World Cup 2018 | Page 105 | Vital Football

World Cup 2018

1958Villan said:
Sterling having effort Jonathan but, a little skill wouldn't go amiss.
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Yes, agree, but do think he is singled out as the boo boy target where others performed the same or did less and seemed to be 'ok' !

I could never see the reason for the massive fuss / fees for Sterling, but the last 2 seasons I've all but switched off the Premiership and so can't talk from any authority on those, albeit some say he had a good season for City last season.
 
gmvillan said:
Just searched bbc and many other websites. Can’t find anything.... #fakenews ?
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Jesus! Are you real? You really don't get it's a joke. The clue of the joke is in the last paragraph! Depends what age you are I suppose to whether you get it.

If Carlsberg made........ was part of an old tv advert that's been used over the years and changed
 
Sterling was massively overhyped by the British media. He was considered the “best young player in the world” at one point but I can’t imagine the same opinion was held of him elsewhere in Europe or South America. As always when these players don’t live up the unbelievable hype that gets placed on them they then become the main target by the same people / media.

Sterling has always been piss poor at the final product, you could see that when he was 18 / 19 years old. The truly good / great players have that quality final decision / end product ability even at a young age, it comes naturally to them. Sterling is definitely not a bad player but if he gets hyped up to be much better than he it’s just going to come back down at som point
 
The Fear said:
Yes, agree, but do think he is singled out as the boo boy target where others performed the same or did less and seemed to be 'ok' !

I could never see the reason for the massive fuss / fees for Sterling, but the last 2 seasons I've all but switched off the Premiership and so can't talk from any authority on those, albeit some say he had a good season for City last season.
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He had a productive last season with Man City but, they do set him up with some tap ins.
I have in other posts also pointed out that Ali, Ratchford, Young and Lingaard have all under produced at international level compared to their club form.
I too failed to see what all the fuss was about with Sterling. He reminds me of Gabby, lightening fast but clueless otherwise.
 
gmvillan said:
It was a simple tactical switch at half time by Croatia, by changing the shape of their midfield and pushing their wingers high and fullbacks further forward. It forced England into playing a back five, and there is a snowballs chance in hell of defending in wide areas with a three man midfield. Easy adjustment would have been to switch our shape. We didn’t and got punished by them having acres of space in wide areas and 2v1 against Trippier and Young.
That’s where Gareth showed naivety by just doing like-for-like substitutions.
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I thought I had either gone mad or all out negative arsehole regarding my views on Southgates decision, glad to see a similar post.

Hope someone who truly knows the game gives Southgate some constructive criticism on the decisions. I give Southgate huge credit for the squad he took and the balls he had to do so - Allardyce would’ve had a squad with Wilshere, Rooney, Cahill starting, perhaps even Joe Hart!

What Southgate needs is that advice to make him better at the top, top level. We were playing 2nd rate teams in the groups, you’ll get a higher standard of opposition in the Euros which could be Southgates downfall if he isn’t honest about the starting XI and his decisions during a game.
 
To be fair Southgate seems like the type of guy who will actually try to learn from whatever mistakes he may have made rather than bullishly refuse to admit culpability and blame things like referees or bad luck like we've done in the past.
 
Melon Donkey said:
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.
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Part of why I couldn't stand the idea you'd win it and similar to Keane talking about the final and 'bringing football home'. Such a cringey thing, the other reason is the one sided rivalry Ireland has with England and typically seeing England fail gives us a good oul laugh.

Have to say in the end when I was able to separate the 'its coming home' talk from the rest I was just disappointed for England fans in the end.

The Fear said:
Is it too early to be honest? The English are natural born losers really. "Oh well, we didn't win, but we are all united and it was a spiffing effort wasn't it? " Fuck that, in it to win it, go down fighting, that's the way to do things

Other nations aren't like this.
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Personally, (and I have to clarify I never actually seen the England team I am referring live but) since the Gazza days English national teams seem to lack any form of grit, spirit, pride, etc.

Its weird because the average person in England has it in spades but for some reason when the players go play for their nation they don't have it. Its been interesting to see comments saying they showed it against Colombia, they didnt they got dominated and outplayed as soon as Colombia got back in the game. It went missing against Croatia too.

I look at players like Lingard and maybe its just because they come through that system that they havent really faced much adversity. Harry Kane has it because he had to dig deep on loan and try and show his value but Lingard is a cookie cutter modern footballer who has had a good dare I say easy life coming through Uniteds academy. Maybe Im wrong, maybe Im ignorant but its the only thing I can think of to explain it. A lot of the Colombian or Croatian players wouldnt have had it easy and you toss in Croatia being a small nation of 4 million people it gives them some bottle and pride. Trying not to tar every english player because I think the likes of Kane, Maguire, Pickford relish it but you've lads like Lingard and Delle Ali who don't live in reality. I just couldnt see Lingard, Sterling, Stones etc. playing through injury and risking their careers like Vrisalko or Subasic have been.

Would have been a travesty against football if Lingard won a medal but I wouldnt begrudge a lot of other names, I've been very impressed with Pickford and even at this stage the man should win something.
 
Christ it's always hilarious seeing just how bitter our celtic cousins from Britain and Ireland get during international tournaments. The attitude seems to be "we'll take the piss if you go out early even though we haven't qualified but if you do even half decent we'll get apoplectic about any English people even remotely getting excited about being 1 game away from the world cup final and accuse everyone of being arrogant "

Do people genuinely believe that zero Croatian, belgian or French people in the media or otherwise were talking up the prospect of playing in the final? Or is it just England that's apparently arrogant?

I've not seen the footage of Roy Keane apparently revelling in England going out but can't say it shocks me. He's the type of person who says that he "tells it like it is" which in my experience means he treats everyone around him like shit and pretends that this is an inevitable consequence of his incredible honesty rather than him simply being a knob. Awful person and a failed manager which has made him even more bitter.
 
JW1985 said:
Christ it's always hilarious seeing just how bitter our celtic cousins from Britain and Ireland get during international tournaments. The attitude seems to be "we'll take the piss if you go out early even though we haven't qualified but if you do even half decent we'll get apoplectic about any English people even remotely getting excited about being 1 game away from the world cup final and accuse everyone of being arrogant "
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This is pure fantasy; seems it's you who's prejudiced . Over 1 million people in Wales watched the semi-final. The vast majority would want England to succeed. An unfortunate minority in all parts of the football world thrive on hatred; there are some on both sides of the Villa/Blues divide. Thankfully most of us know the difference between light-hearted banter and the serious stuff.
 
You're right of course McParlandTheGreat, I should have said "some of" rather than painted all with the same brush. Unfortunately for everyone the ones I'm whinging about are the loudest, just like our dear friends from across the city. Apologies.
 
England's build up play from the back reminds me of Villa at times last season. A bit slow and predictable allowing the Belgians plenty of time to get back and organised.
 
Perspective.

England still, at best a second tier international side

We are not on the international elite as pundits have suggested. Absolute crock.

The two quality teams we have come up against we have lost and cannot complain about the results either.

Connected with the public again ?.
Not with me I'm afraid . Bit more to do to connect with me by beating Tunisia (courtesy of last minute goal), Panama, Columbia (penalties) and Sweden and getting to the semi courtesy of a freak tournament.

Played 7, won 4 , lost 3.

2 goals in open play in 660 mins of football.

mmmm....
 
Harry kane says we are not far away from the best?.
Tv saying we haven't got experience?
Playing in the best league in the world with the best teams in champions league football (often considered better quality than the world cup). Yes we have

Excuses .

What's the population of Belgium and Croatia?. What are the top leagues like in those countries .

Excuses .
 
We have limited players and to be fair to Southgate he’s done the best with what he’s got. We are severely lacking in midfield so we made sure we specialise in the set plays instead.

I think we can be pleased with what they have achieved, we thought they wouldn’t get passed the round of 16 but they got to the semi final... they shouldn’t be criticised for having an “easy draw” as they can only play with what’s in front of them.

However I hope people don’t get carried away. I bet the media will, because they exaggerate everything and would love to set the team up to fail at the next tournament. Our midfield talent is woeful, the best of the English lads get away with it at their clubs because they can fit into the side alongside the top foreign talent, when the onus is on them it highlights their weaknesses. There is still serious work needed at the FA to get England up to the elite level. We sneaked into the later rounds, credit to them for doing so, but does not make us one of the top sides
 
Good points Melon. Noticeable that few of the Croatians and Belgians play in their own countries’ leagues. Likewise not many English qualified players play in the Premier League.
Not enough quality English players making it into top teams.
 
Actually we won 3 lost 3 and drew with Columbia but won on pens because a draw is not allowed . Too much fannying about trying to play like Man City when in fact we don't have the players to do it .

I didn't watch it today I was watching the Villa on You Tube :grinning::bow:
 
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