World Cup 2018

[Husky]

One for the VAR lovers:

Are you still in love after this shambles?

 

[Silas]

9 minutes ago, Husky said:

One for the VAR lovers:

Are you still in love after this shambles?

 

What shambles?

Walkers was a 50/50, unlucky it happens,  and he was in an awful body position. 

One of Kane's he had his arm round the defenders throat too.

The rugby tackle to the ground, yeah was blatant. 

But it's strange how the folk that hate VAR are now the ones wanting every single decision scrutised at length. 

The game generally flowed tonight, wasn't broken up by technology, and we had the odd decision not go our way. Thems still the breaks. Just as it was before. 

[Tom]

34 minutes ago, Husky said:

One for the VAR lovers:

Are you still in love after this shambles?

 

Overall I’m In favour of it, it’s in credit with decisions so far, never going to be perfect first time around. 

3 penalties could and should have been given today though when only one was.

[joey_big_nose]

Strange game tonight - for the first thirty mins we looked great then we dropped off severely. Second half we were abject till the substitutions. On balance still a better performance than Germany or Argentina have put in. Similar sort of level as France.

Despite his terrible finishing Lingards running was superb, Trippier and Stones had strong games, and Kane did little but scored two goals. Any other player you could swap out no complaints. I can see Southgate giving Rashford a start in the next game.

One point... If the two wide centre backs are going to get such a huge amount the ball why not play Dier in there? Hes arguably our best long passed and perhaps also more reliable in defence than Maguire who seemed to have quite a few mistakes in him...?

..

Edited June 18, 2018 by joey_big_nose

[Mike E]

Personally think this group of players will stand a better chance of getting to the semis than our golden generation did.

Mostly because:

1- Many been managed by Gareth Southgate lower down the England setup. They know what he expects and what to expect from him.

2- Many of them are (or have been) teammates at club level, and not necessarily in teams full of egos and prima donnas.

I think a dose of humility will do us good in this competition, especially as it has already lowered the pressure from our fans and media.

[Miker]

Didn’t stay up to watch the England game, but a 2-1 win even against a team like Tunisia is surely a good sign for you guys. All of the big teams have struggled and/or dropped points so far.

Belgium were dominant against Panama. Some of their attacking play was very incisive and the score could have been bigger than 3-0 if they found their shooting boots before half time. It will be interesting to see how they do against a better team. They obviously look vulnerable on the counter and could get caught out by faster players, but Courtois was absolutely world class with some of his saves and they’ll be able to rely on him to bail them out at times when things go wrong.

Also, thought the ref in the Belgium game was excellent. He gave out a large number of yellows, but he got all his decisions spot on. 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We did what was needed in a tricky opener.Kane was being manhandled throughout the game but still came good.

Slightly off topic but does this stadium remind you of somewhere famous in Lancashire folks ...

  

[speeeeeeedie]

A win is a win however hard it was. 

Their penalty was soft, especially when England didn't get any.

Decent; Kane (largely anonymous but goals win games), Trippier, Stones, Henderson.

Fair; Maguire (mistake tarnished a good display), Walker, Pickford.

Poor; Lingard, Sterling, Alli, Young.

I'd bring in Rose for Young against Panama and stick with the rest. Young was wasteful, got caught out a few times, had poor delivery, and consistently slowed down play when he had to cut back onto his right foot. Dier, Rashford and Loftus-Cheek could easily replace the other poor performers so they need to improve. That competition should hopefully beget a reaction.

England don't have a free kick specialist either.

[AllRoverAsia]

5 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I was concerned with the way being on the receiving end of some really bad refereeing decisions seemed blow us off course. We lost our way almost completely for the rest of the game. We ended up playing walking football. 

The realisation that you are on the receiving end of brown envelope induced Ref & VAR decisions has an effect.

Bent as 9 Bob notes.

[Dreyski]

Oh, Niko...

Kalinic sent home

[DE.]

If I was Southgate I'd be demanding an explanation over the absence of VAR last night. We've already seen at least one penalty given by VAR for wrestling in the box, so where was it last night when it blatantly happened twice? Yes we won in the end, but we were badly let down by the implementation (or lack thereof) of the VAR system. How can anybody have confidence in it if such obvious fouls are missed/ignored? 

[Hasta]

Just now, DE. said:

If I was Southgate I'd be demanding an explanation over the absence of VAR last night. We've already seen at least one penalty given by VAR for wrestling in the box, so where was it last night when it blatantly happened twice? Yes we won in the end, but we were badly let down by the implementation (or lack thereof) of the VAR system. How can anybody have confidence in it if such obvious fouls are missed/ignored? 

 

There wasn't an absence of VAR. It was reviewed by the officials in Moscow and decided it wasn't a penalty. It clearly was. 

VAR will stamp out the contentious decisions. Like hell it will.

Throw in the Argentina penalty not given as I said before and you've got blatant decisions not being given.

Once upon a time you would say the referee can't see everything and doesn't have 50 angles like the TV viewer. They've taken that excuse away now so they simply have to get the decisions correct. When they don't it's actually worse than it was before.

[philipl]

Further reflections:

Relieved we are are comfortably in the competition and not sweating on a likely goal difference lottery as are Messrs Sterling and Lingard no doubt...

Kyle Walker never the brightest tool in the box.

Maguire certainly did enough to keep his place, Young didn't.

Worst ref so far (better than Prem Refs though) of what otherwise has been a superbly reffed tournament.

Hugely relieved to see my first live goal after changing my plans to be able to watch it. Mind you, after 11 minutes I thought I had totally jinxed England with those early misses...

 

 

[DE.]

Just now, Hasta said:

 

There wasn't an absence of VAR. It was reviewed by the officials in Moscow and decided it wasn't a penalty. It clearly was. 

VAR will stamp out the contentious decisions. Like hell it will.

Throw in the Argentina penalty not given as I said before and you've got blatant decisions not being given.

Once upon a time you would say the referee can't see everything and doesn't have 50 angles like the TV viewer. They've taken that excuse away now so they simply have to get the decisions correct. When they don't it's actually worse than it was before.

By absence I basically meant it might as well have been turned off, as it never once corrected the ineptness of the officials. If they can't catch the two obvious fouls on Kane from last night they might as well shut it down. 

[Neal]

A lot of negatively after a solid performance IMO. 

 

Kane did his job. I'm not a big Henderson fan but played some great passes. Players looked like they understood the formation, we pressed well. Their penalty decision was a joke, we should have had 2 that were more penalties than theirs. Stones and Lingard should have both had goals, on a different day they might have finished them. Thought at the back 4 (bar a few mistakes) we were sound, couple of nervy mistakes but rather they get them out of the way early doors. I actually enjoyed watching England for once in the first half, can't remember last time I enjoyed England playing. 

 

Only negatives for me were Dele Ali and Young. We carried Ali in the euros and we carried him yesterday, he looked leggy and lacked creativity, didn't look like he suited that formation at all, slowed us down on the counter, not quick enough. If Southgate is picking players based on form then Rashford should be starting instead of him. I think it's absolutely crazy that Young is playing ahead of Rose, he's clearly a better left back, he's actually a left back for a kick off. 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Neal

[Hasta]

On the actual game, I thought for the first 30 minutes we did have the killer ball we usually lack. Some of the way we got players running in behind was exceptional. I think it caught Tunisia by surprise and, once they equalised, they got everyone deeper and became less adventurous. Then we struggled.

Having said that, we also have seen Brazil, Argentina and Germany have similar problems but also concede goals and not be as dominant in the midfield. I don't think Tunisia had a meaningful touch in our box all of the second half.

Loftus Cheek and Rashford gave us some much needed impetus back late on although their refusal to cross, to try that one extra touch or try a little flick frustrated. It's not normal to praise a former dingle but Trippier has it right. When your in a decent position get it in with quality as soon as possible. Many times, the best chance you get to put a cross in is the first chance you get to put a cross in.

Sterling and Young were poor. At the moment I'd just consider swapping Young for Rose.  Impressed with Maguire's determination to step out with the ball and try and force the team forward. That's got to be credit to the manager.

Worrying that there is only 1 proper finisher in the side though. Kane took both simple chances well although I could see some players panicking at the end and heading it down and wide (Morten - I'm looking at you !!!). Vardy is the only other player that would probably have stuck most of the chances that came our way away but he'll be difficult to fit in that formation.

Overall I'm quite pleased with how that went. Panama looked relatively harmless so a win should see us through next weekend.

Final word on Southgate. I never wanted him to get the job and I expect he will fail like everyone else. However I find it hard to dislike the guy. Speaks sensibly, picks who he wants to pick rather than bowing to influences, and his goal reactions show a genuine passion.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Hasta

[joey_big_nose]

7 hours ago, speeeeeeedie said:

A win is a win however hard it was. 

Their penalty was soft, especially when England didn't get any.

Decent; Kane (largely anonymous but goals win games), Trippier, Stones, Henderson.

Fair; Maguire (mistake tarnished a good display), Walker, Pickford.

Poor; Lingard, Sterling, Alli, Young.

I'd bring in Rose for Young against Panama and stick with the rest. Young was wasteful, got caught out a few times, had poor delivery, and consistently slowed down play when he had to cut back onto his right foot. Dier, Rashford and Loftus-Cheek could easily replace the other poor performers so they need to improve. That competition should hopefully beget a reaction.

England don't have a free kick specialist either.

Agree with all that except Lingard. He was excellent in every department apart from finishing. Surely a guaranteed start for him.

I think next game Rose and Rashford both might get the nod, with Young and Sterling dropped.  Both offer more for me. Rose offers better width and counter attacking than Young, and Rashford has similar pace, trickery and ability to drop off as Sterling, but he also scores goals.

[ChrisPriceBaldSpot]

Pickford

Walker Stones Dier

Trippier Henderson Rose

Alli Lingard

Rashford Kane

That would be my starting 11 for the Panama game

 

[philipl]

 

[SBlue]

1 hour ago, ChrisPriceBaldSpot said:

Pickford

Walker Stones Dier

Trippier Henderson Rose

Alli Lingard

Rashford Kane

That would be my starting 11 for the Panama game

 

Tend to agree, but think Sterling needs 60+ minutes more against Panama to hopefully get his confidence up in an England shirt.

When he's on it, he's on it, and if he's dropped straight away I think it will do more harm than good to his effectiveness in the (inevitable ?) latter stages of the tournament.

I was more than happy with the performance, haven't seen anyone MUCH better yet.

Edited June 19, 2018 by S8 & Blue

[ChrisPriceBaldSpot]

41 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Tend to agree, but think Sterling needs 60+ minutes more against Panama to hopefully get his confidence up in an England shirt.

When he's on it, he's on it, and if he's dropped straight away I think it will do more harm than good to his effectiveness in the (inevitable ?) latter stages of the tournament.

I was more than happy with the performance, haven't seen anyone MUCH better yet.

I just think we have given Sterling plenty of chances. Don't get me wrong he was immense for City last season but he ends up missing another 3 or 4 chances against Panama that might cost us, and then his confidence will be shot for the tournament. Start Rashford, see how it is going after an hour then maybe Sterling could be the impact substitute. I think us and Belgium have been the best teams so far. On another night we could have had 5 or 6.

Still think Dack could slot in behind Harry perfectly. 

[perthblue02]

3 hours ago, Dreyski said:

Oh, Niko...

Kalinic sent home

First trophy winner at the 2018 World Cup - The Golden boot (up the arse) award 

[benhben]

2 hours ago, ChrisPriceBaldSpot said:

Pickford

Walker Stones Dier

Trippier Henderson Rose

Alli Lingard

Rashford Kane

That would be my starting 11 for the Panama game

 

I dont understand why Alli stayed on the pitch over sterling. He was anonymous after 20 minutes. At least sterling for all his issues makes himself available and commits defenders. Alli doesnt really do anything. Also thought Walker looked awkward in a back three. Think you take away so much from his game by taking him away from full back. Trippier was decent but walker has to be one of the best attacking right backs around. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

How did Sterling miss that chance that was ruled out for the guy who passed the ball being off side ? My mum could have got that one on goal and she's in her 80's. He looked like he'd never seen a football before. How many times did he run down a blind alley and lose the ball ? 

[Audax]

No matter how much one may diss Tunisia, it was #13 England vs. #21 Tunisia, who  lost 1--0 to Spain in their last friendly, won most of their matches previously. Ian Wright is correct, a good result.