Round of 16 thread

[sledger]

Not sure which was worse in that game, Colonbia’s attitude or Pratters’ posting.

At least the game only lasted one evening.

 

[S.Kennedy]

"Meltdown"

Noun

1. A disastrous collapse or breakdown."

Nope.

Yes.

If they conceded you'd be agreeing.

 

[GIMH]

We looked gassed first half of extra time but found another gear second half. Best side on the night went through

 

[Bahnz]

Anyway, the divergence between the two halves of the draw is becoming pretty remarkable. On one side you have teams that are ranked 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 14th. On the other you have teams ranked 12th, 20th, 24th and 70th. Coming back from the brink will serve England beautifully and I reckon they're making the final from here.

 

[sledger]

Yes.

If they conceded you'd be agreeing.

But they didn't...which is precisely my point.

 

[sledger]

Anyway, the divergence between the two halves of the draw is becoming pretty remarkable. On one side you have teams that are ranked 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 14th. On the other you have teams ranked 12th, 20th, 24th and 70th. Coming back from the brink will serve England beautifully and I reckon they're making the final from here.

I think it's far too early to make calls like that. The Sweden game will be very tough, and beyond that a semi-final with Croatia or Russia would not be straightforward either. Croatia are legit decent and a game against Russia would be rife with shenanigans.

Also worth noting that the FIFA rankings aren't really worth the paper they are written on too.

 

[GIMH]

I reckon most Englishmen would have taken the quarters before the tournament. The fact we are facing opposition that on paper we should beat now is great. This is a golden opportunity.

I grew to think I’d never see Tranmere get promoted, then i see England win a penalty shootout. Miracles happen. See what happens next

 

[Burgey]

I know they smashed a hapless Panama, but are England fans at all concerned about scoring goals in open play as the tournament progresses?

 

[sledger]

The lack of a real playmaker is the biggest deficiency of the side for sure. Will be a real issue fo the Sweden match, given how hard they are to break down. Will have to rely on set pieces again for that game at least. Fortunately Kieran Trippier is such a gun. But yeah, it's a concern, but it was from before the tournament, so it's not like it's come as a shock or anything.

The fact that Alli has not been at the races hasn't helped.

 

[BoyBrumby]

It's very hard to assess what happened with any real sense of fair mindedness because I'm English, pissed and we've won a penalty shoot out in a world cup for the first time ever.

Early thoughts though:


- that's a huge monkey off our backs.
- the ref totally lost control; truly awful officiating.
- Colombia are two bob without James.
- Ali wasn't fit.
- a decent team should crucify us.
- we don't have a midfielder who can pass for toffee.
- England have no plan B.
- Dier is a beautiful fecking legend.

 

[GotSpin]

Much better and more sensible than the Columbians. As shown by that penalty the Columbian took and hit the post. They threw away the advantage there. Had the player been sensible at that point all the pressure would have been on England..

Can you please spell the country correctly at the very least?

 

[morgieb]

That's a true sign of the apocalypse, England winning penalties!

 

[OverratedSanity]

What a WC. Even the games which don't really have great football have mad finishes and drama.

 

[harsh.ag]

Seriously have never seen a tourney with so many late goals.

 

[Pratters]

That was the 23rd 90+ minute goal..

 

[OverratedSanity]

Did anyone else notice the Colombian players trying to scuff up the penalty spot when they crowded the referee after his call? Dirty ****s.

 

[wpdavid]

Did anyone else notice the Colombian players trying to scuff up the penalty spot when they crowded the referee after his call? Dirty ****s.

Yeah, the ITV commentator alerted the nation to that particular scam. Colombia were disgusting and got exactly what they deserved. How Falcao didn't get a 2nd yellow was beyond me. England weren't great, but they showed some character to come through that experience.

 

[Furball]

The lack of a real playmaker is the biggest deficiency of the side for sure. Will be a real issue fo the Sweden match, given how hard they are to break down. Will have to rely on set pieces again for that game at least. Fortunately Kieran Trippier is such a gun. But yeah, it's a concern, but it was from before the tournament, so it's not like it's come as a shock or anything.

The fact that Alli has not been at the races hasn't helped.

England's midfield was shocking.

 

[Uppercut]

England's midfield was shocking.

They weren't great on the ball, but Colombia didn't get anywhere near the back line for the whole game, except that time Walker gifted them the ball. They weren't even getting any set pieces until injury time. Their goal came from a proper hail mary 50-yard volley. OK, their ineffectiveness was mostly because they picked 3 pure fouling DMs who couldn't pass for ****, but then that also explains why England struggled with the ball.

I'm finding the Irish/Scottish crowd unusually deluded this year. They've seamlessly switched from "England are underestimating a very solid Colombia side" to "England are **** because they didn't beat Colombia comfortably enough".

 

[S.Kennedy]

I was reasonably impressed with the midfield apart from the final ten minutes of normal time and the first half of extra when they lost it. Oh well. Guess we watch different matches?