Robbie
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Post by Robbie on Jul 12, 2018 0:00:25 GMT 1
We should have been 2-0 up at half time which would most likely have killed off the game but missed too many chances. We were poor in the second half, slightly improved in the first half of extra time but in the end the better team over 120 minutes won.
Still, it was fun while it lasted and we did do better than anyone ever though we would do.
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 12, 2018 8:07:32 GMT 1
10 things I really admire about Gareth Southgate
1. He's focussed on the man management of the players and support staff, not the management of the media.
2. He's given the squad a sense of unity, pride and confidence.
3. He's set out, from the start, to play attractive, exciting football.
4. He's turned a handful of promising but inexperienced talents into world-class players - Trippier, Maguire, Pickford, Dele Alli and Lingard have been outstanding.
5. He's not felt compelled to select players in his squad who are unfit or out of form, regardless of what the media says.
6. He's managed the disappointment of players who he has discarded, with dignity and empathy.
7. He's shown that successful managers do not have to pace up and down on the touchline, gesticulating wildly and shouting instructions.
8. He's given credit, every step of the way, to all of his organisation - every player and backroom member. He himself seems to be an ego-free zone.
9. He's proven that English managers can succeed at the highest level, if they have worked their way through the ranks. Never again do the FA need to hire a has-been foreign mercenary.
10. And, in 2 years, he's matched what even Sir Bobby Robson took 8 years to do.
Thank you, Gareth, for the most exciting and enjoyable World Cup us England fans have enjoyed since 1966. (Yes, it has been a more enjoyable tournament, for England fans, than Italia 90).
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Post by o on Jul 12, 2018 10:24:07 GMT 1
Sacked by Christmas then, or stabbed in the back by the media, who love to build them up, to knock them down? It was gutting, I thought it was going to pens, which we could have won? And you cant just blame Stones for 1 goal, Walker should have done better with his, and Kane was off form, should have scored and seemed to be playing too deep to have any effect. Anyway, it was great fun while it lasted, but it's back to earth with a bump!
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Post by Earl Purple on Jul 12, 2018 11:25:59 GMT 1
They are always saying we might not get a better chance.
Germany's main team rebuilding started after poor performances in Euro 2000 and although they reached the final of the world cup in 2002, it really was continuing and in Euro 2004 they did badly again.
2006, in their own hosted tournament, they reached the semi-final but lost to 2 late goals in extra time against Italy. Obviously disappointed to not reach the final of their own tournament, still...
2008: reached the final of Euro 2008 2010: Another world cup semi-final. Lost to Spain again... 2012: another euro semi-final. They keep losing to Italy (and Spain) 2014: Won the world cup! 2016: finally beat Italy! but lost to France in the Euro semi-final. 2018: ok, you can't win 'em all... out in the groups. Time to rebuild again.
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Jul 12, 2018 11:29:13 GMT 1
5. He's not felt compelled to select players in his squad who are unfit or out of form, regardless of what the media says. I think that has been his reason for getting the best out of the team, as he hasn't shoe horned in players just for their name or reputation, but on who he thinks will actually work there the best
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Post by Earl Purple on Jul 12, 2018 11:30:51 GMT 1
Look now at France. Two world cup semi-finals in 1982 and 1986 with Euro 1984 won in between. Then a bit of a downer:
Euro 88: failed to qualify WC 90: failed to qualify Euro 92: out in the groups WC 94: failed to qualify.
ok, time to rebuild:
Euro 96: semi-final WC 98: won! Euro 2000: won WC 2002: out in the groups. Zidane injured. bit of a shocker really Euro 2004: quarter final. A bit of a shock defeat to Greece but they did go on to win it.. WC 2006: Finalists again. A shame Zidane got sent off and then lost on penalties
not too great for a while again:
Euro 2008: lost in groups WC 2010: out in groups again Euro 2012: out in first knockout round again
time to rebuild, I think...
WC 2014: quarter final. A bit of an improvement. Lost to Germany though Euro 2016: final.. so close! And hosted again. WC 2018: final... favourite to win.
Of course during all that they have hosted 2 European Championships and 1 World Cup compared to us hosting just one European Championship. But they seem to bounce back after a bad period.
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Post by Mart!n on Jul 12, 2018 13:50:21 GMT 1
To be honest Croatia would have been buried in the first half of normal time, could have been easily 3-0 up. When the game went into Extra time, and Croatia scored. Thinking more about, they knew they were behind they really should have gone for it, should have taken more chances and pressed forward by keeping the possession of the ball in their half of the pitch, and try to break their defence and score from a set piece, but they didn't have legs to carry on. Sterling was mostly useless throughout the match and Kane didn't score in that game it was more like he wanted to give up by extra time. Also in extra time Gareth should have used subs that didn't hardly play in the tournament, Oxide-Chamberlain etc etc, the fresh legs we really wanted on the playing field.
On the whole, we played well with the easy draw to the final, if we were in the other draw, we have been goners early. England players should be praised for getting there, just have to beat Belgium on Saturday for that 3rd place.
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Robbie
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Post by Robbie on Jul 12, 2018 17:32:55 GMT 1
TV viewing figures for Croatia v England, from the TV Ratings thread at DigitalSpy
19:00 - England vs Croatia: 24.43m (81.6%) * peak: 26.54m (84.2%) at 21:30 * 1st half (19:00-19:50): 22.78m (81.7%) * 2nd half (20:00-20:50): 24.70m (80.4%) * Extra time (20:55-21:40): 25.97m (82.8%) * 18:00-19:00: 7.16m (38.9%) * 21:40-22:35: 8.88m (39.8%)
England v Croatia 5 Minute Breakdown 18:00 - 3.58m (26.2%) 18:05 - 3.85m (26.6%) 18:10 - 4.28m (28.2%) 18:15 - 4.56m (29.0%) 18:20 - 4.86m (30.2%) 18:25 - 5.61m (34.1%) 18:30 - 6.34m (37.1%) 18:35 - 7.02m (39.2%) 18:40 - 8.47m (44.7%) 18:45 - 9.79m (48.8%) 18:50 - 11.94m (55.4%) 18:55 - 15.57m (67.8%) 19:00 - 19.43m (77.0%) 19:05 - 21.08m (79.7%) 19:10 - 22.07m (81.9%) 19:15 - 22.64m (81.7%) 19:20 - 23.04m (81.7%) 19:25 - 23.58m (82.9%) 19:30 - 23.99m (83.8%) 19:35 - 24.19m (83.4%) 19:40 - 24.48m (83.9%) 19:45 - 23.31m (81.0%) 19:50 - 21.95m (77.4%) 19:55 - 22.05m (77.5%) 20:00 - 23.26m (78.9%) 20:05 - 23.97m (79.7%) 20:10 - 24.44m (80.8%) 20:15 - 24.48m (80.6%) 20:20 - 24.70m (80.5%) 20:25 - 24.87m (80.8%) 20:30 - 25.04m (80.7%) 20:35 - 25.06m (80.1%) 20:40 - 25.36m (80.5%) 20:45 - 25.78m (81.3%) 20:50 - 24.33m (78.2%) 20:55 - 25.22m (81.0%) 21:00 - 25.88m (82.9%) 21:05 - 26.16m (83.4%) 21:10 - 26.35m (83.7%) 21:15 - 25.88m (82.5%) 21:20 - 26.03m (82.4%) 21:25 - 26.30m (83.7%) 21:30 - 26.54m (84.2%) 21:35 - 25.28m (81.8%) 21:40 - 20.53m (73.4%) 21:45 - 15.20m (61.4%) 21:50 - 13.07m (55.3%) 21:55 - 11.26m (50.0%) 22:00 - 8.03m (37.4%) 22:05 - 6.51m (31.9%) 22:10 - 5.83m (30.2%) 22:15 - 5.46m (29.6%) 22:20 - 4.50m (24.7%) 22:25 - 3.89m (22.5%) 22:30 - 3.42m (21.5%)
From Hassaan13 who posts the figures in the thread at DS, with reference to the average viewing figures for the match:
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Post by raliverpool on Jul 12, 2018 17:38:19 GMT 1
Sacked by Christmas then, or stabbed in the back by the media, who love to build them up, to knock them down? It was gutting, I thought it was going to pens, which we could have won? And you cant just blame Stones for 1 goal, Walker should have done better with his, and Kane was off form, should have scored and seemed to be playing too deep to have any effect. Anyway, it was great fun while it lasted, but it's back to earth with a bump! I agree .... but you can blame Rolling Stone Mick Jagger for turning up to the following England games:
14-06-1970 Leon, Mexico: WC QF England 2 v West Germany 3 22-06-1986 Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico: WC QF England 1 v Argentina 2 04-07-1990 Turin, Italy: WC SF England 1 v West Germany 1 AET, West Germany win 4-3 on pens
26-06-1996 Wembley, England: EC SF England 1 v Germany 1 AET, Germany win 6-5 on pens
21-06-2002 Shizuoka, Japan: WC QF England 1 v Brazil 2 27-06-2010 Bloemfontein, South Africa: WC L16 England 1 v Germany 4 27-06-2016 Nice, France: EC L16 England 1 v Iceland 2 11-07-2018 Moscow, Russia: WC SF England 1 v Croatia 2 AET
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Jul 12, 2018 17:41:28 GMT 1
Sacked by Christmas then, or stabbed in the back by the media, who love to build them up, to knock them down? It was gutting, I thought it was going to pens, which we could have won? And you cant just blame Stones for 1 goal, Walker should have done better with his, and Kane was off form, should have scored and seemed to be playing too deep to have any effect. Anyway, it was great fun while it lasted, but it's back to earth with a bump! I agree .... but you can blame Rolling Stone Mick Jagger for turning up to the following England games:
14-06-1970 Leon, Mexico: WC QF England 2 v West Germany 3 22-06-1986 Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico: WC QF England 1 v Argentina 2 04-07-1990 Turin, Italy: WC SF England 1 v West Germany 1 AET, West Germany win 4-3 on pens
26-06-1996 Wembley, England: EC SF England 1 v Germany 1 AET, Germany win 6-5 on pens
21-06-2002 Shizuoka, Japan: WC QF England 1 v Brazil 2 27-06-2010 Bloemfontein, South Africa: WC L16 England 1 v Germany 4 27-06-2016 Nice, France: EC L16 England 1 v Iceland 2 11-07-2018 Moscow, Russia: WC SF England 1 v Croatia 2 AET
And it being on ITV too. The double kiss of death
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Post by paulgilb on Jul 12, 2018 23:00:21 GMT 1
Slight feeling of deja vu here: a home nation manage 2 wins and 1 defeat in the group stage to get through to the 'easier' half of the knockout stage, manage a narrow win in the Round of 16, then a more convincing win in the QF (with 100% of the team's goals in that match being scored by players born in England), before losing a winnable SF and thus missing out on a chance to play France in the final the day after Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber contest the Wimbledon final.
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 13, 2018 8:03:12 GMT 1
10 things I really admire about Gareth Southgate There' an 11th thing that I've been thinking all tournament, but forgot to include when I wrote this. 11. He's prepared the team so thoroughly. What I mean by this is the fact that, for the first time I recall, we went into a penalty shoot-out expecting to win it, both by slotting away our shots and as a result of our goalkeeper stopping one or two. So much for Glenn Hoddle's "you can't practice for a penalty shoot-out". And our approach to free-kicks and corners has been outstanding, and easily the best in the competition. That goal scored from a free-kick against Panama was sensational, and team after team has struggled to defend our corners. The fact that we have scored so many goals from set pieces is to be applauded. It is a perfectly legitimate way to score. And Gareth, the coaches, and the team have compensated for the absence of individual talents at the level of Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Hazard, Mbappe and Modric, by making the whole greater than the sum of the parts.
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 13, 2018 9:38:01 GMT 1
Analysis of the World Cup Squads 8
Lower league British clubs which will be represented in tomorrow's World Cup 3rd Place Play-Off
BARNSLEY: Keiran Trippier 42 league appearances BARNSLEY: John Stones 24 BARNSLEY: Jack Butland 13 BRADFORD CITY: Jordan Pickford 33 BURTON ALBION: Jordan Pickford 12 BURY: Nick Pope 22 CARLISLE UNITED: Jordan Pickford 18 CHARLTON ATHLETIC: Nick Pope 33 CHELTENHAM TOWN: Jack Butland 24 COVENTRY CITY: Jordan Henderson 10 FLEETWOOD TOWN: Jamie Vardy 36 HALIFAX TOWN: Jamie Vardy 37 LEYTON ORIENT: Harry Kane 18 MILLWALL: Harry Kane 22 MK DONS: Dele Alli 72 NORTHAMPTON TOWN: Kyle Walker 9 SUNDERLAND: Simon Mignolet 90 SUNDERLAND: Jordan Henderson 71 SUNDERLAND: Jordan Pickford 31 SUNDERLAND: Danny Rose 27 SUNDERLAND: Danny Welbeck 26 SUNDERLAND: Adnan Januzaj 25 STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS: Jamie Vardy ? YORK CITY: Nick Pope 22
Thank you to all of the unsung heroes lower down the football pyramid, who have played their part in developing and nurturing the talents that I have so much enjoyed watching at the 2018 World Cup. The Premier League would be nothing without you.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 13, 2018 18:30:36 GMT 1
Was gutted that we lost as really thought after Croatia's knockout games (though i'm only going by the highlights for their QF against Russia) that we'd win. When Croatia equalised I feared the worst, in contrast to the first half which I felt vindicated my prediction. If there's a small criticism it's that when we've started games strongly we've rather stopped playing in the 2nd half, and this goes back to the pre-tournament warm-up games. The hype since Saturday was tough to ignore, did find myself getting carried away, certainly in terms of reaching the final anyway, so I probably jinxed us somehow! Wasn't fussed about the 3rd place playoff game tomorrow, but actually now think it's important. Finishing 3rd would be a notable achievement, not done it before, and there's zero expectation on us to win so would be a chance to finish the tournament on a high.
Can't remember whether I saw it on here, but don't think I did, but one of the pundits, Steve McManaman think it was, was the only pundit to correctly predict the semi-finals and he went for France-Croatia final so when France won the first semi I did think it was potentially rather ominous...
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Post by raliverpool on Jul 15, 2018 16:58:28 GMT 1
What an abject joke of a refereeing performance ruining this World Cup final.
France getting completely outplayed over 45 minutes and yet are ahead via a free kick that wasn't (it was a dive, and the ref did not refer to VAR), and a penalty that wasn't (calling that a deliberate handball is laughable) and it's costing Croatia.
Shocking, or FIFA corruption in favour of France you decide?
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Post by Robin on Jul 15, 2018 17:08:00 GMT 1
Whatβs wrong with Shearer, I thought the BBC were supposed to be objective. His bias at half time was embarrassing.
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Post by raliverpool on Jul 15, 2018 17:10:27 GMT 1
Whatβs wrong with Shearer, I thought the BBC were supposed to be objective. His bias at half time was embarrassing. He was being objective. The referee made two catastrophically dreadful decisions, and was right to be castigated for them in such an important match.
Hence why the ITV panel were similarly all in agreement over his two decisive errors in favour of France.
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Jul 15, 2018 17:17:30 GMT 1
I respect the referee's decision. And think he's been spot on.
I, however, may be extremely biased and not care π
π«π·π«π·π«π· Allez les bleus! π«π·π«π·π«π·
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Post by Robin on Jul 15, 2018 17:27:13 GMT 1
France rampant, they are too good for Croatia now
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 15, 2018 17:28:48 GMT 1
This game has everything. Brilliance. Incompetence. Drama. Entertainment. You'd think it was a pre-season friendly.
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