England Discussion | Finish 4th

They aren't now. And they shouldn't be. Colombia are not great. But the pressure the press will generate between now and kick-off will have an effect.

I don't think it would. The manager and England squad seem to be smarter than that. They don't seem to give two fecks what the press do or don't say which is a stark contrast to previous tournaments.
 
Posters are being hard on the English here. Of course it is reasonable to anticipate a possible win against Columbia and discuss the fixtures ahead. It is knock out tournament, that is sort of what you do.

As a neutral I've enjoyed watching England play this year, which I normally haven't.
 
I don't think it would. The manager and England squad seem to be smarter than that. They don't seem to give two fecks what the press do or don't say which is a stark contrast to previous tournaments.
I hope you are right.
 
On reflection although I still really think it was a mistake last night if England get through to the quarter finals then they can be satisfied with the tournament as that would be the best result they have had in many years - they could also have a 50/50 game to get to the semi's which would be a fantastic achievement. If they get beat by Colombia they will get rightly slaughtered though.
 
Also James could miss the game according to the Sky Sports South American expert?

Yes that would help. But we have the longest wait until our match so a bit of time for him to recover. I'm not sure how serious it is with him.
 
On reflection although I still really think it was a mistake last night if England get through to the quarter finals then they can be satisfied with the tournament as that would be the best result they have had in many years - they could also have a 50/50 game to get to the semi's which would be a fantastic achievement. If they get beat by Colombia they will get rightly slaughtered though.

Tend to agree. Southgate has made a rod for his own back if we lose against Colombia (entirely possible). I would have fancied us against Japan more and winning the group with Belgium in it would have been an achievement in itself.
 
On reflection although I still really think it was a mistake last night if England get through to the quarter finals then they can be satisfied with the tournament as that would be the best result they have had in many years - they could also have a 50/50 game to get to the semi's which would be a fantastic achievement. If they get beat by Colombia they will get rightly slaughtered though.
Yep, that's basically it. Fail against Colombia, which is a 50/50 game in itself, and you've had an extremely poor tournament. I'd much rather win against Japan, put in a good performance against Brazil and we'll see where we end up. Going out against Brasil is par for the course for this Belgian side although I'd even rate us a bit higher than them at the moment, if everything clicks we can beat anyone. Same goes for England maybe but we haven't seen a "real" performance by them this WC and next game could be the last one... Scraping by Tunesia and beating the worst team in the tournament means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

It all depends on the next game. Beat Colombia and Southgate will be a genius, with a great chance to reach the semis.
 
Can't understand some posters here or other comments on social media. England are on the better route to reach the Semifinal, of course they will be confident, what do you expect the pundits to say that they do not have any chance vs colombia? Imo England are better and have a good chance to reach the semifinal, but it seems that everyone here or on social media have an agenda vs England. Any team would prefer to play colombia and avoid brazil, but because England have done this it shameful etc etc No one is expecting England to win the WC but they have a good chance to reach the semi, why all this hate?
 
Is Colombia and Switzerland/Sweden actually better than Japan and Brazil?

Colombia are quite better than Japan (yes they lost, but it is quite unlikely that they will get a red card in the third minute again), and both Switzerland and Sweden have been quite good in this tournament. Switzerland actually draw with Brazil, and Sweden have been quite good, destroying a strong Mexico team and winning their group. They eliminated Italy to reach World Cup.

Sure, Brazil are the best team of those, but personally, I would have taken a really easy match against Japan and then a game against Brazil (when yes, Brazil would be favorites) then two extremely tricky matches in a row. 4 wins reaching Brazil gives quite confidence and losing against them is no shame. Losing against Colombia (or even Switzerland/Sweden) looks much worse.

Of course, I don't buy the England threw the match and were smart to do that in the first place. More like, Belgium's second team was better than England's second team.
 
Is Colombia and Switzerland/Sweden actually better than Japan and Brazil?

Colombia are quite better than Japan (yes they lost, but it is quite unlikely that they will get a red card in the third minute again), and both Switzerland and Sweden have been quite good in this tournament. Switzerland actually draw with Brazil, and Sweden have been quite good, destroying a strong Mexico team and winning their group. They eliminated Italy to reach World Cup.

Sure, Brazil are the best team of those, but personally, I would have taken a really easy match against Japan and then a game against Brazil (when yes, Brazil would be favorites) then two extremely tricky matches in a row. 4 wins reaching Brazil gives quite confidence and losing against them is no shame. Losing against Colombia (or even Switzerland/Sweden) looks much worse.

Of course, I don't but the England threw the match and were smart to do that in the first place. More like, Belgium's second team was better than England's second team.

So what?
 
A bit like Liverpool then. The cockiness and we're going to win it, after defeating the mighty Panama. Then the inevitable fallout. It is pretty enjoyable if you're not English (same as it is enjoyable to see Liverpool crash after 'next year is our year').

Have you ever been to England or met anybody English? Literally nobody I have met thinks we are going to win it.
 
People can't hack the fact we invented the game and are on our way to being kings at it once again.

Football was not invented in England.
 
Have you ever been to England or met anybody English? Literally nobody I have met thinks we are going to win it.
Yes.

A lot seem quite confident on reaching the semis, which I think it is unlikely to happen. Good on you if you reach that stage, it would be a good tournament all things considering.
So what, what?
 
Yes.

A lot seem quite confident on reaching the semis, which I think it is unlikely to happen. Good on you if you reach that stage, it would be a good tournament all things considering.

So what, what?

I'm just unsure what you're rambling on about? It's as if you're talking to yourself!
 
I'm just unsure what you're rambling on about? It's as if you're talking to yourself!
I was asking is it actually better Colombia (extremely tricky) followed by Switzerland/Sweden (tricky) better than Japan (easy) followed by Brazil (very difficult)?
 
Its Colombia. England won't have it easy against them. Its cowardly for any team to play not to win no matter the circumstances. Germany did it in 82 against Austria and justice was done when Italy outclassed them in the final. No world champion has played these shenanigans and even though England are probably just aiming for a semifinal its still cowardly.


England did not choose to lose . Belgium were just better end of story .
 
I was asking is it actually better Colombia (extremely tricky) followed by Switzerland/Sweden (tricky) better than Japan (easy) followed by Brazil (very difficult)?

I'd say it's a matter of opinion.

Colombian have been very bipolar. James is their main man and he's likely injured. Obviously on paper Japan is the easier fixture but Colombia aren't world beaters .

At the end of the day England are on the better path. They should have enough to beat Colombia and either Sweden/Switzerland.
 
Where was invented then?

It was played as far back as Ancient Roman Empire

People didn't start kicking footballs for the first time as recent as the 1860s
 
Its Colombia. England won't have it easy against them. Its cowardly for any team to play not to win no matter the circumstances. Germany did it in 82 against Austria and justice was done when Italy outclassed them in the final. No world champion has played these shenanigans and even though England are probably just aiming for a semifinal its still cowardly.

As cowardly as not making the finals like the US...
 
They hate England but support an English club..

Must be a sad existence

It's genuinely not hate. It's a source of amusement watching England fcuk up. Great example: EURO 2004 against France, throwing it away in the dying minutes :drool:.

Just as the English no doubt love seeing the German fcuk up. Unless you genuinely hate ze Germans or something.
 
They hate England but support an English club..

Must be a sad existence
It is more like find English arrogance when it comes to national team, a bit too much for my taste but okay. And then of course, it is always funny to see the fallout after every tournament, one of the most predictable things in football.

And while United is an English club obviously, nowadays it is quite international. American owners, Portuguese manager and the vast majority of players aren't English in the first place. I have no idea why by default if you support an English club you should also like England's NT.
 
It's genuinely not hate. It's a source of amusement watching England fcuk up. Great example: EURO 2004 against France, throwing it away in the dying minutes :drool:.

Just as the English no doubt love seeing the German fcuk up. Unless you genuinely hate ze Germans or something.

England haven't fecked up (yet!). They've qualified from the group stage and gone in to the half of the draw that everyone wants to be in.
 
Football was not invented in England.
It was.
Its why the English FA isn't called the English FA. Its the original FA of football so it has the distinction of just being called the FA.
Every other country has to be known as Spanish FA etc.
England harmonised the many variations of football that was played at the time. The invention of the trains meant teams could travel to face one another and the different sets of rules caused a major problem and here we are.
So England invented the game of football we see today.
 
One thing’s for sure, if it wasn’t for English football fans it would be a lot easier to get behind the English football team. Unlike most Irish people, I always want England to do well (lived there for ages, have English friends, support an English club) but every time I see the sunburned morons singing Rule Britannia or boasting about how many world wars they won it gets very hard to stick to my guns...
 
England haven't fecked up (yet!). They've qualified from the group stage and gone in to the half of the draw that everyone wants to be in.

Nothing in my post suggested that. But it does explain why some of us find arrogance from English supporters amusing when we remember what we've seen over the years. Iceland was only 2 fecking years ago with many of the same players.
 
It's genuinely not hate. It's a source of amusement watching England fcuk up. Great example: EURO 2004 against France, throwing it away in the dying minutes :drool:.

Just as the English no doubt love seeing the German fcuk up. Unless you genuinely hate ze Germans or something.

That's fair enough.

It is more like find English arrogance when it comes to national team, a bit too much for my taste but okay. And then of course, it is always funny to see the fallout after every tournament, one of the most predictable things in football.

And while United is an English club obviously, nowadays it is quite international. American owners, Portuguese manager and the vast majority of players aren't English in the first place. I have no idea why by default if you support an English club you should also like England's NT.

I think this percieved arrogance is strange. I've never seen it. Just because a few drunk fans sing Rule Britainia doesn't make the whole of England and England football fans arrogant.

It's no different than you wanting real to beat Liverpool in the champions league final. I support Utd, but I fecking hate England with a passion

Nah it's really not. You clearly don't understand football rivalry and have limited grasp of the game.

England has a shit record against Sweden you know.

Oh I know. But still easier than playing Brazil I'm sure you'll agree?
 
Everyone's been saying it, tongue in cheek. Being happy to see England lose because they talked about it is ridiculous. There's a bit of positivity because everyone has seen England play terrible and seem to lose passion in recent times. Now we have a system, the players are quietly confident and it's enjoyable again. Nothing wrong with the fans getting into it. The World Cup is about having a good time as much as it is serious.

I get that but I'm questioning how true it really is. England fans, usually egged on by the media, have a tendency to slip into arrogant mode when things are going right. We went from a state of quiet expectation prior to the tournament to boisterous belief that we might actually win the bloody thing after beating nations no more mighty than Panama and Tunisia. I mean come on.

Even now, the general mood - so not necessarily just the Caf - seems to suggest that we'll definitely get past Colombia because they're easy and so are Sweden/Switzlerland so that's it, we're in the Semis. Huzzah! I really hope it happens but it's disrespectful to the other teams who we still have to beat. Further, it has the potential to annoyingly overhype a team whose track record in major tournaments over the past 12 years hasn't warranted much adulation at all.

Basically, I said it was good to lose because it might ground us once more. We can't go into matches believing we'll automatically win just because. If we achieve anything it'll be because of hardwork, talent and little bit of luck.