I don’t believe I am. Certainly no more so than the average poster and absolutely not nearly as emphatically as, for example, ‘it’s just a shockingly bollocks comment.’ It’s strange that posters get irritated by syntax suddenly when disagreeing with point being made. It’s a little like grammar police.
The "England have had it easy" narrative
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I don’t believe I am. Certainly no more so than the average poster and absolutely not nearly as emphatically as, for example, ‘it’s just a shockingly bollocks comment.’ It’s strange that posters get irritated by syntax suddenly when disagreeing with point being made. It’s a little like grammar police.
Quite frankly being portuguese I don't care much about this type of narrative because on the last Euros we had some sort of mix between the unexpected and so called easy path that I don't think it was so easy as some people used to say.
This type of narratives are always fuelled by the theory if England had played so called bigger teams they wouldn't be on the last 4, reality is before the tournament started no one would be surprised if they would meet Colombia on the last 16, and if they advanced they would meet Germany instead Sweden, not their fault Germany underperformed.
Honestly knockout stages aren't Domestic Leagues where the best teams on a serie of 34 or 38 games win, here you have a short stage to qualify and a knockout stage where you have a lot of options to progress, so all this to say I really don't care when someone says its undeserved or teams X or Y deserved to win.
I mean Liverpool went to the final of the Champions League and they weren't the best team in England as Real Madrid won the third Champions League in a row without being the best Spanish team on the last 5 years, so who cares what others say?
This type of narratives are always fuelled by the theory if England had played so called bigger teams they wouldn't be on the last 4, reality is before the tournament started no one would be surprised if they would meet Colombia on the last 16, and if they advanced they would meet Germany instead Sweden, not their fault Germany underperformed.
Honestly knockout stages aren't Domestic Leagues where the best teams on a serie of 34 or 38 games win, here you have a short stage to qualify and a knockout stage where you have a lot of options to progress, so all this to say I really don't care when someone says its undeserved or teams X or Y deserved to win.
I mean Liverpool went to the final of the Champions League and they weren't the best team in England as Real Madrid won the third Champions League in a row without being the best Spanish team on the last 5 years, so who cares what others say?
So many paragraphs but it doesn’t change the fact that England have had an easy run to the WC Semi.
You've spent the entire thread belittling England and their opposition (you've made more posts than me ffs), do you not think it's perhaps a bit normal that people are going to get annoyed at you repeatedly going on about England's "unfathomably easy route to the semi", how they had the easiest team from Pot 3, how their quarter-final opponents are Championship side, and how their semi-final opponents are "an overachieving small-nation"?
You've made 20 posts in this thread saying the same thing. Well done.
I dont want to change my opinion on any of those statements. If england win the world cup theyll have earned it. In my opinion. Their route this far has been a gift. In my opinion. Croatia absolutely are an overachieving small nation and its a credit to them. In my opinion. Ive clarified why i feel that way about such a poor swedish squad. And in this tournament tunisia were the worst team from pot 3.
Im not trying to provoke you. You made the thread you should have said in the original post If you didnt want other opinions. Im not belittling england and havent been ranting or raving about their players or wishing them ill will. I dont know why my posts have bothered you so much. I disagree with you but dont resort to what you did.
I've only made 2 of that nature, but I'm planning hitting on 20 soon. Why does this bother England supporters? That they have had it easy? Surely it's not your problem?
What I don’t understand is why these England fans are getting so emotional and wound up over plain as day facts. I mean imagine writing several essay like posts because you’re so upset with what people are saying, even though what people are saying is true.
This cry fest is as rich as Klopp lamenting about United having Ajax in the EL final. England have been wonderful and not enough it's helping United players like Jesse Lingard to return to form and set a football standard even higher.
They even won a penalty shootout, ffs. Give them a rest just for this year...
They even won a penalty shootout, ffs. Give them a rest just for this year...
Im not sure why this is even a thread.
I dont think England could have envisioned an easier path to the finals. It is not a narrative, it is factual.
Having said that, I hope England win it all.
Well having Russia instead of Croatia would have been nice...
I'm an England fan, and do you know how many sh*ts I could give about the teams we've beaten to get this far? It's zero, the answer is zero. Shut this thing down.
Perhaps but Russia play with real heart & determination and had a massive home field advantage.
I'm not sure how much easier that match would be for England
I'm not an England fan but littlepea is right. Imagine having a 16 page thread moaning about others complaining that England having an easy run in.
I agree, this just seems silly. So what if England had a easier path to the finals?
Maybe so but we've played very negative defensive teams all tournament and we've found a way to beat all of them. Belgium being the exception and the one side we've lost to. Croatia will pose much more of a threat like Belgium did and they'll be more dangerous in my opinion.
You literally said in your first post in this thread "The team that gets through the other half will be a worthy WORLD champion. Any team from englands half has been very lucky"
I'm not sure what anyone's supposed to take from that statement other than a winner from England's half would be an unworthy, lucky winner.
You can dress stuff up as much as you want now, but you've gone through this thread prodding as much as you could.
I agree, Croatia have the best midfield in the tournament imo.
It will be a real test for England but Im confident they can do it.
I hope England win it all
So why does this bother you? Is FIFA going to put on asterisk next to your name coz honorable SER19 from Redcafe think that England are unworthy winners?
No, the comment doesn't really bother me. I said it earlier in the thread, there are loads of people, a lot on here, spending a great deal of time going around saying how bad every team England played are, how easy England have had it, and how bad England are, then when an England fan turns around and goes "well, not really" they all suddenly turn around and go "why do you care? it's just my opinion" before immediately starting back up with "England are shit. All the teams they've played are shit."
It's odd that apparently England fans are the weirdos for perhaps getting slightly irked by being hit with a barrage of belittlement and negativity every time England win, rather than the people repeatedly joining in with discussions about England purely to remind England fans that loads of people think England are actually shit and don't really deserve to be where they are.
I don't think any England fan particularly cares because they're one game away from the World Cup final and have got further than they have since 1990, but that doesn't make it any less tiring to hear over and over again.
Again why is that a controversial statement? Croatia will also be delighted with their route so far. Most neutrals would agree the right side of the draw was incredibly tough. To win from here england would need to beat croatia (they should) then belgium or France which would be a great achievement, their luck up to this point aside. To win it from here belgium or france in particular will have had an incredibly tough route and be very worthy champions. England or croatia (less so) would have been beneficiaries of a lucky route to the semi but still have had to overcome a tough final opponent. Being lucky and a worthy winner can coexist. Should france or belgium win it nobody could argue they didnt deserve it.
It's blatantly England's fault that Germany were awful at this cup, that Spain showed no balls and that Argentina are shite in general.
Why isn't anybody talking about Croatia's "easy" run? A run that included penalty shoot-out victories over Denmark and the 70th ranked Russian team.
Why isn't anybody talking about Croatia's "easy" run? A run that included penalty shoot-out victories over Denmark and the 70th ranked Russian team.
I couldn’t give a flying toss about England. That being said, fair fecks to them. You beat what’s in front of you. Germany couldn’t, Spain couldn’t, Portugal couldn’t, Argentina played the French...but they were poor leading up to that.
Our League Cup and FA Cup wins of recent years we ended up avoiding the big boys. Did anyone give a feck? Not that I could see.
Credit to England, massive credit to Southgate.
Our League Cup and FA Cup wins of recent years we ended up avoiding the big boys. Did anyone give a feck? Not that I could see.
Credit to England, massive credit to Southgate.
Fair point as well.
You don't see how implying/almost explicitly stating a world cup winning team are actually not worthy of the achievement is even a little controversial?
I didnt do that
I did, regarding Croatia. In fact before england made it this far i said any team from that side will be lucky with the way the draw fell. But apparantly im just anti england
I mean, you literally said that the team that gets through the other half will be a worthy winner. How does that not imply that a team getting through the other half would be an unworthy winner? Why clarify which half of the draw would provide a worthy winner if you actually think both halves of the draw would provide a worthy winner?
You intend to start a thread on it?
Youre being pedantic. At the last 16 stage id say almost every fan in the world looked at the bracket and said wow, whoever gets through that side will be a worthy winner. Equally most, to the point that managers were actually asked if theyd prefer lose to get to that side of the draw, would look at the left and say wow, somebody could get a very nice run here. In fact the only time i said anything about winning it i said england would be worthy.
Despite my being level headed and reasonable- but in disagreement with you- i seem to have made the mistake in engaging in direct discussion. You seem to be reflecting and using me as something of a whipping boy for a lot of irritations you have fostered. Im going to step away from the thread for a bit, perhaps after a nights sleep and reflection you will see that my comments are just observational and not borne out of any dislike of England.
What even. Just accept that you had an easy route man, nothing wrong with that and literally no one fecking cares.
Alright guys, I've just checked it.
Here is the confirmation:
https://firebasestorage.googleapis....ia&token=5a416223-5a00-4f2e-b1b0-cf663437a662
It seems like it is coming home after all...
Here is the confirmation:
https://firebasestorage.googleapis....ia&token=5a416223-5a00-4f2e-b1b0-cf663437a662
It seems like it is coming home after all...
I'm not reflecting anything mate, you've just said some daft things but are now denying that you meant exactly what you said, and are now accusing me of pedantry for calling you out on it. Whatever though, crack on.
No one looks back at who England had played in the previous games in a few years’ time if they win the World Cup, they will only really remember the finals. Probably the Colombia game too as it was our first ever shootout win at a World Cup and maybe the Croatia game depending on how it plays out. If it's comfortable for England as it was for them vs Sweden then the Croatia game won't be really remembered and it's a bloody semi-finals!
If England win the World Cup, then we would have faced Tunisia, Panama, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Croatia and then Belgium again or France in the finals. Yes the group game vs Belgium was a nothing game and we did end up losing but we still had to get ourselves in that position to afford to rest our players for that game by beating both Tunisia and Panama, previous England teams could have easily bottled it and we wouldn’t be all that surprised and we would be saying “same old England!”.
Those countries I listed above include some very tough teams! So if England win the World Cup having faced those teams then they clearly deserve to be labelled world champions! Not England’s fault other nations like Germany and Spain, who would/could have been on England’s side of the draw, absolutely bottled it and faltered early.
Oh and...
IT'S COMING HOME!!
If England win the World Cup, then we would have faced Tunisia, Panama, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Croatia and then Belgium again or France in the finals. Yes the group game vs Belgium was a nothing game and we did end up losing but we still had to get ourselves in that position to afford to rest our players for that game by beating both Tunisia and Panama, previous England teams could have easily bottled it and we wouldn’t be all that surprised and we would be saying “same old England!”.
Those countries I listed above include some very tough teams! So if England win the World Cup having faced those teams then they clearly deserve to be labelled world champions! Not England’s fault other nations like Germany and Spain, who would/could have been on England’s side of the draw, absolutely bottled it and faltered early.
Oh and...
IT'S COMING HOME!!
Croatia only beat Denmark and Russia on penalties. They must be absolutely awful.
Belgium conceded 2 goals against Japan. Dodgy as hell at the back.
France conceded 3 against one of the worst Argentina sides of all time. Dodgy as hell at the back.
Still, none of them are as bad as Sweden, a Championship level side who qualified for the World Cup, won 3 matches and made the last 8.
Belgium conceded 2 goals against Japan. Dodgy as hell at the back.
France conceded 3 against one of the worst Argentina sides of all time. Dodgy as hell at the back.
Still, none of them are as bad as Sweden, a Championship level side who qualified for the World Cup, won 3 matches and made the last 8.
Seems a pretty unreasonable way to conclude. If i ever dont reach a middle ground with somebody i may adopt that technique- say their opinion is daft, that what they actually literally said was in fact cryptic code for something else, then accuse them of denying that cryptic cide. Then ill tell them to crack on. It seems like a mature approach that will take me far in life.
To quote myself, Tunisia are worse than Sweden, right? So a poor Championship level side, or good league 1 side? And Tunisia are the highest ranked team from Africa, so every other African team is League 1 or lower?
Much rather played Japan instead of Colombia in the 2nd round as well.