Match Day Thread England v Slovenia

thursday 7:45

Come on England

 

Eng geerrrrrr lannndddd

 

I might actually watch it this time round.

If I'm not out seeing Blade Runner 2049 that is.

 

Get a win and guarantee a place at the world cup, all you can ask for at this stage!

 

You'll still be able to watch the first half - kick off is 1945

 

Nah, that was full-time. Kickoff was 1939.

 

Discussing England yesterday in the gym. Good in Qualifiers. Bottle it in the competition. Sadly I can't see anything changing in Russia...
Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Portugal are better than us, plus the likes of Serbia and even Switzerland will be hard opponents. Knocked out in the group stages.

 

What would your expectations be? As you've said, many teams are better than us.

I'd say Portugal and Italy are of a similar level to us.

 

Wondered how long it'd be. 7 posts and over 8 hours prior to kickoff. Good work.

 

How long for what ?

 

They are probably of similar quality but the difference is Italy and Portugal will show up when it matters, we won't. Don't see us advancing past the group stages, no matter who is in our group.

 

Some random, out of context moan about how **** we are.

 

To be fair, England are a bit ****.

 

This is not a strong generation of England players and hasn't been for a few years, although the group aged 20-24 look much better than the generation before them. We should be much better in 2022 than we were in 2014 or 2016 or will be next year.

Something evidently went wrong with the group born roughly 1985-1992 (ie the ones who should have dominated the team from 2010-16) - only Rooney really emerges with any credit from that generation.

Just look at the centre-halves - whatever else was going on with the England team, we always had strong performers at the back in major tournaments, from Butcher, Wright and Walker to Adams, Campbell, Ferdinand and Terry. The past few years? Inconsistency and a lack of leadership back there.

 

It's all about hitting a bit of form, the luck of the draw and getting that momentum all at the right time. The last time we did that in the WC was 1990

Group stage
Ireland - ****e
Holland - played well should have won
Egypt - ****e

Knock-out
Belgium - lucky (they were the better team)
Cameroon - lucky (in the draw sense)
Germany - played well should have won

Not sure what this thread proves - just a bit bored

 

What topic is he supposed to express that opinion in ?

 

What's odd is a lot of English people dont seem to support England because we're 'a bit ****'. You wouldn't think success or failure would affect support for your team.

No doubt if England have a good tournament and reach the semis for example everyone will be behind them, soaking in the excitement and pride, completely forgetting that 2 months before it was 'We're ****e im not bothered".

 

Said it better than I could. It's the enjoyment from saying it. The rush to make it clear that they're not bothered because they think we're ****.

In answer to Newland's post, the time to moan about England would be after a defeat or poor performance. Currently the default position regardless of result or performances is that we're **** no matter what. Being patriotic about the national team is for some reason one of the most controversial stances you can have as an English football fan.

 

It's an important point to make, though: a major summer tournament is so short that very odd things can happen. There's no question we'll have a weaker line-up than the likes of Brazil, Germany and Spain next summer, but over 90 minutes it is genuinely possible that even we could beat them.

The best team doesn't always win a short tournament - whatever Bummers might say!

 

This is bang on. Just like you stick with your club side through thick and thin, we don't get to choose our nationality and turning your back on the England team doesn't make sense to me. Just adjust your expectations accordingly lower and enjoy the ride.