vinegar hill
Striker
Neither fullback made an overlap in the first half.
Shaw made a couple in the second half James didn’t make one.
Baffling, as we weren’t exactly playing France or Belgium.
Pandering to keep ball merchants
- Thread starter L1lyBrown
- Start date
Shaw made a couple in the second half James didn’t make one.
Baffling, as we weren’t exactly playing France or Belgium.
PJH
Striker
Depends on the fixtures really.
Group A - Italy finish top unless Wales beat them, who only need a point to guarantee 2nd. Avoid a hammering and likely to stay 2nd anyway. Switzerland and Turkey both need to win to have a chance of going through. So one game could be boring, one game exciting.
Group B - Belgium avoid defeat against Finland and they stay top. Russia just need to match what Finland do to stay above them, but can't lose to Denmark. Denmark need to win. 3rd place probably not enough to go through in this group as it looks right now, so possibly a good group to watch as everyone is likely to want to go for the win.
Group C - Netherlands have already won the group due to sorting rules and up against an already out North Macedonia due to same sorting rules. Ukraine vs Austria will either be two teams too scared to lose and play a bore draw to get them both on 4 points, though with Austria being the ones in 3rd they might want to win to make sure they go through.
Group D - England vs Czech Republic. Draw gets both through no problem. Depends on how much we want top spot. Scotland vs Croatia - game to watch as both need to win.
The Fitter
Winger
It's a bit weird watching England/Scotland/Sunderland players emulate the tika-taka style of the Spanish, the English are certainly not designed for it (all big powerful lads) but the Scots being a bit shorter and agile get away with it a bit better, last night for example, I thought they passed the ball very well in midfield and being quick little buggers we dealt with Foden and Sterling really well.
Henry_Hill
Winger
remember going to see Barcelona a few years at nou camp, loads of passing along the back line into midfield then back into defence, boring at times, but in a blink of an eye they would click and rip the opposition apart
I thought they were boring until they had suarez,neymar and messi up front
njmackem
Striker
Football is entertaining, but it is not entertainment. You want entertainment go to the Empire.
Football is a competitive sport, the only job of those involved is to win or at worst avoid defeat. This annoying idea that we are supposed to be entertained is absolute shite. There is not a fan in the world would complain if their team won every game 1-0 in a dull season....
If you can't see the skill or tactics at work in a duller game then perhaps you should watch American sports.
Select coaches
Winger
Keep the ball, someone runs close to you, fall over and repeat. Copyright Barcelona 10 years ago or so.
gipetto
Striker
He needs dropping him. If he followed Southgate's instructions completely however, Southgate needs to have a massive rethink. That wasn't football last night, it was disgraceful.
Interesting, thoughtful ideas. How about taking throw ins where the ball went out instead of going on a walking tour up the line.
Redandwhitedust
Winger
That really annoys me. Would be so easy to solve as well. Ref blows whistle and awards the throw the other way. It would finish overnight
Chop Sauce
Striker
Rice is bang average and should be nowhere near starting 11.
Can I assume that you refer to the English team? The Scots would argue with that.
TomMoran
Winger
what about the aimless 60 yard hoofs by Tyrone Mings .....Englnad never retain the ball after them
GordonMuchallNo1Fan
Striker
I believe the players followed instructions. When you select 6 defensive players then that tells you the outlook of the manager. He never once changed that style/formation last night. The players delivered exactly what the manager wanted and asked for. Appalling
PJH
Striker
It's also a product now. A drab Saturday evening Sky match where we beat Stoke or someone 1-0 to fulfill our minimum Sky airtime (back in the day...) is fantastic for us in the stands, and our fans watching on TV. But horrible for the neutrals watching. And that's what football on TV is all about - the neutral fans watching teams they don't have an interest in. They're the ones who need to be entertained so football rules change in accordance with that. The back pass came in after the 1990 World Cup accusations of being dull with time wasting and keepers just hanging onto the ball. If you're 1-0 up in a World Cup game, surely you'd be happy to have your keeper constantly pick up the ball from a pass to wind the clock down.
knockneed
Central Defender
We'd have seen at least 2 formation changes and at least a triple substitution if Johnson was in charge (which he gets criticised for), so better to stick with your plans and trust the players, or change it around to give the opposition something different to deal with? With England, there's no point going on about the wealth of attacking options on the bench if you're not prepared to bring them on when those on the pitch aren't doing it. The thing is, as others have mentioned, the 3rd place qualifies means 4 pts will (almost certainly) get you through so there was no onus on England to push for the win. Do we think Southgate would do something different in a knockout game where we're creating nothing?
andysafc85
Striker
T28ColdBlowLion
Subs Bench
Wouldnt you like to knowwhat were you drinking
just pumped up by the attack on democracy by Krankie something. I mean...ffs!! Don’t bow down to all this PC shite. Stand and fight your ground. This is England 
Good man Wayne “you know it makes sense”Wouldnt you like to know
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