England v Sweden

[cheshiregreen]

Praise for Gareth Southgate.

This is a rare tournament because England actually look to be equal in quality to other teams. Remember how hopeless and clueless we looked v Iceland just 2 summers ago. How tactically inept we were in 2014. Outclassed by Germany in 2010. Croatia probably present more of a threat technically for the semi.

 

[Joe Totale]

'Sterling created a lot'?

Did he? Any examples because I missed any chances he developed. A few times he ignored teammates and went alone only to squander the chance/lose possession in typical fashion, but how that transmits to having a good game lord knows.

The chance by Kane that went past the post in the first half springs to mind.

 

[Cobi Budge]

I, like most, moaned when Southgate got the job, delighted to be proved wrong, he’s got the team playing as a unit, he’s got them believing, he’s reconnected with the fans and got nation backing the lads, well done Gareth!

 

[lyndhurst green]

Said it after Colombia and I'll say it again - how bleddy good is Pickford??

I wonder if he played against us at Carlisle.

He was at Carlisle for the last 4 months of the 13/14 season, when they were in the league above us.

 

[Cobi Budge]

Said it after Colombia and I'll say it again - how bleddy good is Pickford??

I wonder if he played against us at Carlisle.

Don’t think so but he was in goal when England played the USA at Home Park in 2015

 

[Knibbsworth]

'Sterling created a lot'?

Did he? Any examples because I missed any chances he developed. A few times he ignored teammates and went alone only to squander the chance/lose possession in typical fashion, but how that transmits to having a good game lord knows.

The chance by Kane that went past the post in the first half springs to mind.

Hardly a chance, it was from about 25 yards, and Sterling over dribbled it to the point that Kane had to take it off him when a simple pass would have sufficed. It was Sterling all over, dribbling without purpose annd losing control of it, luckily it was Kane there to pick up the ball and not an opposition defender as has become standard. For a bloke who has apparently had a good game, that is not a top quality piece of creative play and sums up my point. The other pacy forwards still in this World Cup have far more attacking threat than running around like a hamster in an exercise ball. Hazard was dominant the other night because he dribbled towards defenders and made them commit before slipping it to a teammate in more space. Sterling tends to skip into traffic and tackles before getting dispossessed, his end product is completely lacking and his contribution ineffectual.

Hypothetically speaking, Rashford has pace to burn as well and would have given the slow Sweden defenders issues with his pace and aggression. He also has height, physicality and an ability to pass the ball rather than run like a headless chicken in possession. Against better teams we will need more than Kane winning clever free kicks and relying on set pieces. In my opinion all of England's attacking threat is play that happens around and in spite of Sterling rather than through him and he's been somewhat of a passenger throughout this World Cup.

 

[lyndhurst green]

Said it after Colombia and I'll say it again - how bleddy good is Pickford??

I wonder if he played against us at Carlisle.

Don’t think so but he was in goal when England played the USA at Home Park in 2015

http://www.thefa.com/news/2015/mar/29/e ... tch-report

What has happened to a lot of the England players involved?!!

 

[Martyn]

Well played.
I know Sterling is a target but I thought he played well, his pace and movement caused problems and he always showed for the ball.

Pickford was just sensational.

We look a proper team, no superstars and each player working hard for his team mate.

Please not ITV for Wednesday.

Unfortunately postie, it is ITV, their coverage is utter utter crap. Ian Wright, don’t know what he is saying. And Mark Pougarch is well ! Unbelievable

It is adverts, broken up with some football, boring Hoddle with that awful commentator Tyldesely,

But personally I am off toGreece on Tuesday, so can watch the game without any commentary

 

[Cobi Budge]

Said it after Colombia and I'll say it again - how bleddy good is Pickford??

I wonder if he played against us at Carlisle.

Don’t think so but he was in goal when England played the USA at Home Park in 2015

http://www.thefa.com/news/2015/mar/29/e ... tch-report

What has happened to a lot of the England players involved?!!

Jordan Pickford, Harrison Reed & Jack Stephens are the only 3 players from the starting 11 that day who are contracted to Premier League clubs. Similar to club academies, the majority of players who feature for England youth sides will not make the first team, although I am surprised how poorly the majority of that starting eleven have done.

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

Also, we are guaranteed another two games.

Which is a good point. And something that really irks me.

WHY IS THERE A THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF???!???!?? It's got to be the most cruel and pointless match in world football.

Also, we're two games from qualifying for the 2021 Confederations Cup, so there really is everything at stake.

It may not take place. FIFA released plans last year to abolish the Confederations Cup by 2021 and replace it with a 24-team FIFA Club World Cup. The final decision is to be made later this year. If it does go ahead, it has already been taken from Qatar so it can be played during our summer close season.

 

[Andy S]

'Sterling created a lot'?

Did he? Any examples because I missed any chances he developed. A few times he ignored teammates and went alone only to squander the chance/lose possession in typical fashion, but how that transmits to having a good game lord knows.

The chance by Kane that went past the post in the first half springs to mind.

Hardly a chance, it was from about 25 yards, and Sterling over dribbled it to the point that Kane had to take it off him when a simple pass would have sufficed. It was Sterling all over, dribbling without purpose annd losing control of it, luckily it was Kane there to pick up the ball and not an opposition defender as has become standard. For a bloke who has apparently had a good game, that is not a top quality piece of creative play and sums up my point. The other pacy forwards still in this World Cup have far more attacking threat than running around like a hamster in an exercise ball. Hazard was dominant the other night because he dribbled towards defenders and made them commit before slipping it to a teammate in more space. Sterling tends to skip into traffic and tackles before getting dispossessed, his end product is completely lacking and his contribution ineffectual.

Hypothetically speaking, Rashford has pace to burn as well and would have given the slow Sweden defenders issues with his pace and aggression. He also has height, physicality and an ability to pass the ball rather than run like a headless chicken in possession. Against better teams we will need more than Kane winning clever free kicks and relying on set pieces. In my opinion all of England's attacking threat is play that happens around and in spite of Sterling rather than through him and he's been somewhat of a passenger throughout this World Cup.

After that rant, I think I'll leave the comments to those that know something about football...hypothetically speaking!

Not one of the pundits saw Sterling's game as you apparently did.

"Lacking confidence in front of goal but his effort and all round game was decent. How he needs a goal though."

He also happened to have the same rating as Young, Alli and Kane.

 

[Metal Green Mickey]

I thought Maguire was excellent. Very impressive performance.

The other person for me who was fantastic was Henderson. He is a player who just gives his all in a game. Yes he doesn’t have a Steven Gerrard level of talent but he is such a great team player.

With Sterling l think he is playing a role for England that is different from the one he plays for Man City. Yes l get annoyed about his final ball & shooting but he adds a pace to the side that gives us a different dimension.

I thought we managed the game well and against a side who didn’t have many weapons going forward, apart from their physicality, but it was impressive given how difficult we have found tournament football over the last few decades.

 

[Balham Green]

'Sterling created a lot'?

Did he? Any examples because I missed any chances he developed. A few times he ignored teammates and went alone only to squander the chance/lose possession in typical fashion, but how that transmits to having a good game lord knows.

The chance by Kane that went past the post in the first half springs to mind.

Hardly a chance, it was from about 25 yards, and Sterling over dribbled it to the point that Kane had to take it off him when a simple pass would have sufficed. It was Sterling all over, dribbling without purpose annd losing control of it, luckily it was Kane there to pick up the ball and not an opposition defender as has become standard. For a bloke who has apparently had a good game, that is not a top quality piece of creative play and sums up my point. The other pacy forwards still in this World Cup have far more attacking threat than running around like a hamster in an exercise ball. Hazard was dominant the other night because he dribbled towards defenders and made them commit before slipping it to a teammate in more space. Sterling tends to skip into traffic and tackles before getting dispossessed, his end product is completely lacking and his contribution ineffectual.

Hypothetically speaking, Rashford has pace to burn as well and would have given the slow Sweden defenders issues with his pace and aggression. He also has height, physicality and an ability to pass the ball rather than run like a headless chicken in possession. Against better teams we will need more than Kane winning clever free kicks and relying on set pieces. In my opinion all of England's attacking threat is play that happens around and in spite of Sterling rather than through him and he's been somewhat of a passenger throughout this World Cup.

After that rant, I think I'll leave the comments to those that know something about football...hypothetically speaking!

Not one of the pundits saw Sterling's game as you apparently did.

"Lacking confidence in front of goal but his effort and all round game was decent. How he needs a goal though."

He also happened to have the same rating as Young, Alli and Kane.

Exactly. Knibbsworth yet again shows his lack of knowledge of the game. Sterling terrified the Swedish defence with his pace and continually got us up the pitch. He's not the finished article but he's the best we have. But Knibs worth can never see another point of view even when the rest of the world disagrees with him.

 

[Lev Yashin]

Today was just a tremendous team effort with no real standouts except maybe Pickford then maybe I am a little bias.

 

[DartPilgrim]

'Sterling created a lot'?

Did he? Any examples because I missed any chances he developed. A few times he ignored teammates and went alone only to squander the chance/lose possession in typical fashion, but how that transmits to having a good game lord knows.

The chance by Kane that went past the post in the first half springs to mind.

Hardly a chance, it was from about 25 yards, and Sterling over dribbled it to the point that Kane had to take it off him when a simple pass would have sufficed. It was Sterling all over, dribbling without purpose annd losing control of it, luckily it was Kane there to pick up the ball and not an opposition defender as has become standard. For a bloke who has apparently had a good game, that is not a top quality piece of creative play and sums up my point. The other pacy forwards still in this World Cup have far more attacking threat than running around like a hamster in an exercise ball. Hazard was dominant the other night because he dribbled towards defenders and made them commit before slipping it to a teammate in more space. Sterling tends to skip into traffic and tackles before getting dispossessed, his end product is completely lacking and his contribution ineffectual.

Hypothetically speaking, Rashford has pace to burn as well and would have given the slow Sweden defenders issues with his pace and aggression. He also has height, physicality and an ability to pass the ball rather than run like a headless chicken in possession. Against better teams we will need more than Kane winning clever free kicks and relying on set pieces. In my opinion all of England's attacking threat is play that happens around and in spite of Sterling rather than through him and he's been somewhat of a passenger throughout this World Cup.

After that rant, I think I'll leave the comments to those that know something about football...hypothetically speaking!

Not one of the pundits saw Sterling's game as you apparently did.

"Lacking confidence in front of goal but his effort and all round game was decent. How he needs a goal though."

He also happened to have the same rating as Young, Alli and Kane.

Exactly. Knibbsworth yet again shows his lack of knowledge of the game. Sterling terrified the Swedish defence with his pace and continually got us up the pitch. He's not the finished article but he's the best we have. But Knibs worth can never see another point of view even when the rest of the world disagrees with him.

Sterling does have pace and gets us up the pitch , he also does frighten the opposition, however for such a highly rated player he rarely has a direct involvement in creating or scoring a goal which gets frustrating when he has the pace and movement to get in such good positions but appears to lack the concentration and composure to make the most of it when he gets there .