Not to mention the incredible number of cynical fouls by the Colombians on Kane et al? Ifs and buts like that are completely pointless. If France had scored one less then they might have gone out to Argentina who by all accounts are in total disarray. Pitifully cynical view, just enjoy the fact we are winning.
FIFA World Cup 2018 - Round of 16 [30th June, 1/2/3 July] **spoilers**
- Thread starter Cosimo
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Croatia, Brazil, Russia, Belgium have all looked better and have been much more interesting to watch than England - I should add that I am not a typical football fan. I know nothing about the EPL, Champions league etc but I love watching the world cup
I would quite like to see England get to the final - but it just annoys me that they are on a pedestal for constant mediocrity. Croatia are my fave's to take the overall at the moment
Fair point that other teams haven't set the place on fire either, but at least they are scoring goals
Interesting the slant many (mainly Colombian) people are taking regarding the referee being bias in favour of England, and the England players being diving cheats.
I wonder if we would have taken a similar view in the past when we came up short against superior teams such as Italy.
I wonder if we would have taken a similar view in the past when we came up short against superior teams such as Italy.
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England did well not to get sucked into all that nonsense. It must have been stressful. Credit to Harry Kane for knowing when to walk away>
EDIT: Were there instances of England players diving? can't recall...
EDIT: Were there instances of England players diving? can't recall...
Not really. Only according to comments on social media, mainly by Colombians.
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The way the players hassled the ref for that blatent pen was a disgrace. Should have shown a red for dissent straight off the bat. Especially the guy roughing up the penalty spot.
Always a problem with the South American teams i'm afraid.
Always a problem with the South American teams i'm afraid.
You could easily say Croatia limped past Iceland and weren't the better team for the 120 mins against Denmark.
Brazil have really not looked confident or comfortable at any time and haven't faced any tests at all.
Not sure where you're coming from with Russia. Fair play they put Spain out, but with very defensive football and if you're worried about being interesting to watch then I don't agree at all.
Belgium are probably the only one I might agree on, they are probably ****** against Brazil though.
Caporegime
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Belgium were outplayed by Japan for a good two thirds of the game. A fluke of a goal was the only reason they got back into. In none of our games even the B side against Belgium have we looked out of control. Yes we are making errors but that's the young squad for you.
Tell you one thing, Gareth Southgate...I thought he was a total drip before this World Cup, lacking any kind of tactical brilliance or ability to change a game. And I thought he was dull as dishwater.
But I've gained so much respect for him this tournament, the way he's carried himself and the expectations of the team/fans. He just comes across as a really chill dude, and you can clearly see he values a good relationship with his players above all else, which you've not felt with any recent previous England manager. And last night with him walking over almost immediately to the chap who missed the Colombia penalty to console him, thought that was a moment of real class. Would have been so easy to just get carried away and celebrate with your players/staff, but he took the time to do that nearly straight away.
I'm still not sold on his abilities as a manager though
Still think he leaves it far too late to make changes when they are needed, or has no Plan B when things start to go wrong.
But I've gained so much respect for him this tournament, the way he's carried himself and the expectations of the team/fans. He just comes across as a really chill dude, and you can clearly see he values a good relationship with his players above all else, which you've not felt with any recent previous England manager. And last night with him walking over almost immediately to the chap who missed the Colombia penalty to console him, thought that was a moment of real class. Would have been so easy to just get carried away and celebrate with your players/staff, but he took the time to do that nearly straight away.
I'm still not sold on his abilities as a manager though
Still think he leaves it far too late to make changes when they are needed, or has no Plan B when things start to go wrong.
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No, I've always had respect for Southgate and was very happy when his name was in circulation for the managers job.
Damn, considering some of the others we've had
Roy!
Here's an interesting one...............do you think in years to come Mourinho would take it on? I've always thought he would quite fancy managing the England team.
Damn, considering some of the others we've had
Roy!
Here's an interesting one...............do you think in years to come Mourinho would take it on? I've always thought he would quite fancy managing the England team.
Roy 
I always felt Gareth got the job because he was very much an FA guy though, as opposed to being the best man for the job. But hey, we're in the best position in a major tournament for a long long time so happy to be proved wrong
I always felt Gareth got the job because he was very much an FA guy though, as opposed to being the best man for the job. But hey, we're in the best position in a major tournament for a long long time so happy to be proved wrong
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No, more likely he takes the Portugal job at some point imo.
Soldato
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This is the worst performance from an England team I have ever seen....EVER - Alan Shearer 2016
Yesssssssss boys yeeesss yes yes - Alan Shearer 2018
Yesssssssss boys yeeesss yes yes - Alan Shearer 2018
Even as a United fan, I hope Mourinho doesn't take the England job. Ever. Southgate is showing that the number one factor for success is man management and getting the best out of your players. Mourinho is the opposite, he somehow gets results despite being an awful man manager.
I always thought dissent was a booking yet the whole Colombian team circled the ref. I can understand the team captain going to the ref and having a word, but that should be the limit. The rest should have been booked.
Seems a bad call if he does. Ronnie won't be playing in another WC and might be too old for the next EC. Without him, Portugal just don't have anything. Mourinho seems like he'd want to challenge for titles.
I think we are getting carried away. We came very close to going out last night to a pretty poor Columbia side. Our 3 group matches were against 2 very poor sides and our B team vs Belgiums B team. I don't think I can remember a world cup where as many of the top teams have under-performed as this one either so we could get through to the semi-finals before we play a truly good side. Past world cups have seen us play tricky if not hard teams in the group stages and then you are straight into good teams in the last 16.
Its great that we are in the quarters but we have had the easiest route possible to get here.
I like Gareth Southgate and I think he is good for the England team but he nearly made a massive mistake putting Dier on and waiting until the final 5 minutes of stoppage time to bring Rashford on.
Its great that we are in the quarters but we have had the easiest route possible to get here.
I like Gareth Southgate and I think he is good for the England team but he nearly made a massive mistake putting Dier on and waiting until the final 5 minutes of stoppage time to bring Rashford on.
I dread to think how the tournament would have panned out under Allardyce.
Yeah, I had that one in mind but Maguire got straight back up and shook his hands as if to clarify "no penalty".
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Top comment on that video though, how much marching powder has that lad been through.
Columbia clearly went out there with a game plan. They knew we were a young team and that they could try and wind us up. The ref let them get away with it far too much which only emboldened them.
You can see that was their tactic when even their coach shoulder checked one of our guys leaving the pitch at half time. Tampering with the penalty spot, mobbing the ref at every decision for half the game. They didn't think they could beat us without Rodriguez so they tried to play a dirty game and make us loose our heads. Thank god we won.
You can see that was their tactic when even their coach shoulder checked one of our guys leaving the pitch at half time. Tampering with the penalty spot, mobbing the ref at every decision for half the game. They didn't think they could beat us without Rodriguez so they tried to play a dirty game and make us loose our heads. Thank god we won.