Well I am a footballing genius but they keep rejecting my application form for an advisor role. It could have been a great partnership like Clough and Taylor Clough (god rest his soul)/ Minstrel would have sorted that lot out and made better decisions.
Banana skin Southgate is the wrong man for the job as this article highlights
https://www.newstatesman.com/politic...ngland-manager.
With Minstrel as manager I would have thrashed all that lazy, high wage entitlement out of them. I would have had them running round like their lives depended on it. Plenty of videos of Japan and even the USA in action. All talk of the golden generation(who won sod all) banished and anyone mentioning "coming home" would get it.
There must be some good players who have a connection to England so I would have been in touch with the Queen for an instant citizenship form. I could have had a lot of Croatian sounding surnames in our side...honest he may have been conceived while his parents were on holiday in Margate
I would have had Chopper Harris types in midfield/defence and reflective socks to fool the VAR. I would have given them tree straps to do some holding against set pieces...toughen us up to be winners less of the English wide eyed sense of fair play and more pro cynicism. If we are going to be a workmanlike team without superstars its got to be done right.
More seriously these was a tactical immaturity and inflexibility that needs serious work. You cant deny there is something wrong and we had a pretty easy draw to get through that far. Im a bit sick of the eternal optimism some have despite past performances. Our History in the world cup also clouds the issue but nobody really wants to be England manager do they?
Last edited by Minstrel SE; 14-07-2018 at 20:13.
When football gets to this level, its as much played in the mind as on the field. England got a great path to final, but came up wanting. Still they are a fairly young team and can only get stronger for this and bounce back to win it next time.
They did get the penalty shootout bogey off their shoulder as well so no reason not to be confident.
Regards,
Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse
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"You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”
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***SMILE, BE HAPPY***
For the first time in a long time we've had progressive, attacking football.
It's going to take a while longer for everyone to get the hang of it, but there were resonances of the kind of of entertaining, free flowing play that has become synonymous with a Guardiola team.
It's a reflection of the Premier League.
They will improve, and there are some exciting youngsters coming through the pipeline.
For all the youthful naivety displayed, there was an accompanying camaraderie.
The Euros should be good next time around
Chris
Common sense isn't anymore!
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Well I will take some of that but its too lenient and glass half full for me. It should have been better this time around and not in several years time.
Yes there were a good few goals on the way and a sense of working together. Ok 1-1 after normal time and 2-1 with extra against Croatia is not a hammering but its a world cup semi final and I expected more. They had a chance there but didnt look as though they had anything left in the tank after an early flourish. I begin to wonder if England fluke the early goal and I dont want to feel like that. I feel they could have held Croatia off with a reasonable amount of effort which they didnt seem to put in
will they improve or could the next team be worse...only time will tell
??? years of hurt.... Jules Rimet still gleaming...remember when we could have done it in 2018
Last edited by Minstrel SE; 15-07-2018 at 06:32.
Yup! You and I are on the same page here.
I really don't get all the doom and gloom merchants. The overriding feeling England fans should have now is one of pride and pleasure that their team reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1990, with some good performances and wins along the way, not bemoaning the fact that they didn't get to the final itself.
Here are the positives (glass half-full outlook)...
You won a pressure match against Tunisia (the first game in the group stages, and the necessity to secure a win, is always fraught with such pressure), by showing great grit and determination, which you probably wouldn't have in times past. Then you thrashed Panama 6-1, setting new records in the process - a team that Belgium only managed to beat 3-0. If Panama were so poor, then why didn't Belgium manage to beat them as convincingly?
For me, that fact deserves just as much consideration, as the one that Panama were undoubtedly not the best side.
Then you beat a more than decent Columbian team, who'd played superb football and scored some great goals against Poland, and had alsp defeated a hard to beat Senegal side, who have a record of winning against much bigger teams - on penalties too, and as Grant says, subsequently getting that particular bogey off your shoulder - a game you'd almost certainly have lost in times past.
Then you produced a superb performance against Sweden, who let's not forget had finished ahead of Holland and put out Italy, to get to the finals, and have since thrashed a very good Mexico team 3-0 and also beaten a tough Swiss side, controlling the game against Sweden almost from start to finish, and winning 2-0. Then in the semi-final against Croatia, you were winning 1-0 at half time, when you could've easily been 3-0 up.
Yes, the second half was the killer, and mistakes were made, but let's not forget that this was a more than decent (and very experienced, much more so than England) Croatian team who positively dismantled Argentina and overcame notoriously difficult opponents in Iceland - no England fan needs reminding of what they are capable of, and crucially who, if they can beat France today in the final, could be World Cup winners.
The reality is that England have done well, but have also found their current level, which was again shown in the defeat yesterday against Belgium, but they'll get better. So right now, based on this tournament, they're the fourth best team in the world. What England fan, before a ball was kicked, wouldn't have taken finishing fourth?
And Harry Kane could still end up winning the Golden Boot!!
That's both the realistic and positive way of looking at things!
Marco.
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Start playing Three Lions by the Lemonheads and claim football is coming home and you know you'll never win.
That song is jinxed and should be banned