England

[Mr Logic]

I was foaming at every long ball they played after about 25'. Croatia realised we were one dimensional the longer the game went on; and we were!

 

Easy to say in hindsight but Southgate's been found wanting himself. No plan B in sight. Sir Bobby, Rafa, they wouldn't have lost that game - I think.

 

That said, young team, expect more in the Euro's perhaps?

[KaKa]

In hindsight ... Dele Alli and Lingaard in that midfield with Henderson were not good enough.

 

In a game against a team that were a step up in quality, we saw why the likes of Wilshere and Shelvey could have been great options for those positions.

 

You were so close to having a great team at this world cup.

[Kaizero]

However why is it both Newcastle and England seem to spend so much of the game passing the ball back to the goalkeeper FFS.

 

I had no idea what was going on after Trippier went out. I mean, throw Maguire forward and just keep blasting the ball at him and Kane. You're not playing on the ground through 11 Croats defending far, far back with only 9 players.

[Infinitely Content]

We were shit in the last few minutes there like and Croatia deserved to win. I couldn’t believe that Alli was more interested in scrapping with a Croatian player with 2 minutes of a World Cup semi final to go than he was in getting on with the game. Embarrassing from him.

 

That said, huge postitives with Trippier, Maguire & Pickford who done all they could tbf.

[KDT]

Wouldn’t trust Southgate going forward, this was his time, it won’t be the same 4 years down the line. Getting them qualified will be a easy but I honestly think he’s shown a couple of times in this tournament that he can’t change a game when it’s going against him.

[Mike]

Heroes, ffs.

 

They played ok against two decent sides and managed to break down a toothless Sweden team.

 

Agreed. Easiest World Cup draw they'll ever have, utterly squandered, and they talk about them as though they've been sparkling.

Absolute open path to the final and to lose like that!

[Varadi]

Kane missing that chance in the first half and that header man. The header seems worse for me as he didn't really anticipate it. Shearer would've fucking buried it.

 

Aye, think Kane was the biggest disappointment for me - your real top players do it when it really, really matters.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Kane missed two good chances, but I think saying he had a shit game is unfair. We gave him fuck all, really. He was contesting headers on the edge of the circle, ffs.

[KaKa]

That Kane chance in the first half man.  Sickening

 

Literally couldn't believe it at the time. It was an incredibly tame effort.

 

 

[Disco]

Fucked it. Did better than anticipated and this team has brought a largely horrific populace together in the right way for a couple of weeks and that has to be admired. A glimpse of what could be.

[Flip]

We will never get such a good chance to win it

 

Your team is really young. If you can keep these players together and they don't get fucked over by their clubs, I'd think you'd be pre-tournament favourites for the next EC and WC. Not to mention the group of youngsters coming through. Time will tell though, no guarantee this group of lads will remain intact and not have their careers nosedive due to their clubs being shithouses when it comes to caring for players actually getting to play - and these players being paid too much to care if they get benched for some Johnny Foreign.

 

No way. This was the chance. This generation is nowhere near as good as previous ones and had the best possible route to get themselves to a World Cup final. With that said, this World Cup has shown anything can happen in a one-month tournament.

[Klaus]

That Kane chance in the first half man.  Sickening

 

Knew that was going to come back to haunt us. Cannot waste chances like that at this level. Should have played it on to Sterling

[Beren]

Wouldn’t trust Southgate going forward, this was his time, it won’t be the same 4 years down the line. Getting them qualified will be a easy but I honestly think he’s shown a couple of times in this tournament that he can’t change a game when it’s going against him.

 

Keep him for coaching corners and PR-y type stuff.

[Skeletor]

Kane missed two good chances, but I think saying he had a shit game is unfair. We gave him fuck all, really. He was contesting headers on the edge of the circle, ffs.

 

If he squared it to Sterling then Croatia don't come back.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Hated their right back, like. Proper horrible snidey little prick.

 

Ah man, we threw it away. We'll not get a chance like that again. I can't think about it properly now, but I know those missed chances in the first half will haunt me like.

[Mike]

Wouldn’t trust Southgate going forward, this was his time, it won’t be the same 4 years down the line. Getting them qualified will be a easy but I honestly think he’s shown a couple of times in this tournament that he can’t change a game when it’s going against him.

 

Keep him for coaching corners and PR-y type stuff.

Vipers.

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

We were shit in the last few minutes there like and Croatia deserved to win. I couldn’t believe that Alli was more interested in scrapping with a Croatian player with 2 minutes of a World Cup semi final to go than he was in getting on with the game. Embarrassing from him.

 

That said, huge postitives with Trippier, Maguire & Pickford who done all they could tbf.

 

Scored against Sweden, aye but tbf I think he's been underwhelming all tournament.

 

Forgot he was on the pitch at one point tonight.

[AY]

Kane better than Alan Shearer? Fuck off.

 

Cant really understand Kane hype in this tournament. I mean, 0 goals if you take away set pieces and the one fluke? Or did I miss something. Definitely underperformed for me, but England otherwise were good.

[Hanshithispantz]

Heroes, ffs.

 

They played ok against two decent sides and managed to break down a toothless Sweden team.

 

Agreed. Easiest World Cup draw they'll ever have, utterly squandered, and they talk about them as though they've been sparkling.

Tbf our squad was utter shite

 

We never overachieved but we’re so used to doing poorly, it was nice to have a side looking up for it.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Kane missed two good chances, but I think saying he had a shit game is unfair. We gave him fuck all, really. He was contesting headers on the edge of the circle, ffs.

 

If he squared it to Sterling then Croatia don't come back.

 

That is true.

[Cronky]

Long balls and predictable back passes, man. Fucking infuriating. We just couldn't pass through midfield, or didn't believe we could. We didn't try to from 2nd half onwards. Kane nullified, totally. Rashford poor replacement for Sterling...We invited them to play through us for far too long.

 

Semi final of a World Cup. So not bad. We did better than we have in a long while, so there is that. We're in desperate need of a creative centre midfield player, though. Probably two.

 

Yeah, good analysis. We seemed to lose our nerve and reverted to type, playing long balls and hoping for a flick on.

 

And we were let down by the usual failing of England teams - a lack of technique. Croatia were so much more confident in passing the ball around. The minute our players were put under pressure, the ball went backwards.

 

We do have some good players to come through, if they can recover fitness and form - Barkley, Wilshere, Oxlade-C. As you say, there wasn't much creativity in the midfield.

[Dokko]

Kane sat far too deep. Might as well played with no strikers.

[Shearergol]

Hated their right back, like. Proper horrible snidey little prick.

 

Ah man, we threw it away. We'll not get a chance like that again. I can't think about it properly now, but I know those missed chances in the first half will haunt me like.

 

My teams will never win anything in my lifetime.

[James]

Football’s Comin Home at Wembley 2020

[Yorkie]

Fucked it. Did better than anticipated and this team has brought a largely horrific populace together in the right way for a couple of weeks and that has to be admired. A glimpse of what could be.

 

Ouch