England v Croatia

Lancasterclaret · Post by **Lancasterclaret** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:14 pm

Isn't Delph the go to guy at the moment?

Dier scored that pen, but it was the only thing he did right all game if we are being fair.

DustyBawls · Post by **DustyBawls** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:15 pm

aggi wrote:I think in part this was due to Dier coming on and neither Dier nor Henderson being quite sure where they were playing (which is why I will be surprised to see them both start tomorrow).

Dier came on for Henderson. They weren't both on the park at the same time...

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:20 pm

DustyBawls wrote:Dier came on for Henderson. They weren't both on the park at the same time...

I'm pretty sure they both took penalties in the shootout ...

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:23 pm

He’s got a point.

DustyBawls · Post by **DustyBawls** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:24 pm

aggi wrote:I'm pretty sure they both took penalties in the shootout ...

Sorry, I thought you were on about the Sweden game.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:43 pm

As commented earlier by CFS and Dusty the future for England is bright.
All our age groups are making Euro & World finals now and some top players amongst them, Foden being the standout. If Southgate blends them in he has a job as long as he wants it.
Brilliant as it keeps the FA from Seans door.
The level of coaching these guys are getting from Pep, Poch, Klopp, Conte, Mourinho and Emery to come could make this Englands era.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:48 pm

Phil Foden seems a massive ****. Search Phil Foden birthday cake. What a ****

TVC15 · Post by **TVC15** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:50 pm

I’d leave Mourinho out of that summary based on his treatment of Shaw and Rashford. The sooner he gets the sack and leaves these shores for good the better it will be for English football.

LordBob · Post by **LordBob** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:51 pm

Just seen Lawro's prediction on BBC Coatia 1 - 2 England ( aet ) that's put the mockers on it !

TVC15 · Post by **TVC15** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:55 pm

Dyched wrote:Phil Foden seems a massive ****. Search Phil Foden birthday cake. What a ****

Just googled it - what a lovely grounded “feet firmly on the ground” lad he seems. Its great when they don’t let all that money go to their head !

claretspice · Post by **claretspice** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:09 pm

Dyched wrote:The only thing that concerns be is that Henderson for the last 30mins vs Columbia went missing. Leaving huge holes in midfield. If it’s level going into the last 30mins vs Croatia this can not happen. We can’t let Modric/Rakitic have time and space.

But we can’t fear them.

We have the best center forward in the world and Harry Maguire.

IT’S COMING HOME

What happened against Columbia was we lost control of midfield generally. It had started before we brought Dier on (that sub was indeed a reaction to it), and it continued afterwards. Not so much to do with any one player's performance, but more a general consequence of the fact England weren't able to control the pace of the game by passing the ball with composure when under pressure. When you have 2 defensive midfielders on the pitch who aren't natural quarterbacks, and 3 centre backs of whom only one (Stones) is truly comfortable on the ball (Walker and Maguire are decent for English defenders, but its all relative), that's what happens.

That area of the park is a big concern aginst Croatia. I fully expect England to line up the same as they did against Sweden, but even though Alli scored against the Swedes there is a decent argument for switching him for a more orthodox midfielder against Croatia (possibly the more forward thinking Delph, rather than Dier), because Henderson as the sole orthodox midfielder against Croatia's midfield would be a concern.

DustyBawls · Post by **DustyBawls** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:02 pm

piston broke wrote:The level of coaching these guys are getting from Pep, Poch, Klopp, Conte, Mourinho and Emery to come could make this Englands era.

Absolutely. In our first couple of games, I thought the back 3 looked shaky and we found it difficult to pass the ball but as the tournament has gone on, we've looked much more assured at the back in possession - even when pressed. We've got better at knowing when to kick it long and when we need to pass it back, reset, and try again. Both Stones and Walker doing this at City under Pep, will have made this much more natural.

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:21 pm

Dyched wrote:Phil Foden seems a massive ****. Search Phil Foden birthday cake. What a ****

I prefer his Nike Tattoo.

Bin Ont Turf · Post by **Bin Ont Turf** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:53 pm

England expects that every man will do his duty.

CFS · Post by **CFS** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:01 pm

If England win the world cup I won't watch the rest of game of thrones.

Japebe43 · Post by **Japebe43** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:05 pm

Well its been a great run, they've done us proud, but I think Croatia's quality and experience will see them through.. France Vs Croatia final sounds right.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:08 pm

Experience of what?

Japebe43 · Post by **Japebe43** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:11 pm

tim_noone wrote:Experience of what?

Being consistently good players.

Claret n Blues Balls · Post by **Claret n Blues Balls** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:13 pm

England 3 Croatia 2
Hatrick Kane

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:23 pm

Japebe43 wrote:Being consistently good players.

Is that so?

Japebe43 · Post by **Japebe43** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:24 pm

tim_noone wrote:Is that so?

Yes it is so.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:36 pm

Japebe43 wrote:Well its been a great run, they've done us proud, but I think Croatia's quality and experience will see them through.. France Vs Croatia final sounds right.

I think you'll find quality in football equates to pound notes....Croatia lack the quality we have in that department....according to valuation of both current squads.

RVclaret · Post by **RVclaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:21 am

2-1 England.

Kane 17, Mandzukic 40, Kane 79.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:42 am

Tomorrow will be up there with the 5-1 in Germany, 4-1 v Holland performances.

England will win the World Cup. I’ve no doubt whatsoever.

Japebe43 · Post by **Japebe43** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:47 am

Where's all this coming from? Pre tournament we were useless and gonna do nothing. I think people just wanna wind themselves up to be over angry in defeat.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:04 am

Japebe43 wrote:Where's all this coming from? Pre tournament we were useless and gonna do nothing. I think people just wanna wind themselves up to be over angry in defeat.

Ive always had confidence we’d do well. Maybe not this well. Footballs not a difficult game or a difficult game to understand. I know from what Ive seen with Burnley over the last decade is that you don’t need superstars. You just need a great group of guys that get along and will do anything for each other. At the forefront of that a manager who’s respected, gives out respect and trust.

If we lose, we lose. They’ve done themselves proud. But we won’t lose.

Japebe43 · Post by **Japebe43** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:08 am

Dyched wrote:Ive always had confidence we’d do well. Maybe not this well. Footballs not a difficult game or a difficult game to understand. I know from what Ive seen with Burnley over the last decade is that you don’t need superstars. You just need a great group of guys that get along and will do anything for each other. At the forefront of that a manager who’s respected, gives out respect and trust.

If we lose, we lose. They’ve done themselves proud. But we won’t lose.

Personally I'm staying away from boozed up areas, as if we do lose, I think its gonna kick off badly.

Right_winger · Post by **Right_winger** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 5:21 am

Just imagine if Yugoslavia was still in existence and how much of a force they would be in world football.

RocketLawnChair · Post by **RocketLawnChair** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:13 am

Japebe43 wrote:Where's all this coming from? Pre tournament we were useless and gonna do nothing. I think people just wanna wind themselves up to be over angry in defeat.

You may not have noticed but opinions always change in football and dramatically at that, always have always will. This tends to be consistent with results on the pitch. Possibly the greatest ever proof of that is a certain Sir Alex Ferguson

Alanstevensonsgloves · Post by **Alanstevensonsgloves** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:26 am

Lancasterclaret wrote:Isn't Delph the go to guy at the moment?

Dier scored that pen, but it was the only thing he did right all game if we are being fair.

And that was only 'just about' . I thought it was a poor pen tbh, he was lucky ospina had butter fingers

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:46 am

Semi finals of the biggest competition in World football. Big balls and strong character will win the day. Not always the football that does the talking

WestMidsClaret · Post by **WestMidsClaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 8:12 am

COME ON ENGLAND.

martin_p · Post by **martin_p** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 8:23 am

Top Claret wrote:Semi finals of the biggest competition in World football. Big balls and strong character will win the day. Not always the football that does the talking

How do you measure the size of someone’s balls? Is there some sort of special equipment?

Lancasterclaret · Post by **Lancasterclaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 9:21 am

Not nervous yet.

Think the fact that we've over-achieved to get this far is helping my expectation levels

Wile E Coyote · Post by **Wile E Coyote** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 9:25 am

easy game to win tonight, 3-0 england. croatia are nothing special at all

hampsteadclaret · Post by **hampsteadclaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 9:58 am

85.. WEC... didn’t think you were interested?...going off your earlier comments?

Aclaret · Post by **Aclaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:12 am

I think our performances have been improving game by game as the opponents get tougher, hopefully reaching a peak against the French on Sunday.
Wasn't really a fan of Southgate before the tournament but he's pulling me round. He reminds me of Dychey the way he goes about things.

Dom · Post by **Dom** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:44 am

martin_p wrote:How do you measure the size of someone’s balls? Is there some sort of special equipment?

Your wife's mouth.

DustyBawls · Post by **DustyBawls** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:48 am

We won it in 1966, but we hosted it, which would have been a huge advantage. If we do win the World Cup this time, it's got to easily eclipse that one.

However. I do think France will win it this year, so would you rather lose tonight or on Sunday? I'm not sure which would be worse!

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:52 am

Right_winger wrote:Just imagine if Yugoslavia was still in existence and how much of a force they would be in world football.

Its a nice thought. Especially with the talent they would have had, especially over the last 10-20 years.

But Croatia and Serbia would make England and Scotlands rivalry look like a couple of schoolgirls!

DustyBawls · Post by **DustyBawls** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:13 am

A good article by Rio Ferdinand on our defence and the way we are playing:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44787907" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HiroshimaClaret · Post by **HiroshimaClaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:39 am

Pat Nevin on the BBC website - `England need to play to their strengths.` The insight!!!! Thank God the license fee payer is giving cash to these people to tell us things we would never realise ourselves.

HiroshimaClaret · Post by **HiroshimaClaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:48 am

DustyBawls wrote:We won it in 1966, but we hosted it, which would have been a huge advantage. If we do win the World Cup this time, it's got to easily eclipse that one.

However. I do think France will win it this year, so would you rather lose tonight or on Sunday? I'm not sure which would be worse!

Really? Losing in the final for me every time!

HiroshimaClaret · Post by **HiroshimaClaret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:57 am

claretspice wrote:What happened against Columbia was we lost control of midfield generally. It had started before we brought Dier on (that sub was indeed a reaction to it), and it continued afterwards. Not so much to do with any one player's performance, but more a general consequence of the fact England weren't able to control the pace of the game by passing the ball with composure when under pressure. When you have 2 defensive midfielders on the pitch who aren't natural quarterbacks, and 3 centre backs of whom only one (Stones) is truly comfortable on the ball (Walker and Maguire are decent for English defenders, but its all relative), that's what happens.

That area of the park is a big concern aginst Croatia. I fully expect England to line up the same as they did against Sweden, but even though Alli scored against the Swedes there is a decent argument for switching him for a more orthodox midfielder against Croatia (possibly the more forward thinking Delph, rather than Dier), because Henderson as the sole orthodox midfielder against Croatia's midfield would be a concern.

Agree with you wholeheartedly. I`m amazed that the majority of the pundit intelligentsia seem to be rather blase about it all and just seem to be party to the `same team, same philosophy` line and citing Croatia`s non-scintillating performances in their last two games to justify it. Personally think it is dangerous thinking. IF we keep Modric and Rakitic occupied, then I am really confident but not sure Henderson can do that on his lonesome. Southgate won`t but I would play Henderson & Delph in the midfield and drop Alli.

Geez I`m nervous and have to wait until bloody 3am for kick-off!!!!!!

BigChaCha · Post by **BigChaCha** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:00 pm

I'm not really bothered what happens from here on in .... I have 2 decent sized bets at good odds.

The possible scenarios for me are -

1:England lose tonight and I win a lot of money

2:England win tonight and I'm happy to be in the final

3:France win the World Cup and I win a load more money

4:England win the World Cup and I'm so happy I don't care about losing both bets!

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:06 pm

martin_p wrote:How do you measure the size of someone’s balls? Is there some sort of special equipment?

Yes.. You need a bollock ometer

Tribesmen · Post by **Tribesmen** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:37 pm

Not looking forward to tonight I can tell yer

Mala591 · Post by **Mala591** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:02 pm

So far our central midfield has been:

Henderson - Henderson - Henderson

I'm not sure if he will have enough stamina to produce another world class midfield display. The key to success in tonight's game will be whether Alli and Lingard can significantly improve their central midfield performances as well as supporting Kane and Sterling.

Woody9229 · Post by **Woody9229** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:09 pm

BigChaCha wrote:I'm not really bothered what happens from here on in .... I have 2 decent sized bets at good odds.

The possible scenarios for me are -

1:England lose tonight and I win a lot of money

2:England win tonight and I'm happy to be in the final

3:France win the World Cup and I win a load more money

4:England win the World Cup and I'm so happy I don't care about losing both bets!

Similar here.
Decent money if France win and I have Croatia in Sweep at work.
Big money if Croatia win on penalties tonight as feel it might help me cope if it goes to pens. It wont!!!
I often have this perverse logic when Burnley play on my Birthday and I back our opponents on the basis if we lose my Birthday Beer is paid for but doesnt make me feel better if it happens so I'm not sure why I persist. Anyway heres hoping I win Fcuk all!!

NRC · Post by **NRC** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:54 pm

not sure what he does, but I'm not getting carried away. So far we've beaten teams ranked 16, 21, 24, and 55. France have beaten teams ranked 3, 11, 12, 14, 36