England were clearly the better team from min 20 on, yet football is such a fine margins game. Southgate will probably go, well knowing that however high the base you pose, it is never high enough to break the ceiling.
Day 19: Morocco vs Portugal | England vs France (QF 3&4)
- Thread starter Samid
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Yep, this one is on Southgate who has taken England about as far as he can.
Good game by England for sure but never had the feeling France had to get out of 2nd gear.
What England seem to lack most of all is self confidence. Over the decades they have built up a World Cup trauma. The same applies to Holland, Portugal and Spain (despite winning a wc fairly recently).
Compare that to France and they seem untouchable, England wasn't able to make them nervous.
What England seem to lack most of all is self confidence. Over the decades they have built up a World Cup trauma. The same applies to Holland, Portugal and Spain (despite winning a wc fairly recently).
Compare that to France and they seem untouchable, England wasn't able to make them nervous.
You snuck Mount in there
Fashionable to shit on him but I think he's a good player.
Upamecano is always aggressive which is normally a good thing, but today he was far to aggressive and always tried to get to the ball before the attacker.
Probably his worst game in the whole year, he has been Bayerns best defender this season.
Probably his worst game in the whole year, he has been Bayerns best defender this season.
I just feel like France won it because Deschamps was brave enough to field Griezman in midfield and Giroud up top.
Those two connected for the match winner.
The equivalent would be putting Foden in central mid and having Rashford up top alongside Kane and Saka.
But that never happened for us and Foden was marked out of the game by kounde, having to hug the touchline.
I am Croatian and French. So I am a bit tired to hear that my teams are lucky.
That's fair enough, but both were lucky in the quarters, although Croatia made their own luck with a lot of grit and determination.
France have a great chance to lift the trophy now, despite looking very vulnerable and being outplayed for most of the match, but they're not imperious and a the remaining teams could beat them sitting back and being clinical, basically what they've done to England tonight.
Easy to go with the Griezman - Grioud combo for the winner, but having one less midfielder did lead to England controlling the game in midfield. I thought Griezman caused minimal problems overall, despite having a good 20 minutes or so before the first goal.
Team was set up well, stopped Mbappe, but failed to execute and conceded to a brilliant individual strike early on. England had far better chances to win today.
Yeah that’s fair enough. I wouldn’t disagree.
Having pickford as our number 1 is also a fecking joke too.
Oh yes. Croatia will be out for revenge for 2018.
ITV post match analysis is really just a therapy session.
i think whatever southgate did defensively was correct because mbappe was invisible, and the french frontline (best in the tournament) was not threatening at all. and i think england did enough to win, not overwhelming but better than france.
not sure if a more attacking team would have done better - the risk is opening it up for mbappe and dembele/griezmann.
All QFs have been very competitive.
Varane.
At least it's one you don't have to pay for. There'll be gallons of ink spilt on the back pages after this, but the pieces will just write themselves. Just cut and paste from every England World Cup post-mortem since 1970.
Argentina's also out for revenge against both Croatia and France.
Ggs France.
I don’t agree that the French frontline are the best. They have the best individual in Mbappe but Giroud is pretty average and Dembele is just quick not that great.
England are just as good if not better.Don’t think England get the most from the talent they have.
I generally don't give a shit about England, but that was a game they should've won. Usually they get dumped out deservedly, but I thought they were by far the better team.
Even though he won the penalty, Mason Mount was an odd sub to make when you're chasing an equaliser. He doesn't really offer anything that wasn't already on the pitch. Rashford should've come on earlier. Well, he should've started. He's been one of England's 3 best players throughout the tournament.
England could probably do with a fresh start going into the next tournament. Southgate seems to have his favourites, no matter who is performing in either club football or for England. They'd benefit from a clean slate.
Even though he won the penalty, Mason Mount was an odd sub to make when you're chasing an equaliser. He doesn't really offer anything that wasn't already on the pitch. Rashford should've come on earlier. Well, he should've started. He's been one of England's 3 best players throughout the tournament.
England could probably do with a fresh start going into the next tournament. Southgate seems to have his favourites, no matter who is performing in either club football or for England. They'd benefit from a clean slate.
I think if England had played more open they would have conceded a lot of goals with France's pace and quality in attack. This was clearly how France set up to play also, to hit them on the counter. This did make me think that Morocco could cause France problems though. They're so strong defensively and similar to England I don't see them giving France the space they'll want to counter. Wouldn't go so far as to say I think Morocco will beat France but I wouldn't completely rule them out either.
I thought England played well, and could have won with a bit of luck. First subs were about 5-10 mins too late. Rashford should have been on instead of Sterling then.
You think Ramsdale or Pope save either goal?
Yep, Henderson vs. Griezmann basically sums it all up.
I think the first goal could be saved as it goes in the corner but it curls in so it makes it savable. It doesn’t go over the line anywhere near the corner
Care to explain why? Pickford did everything you can expect a keeper to do, he didn't feck up anything.
I’m not sure. For the vast majority of the game England seemed the most likely to score next. Their second was a sucker punch really.
They seemed, but they were behind twice.
Exactly. We went out in the quarter finals is pretty standard England. The rest is noise.
Will agree with that. The quality in the 4 QFs was pretty dire. Even the "amazing" argentina/holland match really wasnt. It was just banter good, not football good.
Not sure if the occasion got to everyone( bar Morocco and Croatia who did exactly what they wanted) but overall that is the worst set of QF Ive watched since I started in 1978.
Maybe write that down and tape it to your mirror so you can repeat to yourself every day. It won’t make it true but maybe it will make you feel better at some point, as a meditation mantra if nothing else.
He was born with T rex arms. I spose it wasnt his fault.
Yes I think a keeper with a longer reach would have.
It was hit well, but it was really far out if you rewatch the aerial replay version.
Did we actually have any shots on target? Hardly any. We looked toothless in the final third all game. We weren't dominated in midfield is the best you can say.
The big difference in this game is we have a world class striker and England doesn't. 
Really? Thought it was pretty much as good as it gets that goal.
He’s only been there long enough to have a sandwich … or maybe half of one.
England did seem get things screwed up in the final third though. Sterling is for getting on the end of balls in the box, not creating at the edge. Too much of Sterling, Rashford, Shaw and others play what were “sort of?” Crosses. They would send the ball in even when no one was remotely near.
It seemed reminiscent of England teams of old that thought they earned points for number of crosses attempted. I didn’t get it.
If you mean the one who said you should have realised Kane was incapable of scoring 2 pens in a row and you should have had another player ready to take the 2nd one, then I think you are being a bit harsh.
In my opinion she is spot on. I mean everyone expects to get at least 2 pens a game and naturally the goalie will psych you out for the 2nd one. Its so obvious really.
She should be the new England manager
Really disappointing, because we were the better team by some distance, missed a penalty, and had to deal with one of the worst refereeing performances in recent memory.