Will be tough to be fair. Their squad is full of talent. I think the good thing is the age of their defence. But it would be a very tough game. To be honest I don’t see us getting past France though. Can’t really think any further ahead than that. They are so good
France are good but England have the better squad this year IMO. Mainly due to the amount of French injures. France's strength (like ours) is attack. If England are positive there's no reason why we can't beat them.
I guess the prospect of a winter World Cup will have affected their response to our bids as well - rather than take a move to a stepping-stone club, why not hold on and maybe get the big move earlier, if the tournament goes well for you?
I actually think that is it. Normally they would have to take what they could, prove themselves and then move again the following summer. This year they thought "Have a good WC and I can move in Jan". Win win as may still go to us for more money than originally, or get the move they all want. Let's face it, I am as red and white as they come, but to your average talent is Southampton FC your dream move?
Yeah this was my thought as well. Moving to a Saints is a huge risk really. If they flop at a lower PL team they probably will never get a move to a top PL team. I think gone are the days when a player has to come to a mid table side from a “lesser” league, they can go straight to the top. Nunez and Antony obvious comparisons to Ramos and Gakpo I understand the “well we are class at scouting” going for those players, but they weren’t unknown and the chances of them coming here were slim at best. There has to be a middle ground on an upgrade of what we have and the players who look destined for the top teams. If we don’t bring in someone who is an upgrade in front of goal we are in real trouble.
While true, it was still a massive bet on themselves. Particularly for Ramos; he's been a much-touted prospect for a long time, sure, but he only really started to show his stuff late in 2021-22, and he wouldn't have gone into this year as a favourite to play in the World Cup at all. But he hit the ground running at the start of the season for Benfica, and that likely gave him confidence that he could turn down a move that probably would have quadrupled his pay packet and gotten him into the PL. Kinda unfortunate, but if he doesn't score a hat trick against Midgetland, the odds aren't bad that he would be a Saint now.
Spain have gone out on penalties in the last three major tournaments. They must hate them as much we do.
TIOON7, you may have hit on something, here: Get @tomw24 to say that England will never win a penalty shootout, and victory is secured!
Has anyone heard of any trouble between fans at the World Cup? I havent - this is IMO 100% down to no alcohol.Weird how alcohol makes you think you can take on the world and hurt people.
Some people just don’t drink well, and/or combine with the old marching powder which is a bomb waiting to go off. Especially if there is a tendency to like scrap!
You lot are lucky as we are STILL having a new kitchen done so the dishwasher is out of order. SO no dishwasher game on Saturday
While I think that is part of it, there is alcohol available but people might not be consuming as much. I do wonder if a certain element of England ‘fans’ might be priced out or distanced out of Qatar though, there wasn’t any trouble in Russia for England fans if I remember correctly? Issues only seem to arise at home or in Western Europe for England fans.
