World Cup match chat

[Leysboy]

A win on Tuesday and everyone forgets tonight .

I wanted England in the bottom half of the draw. I’ve said that for the last two days

 

[Foley]

Well a pretty even game and Rashford really should have drawn the game for us.

Not the end of the World. We need to play well to beat Columbia, but if we do then the draw is as kind as you could hope for (I am not saying any game will be easy, but in a World Cup you really couldn't ask for a better draw now)

 

[Craig]

I thought they were the better team. Rose did pretty well at times, but I don’t think anyone else caused Southgate much a selection dilemma for the next game.

I’m not torn up about it though. Columbia is a tricky game, but I would rather play Columbia than have to potentially play Brazil. If we beat Columbia, it could be Sweden or Switzerland, right? With the possibility of Spain in the semi-final. Not saying I expect us to get that far, just that it seems the slightly easier route to the final.

 

[Berliner]

It would be typically England to play like they have done so far, get an ideal route to the semis and then lose in the last 16 against Colombia.
Very, very tough game. Although Japan would have been no walk in the park either.
I also disagree that we weren't interested yesterday. There were flashes of good stuff but the final ball was always lacking. And it gave the first XI a rest while keeping the second string sharp. Rose was OK, Loftus Cheek as well. Apart from them nobody really making an advert to start (Vardy especially).

 

[horseman]

Given the game was a dead rubber and the mindset of the players i don't see how anyone can be judged on whether they're good enough for another start.
it was just like another of those friendly internationals at Wembley.

 

[holdsteady]

I thought Loftus Cheek showed his potential again, been wasted at Chelsea (saying that he looks good enough to get in that fading team now) and needs to move. Has a lot of strength and is hard to get the ball off of, even if this tournament is a bit early I would like to see him play regularly over the next two years, potentially the midfielder we have been looking for.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Given the opportunity to give his best team their first minutes against a team that should be able to hurt them, and that the defending is the weakness, it's a shame Sarfgate chose to save energy or give non-players minutes. Now he's got the match of his life against a team with real pace & movement, the dirty, cheating, cynical Colombians whose Peckerman knows enough to keep them up.

 

[Gary Baldi]

Colombia are a decent team, but no world beaters. It will be incumbent on England defending properly, but having a proper striker up front makes England a potent team

 

[m]

Last night was an unimpressive as it was unimportant.

Our record against Sweden leaves a bit to be desired, we're much better v Switzerland and have never lost to Colombia. That said, we'd not lost to Belgium in 80 years.

 

[Leysboy]

It would be typically England to play like they have done so far, get an ideal route to the semis and then lose in the last 16 against Colombia.
Very, very tough game. Although Japan would have been no walk in the park either.
I also disagree that we weren't interested yesterday. There were flashes of good stuff but the final ball was always lacking. And it gave the first XI a rest while keeping the second string sharp. Rose was OK, Loftus Cheek as well. Apart from them nobody really making an advert to start (Vardy especially).

Loftus Cheek made some good runs, and did well. I also thought young Trent Alexanda Arnold played well. Only thing he did wrong was a few of his corners were quite poor. On the whole good experience for the lad, and will only get better.

 

[mooro]

I fear we may regret the outcome last night, whether we went for it or not.
I just dont trust us against Columbia

 

[Marked Ox]

I fear we may regret the outcome last night, whether we went for it or not.
I just dont trust us against Columbia

In 5 games against them we've beaten them 3 times and draw 2. We last beat them in 2005 in a friendly and beat them in our only World Cup game against them in 1998 2-0.

How relevant is very debatable.

 

[Sarge]

In 5 games against them we've beaten them 3 times and draw 2. We last beat them in 2005 in a friendly and beat them in our only World Cup game against them in 1998 2-0.

How relevant is very debatable.

And it may depend on how much of their best known export the Colombian team have kept back from Fatboy Maradonna as to how well they perform against England!

 

[Gary Baldi]

Rodriguez is carrying a knock at the moment. Very much their best player.

 

[Didcotox]

It would be typically England to play like they have done so far, get an ideal route to the semis and then lose in the last 16 against Colombia.
Very, very tough game. Although Japan would have been no walk in the park either.
I also disagree that we weren't interested yesterday. There were flashes of good stuff but the final ball was always lacking. And it gave the first XI a rest while keeping the second string sharp. Rose was OK, Loftus Cheek as well. Apart from them nobody really making an advert to start (Vardy especially).

Agree. We don’t play long balls so vardy is completely ineffective for us as we don’t play to his strengths.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

This has to be the best chance England have of progressing for years. If England were playing Columbia at wembley, you would expect them to win.
Nothing is different. Just that it is a WC match. We SHOULD win!

 

[Leysboy]

This France v Argentina game has been very good.

 

[Concretebob]

France look like world cup winners to me.

 

[Marked Ox]

France look like world cup winners to me.

Unless their defence continues being a bit rubbish.

 

[tonyw]

When Argentina went 2-1 up I turned to my wife and said that France's problem is that they hadn't gotten out of first gear all tournament, and despite all their talent, you can't just play like that and then turn it on at the drop of a hat when you need to.....

.....errrr, turns out they can! Definitely look like a team that's going to be in the conversation at the end.

Also - how refreshing that the first knockout game featured both teams going for it hammer and tongs, rather than the usual cagy conservatism! If that keeps up, this will be up there with the best World Cup tournaments of the past 40 years (my lifetime).

Now watch Uruguay & Portugal got out there and bore us all to tears for 120 minutes!