World Cup

[Canaryboy]

Din, my missus asked me to explain the difference between a corner and a goal kick.

In fairness, she is probably finds my lack of interest in F1 and Tennis to be equally as bemusing.... she is into those.

It doesn't help that I dragged her along to several Norwich games in the Alex Neil season and we lost them all.

Think she did enjoy Leeds away in 2009..... but Alex Neil ruined any chances of me being able to convince her to give me a lift to a game in return for getting her ticket paid Cheers Alex.

At Sheffield Wednesday away that season we arrived 8 minutes late for kick off and she first asked to go home in the 58th minute.

 

[Canaryboy]

Ultimately what people were saying before the tournament about a lack of creativity/ball players in midfield proved to be the downfall.

Perhaps if Danny Drinkwater hadn't sold out and gone to Chelsea to sit on their bench to fill their homegrown player quota, and had chosen first team football and possible future England caps over dirty Russian money.... he would have made the plane and been that man?

Also, we do have Jack Wilshere who actually found some form last season but didn't make the cut.

So relying entirely on Henderson may have actually been a self inflicted problem?

 

[GJP]

I think it's interesting because we have all now seen that the team lacks creativity and the players, the obviously preferred players, do not really have it in their lockers. So does someone drop out? Does Dele get replaced?

 

[Number 9]

I think it's interesting because we have all now seen that the team lacks creativity and the players, the obviously preferred players, do not really have it in their lockers. So does someone drop out? Does Dele get replaced?

Surely if they scored some of the chances which were created then they would have won each game.
England didn't play well in every game but we still had lots of fluffed chances.

 

[GJP]

Surely if they scored some of the chances which were created then they would have won each game.
England didn't play well in every game but we still had lots of fluffed chances.

Well yeah but you can always say that about any team.

But I think it was clear that England were not very creative from open play compared to most teams.

 

[Canaryboy]

I think it's interesting because we have all now seen that the team lacks creativity and the players, the obviously preferred players, do not really have it in their lockers. So does someone drop out? Does Dele get replaced?

A lot can change in two years in football.

Drinkwater a great example in fact.... moved for £35m a year after winning the Premier League, and a forgotten man already.

During that next two years Maddison or Grealish could be an important part of that England side, or even a complete unknown who emerges from the U23's of some side next season.

Sessegnon in for Ashley Young too?

Have to wonder how many more caps Vardy is going to get with Tammy Abraham coming through, etc. Its possible even that Angus Gunn could be the England keeper in two years.

Think the commentators said that of the 11 men who started for France in the final, only 5 of them were in the squad for the Euro's two years ago where they were runners up, the other 6 were new players. Despite having the same manager.

 

[Canaryboy]

Well yeah but you can always say that about any team.

But I think it was clear that England were not very creative from open play compared to most teams.

Well we saw that we lacked ideas against Croatia didn't we.... our idea was trying to play Sterling through for one on ones, which in fairness is quite a good idea, but once Croatia had adjusted to nullify that threat we only really had set pieces left.

But Germany have won tournaments with a lack of obvious flair and by relying on stuff like set pieces and penalties. Southgate probably did the best he could with the talent available to him, in the absence of a world class creative player like a De Bruyne or a Griezmann.

Rashford is only 20 though and a serious talent, could become important to us in the future?

Or James Maddison