Switzerland were 2-0 down to Belgium after 17 minutes...then scored 5 goals to quality for the semi-finals. Goodbye Belgium and good riddance
Was a great game to watch (apart from the first 20-30mins of the second half). England really are coming on leaps and bounds and you look at the talent coming through now players like Gomes, TAA, Rashford, Sancho who have all stepped up and looked good at the top level and the rest of the U21's and the future could be bright. Hopefully we can win something in the next 6-8 years.
thought that sancho was very slow me like. ( has to convince me , before pundits telling me about stats )) chilwell had a great game
Yes, I was a bit disappointed by Sancho after all the hype. Still, the fact that he didn't impress in 20 minutes doesn't mean much. Chilwell played well and put in a nice ball for our second goal but his corners had been rubbish up to that point. Again, though, young enough to improve. Thought we were clearly the better team over the course of both games against Croatia.
I thought it was a cracking result against a very good side. It is very easy to say they were missing Rakitic. All teams miss players, every teams misses their big players. Part and parcel of what makes the best sides is how you do without them. If you look at the results its no fluke. A win and a draw against Croatia, dominating both games, a defeat and a victory against Spain, probably a fair reflection over 180 mins. That is tier one world football. I don't even think we've settled into our best side yet due to the flux with the young players coming through. We are still balancing that. I'm surprised many thought Chilwell had such a good game. I really like the lad and he offered a lot going forward. He was however uncharacteristically very sloppy in possession. His dead balls were awful. He was praised for the goal, but the ball he put in was just bad defending in truth. It was the same ball which had hit the first man time and again. For some reason Croatia had no defensive screen. Kane was awful too and to give him man of the match was a bit crazy. But goals win matches and he put the one away that mattered and had a hand in the other. I maintain though he has been running on empty for some time now, its painful watching him run in treacle. For his own good he needs a rest before a serious injury occurs. I still think I'd rather have Trippier or Alexander Arnold at right back (both giving a dead ball option). Seems harsh on Walker though because he is very very good. I like the centre back pairing of Stones and Gomez. That is our best combo. Barkley didn't have his best game and looked like the old Barkley, panic stricken under pressure and giving the ball away. Dier did ok but obviously I'd like to think we would produce something better in there at some stage. The central midfield area is still an issue as we need that player to control a game and make us tick. There are a few promising ones coming through with Davies, Gibbs-White and Cook among them. I'm not massively keen on Delph but he had some good moments like the through ball for Sterling. Because Kane was so poor it became difficult for Sterling and Rashford to get into the right areas. I can't be too harsh on midfield though as Dier, Delph and Barkley dominated their opposite numbers. I still think Modric is a joy to watch. When Alli came on there was 2 or 3 times where he just had him chasing shadows with little 5 yard movements. Reminded me of Scholes. MOTM - Joe Gomez - most assured performance I've seen by an England defender in ages. Very calm in all situations, great at reading the game and has unbelievable pace to boot.
