Kaizero

You know what I mean Those teams are (or at least in my head) the dominant forces and then the other five just make up the numbers Hence why I want one of those five to win. Didn't actually know that about Chile, feel they're always at the WC so thought they were fairly dominant as well. Not really watched much Copa America outside when the US has been in it.

There's just no evidence that sort of approach wins tournaments. You can probably count the number of winning international teams that were entertaining in even half their games on one hand. I know what you're saying - I spent the last few weeks of the season moaning about how unwatchable I found Chelsea, where Tuchel also plays with 8 defenders - but in cups, conservatism bloody works. Fair. I do really want the likes of Foden, Grealish, Sancho, Saka etc to really shine and cement places as quality England players and look to build on that for years to come. Rather than Rice, Phillips and 5 mainly average defenders (James and TAA aside). Probably being selfish. I just think imagine getting a team with those young players to really click and actually be contenders for the next World Cup. Breeze through WC qualifying beating everyone rather than watching us play 2 DMs against San Marino. We could be really mint. We missed that chance in the 00s with the quality we had. Its not like we didnt win owt back then because of all the attacking we did.

I know they likely won't win it but I still hope they do. When was the last time they won? 70s maybe? When was the last time someone outside Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia or Uruguay won it?

I hope Peru wins it.

What's people's genuine opinion on Pickford as first choice keeper? As in actual quality-wise compared to the alternatives at disposal, not him being a mackem and stuff like that.

Not like Fantail Breeze to come in with an off-topic insult and contribute nothing to an actual discussion.

This is the one. I loved every minute of Rafa, he was a tactical genius. That doesn't mean I didn't understand if someone who didn't support Newcastle found us a defensive side to watch. The last 30 of Italy as well was boring. People seem to forget that as a neutral I want entertainment, so I'm complaining with that in mind. It's why I wanted to see England go for 5 rather than be content with 4, even though I understand the tactical reasons why. You'd just subbed on players we'd not seen a lot of as well. Rashford, Bellingham, DCL... Who can fault me for wanting to see them involved in play? I mean, come on

It's not mine and mine alone, they've even shown direct video analysis of the two It's jarring how similar the approach it, only with you having better players so you can do it better.

I like you very much, mojo. You seem to get things. The only issue here for me is that certain melts can't seem to fathom that being happy your team is advancing and the team not playing all that entertaining football from a neutral perspective can exist at the same time. It doesn't subtract from the joy as a supporter. It feels like I'm insulting people directly by daring to say I've been disappointed due to expecting a more offensive England than what we've gotten, as a neutral, due to the attacking players at hand and the desire to watch them do their thing. You play Denmark next, as if there should be any doubts which team of the two I hope win

Please keep me on ignore.

The build-ups are the same as well, counters play out similarly and the defense also is similar in the way they drop back under pressure to soak it up. Difference is England has better players. When you see them side by side analyzed you'd likely also see Southgate is quite inspired by those tactics. Not that there's anything wrong with that choice for the team itself, Greece won. All I was saying was I was not entertained as a neutral, I'm still not, really. But the second half yesterday was a good watch for most of it.

They were the absolute worst. They made me hate football on a level I didn't know existed.

As I mentioned yesterday, Greece attacked more often than England has

So, you know, like Greece did. They won the thing. You might do so too. There's even been comparable analysis of the two on our coverage over here.

Nobody is saying England supporters shouldn't take that over exciting football.

If you look through my posts in this thread you will see that I've spoken highly of the 4-0, especially the beginning of the second half, as well as explained why I found the other matches boring as a neutral. I've also said that for the supporters the actual results are what matter, not the entertainment value, but as a neutral that matters more - also stating that if it was my team who did it I'd be happy with just winning no matter if we bored everyone else.

There's no defeat, I was not trying to change minds. I was stating my own opinion and then discussing that with posters who had a different opinion, it's all good natured fun. There would be no better place for me to get insight into the viewpoint actual English people have on their team's performance than here.

The NUFC side want the stuff in public so the PL can't worm their way out of it, essentially. Behind closed doors that would be a lot easier to do for the PL, and as such it would be a safer bet for NUFC if it was a public affair.

Let's just put a pin in it, I am cheering for England in the semis by a lot and I will be very happy if England wins the tournament. If NUFC or Norway applied similar tactics to win a trophy, I'd be over the moon. But as a neutral it's not as engaging to watch. However, seeing England like you played in the beginning of the second half today was what I hoped for before the tournament began and I hope you will bring that energy to the semis and final and win in style. I've not been too pleased with everything before that, having had high expectations of seeing your attacking players in full bloom before the tournament began, but that is my opinion and and I respect the differing viewpoints. Especially from the ones like@Optimistic Nutand @Super Duper Branko Struparwho've actually engaged in a proper discussion and explained their own viewpoints well. Posters like them, and many others, make this place the special place it is. I appreciate the opportunity of being able to discuss England with English people.

You quote that as if England didn't look quite bad against Scotland, I could quote tons of English reactions to team selections and so on if we're playing that game

I'm not saying I'm not happy for you guys, man I'm really, really, genuinely and thoroughly pleased and happy for you all. And don't act like if you wouldn't be complaining about Norway boring out the place if we didn't attack at all with Haaland leading the line and all the expectations surrounding watching him.

I've not been this bored watching a tournament team since EC 2004, hence for me it's an apt comparison The expectations I had for England and your attacking players probably helps push down the enjoyment as well as I just want to see them flourish. You guys have exciting players.

If the tables were turned and this sometime in the future, through some divine intervention or miracle, was Norway, I'd fully expect the roles to be reversed in this thread, to be fair

Because you don't hog the ball like Spain. Possession tonight was 49-51 in your favour. You had eleven men in your own half most of the time Ukraine were on the offense and committed few men to any attacks, which reminded me more of Greece and how they did it. The good thing to remember anyway is that Greece won it, it's not truly an insult when you think about it as you surely want to win

To a certain degree, going off memory. They completely shut Spain out in that group stage draw at least because that match wormed its way into my teenage brain due to its shitness