No Irish, No Yanks, No Clogs - FIFA World Cup 2018

Very possible.

Consider then how enjoyable their flopping in Qatar will then be. Unless they break the curse and this is merely your hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9hQ2C5d9Qk

winning is only ever deferred losing tbh

Thought of a Belgium-Croatia final still has me wishing I wasn't so Englishish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17L-QaTq3LA

watching this on replay and holy shit @ that first goal

My Croatian friend is super excited, but even he seems to think the only thing working in their favor is that England is not quite the same tier as France and Belgium, and that maybe Croatia will make it one more round.

I like Croatia’s tenacity. They’re not the most finesse team but I love that they play so hard right to the end. That never say die vibe goes a long way.
Also Luka is gr8.

vrsjalko my favourite mournful hipster in this cup

croatia far from the least finesse team tbf, but theyve been playing teams determined to not let em play

Fwiw England can beat Belgium, the team is full of players they're used to playing in the Premiership. France would destroy them.

England Croatia looks pretty even tbh - I feel like England have settled on a team and system that compensates well for obvious weaknesses in their squad. Croatia don't really need to do that but they don't look like world beaters and they've played a lot more football than England's first XI this tournament.

Also for real England are going into this with a CF who at this point is pretty much the best in his position in the world and is generally considered as such.

modric is key, if henderson can live with him england have too much energy and strength

any team left in it could win but france have by some distance the best players but no real system, belgium the best first xi but no consistency, england the best consistency but quite limited approaches, croatia the poorest squad, the hardest road behind them and the fewest routes to goals (perisic has been utter waste btw) so france beating england in a nuts final it is

Giroud 1-0 in extra time

throught trippier would be at least joint assist leader but hes only credited with 2. hows that possible.

his hairline has 4 more

Kids training and the coach shouts: "NEYMAR!"

😂😂 pic.twitter.com/8NvK55DorA

— 🇷🇺 vs 🇭🇷 Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) July 7, 2018

so good

here’s my prediction: england are going to win this world cup because we’re living in hell

This is exactly what I think if you swap England with France.

Belgium is winning because I want it to happen and I get what I want #verucasalt

go 2 bed

don't sleepsplain me

A World Cup final with eight Spurs players and two former Spurs players would be surreal.

pocha mundiale

ILXor hell.

… but i repeat myself …

FIFA is real

FWIW eventually you have to just hold your hands up to say that this England squad looks good because it *is* good. Maybe not winning a World Cup good but still very good. People said Colombia would rip them apart even without James and they didn't, people said this Sweden team would impossible for them to break down and that they'd put Italy, Holland and effectively Germany out, and England dispatched them pretty comfortably in the end.

They have looked laboured and devoid of ideas at times, but here's the thing, *so has everybody else*. None of the four teams still involved have swept everyone in front of them away - on balance I think France are the best team but there's a lot to be said for England's pace, energy and directness. They can clearly score goals but they've also been good at getting back very quickly in numbers.

Agree with Deems that Henderson/Modric is the key here. Don't fancy England's chances but I'm not sure about the other Croatia players' ability to keep England out either. The thing to remember about England sides of the last 15 years or so is how SLOW they were.

People said Colombia would rip them apart even without James and they didn't, people said this Sweden team would impossible for them to break down

Did many people say either of those? Especially the latter, Sweden have looked shit from start to finish.

Anyway, fwiw, I got accused of jinxing for saying they would beat Colombia and Sweden, I saw no propect of them losing to Sweden, Colombia was more touch and go. I also said they could definitely beat either Russia or Croatia which got shouted down.

I thought they'd struggle to break Sweden down. They scored from a set piece, I don't think I was wrong. I think you're over-selling them a little Matt, which is fair enough as a corrective to kneejerk dismissal, but none of their goals have come about from pace and directness since the Panama game. And all of the last 4 teams in the other half of the draw are better than England imo. Doesn't mean they can't be beat, but still. I think they'll beat Croatia, just, but it will say as much about their deficiencies as it will about England's virtues. And that applied to Colombia and Sweden too.

I think those teams were all better than England as well but I also think England would have been able to get a result against at least two of them, particularly Uruguay playing the way they did against France. Not convinced they would have been able to play Brazil or France.

At this stage it also doesn't actually matter if your goals come from setpieces as long as they happen.

but who has the best blood sausage of the last 4?

At this stage it also doesn't actually matter if your goals come from setpieces as long as they happen.

At any stage tbh.

A World Cup final with eight Spurs players and two former Spurs players would be surreal.

gotta say that if they can get over the inevitable exhaustion of this whole experience, spurs will have that belief next season which they’ve always seemed to lack previously.

when does the transfer window close btw and who are going to be the big moves due to this World Cup?

It doesn't matter where your goals come from, I'm just questioning whether England's attacking prowess is delivering much.

I sort of admire Southgate's commitment to sticking with Sterling, presumably for tactical reasons, but Sterling is never going to be good enough as a starter at this level and I wish he'd give Rashford - even Vardy, if he was fit - a go instead. Henderson is getting worse over time if anything.

Henderson's had an avalanche of praise from football gammoneers.

He is shit and I'm not trying for hyperbole.

Premier League window closes on August 9th

Southgate has managed the squad and any potential garbage surrounding the team well enough (no need to manage expectations given Iceland beat them at the Euros). Other than that England have had a ridiculous path - only France and Russia's group were poorer.

They were lucky James was injured (same with Cavani against France...South Americans have not been as fortunate as England that's for sure) and even then (relying more on match reports here) the moment Colombia started to play they scored. Yesterday Sweden played a little and nearly scored too.

Like you'd expect an unfancied team to reach the SFs (Turkey and S Korea in '02, Croatia '98 and Sweden '94 are some examples) but it just doesn't feel like England have earnt anything, its simply the vagaries of tournament football. Really bitter about it.

Hard Brexit if England win this.

Vardy is the player I just don't think fits into this system and I think he was only ever intended as a late sub. Reckon if Rashford had scored against Belgium he'd have been in the team now.

Sterling has enough of the physical attributes and the technique to succeed but his decision-making in advanced positions has been execrable, particularly when Kane was unmarked and in a good position yesterday. He looks desperate to score and that's affecting everything. I was quite happy to be perfectly indifferent towards him before his treatment from the media last month, now I feel essentially duty bound to support him, which frankly is quite annoying.

If you're getting most of the attacking play you're going to get more setpieces, particularly if teams think you dangerous enough to warrant regular fouling. I'd like them to score more from open play but the number of setpieces doesn't in and of itself undermine their attacking threat.

mildly interesting that both Jesus and Sterling (to a slightly lesser extent) have looked fairly useless outside Pep's system

dream of a world of pink faced england fans playing kabbadi but chanting "gammonygammonygammony" while the meteor hit and the earth turned to desert

If nothing else this World Cup has consolidated the Premier League as the most powerful league in the world - the Belgium team is virtually an EPL XI.

yeah the media treatment of Sterling was enraging, but there seems to be plenty of similar players to him in top half Champo/lower half prem squads, who have no end product/ability to do much damage in the final 3rd.

Like you'd expect an unfancied team to reach the SFs (Turkey and S Korea in '02, Croatia '98 and Sweden '94 are some examples) but it just doesn't feel like England have earnt anything

Turkey and South Korea were excellent in 2002 and that late 90s Croatia team was magnificent. If England, being uncharitable, parallel with anything it's Germany 2002, who made it to the final despite not being that good and having a stupidly easy route there.

Also 'anyone can survive a kicking' is transparent guff coming from an Arsenal fan.

i agree re: Sterling and the media tbh, but as you say his decision making is abysmal and his over-dependence on his right foot must make him an easy job for quality defenders. i can't see either of those things improving much over time.

calz are you saying Sterling is the English VLP :D