robin_unreliant

15 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

I don't know if the players are following instructions or doing it of their own volition, but we are playing so many passes sideways across the back three and so many passes backwards by the midfield. 

We are not putting pressure on the opposition and allowing opponents to press us and make breakaways. Our forwards are now relying on long, aerial passes and it isn't how we were doing it early in the season.

Continue like this will bring only one end to the season.

This was where I am losing patience. Yesterday it was so predictable. Long ball over the top out wide. Most of which we got nowhere near winning. Early in the season our attacking play was pretty fluid and good to watch. Now we seem to have lost the benefit of Weimann's running up front and become easy to defend against. Maybe it is confidence but certainly appearing to have gone backwards.

3 minutes ago, Super said:

How many more times they were cheering the fact we were bringing on a recognised defender not the fact King was injured. Laughable that people are saying this.

I have been a Pearson supporter but think the poor results are getting to me. When King went down my first thought was that he and NP had set that up at HT so he could bring Atkinson on without losing face. That is probably rubbish but shows me how much faith I've lost in Nige.

As a city fan for nearly fifty years I find it a bit tinpot that 'best ever' memories include beating what is mostly a L2/L1 boomerang club. I don't give a monkeys about them. I just wish we could have more memories of beating top sides since our heyday in the seventies 

I would like Bell to kick on too but realistically he hasn't really taken any of the chances he's had so far. TC really made an impression but Bell has been a bit anonymous when he's come on. I wonder if making him play at RWB before set him back from a confidence point of view.

12 minutes ago, Ghost Rider said:

I didn’t want to write this straight after the game, as I wanted to sit and reflect and not “knee jerk” into a reaction. Enough is enough for me now. I actually love Pearson, but I can’t keep defending the obvious. We are absolutely rubbish, and I don’t think we should be. IMO we’ve got a squad that is packed full of talent, but I’ve never been so bored of the football we play (maybe SOD and the last few games of the Holden reign). I can’t keep defending Pearson’s record either. Is it time for someone with fresh ideas? I think so, as it’s clearly not working with NP. I’d be sad to lose him, but we just look lost as a team and he’s had long enough now. 
 

Really didn’t want to post that, but it’s how I feel. I hope I’m wrong and he turns it around. 

I was excited when NP took the job but am just starting to lose the faith. I think what concerns me most is that NP is always adamant that he isn't a coach. He says his strength is in man management and creating the right environment.

Saying he chooses people he can trust,for me, is not good man management. I accept I don't know Atkinson and Nige does. Maybe he believes this approach will work with him.

Whatever, the weaknesses to me appear to be about decision making and organisation. Putting players in their right positions who are comfortable there and instinctively know what they should do would surely help. He seems not to do this on a regular basis which is puzzling. No use motivating everyone if you then don't make best use of them.

If Nige's amazing man management skills are not what we need to sort these basic issues then maybe he is not the right man for this situation.

1 minute ago, Redrascal2 said:

The cart horse cometh.

I've not been in the Pearson out camp but surely a new man would never play King at CB or bring on Martin. 

2 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

Still think NP was wrong to take off TC, should have been Williams off for Semenyo

Williams has been poor. Still yet to see why he gets into the team. 

That half was so City. Hit the post and take about a twenty minute dominant spell of hard graft to finally get a goal. Then gift one back with totally incompetent defending against a side who looked incapable of scoring.

Stoke have done nothing but we give away yet another soft goal.

Gotta weather-related question for you experts. Does AG now have undersoil heating?

I seem to recall it wasn't initially ready when the redeveloped ground was fully opened but was intended to happen later. Not sure I can remember it being confirmed that it is now working though.

11 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

I'm not over Saturday

We were the best team in the tournament by a distance unlike 2018 and 2021, none of the other teams would have been capable of beating us

I'm confused. Didn't one of them do exactly that?

Maybe I've just become a bit cynical after so many years of England 'if only' stories. I just feel like we will always find a way to **** it up.

England are a constant sob story. Fact is we are not mentally strong enough to win the pressure games. We always find one way or another to lose when the pressure is on. Our players are now technically good enough but we are perennial losers because we lack the self-confidence to take advantage of our strengths when we are on top against the top teams.

11 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

I don’t think France will win it. I can even see them losing to Morocco in the semis

I think Messi will win it for Argentina.

Kane looks sharp to me tonight. Can still see us turning this around.

8 minutes ago, Bazooka Joe said:

I'd have Atkinson playing instead of King.

We need strong defenders who can handle Rotherham's physicality.

 

Yeah, I'm worried our CBs look a bit lightweight. Who is gonna be up winning the first ball when a high cross comes in? Bit unsure of the balance there.

Be fair, Croatia's football was not good to watch. I guess we are back to whether football is supposed to be entertainment or just about the result. Watching a side stop the opposition by playing keep ball and having no shots on target doesn't exactly sell the game.

11 minutes ago, RedRock said:

Having a nice slice of Henderson Humble Pie this morning.

Hats off to the bloke, Energetic, controlled performance capped off with an excellent goal - led by example. Superb.

McGuire also showing some bottle given what he’s been through, although relying on him and Stones as our main play-makers out of defence is more than a worry. Think Rice was told at half-time to give them better options - but that only lasted a few minutes. 

 

Me too. I haven't been a fan of Henderson and wasn't happy to see him start. I think that must be one of his best ever England games though, he was excellent.

Maguire has shown real mental strength and played very well. I still worry for him though if he drops a ricket against France that costs us a goal. Poor bloke will get monstered by all forms of media.

NL having no problem scoring against a team that made England struggle. There agian, they weren't hampered by playing with a giant handbrake having been applied.

Quality keeping there haha.

1 minute ago, Ivorguy said:

Am I watching the same game as the experts on BBC1 ?

 

Yeah what the hell are they watching.'England played well'. Get real,we're not all that stupid.

England are through unless we lose 0-4. Why all the cagey,negative keep ball? We've no chance of going out and should be far more adventurous than just winning on the % possession stats for goodness sake.

3 hours ago, miketh2nd said:

Wow this world cup is mad! 

Maybe teams should only get a week to prepare for WC every time. Seems to be evening it out. Not that surprising if you have had little or no proper practice as a team.

We played exactly the same side as the previous game but got a totally different performance. You might say it was due to USA being better but I have a feeling Iran may even beat them. 

Not sure how you can come up with any logical reason for the drastic difference in performance. I'm not a fan of GS and feel he holds us back. Can't blame him though for not making changes after a great performance in the first game. 

It did seem a definite ploy to pass around the back, expecting USA to press. They were too smart to fall for that and we were too slow to shift tactics. 

I don't get the outrage at not picking Foden. Neither he or Grealish have done much in previous England games. Bellingham has been over-hyped and he needs to drop Mount who is out of form. 

3 minutes ago, RedRock said:

Sad.

Thought we’d really changed our mentality in the first game. Thought, ok all those shite England games I’ve watched leading us to this tournament have been worthwhile, and we’re turning up and playing a new tune.

Nope, back to Southgate-ball.

Yes, difficult opponents but we were appallingly negative. 

 

Spot on. Plus Mount must have something on GS. WTF was he not off at HT, let alone still there at the end. 

7 minutes ago, The Bard said:

In reality it's Sterling v Rashford on one side and the others competing for a place on the other side.They're the only ones who will run in behind Kane and pose a consistent threat.

Grealish, Mount, Foden, Saka all want ball to feet.

Frankly, any of them should be good enough at this level. I'm not fussed about the forwards, we should be more worried about the defence. That's the area that could really let us down.