I dont understand the logic... Argentina and Germany didnt choke, they were worse and didnt get through. The teams that did got through on merit. How arrogant is it to disregard another teams success because you think Argentina and Germany are superior. Theyre clearly not in this case.
The "England have had it easy" narrative
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People are so defensive about England's run to the semi 
There is not one team on that list (Belgium aside which they cleverly threw) that would have been expected to cause England problems.
It is a fantastic achievement to reach the semi finals of a world cup no doubt, but no one will remember how they got there in the future. Just ignore the doubters, enjoy the moment and stop being defensive denying England have had an easy ride with the fixtures compared to the other semi-finalists. It is still a legitimate achievement either way.
There is not one team on that list (Belgium aside which they cleverly threw) that would have been expected to cause England problems.
It is a fantastic achievement to reach the semi finals of a world cup no doubt, but no one will remember how they got there in the future. Just ignore the doubters, enjoy the moment and stop being defensive denying England have had an easy ride with the fixtures compared to the other semi-finalists. It is still a legitimate achievement either way.
The only thing I would say against the "England have had it easy" argument is that England probably aren't a significantly better side than Colombia or Sweden but they beat them. And I would probably have Croatia ahead of England if all things are equal.
Sure if they faced the same route as France of Argentina - Uruguay - Belgium, they would have struggled so yeah they could have had a harder route for sure.
Sure if they faced the same route as France of Argentina - Uruguay - Belgium, they would have struggled so yeah they could have had a harder route for sure.
When Barca were knocked out of the CL by Roma, did you think that was a good break for Liverpool, or did you think "well Roma clearly must just be better than Barca"
If you offered any team Tunisia, Panama, Belgium (without needing to win), Colombia (without their best player), Sweden and Croatia as a route to the World Cup final they would snap your hand off, because it is on paper as easy a run of fixtures as you could possibly hope for in this tournament.
That doesn't mean England haven't done well, they have. Particularly when you consider previous England sides screwing up against the likes of Iceland. England had the chance to blow it against both Tunisia and Colombia but didn't and they deserve credit for that.
You can only beat what's in front of you but you would have to be bizzarely biased to deny that what's been put in front of England is a relatively easy run.
Look at it this way: would you have swapped your fixtures for that of any of the other semi-finalists? I think not.
That doesn't mean England haven't done well, they have. Particularly when you consider previous England sides screwing up against the likes of Iceland. England had the chance to blow it against both Tunisia and Colombia but didn't and they deserve credit for that.
You can only beat what's in front of you but you would have to be bizzarely biased to deny that what's been put in front of England is a relatively easy run.
Look at it this way: would you have swapped your fixtures for that of any of the other semi-finalists? I think not.
I'll take an easy route if it results in us winning the world cup, I mean, who wouldn't? It's not going to diminish the achievement one little bit. In years to come, the only thing that people will remember is England won the world cup in 2018. The route to the final won't even get mentioned.
#it'scominghome #0yearsofhurt #bestofthehomenations #stuff
#it'scominghome #0yearsofhurt #bestofthehomenations #stuff
If Roma won does that not mean they are better?
Have you got some weird Rawkish alternativr world cup playing out in your mind mate?
You've reeled yourself into the bait there mate.
Let their bitterness flow through you....easy or not, express yourself!
Let their bitterness flow through you....easy or not, express yourself!
Both. But I never felt as though Liverpool didn't deserve to be in the CL final.
Germany and Spain had equally easy routes to the final.
Anything other than supporting England is sour grapes apparently. This forum has gone off a cliff regarding anything to do with England. If you were watching Premier League Football and every game was made to be about Liverpool would it be annoying?
"we played Sevilla, they played Ajax"
That's everyone who's downplaying England this tournament.
That's everyone who's downplaying England this tournament.
come on! Even if you are irked by any belittling, to deny an unfathomably easy route to the semi is utter denial. Even rodriguez was injured for the one tricky game they had and now croatia look absolutely shattered.Congratulations to any team who make the semi but be real. The team that gets through the other half will be a worthy WORLD champion. Any team from englands half has been very lucky, though the likes of Croatia are at least small over achieving nations
I suspect in the UK there are more people watching with a vested interest in England than on Croatia v Russia. Fair enough they show the highlights and talk about the match for a half hour.
It makes them better as much as Wigan beating City in the FA Cup made them a better team than City.
What exactly are you refering to? The vast majority of people watching the Russia and Croatia game would only be watching it to see who England would face in the semis. The vast majority of people would not care if the studio only spoke about England after the game. Why does it bother you so much unless you have an issue with England doing well?
Theyre a good team but also one that offered a semi final with pre tournament fans of any big football nation would have celebrated wildly.
We've had the red carpet laid out for us.
Tunisia and Panama
Colombia ok I'll give you that.
Then Sweden to get into the semi final.
Tunisia and Panama
Colombia ok I'll give you that.
Then Sweden to get into the semi final.
Ok, so tell us who the deserved winner of this world cup should be then. Is that team even still in the competition?
Probably the same people that camp out in the RAWK thread calling them bitter. All part of the being a football fan thing.
Germany crashed out to Mexico and Korea. Sweden lost against Germany, thats how poor they were!
Mm England got past Colombia, who missed their best player in the penalties and managed to avoid receiving yellow cards despite the ridiculous histrionics.
The only comfotable game against a good rival, was with Sweden, however even at this game people seem to forget that Sweden had good chances too and overcelebrate England's gameplan.
Until now, England had an easier route, which actually optioned to by prefering to lose. If England goes past Croatia then it will definetely deserve to challenge for the title as Croatia has been one of the better teams. Belgium, on the other hand, resembles United in 99, when we had to play against big teams in almost every round.
The only comfotable game against a good rival, was with Sweden, however even at this game people seem to forget that Sweden had good chances too and overcelebrate England's gameplan.
Until now, England had an easier route, which actually optioned to by prefering to lose. If England goes past Croatia then it will definetely deserve to challenge for the title as Croatia has been one of the better teams. Belgium, on the other hand, resembles United in 99, when we had to play against big teams in almost every round.
So if England win, they would have beaten a good team, rather than an average team? Croatia definitely won't be referred to as part of an easy route?
I wasn't saying anything about who "deserves" it. Just laughing at your flat out refusal to accept the clear fact that England have had a favourable run. They still had to beat the teams the were expected to beat, so credit for that, as a lot of England teams would have failed even that task.
Its a once in a lifetime opportunity for engerland, how could anyone deny it?
i dont think there will a world cup again where engerland wont face anyone of
- brazil
- argentina
- uruguay
- germany
- spain
- france
- italy
- portugal
- netherlands
- belgium
en route to the world cup final. thats like the 10 greatest international teams of all times.
instead, beating panama and tunisia gets you put of the group, where you beat colombia(missing their most important player) on pens, get past mighty sweden (who even lost to poor germany) thanks to headers and pickford..
i dont think there will a world cup again where engerland wont face anyone of
- brazil
- argentina
- uruguay
- germany
- spain
- france
- italy
- portugal
- netherlands
- belgium
en route to the world cup final. thats like the 10 greatest international teams of all times.
instead, beating panama and tunisia gets you put of the group, where you beat colombia(missing their most important player) on pens, get past mighty sweden (who even lost to poor germany) thanks to headers and pickford..
It's a BS excuse used to discredit England's achievement by the bitter "anyone but England" club.
Germany got to the final in 02 beating Paraguay, USA & South Korea & nobody made a big deal out of it. Italy's route to the semi's in 06 was Australia & Ukraine, again nobody said anything. You can only beat who is in front of you.
Germany got to the final in 02 beating Paraguay, USA & South Korea & nobody made a big deal out of it. Italy's route to the semi's in 06 was Australia & Ukraine, again nobody said anything. You can only beat who is in front of you.
nice bit of perspective there
I think it’s fairly clear what I’m referring to. You can’t say anything about this England team without being called bitter. I’ve never seen the word used so often. It would be nice to watch Russia v Croatia or the like without the focus being on England. I don’t think the vast majority are watching it to only see who England play, that’s utter nonsense. Would you like every Premier League game you watch being about Liverpool? I wouldn’t care about England doing well if they wouldn’t make the whole competition about them.
The vast majority of people watching the Russia and Croatia game would only be watching it to see who England would face in the semis. The vast majority of people would not care if the studio only spoke about England after the game. Why does it bother you so much unless you have an issue with England doing well?
I havent refused to accept anything mate. It was the easier of the two routes, thats true. But it doesnt take away from getting there for England. England have lost 1 game in 2 years of this world cup, including their qualifiers.
My team isnt at the world cup, so its not easy to get there. You make out like theyre 'easy games'. Theyre not that easy because those teams were good enough to qualify in the first place.
Whos your team out of interest?
It's weird that anyone would argue this point. If a PL team's next six opponents consisted entirely of relegation battlers and mid-table sides, we'd say it was an easier run than facing the like of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs or whovever. In this scenario England have faced the former, whereas most people would expect a team to have to beat at least one top side before reaching the World Cup final.
Some of ye are showing a weird defensiveness about this English side. Pointing out the rather obvious fact that you've had a good run of fixtures isn't an attack on the team or a bitter attempt to discredit them. It's a simple, rational observation.
Some of ye are showing a weird defensiveness about this English side. Pointing out the rather obvious fact that you've had a good run of fixtures isn't an attack on the team or a bitter attempt to discredit them. It's a simple, rational observation.
It’s true though.
Why do you even care? If you win the thing no one will talk about the route there. Playing Sweden in the quarters and Croatie in the semi’s does classify as relatively easy though. If Belgium reach the final it’s through Brazil and Framce for instance. That’s an objectively harder route.
Still, who cares.
Why do you even care? If you win the thing no one will talk about the route there. Playing Sweden in the quarters and Croatie in the semi’s does classify as relatively easy though. If Belgium reach the final it’s through Brazil and Framce for instance. That’s an objectively harder route.
Still, who cares.
It's funny how the narrative was that England were arrogant for suggesting that Colombia and Sweden were easier games than the other half of the draw yet now those same idiots are saying oh they were easy games after all. I'm loving the bitterness and hate to be honest just because England are doing quite well for a change. Some people just can't bear to see the English happy about anything.
I was here arguing against the glee of playing lower aides but it's strange that people can't express their opinions over this.
We were quick to admit our EL win had an easy route to the final, feck that's all we heard and said when watching Arsenal play in it last year.
If it's your opinion that it was a fantastic chance to reach the final before a second round ball was kicked then it can't be so outrageous to call it an easy route?
We faced the best team in group H in the last 16, and a team that topped a group with Germany in the quarters. Now in the Semis we’re facing a team that topped their group with Argentina, and a team that beat the holders and Spain conquerers.
Columbia/ Sweden/ Croatia are literally the best the competition has to offer. Okay we’ve been fortunate not to face France, Belgium, Brazil in the KOs but we could have faced anyone else.
Columbia/ Sweden/ Croatia are literally the best the competition has to offer. Okay we’ve been fortunate not to face France, Belgium, Brazil in the KOs but we could have faced anyone else.
Croatia beat Argentina, and Sweden finished above Germany. Both have shown more in this tournament than those “heavyweights”.
Would the route for England be easier or more difficult if Argentina and Germany were faced?
Would the route for England be easier or more difficult if Argentina and Germany were faced?
Is it England's fault that Germany never topped their group and didn't get into the half that England did?
Is it England's fault that Spain never beat Russia?
Is it England's fault that Argentina failed to top their group so ended up on the other half of the side?
Is it England's fault that Spain never beat Russia?
Is it England's fault that Argentina failed to top their group so ended up on the other half of the side?
The thing is you sound bitter though. Moaning about England fans, moaning about England’s TV coverage.
If Scotland, Ireland or Wales were doing well in a World Cup the focus would be on them, just like it was when the Welsh were in the semi finals of the Euros. Surely you would expect that before watching the TV coverage?
Your analogy would never happen.
Well, it's true. England played against teams that you would expect them to beat. I don't think England play a lot better compared to last few competitions (maybe except Hodgson era) but this year they seem to have fairly easy route, a bit of luck and most importantly the ability to beat the teams they should be beating. Doesn't matter how the competition ends, it's already a successful one.
England are having a fantastic world cup and have truly surprised me. The way you guys brushed off Sweden like they were piss was quite great