Quarter-Finals 4: Sweden v England, 7th July, 3pm(GMT)

[GTFCfish]

Even the Queen agrees, it's coming home:

 

[Tom_ITFC]

Gareth Southgate, the first England manager to get to a World Cup semi final without our prior assistance!

 

[Benji]

Idiot football fans thought Sterling had a bad game.

 

[Bobbin']

I retract it for the moment, I'm heading out anyway.

Enjoy the rest of your night fella's. I'll be back on after the Croats journey to the final continues tonight.

Heading out? As in leaving the house? Hahahaha.

As if.

TBF to Berg though, he does seem to be a tad unlucky. But then again I've only seen him play for Sweden, so I trust Dirk to have a more informed opinion on the fella. All I know is that he scored a shitload of goals for Groningen but then moved to Hamburg and flopped.

Unlucky? He’s a number 9, played 5 games and scored no goals. He’s fucking gash.



Not much to add to what others have said other than what an absolute piece of piss that was.

 

[mistermagic]

Idiot football fans thought Sterling had a bad game.

He should have done better given his talent. Got a 5/10 in L'Equipe and this sounds about right. Should have scored. I can't help but think that he'll miss the chances that matter in the next two games.

Impressive performance by England. Pickford is proving me wrong big time, some wonderful saves in the second half and the rest of the side had a decent game aside from Walker. Young was MOTM for me. Very, very good performance.

Still dreading a France/England final.

 

[Abertawe]

Well done guys & gyals, enjoy the moment.

Can only see Belgium or France destroying whoever makes it out of the other semi however.

 

[markwwfc1992]

Idiot football fans thought Sterling had a bad game.

His decision making is very poor at times, he gets himself into great positions but tries to do it all himself rather than pass (the chance in the first half when he took it round the keeper when Kane and Lingard were both open). Apart from being greedy at times I thought he was alright.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

If Sterling just lays that back to Kane to smack in, suddenly he's had a great game with an assist. For all Sterling's running, which is important to the side's shape, providing clear air for Lingard and Ali behind, ultimately he's remembered for the big moments. I hope he starts making them count.

His misses up till now will be forgotten in an instant if he does something big against Croatia.

 

[Abertawe]

Raheem Sterling will be the difference between winning the cup & not. Hazard & De Bruyne get into positions but they score - Sterling simply doesn't and that my friends is why England will not win it. I'd start Rashford in a final and bring on Sterling during the 2nd half.

 

[GTFCfish]

I'm guessing that this is the first time we've ever got 3 stages (and counting) further than Germany at a World Cup?

 

[SF_]

Sterling was quality yesterday, Sweden couldn't live with him.

 

[blademan89]

I'm guessing that this is the first time we've ever got 3 stages (and counting) further than Germany at a World Cup?

It's only the 2nd time we've ever gone further than them , the other being 1966.

 

[blademan89]

Sterling was quality yesterday, Sweden couldn't live with him.

I agree I thought he was class, his finishing always has been awful but he is by far our most threatening player going forward without a doubt.

 

[Jockney]

I'll be a first to put a dampener on things and say that I thought we performed better against Colombia overall and that I was slightly worried by our lack of fluency going forward. But our defence still looks imperious, and that second half display was so professional, so un-England like, you can't help but dare to dream.

 

[Leewilson]

You need a dose of reality for your own sake. I cannot actually believe that after struggling to beat Tunisia and doing a professional job against minnows Panama all of a sudden England fans think it's coming home. What's with this "we're playing the best football" coming from too? You aren't. You ran around like men possessed for 25 mins v tunis and ended up injuring one of your best players in the process - the dumbest opening game tactics of an England side I can remember.

Very shit. Fortunately when it came to a tournament we didn't pretend we're anything were not and did quite well - I thought England were on the right tracks with Sam but now you've got some spanner giving his best pep/klopp hybrid impression which will scupper you.

Should've predicted this considering Southgate is a shithouse.

There is no honour in making the semi finals if you haven't beaten anyone to get there. This better side of the draw talk reeks of cowardice - if you beat Brazil (anything can happen in a one off game) you've not only got your "moment" but the belief and momentum carrying into the next games could be awesome.

Objectively, England were crap for 55 odd minutes versus Tunisia and any team worth their salt in a world cup environment should put Panama to the sword. They haven't played well. I've changed my mind on Colombia though - I do think England will blitz them before their dark art cunningness can come into play.

Poor use of subs by Southgate I thought. I don't think the dier change did anything but invite Colombia forward. Great composure by the lads for the pens bar Henderson who crumbled under the pressure.

England fans are massively overhyping the performance in the last game. Whilst England were the better team the Colombian's should've won all being fair. As I said earlier Southgate really needs to start getting em scoring from open play.

He's picked the same team what an absolute idiot.

Admit it, you're getting twitchy...

 

[Abertawe]

Admit it, you're getting twitchy...

No - Southgate is the main reason you won't win it.

 

[SF_]

I'll be a first to put a dampener on things and say that I thought we performed better against Colombia overall and that I was slightly worried by our lack of fluency going forward. But our defence still looks imperious, and that second half display was so professional, so un-England like, you can't help but dare to dream.

The difference was what happened after going 1-0 up, much more positive and hungry yesterday. No killing time with the defenders playing amongst themselves and inviting pressure.

Although obviously scoring in the first half was a factor.

That said, I do think Sweden are a poorer side than Colombia.

 

[blademan89]

No - Southgate is the main reason you won't win it.

Or the fact we have no where near as good a side as France or Belgium. Probably on a par with Croatia. Stop being a bitter little sheepshagger, don't end up like the jocks on here

 

[Abertawe]

Or the fact we have no where near as good a side as France or Belgium. Probably on a par with Croatia. Stop being a bitter little sheepshagger, don't end up like the jocks on here

Straightener?

The right tactics can overcome disparity in quality and England have the players to do a tactical job on anyone - unfortunately they've got a pretender as manager who is only a few steps up from that of cheerleader.

Show me a man who thinks Big Sam wouldn't rattle the shit out of Martinez or Deschamps and I'll show you a man who knows nothing about football. Such a shame - it could so easily becoming home.

 

[Son of Cod]

I'll be a first to put a dampener on things and say that I thought we performed better against Colombia overall and that I was slightly worried by our lack of fluency going forward. But our defence still looks imperious, and that second half display was so professional, so un-England like, you can't help but dare to dream.

I don't agree with that. I thought we looked rattled against Colombia. Yesterday we were much calmer and the players looked more sure of their jobs. We carved out more chances yesterday, too. And we kept a clean sheet and scored from open play. I wouldn't say the defence is imperious either, we let Sweden have a few big chances. Pickford on the other hand, was imperious yesterday.

 

[Abertawe]

I don't agree with that. I thought we looked rattled against Colombia. Yesterday we were much calmer and the players looked more sure of their jobs. We carved out more chances yesterday, too. And we kept a clean sheet and scored from open play. I wouldn't say the defence is imperious either, we let Sweden have a few big chances. Pickford on the other hand, was imperious yesterday.

Good example of Southgate not reacting to the change of momentum and then making the wrong decision once he finally found his backbone by replacing Alli with Dier and not RLC.

Dier is good at what he does but there's no point to him if Henderson is already playing. That change not only invited Colombia to attack but also meant you couldn't respond to the changing pattern of the game because the only way to counter-balance would've meant taking off Henderson which is something GS wasn't going to do.

 

[Son of Cod]

Good example of Southgate not reacting to the change of momentum and then making the wrong decision once he finally found his backbone by replacing Alli with Dier and not RLC.

Dier is good at what he does but there's no point to him if Henderson is already playing. That change not only invited Colombia to attack but also meant you couldn't respond to the changing pattern of the game because the only way to counter-balance would've meant taking off Henderson which is something GS wasn't going to do.

Not sure what you're exactly getting at with the first paragraph (I've got a hangover and it's hurting my head haha), but I agree with what you're saying about Hendo and Dier and how it changed the Colombia game. It took Dier until the 2nd half of extra time to settle and could have been costly - definitely a let off.

 

[Bilo]

Well, I've got some distance to it now. I've read through the thread and kudos, I thought I'd get a million dug up quotes thrown at me tbf and I was going to come back swinging but turns out you've been rather gracious. Someone saying they'd be "ashamed as a swede" (wtf) but aside from that, kudos.

So, I've got some distance to it now and it hurts a lot more today than yesterday. We are, and have shown numerous times, that we are a much better football team than we showed yesterday. We've been overachieving for so long and yesterday we came out looking like the team that we really ought to be, one that would need a significant portion of luck to even come close to England. But we didn't need luck when we got here, it was never luck, it was a team so much greater than the sum of its parts. To then see it being reduced to just that, the sum of its parts, was painful.

So the distance isn't really helping, it's amplifying the pain of the defeat. I guess the true challenge being a team such as this Sweden side is that we have to play out of our skins every single match, and it was always going to end eventually. Could we have played out of our skins for another three matches? Probably not. But yesterday all that was needed was one more. And you never get another go. The feeling we had waking up yesterday isn't coming back is it. And probably not for a long, long while.

This was the most important challenge but not the toughest, which is why failure feels so ... unworthy? Beating France in the QF was a tougher test. Knocking out Italy over two legs was also a huge test. And going into the group we had, it felt a lot tougher than a one off game against England. Now the group turned out slightly easier than we thought, but still.

It's been so many times we've come up against a challenge too big and thought "it probably ends here". I didn't feel that way yesterday. And now it's over.

It's hard to say to what extent England nullified us, I haven't watched the game over and wouldn't for all the money in the world either. But we conceded 31 corners previously in this tournament, conceding zero chances. Yesterday we conceded the first corner of the match and from there on in it couldn't be done.

The distance isn't helping, it's making it worse, and I don't know how many years this one distance from our last world cup game will be, let alone last world cup quarter final. But this will be the source of some bitterness, certainly.

I hope you win it now, I really do. Then, at least, I can tell my grandkids that we were the second best team this tournament. Just not yesterday, and the bitterness is getting worse for every moment that one yesterday moves farther and farther into the past.

 

[Railway Blue]

The England side of 1990 was probably one of the best sides this country has produced. I consider the 2004 side to be alongside them. England played good football and tried to win games with those sides. The current side is functional. It plays well enough but doesn't seem to have that extra gear it'll need for sterner tests.
Sweden were pedestrian which played to our strengths.
What happens when we meet a team who are just as quick, comfortable on the ball and can thread a pass in the final third?

I've been a England fan too long to get excited anymore.

The best side we ever produced was the side which lost 3-2 to Germany in 1970. The game was won when England were 2-0 up.

 

[valefan16]

The best side we ever produced was the side which lost 3-2 to Germany in 1970. The game was won when England were 2-0 up.

1990 we pretty much struggled our way through. Only won once in the whole tournament for example in 90 minutes didn’t we?

 

[Dirk]

The best side we ever produced was the side which lost 3-2 to Germany in 1970. The game was won when England were 2-0 up.

Ah, one of my all time favourite matches. Watched it with my father on tv, I was 7 1/2 back then. And I am still watching it from time to time on DVD. Heroes all of them in Germany. Uwe Seeler's backheader for the equaliser made everyone In Hamburg proud and then the Bomber himself with the winning goal in extra time.
But we paid for it by losing the semi-final against Italy 3-4 again in extra time in the bloody heat of Mexico but I still love this World Cup more than those where we won the fucking Cup in the end.


edit:

sorry, for this but can't help myself here.

 

[Carver]

Ah, one of my all time favourite matches. Watched it with my father on tv, I was 7 1/2 back then. And I am still watching it from time to time on DVD. Heroes all of them in Germany. Uwe Seeler's backheader for the equaliser made everyone In Hamburg proud and then the Bomber himself with the winning goal in extra time.
But we paid for it by losing the semi-final against Italy 3-4 again in extra time in the bloody heat of Mexico but I still love this World Cup more than those where we won the fucking Cup in the end.


edit:

sorry, for this but can't help myself here.

Ha.

Look at this German here only being able to look back at past glories.

It must be hard knowing that one of the greatest ever world cups is taking place right now because of new different exciting teams like England doing so well and then there is the likes of Germany who got knocked out so meekly and early.

 

[Leo]

e.
But we paid for it by losing the semi-final against Italy 3-4 again in extra time in the bloody heat of Mexico

edit:

sorry, for this but can't help myself here.

That was a great game Dirk....Great German team at the time but one of my favourite foreign players was playing for Italy that day and scored (at least one)....Luigi Riva.

 

[Dirk]

Nice try, Carver but if you had read my other posts here you would know that I am not in the least bitter about our departure of this World Cup and I congratulated England for what they have achieved so far. I only answered a post.

 

[JimJams]

You're not really ripping on Dirk are you?