Group G - Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England

[sledger]

Yeah, some odd comments made by the "experts" in the studio tbh.

 

[sledger]

Why was Kane left unmarked in the small penalty box for both the goals

I don't suppose it was deliberate.

 

[sledger]

Tunisia did not even pretend like they wanted to score a goal in that half.

Yeah, no sympathy for them whatsoever. Just a spoiler team that fouls and wastes time.

 

[Xuhaib]

I know but it was odd he got two free headers which he duly disposed off

 

[Furball]

lol that's a top quality rock bottom on Kane in the first half.

 

[harsh.ag]

Dele Alli, got to improve that attitude. England would be better off with a less talented guy in his place otherwise.

 

[Tangles]

Sterling, Lingard and Alli need to do more if they are all going to start. Rashford and Loftus-cheek both made impacts.

 

[sledger]

Lingard did fine.

 

[Furball]

Am I right in thinking that, similar to the TMO in rugby, that the VAR can have a word in the ref's ear when he's missed something?

 

[GIMH]

Phew.

Someone explain how VAR didn’t give both those fouls on Kane please?

Hard work. Some promising moments and some frustrating times. Lots of more fancied sides than us have opened with draws so you’ll take a win like that all day long.

Should breeze past Panama which takes a lot of pressure off that Belgium game. But this is England.

 

[sledger]

Phew.

Someone explain how VAR didn’t give both those fouls on Kane please?

Hard work. Some promising moments and some frustrating times. Lots of more fancied sides than us have opened with draws so you’ll take a win like that all day long.

Should breeze past Panama which takes a lot of pressure off that Belgium game. But this is England.

Had to win imo. Anything other than 3 points here and they would have gone into the Belgium game needing a result, and I would not have fancied that at all.

 

[MW1304]

Had to win imo. Anything other than 3 points here and they would have gone into the Belgium game needing a result, and I would not have fancied that at all.

This isn't necessarily true. Presuming we drew this one then beat Panama, if Belgium beat Tunisia then we may have done enough already. But sure, could have put pressure on getting a result from that game to secure qualification.

Could still stuff up against Panama and be in a similar situation anyway.

 

[sledger]

This isn't necessarily true. Presuming we drew this one then beat Panama, if Belgium beat Tunisia then we may have done enough already. But sure, could have put pressure on getting a result from that game to secure qualification.

Could still stuff up against Panama and be in a similar situation anyway.

True, but rank as Tunisia were, I think we have to assume they will beat Panama, which would have made the Belgium match precarious to say the least.

 

[wpdavid]

wat

any formation relies on its players to take their chances, these misses wouldn't suddenly become better if England were playing with 4 at the back or whatever.

No, but that wasn't meant to be my point. Maybe 'selection' would have been a better choice of word than 'formation'. But right now, any chance that doesn't fall to Kane stands minimal chance of being converted. Rashford instead of Sterling would improve things insofar as he would double the number of player's who don't panic when in front of goal. It's odd how these things go, but after years of having three attacking midfielders who could take their chances in Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes, now we don't really have any. Not at international level, anyway. Perhaps Lingard comes closest.

Don't get me wrong, I like Southgate and think he's going about things the right way. But he's severely limited by the options available to him.

 

[wpdavid]

Had to win imo. Anything other than 3 points here and they would have gone into the Belgium game needing a result, and I would not have fancied that at all.

Likeliest scenario is we'd have been relying on goal difference, unless Tunisia had taken something from their game against Belgium, when we'd really have been in trouble. All academic of course.

 

[GIMH]

Sterling is a better player than Rashford but we can’t rely on him to score. That’s my basic take, I’m tired

 

[sledger]

No, but that wasn't meant to be my point. Maybe 'selection' would have been a better choice of word than 'formation'. But right now, any chance that doesn't fall to Kane stands minimal chance of being converted. Rashford instead of Sterling would improve things insofar as he would double the number of player's who don't panic when in front of goal. It's odd how these things go, but after years of having three attacking midfielders who could take their chances in Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes, now we don't really have any. Not at international level, anyway. Perhaps Lingard comes closest.

Don't get me wrong, I like Southgate and think he's going about things the right way. But he's severely limited by the options available to him.

Well, all the England teams who had supposedly better players to work with didn't exactly fare famously well, so it's not something to be overly concerned by imo.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Someone explain how VAR didn’t give both those fouls on Kane please?

Really wished Southgate would've had a proper whinge at that now we've won and it doesn't seen like sour grapes.

I don't think theirs was a pen, but if he's given that then both had to be stonewallers with VAR.

Tunisia were fecking dog though, weren't they? Scary we took so long to break them down. Our lack of urgency was a wee bit frustrating to an old schooler like me. I'm not advocating lumping it up at any given opportunity, but it's worth noting both goals came from crosses into the box.

We're not Spain and there's no shame in playing to our strengths.

 

[straw man]

Well done England. Didn't expect them to get the winner once it got late in the match having not finished so many previous chances, but for once their performance wasn't destined to inflict maximum pain on their fans. Or maybe this is just the hope-building part of that scheme, I'm not sure.

 

[Johnners]

Still trying to figure out how there was only 3 minutes stoppage time in the first half, when the Tunisian 'keeper spent at least 5 minutes on the deck.