Well very proud of the effort. In the 2nd half as Mark says we did well. And bodes well for the future . As for Belgium they are a very good team and I see why several people thought that they would win it Having watched it with Spaniards I can assure everyone they are not expecting much from their coming visit to Wembley As spanish TV made a big point of, several of the English players are young, will have benefited from the experience, and can only get better. If I'd been offered this from the start I'd have grabed it with both hands. Would like to see Croatia win but am doubtful.
Chalobah and Hughes might play a part next season if they keep fit . At least they'd be playing which might not be the case for a lot of England players ih that squad. Stones, Loftus Cheek and Rashford for example.
I thought today showed us to be what we are - a pretty ordinary team. We did very well to finish fourth but it flattered us.. We beat a couple of minnows, struggled to a penalty win over a side that may well have beaten us had they played football not dirty for most of the match; beat Sweden quite easily in probably our best result but were nowhere really against Croatia or Belgium when it mattered. Rose, Walker, Sterling and Vardy should be ditched and maybe one or two others. Goodness knows what happened to Kane in the last three matches but without him performing well we looked nothing. Biggest plus was Trippier.
Its probably why we weren't expected to do much anyway - certainly did get some good fortune with the draw but that isn't our fault and against Colombia/Sweden we did well. However as you and Southgate there is a lot to improve on. The more positive approach from the media is partly down to the fact that the squad have been more open to interviews etc compared to previous squads so they have been looked on more favourably.
Basically we were effective against minor opposition, with one or two golden moments from set pieces. Overall average - but we got further than the Germans and so I can live with it On other occasions we would have slipped on a banana skin against Tunisia or Sweden. We are not a top 4 team, but then I don't think Croatia are either. With so many top countries in the footballing doldrums at the moment - Germany, Spain, Italy, Argentina etc. now was the time to come good.
Dig at GT here form somebody who is generally a good pundit with lots of knowledge normally. I think its rather crass more than anything else. I presume he is talking about the time Bobby Robson left after getting us to the semi finals in 1990 but we didn't qualify for USA 94. Well difference is Southgate isn't leaving and we've certainly had a few average managers since then who have done no better with supposed higher quality players.
The match for me yesterday: fall asleep during the talk in the studio for the build-up, wake up just after Belgium scored their first, fell asleep again, woke up at half-time, fell asleep again and woke up to find the match had finished, so turned the TV over to watch the end of the ODI at Lord's.
Which India turned into a farce. MS Dhoni needs to remember who pays his salary. At least our footballers tried to the end Still proud of our efforts and looking forward to the next 4 years. Bring on Spain
Also with the history of cricket and issues with betting/match fixing it didn't look great. Particularly from a very experienced player like Dhoni.
Yes Pickford did surprisingly well and pulled off some good saves. Not sure he is top drawer yet but maybe he could get there. Southgate is the biggest cause for optimism. He seems to understand how to get the players happy and motivated and also understands how to treat the media. Nice to have had them on side this time. He is also a realist and should know what he needs for us to improve. You look back a month and think - we never saw this coming. Very positive. We all want to win the world cup but most countries would not be too disappointed with top four.
