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England vs Slovenia, 8pm (ITV)

People look at the overall result but it often depends on a single moment or a lucky draw.
Yes, it's a game of fine margins these days at the highest level....Kane was through and read pulled back, that would've been a goal.... Should've been a red card imo
 
There's a massive sense of entitlement to certain sections of the England support. England are a middling team, historically. Only ever reached two major finals, one of those under Southgate, who's also reached the semis of the WC, as good as anyone other than Ramsay. (Also never reached a final not held in England.) So this is very definitely an 'up' phase for England.

They're historically an underachieving team, but with a section of fans who think they're direct rivals to Germany. :confused:
English exceptionalism is strong, it matches England in politics. Fact is at the Euros everyone is good, there's much more equality than there used to be, training standards are higher across the board. There's no easy games any more.

I'm prone to that too. Our group looked easy, it wasn't. Coming top is a success.
Key issue is entertainment factor I think.
 
English exceptionalism is strong, it matches England in politics. Fact is at the Euros everyone is good, there's much more equality than there used to be, training standards are higher across the board. There's no easy games any more.

I'm prone to that too. Our group looked easy, it wasn't. Coming top is a success.
Key issue is entertainment factor I think.
Yeah, I've criticised the expansion to 24 teams, but the 'little' teams like Georgia have been great to watch. I still don't like the format much, but we're stuck with it.

That said, with the possible exception of Croatia (who are a team in decline... and had a tough group) there have been no surprises so far with big teams failing to qualify.
 
English exceptionalism is strong, it matches England in politics. Fact is at the Euros everyone is good, there's much more equality than there used to be, training standards are higher across the board. There's no easy games any more.

I'm prone to that too. Our group looked easy, it wasn't. Coming top is a success.
Key issue is entertainment factor I think.

The thing that's made me laugh over the last couple of days is the number of people going on about how they wouldn't mind losing if the team was more attacking. I mean, can you imagine the rage explosion from those exact same people if England were here now having got knocked out with three 4-3 defeats. :D
 
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The thing that's made me laugh over the last couple of days is the number of people going on about how they wouldn't mind losing if the team was more attacking. I mean, can you imagine the rage explosion from those exact same people if England were here now having got knocked out with three 4-3 defeats. :D
You are right....and from a pure strategic point of view this has been a perfect result for this stage of the comp.
 
As to negativity on this thread, well, hey that's pretty much what people do on... threads like this. :)

As to the actual England team, yes, Southgate is the best manager since Ramsay and had success for a longer period than Ramsay (and in larger format tournaments for that matter). Might add, he knows a wee bit more than me about managing football teams, so there's that as well. For me it's just a sense of frustration that he's a bit too conservative. Obviously, sticking Mainoo and the rest in from the start isn't guaranteed to succeed, but after 3 uninspiring performances looks like the way to go. But in his post match interview last night I didn't get the impression he's going to do anything like that. Maybe just Mainoo. It's just, gah, a sense of frustration that they could get that bit more out of what is a very good squad, which at the moment is performing as less than the sum of it's parts. Good chance of beating whoever comes next... so why keep moaning... but gah, that nagging sense again.
 
The thing that's made me laugh over the last couple of days is the number of people going on about how they wouldn't mind losing if the team was more attacking. I mean, can you imagine the rage explosion from those exact same people if England were here now having got knocked out with three 4-3 defeats. :D
Mate I've had two years of the same thing endlessly repeated. It's nonsense.
 
Maximum five days, minimum about an hour and a half.
Aye, that about sums it up.

I took part in one game where the opposing side were bowled out for ten runs. None of them had played cricket before. Our No3 didn't even bother to pad up. :)

Here is 43 runs from a single over:

 
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The thing that's made me laugh over the last couple of days is the number of people going on about how they wouldn't mind losing if the team was more attacking. I mean, can you imagine the rage explosion from those exact same people if England were here now having got knocked out with three 4-3 defeats. :D

At current rate we're not likely to ever find out are we? :)

You really prefer watching three boring going-nowhere games where England have a single shot on target and either draw or win 1-0? Rather than exciting, attacking 3-4 games which at least suggest to supporters and other countries that the players actually enjoy the game and are quite good?

England's not the right team to get emotionally tied to winning with. Really. If they go out I'll be a bit put out for half an hour but will happily start wanting France and Spain and anyone else who plays attacking football to win.
 
At current rate we're not likely to ever find out are we? :)

You really prefer watching three boring going-nowhere games where England have a single shot on target and either draw or win 1-0? Rather than exciting, attacking 3-4 games which at least suggest to supporters and other countries that the players actually enjoy the game and are quite good?

Well the point isn't so much that I prefer it, it's more that the idea there's this choice to be made doesn't really add up.

You look at picking Alexander-Arnold - I think it was you who said you'd want him to be picked. The thing is Southgate did pick him for the first two games. And that's ostensibly an attacking move isn't it - he's been put in there for his attacking qualities for sure. Except with him in there you can't really win the ball back quickly or press the opponent so it's harder to get up the pitch. Maybe you pick him on the right but then you're dropping either Walker who adds quite a bit in attack himself and can actually defend, or Saka, and I don't see that as a particularly attacking move.

And any where on the team you look you get those issues. It's not that the team couldn't play better in attack of course but there's no simple defend less/attack more trade off to be made.
 
International tournament football isn't exciting. It never is. It's cagey and defensive. It's why teams with a solid back line like Italy sit back and win the fucking thing. The excitement is in the peril. Remember winning that shoot out against Colombia? The Pickford save? Glorious. But the football is always like this.
 
International tournament football isn't exciting. It never is. It's cagey and defensive. It's why teams with a solid back line like Italy sit back and win the fucking thing. The excitement is in the peril. Remember winning that shoot out against Colombia? The Pickford save? Glorious. But the football is always like this.
apart from pretty much every game so far not involving england... you're completely right.
 
apart from pretty much every game so far not involving england... you're completely right.
There were a lot of goals in the first round of games, it's true. That was unusual for tournament football though, imo. And I think some of that is from opening up to more teams. It's much less stale this year :cool:
 
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