MichaelRobartes Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 3 minutes ago, Tomarse said: I'm not worried but I guess I don't see Sweden much easier than Brazil. As crazy as it sounds maybe our style would suit better against Brazil. Maybe it would, I think we'll know a lot more about England after tonight's match. Personally I hope that both teams go full strength so that we can see where both are. Brazil haven't been fantastic but they have quite a nice mix of shithouse piss-boilers in defence and four or five match winners further up the pitch. I don't see that in the Swedish team. If they could give free kicks to Coutinho without Neymar having the world's biggest temper tantrum they'd be even more dangerous. My point was more that, should England go into that side of the draw and get through their last 16 tie, Sweden have to come through a difficult match before they could possibly meet you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnderMB Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 I wish all sides would shut the **** up about there being two ways to go: No changes, or many changes. It smacks of the media trying to stir shit again by destabilising the squad for taking an easy route. Put literally any team in a final group match where they've already qualified, and the manager will make changes to see what his options are against stronger opposition. It shouldn't be seen as a sign of weakness or losing momentum for a team to get some rest or for some players to show what they can do against better opposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bar BS3 Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 1 hour ago, Fordy62 said: Play for the draw. Make sure we pick up loads of yellows to ensure we finish second. That would suit me. I’m on a flight next Friday night..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 1 minute ago, Bar BS3 said: That would suit me. I’m on a flight next Friday night..! Who do we want to get a yellow thou? Imagine we get through and win the R16 fixture but Kane gets a second yellow and misses the QF? Maybe we should bring on third choice keeper with ten to go and get him booked for time wasting?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-Robbo Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said: Not that it means too much in such an unpredictable tournament.. but some football stats boffin I follow on Twitter has calculated that if we win the group - we'd have a 20% chance of reaching a semi-final whereas if we finish second, that becomes a 54% chance. Lots of variables of course but he's been incredibly accurate this World Cup. Did he predict Germany's exit? That would be my question. I think these sort of discussions presume we'll walk over Japan, Senegal or Colombia - and I'm less than sure we will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Team In Keynsham Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Go out, batter them and run riot: winning becomes a habit (until it doesn't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portland Bill Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Let’s not kid ourselves that we are some klind of great side that can pick and choose who we can beat. Every team in the last 16 is capable of beating another team, We haven’t even been tested yet, having beaten two very poor sides. There are no mug teams left now, so we will now see if we are good enough or not. Lets just play Belgium, take whatever result happens and then prepare for whoever we play next. It may sound boring, but that’s the reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinmans Love Child Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 You have to play to win, going into the game without wanting to win is dangerous. You need to keep building confidence and momentum in World Cups. Trying to be clever to secure a better draw is a fools errand. With Germany out the attraction of finishing second is lessened I think anyway. For the last 16 game it doesn’t matter much anyway as not much in the teams we will play, and once you get to Qtrs it’s anybodys game anyway. And to be honest I don’t think we need to fear anyone, no teams are stand out, the big teams have not played great, we have every chance I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 About tonight's game, there is a risk that if we try to get deliberate bookings to drop us down to second in one scenario any player doing so would risk an additional match ban. In terms of other sides? I'd say Croatia look amongst the best thusfar, and more likely Brazil and Spain will be there or thereabouts. I see a number of few flaws with us and Belgium in terms of winning the thing at this stage. Uruguay should be one to watch- still think if they set up correctly (they seldom have so far) they have more to give. Pretty open though- no nailed on standout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted June 28, 2018 Admin Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Win the game The only team in the last 16 I wouldn't fancy us against is Spain, avoid them until as late as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecko Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 What day's will the knockout fixtures be played, regardless if we finish top or second? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CiderCraig Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 England to go through second thanks to an injury time, VAR initiated, sending off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 4 minutes ago, Ecko said: What day's will the knockout fixtures be played, regardless if we finish top or second? Mon or tues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portland Bill Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, phantom said: Win the game The only team in the last 16 I wouldn't fancy us against is Spain, avoid them until as late as possible I honestly don’t think any of the other 15 teams will be worried about playing us. Along with Saudi Arabia I think we have played 2 of the 3 weakest teams in the tournament. Surely I’m not the only one who thinks we are very susceptible at the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinmans Love Child Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 10 minutes ago, Ecko said: What day's will the knockout fixtures be played, regardless if we finish top or second? Monday if we win group Tuesday if we dont Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bar BS3 Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 1 hour ago, Tomarse said: Who do we want to get a yellow thou? Imagine we get through and win the R16 fixture but Kane gets a second yellow and misses the QF? Maybe we should bring on third choice keeper with ten to go and get him booked for time wasting?! Good planning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North London Red Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Two potential benefits of finishing second: we’d get an extra day of rest, and we’d play in Moscow, which is likely to be a lot cooler than Rostov-on-Don (where we’d play if we win the group). From a purely selfish perspective, logistics are also much easier for the travelling fans if we finish second. If we win the group tonight it’ll be a scramble to book travel and hotels for Rostov-on-Don on Monday evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 2 hours ago, Fordy62 said: Play for the draw. Make sure we pick up loads of yellows to ensure we finish second. Great idea- get a load of them banned for the 2nd round because FIFA can and would hand out one match bans for such a blatant policy- unless this is a Whoosh? Might keep them fresh for the quarters though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiderEyed Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 3-3 with a red card for Phil Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North London Red Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 12 minutes ago, Portland Bill said: I honestly don’t think any of the other 15 teams will be worried about playing us. Along with Saudi Arabia I think we have played 2 of the 3 weakest teams in the tournament. Surely I’m not the only one who thinks we are very susceptible at the back. Strange how so many people now seem to be saying Tunisia and Panama are among the weakest teams in the competition after England beat them, when plenty of people were predicting before the tournament that England would be going out at the group stage without winning a game! And the world rankings would suggest otherwise (Tunisia are higher than quite a few teams in other groups). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Give some of the second string players a game and play to win. Win, we keep momentum and confidence and have freshened up a few key players. Yes it’s a tougher side of the draw, but if you want to win a World Cup you have to have momentum and beat big teams along the way. Lose and come second, fine, it’s the ‘easier’ side of the draw and travel benefits etc, but for me, this World Cup is setting itself up to be a year of the underdog. Plenty have shown there are no easy games. Eitherway, I’d rather we go out vs. Brazil or France trying to win every game, than lose in the last 16 to Japan having thrown the Belgium game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midlands Robin Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Win, win and keep on winning. Fear no one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, North London Red said: Strange how so many people now seem to be saying Tunisia and Panama are among the weakest teams in the competition after England beat them, when plenty of people were predicting before the tournament that England would be going out at the group stage without winning a game! And the world rankings would suggest otherwise (Tunisia are higher than quite a few teams in other groups). Tunisia are not too bad I'd suggest, not too terrible- but still pretty poor. Panama are totally useless though, yet still opened us up a few times which was worrying tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 I'd give a few others a run out, I'd definitely give Rashford a chance to have a full game and go for the win, end of the day no matter how "easy" the ties are sooner or later you're going to play a hard game if you want to win it so why not go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portland Bill Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 5 minutes ago, North London Red said: Strange how so many people now seem to be saying Tunisia and Panama are among the weakest teams in the competition after England beat them, when plenty of people were predicting before the tournament that England would be going out at the group stage without winning a game! And the world rankings would suggest otherwise (Tunisia are higher than quite a few teams in other groups). Well I certainly wasn’t! Perhaps your right, perhaps I’m doing England a disservice. But, they have conceded 7 goals in two games, the joint second worse goals against tally, only beaten by........Panama who have conceded 9!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gifford Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Rest key players but go for the win. As much as 2nd place would be preferable, the momentum and confidence would help us against a tougher half of the draw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmissionImpossible Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Panama are/were the worst team in the World Cup. Tunisia are on the poorer side of average but saying all that what will be will be and anyone suggesting England shouldn’t play as normal is a few screws loose. Imagine the hyperbole and outcry if Argentina did that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Winning the group atm would mean playing Columbia.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Just now, Tomarse said: Winning the group atm would mean playing Columbia.. Not much difference really Senegal are also decent. Tough games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North London Red Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 30 minutes ago, Portland Bill said: Well I certainly wasn’t! Perhaps your right, perhaps I’m doing England a disservice. But, they have conceded 7 goals in two games, the joint second worse goals against tally, only beaten by........Panama who have conceded 9!. Time will tell. I actually agree with you that our defence is a potential weak spot - it hasn't faced a serious test yet, and sooner or later it will (quite possibly in a couple of hours). It also remains to be seen how we'll react to going a goal down, coming up against a team who are better at keeping the ball than we are, and coming up against a team who'll try to get our most volatile player sent off (which we fell for in the games when we were knocked out in 1998 and 2006). And that's before you even bring in the possibility of needing to win a penalty shootout if we want to go far in this tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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