World Cup 2018 | Page 103 | Vital Football

World Cup 2018

If only our Gareth had taken our own Jack (not the deluded twat), he could of been that sprinkle of magic .

Yes and added 10 million onto his price which would have been handy .

Right. That's it . Bed time. I look forward to the morning reports of the knuckle draggers smashing up towns and cities across the land because we lost .
 
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Every time I see sterling play for England he is useless.
Well done Gareth Southgate, lots of good work done at all levels internationally.
 
Roy Keane was spot on and love the way that gobby twat Wright started to niggle at him as he upped the anti, Roy Keane doesn't take shit and in this age of lettice eating snowflakes I'm all for it.
 
The World Cup has been a refreshing change and has been quality. Has been great to get to the semis despite not really playing anyone. We have witnessed a bit of history along the way, seen a former villan lead the side so well.
 
Its been a great tournament, seen some nice football and beautiful goals. Now that carnival for us is over, reality kicks in and all weve got is the circus that is The Villa. Oh well, the distraction was good while it lasted
 
Will he play all the reserves vs Belgium ?

Those who lost to Croatia wont want to play, Kane, Young etc change the keeper give him a run out, I suspect it will be a vastly different team that takes to the pitch on Saturday.....

I'm working nights and wont be getting up to watch the game no one wants to play in.
 
I've never understood why we need a defensive midfielder when we supposedly have 3 ball playing Centre Backs ?
Sterling 2 goals in 45 england games a striker in the mould of Gabby .
Shame Southgate isn't as harsh as me , we might have at least had a bloody go at them rather than hoping to hang onto a 1;0

The idea of a defensive midfielder is to fill the gap, between defence and midfield, so that the oppositions attacking midfielder doesn't get empty space to play in.
That was the original idea anyway.
Nowadays, with different combinations being played defensively, the job has changed a great deal. A defensive midfielder now is expected to cover for an attacking fullback/wingback or, a centre-back up for corners or free-kicks.
Hope this helps 57.
 
Yes Melon it has to be said we were well beaten by a better footballing side with a top class midfield .
We can't argue really they could have had a few more really

That top class midfield didn't work well in the first half 57. Their manager realised he'd set them up wrong and changed things by pulling Brozovic back into a more defensive midfield spot, thus allowing Rakatic and Modric the freedom to play further forward.
 
Slept on it and still have the opinion that the hype given this England side was over the top and I can see why other countries think we are arrogant. You need to look beyond the round we got to and consider Englands performances, the teams we played, the creativity, to get the whole picture. I don't think anyone should be fooled because of seeing semi finalist against our name. Massive work to do.

One semi final, two goals created from open play in the whole tournament, not beating anyone of real quality is the reality. If we get to the semi final in the next tournament and then the next one I will say England are 'back'. I cannot agree with these pundits that are suggesting we are 'back in the worlds best' as I have just heard on talkshite. Not yet we are not. No way Let's repeat this again and then maybe...

Wales got to a semi final and where are they now?. Exactly.
This tournament was a freak in many ways. Teams went out in a way that hadn't happened before. I doubt this perfect storm for England will happen again.
 
All the teams to get to the World Cup are quality; that's why they get there. Any team is good enough to cause upsets by beating fancied teams; that's why so many fancied teams dropped out. Croatia got where they did because they deserved to; in 2 successive matches they had the steel to had to their considerable skills to prevail.

For us to get to the semi-final is an achievement, whatever.
 
All the teams to get to the World Cup are quality; that's why they get there. Any team is good enough to cause upsets by beating fancied teams; that's why so many fancied teams dropped out. Croatia got where they did because they deserved to; in 2 successive matches they had the steel to had to their considerable skills to prevail.

For us to get to the semi-final is an achievement, whatever.

Yes it an achievement . Absolutely. Just think that the hype about England being 'back' needs to be tempered severely and it's bordering on embarrassing again.

Keep this going deep into tournaments going the fine but on Russia 2018 alone I cannot consider us being amongst the international big boys again. We need to be consistent at these tournaments

Turkey and South Korea got to the semi final in 2002. Were they international big boys after that? .

Let's take a step back before we say that England are great again.
 
I’d bite off your hand for the chance to cheer on the Stars and Stripes in a World Cup, nevertheless a knockout match or QF or Semi.

Hard way to go out, but only positives to take I’d say
 
Speaking of biting arms, would gnaw both off to have Southgate managing Villa. There’s a guy who knows how to develop youth and motivate a team
 
View from afar: the hype from the British media (and subsequent public reaction) was ludicrously over the top once we had beaten Colombia. The media realized they weren’t going to find their usual scandal or scapegoat (although they tried desperately with Sterling re the tattoo and then his lack of goals). So the only answer was to sell their papers with all the “its coming home” stuff. Pissed off just about every other country in the process and I can guarantee the Croatian dressing room was full of articles and quotes from pundits and “experts” talking about England winning the World Cup before the semi final had even been played...
I also think the players felt that same level of “expectation” that has plagued every England team since 1966. The second half looked like the Iceland game all over again. In the first five games England fans were massively outnumbered in the stadium and the team fed off the enthusiasm of an away-type support.
The one thing that really gets under my skin is these ex pros getting paid silly money by the media to give their “expert” opinions. First of all, being an ex-player doesn’t make you Einstein - you were paid to follow instructions on the pitch. Secondly, you are selling-out your own fellow pros with your constant undermining of certain players.