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Football 17/18


TheGayTent
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3 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

History and romance apart, would Italy have done?

I think Italy played some decent football at times in the Euros (admittedly under a different manager) so the potential is there.

I also enjoy watching Veratti and would have been interested to see Belotti in an international tournament. So while the answer to your question is probably not, there is still more interest for me than Sweden.

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The big one is tomorrow though obviously. Peru vs New Zealand. 0-0 in the first leg - actually a fairly even game as well.

Winston Reid was pretty dominant at the back, was weird seeing him in a team that had a semblance of defensive stability. Kiwis see Chris Wood as their saviour. Was only fit enough to play the last 15 minutes in the first leg, but it was non-stop "when will they risk him" all game.

Edited by mjsell
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Fairly indifferent about Italy missing out. At least we won't have to play them again in the group stage again and fool ourselves by believing that Raheem Sterling scored three minutes in with a wonder strike before going mad in the pub, spilling our drinks everywhere and jumping around only to look like utter tits when we realised it hit the side netting. 

We also won't have to watch Wayne Rooney take a corner against them and kick it directly out of play. This was one of the most painful moments of a very painful 2014 WC campaign...

 

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28 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Saw on Twitter last night that's now six qualifiers in a row that have finished 0-0:

Honduras - Austraila, New Zealand - Peru, Denmark - Ireland, Greece - Croatia, Switzerland - N. Ireland, Italy - Sweden.

9.5 hours of goal free ball. Could be 11 hours after us vs Denmark later. 

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I was in a hostel in Brisbane for that Italy game. Had to get up at ridiculous o'clock and stumble to the tv area which was outside (and despite being in a supposed tropical region was freezing).

There were 2 other English guys that had got up - we had never met before and had only said a cursive grunt to each other at that point when Sterling had that dig, we all reacted similarly to you guys above, there may even been a hug in there somewhere, only for the confusion of the game carrying on seconds later. Once we knew what had happened embarrassment, tiredness and that utter deflated feeling you get when watching England led us to not interact with each other again.

i didn't get up for the next England game, or watch much else of the whole tournament. 

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Crazy to think that was almost four years ago. Sterling is playing well this season and really starting to kick on now, so hopefully he can take that form into the World Cup and give us something to celebrate this time around. 

edit: also lads, I'd book 16th June '18 off work and reserve a table at your local right now. Four World Cup matches in one day, 11am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm.

Edited by jyoung
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9 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Crazy to think that was almost four years ago. Sterling is playing well this season and really starting to kick on now, so hopefully he can take that form into the World Cup and give us something to celebrate this time around. 

He's definitely improving (and I've long been a fan, as long-timers here know), but....

He needs to be confident enough to miss to get the best out of him which he is in a City that's banging them in, but I doubt he'll be quite the same in an England shirt.

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2 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

He's definitely improving (and I've long been a fan, as long-timers here know), but....

He needs to be confident enough to miss to get the best out of him which he is in a City that's banging them in, but I doubt he'll be quite the same in an England shirt.

Yeah. It's easy to forget he's yet to turn 23 because he's been playing in the Premier League for six years or whatever. I used to give him a bit of grief to be fair. I thought he was wasteful and often his decision making in the final third let him down. 2 goals for England is poor given his obvious talent but the lad looks the part this season, you're right. I know he won't be as explosive in the England side but if he can carry even a bit of that confidence into the attack for the national team it would be great. Ever the optimist, me.

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41 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

But you just know that the squad will be full of 'big names' whether or not they really deserve it - and they'll of course all be miraculously fit. ;)

Read in the papers today that Southgate said if the World Cup was tomorrow he'd pick the same squad he's picked for these friendlies. Obviously the likes of Kane, Alli, Henderson etc would be fit so a few would miss out but... I genuinely believe him. The way he talks about youth is different to the coaches we've had in the past and he's not afraid to put his money where his mouth is. 

Just for fun, if the World Cup was tomorrow and all our lads were fit. I'd go for the following 23 man squad...

GK - Hart, Pickford, Heaton

DF - Cahill, Stones, Jones, Maguire, Keane, Trippier, Rose, Walker, Bertrand

MF - Henderson, Alli, Sterling, Lallana, Dier, RLC, Livermore,

FW - Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Abraham

As for the 7 spaces in the provisional list which don't make the final cut but can act as emergency back ups prior to the first game...

Butland, Smalling, Gray, Barkley, Winks, Sturridge, Welbeck

Edited by jyoung
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2 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Read in the papers today that Southgate said if the World Cup was tomorrow he'd pick the same squad he's picked for these friendlies. Obviously the likes of Kane, Alli, Henderson etc would be fit so a few would miss out but...

so what you're saying is that it won't be the same squad, and the chances of any included 'kids' getting on the field is slim, and so it ends up nothing at all like the team that played the other night. :P

 

3 minutes ago, jyoung said:

I'd go for the following 23 man squad...

GK - Hart,

and Hart would play :wacko:

Etc, etc, etc.

This is what i mean. It will be those' big names' and not the 'kids'.

I don't really have an issue with any of the players you've named, apart from we've seen enough of some of them to think that others can bring as much - and just perhaps, a bit more too if they're given the same chances.

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1 minute ago, eFestivals said:

so what you're saying is that it won't be the same squad, and the chances of any included 'kids' getting on the field is slim, and so it ends up nothing at all like the team that played the other night. :P

The squad would be fairly similar I've just sacked off Gomez, Lingard, Young and Cork. You're not gonna call up Lewis Cook instead of Dele Alli or Dominic Solanke instead of Harry Kane are you? To be fair you're probably right about Hart, who would likely get the nod which makes no sense to me, I'd much rather Pickford. I suppose what I mean is, I think the likes of Abraham are more likely to be picked under Southgate than say Walcott and Sturridge for example. Which is not something that would have happened in the past.

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Thinking about Italy. With alot of people saying the money and attractiveness to foreign players of the premiership is one of the reasons England don't win anything. Italy and Serie A has seen a massive drop off over the same period upto the point where teams like Stoke and Southampton can probably out bid clubs like Inter Milan. This doesn't seem to have helped their national team in any way. 

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Interesting game for England against a very good Brazil side. The three centre backs were excellent, Gomez and Maguire both doing their chances a world of good.

However I thought Livermore, Dier and Vardy all looked out of their depth at times. Rashford still looks excellent, Walker is firmly our best wing back. Bertrand was fine, but I still think Rose is the better option and will be ahead of him when fit. Lingard was actually an improvement on Loftus-Cheek when he came on but still didn't do enough. And thanks to the defence Hart didn't actually have much to do. 

Was good to see Solanke get a go at the end as well. 

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15 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

Buffon's international career finished with a bit of a whimper. 

Aye, bit of a shame that but they are a poor side these days.

Was just reading how they took and lost a friendly against Portugal    before the World Cup draw which meant they dropped down a pot and landed Spain.

Tactical fixture planning is the future. Everyone will want to play Scotland lol !

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12 hours ago, jyoung said:

Read in the papers today that Southgate said if the World Cup was tomorrow he'd pick the same squad he's picked for these friendlies. Obviously the likes of Kane, Alli, Henderson etc would be fit so a few would miss out but... I genuinely believe him. The way he talks about youth is different to the coaches we've had in the past and he's not afraid to put his money where his mouth is. 

Just for fun, if the World Cup was tomorrow and all our lads were fit. I'd go for the following 23 man squad...

GK - Hart, Pickford, Heaton

DF - Cahill, Stones, Jones, Maguire, Keane, Trippier, Rose, Walker, Bertrand

MF - Henderson, Alli, Sterling, Lallana, Dier, RLC, Livermore,

FW - Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Abraham

As for the 7 spaces in the provisional list which don't make the final cut but can act as emergency back ups prior to the first game...

Butland, Smalling, Gray, Barkley, Winks, Sturridge, Welbeck

Fabian Delph is far better than either Henderson or Livermore. If he continues to play well for City and stays free of injury then he should go to the world cup.

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13 hours ago, lost said:

Thinking about Italy. With alot of people saying the money and attractiveness to foreign players of the premiership is one of the reasons England don't win anything. Italy and Serie A has seen a massive drop off over the same period upto the point where teams like Stoke and Southampton can probably out bid clubs like Inter Milan. This doesn't seem to have helped their national team in any way. 

Then again (outside PSG) the French league isn't flush with money and they are producing more good players than anyone.

I think it's largely cyclical. Italy will come again.

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