Croatia V England | Page 6 | Vital Football

Croatia V England

Tripps shone in the tournament and there was an interesting comment as to why. He was able to with Walker covering him. He had the confidence to go forward. We already knew his delivery was good and again he was allowed to take set pieces. One could argue that Alli and Kane did not have the same freedom to express themselves.

Apart from Tripps free kick I loved his trademark volley cross . It was one of his best I have seen and drew gasps of admiration from pundits. It very nearly resulted in a goal too.
 
As for that ref, cheating prick. Nothing massive, but at least 8-10 little decisions that took the sting out of our game. Every time we started to get some sort of tempo going he would give them the decision.

They of course took full advantage. Mandz prime candidate.



RD, the non bookings of Lovren were massive, he would have got 3 dead certain yellow cards if that were a PL game, instead he was allowed to foul and cheat his way unencumbered by a yellow for the whole 120 mins.
 
he loves a volleyed cross - shows real class.

TBH I think Tripps has shone like that for us at times when we've played 3 at the back, particularly towards the end of Kyle's tenure with us. If Toby hadn't been injured/toys out the pram last season I wonder if Tripps would have had a more consistently impressive year.
 
Having just skimmed this article I feel I'm even more vindicated in my beliefs in our tactical shortcomings. I knew we'd have got nowhere without set pieces but 75% of our goals, combined with us having 5th fewest shots on target per game from open play out of every team in the tournament is shocking.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44808192

That said - fair play to Southgate for getting our set piece training right. That's the one thing Poch could learn from him!
 
Croatia were the better team. They had players who could control the ball in key areas of the pitch. They had players that could pick out a pass. They had players who used intelligence. I knew they would win.

We didn't have the players with the intelligence to win the game. Sterling, Lingard, Rashford, Vardy are all brain dead. Alli was at times as well. All pace, all huff and puff, very little intelligence.

Sadly that was Southgates main weapon after the set pieces. Hit the ball long and hope the fast players would pick up the ball and cause problems.

We need Winks to make big progression over the next two years. We need that CM who can control a football game. Set the tempo. Take the sting out of the game at key points during a game. Modric was so good at this last night. Effortless.

We also need 2 players further up the pitch that actually use their brain. How many times did Rashford, Sterling and Lingard give the ball away by rushing their pass? Was infuriating.

Pickford, Tripps, Stones, Maguire and Kane were excellent IMO. They just didn't have the players around them to go any further. Alli was so so. At times he looked good then other times he just wasn't at the races.

It was an easy run, and is the main reason we got to the semi finals.

It was a fun ride though. We certainly didn't embarrass our-self's. For the first time in 14 years I saw an England team try. We are hard to beat and well organised. So certainly some positives to take but many really have been swept along with this it's coming home tripe.

Roy Keane owned everyone in the studio last night. A real winner who doesn't sugar coat anything.

This is spot on. Croatia completely bossed midfield in the second half and actually wore England out.

The 3 at the back became 5 and the midfield 3 were running around in circles.why?Because Modric dictated everything. He pressed high.His teammates all followed. He never rushed anything he just kept it moving in different directions and bamboozled the English midfield. They should have won it in normal time.

Walker is not a centre back either. I've watched Croatia's first goal several times and I'm telling you now a good centre back doesn't stoop to head it.He meets it before it gets that low. His body position for the Tunisia penalty was a warning sign of his vulnerability.
 
I said Walker was to blame for both goals. Have a look at the second. He attempts to clear the ball from the box, it scews up in the air and it's headed back in for them to score past a diving Pickford who could have done better. It was Walkers failed clearance that led to the goal.
 
I wouldn't bother, I recall when he did the same to Rose - he then went on to have two magnificent seasons for us, he did the same with Walker, who also then went on to play incredibly well for us - I wouldn't read any of his stuff again, he's a clickbait merchant, but from memory derides other clickbait merchants. He sluaghtered Vert as well when we first bought him, it was Ox (the old admin here) who said he was a funny read and sent me there, but I actually thought after a while it was pretty sad - but Ox used to tell me that he was the clickbait king, perhaps he was right?

His tactical knowledge of football would appear to be severely limited (did he once claim he played as well?), and almost every single one of his nonsensical crap that I read a couple of years ago on his ITK were all complete gibberish and utter bullshit - to be fair he may have improved, I don't know.

I really do think he's bordering on hating Spurs and everything to do with it, I'm sure he'd or has justified his constant diatrible but personally I get my diatribe fix by listening to my drunk mates after a game we've lost - and they still seem to make more sense.

But everyone has his place in this world and I'm sure a few believe he has is - good luck to you if that what you want, but he's not for me.

Can't be bothered to read what he's saying about Alli, but it's been said here by me - he hasn't had a great season with us, and I don't think he's done justice to himself in the World Cup either.

But with a good rest, I wouldn't mind betting he is another who has a great year for us, it's an absolute fact that young players who are still filling out their frame are notoriously known for having a bad season where they don't live up to the hype, so it doesn't bother me - he'll come good again.
Like I said , a fourteen year old Gooner ha ha
 
This is spot on. Croatia completely bossed midfield in the second half and actually wore England out.

The 3 at the back became 5 and the midfield 3 were running around in circles.why?Because Modric dictated everything. He pressed high.His teammates all followed. He never rushed anything he just kept it moving in different directions and bamboozled the English midfield. They should have won it in normal time.

Walker is not a centre back either. I've watched Croatia's first goal several times and I'm telling you now a good centre back doesn't stoop to head it.He meets it before it gets that low. His body position for the Tunisia penalty was a warning sign of his vulnerability.

Walker might not be a centre back but Modric's football brain meant that he spent all his time on the other side. He knew that the Young / Maguire combo was the weak link and that Maguire stupidly kept pulling Young alongside him. Modric found acres of space all game due to that weakness and the pass for the goal wouldn't have even been played out to our left back area had we been in the right shape. It happened all competition. I don't disagree that Walker might have done better with the header, but overall Walker's pace in that back three was brought into action several times. I still think the longer term answer is Joe Gomez though.
 
I said Walker was not a centre back before the World Cup ever started .
For their equaliser , he was diving to head the ball UNDERNEATH the Croatian guys foot , facing the wrong way , out of position and didn't have a clue what to do with the situation .
The three at the back became five because Tripps had to cover for Walker and Young bottled it from the first five minutes and reverted to an ineffective rookie ,right footed left back who thought his only duties were to take corners and free kicks.
These two were both Southgates innovative ideas that he couldn't see were wrong , alongside putting Sterling up front and dropping Kane deeper .
It might have worked against Tunisia ,Panama and Colombia ( just) but............
 
Muttley I'm sorry about your injury, I'll have to correct you mate England fans in all honesty are wankers ALL the time. Your spot on about Young, Southgate sacrificed Alli destabilising the whole flank for deliveries that Young mostly misplaced. We needed width. I'd also add Maguire should not be on the left of a three we need a natural left footed player (do we have that?) to play CB. Kane fed on scraps. A few big Doh's from Southgate.

Don't generalise it simply isn't correct or fair to do so; we've had some absolutely fantastic support - this craze/fad for chucking plastic glasses is dumb, but for every mornon that did, there were ten that didn't.
 
Don't generalise it simply isn't correct or fair to do so; we've had some absolutely fantastic support - this craze/fad for chucking plastic glasses is dumb, but for every mornon that did, there were ten that didn't.

Yeah we must not generalize in this day an age generalizing about large groups of people is wrong!....Well if it's about us any way. Think I'm on very safe ground here.
 
Walker might not be a centre back but Modric's football brain meant that he spent all his time on the other side. He knew that the Young / Maguire combo was the weak link and that Maguire stupidly kept pulling Young alongside him. Modric found acres of space all game due to that weakness and the pass for the goal wouldn't have even been played out to our left back area had we been in the right shape. It happened all competition. I don't disagree that Walker might have done better with the header, but overall Walker's pace in that back three was brought into action several times. I still think the longer term answer is Joe Gomez though.
Your spot on we missed Gomez Walker is not as smart as Paul Parker who was a converted fullback who played in a three.Don't think Maguire is a fit at LCB either. We did well with what we had. So props to Southgate we need to up the level and that includes him. I hope he is humble enough to find a more acute tactical brain than Holland. Still not forgiven him for his behaviour at the bridge.
 
Yeah we must not generalize in this day an age generalizing about large groups of people is wrong!....Well if it's about us any way. Think I'm on very safe ground here.

Spurdon - you are. In my experience, there is a full spectrum of England fans. Most are very patriotic, love football and want to enjoy the games with their mates. Unfortunately though, we have a higher percentage of wankers than most countries and because we have more fans than most, they seem to always be visible.
 
Spurdon - you are. In my experience, there is a full spectrum of England fans. Most are very patriotic, love football and want to enjoy the games with their mates. Unfortunately though, we have a higher percentage of wankers than most countries and because we have more fans than most, they seem to always be visible.

Or more visibly reported. If you'd been in France or Spain (as I have) and seen the scenes post match there, you'd have been praying for 'only' plastic glasses, but somehow the criminality, cars nicked, fire damaged, general damage, random violence against (apparent) foreigners and running riot through parts of Paris and Madrid (and elsewhere), all seem to have been glossed over.....strange World the media is here sometimes..
 
I think England’s youthful inexperience has caught up with them. Pity I was looking forward to them winning. But with that many Spurs players on the pitch on both sides, it was always going to be a hard fought contest. Hard lines England, get up and get back into the fray and all the best next time! 4 years will see a much stronger side and more rugged, I’m sure.
 
Or more visibly reported. If you'd been in France or Spain (as I have) and seen the scenes post match there, you'd have been praying for 'only' plastic glasses, but somehow the criminality, cars nicked, fire damaged, general damage, random violence against (apparent) foreigners and running riot through parts of Paris and Madrid (and elsewhere), all seem to have been glossed over.....strange World the media is here sometimes..


France win the World cup and their fans rioted in Paris, caused mayhem and robbed anyting that was and wasn't nailed down, attacked shops and two people were killed...

And loads of cities reported the same levels of violence - can you imagine English fans getting away with this?!!!


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world...lebrations-turn-violent-on-the-champs-elysees

And finally the Press couldn't ignore what's been going on and off for weeks.