*** The Official 2022 World Cup Thread ***

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

Sterling'ho.

But he shouldn't be on the pitch!

[king canary 7,578]

3 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Maguire has played well, as has Sterling. Sterling being past it is a new one

Unbelievable how people who apparently watch football all the time seem to have such little clue.

An assist for Maguire, a goal for Sterling and 3-0 before half time.

I'm sure something else will be found to berate Southgate for though.

[Mello Yello 2,279]

Game set an' smash....Lovin' it....

[hogesar 9,618]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

What does Southgate not believe in Foden? Versatile, hard working, quick. No lets go with Sterling, overrated and past it. Maguire useless whereas Coady much more reliable.

Southgate says he wants to bring happiness. We resign then.

This is actually looking even worse than it did when it was first posted. And it looked pretty bad then.

[Well b back 3,190]

For those that think we should be battering Iran one we are and two this is the team ranked 20 in the world. For those moaning about Sterling and Maguire 1 goal and 1 assist so far.

[WD40 720]

Oh dear. Are we doing this again. Is it coming home?

[cambridgeshire canary 6,675]

1 minute ago, WD40 said:

Oh dear. Are we doing this again. Is it coming home?

I can't wait to get all my hopes up from us smashing some of the worst teams in the world only to see us collapse and lose anytime we play a top ten team as tends to be tradition

[Well b back 3,190]

Had Saka gone down then would have been a penalty

[Indy 3,283]

2 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

Sterling'ho.

But he shouldn't be on the pitch!

Nope he shouldn’t and it was a good finish. Foden every day.👍

[cambridgeshire canary 6,675]

2 minutes ago, Well b back said:

Had Saka gone down then would have been a penalty

Unlike the Iran players our England players would never try diving or cheating..  😉😇

[Mello Yello 2,279]

A win's a win....regardless of the opposition....every hole's a goal....as my hedonistic friend used to say....

[Indy 3,283]

Young Bellingham is sublime, very talented young player.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 minutes ago, hogesar said:

This is actually looking even worse than it did when it was first posted. And it looked pretty bad then.

Why did it look bad? I was giving my opinion on the team selection and the coach. Foden is the the best England player on the planet. In my opinion of course. And many others.

And Southgate is more boring as an England coach than Roy Hodgson. In my opinion of course. 

And Southgate said he would pick form players. And Sterling wasn't on form.

[TheGunnShow 5,930]

England flattened a similarly useless Panama team in their first match of the 2018 World Cup too. Maybe the competition's going to start soon as let's face it, the opening match was a mismatch and this is possibly even worse.

Might get better when Senegal face the Netherlands and when Wales face the USA.

[king canary 7,578]

1 minute ago, keelansgrandad said:

Why did it look bad? I was giving my opinion on the team selection and the coach. Foden is the the best England player on the planet. In my opinion of course. And many others.

And Southgate is more boring as an England coach than Roy Hodgson. In my opinion of course. 

And Southgate said he would pick form players. And Sterling wasn't on form.

Because you were demanding the manager resign before a ball had been kicked because you didn't like his team selection.

[Mello Yello 2,279]

 I don't care....England are winning and that's all that matters....

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

Bearing in mind how slowly England usually start a tourno this has been pretty good. Still one or two passes not quite there but understandable with no prep time together.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 minute ago, king canary said:

Because you were demanding the manager resign before a ball had been kicked because you didn't like his team selection.

I didn't say he should resign. Read it again. I said we resign then. Meaning, it will be the normal Southgate pragmatic not exciting football that we are resigned to watching.

[Robert N. LiM 4,240]

I know we've been underwhelmed by players from the Bundesliga before, but this Bellingham lad looks as though he might finally be that DM we've been looking for. Worth a punt imho

[cambridgeshire canary 6,675]

1 minute ago, Robert N. LiM said:

I know we've been underwhelmed by players from the Bundesliga before, but this Bellingham lad looks as though he might finally be that DM we've been looking for. Worth a punt imho

Only cost us about 200 million and we would only have to pay him 200 grand a week bargin if you ask me

[WD40 720]

7 minutes ago, Indy said:

Young Bellingham is sublime, very talented young player.

The sort of player Germany might have and I’d be so envious. What a player. Everything looks easy. 

[Mello Yello 2,279]

I do like Bellingham....reminds me of me when I played in the North East Norfolk league....Ahem, quite a few years ago, that is.... 😉 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Mello Yello

[cambridgeshire canary 6,675]

With Saka doing well is it time to bring this picture back yet? 🤣

[KiwiScot 1,436]

Sterling might not have earned his place based on form, but he's solid for England. There's a squad of talented players here and they will get their turn, but Southgate can rely on Sterling. Get that first win under the belt, pressure off and take it from there.

[king canary 7,578]

6 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

I didn't say he should resign. Read it again. I said we resign then. Meaning, it will be the normal Southgate pragmatic not exciting football that we are resigned to watching.

Fair enough- I thought it was a typo and was meant to say 'well resign then.' My bad.

[KiwiScot 1,436]

1 minute ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

With Saka doing well is it time to bring this picture back yet? 🤣

[king canary 7,578]

1 minute ago, KiwiScot said:

Sterling might not have earned his place based on form, but he's solid for England. There's a squad of talented players here and they will get their turn, but Southgate can rely on Sterling. Get that first win under the belt, pressure off and take it from there.

Yeah exactly. Foden is a very different type of player and doesn't benefit from being pushed out wide. I think if anything it is between Mount and Foden for that spot.

[TheGunnShow 5,930]

Nice finish from Saka. I do wonder how many of the mealy-mouthed cretins who were criticising him when he stepped up and missed a penalty are all bigging him up now?

[hogesar 9,618]

27 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Why did it look bad? I was giving my opinion on the team selection and the coach. Foden is the the best England player on the planet. In my opinion of course. And many others.

And Southgate is more boring as an England coach than Roy Hodgson. In my opinion of course. 

And Southgate said he would pick form players. And Sterling wasn't on form.

Good performance from England with nice, positive attacking line-up and attacking play. Three good goals, an assist for Maguire who's been dangerous at every set-piece too.

Southgate already played much better football than we ever did under Roy in previous campaigns and we've started this one playing well.

Most players picked on form but some are also picked on their international form where Sterling has been good for years, despite some desperate for him not to.

Unlucky I guess 🙂

 

[TheGunnShow 5,930]

Fair play to Shearer here. He's nailed this. Temporary subs for head-knocks would help immensely.