[Football] England v Costa Rica (on ITV from Elland Road)

[LlcoolJ]

The game apart, I thought it was a fantastic atmosphere at ER last night, especially as it was only a friendly. Shame the band was there, but other than that, the ground was raucous and noisy throughout, and gave the team a great sendoff.

This is exactly why I have no issue whatsoever with Wembley being sold, if that eventually goes through. Taking England's autumn/winter Internationals around the country to club stadiums is absolutely what we should do, especially for qualifiers. We've got so many great stadiums dotted around the country where (when it really matters) a tremendous atmosphere can be generated, FAR better than the sterile, corporate, distant feel of Wembley. More England games at Elland Road, St James Park, Hillsborough, Villa Park, Stadium of Light etc would be BRILL.

I'm with you apart from Hillsborough which is a tottering dump that needs about £30m spending on it just to make it half decent. Even Wednesday[emoji23] fans (the sensible ones) agree.

 

[Easy 10]

I'm with you apart from Hillsborough which is a tottering dump that needs about £30m spending on it just to make it half decent. Even Wednesday[emoji23] fans (the sensible ones) agree.

Fair play, a bit of a dump these days. But there's still something I like about that. Imagine England, in a final game World Cup qualifier, needing to turn over (say) Croatia to reach the Finals. Where would you rather that was played - at a full house Wembley, complete with the corporate centre-tier "ring of indifference" and a 90k crowd chock-full of tourists and happy-clappers. Or at a seething, baying 40k crowd at ramshackle old Hillsborough, right on top of the pitch, breathing down the teams necks.

No brainer.

 

[pasty]

Look at your wallchart and re-post your message

Read Poland, typed Portugal

 

[LlcoolJ]

Fair play, a bit of a dump these days. But there's still something I like about that. Imagine England, in a final game World Cup qualifier, needing to turn over (say) Croatia to reach the Finals. Where would you rather that was played - at a full house Wembley, complete with the corporate centre-tier "ring of indifference" and a 90k crowd chock-full of tourists and happy-clappers. Or at a seething, baying 40k crowd at ramshackle old Hillsborough, right on top of the pitch, breathing down the teams necks.

No brainer.

Yeah but my point was that it's such a shithole at the moment that you can't get 40k in there as they've had to reduce the capacity to about 33,000 on safety grounds. [emoji23]

Even the Sheffield United "sell out" last season was under 33k.

 

[Pavilionaire]

By this logic, no chance Germany are winning the WC, as they lost 2-1 to Austria the other day. Spain drew with Switzerland as well so rule them out. Anyone else?

Whereas tournament favourites Brazil played Russia in the Luzhniki Stadium, cuffed them 3-0, then beat Germany 4 days later in Berlin and put down another marker.

I happen to think that the likes of Brazil, Germany and Spain are mentally tougher than England because they've had success in tournaments, they routinely reach the last 4 and know what it takes to progress.

For England to reach that level somehow that mentality has to change. 4 years ago our two pre-World Cup friendlies were a 2-2 draw vs Ecuador and a 0-0 vs Honduras, so the writing was on the wall when we went into that tournament. This time things are more encouraging.

 

[Mellotron]

Whereas tournament favourites Brazil played Russia in the Luzhniki Stadium, cuffed them 3-0, then beat Germany 4 days later in Berlin and put down another marker.

I happen to think that the likes of Brazil, Germany and Spain are mentally tougher than England because they've had success in tournaments, they routinely reach the last 4 and know what it takes to progress.

For England to reach that level somehow that mentality has to change. 4 years ago our two pre-World Cup friendlies were a 2-2 draw vs Ecuador and a 0-0 vs Honduras, so the writing was on the wall when we went into that tournament. This time things are more encouraging.

Totally agree on your overall point there. I think we have a huge mental block when it comes to tournaments.

 

[spring hall convert]

Whereas tournament favourites Brazil played Russia in the Luzhniki Stadium, cuffed them 3-0, then beat Germany 4 days later in Berlin and put down another marker.

I happen to think that the likes of Brazil, Germany and Spain are mentally tougher than England because they've had success in tournaments, they routinely reach the last 4 and know what it takes to progress.

For England to reach that level somehow that mentality has to change. 4 years ago our two pre-World Cup friendlies were a 2-2 draw vs Ecuador and a 0-0 vs Honduras, so the writing was on the wall when we went into that tournament. This time things are more encouraging.

It's about expectations as well isn't it. The sides you mentioned all have genuine chances of winning the tournament. Par for us is 2nd Round at this one

 

[Easy 10]

It's about expectations as well isn't it. The sides you mentioned all have genuine chances of winning the tournament. Par for us is 2nd Round at this one

I'd say England exiting to Poland, Colombia, Senegal or Japan would be decidedly poor, not par.

The way this draw pans out, Quarter-Final is a minimum this summer. Anything short of that will be (another) fail.

 

[Mellotron]

I'd say England exiting to Poland, Colombia, Senegal or Japan would be decidedly poor, not par.

The way this draw pans out, Quarter-Final is a minimum this summer. Anything short of that will be (another) fail.

Agree on any of those bar Colombia. On their day, easily capable of beating us. Decent side, them.

We should make quarters (but no further if it's Brazil or Germany as expected), but getting to 2nd round playing decent football wouldn't be horrendous compared to our recent tournaments.

 

[Easy 10]

Agree on any of those bar Colombia. On their day, easily capable of beating us. Decent side, them.

We should make quarters (but no further if it's Brazil or Germany as expected), but getting to 2nd round playing decent football wouldn't be horrendous compared to our recent tournaments.

It wouldn't be a walk in the park against Colombia, and were we playing them in South American conditions my arsecheeks would most certainly be more tightly clenched. They're no mugs. Look, we've lost to Iceland, so we're capable of losing to anyone. But I'd be reasonably confident of getting the better of Colombia, and if we didn't, that would be pretty piss-poor IMO.

We'll rarely get a better path of opportunity towards the sharp end of the tournament than this.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I just want to be entertained by England. Play with a bit of vim and vigour and create a bit of excitement. It shouldn't be much to ask but when I think about it the last time that happened was 2004. Just have a go and see what happens. no one's expecting the trophy or the final or even the semi finals so go out on our shields not in a limp, lifeless, petrified way where we haven't lain a glove on our opponents.*









*I'm talking about the team not the russian army/fans....

 

[LlcoolJ]

We'll rarely get a better path of opportunity towards the sharp end of the tournament than this.

I've read that before. Too many times.....

 

[Easy 10]

I've read that before. Too many times.....

Me too. And going into the last World Cup we looked like being on a hiding to nothing right from the off. Facing Italy in the middle of the jungle first, then Uruguay with a fired-up Suarez next, followed by Costa Rica. Horrible group, terrible order of games, and sure enough, to nobodies real surprise, we duly got dry humped in the first 2 games and that was that.

I don't feel thats the case this time though. We have a good chance of progressing. Its whether we have the gumption to seize it.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Me too. And going into the last World Cup we looked like being on a hiding to nothing right from the off. Facing Italy in the middle of the jungle first, then Uruguay with a fired-up Suarez next, followed by Costa Rica. Horrible group, terrible order of games, and sure enough, to nobodies real surprise, we duly got dry humped in the first 2 games and that was that.

I don't feel thats the case this time though. We have a good chance of progressing. Its whether we have the gumption to seize it.

Very true. I'm just still scarred by the South Africa fiasco where we also had a "very easy" group and a route to the quarters.

 

[Uter]

Did you miss our youth level results last year? I'm sure I'll be corrected if I have this wrong but didn't the U-17's, U-18's & U-19's win their respective tournaments with the U-21's making a semi final?

You are correct. The U17s deservedly won the World Cup, beating Brazil in the SF and Spain in the final 5-2 (without their arguably best player Jadon Sancho for the knock out rounds) and were also runners-up in the Euros. U19s won the Euros.

In addition the U20s won the world cup.

I cannot agree that the future looks bleak either, but it is dependent on these players getting sufficient opportunities, either here or (increasingly) abroad. We have groups of players coming through used to spending long periods away from home, enjoy playing for England and are winning tournaments.

Having said that, I don't have any great expectations for this WC. I'd probably settle for the QF and not looking like we are scared and jaded.

 

[Pavilionaire]

With 5 defenders and the likes of Dier protecting the CBs we should be hard to break down - indeed, we've only conceded 3 goals in our last 9 games that included matches against Germany, Brazil, Holland and Italy.

The second key factor is Harry Kane. I'm surprised the media aren't making more of him because he's as important to England as Rooney ever was, particularly as there aren't the goals from midfield now like there were with Lampard and Gerrard.

 

[spring hall convert]

I cannot agree that the future looks bleak either, but it is dependent on these players getting sufficient opportunities, either here or (increasingly) abroad.

Yup sure. But the FA's first task was to start producing players that are technically gifted enough to compete with the best on the global stage and it looks like they've done it.

 

[Uter]

Yup sure. But the FA's first task was to start producing players that are technically gifted enough to compete with the best on the global stage and it looks like they've done it.

Absolutely. The technical levels are at a very high level now, and in particular the U17s last season were absolutely fantastic to watch. The polar opposite of watching the seniors over the last 10-15 years. The technical foundations are in place.

I don't really know why, but PL managers seem much more cautious when it comes to playing youngsters than say, the Bundesliga, so translating that youth success into first team minutes is still going to be hard. It's heartening to see more youngsters get savvy and turn down potentially more lucrative deals here and look abroad to further their careers.

 

[Mellotron]

It wouldn't be a walk in the park against Colombia, and were we playing them in South American conditions my arsecheeks would most certainly be more tightly clenched. They're no mugs. Look, we've lost to Iceland, so we're capable of losing to anyone. But I'd be reasonably confident of getting the better of Colombia, and if we didn't, that would be pretty piss-poor IMO.

We'll rarely get a better path of opportunity towards the sharp end of the tournament than this.

I'm not convinced losing to a team containing James Rodriguez would be "piss poor". We're probably about the 10th best country in the world right now, man for man. Colombia would be similar for me.

 

[Easy 10]

I'm not convinced losing to a team containing James Rodriguez would be "piss poor". We're probably about the 10th best country in the world right now, man for man. Colombia would be similar for me.

Meh. Has around a 1 in 3 goal ratio (greatly boosted by playing for RM in a 2 team league). He's built his career off one INCREDIBLE World Cup volley in Brazil. He's alright, but would I swap him for Harry Kane ?

Nope.