Apologies to Jordan pickford for boldly stating he was too short to.save a penalty. Just before he saved a penalty. I shall.pick up my Golden Trev at the door.
I love the British press...Quarter finals? This is England's toughest test yet. Won 2-0? They weren't at their best against a poor Swedish team. The semi-final? It will be their toughest test yet...
(If we go on and win I've no doubt it will be England won the poorest quality World Cup for years....)
And there is something to be said for that @Wendoverman. Most of the teams I’ve watched, including the other semi-finalists, haven’t impressed me much (apologies to Shania). Apart from Modric, Croatia look pretty run-of-the-mill; Belgium and France look rather more daunting (pre-tournament I had Belgium as favourites) but, for all-round quality, balance and spirit, this England squad look as good as any.
I agree that England are as good as the other remaining teams with the possible exception of Belgium. I had a bet before a ball was kicked that we’d reach the semis and now I believe we’ll get to the final.
However, I do get irritated by that ‘it’s coming home’ phrase. Can we really claim that England is the true home of football when Brazil have won the World Cup 5 times, Germany and Italy 4 times, Argentina and Uruguay twice each? Baddiel and Skinner have a lot to answer for!
It originated in England, so yes, we can claim England is the true home of football, even if other countries have become far better at it than us in the years since.
I'm quite enjoying the 'It's coming home' 90's nostalgia and it's preferable to seeing videos of people trashing Ikeas and terrorising passing motorists.
It’s hard not to see Tuesdays match as the game to see who will win the World Cup and Wednesdays game to decide the runners up.
To credit England they have pretty much controlled the majority of their last two games albeit without being particularly creative, but we are a class apart from Belgium or France, even if we do get past Croatia.
Having said all that though we have done far far better than I thought we would and I do really like the humbleness that seems to have permeated through the squad.
Also, that song had a double meaning, the obvious ‘football coming home to where it was invented’ but also, the song came out in 1996 when we were hosting the Euros, so the tournament was coming home to where it all started!
@bookertease Southgate's done a remarkable job and the England team is far more, well, likeable than it was even a few years ago. The likes of John Terry, Joe Hart, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney etc who were undoubtedly great footballers but hardly loveable chaps, have been replaced by a good group of hard working, mostly youngsters, many of whom started out in the Football League.
Southgate himself is easily our most likeable manager in decades (Hodgson seemed a nice bloke but just look permanently confused by the whole situation).
I haven't been particularly into our national team since the early 2000's, but I'm well and truly on the bandwagon now.
@bookertease the beauty of football is that the better team doesn't always win. If we beat Croatia on Wednesday then we've got a better than 1 in 3 chance of winning the World Cup.
To predict England to get to the semis is incredible optimism pre-tournament, as pretty much no one had any expectations!
To envisage Germany, the current holders dropping out so early would have taken some doing too.
However, it's opened up amazingly, and I disagree that if we won it, people would look down on the achievement. Who on earth remembers the paths winners take!
We can beat Croatia for sure. The final would be a case of having to massively tap into the "you could be immortals, treasured for history" type thinking, as that would be a real tough game. In a one off game though, why not, but let's save that until Wednesday. That third place play off game is not one we want to be in!
@Chris said: @bookertease the beauty of football is that the better team doesn't always win. If we beat Croatia on Wednesday then we've got a better than 1 in 3 chance of winning the World Cup.
@Jonny_King said: @bookertease Southgate's done a remarkable job and the England team is far more, well, likeable than it was even a few years ago. The likes of John Terry, Joe Hart, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney etc who were undoubtedly great footballers but hardly loveable chaps, have been replaced by a good group of hard working, mostly youngsters, many of whom started out in the Football League.
Southgate himself is easily our most likeable manager in decades (Hodgson seemed a nice bloke but just look permanently confused by the whole situation).
I haven't been particularly into our national team since the early 2000's, but I'm well and truly on the bandwagon now.
I think there are a lot of parallels between the current England and Wycombe set ups, from manager through squad unity to the greater than the sum of its parts thing.
@Chris said: @bookertease the beauty of football is that the better team doesn't always win. If we beat Croatia on Wednesday then we've got a better than 1 in 3 chance of winning the World Cup.
So Nathan Jones was right all along!
Aye, and when we got to the FA Cup semis we were one of the top four sides in the country.
I read somewhere that between them they have played at about 68 clubs on loan. Irritating though it is that they have to struggle to get into their home club first team I cannot help thinking it has helped having players who have experienced a battle to get there - seeing the lower leagues at close quarters on the way.
Comments
Apologies to Jordan pickford for boldly stating he was too short to.save a penalty. Just before he saved a penalty. I shall.pick up my Golden Trev at the door.
Golden Trevs! Now that's an awards ceremony I would stay up late on a Sunday to watch!
Glad I got that wrong!
Silver Trev?
Tinpot Trevs!
In answer to the original thread. A resounding yes.
I love this World Cup.
Would be better if Holmer Green were in it
I love the British press...Quarter finals? This is England's toughest test yet. Won 2-0? They weren't at their best against a poor Swedish team. The semi-final? It will be their toughest test yet...
(If we go on and win I've no doubt it will be England won the poorest quality World Cup for years....)
And there is something to be said for that @Wendoverman. Most of the teams I’ve watched, including the other semi-finalists, haven’t impressed me much (apologies to Shania). Apart from Modric, Croatia look pretty run-of-the-mill; Belgium and France look rather more daunting (pre-tournament I had Belgium as favourites) but, for all-round quality, balance and spirit, this England squad look as good as any.
I agree that England are as good as the other remaining teams with the possible exception of Belgium. I had a bet before a ball was kicked that we’d reach the semis and now I believe we’ll get to the final.
However, I do get irritated by that ‘it’s coming home’ phrase. Can we really claim that England is the true home of football when Brazil have won the World Cup 5 times, Germany and Italy 4 times, Argentina and Uruguay twice each? Baddiel and Skinner have a lot to answer for!
It originated in England, so yes, we can claim England is the true home of football, even if other countries have become far better at it than us in the years since.
I'm quite enjoying the 'It's coming home' 90's nostalgia and it's preferable to seeing videos of people trashing Ikeas and terrorising passing motorists.
It’s hard not to see Tuesdays match as the game to see who will win the World Cup and Wednesdays game to decide the runners up.
To credit England they have pretty much controlled the majority of their last two games albeit without being particularly creative, but we are a class apart from Belgium or France, even if we do get past Croatia.
Having said all that though we have done far far better than I thought we would and I do really like the humbleness that seems to have permeated through the squad.
Also, that song had a double meaning, the obvious ‘football coming home to where it was invented’ but also, the song came out in 1996 when we were hosting the Euros, so the tournament was coming home to where it all started!
@bookertease Southgate's done a remarkable job and the England team is far more, well, likeable than it was even a few years ago. The likes of John Terry, Joe Hart, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney etc who were undoubtedly great footballers but hardly loveable chaps, have been replaced by a good group of hard working, mostly youngsters, many of whom started out in the Football League.
Southgate himself is easily our most likeable manager in decades (Hodgson seemed a nice bloke but just look permanently confused by the whole situation).
I haven't been particularly into our national team since the early 2000's, but I'm well and truly on the bandwagon now.
@bookertease the beauty of football is that the better team doesn't always win. If we beat Croatia on Wednesday then we've got a better than 1 in 3 chance of winning the World Cup.
To predict England to get to the semis is incredible optimism pre-tournament, as pretty much no one had any expectations!
To envisage Germany, the current holders dropping out so early would have taken some doing too.
However, it's opened up amazingly, and I disagree that if we won it, people would look down on the achievement. Who on earth remembers the paths winners take!
We can beat Croatia for sure. The final would be a case of having to massively tap into the "you could be immortals, treasured for history" type thinking, as that would be a real tough game. In a one off game though, why not, but let's save that until Wednesday. That third place play off game is not one we want to be in!
@glasshalffull I hope that's a joke!
Yeah, and Liverpool's not the true home of The Beatles because Paul McCartney lives in London and John Lennon buggered off to New York
So Nathan Jones was right all along!
I think there are a lot of parallels between the current England and Wycombe set ups, from manager through squad unity to the greater than the sum of its parts thing.
Aye, and when we got to the FA Cup semis we were one of the top four sides in the country.
Yeah we were
and the top side in using the 21C form of communication. not once but twice:
2001 and 2016
Teletext?
And WhatsApp
@Chris at games, do you say to people "actually, we're not by far the greatest team the world has ever seen"?
@eric_plant Always.
Although I wouldn’t use the word actually.
I read somewhere that between them they have played at about 68 clubs on loan. Irritating though it is that they have to struggle to get into their home club first team I cannot help thinking it has helped having players who have experienced a battle to get there - seeing the lower leagues at close quarters on the way.