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[Football] WC SF2 Croatia v England



Wrong-Direction

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2013
13,395
I feel fine, we didn't deserve it, played shite the whole tournament and only got this far because everyone else was was worse

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lawros left foot

Glory hunting since 1969
Jun 11, 2011
13,673
Worthing
Right, I’m off out to smash some shop windows, jump up and down on some ambulances, and then ignore football for two more years.
 


BadFish

Huge Member
Oct 19, 2003
17,017
We are better than I expected but we still lack real quality in midfield. We still can't keep the ball too nullify opposition pressure.

Reasons to be cheerful but we really need to bit very carried away and keep building.

Gutted this morning.

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Beach Hut

Brighton Bhuna Boy
Jul 5, 2003
71,906
Living In a Box
Right, I’m off out to smash some shop windows, jump up and down on some ambulances, and then ignore football for two more years.

Say hello to the Scottish Girl you will meet on your orgy of violence
 








Bry Nylon

Test your smoke alarm
Helpful Moderator
Jul 21, 2003
19,782
Playing snooker
I just hope Croatia can keep it going and beat France. Unlikely, but if they show the same spirit they have that chance.

Who gives a shit?

I'll be mowing the lawn.
 








Saunders

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2017
2,292
Brighton
Opportunity missed. It might be decades before we get another WC semi final and when we do it is highly unlikely to be against another second tier team like Croatia. Harsh as it may sound, neither of these teams should be anywhere near a WC final. I have nothing against Croatia but I hope France win on Sunday as the WC should only ever be won by a top class team.

Looking at it objectively, we beat two appalling teams in the group stage, a second rate South American team on penalties and then one of the worst European teams at the tournament. As soon as we came up against a slightly above average team we lost and looked clueless. There are signs of improvement but I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that suggests we can win big games against top teams.

Lack of Plan B, one too many lightweight players in midfield and an appalling first choice attacking sub (Rashford) all need to be addressed.

That "second tier" team had 20 champions league winner medals in it compared to the one (Cahill who didnt even start) not counting all their league wins compared to England we are third tier at least and we gave them a game we can build on this.
 


dadams2k11

ID10T Error
Jun 24, 2011
4,943
Brighton
Don't see how anyone can fault them. Yea they were knackered towards the end and could have been 2 maybe 3 up at half time, but this was the best performance in a tournament and sense of togetherness I can remember for a long time. Yea you can argue we didn't really play any good teams, apart from Croatia, but you can only beat was is Infront of you.

How do people know this will be our best chance? What's to say we don't use this experience for future tournaments and win one of them in the next 4 - 6 years? This could be the start of us doing a Germany, or a France when they reverted back to youngsters.

They will come back hero's and rightly so.
 






Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
30,521
I don't think this team had anything else to give. I have no complaints. Croatia deserve credit and Mandzukic was a warrior tonight.
 


Garry Nelson's Left Foot

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
13,054
tokyo
We literally played no decent teams. I reject the whole 'being proud' notion. We will NEVER have a better chance of winning it.

No, we never had a better chance of making the final. We weren't ever going to beat France, they're miles better than us.

We have a team that gave their all and was greater than the sum of its parts. You can't expect more than that.
 


BrickTamland

Well-known member
Mar 2, 2010
1,961
Brighton
Not understanding the reason why people seem to think we had a God given right to win that against a ‘second rate nation’ like Croatia. They have a once in a 2 or 3 generation squad filled with quality and they showed it for parts tonight. Gutted
 


drew

Drew
Oct 3, 2006
23,008
Burgess Hill
Got what we deserved. Very naive. For christ's sake keep possession, make them chase the game but we resort to type. Sterling, despite all his adoring worshippers, was ineffective again. Kane didn't enhance his reputation. Like for like replacements so no plan B.

That said it's great to reach a semi but in the cold light of day, we didn't beat anyone of substance.
 






Napier

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2009
2,123
Devon
On the plus side, at least we deserved to lose tonight. A heart wrenching penalty shoot out loss after a great performance and out playing the opposition would have been too much.
 



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