WORLD CUP 2018

mikeyrob73

First 5 mins England looked like they would stroll it, since then they have huffed and done nothing really. 

ronnyb

Yet another default England fail to impress performance.

ronnyb

Eats words.

Schnozz

Who keeps dry humping with gusto during the forced celebratory pile-on? 

sinbaadi

Like pulling teeth.  Belgium will run rings around England.

Lestratcaster

Well we made a hard game of that didn't we!

EricTheWeary

Well, it wasn’t brilliant ( some very odd defending for a start) and the ref was crap but they won.
Why aren’t there midges around the Tunisian players? And who now wants one of those litttle red hats? 

Lestratcaster

Only saw the second half so didn't really miss much, the pace dropped off and it was very laboured til the last minutes.

Bellycaster

All those Midges, Scotland should be well used to that......Oh, hang on!

scrumhalf

England get three points, Tunisia get the bronze medal for judo.

Kebabkid

EricTheWeary said:

And who now wants one of those litttle red hats? 

My band. We already wear fezzes but those ones look better

An ok game with some promising flashes from England in the first 15 mins. They won and it's a start.

crunchman

There were some promising bits, but there are issues:

They need a left footer at left back as there is no width on that side.  Someone like Rose would be an option.

The other big problem I'm not sure they can solve.  They need someone who can put his foot on the ball and be a controlling influence in midfield.  All the attacking midfielders in the squad are energetic runners, but I'm not sure any of them can control a game.

At least they should get out of the group this time.  They should beat Panama without too many problems.

The only upside for England is that pretty much all the big teams have issues.  I'd rather be in Southgate's shoes than Joachim Low's.

guitars4you

crunchman said:

The other big problem I'm not sure they can solve.  They need someone who can put his foot on the ball and be a controlling influence in midfield.  All the attacking midfielders in the squad are energetic runners, but I'm not sure any of them can control a game.

That has been the problem ever since we decided not to take Wilshere - I think Jack has seriously under achieved from a good starting potential, but he is still better in that role, in front of the defense and conducting play from there

First 10/15 mins was almost a breath of fresh air, then it became stale with lack of pace/energy - I'd certainly start with Rashford over Sterling

octatonic

Did you see that ludicrous display...?

terada

What a poor performance. Obviously glad to scape the win, but against any decent team we would have been in serious trouble.

guitars4you

terada said:

What a poor performance. Obviously glad to scape the win, but against any decent team we would have been in serious trouble.

would tend to agree, but certainly no worse then Germany, Argentina, Brazil and France - all of whom on paper offer greater potential than us - Belgium flattered to deceive, with all that surplus of talent - Yes they won 3-0, but certainly not a fluid/majestic performance - Best game so far IMO was Spain/Portugal - In fact after what we've seen so far, Spain look the better side and only the magic of Ronaldo stopped them winning - But as always early days, so see what the next set of group matches bring

vale

i dearly hope Germany beat England 10-0 in the final. that is my true world cup wish & i hereby appeal to the football spirits to make it so.

i just think it would be hilarious in the current climate. certain newspapers would literally implode. imagine it.

dano

There were some hot looking Tunisian women in the crowd. Made up for the 80 mins between the two England goals.

Emp_Fab

T’was a snooze-fest from start to finish.  Engerland showed a bit of a spark now and then, but let’s face it - it’s only a question of when in the next fortnight they’ll be on the flight back again.  They have nowhere near the talent to fend off most of the big hitters.

munckee

crunchman said:

There were some promising bits, but there are issues:

They need a left footer at left back as there is no width on that side.  Someone like Rose would be an option.

The other big problem I'm not sure they can solve.  They need someone who can put his foot on the ball and be a controlling influence in midfield.  All the attacking midfielders in the squad are energetic runners, but I'm not sure any of them can control a game.

At least they should get out of the group this time.  They should beat Panama without too many problems.

The only upside for England is that pretty much all the big teams have issues.  I'd rather be in Southgate's shoes than Joachim Low's.

  Matches my assessment, rose on for young. Big issue is unfixable as we do not have a playmaker, would have liked lallana to be fit or wilshere in form.  Not really sure Alli is as giood as I thought he was.  Overall though ask Brazil and Germany, you just have to win your first game doesn't matter how, despite our youthful energetic team managing to play at a standstill like our previous teams!