Croatia vs England

crookie_bear said:
Absolutely.

Don't forget England also chose the easier route themselves by deliberately losing to Belgium, not to say the could have beat them if they tried. That was a cowardly act
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Listen mate I don't think there was any deliberate losing to Belgium.
Did you see the Belgian line up ?
 
top_cat said:
I don't think anyone has mentioned Scotland on here, as far as I can see. England were average at best. And if you do want to mention Scotland then England could only draw at hampdump.
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Someone said Scotland could have beat them tonight.....

England played well tonight in the first half, they seem to have come a long way since that game at Hampden.

If Sterling continues to improve and Wiltshire and the Ox stay fit they will be a stronger side going forward.
 
Peter_OHanrahahanrahan said:
'Arry will be disappointed

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Ah! so that's why they lost. Stopping Harry getting a kaning. o_O
 
Topps said:
I think dele Ali is incredibly over rated. When you look at Belgium France and Croatia they all have great playmakers and England don’t.
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The English midfield is red-rotten. They’ve got a decent, fast defence. Trippier is a stand out, and Kane is quality up front. Other that that? Pure Pish!
As for Sterling? Don’t make me laugh!
 
Glasgow Rangers (Sco) said:
Someone said Scotland could have beat them tonight.....

England played well tonight in the first half, they seem to have come a long way since that game at Hampden.

If Sterling continues to improve and Wiltshire and the Ox stay fit they will be a stronger side going forward.
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We had a lead in the 93rd minute and couldn't beat England.
 
Foolback said:
Ey! right enough! Saying that England escaped with a draw playing us in the last match.
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And this is the problem. A meaningless result that you are referencing to talk down England. Their qualification was never in doubt. We failed. Again.

In the meantime, we haven't qualified for a tournament since 1998 and don't look like doing so in the foreseeable future.

Maybe we'll get the Scottish media addressing the problems in our game. Instead, it'll be a snide article about England losing.
 
omegaman said:
Ultimately, England’s luck ran out.

They’ve surpassed all expectations and can feel justifiably proud of their efforts, but that lack of genuine quality was there for all to see tonight.

Throughout the knockout stages England have struggled to create many clear cut chances and you can’t really expect to make it all the way through to the final of the World Cup on set pieces alone.

But Southgate now has the nucleus of a good young side there, so with that experience under their belt they could develop into a really handy proposition over the next few years.

So I say well done to them, but it was the right result tonight.
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I agree mate I really wanted them to win but they lack a Beckham or Gazza add that to the team and I’m sure they’d have got through. The Croatians were more street wise and pretty dirty how Lovern wasn’t sent off for 2 booking was amazing even in an EPL game he’d have got booked twice. I really hope the French beat them now though.
 
Stonedandhappy said:
1 shot on target in 120+ minutes doesn't make World Cup winners.

Well done England getting to where you got but you simply weren't good enough.
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That Croatia team are loaded with real madrid, Barcelona and atletico Madrid standard players. Croatia are a far better team currently than Argentina, than Germany, than Spain. Croatia would have beaten any one of the sides mentioned above during this tournament so scoffing saying they got beat off the first decent team they played is completely illogical.

England were second best tonight by a very small margin. The Croatian tactical adjustment at half-time proved to be crucial and England didn't adapt well enough. An easy chance missed by kane, a clearance off the line by vrsalko. Those are the margins at this level. Ultimately it came down to a split second lapse by John stones.

The next tournament will prove whether this England team are the real deal or did indeed get a flukey run but trying to judge it based on opponents faced is ridiculous.
 
jsmgers83 said:
Not sure why there's a big love in for Gareth Southgate - England have had the best chance that they will ever have of getting to the WC final and they blew it.

Sure you can look at the missed chances and the inexperienced side but Southgate looked clueless when it came to subs and trying to change it when Croatia were on top.

He's really only manager because England aren't in a position to appoint a top class manager. A better manager would have looked at that draw opening up and had a real game plan and path to the final.

I thought England looked laboured the whole tournament and always looked like they could have another gear or two to go up. Never will they have a better chance as come the next WC those other countries will have got back to being stronger.
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He can’t produce a midfield out of thin air. He’s taken a young, quite limited squad to the semis so not sure he could’ve done a huge amount more
 
Think for England to really progress they need the likes of Ox (who was unlucky with injury), Loftus-Cheek, Harry Winks, Lewis Baker, plus the present guys like Lingard, Alli and Sterling to keep playing and establish themselves or stay established in their respective teams. I'm not sure the pathway at big clubs and the pressure to win and to sign the next big name allow this though.
 
tazzabear said:
Outstanding summary.
I think Walker could be one of the wing backs but they do need a centre back and a midfield rethink if not overhaul.
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Walker was a wide man when he was at Spurs. Not sure why City, and England, are playing him as part of the back 3. Maguire has had a good tournament, other than the dive in the Colombia game, and he'll be an asset going forward. Stones is also a decent defender although I don't think he's up there as a world class player yet.

Bigger issue is at left back. A fit Danny Rose would have been an asset. Without him they're relying on the likes of Ashley Young. That's not a good situation to be in. Sessignon will be old enough to be a viable England contender in 4 years time - perhaps he's the solution but he'll need to be playing for a better team than Fulham.

As for midfield - they've had a few players over the past few years who have promised but who then fail to deliver. Ross Barkley was one but his career hasn't panned out as hoped. I don't see Lingard as the answer and Sterling is either good or garbage. Rashford might develop into a good option who can link midfield and attack, play middle or wide and come in from deep to support Kane? If Rashford is the option on the left and Alli the option on the right then they really need those 2 to mature and gain a bit more game intelligence or to find a midfielder who'll bark orders at them and show them where to go to pick up on dangerous passes.

The tournament has been interesting to watch from a tactical viewpoint. The back 4 seems to be less favoured these days. If managers are abandoning 4-2-3-1 in favour of what's effectively a 3-4-2-1 with the 2 wide midfielders expected to be wingbacks and the 2 players playing off the main striker expected to cover across the whole width of the pitch then it'll create some interesting opportunities for players and demands on coaches in the next few years.

I've disliked the possession-heavy, short passing football of the past few years. Klopp's Liverpool with their high pressing game is something that I enjoy watching. Kane is big, strong and talented enough to lead the line but perhaps he's not yet ready to do so and lead the team? That could work well for England but only with the right additions to the squad.
 
Looked a good side but they were not able to beat the two decent sides they played and if not for a last minute Kane goal in the first match they might not have even got out of the group. However Scotland would just like to qualify never mind win any games so we have a long way to go to equal England.
 
I'm 37 and have seen some good england teams in my time but if a team containing the likes of Jese Lingaard and Ashley Young made it to a world cup final or even won it i'd had to give up on life.

Thats before i even get started on the non entities on the bench
 
BrooklynBlue said:
And this is the problem. A meaningless result that you are referencing to talk down England. Their qualification was never in doubt. We failed. Again.

In the meantime, we haven't qualified for a tournament since 1998 and don't look like doing so in the foreseeable future.

Maybe we'll get the Scottish media addressing the problems in our game. Instead, it'll be a snide article about England losing.
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People are too bothered about laughing down their noses at England losing in extra time in the semi final rather than focus on the fact we weren't at the party. Yet again.

We're too small minded as a nation to progress.
 
Once again, it's shown that England desperately need a cultured centre mid to control the tempo of a game.

You simply cannot succeed at tournament football without one.
 
I had to laugh at some on facebook celebrating England going out when they put more effort in to following English teams that their local team.
 
You would be absolutely fucking raging with that. They will never ever have a better chance of winning it. Completely bottled it. Struggled against the only 2 decent teams they played against. Let's face it Scotland nearly beat them at hampden as well which says it all.
 
Gutted they couldn't win, felt they had more than their fair share of chances in the first half, they just seemed to lose energy and drive after the croatia goal.

Well done to them getting so far.
 
iaatpies said:
Walker was a wide man when he was at Spurs. Not sure why City, and England, are playing him as part of the back 3. Maguire has had a good tournament, other than the dive in the Colombia game, and he'll be an asset going forward. Stones is also a decent defender although I don't think he's up there as a world class player yet.

Bigger issue is at left back. A fit Danny Rose would have been an asset. Without him they're relying on the likes of Ashley Young. That's not a good situation to be in. Sessignon will be old enough to be a viable England contender in 4 years time - perhaps he's the solution but he'll need to be playing for a better team than Fulham.

As for midfield - they've had a few players over the past few years who have promised but who then fail to deliver. Ross Barkley was one but his career hasn't panned out as hoped. I don't see Lingard as the answer and Sterling is either good or garbage. Rashford might develop into a good option who can link midfield and attack, play middle or wide and come in from deep to support Kane? If Rashford is the option on the left and Alli the option on the right then they really need those 2 to mature and gain a bit more game intelligence or to find a midfielder who'll bark orders at them and show them where to go to pick up on dangerous passes.

The tournament has been interesting to watch from a tactical viewpoint. The back 4 seems to be less favoured these days. If managers are abandoning 4-2-3-1 in favour of what's effectively a 3-4-2-1 with the 2 wide midfielders expected to be wingbacks and the 2 players playing off the main striker expected to cover across the whole width of the pitch then it'll create some interesting opportunities for players and demands on coaches in the next few years.

I've disliked the possession-heavy, short passing football of the past few years. Klopp's Liverpool with their high pressing game is something that I enjoy watching. Kane is big, strong and talented enough to lead the line but perhaps he's not yet ready to do so and lead the team? That could work well for England but only with the right additions to the squad.
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I think Loftus Cheek was an under used asset. He could have provided the link between midfield and attack. I'm not sure rashford is the key.
 
You have to love Keane twisting the knife.

Fact is they were dumped out once they came up against a half decent team
 
I see the typical short sighted petty scottish attitude prevails again tonight (like my workshy mentally challenged neighbours up and down the street fist pumping the result)

England could have had it tougher but they werent lucky. They got to within a whisker of the football world cup final. Scotland couldnt even muster a play off place from qualifying. A team with a population less than ours is in the final. No excuses.

England are a very good team. Croatia are too, the belgians excellent and france probably have that required flair to win it in mbappe and griezman. That said they didnt win this world cup and wont win the next 3 either in my opinion. If they get braver though, a european championship be theirs. All depends what happens whilst the italians, germans, spanish and dutch rebuild. Im deliberately leaving portugal out as ronaldo is portugal and they will slide away now.
 
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