FIFA World Cup 2018 - Semi-finals [10/11 July] **spoilers**

omnomnom said:
Sterling has scared the living daylights out of defenses. Constantly winning throw ins, free kicks etc and creating space for Kane. The idea that because he's missed a few chances means he's played poorly is just harsh.

Lingard has done next to nothing. He scored a decent goal against a pub team and has no where near the criticism despite not playing particularly well in any game.
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Sterling has also constantly given away free kicks, which is truly bizarre considering how small he is. But as well as numerous off-sides given against him, he's also managed to foul and give away free kicks more than just about anyone else.

One game he had something like 12 touches all match and gave away 5 free kicks :p
 
He's been fairly bad - I really hope they give Rashford a chance with Kane tonight

EDIT: Edited to Fairly bad... I think "Awful" was too harsh :p
 
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Marky said:
He's been awful - I really hope they give Rashford a chance with Kane tonight
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I know what you're saying. He really needs to find the back of the damn net. How many chances do you give him. My original post was all about how good he was generally and how well he fitted within the team.
Then I thought, matches are only won by scoring more goals. Would it be too much of a bold move to make such a change this late in the day?

If it were me, i'd start them as normal and see how it goes. Then make the change much earlier than the 90th minute!
 
TheOracle said:
I know what you're saying. He really needs to find the back of the damn net. How many chances do you give him. My original post was all about how good he was generally and how well he fitted within the team.
Then I thought, matches are only won by scoring more goals. Would it be too much of a bold move to make such a change this late in the day?

If it were me, i'd start them as normal and see how it goes. Then make the change much earlier than the 90th minute!
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I edited my post to "He's been fairly bad" :p

I know what you mean when you say about it being potentially too much of a bold move to change it up this late in the game - Perhaps the best scenario is we give him 45 mins and see how it goes.

I was really ****** off in the last game when he walked it around the keeper and ended up being greedy and taking a shot when he had two players ready to shoot into an open net.
 
Marky said:
I edited my post to "He's been fairly bad" :p

I know what you mean when you say about it being potentially too much of a bold move to change it up this late in the game - Perhaps the best scenario is we give him 45 mins and see how it goes.

I was really ****** off in the last game when he walked it around the keeper and ended up being greedy and taking a shot when he had two players ready to shoot into an open net.
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I do wonder if it's a bit of nerves? Score one goal and he comes alive kinda thing. Now would be a pretty awesome time to do it.
 
I really hope England hold their nerve, they *should* be able to handle Croatia reasonably well.
Plus, the thought of an England v France final holds infinitely more appeal and entertainment value than a Croatia v France final.
 
France look strong but if you can nullify Mbappe and Pogba then you've got a chance. Pavard also was instrumental so it'll be difficult to score in freeplay which is probably England's weakness (if Sterling is playing).

I foresee a close, guarded game tonight with neither team wanting to push too many bodies forward followed by a scrappy goal. 1-0 to England.
 
EVH said:
France look strong but if you can nullify Mbappe and Pogba then you've got a chance. Pavard also was instrumental so it'll be difficult to score in freeplay which is probably England's weakness (if Sterling is playing).

I foresee a close, guarded game tonight with neither team wanting to push too many bodies forward followed by a scrappy goal. 1-0 to England.
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If the France/Belgium game is anything to go by just shutting down Mbappe would probably be enough though maybe Pogba would emerge then playing less of a support role than he had been.

Unfortunately the only ways to shutdown Mbappe really is to attack him mentally - either have someone on sacrificially who isn't afraid to take a booking to disrupt his play - which I'm no fan of but tactically has merit - or to try and make him feel isolated from the ball and work on his frustration which would probably mean playing a very risky high line and asking a miracle of the keeper if they cleanly break - because I don't think anyone is chasing him down.

He showed (or maybe that is what they wanted people to see) that he can be got to mentally in the last game.
 
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