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World Cup 2018 Semi Finals

Wouldn't surprise me if we dont see Kane and Trippier in a Spurs shirt til after the Sept international break
 
You have to laugh at ITV’s pundits. At 6.30pm England’s young players were going to have the stamina to run Croatia ragged. By 9.45pm the loss was down to their inexperience and ‘their legs had gone.’ Absolute gonad-talkers.
I did notice we looked tired second half while the Croatians picked up. I couldn’t explain that especially as the Croatians have played more minutes than us. Very surprising.
 
Sorry but i disagree about Kane, thought he was poor and did not threaten at all except when he missed that first half chance he had.

He had one good chance. And a very tough headed chance. Then he was played in midfield which just tired him out more. Its usual that strikers have sighters and miss one. Even first half he played deep and it worked okay with Kane releasing Sterling. Harsh to blame Kane. Lingard had an even better chance, central and with time.
 
I did notice we looked tired second half while the Croatians picked up. I couldn’t explain that especially as the Croatians have played more minutes than us. Very surprising.

Because they had control, and we were nervously chasing them, using up lots of energy while they kept their cool.

Possibly a bit harsh but the manager takes the blame for me for not getting the mentality right second half.
 
He had one good chance. And a very tough headed chance. Then he was played in midfield which just tired him out more. Its usual that strikers have sighters and miss one. Even first half he played deep and it worked okay with Kane releasing Sterling. Harsh to blame Kane. Lingard had an even better chance, central and with time.

Not blaming Kane in any sense ( how you came to that conclusion i have no idea) Kane is a great player but he was poor tonight and that is being honest.
 
I'm proud of the team, but I do think that this system is a hindrance more than a help.

I worry that we will continue to persist with this system when I don't actually think it works well for all the players out there. We have had to play a system purely because we don't have defenders capable of playing in a two, it has been an issue since Terry retired from the international scene. Maguire has impressed me this tournament and I'd prefer to see Southgate build a two with him on the right, the guy defends properly first but has enough about him to use the ball properly.

Lets not pretend that the shape isn't part of the issue, we failed to create many chances from open play all tournament. Tonight Dele had a good game, he probably had his best game of the tournament and was more influential than any other midfielder, but the amount of running he had to do was hard and there were always overloads on the flanks for them. The shape does not suit Kane either, who was a spectator for large periods of games unless he came deep. The finishing from everyone else was sub standard, so surely we should look to at least keep Kane in the box and try to find him.

Southgate said that we had a lot of players in the side who like to press, are used to pressing, yet the 523 tonight (as it appeared when they had it deep in their half) ended up so spread out as the back line dropped deep. When we won the first header, we didn't always have the men in place to win the second and we were suddenly on the back foot. Either all push up or all sit, keep it compact, whichever way you look at it.
 
I don’t like to blame any young players as they’re still learning but Stones was ball watching while Mandzucic anticipated. That was experience vs inexperience.
Rashford Loftus-Cheek and Stones would all benefit from more first team football, they have the tools to improve this first X1. I think we got the most out of the squad we had, which hasn’t happened for a long time.
 
Not blaming Kane in any sense ( how you came to that conclusion i have no idea) Kane is a great player but he was poor tonight and that is being honest.

I don't think he's been great all tournament - his finishing has kept his performance to an ok level, however his movement, running and physicality hasn't been there. He hasn't looked fit since his last ankle injury
 
You have to laugh at ITV’s pundits. At 6.30pm England’s young players were going to have the stamina to run Croatia ragged. By 9.45pm the loss was down to their inexperience and ‘their legs had gone.’ Absolute gonad-talkers.

Always swaying in the fudging wind. "Kane is useless, should've put away that chance in the first half, should've passed it, doesn't have it in him, lacks winning mentality" - he then (theoretically) scores a goal like he did against Panama, a complete fluke, and it's all - "killer instinct, the boys born to play football, he's such a winner, best in the world, always in the right spot, we always had faith in him" etc. They're a bunch of fudging straws swaying in the wind, haven't got a fudging clue.
 
Ratings

Pickford 6 I thought his distribution was poor in the second half and he panicked a bit. Made one great save in extra time.
Young 5 Okay in the first half, but went missing when things heated up. I reckon 5 is generous.
Stones 6 Got caught ball watching for the second. Had one great header in extra time.
Macguire 7 pretty solid.
Walker 5 Okay for most of the match and then just lost his composure and it spread.
Henderson 4 A spectator.
Alli 7 Our best player in the first half, but he disappeared in the second, largely because we stopped playing through mid field.
Sterling 5 more of the same. What else did people expect. Southgate has to take the rap for this.
Trippier 7 Great goal and solid but in the second half disappeared too.
Lingard 5 Ran a lot.
Kane 5 Pretty much ineffectual, but I reckon he is injured.
 
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