World Cup 2018

There is also some not so good,hyped up teams like Portugal and Spain who look very average
As far as great and skillful to watch I thought Columbia who have not yet qualified were superb against Poland,the passes for the goals were world class
The Germans will only get better after a shaky start and I think the real England is to be seen and tested against Belgium,although will rest hazard and co as they want second place
I'm not getting too excited as it took a last minute goal to beat Tunisia and a big win against a local pub side
But I agree northwest we do have the right ingredients to progress further

I thought the same. As the players did not produce in the last couple of games - why not try others? In the reverse scenario Southgate will surely introduce new players to rest some of the winning players, and the Australian manager should have used Luongo. Instead it was another game that the Socceroos looked outclassed.

For most of the game it seemed a bit like a friendly and lacked any real passion. I agree that Rose should stay in and I also thought that Rashford did well despite not scoring when he probably should have done late on. Whether Southgate would play Rashford over Sterling I doubt but for me Rashford is more of a goal threat. Columbia will be a difficult game but I'm confident that we can get the win.

I love how quickly the British press turn! Southgate is the manager of the year and now a cynical fool.
Of course he was going to play the 'extras'. It's not that dissimilar to the training ground run of France and Denmark.
Of course you would want to play a group that isn't Brazil, France and co.

You can blame last night's defeat to Belgium on ITV. When England matches are shown on ITV our win percentage is 9%.

Mind you QPRs record on Sky is probably around the same figure!

I Have been keeping my thoughts of the England squad to myself because it is not very flattering.

This squad is the worst England squad I have seen at a World cup.

There is only 1 world class player and that is Kane. And by World class I mean the top 5 players in the world for that position.

The goal keeper is at best average and no better than the goal keeper that was dumped (Hart)

The back 3 will probably be Stone (who will make at least 1 defensive mistake every game) Maguire (Who is a good defensive defender but is limited with his distribution). and Walker (who is a great full back but not a central defender)

The midfield apart from the work horse Henderson is full of good young players with great potential  (but that is the problem they have great potential but are not there yet).

And up front there is Kane who given the chances will put the ball in the back of the net. (but is reliant on the service he gets. he is not a Rooney type player who will pick the ball up deep and beat 2/3 players and put the ball in the back of the net)

Having a squad of young players is great when things are going well They are full of energy unpredictability and fun to watch 

But when things are not going so well they do not have the toughness to turn things around they will stop taking chances play the safe ball and in some cases hide.

kingfisher I did wonder why Arnold was taking all the free kicks and corners, his delivery was woeful.

Also agree that Dier was shocking and Delph is not international standard.

I don't think this is the worst England squad though kensalr. I have not felt passionate about England since 2006. I lost any feeling when Capello was in charge and Rooney spat/swore at the camera moaning about fans. But this team got me excited again. I like that we have mainly moved away from big names and are putting faith in younger players. They may only be 'great potential' but that makes it fun to watch to see what they can achieve.

I personally really like the first 11 and the pace, movement and dynamic way we play. England have been dour and played monotonous football for a decade and that has now changed.

Yes the Belgium performance wasn't great but if we beat Columbia the feel good factor will be back.

I guess we'll see over the next week if they are actually poor and only make it to the Last 16 or if they can be the best England side for a generation! At a World Cup it is very fine margins.