Reply With QuoteI think we will come away with a tight win but I do not expect it to be pretty , we will see
Hall Of Fame
Well here we go again full of hope and expectations which generally end disappointingly and the only IF narrative to chew over in the weeks afterwards .
Should be there or thereabouts but the defence stops me from saying we can do it with any real confidence .
Not be easy tomorrow night against a resolute Serbia who will no doubt have a few dark arts to rely on to make it a difficult game .
Hall Of Fame
I think we will come away with a tight win but I do not expect it to be pretty , we will see
Moderator
First of all, we shouldn't take the Iceland 'friendly' defeat too seriously. Just like the easy win against Bosnia just before that, what if anything do we learn or gain from these games ?.
The tournament games are what counts, and I think/hope that we'll see a much better set of performances from us.
And as I type this, Italy are on the Bbc, and that's a nice touch calling Roma's name in the thread. 🙂
Hall Of Fame
The threat in attack that England possess is second to none. It's without doubt the best I've seen in my lifetime. The embarrassment of riches is quite unbelievable and I honestly think that the likes of Foden, Bellingham, Saka and Kane would walk straight into any international team in Europe.
Rice and another holding midfielder alongside him would protect our defence while the creativity in the front 4 speaks for itself and is our big strength.
I think the Serbia game is all about getting that first goal as early as possible and if it doesn't come we must be patient, stick to our game and keep our concentration, defend strongly at set pieces and keep our discipline.
England 3 Serbia 0
Moderator
I still wish Gareth had picked 'greasy Jack', as the other Midlands clubs fans call him lol.
But yeah we have a great squad on paper, now it's time to go for it rather than relying on taking the lead, and then just sitting back on it.
Reserve
Agree with all of this.Originally Posted by pass_and_move
I hope it’s Trent in midfield next to Rice. His passing range would add yet another weapon to our already wealth of attacking prowess.
I’ve actually also gone 3-0 in my free sky bet but may have gone 2-0 in super 6. Either way, as you’ve mentioned, the longer the game goes on, the tougher it will be so hopefully we can get an early goal and bring them out a bit. I think this could be the case for all of our games in the group. Maybe Denmark might attack us a little bit, we’ll see in a few days.
Hall Of Fame
Quality in attack and midfield but our defence looks undercooked to me for a major tournament.
Hope there is not too much arsing around with 20 passes to end up in the same place.
Reserve
Agree with the defence and the arsing about with it. Stones and Walker are strong but will be pressure on whoever partners Stones in central defence. Left back could be interesting given even if Shaw is now injury free, he won’t be anywhere near match fit surely.
Our group has been quite kind to us I’d say but not sure the defence can cope with the better teams in the latter stages of the tournament. I guess we will soon find out.
Hall Of Fame
As per usual since 1966 we have the players to win the competition.
Less than unusual at this tournament we have the players to EASILY win the competition.
But as usual we have a limp wristed wet dish clart of a manager.
As a result - owt could happen.
The Iceland result can not be dismissed.
As I’m writing this - it comes to mind the importance of the manager / head coach and how this relates to what we have recently seen at Barnsley.
IMO no matter how good the players are - if the manager / head coach isn’t a proper fit for the players - then the team will not achieve its full potential.
We painfully had to witness all that in the failures of last season.
Hall Of Fame
I've criticised Southgate in the past but feel the job that he's done overall has been very, very good. We're knocking on the door in terms of winning tournaments. His tactics are sometimes questionable but twas ever thus. Name me an England manager who doesn't get berated or heavily questioned when things don't go our way. He done what he thought best at that moment. What some people overlook is that you can't play well in every game, you can't legislate for certain things and of course yo win a tournament you need some luck.
Southgate has given me more pleasure than any of his predecessors right down to Venables and Hoddle in the late 90s.
He's got the most out of a bang average squad in 2018 by reaching the semi final. The penalty shootout win vs Columbia was a great moment and relief.
Euro 2020 we improved as a squad and deservedly reached the final. Beating Germany along the way was another hoodoo lifted and another great moment.
Qatar 2022 was our strongest squad yet under Southgate and we played well winning games with ease. We dropped on a French team that perhaps had the rub of the green against us. That's tournament football as I said, you need the breaks.
2024 brings an even stronger squad than the previous World Cup squad and we are favourites. Southgate has built a young and very capable team. The defence is not as good as what it could be but lets face it, they're not exactly garbage are they? They're experienced in the cases of Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kyle Walker and the goalkeeper.
Let's see what happens
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