3rd place qualifiers is a bad move. Just a reminder to fate. 8/1 bet a trillion and don't give me any of that Slovakian last minute goal balls that's better for me. Imma laugh at you !
No honour at all for Slovakia in this. Defensive football and excellent rearguard performances have their place in a league season, no doubt about it, but it would be better for everyone if they could be weighted against somehow in a round robin tournament. Zero attacking intent should be -1 point. We're not the only team to come up against it so far. France and Spain have too.
No, no matter how positive I try to be, we are shocking. Any shooting, crossing or passing near box is simply terrible. So slow and lacking in penetration.
This is why a big lump like Deeney or Carrol should have gone. If they are going to play so defensive, you have to go old school, lump and elbow.
Not great tonight and Wales will love coming above us! However we will play the runner up of the Portgual group so maybe not the worse thing being 2nd. Until we lose in the quarters...
No one is attacking their box. We're attacking and you see 2 red shirts and 6 white in their box. It's crazy. Slovakia aren't pushing forward at all, so why so many of our players are sitting back is beyond me.
Slovakia needed a draw and England didn't have the tools to break them down. Fair enough I would say. Why should they attack just to make it easier for England to win the group?
It's just boring to watch. In fairness I think the competition expansion is the problem rather than any particular team wanting to play for a draw.
I agree. Amazingly even with your idea of docking them a point Slovakia would still have done the same as they would have had a better goal difference than Albania and likely get through! Last few games I have watched have all been goalless. Austria did the maths and figured a draw v Portugal was the way to go as they are through if they beat Iceland.
You have to ask why was he even taken, unfit and hasn't been fit for a long, long time. Offered nothing in the two games he has played.
We have been so lucky with the draw so far - a weak group that we've messed up and now finishing second we'll play against the second place team in the other really weak group. Having said that, I could easily see Hungary coming second, parking the bus and Priskin scoring the winning penalty with a cheeky panenka. Edit: on a more positive note, at least both our right backs are in form. Hooray!
i guess im alone in thinking that once the strikers discover their shooting boots, things will really click for us
I agree with Slaven, Slovakia didnt really want the ball so we would obviously get all the possession. That is nothing to get excited about, particularly when we create only 2 or 3 half chances and the Vardy chance in 90 minutes. I dont blame Slovakia, they were only a break away from going though in 2nd place and knew that a point was good enough. I think they had the games best chance when Smalling messed up the back pass. There were times that Slovakia attacked and then, when it broke down that was our opportunity to get the ball forward quickly before they got back, but the build up was just so pedestrian that Slovakia got back in numbers. Where is the pace? it is up front so get it up there quickly before they have a chance to surround our quick players. They did that once, and it created Vardy's chance.
IF we win the next game, we'll probably get France in the Quarters. Had we won the group, would probably have been Belgium or Portugal. Decision to take Wilshere and Henderson when they weren't match fit looked like a really, really bad one tonight.
And those two players happen to personify the pedestrianisation of this England team. Henderson is a budget Xavi, he has no influence in any meaningful areas of the pitch. Replace even one of those players with a Deeney or Carroll, and we are a different proposition. Like, we'd actually have strategical options rather than just passing ourselves into centre-circle oblivion. Imagine that Woy - options.
England have a lot of good players, but I think the coach s the problem. This is just an observation from a neutral. Hodgson is far too conservative and cautious. Just run riot once in a while. Take the handbrake off FFS. Look at what Wales did to Russia? I find it baffling that it's always like this with England. Far too scared to make a mistake, and this is what holds you back.
No you're not. I think we've looked pretty decent and, mission accomplished, we're through. It is frustrating that we're creating so many chances and scoring so few but I don't think things are nearly as bad as some are saying. Edit: but I do think Wilshere is ****e.
It's no coincidence we've played better against teams that actually give it a go. Our strength is that we are a counter attacking team (were probably the paciest side I the tournament), and we will have been set up to beat the better teams in the tournament. Nothing I saw tonight makes me think that we won't get to the quarter finals at the very least.
We have some very good players in our squad and I don't actually think they've played that badly at any point this tournament. The problem is Hodgson. Absolutely shocking coach at this level. If he is still in charge for our first World Cup qualifier the FA should hang their heads in shame. Major international competitions only come along every two years and nobody knows if this young, talented group will still be together come Russia 2018. It's sad to think that we have wasted this opportunity by having such a backwards dinosaur in charge and to think about what we could have done with someone else.
Know you must have lacked penetration when even Ray Wilkins is complaining we didn't get the ball forward enough!
