Bellingham for Kane. Bellingham the youngest every player at a Euro's.

expoultryboy wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:22 pm

" Stirling looks sharp " Jenas needs to stick to the one show even though he's boring on that.

This guy j anus has me reaching for the Off button / volume control pretty rapid along with...........to many to mention!

Sterling’s done ok

Pickford kicking

To many sweaty arm pits on show for me...

A very dull game to me, very defensive, hardly a save for either keeper to make. Croatia look a shadow of their former side. Not impressed with England creativity but Phillips did well.

Our real test will come in Round 2, as ever.

BBC blowing smoke up Sterling’s arse something rotten.

All of em been very average, bar Phillips

Bellingham has been very good since he came on.

" sterling's had a wonderful afternoon " and " Southgate's got it spot on " .

We won. Fantastic result against a good side. Credit to Southgate.

Great first ten minutes.

HunterST_BFC wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:44 pm

Pickford kicking

Yes he's been surprisingly poor in that aspect today, however the most important point is he's kept a clean sheet.

Lampard thought we were brilliant

Good start. Might be too good if we end up topping the group!

Want to hear from Roy Keane for some balance

How the pundits think we played well all over the pitch is beyond me.

I'd love to know what the possession stats were, I thought we kept it pretty well for an England side !

MOD: Unacceptable post removed and poster warned

Croatia are our nemesis. A dirty side that usually get the better of us. Wasn't the best performance but we came out with a win which is all that matters.

Not many teams will play well versus Croatia.

No wonder Chelsea got rid of him . These pundits are getting on my nerves . Sterling's now so reliable and a hero - he was bang average

Utter garbage

I’m glad the pundits are going over the top about performance. Let’s create some positivity this summer after a miserable year or so.

Has the sound system from turf been borrowed for the sterling interview?

Best part was probably Raheem Sterling MBE scoring. Heard he dedicated the goal to Gramsci which was a classy touch.

Asking Sterling if he's justified his selection in the team

Sterling questioned on deserving is selection... frank lamps knows his stuff to.... ffs these pundits!!

CrosspoolClarets wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:46 pm

A very dull game to me, very defensive, hardly a save for either keeper to make. Croatia look a shadow of their former side. Not impressed with England creativity but Phillips did well.

Our real test will come in Round 2, as ever.

Nail on the head for me, an important opening victory, and we managed the game well 2nd half after we scored.

Phillips was the pick of the bunch, but yes it was a turgid affair I must admit, and if it had finished 0-0 the reaction would have been very different.

Croatia definitely aren't the team they were back in 2018, and after watching that even the Scots will fancy their chances of a result against them.

The group stage should always have been a formality, and it's when we get to the round of 16 that the true tests will come.

So a good start, but I'm certainly not getting carried away just yet, I've learned my lessons after watching England for so many tournaments now.

Hard fought win and some fairish performances.

Mings didn’t put a foot wrong today

Cirrus_Minor wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:00 pm

Hard fought win and some fairish performances.

Yes I thought the same. Some on here aren't happy unless they are moaning about something.

That was very solid

Croatia are a good side, and they created very little, and we created the best chances

No one played badly, and players that we were all worried about played well (Pickford and Mings)

People saying it was crap do need to have some perspective at times I think

Another terrible question to Mings

3 points, not fussed about anything else, on to the next game.

Limited them, kept possession, got the win.

Not the most exciting but a solid enough start. Bring on the Scots and let’s give them a hiding.

Decent performance against a decent/average side.
Neither keepers were overworked though.
But a wins a win.

A Burnley-esque 1-0

Embrace the win lads….. don’t let the disregard for Sterling and Southgate cloud your judgement. Or are we now filing Croatia as “Nothing Special”. Limited Croatia to nothing, fair share of the ball, and Sterling’s 13th goal in his last 17 England games…. And some still ask “Why does he get picked”….

How many times is Rio Ferdinand going to say “listen”

If you were in Southgate’s shoes you would be very satisfied with a 1-0 win and a reasonable performance against a decent side. The first fixture of a major tournament is all about the win and less about the performance - let’s not peak too early.

Lancasterclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:05 pm

That was very solid

Croatia are a good side, and they created very little, and we created the best chances

No one played badly, and players that we were all worried about played well (Pickford and Mings)

People saying it was crap do need to have some perspective at times I think

I certainly wouldn't say it was crap, and we limited Croatia to very little, and all you can do is beat what's in front of you which England did.

But it wasn't an entertaining watch for a lot of the piece, now that could be down to the heat, and England had to play at a lesser tempo than we normally would, but it does make a change to finally win our opening fixture in the Euro's, and hopefully that should release the pressure going forwards.

Solid sums it up very nicely, and sometimes you have to dig results out over the course of a tournament without playing at your best.

Dominant performance in a not so entertaining game. We managed the game very well for a young side and didn’t let Croatia have a sniff. Hopefully the creativity and chance creation will improve but the important thing was getting a result today. Anyone being overly critical of that performance has an axe to grind in my view.

A solid win and performance in the end. Mings was combative, Rice protected the back four very well, Phillips was outstanding, Mount showed some glimpses of his technique, Foden too, and of course Sterling grabbed his goal.

This incarnation of Croatia have certainly peaked, but they are still a very rugged and experienced side who are highly competitive and skilful. We did well to limit them to one half chance.

It’s coming home x

What's not to like? Dominated performance. Could have had 2 goals.

Phillips was terrific (I had my doubts but he was great). Migs was solid. Even when Croatia had their spell in the middle 20-30 of the game.

To put in perspective we've just beaten the 2018 World Cup finalists in the first game in major championship. They're still a decent side and we made them look like poor. And they're a better side than either Switzerland (1-1 at HOME) Russia or France (2012) where we failed to win.

DCWat wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:07 pm

Limited them, kept possession, got the win.

Not the most exciting but a solid enough start. Bring on the Scots and let’s give them a hiding.

International football in general is really slow paced and dull it’s not just an English thing. First ever opening game win, solid defensively and people will still whine and moan

Good solid win and we took the only true chance of the game very well ( great Foden effort though ) . Croatia looked almost clueless at times and both sides more or less cancelled each other out . We look great at high tempo and it’s when we’re at our best

Average performance against an average side.

Phillips shone, Foden had moments the rest were meh. Talk of Sterling having a great game seems off to me, given he fudged 3-4 in the box and did his best not to score by slamming straight at the keeper, but at that point luck was with him.

Tripps bailed out by Pickford, Pickford untroubled but distribution iffy and I can’t remember anyone else.

The BBC’s ‘punditry’ bigging it up as some wonder performance was vomit inducing.

timshorts wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:27 pm

Surprised its rashford. Thought U-boat would get the nod.

Because he goes down at every opportunity?

I’ll give some people a tip - don’t listen to the punditry

Darthlaw wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:31 pm

Average performance against an average side.

Phillips shone, Foden had moments the rest were meh. Talk of Sterling having a great game seems off to me, given he fudged 3-4 in the box and did his best not to score by slamming straight at the keeper, but at that point luck was with him.

Tripps bailed out by Pickford, Pickford untroubled but distribution iffy and I can’t remember anyone else.

The BBC’s ‘punditry’ bigging it up as some wonder performance was vomit inducing.

Mings won everything but you won’t credit him of course