I honestly think its bullshit about not caring who we want to play in the knockouts when its got everything to do with how we win it
Portugal when they won Euro 2016 had a piss easy route which meant they didnt have to play at the top of their game till the Final which meant they were fresher against France.
Same will happen here; Spain should barely need to get out of first gear to reach the Final and should be relatively fresh, on the other hand nearly every game in the other half of the draw will be played at a higher intensity meaning there will be more chance of tiredness come the Final.
I honestly think its bullshit about not caring who we want to play in the knockouts when its got everything to do with how we win it
Portugal when they won Euro 2016 had a piss easy route which meant they didnt have to play at the top of their game till the Final which meant they were fresher against France.
Same will happen here; Spain should barely need to get out of first gear to reach the Final and should be relatively fresh, on the other hand nearly every game in the other half of the draw will be played at a higher intensity meaning there will be more chance of tiredness come the Final.
SO this.
I don't care if we are the best team in the tournament beating every single one of the top 6 in the world or whatever... I just want to bloody win it by any means possible in my lifetime.
p.s I feel the same about Charlton and the FA cup - i wouldn't care if we didn't play a single PL team on the way to winning it give me a charlton/scunthorpe cup final win and i'd be over the moon.
I honestly think its bullshit about not caring who we want to play in the knockouts when its got everything to do with how we win it
Portugal when they won Euro 2016 had a piss easy route which meant they didnt have to play at the top of their game till the Final which meant they were fresher against France.
Same will happen here; Spain should barely need to get out of first gear to reach the Final and should be relatively fresh, on the other hand nearly every game in the other half of the draw will be played at a higher intensity meaning there will be more chance of tiredness come the Final.
Its not about not caring, it's just difficult to control. Portugal didn't plan that route, they just got it because that is the way results fell for them.
Everyone's talking about Spain in the bottom half of the draw but i think Croatia are just as good as them.
Spain haven't impressed at all.
Croatia flatter to deceive for me... they've good players but they always seem to crumble, they're a better Golden Generation than the one we had as they get their top players to click BUT... Everytime England have played them we've played them off the park apart from when McClaren pissed about with tactics
Colombia scare me because they passed so quickly against Poland (even though I think they too are over rated) that the ball was gone before the Polish players could get a tackle in
Spain naturally scare me because they're a damned good side when they want to be, and fully expect the big sides to suddenly wake up
Sweden are the only others that really bother me as over the years our record against them hasnt been brilliant
Hoping for a Japanese win so it takes Colombia out of the equation.
Then we can grind out a 0-0 with Belgium (so we don't lose and moaners can stop moaning about momentum) and Nick Pope comes on as a sub, lamps Eden Hazard one & gets sent off so England finish 2nd on fair play record only, thereby making himself a national hero.
What Southgate has done that has been impressive is he has identified a way to win the World Cup. What I mean by that is, he is developed a system he thinks will work and ensured the players have learned it. He has understood the importance of set pieces and made them an intrisic part of his tactics. He knows where he wants pace, he knows where he wants strength, he knows where he wants quality and he knows he has a fit young side with a great goalscorer. He also has a plan B within the system of more direct balls.
He has taken bits from other successful sides which is to his credit. The way the centre halves can push forward and become additional midfielders - even with Maguire an attacking midfielder. It has echoes of Germany outnumbering defences. The way the full backs can get forwards due to the extra CB and outnumber sides with quick counter attacks. Walker is there as a get out of jail free card due to his pace - Southgate has also realised that one of his three central defenders needs Walker's attributes and played him out of position to achieve it. To some initial criticism.
I wasn't sure about Southgate for a while - but I think he has already shown what a good national team manager he is. England can still go out with some bad luck, but it is the best thought out England side I can remember. It is right we don't get carried away, but some cold analysis does give us cause to do so.
Above all - despite having excellent players - Southgate has realised that England need to be a better team than the sum of its parts to win the World Cup. That is why the system is everything. It is something most manager's before him have failed to do.
There, I've done what I told myself I wouldn't do - and made a case for us winning the bloody thing!
Can’t wait to finish second and get knocked out on pens by Japan
We have not set the world alight we lost to Iceland in the last tournament
We shit it in
Sth aftrica
Brazil
France
And because we beat Tunisia and Panama
Routes to the final are being looked at as if it matters who we face
Dreaming is good but just dream about beating anyone we face
Don't disagree with all that BUT.....
Argentina
Germany
Germany
Argentina
Portugal
Brazil
Portugal
Iceland
That's a selection of who have knocked us out in the knockout stages in the last 30 years or so. How many minnows in that group and how many top teams?
We get beat (usually valiantly as the underdogs) by the top teams not the minnows, Iceland are the exception NOT the rule.
We could all do with remembering that when it comes to this competition.
You are right, but are Argentina a top team - I don't see it. I honestly think Southgate's England would blow them away! The teams I fear are Spain - even though they haven't started strongly, Uruguay - they have the spoiling ability to nullify our tactics and frustrate and Brazil. They are not a typical Brazil side, they have skill and quality, but are a pragmatic side. They get a lot of bodies behind the ball - work hard and press and rely on their quality to counter attack. These are the three sides I would like to see England avoid.
Possibly, I'd add Croatia to those - they have impressed me as much as anybody so far and form is important.
Not sure if this may be of any interest to you guys? My mate has 2 tickets for the England v Belgium game this Thursday. He paid £300 each including flights but he didn't realise when he bought them months ago that it was going to be the same day as his wedding! If you are interested he’s looking for someone to take his place. It's at South Shields Registry Office, 4pm. The brides name is Nicola, she's 5'4", about 8 stone, quite pretty, has her own income and is a really good cook.
Argentina were top drawer at the time when they beat us though - which was my point - portugal were much the same as now - Ronaldo plus 10 others. The point i'm making is the iceland result should not cloud our thinking in this competition because history says we lose to top drawer sides and find a way past the likes of Equador, Cameroon, Belgium (at the time) and Denmark.
Interesting point made by Pat Nevin on 5Live tonight about Joachim Low. He said that football is evolving all the time and if you are not involved in top club football as a manager/coach then you can fall behind and become stale. Low has been German head coach since 2008 and was assistant in 2006, that is a hell of a long time and maybe the Hähnchen have come home?
Interesting point made by Pat Nevin on 5Live tonight about Joachim Low. He said that football is evolving all the time and if you are not involved in top club football as a manager/coach then you can fall behind and become stale. Low has been German head coach since 2008 and was assistant in 2006, that is a hell of a long time and maybe the Hähnchen have come home?
Dont speak German so google translated it as Chicken.
But maybe the Chicken have come home doesnt sound right
I don't know what it was about the German players but they just looked so laboured in their friendlies and that continued through the group stages. Bizarre but very welcome of course.
Interesting point made by Pat Nevin on 5Live tonight about Joachim Low. He said that football is evolving all the time and if you are not involved in top club football as a manager/coach then you can fall behind and become stale. Low has been German head coach since 2008 and was assistant in 2006, that is a hell of a long time and maybe the Hähnchen have come home?
Dont speak German so google translated it as Chicken.
But maybe the Chicken have come home doesnt sound right
After Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi the German best selling tabloid newspaper Bild simply printed the score on their front page with the headline "No Words!" They have done the same with today's copy, just the score from yesterday's match and the same headline...
Everyone's talking about Spain in the bottom half of the draw but i think Croatia are just as good as them.
Spain haven't impressed at all.
Croatia flatter to deceive for me... they've good players but they always seem to crumble, they're a better Golden Generation than the one we had as they get their top players to click BUT... Everytime England have played them we've played them off the park apart from when McClaren pissed about with tactics
Colombia scare me because they passed so quickly against Poland (even though I think they too are over rated) that the ball was gone before the Polish players could get a tackle in
Spain naturally scare me because they're a damned good side when they want to be, and fully expect the big sides to suddenly wake up
Sweden are the only others that really bother me as over the years our record against them hasnt been brilliant
Without a shadow of a doubt, we want to avoid Colombia at all costs - they shouldn't have lost to Japan with ten men, and then took the Poles to the cleaners.
Devastating on the counter, have a fierce defence and a striker like Falcao would do well against our back three as his movement is so clever and elusive.
You'd have to fancy us to beat either Japan or Senegal - though neither would be easy - but if you can't beat those sides, then you have no business in the last eight.
Having said all of that, you'd have to fancy Japan against the Poles, which would send them through, and Senegal very much remind me of the Cameroon side of the 90's, in that they can lurch from the brilliant to the bizarrely bad in a heartbeat, so they could turn Colombia over, and thus send them out!
I don't know what it was about the German players but they just looked so laboured in their friendlies and that continued through the group stages. Bizarre but very welcome of course.
The history of football shows that new systems come in and teams work out how to play against those systems then they have to evolve. Germany are probably victims of this. It doesn't make them a terrible team, but the advantage is lessened and their system can even be used against them as Mexico showed.
The same can be said of Spain with their Tiki - Taka system. They are still hard to beat and can win the world cup, but before teams worked it out, they were unstoppable. Now teams know that they have to focus on the danger areas and not be drawn out, and be more wary of the counters.
The quality of the players remains a major factor - but the advantage the system gives can be nullified. It is reasonable that Germany would stick with the system that brought them success but it is time for a new system and they probably needed the kick into the proverbials to start developing it . Southgate has come up with a system that a) he thinks suits English players and b) doesn't suit continental opponents (Many don't like to be attacked with strength and pace and not being club sides, who can practice together more, are less adept at defending set pieces). In the past, England historically have relied more on the ability of their players than finding a system that gives us an advantage. But to win the World Cup, a team like England needs to be better than the overall level of its players. That is not being critical - they are all Premier League Players and top ones at that, but they need that extra an effective system can give.
Interesting point made by Pat Nevin on 5Live tonight about Joachim Low. He said that football is evolving all the time and if you are not involved in top club football as a manager/coach then you can fall behind and become stale. Low has been German head coach since 2008 and was assistant in 2006, that is a hell of a long time and maybe the Hähnchen have come home?
Dont speak German so google translated it as Chicken.
But maybe the Chicken have come home doesnt sound right
"The chickens have come home to roost" is a fairly well known phrase that probably sums up it up?
Comments
Portugal when they won Euro 2016 had a piss easy route which meant they didnt have to play at the top of their game till the Final which meant they were fresher against France.
Same will happen here; Spain should barely need to get out of first gear to reach the Final and should be relatively fresh, on the other hand nearly every game in the other half of the draw will be played at a higher intensity meaning there will be more chance of tiredness come the Final.
I don't care if we are the best team in the tournament beating every single one of the top 6 in the world or whatever... I just want to bloody win it by any means possible in my lifetime.
p.s I feel the same about Charlton and the FA cup - i wouldn't care if we didn't play a single PL team on the way to winning it give me a charlton/scunthorpe cup final win and i'd be over the moon.
Spain haven't impressed at all.
We have not set the world alight we lost to Iceland in the last tournament
We shit it in
Sth aftrica
Brazil
France
And because we beat Tunisia and Panama
Routes to the final are being looked at as if it matters who we face
Dreaming is good but just dream about beating anyone we face
Colombia scare me because they passed so quickly against Poland (even though I think they too are over rated) that the ball was gone before the Polish players could get a tackle in
Spain naturally scare me because they're a damned good side when they want to be, and fully expect the big sides to suddenly wake up
Sweden are the only others that really bother me as over the years our record against them hasnt been brilliant
Fully expect Poland to win and a draw to put through Senegal and Colombia
Then we can grind out a 0-0 with Belgium (so we don't lose and moaners can stop moaning about momentum) and Nick Pope comes on as a sub, lamps Eden Hazard one & gets sent off so England finish 2nd on fair play record only, thereby making himself a national hero.
He has taken bits from other successful sides which is to his credit. The way the centre halves can push forward and become additional midfielders - even with Maguire an attacking midfielder. It has echoes of Germany outnumbering defences. The way the full backs can get forwards due to the extra CB and outnumber sides with quick counter attacks. Walker is there as a get out of jail free card due to his pace - Southgate has also realised that one of his three central defenders needs Walker's attributes and played him out of position to achieve it. To some initial criticism.
I wasn't sure about Southgate for a while - but I think he has already shown what a good national team manager he is. England can still go out with some bad luck, but it is the best thought out England side I can remember. It is right we don't get carried away, but some cold analysis does give us cause to do so.
Above all - despite having excellent players - Southgate has realised that England need to be a better team than the sum of its parts to win the World Cup. That is why the system is everything. It is something most manager's before him have failed to do.
There, I've done what I told myself I wouldn't do - and made a case for us winning the bloody thing!
Argentina
Germany
Germany
Argentina
Portugal
Brazil
Portugal
Iceland
That's a selection of who have knocked us out in the knockout stages in the last 30 years or so. How many minnows in that group and how many top teams?
We get beat (usually valiantly as the underdogs) by the top teams not the minnows, Iceland are the exception NOT the rule.
We could all do with remembering that when it comes to this competition.
Possibly, I'd add Croatia to those - they have impressed me as much as anybody so far and form is important.
But maybe the Chicken have come home doesnt sound right
I don't know what it was about the German players but they just looked so laboured in their friendlies and that continued through the group stages. Bizarre but very welcome of course.
They have done the same with today's copy, just the score from yesterday's match and the same headline...
Devastating on the counter, have a fierce defence and a striker like Falcao would do well against our back three as his movement is so clever and elusive.
You'd have to fancy us to beat either Japan or Senegal - though neither would be easy - but if you can't beat those sides, then you have no business in the last eight.
Having said all of that, you'd have to fancy Japan against the Poles, which would send them through, and Senegal very much remind me of the Cameroon side of the 90's, in that they can lurch from the brilliant to the bizarrely bad in a heartbeat, so they could turn Colombia over, and thus send them out!
The same can be said of Spain with their Tiki - Taka system. They are still hard to beat and can win the world cup, but before teams worked it out, they were unstoppable. Now teams know that they have to focus on the danger areas and not be drawn out, and be more wary of the counters.
The quality of the players remains a major factor - but the advantage the system gives can be nullified. It is reasonable that Germany would stick with the system that brought them success but it is time for a new system and they probably needed the kick into the proverbials to start developing it . Southgate has come up with a system that a) he thinks suits English players and b) doesn't suit continental opponents (Many don't like to be attacked with strength and pace and not being club sides, who can practice together more, are less adept at defending set pieces). In the past, England historically have relied more on the ability of their players than finding a system that gives us an advantage. But to win the World Cup, a team like England needs to be better than the overall level of its players. That is not being critical - they are all Premier League Players and top ones at that, but they need that extra an effective system can give.