England v Wales

[skyscraper101]

Poor old Wales. I'd have loved to see an England Wales, 1, 2 in the group stages. At least Senegal should be a good game. Totally different type of opponent for England than US, Wales, etc.

 

[BigMoaner]

Yes England. Yes yes yes

 

[DaphneM]

Wales have been really disappointing at this world cup - after some great performances at the last two euros they were flat as a fart.

The problem is that Bale is too old, and they haven't got a team without him tbh

 

[twistedAM]

The problem is that Bale is too old, and they haven't got a team without him tbh

I had to look that up; he's 33. Not that old but for whatever reasons his career had been wayward for a good few seasons.

 

[Kaka Tim]

I had to look that up; he's 33. Not that old but for whatever reasons his career had been wayward for a good few seasons.

yep. its not that old - especially for a player of his caliber (messi is 35) . hes been tossing it off for the past two years - and it shows. Id be pretty pissed off with him if I was a wales fan. The wales of euro 2020 (21) would've likely beaten Iran and would have given England a proper game.

 

[co-op]

Great second half from England.

I thought the first half was great too, any chance of a Welsh result depended on some blood and guts battle and England just threw a big wet towel over the game and muffled it completely. It was like watching Germany or Italy smother a game. Not a skill England have ever really had and certainly one reason England lost to Italy in the Euros.

 

[Plumdaff]

Wales had more competitive matches against Belgium/Netherlands/Poland in the past few months. There'll be a lot of thinking about why that Wales never turned up - it's clearly now a transitional side with the likes of Bale, Ramsey and Allen coming to the end of their careers but that was true in the summer, and Wales looked a hell of a lot better of those games. I don't know if it was the weight of expectation, or too low match fitness throughout the squad, but I am sure there were tactical mistakes in the set up. It's time to start working towards March. I suppose the price of regularly getting to tournaments is that eventually you have a shit one. It doesn't take away the achievement of getting there, but now the focus has to be on the clearly needed transition and trying to ensure the past six years are not an anomaly. Could do with another Brian Flynn.

 

[spellbinder]

Last night renewed my faith in this bunch of players it shows they can take a massive knock after drawing with usa. They picked themselves up, ignored the media critics and showed professionalism and maturity beyond their years, well done lads i'm well proud
The way it's looking we will meet france after sengal - southgate needs to wrap walker in cottonwool as i think he's the only player who can handle mbappe.

My excitement is starting to rise

 

[Wilf]

I'd have loved it to be 1. Eng and 2. Wales or vice versa. Thing is though, I wasn't exactly gutted when Wales went out. If it had been a barnstorming performance and just falling short, maybe. But this was just flat.

England perhaps flatter to deceive. Looked good against Iran, good in the second half v Wales (+ good game management after the goals). Pretty hopeless/uninspired v USA. Should beat Senegal and have a decent chance against anybody other than about 4 of the best teams. No idea who they would play if they beat Senegal?

Edit: quite possibly France or Argentina. Oh.

 

[co-op]

The way it's looking we will meet france after sengal

I know we're looking at Senegal as a not-bad Ro16 draw but it's not actually a done deal yet

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Not sure France are invincible to be fair.

 

[BigMoaner]

I know we're looking at Senegal as a not-bad Ro16 draw but it's not actually a done deal yet

for sure will be tough

 

[Idaho]

Not sure France are invincible to be fair.

Yeah holding USA to a draw looks positively professional compared to losing to Tunisia.