The ONLY World Cup thread (merged)

[rodders999]

Modric is the midfielder of the tournament for me - what a player. Superb on the ball, wonderful passer and an absolute warrior.

He was dead on his feet towards the end last night but just kept going and going. He’d sprint full pelt to make a tackle, win the ball and just collapse on the ground from sheer exhaustion. Then he’d bounce back up and go again.

You never see any shit from him either, no diving or histrionics. Would love to see him play for us, how the fuck did he end up at that other lot for a spell?

[Wilson]

This has been a pretty poor world cup in terms of great teams. In 2014 you could see Germany winning it a mile away, likewise Spain in 2010, & Brazil in 2002. Italy was a shock winner in 2006, & if Croatia win it it will be an even bigger shock. I think France are the best team at this tournament, but not as good as the Germany 2014, Spain 2010, or Brazil 2002 team. I dont think whoever wins this World Cup will be remembered as a great team.

Its also so true that this England team really is nothing special. Souness is even getting on the Keane train and trying to downplay the significance of England's performance. England were shielded from facing a real quality aside from Belgium which they lost. This third place play off should be taken seriously, because if England lose the final record would be 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses (counting the Columbia game as draw), & two of those wins were against Panama and Tunisia.

This World Cup is a false signal regarding England's capacity to be a great team.

[augie]

This has been a pretty poor world cup in terms of great teams. In 2014 you could see Germany winning it a mile away, likewise Spain in 2010, & Brazil in 2002. Italy was a shock winner in 2006, & if Croatia win it it will be an even bigger shock. I think France are the best team at this tournament, but not as good as the Germany 2014, Spain 2010, or Brazil 2002 team. I dont think whoever wins this World Cup will be remembered as a great team.

Its also so true that this England team really is nothing special. Souness is even getting on the Keane train and trying to downplay the significance of England's performance. England were shielded from facing a real quality aside from Belgium which they lost. This third place play off should be taken seriously, because if England lose the final record would be 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses (counting the Columbia game as draw), & two of those wins were against Panama and Tunisia.

This World Cup is a false signal regarding England's capacity to be a great team.

Keane is an absolute w.nker and, fair enough there was more than an element of truth to what he said, but he is such a sneering disrespectful pri.ck that he was always gonna wind people up. I find it amusing that both him and martin o'neill (Ireland's manager and assistant manager) were doing punditry for english tv cos no fcuker would listen to them over here

The real test for southgate begins now - he and the team came into this tournament with the lowest expectations of any english team in my lifetime, and for one reason or another they exceeded expectations by reaching the semi-final. Now (mainly thanks to the media again ) the expectations on this team will go through the roof and southgate will have to meet those expectations. He MIGHT be somewhat lucky with the progression of younger english players coming off the big of tournament wins, but if these lads arent getting regular football (at a high level) then their progress will stall and this will hit englands development hard. It seems to me that southgate had minimal trust in his bench throughout the tournament - despite fierce defence from english pundits, sterling showed that he is NOT top quality and should really have been dropped after the sweden game. Deli ali too had a poor world cup and how him and lingard kept their places is beyond me Much as I hate the whinging pri.ck, is there any universe where ashley young would be seen as danny rose ?

As I said, the real work for southgate starts now, and it is going to be a hard job now

[nut flush gooner]

This has been a pretty poor world cup in terms of great teams. In 2014 you could see Germany winning it a mile away, likewise Spain in 2010, & Brazil in 2002. Italy was a shock winner in 2006, & if Croatia win it it will be an even bigger shock. I think France are the best team at this tournament, but not as good as the Germany 2014, Spain 2010, or Brazil 2002 team. I dont think whoever wins this World Cup will be remembered as a great team.

Its also so true that this England team really is nothing special. Souness is even getting on the Keane train and trying to downplay the significance of England's performance. England were shielded from facing a real quality aside from Belgium which they lost. This third place play off should be taken seriously, because if England lose the final record would be 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses (counting the Columbia game as draw), & two of those wins were against Panama and Tunisia.

This World Cup is a false signal regarding England's capacity to be a great team.

Disagree with that, France are the standout team in this tournament, they are brimming class right through their team/squad. Belgium also have a great side, they were very unfortunate to run into France for the semis.

In fact I would have this France team ahead of Germany 2014 anyday.

[Gunner Rob]

This has been a pretty poor world cup in terms of great teams. In 2014 you could see Germany winning it a mile away, likewise Spain in 2010, & Brazil in 2002. Italy was a shock winner in 2006, & if Croatia win it it will be an even bigger shock. I think France are the best team at this tournament, but not as good as the Germany 2014, Spain 2010, or Brazil 2002 team. I dont think whoever wins this World Cup will be remembered as a great team.

Its also so true that this England team really is nothing special. Souness is even getting on the Keane train and trying to downplay the significance of England's performance. England were shielded from facing a real quality aside from Belgium which they lost. This third place play off should be taken seriously, because if England lose the final record would be 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses (counting the Columbia game as draw), & two of those wins were against Panama and Tunisia.

This World Cup is a false signal regarding England's capacity to be a great team.

yes probably true - how would this team have coped in the group that we got drawn in back in 2014 ? probably struggled to qualify from it.

[Jock Gooner]

When reading this remember that I am English but worked in Scotland for a while at which time I foolishly used the username 'Jock Gooner'.

The problem with the whole England thing is we are all so desperate to win something that whenever we get close to it the nation goes into a kind of meltdown ably assisted by the media and bandwagon brigade. Football people lose all track of their normal senses and spout shit using their hearts and not their heads when they should know better. England did win the matches they should have won and then didn't quite have enough to get past a decent Croatia team who we were quite happy to write off as a small country without any real consideration of the players they have.

As for whether Southagte is the new messiah I am not so sure about that. Yes he performs well for the press and doesn't make a tit of himself so that is a positive start but progressing the way we did without really scoring from open play is a worry. We can't progress as a team winning by headers and penalties all the time. England are still a way short in the middle of the park, and I know there were a couple of injuries and Southgate decided against Jack but the reality of last night was we were not creative enough and need better ball retention. My other concern is his insistence in sticking with Sterling who may have done it for his club but was not on form for his country. In tournament football you have to win and carrying somebody in the hope they play their way into form is a luxury you don't have.

Lastly, in the cold light of day, does anyone really have a problem with Roy Keane's comment of 'planning the final and where the parades would be'. I laughed when he said it because unfortunately he was spot on. Why the fuck the media and bandwagon brigade can't just fuck off until it's time to celebrate I will never fully understand. It won't ever change though unfortunately because it never does.

[Gunner Rob]

When reading this remember that I am English but worked in Scotland for a while at which time I foolishly used the username 'Jock Gooner'.

The problem with the whole England thing is we are all so desperate to win something that whenever we get close to it the nation goes into a kind of meltdown ably assisted by the media and bandwagon brigade. Football people lose all track of their normal senses and spout shit using their hearts and not their heads when they should know better. England did win the matches they should have won and then didn't quite have enough to get past a decent Croatia team who we were quite happy to write off as a small country without any real consideration of the players they have.

As for whether Southagte is the new messiah I am not so sure about that. Yes he performs well for the press and doesn't make a tit of himself so that is a positive start but progressing the way we did without really scoring from open play is a worry. We can't progress as a team winning by headers and penalties all the time. England are still a way short in the middle of the park, and I know there were a couple of injuries and Southgate decided against Jack but the reality of last night was we were not creative enough and need better ball retention. My other concern is his insistence in sticking with Sterling who may have done it for his club but was not on form for his country. In tournament football you have to win and carrying somebody in the hope they play their way into form is a luxury you don't have.

Lastly, in the cold light of day, does anyone really have a problem with Roy Keane's comment of 'planning the final and where the parades would be'. I laughed when he said it because unfortunately he was spot on. Why the fuck the media and bandwagon brigade can't just fuck off until it's time to celebrate I will never fully understand. It won't ever change though unfortunately because it never does.

i don't blame the media for going over the top when we got to the semi finals.
HOWEVER the issue for me this tournament was the group stages. The last minute winner v Tunisia was yes exciting but the reaction to that win was slightly embarrassing to be honest. Then the 6-1 v Panama where reaction was even more embarrassing!! Yes good scoreline but the media didn't take into account the standard of team that we beat!

had things been toned down early on then maybe it might not have got so hysterical in recent days

[Henry Norris 1913]

you had a very easy route to the final.

firstly, thanks for the commiserations.

but mainly, that statement above is bollocks - it was easier on paper than the other route we could have taken - but by no means does it mean it was easy. there are no easy games at the world cup, every player raises their game, and no-one wants to lose. lets be honest there were people saying england were going out to colombia - didn't happen. the same people said (not necessarily here) that we were going out to sweden - didn't happen.

croatia were a step above but had it not been for some selfish play by kane in the first half we would have been 2-0 up in a semi final with 45 minutes to go. can't help but feel that those same people would have said it was an easy route to the final even if we had beaten croatia. the scoreline never tells the full story and we dominated a very good side for most of the game, it's simply knee jerk to suddenly throw everything england did well away at this point.

we surpassed many people's expectations, and should feel unlucky not to be in a FINAL - it's been a long time but looking at the big picture and the football we played, english football is not in the dire position some think it is, coupled with the success of the kids at the toulon, u-19s and u-21s things are looking ok again.

of course if everything i knew about football was based off lazy tabloid journalism i'd say we only played two good teams and lost both and that we achieved nothing

[Clash]

Not read other posts on here yet ...

Still feel a bit gutted at a wasted opportunity but listening to the radio this morning I do not understand the optimism for the future. I saw nothing from England in this world cup to suggest they are going to get to the latter stages in future tournaments.

Of course I never expected us to get as far as the Semi final but the draw we had was a one-off and we will never get a draw like that again.

Beating Tunisia, Panama and Sweden should not mean the players coming back as heroes That should be the minimum requirement. Its almost like people are celebrating failure because we didnt humiliate ourselves again.

Anyway I've quite enjoyed this world cup though and hope it has a happy ending with Croatia winning it. Cant stand the fucking French and would support anyone over them ... but also it would be nice to see a new winner (and the French in tears again like 2 years ago)

Then for August and hopefully a brighter new era at AFC

[cameron326]

Not read other posts on here yet ...

Still feel a bit gutted at a wasted opportunity but listening to the radio this morning I do not understand the optimism for the future. I saw nothing from England in this world cup to suggest they are going to get to the latter stages in future tournaments.

Of course I never expected us to get as far as the Semi final but the draw we had was a one-off and we will never get a draw like that again.

Beating Tunisia, Panama and Sweden should not mean the players coming back as heroes That should be the minimum requirement. Its almost like people are celebrating failure because we didnt humiliate ourselves again.

Anyway I've quite enjoyed this world cup though and hope it has a happy ending with Croatia winning it. Cant stand the fucking French and would support anyone over them ... but also it would be nice to see a new winner (and the French in tears again like 2 years ago)

Then for August and hopefully a brighter new era at AFC

People going overboard both ways - overly positive and very negative. Losing a World Cup semi final is only considered failure in Brazil.

Sweden and Colombia were no pushovers and this young team beat both of them in a big stage. Yes, winning on penalties is still winning.

No, England were not amazing and quality wise we are still quarter final quality rather than semifinal quality.

But we have a young team, reasonably likeable, playing a system they understand and with some fairly skillful players. A damn sight better than before. The next two tournaments we can genuinely look forward to while acknowledging we’re unlikely to better what we did this time. Which was pretty good.

[Gunner Rob]

the next proper World Cup is not going to be for another 8 years anyway.

the "Christmas" World Cup in Qatar is just going to be weird...

[the playing mantis]

beating croatia would still have been easy route to the final. saying people raise there games as its WC - well, england would raise there game too, so thats irrelevant. Sweden and colombia are bang average, we should be beating them and would have been slaughtered in the media had we not.

some good posters still caught up on the bandwagon.

realistically England should beat croatia. had it been qualifying we would have expected to.
Had it been the first knockout round that we lost to them,the england team would have been slaughtered.

Just because fate gave us all the cards by easy draw to the semis, most are ignoring that we lost to a team we would typically expect to beat.

people are blinded by the fact it was a semi final and the fact we havent got that far in years as we have never had such a lucky draw.. like us getting to fa cup final by beating the mighty lincoln, hull and wigan, or whomever it was.

[Henry Norris 1913]

beating croatia would still have been easy route to the final. saying people raise there games as its WC - well, england would raise there game too, so thats irrelevant. Sweden and colombia are bang average, we should be beating them and would have been slaughtered in the media had we not.

some good posters still caught up on the bandwagon.

realistically England should beat croatia. had it been qualifying we would have expected to.
Had it been the first knockout round that we lost to them,the england team would have been slaughtered.

Just because fate gave us all the cards by easy draw to the semis, most are ignoring that we lost to a team we would typically expect to beat.

firstly, beating anyone at a world cup is difficult, for any team. look at how hard france huffed and puffed vs australia. I don't believe calling sweden or colombia bang aver age is fair - both got huge plauidits for the way they played at this tournament - if they're bang average sides then how many good ones are there?

it was Colombia's choice to go so defensive against us, and try telling France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Mexico and Switzerland that Sweden were 'crap'. sweden beat all of these teams (apart from germany - who were completely dominated) and finished 2nd in a very tough world cup qualifying group - how can they possibly be considered average? what team does that possibly leave who isn't average?

and i feel that your assesment of croatia is hugely out of step and almost disrespectful. they have world class talent all over the pitch, that midfield 3 is probably the best at the tournament and they will be very tough for france to break down.

phew, i'm tired of this world cup shite now. start the season already

[augie]

you had a very easy route to the final.

firstly, thanks for the commiserations.

but mainly, that statement above is bollocks - it was easier on paper than the other route we could have taken - but by no means does it mean it was easy. there are no easy games at the world cup, every player raises their game, and no-one wants to lose. lets be honest there were people saying england were going out to colombia - didn't happen. the same people said (not necessarily here) that we were going out to sweden - didn't happen.

croatia were a step above but had it not been for some selfish play by kane in the first half we would have been 2-0 up in a semi final with 45 minutes to go. can't help but feel that those same people would have said it was an easy route to the final even if we had beaten croatia. the scoreline never tells the full story and we dominated a very good side for most of the game, it's simply knee jerk to suddenly throw everything england did well away at this point.

we surpassed many people's expectations, and should feel unlucky not to be in a FINAL - it's been a long time but looking at the big picture and the football we played, english football is not in the dire position some think it is, coupled with the success of the kids at the toulon, u-19s and u-21s things are looking ok again.

of course if everything i knew about football was based off lazy tabloid journalism i'd say we only played two good teams and lost both and that we achieved nothing

Seriously ?? Panama and tunisia are not easy games ?? Stop ffs cos you are only deluding yourself
In the majority of groups there was only two good teams, and englands group was no different. Yes england had an easy run to the semi's but that isnt their fault, and they took advantage of the draw like you would expect them to. I expected england to comfortably beat sweden in everywhere except the scoreboard cos they are very defensive, but they actually created two excellent chances (which shocked me tbh) but pickford showed his class when called upon. Nobody that I know thought that croatia was an easy draw cos they have some top, top players, but those who expected england to win (like me) did so on the basis that the croats had played back to back games that went to penalties and I felt that they were be both mentally and physically exhausted from it.

I dont think that anyone is suggesting that what england did should be thrown out cos of last night, but at the same time I do think that the media (and fans) need to be realistic and recognise their limitations and not put unrealistic pressure on the team.

What I will say as an absolute criticism is your perception that england played good football a team that is as dependent on set pieces as england were, is clearly not doing well from open play or creating enough chances. I'm a old (ish ) Gooner so nobody appreciates the value of set pieces more than me, but they should be the bonus for the team and not the main source of goals

[herbert]

you had a very easy route to the final.

firstly, thanks for the commiserations.

but mainly, that statement above is bollocks - it was easier on paper than the other route we could have taken - but by no means does it mean it was easy. there are no easy games at the world cup, every player raises their game, and no-one wants to lose. lets be honest there were people saying england were going out to colombia - didn't happen. the same people said (not necessarily here) that we were going out to sweden - didn't happen.

croatia were a step above but had it not been for some selfish play by kane in the first half we would have been 2-0 up in a semi final with 45 minutes to go. can't help but feel that those same people would have said it was an easy route to the final even if we had beaten croatia. the scoreline never tells the full story and we dominated a very good side for most of the game, it's simply knee jerk to suddenly throw everything england did well away at this point.

we surpassed many people's expectations, and should feel unlucky not to be in a FINAL - it's been a long time but looking at the big picture and the football we played, english football is not in the dire position some think it is, coupled with the success of the kids at the toulon, u-19s and u-21s things are looking ok again.

of course if everything i knew about football was based off lazy tabloid journalism i'd say we only played two good teams and lost both and that we achieved nothing

I enjoyed watching this group of England players and they certainly put a lot of effort into the matches and with a bit more creativity in midfield they could have gone all the way and like henry says the youngsters coming through are wnners at a lower level so no reason to think that in the 2020 euros we cant improve on these performances

France win by 2 or more goals then all the football experts who love to remind everyone that we had an easy run are right? but
If Croatia beat France ,take it to extra time or lose by the odd goal then does the easy route become a load of bollox?