World Cup : Semi Finals & Final

[Davkaus]

The sad thing is, as well as we did this tournament, the stars aligned, and I'm not sure we'll get a chance this good again in my lifetime.

Brazil sucked, Argentina sucked, Germany went out in the group stages, Spain shot themselves in the foot the day before the tournament started, Holland and Italy didn't even qualify, and we ended up on a side of the bracket with very few good teams, and not a single great team.

This was our chance.

[Xela]

3 minutes ago, Zatman said:

On another note VAR has disappeared since group stage

Hasn't been needed since the Central and South American teams got knocked out 

[fifamad]

While I’m proud of the lads and how far they got I do honestly feel Southgate made a some crucial mistakes.
1) Not taking a ball playing CM e.g Shelvey or Wilshere.
2) Starting Young over Rose.
3) Taking Sterling off totally killed any attacking threat we had.
4) Leaving Ali on when he was totally anonymous, Loftus-Cheek was massively underused in this tournament.
We were very good first half but when Kane and Lingard missed them BIG chances I just had a nasty feeling we would pay for it and we ultimately did, proud of England but also frustrated as this was a big opportunity missed

[villa4europe]

8 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Was offside

VAR would have given us that goal

[sidcow]

I've been worried from the beginning about where goals would come from. Kane and set pieces is where it's at for us. 

Too many quick tricky players who look good but can't score. 

Should have been out of sight in first half but didn't score the 2 or 3 we should have and as you always do at the highest level we paid for it. 

Good effort but once again we are the bridesmaid. 

[Avfc96]

We were so negative after we'd scored our first, as we had been in all the games except Panama.

As much as Sterling has the pace to trouble do defences, Rashford does too. Rashford should start ahead of Sterling from now on.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Doubt England will get this close for a long time, really need to produce a quality playmaker, this country is totally bereft of these sorts of players and before anyone says, shite like Wilshere and Shelvey would not made a damn bit of difference.

[turvontour]

8 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Was offside

It couldnt of been flagged for offside. He flagged when it went out following the second shot.

[a m ole]

mistakes were made, who cares, all teams and managers make them including the one that wins it. If you can’t enjoy the ride if you don’t win it, I think you’re right - why bother watching football?

[villa4europe]

7 minutes ago, Zatman said:

On another note VAR has disappeared since group stage

said that in the pub tonight, not sure if its a learning curve or just the better quality showing through

[Xela]

1 minute ago, fifamad said:

While I’m proud of the lads and how far they got I do honestly feel Southgate made a some crucial mistakes.
1) Not taking a ball playing CM e.g Shelvey or Wilshere.
2) Starting Young over Rose.

I agree about point 2 as we look more balanced when Rose came on IMO

On point 1, while they may be good players, I heard they weren't considered not due to ability but due to personality. The big thing about this team is the closeness and camaraderie of the squad and the last thing you want is a bad apple in there. 

[turvontour]

7 minutes ago, a m ole said:

 

flag was up after the shot but he was well on and it would have gone to VAR and been given

He raiser the flag to signal that it had gone out of play and awarded a goal kick, wasnt it?

He made a number of bad calls that linesman.

[jimmythomas]

5 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

The sad thing is, as well as we did this tournament, the stars aligned, and I'm not sure we'll get a chance this good again in my lifetime.

Brazil sucked, Argentina sucked, Germany went out in the group stages, Spain shot themselves in the foot the day before the tournament started, Holland and Italy didn't even qualify, and we ended up on a side of the bracket with very few good teams, and not a single great team.

This was our chance.

I agree. England had a golden opportunity here, and it's unlikely they'll ever get it again (at least in my lifetime).

Edited July 11, 2018 by jimmythomas

[mikeyp102]

2 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Doubt England will get this close for a long time, really need to produce a quality playmaker, this country is totally bereft of these sorts of players and before anyone says, shite like Wilshere and Shelvey would not made a damn bit of difference.

We have a young one going to spurs soon 

[Dr_Pangloss]

Just now, mikeyp102 said:

We have a young one going to spurs soon 

Meh, he's not that good.

[tom_avfc]

8 minutes ago, fifamad said:

While I’m proud of the lads and how far they got I do honestly feel Southgate made a some crucial mistakes.
1) Not taking a ball playing CM e.g Shelvey or Wilshere.
2) Starting Young over Rose.
3) Taking Sterling off totally killed any attacking threat we had.
4) Leaving Ali on when he was totally anonymous, Loftus-Cheek was massively underused in this tournament.
We were very good first half but when Kane and Lingard missed them BIG chances I just had a nasty feeling we would pay for it and we ultimately did, proud of England but also frustrated as this was a big opportunity missed

Kind of agree with a lot of this. In response to the points you’ve made:

1) Agreed completely. Having Wilshire from the bench rather than Dier would have been much better.

2) Not sure on this one. Young has had an excellent tournament and deserved his start. Played brilliantly tonight too.

3) Agreed completely. Why sterling was taken off repeatedly throughout the tournament I’ll never know. 

4) Again agreed and would argue that either Delph or Loftus-Cheek would have been a better option than a clearly unfit alli.

The most annoying thing tonight is that I’m 28 and genuinely don’t see us getting a better chance to reach a World Cup final for years.

Edited July 11, 2018 by tom_avfc

[LondonLax]

4 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

The sad thing is, as well as we did this tournament, the stars aligned, and I'm not sure we'll get a chance this good again in my lifetime.

Brazil sucked, Argentina sucked, Germany went out in the group stages, Spain shot themselves in the foot the day before the tournament started, Holland and Italy didn't even qualify, and we ended up on a side of the bracket with very few good teams, and not a single great team.

This was our chance.

You had the youngest squad in Russia. This tournament came too soon for your squad but a favourable draw opened it up for you. 

You will be back in two years and again in four years but full of confidence and experience. I think this side will be a threat for a few years to come and won't need a kind draw to progress next time.

Don't underestimate what sort of change in mindset this kind of experience can bring to a team. 

[Davkaus]

3 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

said that in the pub tonight, not sure if its a learning curve or just the better quality showing through

I think there are two aspects to it:

1) The shit refs have gone home, they're needing to intervene less frequently. It's a **** joke that refs from countries with poor refereering standards are selected, it's bad enough constantly expanding the tournament to let more shit teams in, we don't need shit refs. They should be selected based on ability, not trying to be inclusive.

2) The media are making less of a song and dance about VAR being checked..

 

[villa4europe]

4 minutes ago, fifamad said:

While I’m proud of the lads and how far they got I do honestly feel Southgate made a some crucial mistakes.
1) Not taking a ball playing CM e.g Shelvey or Wilshere.
2) Starting Young over Rose.
3) Taking Sterling off totally killed any attacking threat we had.
4) Leaving Ali on when he was totally anonymous, Loftus-Cheek was massively underused in this tournament.
We were very good first half but when Kane and Lingard missed them BIG chances I just had a nasty feeling we would pay for it and we ultimately did, proud of England but also frustrated as this was a big opportunity missed

my 10 pence

Wilshere and shelvey arent good enough, wilshere doesnt play enough football to merit an inclusion either, henderson has had a really good tournament and i think tonight showed the tactic was long and early, we didnt try and keep the ball in midfield, we pushed maguire and stones up instead

i think rashford's 2 extra time set pieces showed why young was in ahead of rose, its been the best part about us this tournament so young and trippier were key, he was shit tonight though a good yard off the pace

agree, we seemed to set up around him tonight and i thought he was excellent, no such thing as a lost cause, gave lovren and vida huge problems

agree again, ali has had a poor world cup, never looked fit, looked shattered and injured tonight

[AndyM3000]

For me this is the worst England team in terms of quality in my lifetime but they look more of a team with a better system than any before them. The problem is they just aren't that good.

They beat teams they were suppose to beat and only just at times. A lot of corners/freekicks and very little done from open play but they are going to struggle with creativity with Henderson/Lingard in midfield. There are literally zero options on the bench for Southgate to pick from to try and change it. You can bring on Vardy/Rashford but that involves taking off one of our star players or switching the system.

Have they done well? Probably will go down as a good WC due to getting to a semi final but IMO it's a very average WC and they got to a semi by luck of the draw more than anything else.