World Cup 2022

You'd think it'd be better given what they paid for it

Which I'm still convinced has something to do with the ludicrous amounts of stoppage time...

 

Lucky manager? If Sterling hadn't been forced to leave for unfortunate reasons, would he have played? If Kalvin Phillips had not been injured most of the season would we have seen him and Rice as the central midfield pair to the exclusion of Bellingham? Who knows, and I'm not criticising. I think you have to have some luck in order to win a trophy. The skill is to use the cards that have been dealt, which has been done well so far. The problem being of course to *revert* to a back five for the France game, which effectively hands them the initiative IMHO.

 

England will be found wanting.

The France CM looks more capable of controlling play,
and their attack is as/more potent IMHO in their
goal conversion rate

Similarly none in the England MF are performing
the "guts and glory" roles for top 4 clubs in the
leagues where they ply their trade.

 

Declan Rice is showing a lot of guts and glory with his publicly trying to dictate terms on a transfer next summer...

 

The 1966 winning team were drawn from 8 first division clubs with only 4 of the 11 coming from top 4 clubs. Which were Liverpool, Leeds and United in that order. Then you had players from Leicester 8th, Everton 11th, West Ham 12th, Blackpool 13th and Fulham 20th. Suggesting that where their playing clubs are in the league is less important than the role they play and their personal skills. On the other hand the league was not so polarised with top players perhaps more spread across more clubs.

 

Both teams have strong attacks but we have more options/ depth. Even though Mbappe is the superstar of the tournament so far, I’d pick England’s attacking collective over their’s, in fact with Kane, Foden, Saka, Grealish, Maddison, Rashford, Sterling and Wilson, I think we have the best selection of attackers in the whole tournament.

In midfield I find it very equal, Tchouameni will be a monster in years to come and Rabiot is a good technician. Similarly for us, Bellingham is destined for the top and Rice is a very good DM.

Defensively they’re better than us in terms of quality but our defence hasn’t let us down much over the years, even if some are average or poor for their clubs.

They also have a better manager with better pedigree at international and club level. This will certainly be a game where Southgate will be tested, he hasn’t got a great record against sides considered equal or better than us so I’m hoping he steps up.

If both teams are on form, it’ll be a close game but I genuinely think we can edge it.

 

Bloody heck. Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia for 211 million for a season. Makes Man City look cheap!!!!!

 

Let me just see what the Saudi view of women is

...yeah, he'll fit in well

 

Well this is wild...

 

France have some outstanding individuals but I think if you can keep Mbappe and Griezmann quiet then you have a chance against them. Obviously easier said than done. But they have vulnerabilities in their team that can and have been exploited over the years.

 

I have been a big supporter of Hugo down the years, but we all know that he has a mistake in him and often in big matches, I don't know why I just have a feeling that he will be key on Saturday either brilliant and unbeatable or he will let a soft one in to gift us the win.

I wonder if Harry would fancy a penalty against him?

 

Ivannnn!

There's a glitch in the Matrix though, he's scoring from someone's cross!

10 goal contributions in the major tournaments

 

Some header that!

 

Another Tottenham player doing something for their country that they don't do for us!

 

So do we though and we need to remember that. Mbappe's the headline grabber of the tournament and rightly so but in Kane we also have a world class striker along with players like Foden and Saka, France have as much to worry about us as we do them in my opinion. The midfield battle will be huge, because whoever wins that allows their forwards more of the ball to do damage.

I just hope Southgate doesn't cede the midfield battle by going with a back five, which I fear he might.

 

Have you seen our RWBs when trying to cross the ball into the box?!

 

I think he might. I kind of get it because Walker is likely to be better positioned as a RCB than a RB to pick up Mbappe, rather than him isolating Stones or Maguire and burning them while Walker is further away from them.

On the other hand I’d rather see us compete in midfield as you say and I suspect Mbappe will get at the CBs at some point whatever you do. I’d stick rather than twist if I was Southgate but understand the rationale for the change.

 

Hakan Sukur now drives a taxi in the US, having had his money nicked by Ozil's best man.
That's nearly as bad as having had to live in Blackburn.

 

Personally I'd hate it if he does it. I think we're weaker playing that formation as our standout players are in midfield and attack, so dropping one in favour of a defender means we won't be at full strength. Shows an inferior mentality too in a game where the quality is relatively even, arguably more in our favour. The back five has also rarely produced results against sides of a similar or slightly better calibre than us.

 

Awful pens by the Japanese, just rifle the ****er, hitting soft penalties gives the keeper a greater chance of saving them. Same applies to the Croat that missed, he was so nonchalant in the walk up, hate that ****.