England vs Nigeria - Sat 2nd June

[ColKev817]

I'm starting to really like Southgate.

Said he wasn't sure on whether or not to pick Raheem after he was late but after the media coverage this week there was no way he was leaving him out. Feels a duty to "protect" his players. Likes to play out from the back and is trying to build a decent team with a pretty poor pool of players.

Agree. All that was missing to set Raz on fire were a couple of midfield, creative maestros. However due to the fact that they are Belgian and Spanish, they're inelgible to play for England.... :-).

I like the fact they did try to play out from the back, but it will take time. However the likes of Young, Lingturd and Rashford will struggle playing footy as it should be.

 

[ManchesterDavo]

I just saw a quote from Hoddle saying Lingard and Ali were excellent. Did I miss something watching yesterday??

It’s hard to say anyone was excellent. We played one half against a side that was complete dross

 

[Dave S]

Mark my words, we’re winning the World Cup.

When?

 

[m7mcfc]

When?

Next Julember at tiddlywinks.

 

[Vienna_70]

Ditto. I thought Hoddle's comments were laughable. At one point he said: "Sterling has missed four or five good chances." That was just a lie.
On two occasions Hoddle criticised Sterling for not lifting his head when no other players were up with play and Kane had not made a run into the box. His co-commentator later said that Sterling's dive was "his first statistic" in the game ignoring his assist for Kane (who nearly fucked up his chance)

I thought exactly the same thing when Crimson Clive said that.

 

[Mancity1980]

I missed the game but watched the highlights AFTER reading the bbc online reports. I was keeping a close eye on what I saw and read about Sterling from the start and I found it hard to marry the two until I read this thread. Yes he missed chances, yes he dived (I wish he hadn’t obviously) but his movement, control and pace created all those situations and I am convinced Southgate (particularly) and Pep see him as key in their buildup play. As for the pundits and non-City England supporters they need to take a good hard look at themselves. At the least it borders on anti-england, at the most racism. England currently have limited talent but Southgate is making the most of what he has and I am proud of the significant contribution my club is making.

 

[paulchapo]

It’s hard to say anyone was excellent. We played one half against a side that was complete dross

Nigeria were just going through the motions in the first half. I think they got a bit of a bollocking at half time and once they started playing we looked bang average.

Southgate is trying to change our style and we should stick with it irrespective of the results early doors. We have to try.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

I like Southgate, looks like he’s got some class about him and his attempts to play football actually from the 21st century suggests he got a bit of a brain and wants to adapt. Hopefully he can implement his wanting to change during the game as well.

We’ll see how we get on but my expectations remain low

Same here. Our midfield is fucking woeful and we have a ready made downgrade yet to re-appear.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Agree. All that was missing to set Raz on fire were a couple of midfield, creative maestros. However due to the fact that they are Belgian and Spanish, they're inelgible to play for England.... :-).

I like the fact they did try to play out from the back, but it will take time. However the likes of Young, Lingturd and Rashford will struggle playing footy as it should be.

It pains me to say it but I think Lingard is a good player. Meanwhile Young looked out of his depth. He cut onto his right foot every time and lumped the ball into the box in a forlorn search for Lukaku!

 

[kalouk]

I think you will go further than people think. I think you forget how good some of the English players are and if everything clicks they could surprise you. The City and Spurs among others are all capable of playing good football. I understand it's totally different because it was a novelty for Wales but what a summer we had the whole country was living it and we had championship players playing. Our players had nothing to lose though and I don't think I read one negative article all competition and the Welsh FA did a great job of involving everyone. Maybe if the team and fans could shake off the past and think Fuck it it might take the weight off the player and let them just go for it. I didn't think England played badly last night let's not forget it was a friendly just before a world cup no one wanted to get injured. I really hope England can cause an upset and do well. Enjoy it you miserable bastards ;)