In that case, let’s just enjoy that for a bit shall we, before we wallow in pity and despair. It was a great 3 and a half weeks.
Who is wallowing in pity and despair? Can't you read a critical word without crying? I am a very happy chap who enjoys taking a more critical eye to things. You call criticism negativity, so I suppose what I would call rose-tinted glasses you would call positivity. Please, let me give my opinions without thinking you know me. Thank God we don't know each other as we would probably get on... and that would kill me!
I’m sure you will recall our route to our last semi finals too. That wasn’t so hard either but I don’t see so many going on about that.
Well written, that’s actually pretty reasoned and well thought out. It’s not FLT, I think this sums up all angles on the forum.
Interesting following England's progress from France where the team's performance has been held in high regard. There is a feeling that there will be a lot of potential for this squad in the future. In the end we seemed to run out of steam but Maguire, Trippier and Pickford have emerged with considerably enhanced reputations. These players stood out for me. Got to say that the commentary on French TV is difficult to follow but the perception is that it is not as good as the BBC or even ITV. Too much time picking up trivial detail and not paying attention to the match. Fingers crossed for France this afternoon. No doubt there will be a few texts flying across the Channel !
This World Cup was one of the more interesting ones, Moscow looked stunning (would love to visit there and St Petersburg), was well organised and friendly (let's hope for the same in 2022...much more problematic) and England did very well (overachieved which is all you can wish for with your team). Southgate got more out of the team than others probably would have...inspired them, gave them confidence, organised them and got them to a semi-final. We have had far better teams than this that have done nothing. Southgate took the best players he had at his disposal (in his opinion) and it bodes well for the future....but we always looked to be a couple of good players short. We were lucky that Kane stayed fit enough to play....because Vardy just isn't good enough to be his replacement. We sagged a bit towards the end of the tournament, but this is a relatively young and inexperienced side. Far more positives than negatives.
1990 was a bigger disappointment in the end as the team was very good, though once again we did better than we thought....wasn't Bobby Robson told he was being dispensed with just before the tournament? We had a really good side, but I remember being very proud of them because of the way they behaved. The team were praised for their sportsmanship and even took their defeat in the 3/4th play off in good spirit. I think we could have won in 1990, whereas we'd have needed something very special to happen this year to beat France (or whoever made the final).
Depends how you view it Fran. In 1990, we lost to the best team in the tournament. This time people could say that we had a greater chance, although I’d agree the 11 was very good back then.
I think we missed a player that could thread some magic in the last third. I hate myself for saying this. But we missed a Wilshere / Shelvey kind of player. Although Shelvey would have seen a red during the Colombia game. We were also scared to shoot. A couple times on the edge of the area we were looking for a wonder ball where a shot would have been better. Our best shooter, Kane never seemed to find himself in this position. I think we also lacked fitness, even though before the World Cup it was shown we had played a lot less games than other nations.
A fit and in form Lallana and Ox in the squad could have made a big difference. Bertrand too as we were pretty weak at LB. Not that I’m biased of anything.
