PS I'm not at all counting on us beating Colombia tomorrow. Not after a lifetime of watching England and all the upsets in this tournament.

I'd agree with that too RR. I don't think I've been as impressed as others though, thirty minutes against Tunisia aside. What I did like was his assessment after the panama game about not being particularly happy (even with the result) with the performance. I wasn't either and was pleasantly surprised he mentioned it.

Tomorrow is the first real test for me though.

comment by meltonblue (U10617)
posted 3 minutes ago
I'd agree with that too RR. I don't think I've been as impressed as others though, thirty minutes against Tunisia aside. What I did like was his assessment after the panama game about not being particularly happy (even with the result) with the performance. I wasn't either and was pleasantly surprised he mentioned it.

Tomorrow is the first real test for me though.
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I thought the execution was sometimes less than impressive but the general approach pretty good. But that was against sides without many weapons to hurt us. Let's see how it goes henceforth.

Agreed. It was the first fifteen minutes, I was a bit disappointed how well Panama were able to keep the ball (and conversely how badly we kept it).

Tomorrow will be very interesting though as as much as I'm not overly keen on his system, I do think it will work better against teams that like to play with the ball themselves.

While I feel southgate has done as well as he could so far he still hasn’t really been tested and that first one will be tomorrow. After that game we will have a far better idea of how well Southgate has done imo.

There’s not much more you can really say, an ok performance in a first game match of a tournament that will always be cagey, a very impressive win against an incredibly poor side and a defeat with a b side against another b side in a meaningless game. I like Southgate, he seems to be doing the right things but it’s simply too early to judge him.

I wish our players would realise that when we run at teams the opposition absolutely cack themselves. We have been good so far but too often pass it back to Henderson and then sideways a dozen times...something seem far too much over the years in qualifying against minnows.

We have the quality up front to cause any team issues but unfortunately have to assume that Columbia will score at least 1 due to our suspect defence. Kane vs Ospina is an absolute no contest and if Sterling, Rashford and Lingard decide to be ruthless for a change then we should be ok.

Yep completely agree.

If this team gets to the semis then Southgate is a genius.

Tbf we did run at Tunisia for a bit but our finishing was poor. While we were ruthless against a poor Panama side and played a b side against Belgium. On paper Colombia have some good players but I’ve only seen them play once against Poland where they were pretty good, tomorrow is the first real test. I thought Croatia looked good in the group games but were poor last night, Brazil seem to be the only side who are showing progression throughout there games to far and I expect that to continue.

VC

Why? Beating Tunisia, Panama, Colombia and Sweden/Switzerland is that impressive. He’d have done all he could but our path to the semis is incredibly fortunate.

Not read the replies but he's well on the way to this being the best world cup in a long time. Is that because expectation is lower? In part.

However, he's been brave in not selecting the likes of Wilshere, Walcott and Rooney. He's found (nearly) a system going forwards that gets our best players on the pitch. He's addressed our defence by playing three and I actually like Walker at rcb. His pace enables his system of the rwb with almost impunity. He's also tried a different system with two up top and of course a record win was recorded.

Get past Colombia and he's done well but the draw is kind. We're not loads better than the remaining sides no matter who's gone out though.

Colombia are the toughest team on route to final. Beat them and England have to get to semis at least. That’ll be most likely Croatia but after their game vs Denmark I don’t see why England couldn’t beat them. But it’s all about Colombia tomorrow. That’s 50% of difficulty to final.

He's hamstrung by his options at cm system wise. It looks to me our press is quite high octane and we gas second half. This side needs to score early to allow the team to be able to play another way and counter.

Yes 1982 and we are incredibly bad.

We have one top class player in Harry Hotspur.

It's a strange one for me. Was Hodgson really that crap? He did a good one for Palace.

At the start of the match it's whether the players turn up and perform beyond their best which they didn't for Roy. I want Southgate to do well because he comes across a decent guy driven by a desire to win for his country but if Young is the number one option down the left and Henderson is our creative genius in midfield, I don't hold much hope for getting past Columbia.

If we do, then a QF can be considered a success. I recall Sven's words - 'Time will show that getting to QF's was the best I could do with players I had.'

The golden generation is unfairly looked at.
When the golden generation were about, England were not the best team, nor were they cohesive.

Portugal had their own golden generation during the same period. And the best they did was the final in their own nation back in 2004.

England have also historically not been great against Sweden. And Sweden had better players then than now, too. I don't see that changing. I'd rather face Switzerland than Sweden if I were England.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The last world cup, many underestimated Uruguay. I had heard and read that only Italy would be an issue. What happened? England were knocked out. Then in the Euros, Iceland got two goals from two attacks and England couldn't break them down. France demolished them 5-2. This team lacks guile to unlock teams.

I think the poor outcome of the previous World Cup/Euros, along with the previous high expectations and failing to meet them have made everyone underestimate how good England are.

Tunisia and Panama are two sides England should be beating. And have. Belgium would have been a test had either side fielded their strongest side.

And Colombia are as good as England. They have their own frailties. Their CBs are young and they have Ospina in goal. Their star man, James, is nursing an injury.

But they also have strengths. Falcao has found his old form and someone to be wary of, even if he is 32. Juventus winger, and former Chelsea flop, Cuadrado will be a big problem for England's left. Young and Maguire have to be alert and not give him any space. When they beat Poland, Poland played 3 at the back and that system was exploited and allowed him to terrorise Poland.

Mina, their CB,(could be got at in defense due to being young and lacking cohesion with Sanchez,) will be deadly in dead ball situations. If he is left to do his thing, he'll score. England are not the only ones who will be deadly at dead ball situations.

Juan Fernando Quintero, who has been linked with Wolves recently, is a type of player England lack. Pekerman has shifted James to the left in order to use both these guys in the same team. He will be pulling the strings if James is out. If James isn't, these two guys will be a danger for England.

The worse thing to do is have the same complacency as England did when they faced Iceland. England are already talking about the Semi while they haven't even played their last 16 match, let alone the quarters.

Semi should be spoken about when you've arrived there. Exceptions were dialed very low at the beginning of the tournament, so some will see as this being a good tournament. But now expectations are rising, a loss here and maybe there will be the same overreaction there always is after England are knockes out of a tournament.

Also, many people forget the issues we had during the "golden generation" period. After Shearer and Owen there was no other decent number 9 for England during that time frame. Most of the time there was a lack of player on the left who could play there. There was also a period of time where GK was up in the air like it was before this World Cup. Pickford reminds me of Scott Carson, Ben Foster and Rob Green when they were in the England side or touted for it. The former two as prospects, with one having his England career ruined. Something he didn't recover for. And Rob Green. Not quite good enough. A bit like the time when Roy Carroll became United's number one for a while.

Then there were the media campaigns. I remember when Beckham was asked to be dropped. And when he was, there was a realisation that, despite being past his best, Beckham was still the better option than others coming through. Lennon, Bentley, nor Walcott have managed to get close to his level for England.

The media do drive a lot of opinions on England. Remember when Scott Parker was touted for England by the press? And he was used over Carrick? That went well.

Southgate has done well with what he has. But he has done what would have been expected of England, even with the level of the players they currently have.

Some of the brave choices haven't been so brave. Dropping Rooney after he was dropped already by club. Again, the same with Hart. Jack Wilshere spent more time out and isn't any better than other midfield options. It would have been braver to have taken him. Walcott, like Lennon, has never a great player. A good player, but not a great one. His form for Arsenal and Everton suggest taking him would mean Southgate had some belief in the player when everyone else didn't.

He has been brave in choosing Pickford just before the world cup. But he should have already dropped Hart earlier and have had Pickford or the others. Pickford has looked shaky. Another brave decision is him using Walker as an RCB. And then sticking by it, even after a hiccup against Tunisia. Changing the formation was a bit brave too. We don't have the players to use it to the best of its ability. But it does help having an extra CB, especially when there isn't much options of good midfielders to choose from when it comes to controlling games.

Overall, I've think he has done as expected for England. Not as bad as most thought. And that makes what he has done seem like a very good job. Expectations can does affect how we judge something.

A bit like movies. If you go see an average film that's panned by the critics, you might end up thinking it was good. If you go see an average film praised by the critics, you might think it was bad and not worth the hype.

Loooooong post.

*reffering to the post above. Not ur op melts 💖 u

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 8 hours, 10 minutes ago
PS I'm not at all counting on us beating Colombia tomorrow. Not after a lifetime of watching England and all the upsets in this tournament.
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This 100 times over, some fans never learn, it’s plain arrogance oh we have a better run to the semis, England have shown time an again that putting the cart before the horse doesn’t work.

I don’t think we will beat Columbia but that’s just my opinion.

We need Kane an Lingard to step up again today if we are to have any chance.

England to lose on pens.

comment by gratedbean (U4885)
posted 2 hours, 25 minutes ago
*reffering to the post above. Not ur op melts 💖 u
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it was a very good post though!

Penalties and the door marked Exit does have an air of inevitability for many. England's team really isn't that great in the creative areas so to be looking at the semi-finals is presumptive beyond words. Look at the England team and ask how many would be wanted by Barca, or Real or City (apart from the current City players who it is safe to say City do want). A Post Ronaldo era Real would want Kane but his style wouldn't suit Barca or City and the rest are nowhere near good enough. England can do it, but that does not presume they will. They will need the whole team to pull together and not try to go after individual glory. Generally speaking Southgate does seem to be successful in getting the players to realise that.

Southgate has done a good job in my book, team playing without fear, tactically decent, and scoring.

That said we’ve been totally untested at this World Cup, thanks to having the easiest progression of any team.

comment by meltonblue (U10617)
posted 6 hours, 9 minutes ago
comment by gratedbean (U4885)
posted 2 hours, 25 minutes ago
*reffering to the post above. Not ur op melts 💖 u
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it was a very good post though!
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Thanks