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Football Focus


S.A.C Martin
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Same old same old .....how the **** can we play so well for the first 20 mins and then go back to the same old rubbish we've been seeing for years ......STOP playing across the field ....god it drives me mad ....

All my life following West Ham and England.....while I've got a hole up my backside I'll never see any trophies....

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Why is Sterling playing??? Just why?

Because he, like a number of the other lumbering oafs, plays for one of the top six clubs, so he must be fantastic...................surely?

Usual slow, non-penitrative play - and we all hate that :jester:

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How on earth could the commentators say that England were playing some of the best football seen so far in the tournament?

 

Certainly on the front foot in the first 20 minutes. Positive, attacking play and should have had a least another goal or two before they became ragged and lacklustre for most of the remaining 70 minutes.

It was dire compared with other teams who drew or lost to lesser opponents.

Despite not getting wins, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Portugal looked miles better than England.

 

Kane's late winner got them off the hook and saved them an almighty panning by the press and other media.

 

Hopefully a better performance will come against lowly Panama.

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Defensive blunder? No. 

Penalty? Probably not - soft at best.

Should England have had a penalty - unquestionably we should have had two.

 

But despite the poor display from the officials on the pitch and in front of the tv screens, England have three points on the board.

And before anyone else moans.....that is more than Brazil, Germany or Argentina managed from seemingly winnable matches.

 

Not getting carried away - but still feel that my predictions of quarter finals is on course.

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You forgot to mention Alli and Lingard as well...

 

But of course they are not the England whipping boys are they... <roll eyes>

 

Agreed.

 

In fact none of the team come out with much credit - Kane's two goals were poacher's style  - right place, right time - but after the first 20 minutes it could have been any England team from the last 30 years.

 

Where's the playmaker, the driving force ?  Trippier down the right didn't make much impact, nor did Young on the left. Kyle Walker looked lost most of the time, and Alli, Maguire & Lingard were invisible.

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I cannot believe some of the comments on here and other social media sites. Yes some England players did not perform well and, I would have picked Rashford and Cahill over Sterling and Maguire. However, the team did the job and won the game. Germany, Argentina and Brazil all failed to fo the same against beatable opponents. Sometimes in a major tournament the result is more important than the performance. England, like other teams, are not going to hammer everybody 3-0 or 4-0.

 

Now all we have to do is beat Panama to secure a second round place. Realistically the Quarter Finals is the realistic target and we should set realistic expectations.

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Agreed.

 

 Alli, Maguire & Lingard were invisible.

 

I think your anti-England vitriol must be affecting your vision :jester: 

.I don't see how Maguire could have been  "invisible" when he attempted the most passes on the night of any England player and had a vital assist at the death.

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I cannot believe some of the comments on here and other social media sites. Yes some England players did not perform well and, I would have picked Rashford and Cahill over Sterling and Maguire. However, the team did the job and won the game. Germany, Argentina and Brazil all failed to fo the same against beatable opponents. Sometimes in a major tournament the result is more important than the performance. England, like other teams, are not going to hammer everybody 3-0 or 4-0.

 

Now all we have to do is beat Panama to secure a second round place. Realistically the Quarter Finals is the realistic target and we should set realistic expectations.

 

 

*All* we have to do?

 

I love how suddenly it becomes so easy.  Just like it was going to be against Iceland?

 

At no point against Tunisia did our defence come under serious sustained pressure, so how do we know how good they are? Belgium (and maybe even Panama) will soon sort that out. 

 

We had 4 or 5 glorious chances to score in the first 30 minutes (in addition to the Kane goal) and scored none of them. How many times are we going to get just one chance per half against a well organised defence in future games? If we are going to rely on one striker being in form and allow the rest to waste chance after chance, how good a team are we really?

 

For about an hour in that match 1-1 looked like being the final score, and just imagine the headlines this morning. Does 10 seconds of magic in injury time really transform the entire team into world beaters? 

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Maguire did give the ball away in dangerous areas, luckily Tunisia didn't have the skill to punish it... I like this post from the comments section of one of the online match reviews:

 

"What an exciting event i watched last night, Footwrestby.. a cross between football, wrestling and rugby.... zillions of midges who manged to bypass security without tickets.."

 

Especially like the midges reference! :)

 

Job done, let's move on...

Edited by Hobby
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I think FIFA should introduce pink cards for the World Cup. Awarded to players who fall over at the slightest touch, roll over writhing in agony and clutching their face. The offender must play their next game in a floral blouse and skirt, to let the world see what a big girl’s blouse they really are.

 

Pepe of a Portugal might adopt this as his regular strip.

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*All* we have to do?

 

I love how suddenly it becomes so easy.  Just like it was going to be against Iceland?

 

At no point against Tunisia did our defence come under serious sustained pressure, so how do we know how good they are? Belgium (and maybe even Panama) will soon sort that out. 

 

We had 4 or 5 glorious chances to score in the first 30 minutes (in addition to the Kane goal) and scored none of them. How many times are we going to get just one chance per half against a well organised defence in future games? If we are going to rely on one striker being in form and allow the rest to waste chance after chance, how good a team are we really?

 

For about an hour in that match 1-1 looked like being the final score, and just imagine the headlines this morning. Does 10 seconds of magic in injury time really transform the entire team into world beaters? 

 

 

At no point have I said that:

a) we are a good team

b) we are world beaters.

 

The issue is - the negative comments on here suggest that you and others think we should be world beaters and we should be winning these games easily.

 

Yet the point I am making is that, other much better teams failed to beat sides they were expected to beat - would you have bet on a Mexico victory or Iceland and Switzerland getting results? Of course you would not. But, despite not playing well, England found a way to win the game when not playing well. Hopefully they will find a way to beat a Panama side that looked fairly average and then the group qualification is done.

 

I have predicted all along that the Quarter Finals is as far as we will probably get at this stage and that is a realistic target. I am certainly not getting carried away and have realistic expectations. I suggest others on here do not have the same.

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I think what frustrates mostly is the lack of drive and attack, after the first 20 minutes.  Yes, Tunisia sat deep with most players behind the ball, but there were very few crosses for Kane to head, no support for Sterling when he ran forward (and got surrounded), and the constant playing of the ball across the back 3.

 

Other teams may have faltered (possibly giving Tunisia the impetus to have a go at England), but I can't see England beating Belgium after watching their respective games.

 

Assuming England beat Panama and Belgium beat Tunisia,  England should qualify 2nd from the group, and then play the winner of the Columbia/ Japan / Poland  / Senegal group (H). Should they win that, they next play (probably) Belgium again... Brazil or Germany.

Edited by Stubby47
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I think what frustrates mostly is the lack of drive and attack, after the first 20 minutes.  Yes, Tunisia sat deep with most players behind the ball, but there were very few crosses for Kane to head, no support for Sterling when he ran forward (and got surrounded), and the constant playing of the ball across the back 3.

 

Other teams may have faltered (possibly giving Tunisia the impetus to have a go at England), but I can't see England beating Belgium after watching their respective games.

 

Assuming England beat Panama and Belgium beat Tunisia,  England should qualify 2nd from the group, and then play the winner of the Columbia/ Japan / Poland  / Senegal group (H). Should they win that, they next play (probably) Belgium again...

 

 

Correction - the Quarter Final opponent will come from either Brazil's group or Germany's. 

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..and have now equalised.

Had the “incident” occurred in the penalty area, VAR would have quickly established that Falcao was the pusher and not the pushee. Because it was just outside, there was no review, and though the free kick was cleverly worked to score the equaliser, it should have been Japan’s free kick.

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