Experts on rte can't agree on red card and they are all ex players so what chance do we have? Damian Duff did say that he's sat in meetings with refs and they've shown clips of those sort of situations and have explained that they consider that reckless as foot is off ground and studs showing so endangering other player, hence red card....
I agree, the Swede had to play the ball and his foot was in a natural position for the clearance. The Ukrainian made the challenge not the Swedish player.
120th minute winner. Happy for them, and pleased for us as they looked knackered towards the end there.
So, from nowhere, Stroller tells me to **** off (as he often has in the past with others too when he can't put a cohesive sentence together) and you have a go at me for responding, calling me a twat. ****ing pathetic. Try being a little more biased eh?
Thought I'd just check the timeline from yesterday. At 6.26 I posted a comment about England being too timid to go and win the game - this being before the introduction of Grealish, which changed the game. Six minutes later, Sterling scored. Southgate's initial negativity (even you criticised the line-up) was of course vindicated by the result, but I stand by the comment I made before the Grealish substitution. Germany were there for the taking. At 7.02 (after the final whistle) you sought out my original post to call it 'pathetic'. This got the response it deserved, I believe.
Although I wanted Sweden to win, this result is perfect for England. Ukraine, as Putin says, is there for the taking. Can't wait for Saturday (the Swedish season starts up again on Saturday and Norrköping-Malmö match has been granted a massive 3 thousand tickets. Hopefully, I will be lucky in the draw!)
I think it was 100% about how high his foot was and that the studs were facing directly toward the players legs. It's basically about physics. Your leg is straightened, in a position of strength, against the centre of someone's leg joint, which is made of flexible parts that can be damaged more easily. You can't use the excuse that "the other player was coming toward me." This is football. If you're not expecting other players to approach you, you should be playing tennis. Not to mention that they looked bloody knackered and had several injuries and knocks that may force players to sit the match with England out.
What you actually said was "this is utter ****e". Which got the response I believe it deserved. Yes, I ctiticised the line up. I'd allowed myself to get sucked into thinking we could blow Germany away in a 4-3-3 and I was wrong. I didn't realise how much of a threat their wing backs were, especially Kimmich who was a real threat in the first half. Germany were better than I was expecting, although obviously not one of the best sides anymore. I also don't like 3-4-3, never have. I prefer a third player in midfield. However, Southgate was spot on and England eventually got on top of Kimmich as he began to tire. This allowed Shaw to exploit space further up and, yes, also gave Grealish room to work his magic. You can't just throw all your most attacking players on and expect top class opponents to cave in. Phillips was immense and his energy and ability helped Rice, who struggled first half positionally.
I wonder how many new cases will be generated following last night? Not just at the match but at many of the fans' venues...
Apart from the opening 20 minutes or so I thought the Germans were poor, certainly in comparison to previous years. To play 7 defensive outfield players was belt, braces and gaffer tape and isolated our front three. You're right we eventually wore them down but it wasn't pretty and it wasn't entertaining. You're solely looking at the technical side of things but we need more than stopping the opposition. We have the best group of attacking players we've ever produced and they're hardly getting a look-in with this set-up. Better teams will find us out, I hope Southgate has worked out Plan 'B'...
Exactly. The team need to be told to go into this match with as much respect for Ukraine as they had for Germany.
