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

[Leo]

I do laugh at the bitter remark, just when I give valid reasons as to why we up here won't praise yous. You lot are the absolute masters of bitterness, just because you are elated just now - that bitterness will come back with a vengeance soon enough my friend.

best stick to the Glenwhatever mate....

 

[Abertawe]

TractorBoys not to be a grass but we've literally got a mod derailing every england thread and making it wank to read. Good lad otherwise but an absolute twonk concerning england -needs a yellow.

 

[Pagnell]

No I do not my friend. You are a unionist, a tory and supports Rangers - outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh, there isn't that many of you Leo.

Enough to win the referendum.

 

[SALTIRE]

Eh, actually you do mate. Without turning this into a political aside (the fact that I support Rangers has absolutely fuck all to do with my opinions) I have voted Tory, Labour and SNP (long ago) and outwith Glasgow and Emburgh I can assure you there certainly is many mate....a whole lot of many. Yes, I'm a Unionist and I make no apologies for that.

That's fair enough Leo, but you can't say that what a lot of the rest of us feel about these strong political issues, are in the minority.

 

[JonBCFC]

I absolutely used to despise the Germans, but I’ve seen quite a bit of positivity from them during this World Cup and particularly from dirk in here I’m beginning to come round to them.

Absolutely agree with valefan above that even if we were to go out in the semis now it’s been a fantastic tournament from us and has completely changed my outlook on international football. Southgate too I didn’t want as England manager but he’s been class imo, very impressed with how he’s conducted himself and the style of play he’s employed.

 

[Pagnell]

I do laugh at the bitter remark, just when I give valid reasons as to why we up here won't praise yous. You lot are the absolute masters of bitterness, just because you are elated just now - that bitterness will come back with a vengeance soon enough my friend.

Masters of bitterness? About what precisely?

 

[SALTIRE]

best stick to the Glenwhatever mate....

Glencadam, lovely summer dram, should try it over thon Cap'n Morgan's pish!

 

[SALTIRE]

Masters of bitterness? About what precisely?

I'll partially take that back, Scousers and Geordies have more common sense than a lot of the rest of the demographic.

 

[Dirk]

I do laugh at the bitter remark, just when I give valid reasons as to why we up here won't praise yous. You lot are the absolute masters of bitterness, just because you are elated just now - that bitterness will come back with a vengeance soon enough my friend.

This wasn't about my post, was it? (because it stands right under my last post). Just curious

Lol when did I say 'stone age' Dirk? If I did maybe I need to cut back on the whisky as I don't remember it! I was nearly a teenager when they were last there, playing you lot in '90 (when I was in Germany on a school holiday in Heidelberg).

No, no. I used the term "stone age". Don't worry, Salty. Was just to illustrate how long it was ago and that the England fans can rightly enjoy their actual success.

If that's what you wan't then I'll say it, congratulations England -

Right. I cut the rest (with Henderson etc) so that everybody here can see that you congratulate England wholeheartedly

 

[Pagnell]

I'll partially take that back, Scousers and Geordies have more common sense than a lot of the rest of the demographic.

No, it was a serious question about a claim you made. You've already gone a fair way to fucking up this thread so we may as well continue now. You say English are bitter, and in a way that suggested more so than the Scottish given the context. So you accept that's bollocks?

 

[SALTIRE]

This wasn't about my post, was it? (because it stands right under my last post). Just curious



No, no. I used the term "stone age". Don't worry, Salty. Was just to illustrate how long it was ago and that the England fans can rightly enjoy their actual success.

[quoteIf that's what you wan't then I'll say it, congratulations England -

Right. I cut the rest (with Henderson etc) so that everybody here can see that you congratulate England wholeheartedly [/QUOTE]
Haha, Schweinhund!

 

[SALTIRE]

No, it was a serious question about a claim you made. You've already gone a fair way to fucking up this thread so we may as well continue now. You say English are bitter, and in a way that suggested more so than the Scottish given the context. So you accept that's bollocks?

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.

 

[JJ1532]

As an England fan, I was nervy as hell throughout the game. But I reckon if you are a neutral, you'll say that England were so comfortable and never looked in any danger of losing.

Thought we settled quickly and quickly moved into our patience build up. Yeah, open play chances were hard to come by, but now we see why Tunisia, Panama and Colombia had to resort to head locks. First corner, great header from Maguire. It's nice that we have a manager that knows the strengths of the team he has and plays up to them.

We should have been out of sight before half time, if Sterling could finish his dinner he's be a good player....

2nd half and after a nervy start, we just put the foot on the throat and went for the jugular. Just kept knocking until we got the goal. Lovely cross from Lingard and good movement and header from Alli, nice of him to show up at last. After that we just dropped into 1st gear and bar those couple of chances, never looked in any danger of throwing the whole game. As comfy a last 8 game as you are ever likely to see involving England.

Thought Pickford was superb with his shot stopping, but his kicking and throwing as piss poor, think he missed Young on several occasions. But, those saves he made in the 2nd half were so timely and important, he's growing more and more as the tournament goes on. Thought the back 3 bar a couple of nervy moments were solid, Maguire is such a weapon at corners and free kicks.

Henderson was my MOTM, he was superb. Passing spot on, some of his balls were superb, Gerrard esq even. Sensible for Southgate to take him off as he was on a booking. To bounce back from his penalty miss on Tuesday with a game like that shows huge character as well.

Trippier continues to impress, Young was decent too, if a little hesitant to get crosses in at times. Alli and Lingard worked hard and combined for the 2nd goal. Kane also worked hard but had a quiet game by his standards. Nice of the supporting cast to step up.

Sterling though, Sterling Sterling Sterling. His play outside the box today was outstanding. Truly outstanding. His touches, movement, link up play, all excellent. But in the box, what a calamity. Those 2 one-on-ones in the first half man, what a fuck up on both occasions. Few other dodgy moments. Can't work out if he's been excellent or a liability today, so conflicted.

Today and in the rest of the tournament, we saw an England team comfortable in their own skin. They buy into what the management are trying to do and don't look totally at odds with what is being told to them. They look calm, comfortable and balanced. Are they the most talented individually? Nope. But they have a real cohesion and team spirit, which is something that has been badly lacking in England teams for decades.

Is Southgate all that? I'm not sure. But he's made brave and bold decisions all the way through the tournament, including the build up. And they've paid off, perhaps because he's thinking outside the box and doing something different. Because he's not forcing the player to play a style of way they aren't used to. He deserves huge credit for getting this group pulling in the same direction.

As for Sweden, my god they were shite. Good to see their defensive game plan go right out the window once we scored first. But they were god awful, so slow and flat, so lacking in quality and imagination. For a team in the last 8, that was so so poor from them. And strangely, when they stopped showing respect and actually attacked, they caused problems and chances, more than Colombia did ironically. They'll go out wondering what might have been had they been a bit braver.

On we march to Wednesday. Couldn't care less who we play. We can beat either if we perform.

 

[Dirk]

Haha, Schweinhund!

Ah, I see, learning German by watching World War 2 movies?

 

[Skinner]

If I was a swede I'd be genuinely embarrassed. One way traffic. Sweden were pathetic

 

[SALTIRE]

Ah, I see, learning German by watching World War 2 movies?

Na my dad who worked a bit there, used to say it.

 

[Dirk]

If I was a swede I'd be genuinely embarrassed. One way traffic. Sweden were pathetic

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed too about their performance. They were better against us. But I said it in one of my earlier post, they simply lack attacking power. But what to expect, they have Toivonen who sits on the bench at Toulouse and Marcus Berg, who needs endless chances to make a goal (during his time at HSV he scored 5 goals in over 50 appearances and I cursed him several times during his stay at my club. He hasn't improved then it seems)

 

[JimJams]

If I was a swede I'd be genuinely embarrassed. One way traffic. Sweden were pathetic

I dont think you would. The difference between the sides can be expected when you look at where the respective players are plying their trade. And if not for 3 very good saves from Pickford they could have found a way back in, though it would have largely been undeserved. They created a few decent opportunities. Being beaten by a better side with better players isn't exactly shameful.

 

[LondonOrn]

Great post JJ1532, just a few comments:

Is Southgate all that? I'm not sure.

I'm curious, why do you still have your lingering doubts? Because he's done everything that was expected of him to do and more to ensure we have got this far, and in a more convincing fashion than Sven would have done even if we had scraped past Portugal.

Sterling though, Sterling Sterling Sterling. His play outside the box today was outstanding. Truly outstanding. His touches, movement, link up play, all excellent. But in the box, what a calamity. Those 2 one-on-ones in the first half man, what a fuck up on both occasions. Few other dodgy moments. Can't work out if he's been excellent or a liability today, so conflicted.

Bit harsh, both of them were missed due to excellent goalkeeping and defending, they weren't exactly sitters.

Despite his misses I'd say he's definitely not a liability, as his pace and movement rattled the Swedes and their game-plan, and he did nearly provide an assist to Kane.

As for Sweden, my god they were shite. Good to see their defensive game plan go right out the window once we scored first. But they were god awful, so slow and flat, so lacking in quality and imagination. For a team in the last 8, that was so so poor from them. And strangely, when they stopped showing respect and actually attacked, they caused problems and chances, more than Colombia did ironically. They'll go out wondering what might have been had they been a bit braver.

Are the worst side ever to get to the last 8? I've been watching England since 1998 and I can't remember a poorer showing at this stage of the WC (of course we did play our part) - maybe Ukraine vs Italy, didn't see that one?

 

[Vanni]

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.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Carry on hating Salty, it’s good for both of us..
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....-keep-on-hating-to-the-end-1.3556869?mode=amp

 

[Dirk]

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.

and then moved to Greece, Panathinaikos, and scored again a shitload of goals. Now he plays somewhere in Arabia (United Arab Emirates?), not exactly top league.
I might be a bit biased here about him but we called him a "Chancentod" in German (maybe "bad finisher" would describe it in English) and you could see it at the World Cup,too. Yeah, he was unlucky sometimes in his finishes but that's exactly the same we saw from him in Hamburg.

 

[Stagat]

Struggling to believe this tbh. Or to place it in my personal history. Most of my life (born in '80) I've lionised the 1990 England team for making the World Cup semi. Gazza, Lineker, Platt... It seemed out of reach but now this team featuring today's run-of-the-mill dudes emulates that and I'm not sure how to even process it. Is our achievement as good as their's was back then? Was their achievement not as magnificent as I'd imagined? Are both true? I. Don't. Know.

 

[Benji]

Struggling to believe this tbh. Or to place it in my personal history. Most of my life (born in '80) I've lionised the 1990 England team for making the World Cup semi. Gazza, Lineker, Platt... It seemed out of reach but now this team featuring today's run-of-the-mill dudes emulates that and I'm not sure how to even process it. Is our achievement as good as their's was back then? Was their achievement not as magnificent as I'd imagined? Are both true? I. Don't. Know.

I was thinking this about the 1966 team. Bobby Charlton potentially meeting equal standing with Jordan Henderson (I did not know how to phrase this).

 

[TomPNE94]

Hahahaha fuck off Salty you stupid Scottish c*** suck on it

It’s coming home

 

[Leo]

Carry on hating Salty, it’s good for both of us..
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/ken-early-the-least-we-owe-england-is-to-keep-on-hating-to-the-end-1.3556869?mode=amp

got halfway (I think) through that link.....what a load of fucking shit!

 

[Leo]

Don't want to rain on any parade but (did anyone else notice) Alan Shearer at halftime said that apaert from playing West Germany in the 1966 final he hadn't a clue who else England played in the finals tournaent ? Off the top of my head...France, Mexico, Uruguay....Argentina (the infamous Rattin incident) then Portugal before the final.

 

[Pagnell]

got halfway (I think) through that link.....what a load of fucking shit!

I actually read it until the end and found it quite interesting, albeit a little sad and pathetic.

 

[Skinner]

Who gives a fuck, we're in the World Cup semi final

 

[Predator373]

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.

Even if England do go out in the semi finals I’ll be proud of the lads you jealous bitter salty scot