Agreed that he was superb in putting the pen away, but he had been pretty poor from the moment he got on the pitch which is what most people are bothered about. It's like the reverse Henderson - been great in midfield, missed his pen.
Croatia are a good team and should not be underrated but they have looked like some old legs in the last couple of games. Old legs hate young legs. Keep Lingard and Sterling pushing on and they will be struggling to contain them. We have a great chance to get to the final. Same formation and team for me. Sterling to score.
He shouldn't be getting the **** he is though. Why must we need someone to slate? I didn't do a MOTM thread because I think we're a unit and it should go to the team.
Whilst I agree that the stick is a bit OTT (particularly those slating Sterling, who has done great so far and has done literally everything but score), there is a slight case for some of it as when Dier came on Colombia looked way better in the midfield, it was a poorly timed tactical switch which, during the match, was hampering England rather than helping. Of course, the penalty changes things. But in the match itself, he wasn't that good.
This is not a team of amazing individuals and we should remember that. Very few people in football player or supportor could honestly expect anyone in our team to be in a World eleven. The premier league has hyped itself up since its inception and consistently bigs players up better than they are. That has been our major problem in the past. There should be not one bit of criticism for these players. They are playing to their strengths and are being well managed by Southgate. It is very evident that they are a team playing to a system that they are comfortable with. They have young legs and that is a massive advantage at this stage. We had no expectations of a semi final before this tournament and yet they have delivered it. No one in this squad or team should be criticised. Dier stepped up under the most massive pressure and delivered to get a huge monkey off the teams back. For me this group of players has been fantastic and if I could meet them I would shake everyone’s hand to a man and say bloody well done.
I agree to everything you’ve said! Except the bit about the premier league! You should count the prem players that are playing in the four teams that are left? I think it’s a great advert for OUR top league!
Croatia are good but the hype comes from the Argentina game... and argentina have been ****. 2x 120 mins games... the one against denmark had an impact on the russia one... so you'd assume there may be an impact from england one... I think we have a great chance of getting to final, not sure about winning it though.
Harry Maguire is magic, He wears a magic hat, And if you throw a brick at him, He’ll head the ****er back. He’ll head it to the left, He’ll head it to the right, And when we win the World Cup, We’ll sing this song all night!
It’s a good league to watch and no doubt but my point is that in the past a lot of the English players in the league have been killed by the pressure of being labelled world superstars which they have not been. These current players have not been dealt with like that and there is so much more of a team look about them. They are grounded players playing as a unit and it has payed dividends. That’s really what I meant by that.
Big Harry's nickname amongst the players is apparently Slab Head on account of his huge noggin. A nickname he apparently wears with pride!
Ahem... Harry Kane Completely underlines how little people think of English players. What more can he possibly do to be considered best in class?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here it is. <a href="https://twitter.com/HarryMaguire93?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@HarryMaguire93</a> you beautiful bastard!! Once swell gone down more detail will come out. Got to go back next week to finish fine detail!! <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeMaguire8?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@JoeMaguire8</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/_lozmaguire?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@_lozmaguire</a> <a href="https://t.co/eER7DOX6Af">pic.twitter.com/eER7DOX6Af</a></p>— Matt Benton (@Matt_Benton) <a href="">July 9, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bob. I respect all the players. I think I have made that clear in my two posts. They have done fantastic. Better than the Golden generation. I applaud that. They are flying under the radar as a good team and may pull off a beauty but this is no accident Is is good preparation, good management and a team ethos and just in case you didn’t get it I don’t think little of them I think they have done a marvellous job.
