England Vs France Match Thread

ForssAwakens said:
You do realise that people lose games when they’ve been the better team
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Of course, as with any other sport or any other walk of life. Life isn't always fair. But the better team won tonight. Its no coincidence that they're the reigning champions.
 
BoroMart said:
I don't think you grasp my point. Plaers like Rooney and Lampard and Gerrard were playing for so long and past their best. This denied opportunity for younger players to gain international experience. So when Southgate took over he dumped Rooney fairly quickly and went about rebuilding with a set of players where virtually no talented players had international experience.


But you can keep players beynd their prime and deny other players a chance. When the old player finally retires you end up with a replacement who is 26 never played internationally before and has missed out on years of experience. That's where we were when southgate took over.
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I reiterate my point. By the time Southgate took over the previous generation was finished except for may be Rooney, who you could argue was a spent force by the time he was in his late 20s. There were no tough choices to be made, and what we saw in 2016 and today are the best we have. Hence i don't think it's fair to say he put together a team piece by piece.
 
I wish we'd have just lost the game 2-1 and the Kane penalty miss hadn't have happened.

I think mentality is still a massive issue for English players. We were as good as France last night, possibly even better but when Kane stepped up to take the 2nd penalty I knew he was going to miss. I didn't even feel nervous because I'd already accepted it.

You see the difference with Giroud. He missed a massive opportunity to score when Pickford made the save but his head didn't go down, then seconds later he scores the 2nd goal. Ruthless.

It's that ruthless streak and winning mentality that we lack when it really matters.
 
parmoboy said:
I wish we'd have just lost the game 2-1 and the Kane penalty miss hadn't have happened.

I think mentality is still a massive issue for English players. We were as good as France last night, possibly even better but when Kane stepped up to take the 2nd penalty I knew he was going to miss. I didn't even feel nervous because I'd already accepted it.

You see the difference with Giroud. He missed a massive opportunity to score when Pickford made the save but his head didn't go down, then seconds later he scores the 2nd goal. Ruthless.

It's that ruthless streak and winning mentality that we lack when it really matters.
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Load of old b***ks, we were the better side, everyone knows it, see them in a couple of years.
 
TheYorkshireTerrier said:
Hard one to take given we kept Mbappe relatively quiet.

The penalty miss, it would feel worse if it were at 1-1.

Not sure where the blame lies, if anywhere, it was a cracking game and unfortunately they knicked it.

Does Southgate stay? Tough one, but I say yes.
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Surely no one to blame for last night? Southgate got it right it my opinion as he has all tournament. The talk beforehand was about Mbappe who barely got a kick. Thought the front 3 were excellent, Mount sub got us a nearly instant penalty.

The game was always a flip of a coin and it should've been the final. The two best teams in the competition in my opinion. Small margins...
 
dontheking said:
Poor German side that though.
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You're proving my point. Poor Southgate can't win. Successes get written off as being unduly achieved. If we'd beat France, you'd be saying poor France side though.

Neuer, Rudiger, Hummels, Ginter, Gosens, Goretzka, Kroos, Kimmich, Muller, Havertz, Werner.

4 of them were in the world cup winning 11 from 2014 and the side that beat Brazil 7-1. 4 of them won the 2020 champions league with Bayern. Another 3 won the 2021 champions league with Chelsea. A team full of champions, written off as poor to avoid having to give any credit
 
Bernieslavenschin said:
What about Maguire, Pickford, Shaw, Sterling, Kane in addition?

I know some of them are still performing at the top level but I don’t see them being a main focus of the team in 4 years time (may be wrong on a couple of them)

I just mean this core group of players (that have great chemistry) may not be together for the next WC
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Most will be in their prime in 2026. Only 2 who played last night 30 +. Right. Who's going to North America?

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SE4 Red said:
I reckon next team will be built around Rice, Bellingham, Saka and Foden. Not bad really. Would like to see Rice get a big move and play champions league regularly.
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Keep an eye on Harvey Elliot at Liverpool as well. A midfield three of Rice, Elliot and Bellingham could be the future.
 
Rice and Bellingham should be nailed on as starters for years. Plenty candidates for the third spot, like Phillips or Gallagher, which will vary dependent on opposition.
 
Chutney said:
Rice and Bellingham should be nailed on as starters for years. Plenty candidates for the third spot, like Phillips or Gallagher, which will vary dependent on opposition.
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Fancy Jacob Ramsey from Villa to be one who gets a chance soon
 
Glover_elbow said:
Looking at that squad I would say it's completely imbalanced in quality 1 down to where 18 is on the list are not good enough and need replacing. The posters who were saying we are weaker densively then previous generations are correct.
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A lot of talk of our squad being imbalanced in quality but we've only conceded 4 goals throughout this tournament, and only conceded once in open play at the Euros.

Maguire and Stones yet again have had decent tournaments, although I accept they didn't cover themselves in glory for Giroud's goal last night.

On paper I'd say we had one of the strongest defences in the competition. We don't have world class defenders but it's not as big of an issue as some make it out to be.

For all the talk of us having quality attacking players and the defence being weak, we didn't manage to score a goal in open play last night. Maybe if we'd lost the game 4-3 then I could see the arguement.
 
parmoboy said:
A lot of talk of our squad being imbalanced in quality but we've only conceded 4 goals throughout this tournament, and only conceded once in open play at the Euros.

Maguire and Stones yet again have had decent tournaments, although I accept they didn't cover themselves in glory for Giroud's goal last night.

On paper I'd say we had one of the strongest defences in the competition. We don't have world class defenders but it's not as big of an issue as some make it out to be.

For all the talk of us having quality attacking players and the defence being weak, we didn't manage to score a goal in open play last night. Maybe if we'd lost the game 4-3 then I could see the arguement.
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Difficult to judge the defensive quality but they certainly did ok against a world class team last night but still conceded 2. Only 4 goals but remember our opposition. An ultra defensive USA playing for a 0-0, a woeful Wales, Iran (who scored 2) and Senegal. Shipping 2 goals in those games wasn't a notable achievement. What is is Morocco - - conceding just 1 ( including penalty shoot outs) is the stand out achievement.
 
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