better, I"m not qualified enough to give a valid opinion, so the jury is still out for me.

We've heard that 'general consensus' over and over again for decades and still won nothing, even when we had far better sides than the one we currently have, but by the Euros, it will be 54 years since we won anything, and if or when we fail to win that, we go into 2022 a full 56 years after the 1966 triumph. England need to be capable of beating the big five or six to actually win the World Cup or Euros. Beating sides like Panama, Tunisia and Sweden won't cut the mustard until we also start beating the more formidable sides in a major tournament, which is something we last did 16 years ago (Argentina in 2002) and counting. We simply got an unexpectedly smooth route to the semis, and convinced ourselves we only had to turn up to beat Croatia - who themselves beat Argentina 3-0 - and go all the way to the Final. We know what became of that. The route might well be much harder next time.

Edited July 15, 2018 by pss60

[pintor]

Belgium are lauded as the golden era, yet theyve won nothing, beat Panama & Tunisia & a so called poor England twice with so called world class (hazard Dr bruyne etc) players, and they finish 3rd, to our 4th!

[NERVY-OWL]

Theres no creativity in the side, until we get that we will never win anything. The reason we got so far was because we avoided the likes of brazil etc.

Saying that it was a successful tournament in that it brought the fans closer to the national side, even I was abit more interested than normal.

[pss60]

Belgium are lauded as the golden era, yet theyve won nothing, beat Panama & Tunisia & a so called poor England twice with so called world class (hazard Dr bruyne etc) players, and they finish 3rd, to our 4th!

Belgium also knocked Brazil out as well. Still, they have yet to win anything, so time will be their judge. People raved about England's 'Golden Generation' 20 years ago, but they still won nothing.

[charliewag]

Alan 58 and Tinfoilhat have got it spot on. England have improved but there's still a way to go.

[tinfoilhat]

If Jordan pickford had been Croatian they'd have won this.