The Knockout Stages

First topic message reminder :

Round of 16:

France vs Argentina
Portugal vs Uruguay
Spain vs Russia
Croatia vs Denmark
Brazil vs Mexico
Belgium vs Japan
Sweden vs Switzerland
England vs Colombia

To be honest GSC I completely disagree with that...the one criticism I think almost every England fan has levelled at the national side in past years is tendency to get very negative once in front.

Yes of course game management and seeing out results is vital but at the right time. England were in control of the game and then had the lead...the right game management wasnt to then essentially allow Columbia more of the ball and begin to bed in defensively because it just gave the South Americans a route back into it.

Only have to look at Japan's tactics once in front to see attack isn't always the best form of defense.

Forgetting that Japan went two nil up....a then sensible time to attempt to see out the game. 1-0 against a team who we controlled and didn't allow into the game at all until we went ahead was not.

It wasn't a coincidence that Columbia's possession..attempts on goal and time in opponents final 3rd all increased after 65 mins..they didn't suddenly turn it on...England gave them more time and space & let them back into the game and in that sense we were then rightly punished. To say otherwise is to actually completely ignore everything we did well up until then!

Seemed like bringing Dier on to tighten things up had the opposite effect, before extra time I was hoping either he or Henderson would be subbed off for RLC to bring it back to the original system that was working

Just John wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Sterling was brilliant in many areas but inconsistent in others, and it wasn’t a perfect game with the ball. A lot of people care only about what happens when the round thing is near.

Thought Lingard was good for 70% of the game and Alli was so incredibly disciplined as a player near Henderson. Performances beyond his years, made interceptions and got in deep positions to defend well.

Lingard was anonymous. Alli was not fit, and offered nothing. As for Sterling, he produced nothing of note in the final third. 1000 days without scoring for England (2 goals in 40+ apps). Not sure what game you were watching.

None of them are a Jonjo, but you don’t play better than Colombia by being mugs.

Dier just doesn't look an international standard player to me. Maybe it was just a coincidence that we started getting over run when he came on the pitch.

Im also having problems with Ali (who just doesn't look remotely fit) and Sterling who just offers nothing in attack!

England keep their nerve well but may have to prepare for more pens against Sweden , surprised vardy wasn't in the 1st 5 penalty takers

BamBam wrote:Seemed like bringing Dier on to tighten things up had the opposite effect, before extra time I was hoping either he or Henderson would be subbed off for RLC to bring it back to the original system that was working

 +1 this. Even though he may have scored that winning penalty. I believe Dier was too much of a negative change, when we need to keep the pressure on the Colombians. As soon as Dier was on, he and Henderson more often than not looked to play backwards, not forwards.

Dier was the sensible choice, Colombia brought on Uribe and England looked too open down the middle with another player pushing on from midfield.

Vardy was the one that hurt, nobody was retaining the ball and a tired Kane was often too far away from goal to be a threat.

But really it's all hindsight. England were 2 minutes from seeing it out with a minimum of fuss before Colombia got their set piece. If they don't it would've been great game management, because they didn't it's too negative.

Sometimes it feels a lot like whinging for the sake of whinging.

daraghj82 wrote:
England keep their nerve well but may have to prepare for more pens against Sweden , surprised vardy wasn't in the 1st 5 penalty takers

Read that he picked up a knock just before end of extra time that prevented that. He then had an injection.

owen10ozzy wrote:Agree with with above sentiments regards Sterling. Hasn't been great this WC but easy to target him now and he was the one player running at the Columbian defence trying to make things happen last night and as said a lot of our impetus was lost after the change

Issue with Sterling is that he's been wasteful with the ball at his feet, which means he hasn't really created anything. To be fair, I think his biggest problem is that nobody other than Trippier really has, which just makes it all the more frustrating and obvious when he gets in a dangerous area and it leads to nothing.

GSC wrote:Dier was the sensible choice, Colombia brought on Uribe and England looked too open down the middle with another player pushing on from midfield.

Vardy was the one that hurt, nobody was retaining the ball and a tired Kane was often too far away from goal to be a threat.

But really it's all hindsight. England were 2 minutes from seeing it out with a minimum of fuss before Colombia got their set piece. If they don't it would've been great game management, because they didn't it's too negative.

Sometimes it feels a lot like whinging for the sake of whinging.

Agree he was the sensible choice to see out the 90 mins, just thought that RLC should have been on for extra time to give us more going forwards

Should have been RLC instead of Vardy to be honest.

Seems Dier took that last penalty and not Vardy cos Vardy injured his groin and is now a doubt for the Sweden game

Part of the euphoria greeting England's win is down to the fact that defeat for this group of players at this stage of the tournament at this stage of their development would have been....devastating.
  Here we had a youngish, relatively unscarred team intelligently and sympathetically led by Southgate on the brink of something. Big teams had been knocked out, the path to the semis -even the final - looked relatively straightforward. All was going well, we were into the 93rd minute and then....whoops.
  Few would have backed England to come through after the sickening late equaliser. Even fewer would have backed them come through via a penalty shoot out. But all's well that ends well.
  Of course, it could still all end in tears. But England have given themselves a chance of glory.

So onwards we go.

Both of tomorrow's qf have an interesting look about them. France have finally started to get going more because Argentina attacked them. Uruguay have 2 good forwards that will cause them trouble. And have looked solid all tournament.
Whilst Brazil/Belgium could be the game of the tournament. Brazil have been excellent defensively, but Neymar id just slowing them down on attack. Courthino has been excellent, Jesus anonymous. Belgium just have so much attacking talent that just hasn't clicked (apart from when there subs were on), defensively nothing special.

Both are hard to call, but I think France after ET. And I fancy Brazil if Neymar plays for the team and not just himself.
But both could just as easily be the other way round.

Cavani out of the starting line up. That's a big blow and tips the tie towards France. Matudi out for France.

Cavani is big miss....but certainly not writing Uruguay off look some of the media are because of it.

Seems to me people have gone ott about France because they put 4 past a poor Argentina side...same side Croats put 3 past. Think defensively France are vulnerable and the pressure on them is huge..

Tight but good game...2-1 Uruguay

For gods sake, it's a foul but it didn't need that mUchida rolling about. Uruguay started well, but started rough housing it a bit.

It’s tough to watch with all this play acting.
Suarez is such a pu55y

True,
The stop start nature not helping the game. Herandez has spent more time rolling about then anything else.

Mbappe should have done better with that chance, Uruguay doing well.

Superb header by Varane. France 1-0.

Only thing to happen. Hernandez is disgusting to watch, just a cheat.

What a save Lloris, stunning.

HT Uruguay probably been the better team. France the better chances. France not covering themselves in glory so far,.

2-0 game over. Limited side Uruguay, and without Cavani, it was always an uphill task

Very poor game...Lloris Safeway huge...that goes on game changer for me.

Brazil vs France (should they get through) is going to be a game which is built up massively only to disappoint. Everyone is waiting for them to go through the gears but think someone said other day....don't think they have the gears to go through. Plus can you imagine the play acting in that!!

France to me, are a very talented group of individuals, but in no way do they play as a team. Kante & Varane are there 2 most important players as they hold them together.

If it is Brazil v France, there's a very good chance that with all the stoppages it could last 2 hours. And might be worth just watching the highlights as the game could be painful to watch.
There's been a lot of hype around certain teams in this tournament. But you could argue none of them have performed.

Belgium 1-0 Brazil - Fernandinho own goal

Brazil moving the ball so slowly.

Belgium 2-0 Brazil - KDB special

That's game over! ...2014 deja vu perhaps creep in here..

Brilliant counter attack, great from Lukaku wonderful Finnish. De
Bruyne.

To be fair to a player I'm not keen on. Felani has made Belgium and better team in my opinion.

Inevitable dive from Neymar. Embarrassing. Should of been booked and ruled out the semi final

Brazil 1-2 Belgium - Renato

Hmm. Thought Brazil were dead and buried but they're finishing the game with vigor - and renewed hope after that goal.
Couple of good chances missed.

Belgium fans will be nervous now. Looking as if they're rather hanging on. Substitutions galore...nearly there !

5 minutes added on...lot can happen in five minutes...

Indeed, not just in football

France v Belgium - Semi-Final

Well done Belgium

Can't say I'm too surprised . Reckon they're a huge chance to win the whole thing.

Superb save Courtouis sees Belgium through.

Good game of football. Belgium looked very leggy at the end. Has there ever been a World Cup with only European Quarter Finalists?

Think Belgium vs France will be a better game than Brazil would have been....make the former slight favourites..have shown they can play well..can drag a performance when not and mentality to come from behind.

Neymar was very poor...3 so called best players in the World failed to show up when it mattered.

Roll on tomorrow.

I've never been to Brazil and my only connection to Brazil is that I have a female friend who is from Sau Paulo but I have to admit I'm a little sorry to see Brazil lose. But well done Belgium and good luck against France.

4 European champions in a row. 7 of the last 8 finalists. South America playing catchup

Should be no surprise to anyone that South America is playing catchup. The richest teams play in Europe and even Messi, some peoples greatest current player has learned his trade playing for a European club. Having said that, not all European teams have left the South Americans behind. Yes, England are still in with a chance of winning this World Cup, but ask most football fans who is more likely to win 2 of the next 3 World Cups..England or Brazil? I bet most would say Brazil. Even Argentina would be favoured over England. Holland and Italy didn't even make it to the finals at all and Germany couldn't even make it out of their group.

So, for the first time, no Argentina, Brazil or Germany in world cup semis.

One of the best tournaments

France v Belgium in the semis, then. I've fancied France to win the whole thing but they've got possibly the hardest semi they could have had, given what we've seen so far.
It nearly didn't happen, as Coutinho missed a great chance for Brazil at the end. As for England I was really worried about the Colombia game and even more so when that late equaliser went in. Sweden could be tricky, too. Penalties again?

Atila wrote:I've never been to Brazil and my only connection to Brazil is that I have a female friend who is from Sau Paulo but I have to admit I'm a little sorry to see Brazil lose. But well done Belgium and good luck against France.

used to have this attitude, always the team i enjoyed watching most and looked out for after england. thats all changed now because of one reason...

neymar- the epitome of everything thats wrong with football these days. spends more time trying to cheat than play

England unchanged.
Sweden make 2 changes, Sebastian Larsson back.

England started really slowly. Some poor balls, slow build up.