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Post by vjaska on Jul 12, 2018 11:24:46 GMT
Honestly I'm a bit disappointed by the reaction of some "fans". They are acting like we got knocked out in the groups and don't appreciate the fact we got this far to begin with. Southgate and the team did an excellent job and although I'm not English by blood, I'm still very proud of them. Except I'm not a fan and I'm merely giving my honest opinion on them. The constant arrogance & cockiness of England players has put me off supporting them quite frankly and I was looking for some sort of change but sadly that's still there. At the end of the day, they had an easy group (1st & 2nd place were virtually assured), an easy run to the semis in which they still lost to a side who has less quality squad wise & who struggled through many games in the tournament and they played no one major - I was looking for something that made me sit up and take notice and bar a couple of good performances, I've still got the same questions about how good they actually are - had they a played a top side & won, that would of made me noticed. At the end of the day, I'm not saying people can't celebrate or be proud, just take a dose of reality and realise how fortunate you were in terms of the draw & who got knocked out. |
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Post by NWBusConnoisseur on Jul 12, 2018 12:22:57 GMT
Honestly I'm a bit disappointed by the reaction of some "fans". They are acting like we got knocked out in the groups and don't appreciate the fact we got this far to begin with. Southgate and the team did an excellent job and although I'm not English by blood, I'm still very proud of them. Except I'm not a fan and I'm merely giving my honest opinion on them. The constant arrogance & cockiness of England players has put me off supporting them quite frankly and I was looking for some sort of change but sadly that's still there. At the end of the day, they had an easy group (1st & 2nd place were virtually assured), an easy run to the semis in which they still lost to a side who has less quality squad wise & who struggled through many games in the tournament and they played no one major - I was looking for something that made me sit up and take notice and bar a couple of good performances, I've still got the same questions about how good they actually are - had they a played a top side & won, that would of made me noticed. At the end of the day, I'm not saying people can't celebrate or be proud, just take a dose of reality and realise how fortunate you were in terms of the draw & who got knocked out. I wasn't addressing you directly, my bad if you thought that. I was talking about all these people on social media who were being very negative despite England reaching the semis. These were also the same people screaming IT'S COMING HOME literally a few days ago. |
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Post by sid on Jul 12, 2018 13:03:29 GMT
Except I'm not a fan and I'm merely giving my honest opinion on them. The constant arrogance & cockiness of England players has put me off supporting them quite frankly and I was looking for some sort of change but sadly that's still there. At the end of the day, they had an easy group (1st & 2nd place were virtually assured), an easy run to the semis in which they still lost to a side who has less quality squad wise & who struggled through many games in the tournament and they played no one major - I was looking for something that made me sit up and take notice and bar a couple of good performances, I've still got the same questions about how good they actually are - had they a played a top side & won, that would of made me noticed. At the end of the day, I'm not saying people can't celebrate or be proud, just take a dose of reality and realise how fortunate you were in terms of the draw & who got knocked out. I wasn't addressing you directly, my bad if you thought that. I was talking about all these people on social media who were being very negative despite England reaching the semis. These were also the same people screaming IT'S COMING HOME literally a few days ago. Obviously there's a lot of disappointment but most people seem quite upbeat about it with lots of praise for the dignity of Gareth Southgate and his players and not a hint of any problem from the fans. |
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Post by vjaska on Jul 12, 2018 13:09:44 GMT
Except I'm not a fan and I'm merely giving my honest opinion on them. The constant arrogance & cockiness of England players has put me off supporting them quite frankly and I was looking for some sort of change but sadly that's still there. At the end of the day, they had an easy group (1st & 2nd place were virtually assured), an easy run to the semis in which they still lost to a side who has less quality squad wise & who struggled through many games in the tournament and they played no one major - I was looking for something that made me sit up and take notice and bar a couple of good performances, I've still got the same questions about how good they actually are - had they a played a top side & won, that would of made me noticed. At the end of the day, I'm not saying people can't celebrate or be proud, just take a dose of reality and realise how fortunate you were in terms of the draw & who got knocked out. I wasn't addressing you directly, my bad if you thought that. I was talking about all these people on social media who were being very negative despite England reaching the semis. These were also the same people screaming IT'S COMING HOME literally a few days ago. Fair enough, I've not noticed that myself but can easily believe that people have acted in my way. |
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Post by ServerKing on Jul 12, 2018 14:52:43 GMT
The problem is though whilst England has got further than anyone thought, it’s still only down to having the easiest draw I’ve ever seen in a World Cup which actually leaves us asking is that England team any good and the fact is no can answer it. Before anyone mentions Portugal and their run during Euro 2016, we found out exactly how great they were in this World Cup which was, bar the Spain game, not particularly good. For me, they were never properly tested and the jury on how good they are is well & truely still out. Anyway, well played Croatia and good luck in the final. Portugal weren't tested in 2016 but they won it fairly and squarely just as England got to the semi-finals fairly and squarely and without resorting to some of the disgraceful cheating that we've seen in this tournament. By the same logic Croatia haven't been properly tested apart from maybe against a poor Argentina, but if they win it Sunday they'll have done so on merit. ... or with a referee looking the other way and ignoring the advice of the VAR team  What's the point of VAR if you can choose to ignore it? Would you ignore a warning light on the dashboard of your bus or car?  |
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Post by sid on Jul 14, 2018 17:36:06 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44748604Disappointing finish to the campaign but we were in with a chance until late in the game when Phil Jones error let Eden Hazard in and Harry Kane looks like picking up the golden boot unless the French can do something remarkable tomorrow, Kane looked jaded today though as did Romalu Lakaku for Belgium. Fourth place is no disgrace, far better than was anticipated.
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Post by vjaska on Jul 14, 2018 18:50:23 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44748604Disappointing finish to the campaign but we were in with a chance until late in the game when Phil Jones error let Eden Hazard in and Harry Kane looks like picking up the golden boot unless the French can do something remarkable tomorrow, Kane looked jaded today though as did Romalu Lakaku for Belgium. Fourth place is no disgrace, far better than was anticipated. Only by virtue of multiple missed chances by Belgium, they really should of been 3-0 up by half time. Looks like the England performance of every other tournament finally showed up - bar Pickford, Loftus-Cheek & Rashford, they were poor today. An upopular opinion here but that team needs serious work if they're to even compete at the next tournament as there was too many passengers carried throughout the tournament as it's unhighly unlikely to get another ultra kind draw - Ali, Lingard Rose, Dier, Sterling, & from during the entire knock out stages, Kane were being carried by others whilst poor Welbeck hardly got even a sniff of action. They relied too much on set pieces to the point where only Iran created less chances during the tournament from open play and that's down to Southgate going with a possesion based style but then leaving the only two English players who can pick that through pass in Wilshere & Shelvey. So while people can rightly be proud, I've seen nothing to suggest that any progress has been made so lets see what happens at Euro 2020. |
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Post by sid on Jul 14, 2018 19:16:00 GMT
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44748604Disappointing finish to the campaign but we were in with a chance until late in the game when Phil Jones error let Eden Hazard in and Harry Kane looks like picking up the golden boot unless the French can do something remarkable tomorrow, Kane looked jaded today though as did Romalu Lakaku for Belgium. Fourth place is no disgrace, far better than was anticipated. Only by virtue of multiple missed chances by Belgium, they really should of been 3-0 up by half time. Looks like the England performance of every other tournament finally showed up - bar Pickford, Loftus-Cheek & Rashford, they were poor today. An upopular opinion here but that team needs serious work if they're to even compete at the next tournament as there was too many passengers carried throughout the tournament as it's unhighly unlikely to get another ultra kind draw - Ali, Lingard Rose, Dier, Sterling, & from during the entire knock out stages, Kane were being carried by others whilst poor Welbeck hardly got even a sniff of action. They relied too much on set pieces to the point where only Iran created less chances during the tournament from open play and that's down to Southgate going with a possesion based style but then leaving the only two English players who can pick that through pass in Wilshere & Shelvey. So while people can rightly be proud, I've seen nothing to suggest that any progress has been made so lets see what happens at Euro 2020. I think you must have been watching a different game to me and fourth place is no mean achievement. Euro 2020 is a long way off and it'll be back to domestic football soon and international football will be pretty much forgotten about. |
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Post by ronnie on Jul 15, 2018 16:07:56 GMT
That was a ridiculous penalty
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Post by sid on Jul 15, 2018 16:26:49 GMT
That was a ridiculous penalty Great strike from Mbappe, surely all over now? Just as I post that what a gaffe by Lloris! |
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Post by vjaska on Jul 15, 2018 16:59:05 GMT
What a farce - Croatia were absolutely robbed considering the free kick for the first goal was never a free kick and was actually a dive by Greizmann whilst the penalty was a joke - Perisic is blinded by the defender in front of him and couldn’t know where the ball was going. Lucky win for France who really should of played better given the amount of quality they have.
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Post by ronnie on Jul 15, 2018 17:05:47 GMT
Yes it’s all over now
Congratulations to France - well played and deserved champions!
And Croatia - what can I say! They probably played better than France today and were brilliant but were downright unlucky with that own goal and that penalty. A bit of a shame for them they couldn’t win ...
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Post by ronnie on Jul 15, 2018 17:07:43 GMT
What a farce - Croatia were absolutely robbed considering the free kick for the first goal was never a free kick and was actually a dive by Greizmann whilst the penalty was a joke - Perisic is blinded by the defender in front of him and couldn’t know where the ball was going. Lucky win for France who really should of played better given the amount of quality they have. Fully agree. Without those howlers from the referee we would have been watching extra time now |
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Post by Paul on Jul 15, 2018 17:54:10 GMT
It was a strange World Cup Final in that Croatia didn’t deserve to be on the wrong end of a 4-2 defeat. I was hoping Croatia could pull it off and thought they were the better side in the first half. I thought it was a penalty - the hand went down to the ball - but can see why some would disagree. Croatia tired in the second half, not surprising given their extra time exploits and France took full advantage. Unlike other World Cups where the winner has been clearly the best side, I’m not entirely sure France have been. They’ve certainly been one of the best and probably deserve their win
As to the tournament overall I think it’s been one of the best. I’ve been watching World Cups since 1990 and this one has probably been my favourite. All the worries over Russia hosting it failed to come to pass and its been a fabulous month of football. Looking forward, this might be a high point. I can’t see Qatar hosting a better World Cup (it’ll be at the wrong time of year for a start!) and after that it goes to 48 teams which is far too many for a summer tournament. It’s a sad fact that we might just have seen the best World Cup we will ever see
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Post by sid on Jul 15, 2018 19:40:31 GMT
It was a strange World Cup Final in that Croatia didn’t deserve to be on the wrong end of a 4-2 defeat. I was hoping Croatia could pull it off and thought they were the better side in the first half. I thought it was a penalty - the hand went down to the ball - but can see why some would disagree. Croatia tired in the second half, not surprising given their extra time exploits and France took full advantage. Unlike other World Cups where the winner has been clearly the best side, I’m not entirely sure France have been. They’ve certainly been one of the best and probably deserve their win As to the tournament overall I think it’s been one of the best. I’ve been watching World Cups since 1990 and this one has probably been my favourite. All the worries over Russia hosting it failed to come to pass and its been a fabulous month of football. Looking forward, this might be a high point. I can’t see Qatar hosting a better World Cup (it’ll be at the wrong time of year for a start!) and after that it goes to 48 teams which is far too many for a summer tournament. It’s a sad fact that we might just have seen the best World Cup we will ever see I thought it was a fantastic game from a neutral perspective befitting what has been a great tournament. Croatia will feel a bit aggrieved but they got the rub of the green in the semi-finals and France got it today, Griezeman went down far too easily for the free kick which lead to the first goal but Croatia could have defended it properly and they didn't. As for the penalty my initial thought was that it was very harsh but having watched it on slow mo a few times I can see why it was given, the referee had a good long look on VAR and we have to accept his decision. Anyway congratulations to France. Overall it's been a fantastic tournament, I think the only downside has been some poor refereeing, I think VAR is great but it's only as good as the person looking at the monitor. Why there was all this talk of trouble is beyond me, visiting fans seem to have been overwhelmed by the friendliness of the Russians, I think it's been a great advert for the country and it's certainly on my bucket list. I'm a bit dubious about Qatar hosting it in 2022 and I think 48 teams is ridiculous. |
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What's the point of VAR if you can choose to ignore it? Would you ignore a warning light on the dashboard of your bus or car? 