Which round will England reach in the FIFA World Cup 2018??

Strongbow · All-time great

RE: Which round will England reach in the FIFA World Cup 2018??

JonH · All-time great

I guess we all got it wrong then! And glad we did.

Croatia next then maybe, possibly we have the conundrum of watching England in a world cup final or Wimbledon final next Sunday. I'm afraid if that happens tennis will lose out on me watching!

But Croatia first and nothing to fear. 2 penalty shoot out wins for them so far and surely England can do better than Russia or Denmark against them

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Congratulations to the board members here as we are 0/18 on this one. And as JonH says, thank goodness for that.

The team have been terrific, but special praise should go to Gareth Southgate not only for his technical expertise and coaching skills, but also how he has man managed the squad and how he has handled all the other demands of the role, in particular the press etc. He reminds me of the way Leon manages the DC team.

indiana · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
I guess we all got it wrong then! And glad we did.

Croatia next then maybe, possibly we have the conundrum of watching England in a world cup final or Wimbledon final next Sunday. I'm afraid if that happens tennis will lose out on me watching!

But Croatia first and nothing to fear. 2 penalty shoot out wins for them so far and surely England can do better than Russia or Denmark against them

Croatia can certainly be better than they were vs Denmark and Russia. But maybe more yet from England. Wonder if a Dier or a bit less defensive Loftus-Cheek might come in to help strengthen the midfield against a good Croatia midfield and Ali move up to number 10 role in place of Sterling. Thought Sterling was good with his runs for disrupting Sweden and kept showing for the ball. Pity he seems to have lost confidence when he gets near goal ). Good man management from Southgate to bring Sterling off just before the end to applause that indicated he was appreciated. Think that the only possible change and they might still stick as is. Just there is a danger of Henderson getting overworked in midfield if Croatia are on song.

It seems a pretty much 50/50 match for me which to be fair is what most pundits are saying.

JonH · All-time great

I think both semis are 50/50 and somehow Belgium v England as some sort of prior date with destiny written over it. Having played the world cup group match with the least riding on it, where both played reserve teams, where a loss perhaps served teams better, playing the actual final would seem to be the almost logical conclusion and possible evidence of divine intervention? And no I don't mean from Sept Blatter!

-- Edited by JonH on Sunday 8th of July 2018 08:23:20 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Congratulations to the board members here as we are 0/18 on this one. And as JonH says, thank goodness for that.

The team have been terrific, but special praise should go to Gareth Southgate not only for his technical expertise and coaching skills, but also how he has man managed the squad and how he has handled all the other demands of the role, in particular the press etc. He reminds me of the way Leon manages the DC team.

Yes. That's what comes across to me too - what a stellar job Southgate's done and is doing.

Personally, I think it's great to have a younger guy doing it too but that shouldn't really be relevant.

He seems to know his own mind, have a plan, unite the players, and bring out the best in them as people and as a team. As you say, similar to Leon.

JonH · All-time great

I think the telegraph or whichever paper it was did us a massive favour when big Sam got caught in their trap!

huntley93 · Strong Club Player

loosing to iceland was one of the best things that happened to england if they won that, roy would still be in charge with rooney up front.
the scots also did you a favour with those leigh griffiths free kicks last year at hampden exposing joe hart. if it wasn't for that hart would still be in goal!

-- Edited by huntley93 on Sunday 8th of July 2018 08:55:09 AM

indiana · Tennis legend

Well done to England, they pretty much maximised on their talent and the draw and were finally beaten in a competitive match by a better team, particularly in midfield, and no shame in that.

Some of my fellow Scots may unselfishly take upon themselves a disproportionate number of chips on the shoulder but it leaves the rest of us much less weighed down.

With relative limitations in some areas they clearly worked hard on such as set pieces ( there was a flamin conference before one as they went over their roles ) and penalties ( yes, you can practice for penalty shoot outs ) and reaped their rewards from these areas.

They ( and Belgium ) for me didn't throw their match but were well aware that winning the group looked of no benefit so probably very sensibly rested players with a potential build up of knock out matches to come with relatively short turnarounds ( I wasn't sure beforehand about that vs momentum, but indeed think they both probably made sensible pragmatic choices ).

And England still overcame group winners in Colombia and Sweden. It's not their fault that say Germany, last anyway in the Sweden group, weren't in there.

A good campaign, well managed, a bit of luck along the way. Well done.

And saved being stuffed by the French

See you in Qatar, err maybe.

Sim · County player

Still at-least football IS coming home.......... in 2020. Euro semis and final to be held at Wembley.

Whether England (or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) are still there remains to be seen but first someone has to works out how the new qualification works.

JonH · All-time great

Sim wrote:
Still at-least football IS coming home.......... in 2020. Euro semis and final to be held at Wembley.
Whether England (or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) are still there remains to be seen but first someone has to works out how the new qualification works.

It also looks like England on their own or jointly with Scotland and Wales will bid for 2030 World Cup. By then I will be just about retiring, lets hope my pension allows me to pay for some tickets if it comes to pass!

JonH · All-time great

indiana wrote:
Well done to England, they pretty much maximised on their talent and the draw and were finally beaten in a competitive match by a better team, particularly in midfield, and no shame in that.

Some of my fellow Scots may unselfishly take upon themselves a disproportionate number of chips on the shoulder but it leaves the rest of us much less weighed down.

With relative limitations in some areas they clearly worked hard on such as set pieces ( there was a flamin conference before one as they went over their roles ) and penalties ( yes, you can practice for penalty shoot outs ) and reaped their rewards from these areas.

They ( and Belgium ) for me didn't throw their match but were well aware that winning the group looked of no benefit so probably very sensibly rested players with a potential build up of knock out matches to come with relatively short turnarounds ( I wasn't sure beforehand about that vs momentum, but indeed think they both probably made sensible pragmatic choices ).

And England still overcame group winners in Colombia and Sweden. It's not their fault that say Germany, last anyway in the Sweden group, weren't in there.

A good campaign, well managed, a bit of luck along the way. Well done.

And saved being stuffed by the French

See you in Qatar, err maybe.

and now we have a meaningless rematch with the same team for 3rd place - lets see what happens team wise for that one! Two largely new teams I would guess...

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
indiana wrote:
Well done to England, they pretty much maximised on their talent and the draw and were finally beaten in a competitive match by a better team, particularly in midfield, and no shame in that.

Some of my fellow Scots may unselfishly take upon themselves a disproportionate number of chips on the shoulder but it leaves the rest of us much less weighed down.

With relative limitations in some areas they clearly worked hard on such as set pieces ( there was a flamin conference before one as they went over their roles ) and penalties ( yes, you can practice for penalty shoot outs ) and reaped their rewards from these areas.

They ( and Belgium ) for me didn't throw their match but were well aware that winning the group looked of no benefit so probably very sensibly rested players with a potential build up of knock out matches to come with relatively short turnarounds ( I wasn't sure beforehand about that vs momentum, but indeed think they both probably made sensible pragmatic choices ).

And England still overcame group winners in Colombia and Sweden. It's not their fault that say Germany, last anyway in the Sweden group, weren't in there.

A good campaign, well managed, a bit of luck along the way. Well done.

And saved being stuffed by the French

See you in Qatar, err maybe.
and now we have a meaningless rematch with the same team for 3rd place - lets see what happens team wise for that one! Two largely new teams I would guess...

Yes. I see another England B v Belgium B.

Although with Kane and Lukaku still vying for the golden boot, perhaps not. If England get a penalty, I can see Kane being subbed on to take it and then being subbed off again wink

JonH · All-time great

As an aside, spare a thought for Denmark. They played both Croatia and France during the tournament, and drew with them both. Nil nil in the group v France and went to penalties with Croatia in the last 16. Thin margins between glory and going home early.

Ps Argentina also played both finalists but in their case got thumped by Croatia and France out played them also.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

So England end up 4th after their defeat to Belgium today. For me, Belgium were the best team in the tournament, followed by Brazil. But the best teams don't always win.

As for England, we have over achieved. Nobody expected us to get as far as we did with the personnel that we had (as indicated by the poll in this thread) but we have shown pride in the shirt, and promise for the future. We still lack class in the middle of the park in particular. We don't have a Hazard or a De Bruyne, a Modric or a Coutinho. We got to where we did with hard work and passion, with good organization and playing to our strengths in terms of set pieces.

The next few years will hopefully be interesting. We had the most inexperienced squad at the WC in terms of international caps and most of the players will be around for a long time. Hopefully some of the age group players that have recently led us to be World Champions at U17 and U20 level, will get their opportunities both at club and international level and will look to strengthen this young squad even further.

I thought Rashford made a difference in the 2nd half today when he came on and at just 20 years old, his time will come again. As for our player of the tournament, it would be a tough choice between Pickford and Harry Maguire, but I will go for Maguire.

For what seems like the first time in a long time, we haven't finished a major tournament with the press and the supporters calling for the manager's head. As I have said before, Southgate's stock has increased massively over the last four weeks and he comes out with huge credit. He seems to be a man with a plan, and a clear vision of how he wants to implement it. Most importantly, it looks like the players would run through brick walls for him and I don't think we could say that about some of the managers we have had over the last 20 years.

The future is looking a lot better than it did four weeks ago. So well done to the squad. Go home and get a well earned rest.