England v Russia

[reddogkev]

15 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Wales are a two man team. Ramsey and of course Bale who as we saw today can score pretty much from anywhere, I can't see England beating them. A draw at best and that'll put the Taffs through.

Bale's free kick was nothing special, I could've hit the same strike.  Have no idea how the keeper let it fly past him.

England will win 2-1 on Thursday.

If we don't win, we need to see if Eddie Jones also fancies the footie job.

[reddogkev]

I hate to blow my own trumpet, but I did tip the 1-1 draw!

[The Batman]

Dier and Walker were our best player. That's saying something. 2 defensive players. Russia were god awful and we were little better. 

Don't be fooled into thinking we played well. Had we won 1-0 it still would have been a poor performance, but it's a winning performance.

I couldn't give a monkeys what the score was for 99% of the match. The only score that matters is the one at one second after the final whistle is blown.

Kane looked exhausted after 75 odd mins, we still had a sub to use, should have brought on vardy. Milner was shite for the 10 mins he was on. Lost his man on a previous attack then allowed the guy who crossed it in for the equalizer to run by him.

What is Gary Neville doing on the side? Surely playing under SAF for so long, he would have stolen his ideas about how to work the game in your favour. Does he just bring the balls to training or does hodgson ask for his input???

Rant rant rant rant.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Wales are a two man team. Ramsey and of course Bale who as we saw today can score pretty much from anywhere, I can't see England beating them. A draw at best and that'll put the Taffs through.

They can keep Ramsey. As dire as Bale's freekick was, per the BBC, "unstoppable". 

What was clear was how often Slovakia could break the Wales defence down. If Roy doesn't see that, and doesn't start Vardy, it'll be the most deserved P45 since Dean Saunders. 

[Taz]

Our best form of defence is attack!!

Lalama disappeared in the 2nd half, and Sterling, well I can't add to what's been said already.

The game was crying out for Vardy and/or Rashford running at them. They wouldn't have coped. Still think we'll top the group.

Eddie Howe for England.

[Maltshoveller]

11 minutes ago, The Batman said:

Dier and Walker were our best player. That's saying something. 2 defensive players. Russia were god awful and we were little better. 

Don't be fooled into thinking we played well. Had we won 1-0 it still would have been a poor performance, but it's a winning performance.

I couldn't give a monkeys what the score was for 99% of the match. The only score that matters is the one at one second after the final whistle is blown.

Kane looked exhausted after 75 odd mins, we still had a sub to use, should have brought on vardy. Milner was shite for the 10 mins he was on. Lost his man on a previous attack then allowed the guy who crossed it in for the equalizer to run by him.

What is Gary Neville doing on the side? Surely playing under SAF for so long, he would have stolen his ideas about how to work the game in your favour. Does he just bring the balls to training or does hodgson ask for his input???

Rant rant rant rant.

He only thing i agree with on this post is that Kane looked shot

The rest of the post is total crap (imo) 

[JM91]

11 minutes ago, The Batman said:

Dier and Walker were our best player. That's saying something. 2 defensive players. Russia were god awful and we were little better. 

Don't be fooled into thinking we played well. Had we won 1-0 it still would have been a poor performance, but it's a winning performance.

I couldn't give a monkeys what the score was for 99% of the match. The only score that matters is the one at one second after the final whistle is blown.

Kane looked exhausted after 75 odd mins, we still had a sub to use, should have brought on vardy. Milner was shite for the 10 mins he was on. Lost his man on a previous attack then allowed the guy who crossed it in for the equalizer to run by him.

What is Gary Neville doing on the side? Surely playing under SAF for so long, he would have stolen his ideas about how to work the game in your favour. Does he just bring the balls to training or does hodgson ask for his input???

Rant rant rant rant.

Be fooled into thinking we played well?  England did play well, you would be a fool not to recognise that.  We mixed it up really well and were unpredictable to play against.  Lallana and Sterling played much better than most expected and Rooney dominated the midfield and was our best player.  

[deadredfred]

12 minutes ago, The Batman said:

Dier and Walker were our best player. That's saying something. 2 defensive players. Russia were god awful and we were little better. 

Don't be fooled into thinking we played well. Had we won 1-0 it still would have been a poor performance, but it's a winning performance.

I couldn't give a monkeys what the score was for 99% of the match. The only score that matters is the one at one second after the final whistle is blown.

Kane looked exhausted after 75 odd mins, we still had a sub to use, should have brought on vardy. Milner was shite for the 10 mins he was on. Lost his man on a previous attack then allowed the guy who crossed it in for the equalizer to run by him.

What is Gary Neville doing on the side? Surely playing under SAF for so long, he would have stolen his ideas about how to work the game in your favour. Does he just bring the balls to training or does hodgson ask for his input???

Rant rant rant rant.

Have to disagree. We played very well for large spells which makes it even more disappointing. 

If we took our chances (Lallana should have scored 2) we ought to have comfortably won at which point we'd all be revelling in an England win. 

We weren't poor. Russia however were atrocious. Fortunately Wales and Slovakia didn't look much better.

[pommers1965]

some people will just moan,moan,moan where england are concerned....
we deserved to win but got hit with a sucker punch at the end....just like watching a certain team last season

 

[robin_unreliant]

4 minutes ago, deadredfred said:

Have to disagree. We played very well for large spells which makes it even more disappointing. 

If we took our chances (Lallana should have scored 2) we ought to have comfortably won at which point we'd all be revelling in an England win. 

We weren't poor. Russia however were atrocious. Fortunately Wales and Slovakia didn't look much better.

Just  goes to show he shouldn't have been playing!! Either Sturridge or Vardy who are both better finishers than him. That result was totally down to poor team selection by Woy.

[Robbored]

20 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

I hate to blow my own trumpet, but I did tip the 1-1 draw!

Oddly enough, so did I. A tenner at 11/2.  I'll pick up £65. Not that I was delighted that the Russians scored such a late equaliser. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, pommers1965 said:

some people will just moan,moan,moan where england are concerned....
we deserved to win but got hit with a sucker punch at the end....just like watching a certain team last season

 

Did we? I thought we looked very good in midfield and behind (against a lamentable Russia); powderpuff up top. There was an air of inevitability in the end that Russia would get the goal. We may have created space but we had one recognised striker on, who happened to not be on the end of many of our chances, because we wanted to thumb other players in to the side. I think a more ballsy approach we could have put Russia to the sword and be looking forward to the knock out stages.

That game simply did not call for 433/451, Rooney playing as deep as he did and a 20+ Goal PL striker on the bench. Instead we now have a nervy encounter with Wales with what many call a questionable back line defensively and then Slovakia who have a record of beating 'reputable' sides in one off affairs - as they did last World Cup in the last game at thr group stage. 

Tonight was the time to be a bit cocksure. 

[pommers1965]

yes we did....
the russians had a giant up front they looked to hit all the time...
their keeper made a great save and we had other chances...we deserved to win 
they created little or nothing & got lucky with a looping header at the death...

 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, pommers1965 said:

yes we did....
the russians had a giant up front they looked to hit all the time...
their keeper made a great save and we had other chances...we deserved to win 
they created little or nothing & got lucky with a looping header at the death...

 

We had many chances. Don't remember their keeper having to look particularly agile to save many, any? 

There's a difference between keeping possession and challenging defences and goalkeepers. We did one, not t'other. Unfortunately, we did the one that counts for f all. 

SOD would have been delighted with that performance  

[The Batman]

12 minutes ago, Maltshoveller said:

He only thing i agree with on this post is that Kane looked shot

The rest of the post is total crap (imo) 

Fair enough.

Were Walker and dier our best players?? Imo yes

Were we outstanding or were Russia god awful?? Imo, the latter.

Is the score at the final whistle the only score that matters??? Yes.

Kane - woo-hoo, we agree.

Milner - watch the highlights just before the corner that led to the goal and the crosser for their goal.

What does Gary Neville offer?? - we may never know

12 minutes ago, JM91 said:

Be fooled into thinking we played well?  England did play well, you would be a fool not to recognise that.  We mixed it up really well and were unpredictable to play against.  Lallana and Sterling played much better than most expected and Rooney dominated the midfield and was our best player.  

No, Russia were god awful and had they been playing Spain, Germany, Italy etc, the game would have been out of sight. If that was us playing well, we may as well pack up and go home.

11 minutes ago, deadredfred said:

Have to disagree. We played very well for large spells which makes it even more disappointing. 

If we took our chances (Lallana should have scored 2) we ought to have comfortably won at which point we'd all be revelling in an England win. 

We weren't poor. Russia however were atrocious. Fortunately Wales and Slovakia didn't look much better.

At least you acknowledge Russia's terrible game. 

[shelts]

They had a few big uns in our end in all!!

[pommers1965]

2 minutes ago, 29AR said:

We had many chances. Don't remember their keeper having to look particularly agile to save many, any? 

There's a difference between keeping possession and challenging defences and goalkeepers. We did one, not t'other. 

the save from rooney?
not agile enough?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, pommers1965 said:

the save from rooney?
not agile enough?

Yes, but it is one. Joe Hart also looked very agile too in the second half to stop a goal. But the point is we had all that ball, all that opportunity and that and a freekick is the sum of what we did with it. That is wholly lamentable. 

[simon uk]

We played well, dier is a superb young player. 

We should know better than anyone that if you have a strong headerer of the ball and the delivery is right, that it can be unplayable, and it just so happened it took russia til the 91st minute to do it. Frustrating as hell.

[Curr Avon]

The only

23 minutes ago, pommers1965 said:

some people will just moan,moan,moan where england are concerned....
we deserved to win but got hit with a sucker punch at the end....just like watching a certain team last season

 

Exactly. England's first half performance was terrific; totally dominant. They were never going replicate that level in the second half. All England lacked was a better final ball and more goals. The fact that England had 18 attempts is a huge positive and they should use that to beat Wales and the Slovaks.

[pommers1965]

3 minutes ago, 29AR said:

Yes, but it is one. Joe Hart also looked very agile too in the second half to stop a goal. But the point is we had all that ball, all that opportunity and that and a freekick is the sum of what we did with it. That is wholly lamentable. 

i said their keeper made a great save....not many
when was hart tested?

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, pommers1965 said:

i said their keeper made a great save....not many
when was hart tested?

I dunno perhaps I had too many to watch the game objectively. From where I was stood we defended resolutely and dominated midfield but at the same time put far too much emphasis on dominating the midfield; I think less would have coped just as well  

I thought we made a very good, arguable world class striker, look very comfortable to defend against by two 'industrious' defenders and as a result of that and our unnecessary flooding of midfield over attack dropped points. I reiterate we had two wide attacking players and yet Rose and Walker were our wide threat...?

With a bit more confidence, with more 'cojones' I think we'd have ended today with +2 goal difference. 

I saw a team try to be too precise, carry too many passengers, a manager not make the changes needed (despite being bold in a line up not many would have opted for!) and a total predictability and inevitability in the way it ended. It was almost straight out of SODs handbook. 

I mean this is a group stage where one decent win gets you to qualify... Why not put a poor Russian outfit to the sword game one than take on a Wales side who will be so damn up for it and a tricky final game against Slovakia? 

[ChippenhamRed]

55 minutes ago, 29AR said:

I dunno perhaps I had too many to watch the game objectively. From where I was stood we defended resolutely and dominated midfield but at the same time put far too much emphasis on dominating the midfield; I think less would have coped just as well  

I thought we made a very good, arguable world class striker, look very comfortable to defend against by two 'industrious' defenders and as a result of that and our unnecessary flooding of midfield over attack dropped points. I reiterate we had two wide attacking players and yet Rose and Walker were our wide threat...?

With a bit more confidence, with more 'cojones' I think we'd have ended today with +2 goal difference. 

I saw a team try to be too precise, carry too many passengers, a manager not make the changes needed (despite being bold in a line up not many would have opted for!) and a total predictability and inevitability in the way it ended. It was almost straight out of SODs handbook. 

I mean this is a group stage where one decent win gets you to qualify... Why not put a poor Russian outfit to the sword game one than take on a Wales side who will be so damn up for it and a tricky final game against Slovakia? 

A harsh assessment @29AR. We dominated the game tonight, had the majority of possession, created a number of good chances and limited the opposition to hardly any. If you played that exact game 10 times we would probably have won it 8 or 9 times. That says to me that the manager fundamentally got the selection, the formation and the tactics right. After that he's relying on a bit of luck and individuals taking their chances.

It's easy to say "we could had had one less in midfield" on the basis that we were dominant in the middle, but perhaps our dominance was because we had the numbers there. Change that and the balance of the side - which looked excellent on the whole tonight - could be disastrously disrupted. Equally it could have allowed the opposition to dictate the game more than they were able to. It's far too simplistic to say we'd have won the game if we'd have played another striker; we were awful against Portugal with Vardy, Kane and Rooney on the pitch because the balance was all wrong.

I also didn't see many "passengers" in the team!

[havanatopia]

No doubt already mentioned but a few points:-

1. You heard a huge 'what the ...' In the pub out here when Rooney went off.. Mind you there was only 6 of us at that early hour.. But get my point. Rather poor judgment by Hodgson we all thought.

2. Putin and the FSB has orchestrated the violence to get us barred from the 2018 World Cup and, if they lose it, ensure we don't host it. Schadenfreude for them being barred from Rio (maybe) and, according to them, harsh treatment of Sharapova.

3. A win amd the welsh game could have been so much more enjoyable and relaxing for both sets of British fans; one nation hugs et al. Now it will be a feisty nervous affair with all the pressure on England. 

Draw or lose to Wales and Russia beat Slovakia and we may well be heading home; perhaps not a bad thing the way the mindless few, clearly egged on by organised govt paid thugs from behind the new iron curtain, are yet again besmirching the name of England partly, perhaps largely, because they took a beating, a fair number retaliated and we will all now be tarnished; the Russians are achieving their objective. We must simply not retaliate.

[ChippenhamRed]

4 hours ago, havanatopia said:

No doubt already mentioned but a few points:-

1. You heard a huge 'what the ...' In the pub out here when Rooney went off.. Mind you there was only 6 of us at that early hour.. But get my point. Rather poor judgment by Hodgson we all thought.

2. Putin and the FSB has orchestrated the violence to get us barred from the 2018 World Cup and, if they lose it, ensure we don't host it. Schadenfreude for them being barred from Rio (maybe) and, according to them, harsh treatment of Sharapova.

3. A win amd the welsh game could have been so much more enjoyable and relaxing for both sets of British fans; one nation hugs et al. Now it will be a feisty nervous affair with all the pressure on England. 

Draw or lose to Wales and Russia beat Slovakia and we may well be heading home; perhaps not a bad thing the way the mindless few, clearly egged on by organised govt paid thugs from behind the new iron curtain, are yet again besmirching the name of England partly, perhaps largely, because they took a beating, a fair number retaliated and we will all now be tarnished; the Russians are achieving their objective. We must simply not retaliate.

Fair to say point 2 is a slightly bigger statement than points 1 and 3? Quite some claim!

It's like my mrs texting me....

"Hi, three things...

1. We need milk

2. I'm pregnant

3. Can you put the bins out"

[Lanterne Rouge]

8 hours ago, Taz said:

Our best form of defence is attack!!

Lalama disappeared in the 2nd half, and Sterling, well I can't add to what's been said already.

The game was crying out for Vardy and/or Rashford running at them. They wouldn't have coped. Still think we'll top the group.

Eddie Howe for England.

Just not before he sells us Lee Tomlin otherwise, any time you like. Get Sean Dyche in as his assistant too.

[Murraysrightplum]

First half England were excellent but poor/unlucky in front of goal. Second half it needed changing after 60 minutes and it was crying out for Vardy to come on.

defense looked solid and the midfield controlled possession. Sterling was poor as  he has been all season. Would prefer Vardy there to be honest even if out of position. Kane was also very poor. suddenly the attack looks more toothless than we all thought as not sure where goals will come from. Big mistake not taking Andros Townsend as he is someone who can score from wide positions

[Davefevs]

Sorry, haven't read each post.  Sterling is always going to cause debate.  I was out last night and only watched the full 90 this morning.  I did quickly turn on my phone last night, just as Dier put us in the lead, and then into the final 10 minutes, lots of stuff re Sterling constantly giving the ball away.  That didn't happen, yes, he did lose it once or twice, but deep in Russuan territory trying to make something happen.

I'm not saying he played well, but he linked up well with Rose, found good pockets of space, available to get the ball etc. He crossed for Alli to miss a header, he took on his right back and back-heeled for Rose to cross an open invitation to score, and especially in first half, drove deep into their final third.  He wasn't quite a 6/10, but he was far from crap.  There were no crap performances that night.

I think people just have made their decision about him and don't watch the performance, or the context of the player in the team performance.

Kane and Sterling were our worse players last night, but only because all the others were of a higher standard.

Sterling does frustrate me, because I think he could do more, it looks like he plays in 3rd gear....but part of that is his style.

[Red-Robbo]

12 hours ago, The Batman said:

Dier and Walker were our best player. That's saying something. 2 defensive players. Russia were god awful and we were little better. 

Don't be fooled into thinking we played well. Had we won 1-0 it still would have been a poor performance, but it's a winning performance.

I couldn't give a monkeys what the score was for 99% of the match. The only score that matters is the one at one second after the final whistle is blown.

Kane looked exhausted after 75 odd mins, we still had a sub to use, should have brought on vardy. Milner was shite for the 10 mins he was on. Lost his man on a previous attack then allowed the guy who crossed it in for the equalizer to run by him.

What is Gary Neville doing on the side? Surely playing under SAF for so long, he would have stolen his ideas about how to work the game in your favour. Does he just bring the balls to training or does hodgson ask for his input???

Rant rant rant rant.

While I wouldn't classify the performance as "poor" I do agree with all your other points. The game was there for the taking, players were visibly tiring in the sweltering humidity and Hodgson's substitutions were either too late or plain wrong. Both in the case of Milner. 

[The Batman]

16 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

While I wouldn't classify the performance as "poor" I do agree with all your other points. The game was there for the taking, players were visibly tiring in the sweltering humidity and Hodgson's substitutions were either too late or plain wrong. Both in the case of Milner. 

Also RR. one thing I didn't raise was that Russia were missing about 4 players. One of them was Alan dzagoev. A player I rate very highly. He is Russia's equivalent of Bale & hamsik. Now as I alluded too, dier played brilliantly so there's no guarantee he would have made a difference anyway as dier probably would have swept everything up. But he's that kind of player where if we switched off for half a second, we would have been punished. Ala their goal.