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

[shefcanary 2,388]

Just now, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

France have to get through aswell though...their last 16 game could be Argentina

Oh come on. Argentina haven't shown a lot, Mbappe will run rings round Messi's compadres. France have that quarter final place easy, the question will be can Southgate ruffle their feathers as to whether they get further.

[KernowCanary 214]

Wales were gash and the second worse team in the tournament behind Qatar and I believe in the back of their heads, the Welsh public knew this and are calling for Page’s head.

They were sh*t going into this tournament, while England had that game against Germany to ride on.

Lets not get too excited until the semis, as we have had a cushy run to the quarters already, as Senegal are not all that good really. The run we have had in front of us so far, is like Germany’s in 2002 and they got to the final playing teams as bad as the ones we have had. Not once have we really played well yet and I don’t seem to recall Germany playing well in 2002.

Wales this World Cup are even worse performance wise than the opening titles ITV use for this tournament as well as the equally pathetic “France 98 World Cup Rewind” they did. The people of Wales knew this and just wanted them to qualify after a 64 year duck, knowing they would suck.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

Just now, shefcanary said:

Oh come on. Argentina haven't shown a lot, Mbappe will run rings round Messi's compadres. France have that quarter final place easy, the question will be can Southgate ruffle their feathers as to whether they get further.

Who knows...so far France have only played a dreadful Australia and didnt look that convincing vs Denmark

If it were Argentina, they would be France's first proper test too

[KernowCanary 214]

2 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

Oh come on. Argentina haven't shown a lot, Mbappe will run rings round Messi's compadres. France have that quarter final place easy, the question will be can Southgate ruffle their feathers as to whether they get further.

France will repeat against Argentina what they did 4 years ago…. constantly trying to get the ball to Mbappe and it worked.

He will will the Golden Boot I think.

[shefcanary 2,388]

1 minute ago, KernowCanary said:

Lets not get too excited until the semis, as we have had a cushy run to the quarters already, as Senegal are not all that good really. 

Woah! What! 

Senegal not good. God I'd love to have their defence at Norwich. They will be a nightmare for England to break down, thank god Mane ain't fit. But then it will be France, if we should find a way round them. Then you think Stones and Walker will keep Mbappe quiet. We've no chance of the semi's!

[Pockthorpe 528]

7 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

Woah! What! 

Senegal not good. God I'd love to have their defence at Norwich. They will be a nightmare for England to break down, thank god Mane ain't fit. But then it will be France, if we should find a way round them. Then you think Stones and Walker will keep Mbappe quiet. We've no chance of the semi's!

That’s the spirit ! 😩

If we play to our best and Senegal play to their best we still win every time. 
 

[Virtual reality 706]

7 hours ago, Well b back said:

So they are not as good as you were making out.

I didn’t say they were world beaters. I said if we produce the football that we did in the USA match and first half of yesterday we will be going home. Not surprisingly its the same people who have been defending Smiths turgid football as we slip down the league that are the same ones that can’t see that significant improvement is needed to progress 

[Virtual reality 706]

9 hours ago, king canary said:

We weren't amazing in the first half but we had the best chances and could happily have gone in ahead.

We've played 3 games, won 2 of them at a canter, drawn the other one, scored 9, conceded 2. I don't know where some England fans get the sense of entitlement that we should be playing free flowing football every single minute and blowing teams away each and every game.

The majority of your statistics here were against Iran. I and thankfully also Southgate as he said in his post match interview, we’re far more concerned that we conceded two goals to them rather than what we scored. It isn’t entitlement, I expect very little from Englands National team. It’s the understanding that the performances we’ve so far produced will see us knocked out if we don’t step up a gear in the next match. When you start a match slow and turgid as England and Norwich under smith do, Then more often than not it is hard to raise your game to the levels needed when you meet a better quality of opposition 

[hogesar 9,618]

2 hours ago, Virtual reality said:

I didn’t say they were world beaters. I said if we produce the football that we did in the USA match and first half of yesterday we will be going home. Not surprisingly its the same people who have been defending Smiths turgid football as we slip down the league that are the same ones that can’t see that significant improvement is needed to progress 

Who is defending Smith by the way? There hasn't been a single Smith Out chant at the ground so presumably you mean the entire Carrow Road crowd and potentially also yourself?

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

9 hours ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

Who knows...so far France have only played a dreadful Australia and didnt look that convincing vs Denmark

If it were Argentina, they would be France's first proper test too

Considering Denmark had beaten France on their previous two meetings in the Nations League, I'd say getting past an obdurate Danish rearguard action was a test to be passed for the French.

As for Senegal, they should be tailor-made for England to look good against as they like to come forward. Shades of Colombia in the 2018 World Cup in Russia in that they're a decent team, but shorn of by far their best player. For James Rodriguez, read Sadio Mane.

A lot will depend on how Senegal line up. Paradoxically, I think they might cause more problems to England if they set up like the Welsh did in the first half as with Sarr they should have a much more potent threat on the counter. Wales were hoping Moore could hold it up and get Bale and Ramsey in to make England think twice, but never happened and England were able to gently ramp up the pressure.

Edited November 30, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[Robert N. LiM 4,243]

13 hours ago, hogesar said:

Yep, about as close as you'll get at international level.

Kept patient against a team sticking 11 behind the ball.

Kept the ball well, dictated the tempo of the game

Didn't concede a single clear chance.

Scored 3 good goals.

Kept a clean sheet.

Rested a lot of players and gave minutes to fringe players. Still dominated.

It's almost as if the manager who's taken England to 50% of their semi-finals and 100% of their finals in the last fifty years knows what he's doing, isn't it?

[Virtual reality 706]

21 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

It's almost as if the manager who's taken England to 50% of their semi-finals and 100% of their finals in the last fifty years knows what he's doing, isn't it?

In two tournaments where the draw opened up for him and he was found tactically inept in both matches after being in an early lead. We should have won one of those tournaments with the route to the finals we were presented and the situation we were in early in both 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Virtual reality

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

8 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

In two tournaments where the draw opened up for him and he was found tactically inept in both matches after being in an early lead. We should have won one of those tournaments with the route to the finals we were presented 

If you mean WC 2018, France would probably have beaten England. If you mean EC 2020 Italy came back into it well, fair play to them. By the same logic the Netherlands should have beaten West Germany in WC 1974, and Hungary should definitely have beaten West Germany in WC 1954.

Southgate got that first half against Wales spot on (and to be fair to Page, he had the right idea for Wales in bringing Allen back in - he needed a midfielder who wasn't going to stray far from the defence). Don't go gung-ho, kill their chance to counter as it was obvious Wales only had one option available, which was to batten down the shutters and try to sneak one. The draw did open up for him in both 2018 and 2020 though, that I do agree.

Edited November 30, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[sonyc 5,492]

12 hours ago, Van wink said:

Poor tournament from Wales, good luck England, looking like one of the best England squads I can remember.

Agree VW. Disappointing performances in all the games, save for the odd 10 minutes. I expected more from them but they were playing a level of opposition far superior. I believe an Irish, N Irish or Scottish national team would equally have struggled to be fair.

England look dangerous and quite strong in all departments and must be at least looking to progress to the quarters and probably further. They can dominate a midfield too but most of all, have the 'weapons' in attack.

For Wales, it was a real achievement even getting there. It has raised the image of Wales I'm quite convinced about that. Even to the point of the BBC saying too much. Even Yma O Hyd is known now and no-one can criticise the spirit and pride of its people. 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by sonyc

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

33 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

It's almost as if the manager who's taken England to 50% of their semi-finals and 100% of their finals in the last fifty years knows what he's doing, isn't it?

Especially with Harry McGuire in the centre of defence and Jordan Pickford in goal. Whilst both are decent performers for their country, both are certainly error-prone for their clubs.

It's odd - traditionally England has turned out teams where the goalies and defenders are stronger than the attackers. Southgate's got a crop where there's a decided vulnerability in goal, centre-half, and to a lesser extent in defensive midfield and left-back - but a bumper crop of quality attacking midfielders and playmakers. That's pretty much why he can't play so gung-ho.

It's also odd - I think the English media have a habit of overrating their team and underrating their manager.

Edited November 30, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[sonyc 5,492]

37 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

It's almost as if the manager who's taken England to 50% of their semi-finals and 100% of their finals in the last fifty years knows what he's doing, isn't it?

Quite so. Being an English football manager is a thankless task. I'm sure if Alf Ramsey was about now people would be ripping shreds in his management too. But in the mists of time his legacy prevails. If England can win it or get to the final Southgate will be either a hero or judged to have at least been one of the best national coaches in over 50 years. As fans we want to win but entertained at the same time and those two things are not always mutual.

An interesting week or two to come.

Edited November 30, 2022 by sonyc

[......and Smith must score. 1,336]

11 hours ago, Pockthorpe said:

That’s the spirit ! 😩

If we play to our best and Senegal play to their best we still win every time. 
 

That's the $64,000 question.

On paper England will be favourites to go through but it's England we're talking about here.

Edited November 30, 2022 by ......and Smith must score.

[king canary 7,580]

24 minutes ago, sonyc said:

Quite so. Being an English football manager is a thankless task. I'm sure if Alf Ramsey was about now people would be ripping shreds in his management too. But in the mists of time his legacy prevails. If England can win it or get to the final Southgate will be either a hero or judged to have at least been one of the best national coaches in over 50 years. As fans we want to win but entertained at the same time and those two things are not always mutual.

An interesting week or two to come.

He should be but he won't be. If we lose in the final I'm sure we'll be told how actually the draw was easy, we won despite him not because of him, it will be his tactics at fault for losing (but those same tactics are due no credit while winning) etc etc...

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

So many say our EPL is the toughest league in the world. And most of our players play for the top teams. So shouldn't we expect them to do well? We surely should have progressed after 30 years of the EPL. Its just like the argument with NCFC. After all these times we have won the league and played in the EPL, and spent nothing on the ground etc, we should have progressed.

Considering our ranking, we should be semi final. We should have a chance against France. We should beat Senegal. Not saying it will be easy but we aren't out of order expecting us to do well.

[FenwayFrank 2,457]

The best female pundit by some margin, doesn’t reword something that’s already been said and just seems to want to talk about football rather that promoting herself.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,680]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

So many say our EPL is the toughest league in the world. And most of our players play for the top teams. So shouldn't we expect them to do well? We surely should have progressed after 30 years of the EPL. Its just like the argument with NCFC. After all these times we have won the league and played in the EPL, and spent nothing on the ground etc, we should have progressed.

Considering our ranking, we should be semi final. We should have a chance against France. We should beat Senegal. Not saying it will be easy but we aren't out of order expecting us to do well.

If this lot won **** all then what chance do our teenagers under Southgateball have..?😉

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 minute ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

If this lot won **** all then what chance do our teenagers under Southgateball have..?😉

These boys had the wrong coach. There were two or three world class players in that team.

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

2 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

These boys had the wrong coach. There were two or three world class players in that team.

Wasn't the most balanced of midfields though, was it? Wasn't the best at keeping it under pressure either.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

2 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Wasn't the most balanced of midfields though, was it? Wasn't the best at keeping it under pressure either.

Apart from Nick Barmby, the rest were all good players. And many would say a midfield of Beckham, Gerrard and Scholes was a good midfield.

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

1 minute ago, keelansgrandad said:

Apart from Nick Barmby, the rest were all good players. And many would say a midfield of Beckham, Gerrard and Scholes was a good midfield.

Wouldn't say they were anything but as individual players, but my point was that it wasn't a balanced midfield and it only ever worked in fits and starts because of it. You had the Gerrard/Lampard paradox (and to some extent Scholes cluttered up the works, indeed ended up on the left on occasion).

It needed a more out-and-out destructive player in there, but ideally one with an eye for a diagonal ball. Otherwise Beckham wasn't exactly great on the back foot, Scholes never was, Lampard wasn't - Gerrard was the only genuine box-to-box man in there.

If Roy Keane had been English, that's exactly what that England team needed.

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

France not up for it today against Tunisia, bit of naughtiness going on maybe. 

[Capt. Pants 4,201]

Oh wow, Denmark need to pull their fingers out now.

 

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

Fair play to Australia, they are far better than you’d think. 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

47 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Wouldn't say they were anything but as individual players, but my point was that it wasn't a balanced midfield and it only ever worked in fits and starts because of it. You had the Gerrard/Lampard paradox (and to some extent Scholes cluttered up the works, indeed ended up on the left on occasion).

It needed a more out-and-out destructive player in there, but ideally one with an eye for a diagonal ball. Otherwise Beckham wasn't exactly great on the back foot, Scholes never was, Lampard wasn't - Gerrard was the only genuine box-to-box man in there.

If Roy Keane had been English, that's exactly what that England team needed.

So you don't think Gerrard was as good as Keane? Don't think I agree with that. And Lampard came a bit later than that pic.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

All those who said France could put 2 teams out and win the world cup might think again

Mbappe aside they havent been overly convincing. If its them who we have to play , detail Walker to go wherever Mbappe goes and the rest are beatable