England Vs France - Saturday 10th Dec - 19:00

[AS78UK]

46 minutes ago, The Horse's Mouth said:

Saka had a shocker today lad

Thought he was our biggest threat....i may have watched a different game

[Corky]

Matterface's line about Chris Waddle was utterly classless. 

[Guest Col city fan]

4 minutes ago, AS78UK said:

Thought he was our biggest threat....i may have watched a different game

I thought he was our best player?!

[Zear0]

7 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

I thought he was our best player?!

Same,went to rats when he went off. 

[Lionator]

Saka was the only one who created anything. 

[Fear Of The Fox]

Facts:

- England played quite well against a top national team. 

- Kane bottled it (again). 

- Southgate could do better utilising the options on the bench. 

- Morocco and Croatia are in the semi finals having beaten top national teams. 

 

Tournament/campaign isn't successful imo. 

 

 

[NasPb]

Sorry for my English brothers and sisters today. Wanted to play against you lot as a moroccan. But Southgate is a naive man who's stuck up in his own ways. One thing is to be pragmatic but he's a manager who goes off of fear not instinct. He has no killer instinct. 3 tournaments blown when you could have won at least one. Negative fearful manager. Hope you guys bring someone who's better. Ignoring Maddison made me want to go crazy even as a non English man (and a leicester fan ofc.) he should be forced out. Probably won't be tho. Fa will go for another yesman

[oadby.fox]

We won’t win anything until the manager isn’t afraid or intelligent enough to play his best team 

[foxes_rule1978]

4 hours ago, weller54 said:

Why?...

He's spot on!!!

So shut up 

[foxes_rule1978]

8 minutes ago, oadby.fox said:

We won’t win anything until the manager isn’t afraid or intelligent enough to play his best team 

Oh cares, seems france are amazing and deserved the win, well not from what I saw… England on top for most of the match. Mentality is the problem, and we are slipping into that same problem that we have done for many years. Excellent team, creating but not having the guts to win it when it matters 

[Deeg67]

Southgate, LOL...  Needing a goal he leaves Maddison and Graelish on the bench, and pulls his best player on the day (Saka).  Reminds me a lot of Belgium with Martinez, where a bad manager's incompetence pisses away a golden generation's chance at glory.

[Deeg67]

2 hours ago, Pliskin said:

I thought Griezman was outstanding today. He just ran the show for France, picked up pockets of space all over the pitch, committed lots of professional fouls, played a stunning ball for Giroud’s goal. It was a performance that may have gone unnoticed, he was the difference for me. 

I agree with this, Griezman has been a revelation this tournament.  Mbappe is the best player in the world but he wasn't their best player tonight.

 

Credit to France, despite massive injury problems they do find a way to win matches.  Superior individual ability, experience, and a justified belief that they'll come out on top.  They were second-best after half time but they still walk away with the glory.  As great as Morocco has been (allowed 1 own goal in the entire tournament and nothing else) I don't think they're well-positioned to take advantage of where injuries have weakened the French.

[Sly]

This is how L’Equipe rated everyone. 
 

Lloris was MoTm for them. 
 

 

[Staff]

3 minutes ago, Sly said:

This is how L’Equipe rated everyone. 
 

Lloris was MoTm for them. 
 

 

Only rating worth noting there is the refs 

[trabuch]

Taking Salad off was the worst decision. Dreadful subs. Piss off Southgate. Kane will be England's all time top scorer and will have won nothing. 

[fox_favourite]

12 minutes ago, trabuch said:

Taking Salad off was the worst decision. Dreadful subs. Piss off Southgate. Kane will be England's all time top scorer and will have won nothing. 

Have you also noticed it’s the only subs he does. Never really switches it tactically just changes the wide areas. Tactical genius he is not. 

[Deeg67]

17 minutes ago, trabuch said:

Kane will be England's all time top scorer and will have won nothing. 

"For club and country"

[marbles]

42 minutes ago, trabuch said:

Taking Salad off was the worst decision. Dreadful subs. Piss off Southgate. Kane will be England's all time top scorer and will have won nothing. 

That’s on Kane

He’s had opportunities and failed every time.

[Dan]

5 hours ago, The Horse's Mouth said:

I don’t think there’s been a player that is as talented as Kane and as much of a jinx

It's beyond a coincidence at this point. Nearly 30 and still hasn't won a trophy despite that talent. It prevents me putting him in the top bracket and it'll stay that way until he proves otherwise.

 

5 hours ago, Lionator said:

It is essentially true that this England team are flat track bullies. Time and time again we’ve bottled it against teams of similar ability. 

I think bar Spain away in 2018 Nations League England haven't won a game under Southgate they weren't favourites for. Flat-track bullies is correct. Excellent at putting away the 'lesser' sides (and many do fail this, including England previously) but England just seem destined to come up short.

[marbles]

8 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

It's beyond a coincidence at this point. Nearly 30 and still hasn't won a trophy despite that talent. It prevents me putting him in the top bracket and it'll stay that way until he proves otherwise.

 

It happens.

There are players in every sport that are dominant when nothing important is on the line.  But once it is, and the focus is on them, they just can’t take it to another level.  Those that can are true legends.

Edited 11 December 2022 by marbles

[Dan]

2 minutes ago, marbles said:

It happens.

There are players in every sport that are dominant when nothing important is on the line.  But once it is, and the focus is on them, they just can’t take it to another level.  Those that can are true legends.

It's what seperates greatness. It's brutal but it's the truth.

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, marbles said:

It happens.

There are players in every sport that are dominant when nothing important is on the line.  But once it is, and the focus is on them, they just can’t take it to another level.  Those that can are true legends.

 

4 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

It's what seperates greatness. It's brutal but it's the truth.

Yep.

 

While I'm one of his biggest fans ever, I would count Andy Murray among those too. Three wins from eleven Grand Slam finals, while pretty fair in an era of three of the finest players ever to play the game, isn't a great return when it really, really matters.

[Jon the Hat]

22 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

Yep.

 

While I'm one of his biggest fans ever, I would count Andy Murray among those too. Three wins from eleven Grand Slam finals, while pretty fair in an era of three of the finest players ever to play the game, isn't a great return when it really, really matters.

It sure beats not winning any grand slam finals.

[Jon the Hat]

On reflection after a couple of hours sleep, we continue to be flat track bullies, but fail against the top few teams.  We have the talent, and all credit to Southgate for shaking off the fear of failure, but I’m entirely unconvinced he can take us to victory.  Time for a change.

[leicsmac]

6 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

It sure beats not winning any grand slam finals.

Yep, certainly.

 

Guess it's just a bit frustrating seeing so many of what could be defined as missed opportunities, even when the opposition were some of the greatest of all time.

 

Don't get me wrong, the UK and he should be proud of what he's done, but looking back you can't help but wonder if there could have been...more. And that's a sentiment being shared by many this morning, I think.