Group D - Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Scotland

[Furball]

I hope we don't regret not winning that.

 

[wpdavid]

Did Kane do anything at all?

Not a lot, and I don't understand why he plays so deep in this formation. It made sense when Rashford and Sterling were bombing forward and in prime form, but the team isn't set up like that now. But beyond that he seems a shadow of the player he was. No idea why.

 

[Pothas]

Impressively underwhelming from England. Really something to produce a performance quite that unblemished in its blandness.

It is pretty special. Can basically pick any 11 players from the last 20 years or so and get the same performance. The 'England way.'

 

[Furball]

Imagine not bringing Sancho on.

 

[wpdavid]

I hope we don't regret not winning that.

You're certainly capable of beating Croatia, but if I was going to find fault with your performance tonight, it's similar to the first game when you didn't take your chances. If that happens again on Tuesday, 2 points won't be enough.

 

[Tangles]

Was noticeable that Mount, Sterling and Grealish all wanted to take the ball off Shaw and drive at the fullback. Shaw at his best when he overlaps and plays with the forward. Think that happened once.

 

[wpdavid]

Imagine not bringing Sancho on.

Especially when Sterling was so poor. I lost count of how often he conceded possession with heavy touches of the ball.

 

[Furball]

Imagine not scoring against a Scotland side that only picked one proper centre half.

 

[thundaboult]

imagine having a wealth of attacking players but playing like this

credit to scotland tho

 

[MW1304]

Felt like a replay of a match from the 2000s. I'd really missed that line of passing from fullback to fullback through the defense over and over again.

Can't even be mad, just so bored.

 

[Tangles]

Especially when Sterling was so poor. I lost count of how often he conceded possession with heavy touches of the ball.

That’s Sterling isn’t it.

 

[GIMH]

Well that was dull.

Shouldn't have any problem going through, but.

 

[sledger]

Scotland were excellent, weren't they. Too many of England's players seemed to freeze, and I'm not sure why. The midfield completely went missing for the last 20 minutes or so and I was relieved to get away with the draw. Pickford our best player, not least for that outstanding save in the first half.

The system they're being asked to play is crap. Philips and Rice in the same team is a terrible idea if you want to play the sort of technical football that England really should be looking to utilise given the players they have available. I know I keep banging on about this, but it's just so painfully obvious. You should play that sort of midfield pairing when you're the underdogs and looking to scrap out a result, not when you're expecting to play on the front foot and dominate possession. I really can't express how much I dislike that selection. And as for Luke Shaw...God almighty.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Was noticeable that Mount, Sterling and Grealish all wanted to take the ball off Shaw and drive at the fullback. Shaw at his best when he overlaps and plays with the forward. Think that happened once.

Agreed, and this definitely seemed coached. I think it was even more glaring on the other flank: Foden who's at his most dangerous cutting inside onto his left foot and Reece James who is an outstanding crosser and great on the overlap. Yet Foden was leashed to the touchline and whenever James got forward he came infield of Foden. It invariably left Foden unable to beat his man on the outside with his weaker foot, so he'd pass backwards and inside to James. James was too central so had no angle for a cross so he'd played it sideways every time. Rinse and repeat.

It was so unnatural but for some reason that was clearly the game plan they'd been told to do and kept trying.

 

[thundaboult]

when sterling gets on the ball i mostly check out mentally, i know its gonna get shot into the stratosphere or he's gonna get his legs bundled into a weird stack

kane looks odd in his movement....very leggy, wasn't even expecting him to hold up the ball he looks so weak

 

[grecian]

Just awful, only possible good point maybe it dampens expectations, but yeah that's it.

 

[thundaboult]

The English team needs an identity....use your young exciting players, play a positive attacking style of football and FINALLY excites us viewers, zip the ball around and make things happen

And we have the players to do that now too so no excuses, we should NOT be this boring and negative to watch

 

[Tangles]

I just expect Sterling to lose possession or have a heavy touch or take the wrong option every time he gets it. He looks best when someone puts him into space but then I don’t expect him to finish it.

 

[wpdavid]

That’s Sterling isn’t it.

I hadn't really latched onto that previously as I only see the highlights of games on MOTD, so I suppose his crappy bits don't get shown. But yeah, he looked really ordinary.

 

[wpdavid]

The English team needs an identity....use your young exciting players, play a positive attacking style of football and FINALLY excites us viewers, zip the ball around and make things happen

And we have the players to do that now too so no excuses, we should NOT be this boring and negative to watch

But there were plenty of young players out there, even if we could quibble about whether Sancho should have played. I know Phillips wasn't great, but he was MOTM against Croatia, so I'm not faulting that selection. If people think that Rice shouldn't be in the side, then fair enough, but I don't think that's the main reason we tanked tonight. Gary Neville was making some interesting points now; along the lines that the performance wasn't down to team selection or even how they had been asked to play. He thought there was a mental thing tonight; not a bad attitude as such, but they just seemed overawed by the occasion. Maybe that's a downside of playing so many youngsters in a match like this, but I'd prefer to see them than Henderson.