Four changes. Happy to see Lookman start. Guinea are the minnows of the group. With games three days apart now is a good time to rotate. Being able to bring in Lookman, Ojo, and Maitland-Niles shows the quality in depth of this team. I'd have liked to have seen Konsa get his first start for England at any level, but if all goes according to plan (watch England lose 2-0 now), hoping he'll be brought on to get some valuable experience (to be fair he still may be very jet lagged from a lot of travel). Still think with his ability to break up play he has a role to play in that central midfield that England lack otherwise.
We've pretty much qualified from the Group as well now
Get at least a point today and like the Euros last summer we'll have 4-pts (minimum) which should automatically make us one of the best third placed sides should the worst happen come the end of the Group games
South Korea beat Argentina 2-1 in the second fixture today.
Means they've qualified for the second stage and means that Argentina have to beat Guinea to stand a chance of getting third spot and a place in the 2nd Round - It also means that provided we dont lose to South Korea in our last match along with Guinea winning theirs (and a six goal swing) we've also qualified for the next stage of the tournament.
Of course if we beat South Korea on Friday then we win the Group.
Should we win the Group then we'll face the third placed team from either C | D | E Should we come second then we'll face the Runners-Up from Group C (Zambia | Iran | Portugal | Costa Rica)
Don't fancyy playing Vietnam. Those kooks are very sneaky & will pop up from one of their underground tunnels right by the goal line & score when no-one is looking.
Don't fancyy playing Vietnam. Those kooks are very sneaky & will pop up from one of their underground tunnels right by the goal line & score when no-one is looking.
Don't fancyy playing Vietnam. Those kooks are very sneaky & will pop up from one of their underground tunnels right by the goal line & score when no-one is looking.
Don't fancyy playing Vietnam. Those kooks are very sneaky & will pop up from one of their underground tunnels right by the goal line & score when no-one is looking.
That is so Hanoi-ing
Brilliant.
Been a bit out of things the last few days. Only watched the Korea match yesterday. Lovely game of football.
My concerns with this England side are roughly the same as my concerns for the senior team: certainly talented players, but for whatever reason they don't seem to combine quite right, and as such struggle to break teams down.
That said, the Korea performance was certainly much better. Ejaria looks a real player. Dowell has been excellent--I'd seen him a couple times for England at youth level and he didn't do much, but he seems to have a lovely way of making space for himself and others, and plays a great ball. Fry also looked excellent against Korea, he's apparently really highly rated at 'Boro and has already been linked with City and Chelsea I believe.
You can see that on talent, Lookie absolutely deserves to be there, and he was the best player in the first half against Guinea. That said, his decision making and vision still leave something to be desired. But he has that wonderful ability to work a half yard of space and hit them from 20 yards out.
I dunno if it's been mentioned on your coverage, but it was brought up that Izzy Brown, Patrick Roberts, and one other (maybe Demetri Mitchell) would all have probably been picked for this tournament had it not been for club commitments. I believe Brown and Roberts are in the initial squad for the U-21 Euros, as is Joe Gomez. I'd completely forgotten that was also this summer. Brown and Roberts in particular are really talented young players, and it got me thinking who from the U-21s might have made the squad had the Euros not been this summer, or if the U-20 world cup were later in the summer (because yes, this is what my life has come to): Brown Roberts Joe Gomez Ben Chilwell Tammy Abraham
You add those players into this England team (not sure Abraham would even make it) and it looks like a really strong, deep side.
Comments
Get at least a point today and like the Euros last summer we'll have 4-pts (minimum) which should automatically make us one of the best third placed sides should the worst happen come the end of the Group games
Means they've qualified for the second stage and means that Argentina have to beat Guinea to stand a chance of getting third spot and a place in the 2nd Round - It also means that provided we dont lose to South Korea in our last match along with Guinea winning theirs (and a six goal swing) we've also qualified for the next stage of the tournament.
Of course if we beat South Korea on Friday then we win the Group.
Should we win the Group then we'll face the third placed team from either C | D | E
Should we come second then we'll face the Runners-Up from Group C (Zambia | Iran | Portugal | Costa Rica)
Plus this interview: http://www.thefa.com/home/news/2017/may/25/ademola-lookman-pre-korea-250517
And crowd of 35,000!
Out of the current Third Placed teams that would be Portugal (Group C) | Japan (Group D) | Vietnam (Group E)
Slightly negative after the goal but apart from that it was a brilliant performance.
Been a bit out of things the last few days. Only watched the Korea match yesterday. Lovely game of football.
My concerns with this England side are roughly the same as my concerns for the senior team: certainly talented players, but for whatever reason they don't seem to combine quite right, and as such struggle to break teams down.
That said, the Korea performance was certainly much better. Ejaria looks a real player. Dowell has been excellent--I'd seen him a couple times for England at youth level and he didn't do much, but he seems to have a lovely way of making space for himself and others, and plays a great ball. Fry also looked excellent against Korea, he's apparently really highly rated at 'Boro and has already been linked with City and Chelsea I believe.
You can see that on talent, Lookie absolutely deserves to be there, and he was the best player in the first half against Guinea. That said, his decision making and vision still leave something to be desired. But he has that wonderful ability to work a half yard of space and hit them from 20 yards out.
I dunno if it's been mentioned on your coverage, but it was brought up that Izzy Brown, Patrick Roberts, and one other (maybe Demetri Mitchell) would all have probably been picked for this tournament had it not been for club commitments. I believe Brown and Roberts are in the initial squad for the U-21 Euros, as is Joe Gomez. I'd completely forgotten that was also this summer. Brown and Roberts in particular are really talented young players, and it got me thinking who from the U-21s might have made the squad had the Euros not been this summer, or if the U-20 world cup were later in the summer (because yes, this is what my life has come to):
Brown
Roberts
Joe Gomez
Ben Chilwell
Tammy Abraham
You add those players into this England team (not sure Abraham would even make it) and it looks like a really strong, deep side.
Cook starts as captain. He's class and I am expecting to him have a good season for Bournemouth, next year.
Semis is where it'll hot up as we'll face one of Zambia | Germany | France | Italy
Other half of the draw for the Quarters has...
Portugal v Uruguay | Venezuela v United States OR New Zealand so looks like Portugal once again have an "easy" route to a Major Final
Ademola Lookman though is England's Top Scorer at the Tournament though and is now two behind the Golden Boot (some Venezuelan bloke)
Both goals.