Thread: Fifa World Cup - Its Called Soccer Not Football.
Official Thread
Nicktendo
Switch Master
Yeah it's a shame. This was so unlike England. Really good performance but still lost. Usually they choke when it comes down to it or scrape through on sheer luck. They can go home with their heads held high. They were clearly the better team today. Feel bad for Kane, but they've had a decent tournament overall.
I think England did poorly just as badly as France.
I mean, the opportunities are there and they played against a WEAKER french side.
I think this exposes South gate. Too much defense on Mbappe when he had the ball, drew in to many defenders allowing for a the 1st goal.
And France knew that
I mean, the opportunities are there and they played against a WEAKER french side.
I think this exposes South gate. Too much defense on Mbappe when he had the ball, drew in to many defenders allowing for a the 1st goal.
And France knew that
- Platforms
Jude Bellingham is going to drag us to the Euros in 2024. What a tournament for him and what a player. Exciting times ahead for some of these outstanding young players in the England team.
We can also look forward to seeing the likes of Chilwell, James and hopefully a few others in a couple of years.
We can also look forward to seeing the likes of Chilwell, James and hopefully a few others in a couple of years.
- Platforms
I think the gameplan worked to a large extent. Mbappe was kept pretty quiet for most of the night.
What we did need was more bravery in possession, whilst Henderson did a remarkable job in covering that right side to create overloads with Saka, we needed Walker to push up and offer a passing option and pin France back. I know that could have potentially exposed the back line to counter attacks, but a bit more bravery and we really could have created a lot of chances, especially as Hernandez was getting skinned by Saka all night.
We just needed that extra bit of luck tonight and it just wasn't with us.
France mid field game was weak. No Pogba or Kante or Benzema.
England didn't capitalized on that. I was surprised they didn't put Mbappe mid with his speed which I think would have put England on the back heels.
Their goal and potential goal came off penalties. That weakness on part of inexperienced French players.
Imagine a full strength French team. The story would have been different massively.
English side had massive WC experience and it didn't show.
Nicktendo
Switch Master
No. A semi final, a final, and a quarter final in succession is the best record of any England manager. He's a woke clown, but there's no way he should lose his job.
I mean beating Iran, Senegal, Wales and a tie with the U.S is not imo beating the best of the best. England for the first time in the tournament faced a team that could challenge them ALBEIT a WEAKER team (due to injuries) and still were not able to capitalize.
Speak volumes about their strategy against stronger teams.
During the Euros, I didn't mind him but his choices coming down the the penalties made him look incompetent.
Also why didn't Trent play was he injured?
Yer Da
Member
Trent isn't defensively sound enough. His lack of positional awareness would have left England exposed against Mbappe. Trent is great at going forward and being a playmaker from that position, which suits Liverpool's style of play. But Walker is, for now at least, the more well-rounded player.
Nicktendo
Switch Master
There was nothing wrong with his selection today. He chose the right team and they played well. France defended well too and Lloris made good saves. The chips didn't fall our way this time, that's how it goes sometimes.
I've been watching England for 30 years and whenever they go out of a major tournament (except against Germany in 1996), they always deserve to lose or the manager makes shit decisions and plays too conservative. This was absolutely the case against Iceland in 2016, Croatia in 2018, and Italy in 2021.
Walker did a great job of keeping Mbappe quiet. Trent is good in attack but vulnerable in defence. Henderson and Rice did a fine job of supporting and supplying Saka in liu of Trent.
I dunno if you saw but Mbappe was faster than Walker, (1 play especially where Mbappe clearly it showed and if Walker kept Mbappe quiet why pull 3-4 defenders on him and leave the middle wide open. First goal should have never happened imo BUT that's just me.
Mbappe to me was the play maker here, similar to what Messi is. Both goals came initals plays set up by him which led to the continuing set pieces then the goals.
Maybe I am being too critical but I don't see England winning any major international tournaments under Southgate.
Edit - Wrong the second goal it was a feed by Griezmann not Mbappe.
Good example........
Here's Mbappe, running with the ball.....pulls in 3 English Players, with a 4th standing out marking nobody, STILL MANAGES to get pass them and kick it to another player and set it up for a set piece.
Either bad decision making by the players or bad strategy by Southgate on handling Mbappe.
Here's Mbappe, running with the ball.....pulls in 3 English Players, with a 4th standing out marking nobody, STILL MANAGES to get pass them and kick it to another player and set it up for a set piece.
Either bad decision making by the players or bad strategy by Southgate on handling Mbappe.
Yer Da
Member
Sure, but Walker is probably England's fastest player so you combine that with him being more defensively capable than TAA and he's your best choice to try and keep Mbappe as quiet as possible. Maybe he can't totally keep up with Mbappe (because there are very, very few who can) but you can at least minimise the amount of time Mbappe has away from your defence. You put TAA in there and Mbappe gets so much more time and space to work. I do agree that the fixation on Mbappe was a mistake though. He's France's best player but not their only threat. England were lucky that Dembele wasn't more clinical.
I don't think Southgate is an elite level manager, but I'm not sure who they'd replace him with. Before Chelsea got him I thought Graham Potter could be a good shout as he's apparently good with man management and building a good team dynamic, which is something that's important in international football because of the limited time you have with the team. He is also a bit more tactically modern than Southgate. Although things aren't exactly going great for him at Chelsea. I suppose Pochettino could be an option. England do have a good pool of talent just now and like you say maybe Southgate can only get them so far.
I've seen such celebrations in person, they're pretty fun. US media would call it "fiery but mostly peaceful". The context here would be interesting, take everything from the "Palestine Info Center" with a truck of salt.
In this constellation, I think France is the clear favorite to win this. Don't think Argentina has what it takes, Marocco neither. Croatia could. I see Croatia and France in the finale.
English fans edited the referee wiki page from yesterday's game
This exactly against a full strength English team. Didn't like England's strategy for Mbappe and their set pieces were crap.
They had most of the ball which France seems okay with. That gave the perception that England was doing good but one reality they FAILED to capitalize on a weaker French team
They had most of the ball which France seems okay with. That gave the perception that England was doing good but one reality they FAILED to capitalize on a weaker French team
Yer Da
Member
But in that video the space Mbappe finally gets to make that pass into the box is limited compared to how much he'd have had if it was most other defenders. And that was pretty much Mbappe's best moment against Walker. Even L'Equipe gave Walker a higher rating for the game than Mbappe.
He did it several times and he got a proper pass through despite being shoulder to shoulder initially. Only to speed burst in the final seconds.
My point here is if you're putting walker on the guy why reinforce him with more than 2 players. When the ball is at Mbappe.
That leaves your middle open for shots like the first goal. It also means it takes more time for your defensive wall to arrange itself while France prepares for a set piece.
If the idea is to have walker tame Mbappe then trust walker to do the job. Not have 3-4 defenders on the guy as to leave the middle open.
Man on man defense or 2-1 for higher rated players.
synchronicity
Member
- Platforms
I like Harry Kane, but I *loved* seeing England choke on a penalty. Poetry. 
I'm really happy an African side finally made a semi. Great story.
I still want to see France double though. I just enjoy their style (and overall talent). Side note - Giroud has always been grossly undervalued.
I wouldn't mind seeing Croatia win either - or Morocco.
For some reason, the idea of Argentina winning churns my stomach a bit. Generally not the case, but I just don't want to see them win this one - not sure I can put my finger on why exactly. (Maybe it was the EA prediction.)
I'm really happy an African side finally made a semi. Great story.
I still want to see France double though. I just enjoy their style (and overall talent). Side note - Giroud has always been grossly undervalued.
I wouldn't mind seeing Croatia win either - or Morocco.
For some reason, the idea of Argentina winning churns my stomach a bit. Generally not the case, but I just don't want to see them win this one - not sure I can put my finger on why exactly. (Maybe it was the EA prediction.
)
lock2k
Due a Whippin
The Washington Post is a fucking dumb daily. Argentina almost doesn't have any black people. It's all white and indigenous. I've spent more than 20 days in Argentina without seeing a single black person. Wow. lmao
There are some but the population size is less than 0.5% of the total. WaPo is just being retarded as usual
