I cant see how this England finally overcome a Swedish side
Day 24: Sweden vs England and Russia vs Croatia
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
It should be. I don't see why the English public and punditry imagine they are a superior side to Sweden.
It's going to be an agonising day.
So, after cruising past easily the worst time team in the World Cup, struggling vs Tunisia, losing to Belgium & having to need penalties against a Columbian team who were missing their best player.....are English fans really expecting a historic World Cup?
I know a lot of the singing etc is ironic but England have been rather average, and will surely get found out vs Croatia, France or Belgium.....again.
I know a lot of the singing etc is ironic but England have been rather average, and will surely get found out vs Croatia, France or Belgium.....again.
Because the quality of their players surpasses ours in all positions bar centreback and gk?
Actually your centremidfield is pretty dire aswell (pun intended) now that i think of it
Most of us have eyes?
Nah I'm just messing, it will be a close game I think.
Expectations are usually based on the quality/talent of individuals you have at your disposal. If you have a team with Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar upfront, you're expected to win games and play amazing football.
The Swedes are a very strong team that is greater than the sum of its parts and has better recent history than England. But as individuals go, they are not superior. Forsberg is the only high quality player that shines at club level as well as for the National Team.
So yeah, I don't think England are favourites precisely because the Swedes are extremely well drilled as a unit. But England has enough quality on paper and failing to qualify would still be seen as failure
I took a run today and saw a picture of Zvone Boban and 1998 team, it's a sign, it's fekin on!
Then again I saw a black cat so we'll probably lose.
Then again I saw a black cat so we'll probably lose.
It's less thinking Sweden are pony and more recognising that you normally face a powerhouse in a quarter final.
Both teams will not get a better chance to make a semi final!
This could have been Germany.
Time to send you home 
Good luck today, I’m expecting many of you to be surprised by the intensity with which Sweden will play today. I hope your players will as well.
Good luck today, I’m expecting many of you to be surprised by the intensity with which Sweden will play today. I hope your players will as well.
Wow talk about being as negative as possible!
We didn't struggle against Tunisia. We should have been well clear in the first half. Second half was cagey and we needed a late winner but we did not struggle.
Panama aren't even the worst nation at THIS world cup. We beat them far more heavily then Belgium did as well.
Our reserves lost to Belgians reserves.
We were pretty unlucky to concede so late to a Colombia team pretty much everyone agreed should have been down to ten.
Momentum is a huge thing in tournaments. And we will certainly need it if we get through today.
The winners of the France and belgium semi are monumental favourites
I’m not English by the way, I’m just seeing how English fans see their chances.
By the way, who do you see that are worse than Panama?
Saudi are absolute gubbins
Really? I'm quite sure England are better than Sweden.
I will find it hilarious if England go out though.
Damn all those English sites I'm watching. It's coming home has gotten into my ear and I've been singing it since morning to my chin. It's catchy as hell.
England is a better team but I don't think Sweden is so much worse it would be hilarious if they got through.
1. Every group pretty much had a poor team in it. Not England’s fault for bearing them 6-1.
2. England were very good against Tunisia and deserved to win that game- just cos the winning goal was late doesn’t mean they ‘struggled’
3. We wanted to lose to Belgium- was a nothing game.
4. England deserved to beat Colombia, yes they were without James but not England’s fault.
Conclusion: It’s coming home
I think England have benefitted most from incredibly naive defending from their opposition so far.
Particularly at corners and free kicks the defences have been almost comical in grabbing, holding, spear tackles and wrestling moves that make giving a penalty an easy decision.
Sweden will be more professional in defence and will be more subtle in holding shirts etc for a brief moment then releasing, like we see all defences do in the premier league.
So the question is can England create any "special plays" at deadball situations. Southgate has studied American football extensively and i think he will have a couple up his waistcoat.
The key issue is to hold the ball because if we start defending then Henderson gets a yellow and the tournament is effectively over for England. I'm not a massive fan but we have no other alternative in his position.
A nervous time today i think.
Particularly at corners and free kicks the defences have been almost comical in grabbing, holding, spear tackles and wrestling moves that make giving a penalty an easy decision.
Sweden will be more professional in defence and will be more subtle in holding shirts etc for a brief moment then releasing, like we see all defences do in the premier league.
So the question is can England create any "special plays" at deadball situations. Southgate has studied American football extensively and i think he will have a couple up his waistcoat.
The key issue is to hold the ball because if we start defending then Henderson gets a yellow and the tournament is effectively over for England. I'm not a massive fan but we have no other alternative in his position.
A nervous time today i think.
Time to send you home
Good luck today, I’m expecting many of you to be surprised by the intensity with which Sweden will play today. I hope your players will as well.
I don't think anyone who's seen Sweden play would be surprised. They're not in the QF by accident, they are the most resilient and dogged team in this World Cup.
It would take nothing short of a top performance from England to get through to the semis.
Sorry to the English fans in advance, but I got a feeling that Sweden might pull something off tonight. Things have been going too smoothly for England so far, and they tonight they might regret throwing the Belgium game to finish 2nd in the group. Football works in strange ways after all.
England beat Sweden at euro 2012.
I don’t think England ‘threw’ the game. Sure we didn’t really care if we won or lost but neither did Belgium who also rested players. So football gods should hate them too
Weird isn't it. Since 2010 we have played them 4 times, 2 wins each with England winning the only competitive game.
People didn't seem to think that Colombia's record of never having beat in England in any game ever was relevant when they were predicting our downfall in that match.
True, but the fact is that Belgium won and had to face "tougher" opponents like Brazil, and Japan also did not make it easy for them. England did not really seemed bothered and the news was that they were happy to finish 2nd so as to be grouped with the "easier" countries. Given how they scraped past Colombia through penalties, their luck might just run out against a well-drilled Sweden side. You really need Kane to be in top form.
We beat them at Euro 2012. They had a stronger side back then & we had a weaker one.
Means nothing though.
ABBA is blasting,going to take a trip up to Ikea for some Swedish meatballs a bit later, thought they would have put on an event or something for this at least.
In all seriousness hopefully it’ll be a decent game, but come on Sweden.
In all seriousness hopefully it’ll be a decent game, but come on Sweden.
If England play at all like they have for this entire tournament then they're almost certainly going out today. However, if Southgate's actually been paying attention to the way those games have gone and doesn't spend the whole match seemingly frozen on the touchline then they should easily have enough to beat a much weaker squad.
I guess we'll see, but the reports that he's playing the exact same starting 11 wouldn't instil much confidence if I were an England fan.
I guess we'll see, but the reports that he's playing the exact same starting 11 wouldn't instil much confidence if I were an England fan.
Sweden will be a tough opponent today. They are very strong physically, have a strong mentallity and can play dirty when needed. They create chances every game and are very dangerous in standard situations (free kicks, corners). Underestimate them and you're out, they've already done in: The Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. They are a tough team, but I give England 60% chance of winning. Good luck in a few hours!
Very nervy game today. England have the tools to get through but these are the type of games that in the past they've fecked up.
Sweden will park the bus as they have done against the Denmark, England have better players and a better team, if they manage to score early they will go through. This negativity towards England is amazing!
Barring cretinous defending, scoring goals tend to require creating opportunities, something England have been staggeringly bad it in this system. If Southgate hasn't learned from the last few games then I don't how they get past that parked bus.
Assuming you're Welsh, you failed to qualify behind an Ireland team who Denmark put 5 past in the second round and a Serbian team who failed to get out of a group with Switzerland and Costa Rica in it.
Meanwhile, we went unbeaten in qualifying, conceding just 3 goals in 10 games and are now in the quarter finals while you sit on your bitter arse commenting on how average we are.
If we lose today, it'll be disappointing but par for course and the players can be commended for their run in the World Cup and they're young enough to feel prepared and confident for the Euros. If we progress today, the team will have done very well to reach the semi finals and everyone can be proud.
My head says they really can't hurt us. I think we're about 2 classes above them. On a normal we're big favorites. But my heart says it's not a normal day, they're at home, they'll be pumped up and it's football, anything can happen.
We were favorites vs Denmark and nearly escape.
We were favorites vs Denmark and nearly escape.
Think England will win comfortably but the second match could be tight, I worry that Russia will somehow find a way past Croatia.
Sweden 0 - 2 England
Sweden will offer nothing going forward. I expect a drab 45mins, with Kane scoring from nowhere around the half hour mark. Same second half, England comfortable and a substitute like Rashford scoring with a few minutes left.
Croatia 2 - 1 Russia (AET)
Russia score quite early, Dzyuba with a header. Then 80mins of parking the bus with Rebic scoring in the final 10mins. Eztra time, all Croatia, Modric penalty wins it.
Sweden will offer nothing going forward. I expect a drab 45mins, with Kane scoring from nowhere around the half hour mark. Same second half, England comfortable and a substitute like Rashford scoring with a few minutes left.
Croatia 2 - 1 Russia (AET)
Russia score quite early, Dzyuba with a header. Then 80mins of parking the bus with Rebic scoring in the final 10mins. Eztra time, all Croatia, Modric penalty wins it.
The ball is rolling for England in this tournament and in fairness they are making things happen.
For example the other night previous England teams would've lost in extra time, England looked mentally shot in the first half of that period but didn't concede and then actually put in a stronger period than Colombia in the second half of ET.
Worth noting it's not like all 11 England players have played flat out to make the quarters like say Russia have. Dele Alli has had a poor tournament so far, constantly injured and not getting into games and Sterling yet again has his detractors. So two key attacking players proven in premier league who haven't really turned up for this tournament.
Easier run has helped England of course but Portugal weren't complaining when they were in easier half of draw at euro 2016, it's just something that happens at major tournaments and England been in harder side of the draw plenty of times.
For example the other night previous England teams would've lost in extra time, England looked mentally shot in the first half of that period but didn't concede and then actually put in a stronger period than Colombia in the second half of ET.
Worth noting it's not like all 11 England players have played flat out to make the quarters like say Russia have. Dele Alli has had a poor tournament so far, constantly injured and not getting into games and Sterling yet again has his detractors. So two key attacking players proven in premier league who haven't really turned up for this tournament.
Easier run has helped England of course but Portugal weren't complaining when they were in easier half of draw at euro 2016, it's just something that happens at major tournaments and England been in harder side of the draw plenty of times.
I’d have to disagree about our ‘luck having to run out at somepoint’ as I don’t think that’s true, we were the better team against Colombia (marginally but still). We’re not some third rate football nation somehow getting through rounds.
Sweden 1-0, Durmaz to grab the winner.
As for first game it will probably be a drab affair with Sweden defending tightly. One goal will decide it. England must be wary of Sweden counter attacking, they showed vs Germany they can be pretty dangerous.