England

I like the fact that Southgate isn't just picking the biggest 11 names then trying to squeeze them into a system. They seem to be playing in positions that suit them best and he has played a system that suits those players in those positions. Not rocket science you may say but why has no other England manager for years thought of that????
I'm quietly confident of quarter finals (probably against Germany) then who knows?
I know I'm looking forward to it more than I usually do, might be that Southgate has the start of something on his hands.
 
Me too, the commentators announced the team as possibles but I think a few will become probables especially Rashford, Rose and possibly Delft.
 
Time to keep ones 'Feet on the ground' me thinks. Friendlies mean nothing.
Let's wait until they are on the big stage !
 
Gareth seems to be a sensible, cautious sort of manager, a lot of games are generally 2-0 or 2-1 under his tenure. There hasn't been anything too impressive yet. A win against Belgium on June 24th and one might just start believing he's doing a good job.
 
The thing with that is, they probably won't need a win to go through at that stage so to judge them on a match like that is a bit unfair. (I know it will affect who we get next but qualification must be the number one objective)
Although, to be frank, if they are already through at that stage they would already have done better than countless England teams before them ?
 
I thought England's chances of doing well in World Cup ended when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got injured, but the team are looking promising. We have looked good in qualifying and friendlies before though, only to paralyze in the tournament, but I think the team's inexperience could actually be a bonus this time.
 
Nobby_66 said:
The thing with that is, they probably won't need a win to go through at that stage so to judge them on a match like that is a bit unfair.
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I think Tunisia is probably better than what a lot of people give them credit for. Although the way they are calculated are a little bit Micky Mouse at times Tunisia are actually ranked 21st in the FIFA world rankings and are the highest ranked African team. They have also recently drawn away to Portugal against a still strong side despite the absence of Ronaldo, drawn against a decent Turkey side and beaten Costa Rica.

Although we should be beating them, we only need to be a little bit off the pace while they raise theirs and a win is not certain.
 
I'm upset that we appear to be OK because it has given me a glimmer of hope that we won't be utter sh#t, only for the inevitable to happen in the next 3 weeks.

At least we don't have to stomach a load of 'never has beens' such as Hart and Rooney - perennial underachievers in finals.
 
Of course, we could always go with the JED thinking and claim that just by qualifying, we have already over achieved !
 
Or stick with the old favourite "if it weren't for ITV Digital,then we would won the World Cup for a second time"



The old'uns are best !!
 
Thought this was an interesting clip on facebook. Makes you wonder what some players currently plying their trade in lower leagues or out on loan will be doing in 4 years time. And brings home that we have a very young and inexperienced side compared to the usual old stagers.

Link - England players during last WC

Good luck to them all. Hope they do us proud.
 
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