Looking at it from the outside (I'm almost glad Italy didn't qualify - we wouldn't have got out of the group stage). I think last night highlighted Southgate's tactical limitations. With Croatia dominating the midfield, Southgate should have changed the system, it wasn't working and his substitutions were inneffective because he went 'like for like'. Changing the players but keeping the same system didn't make sense, the midfield was still being dominated after the subs. Either go 4 or 5 in midfield and nulify the threat. Kane didn't look fit, I'd have kept Sterling on and brought Vardy on for Kane - both pacy and would have caused more problems. Dele Alli didn't look fit and Young looked like a deer in the headlights. Trippier is great going forward, but not a great defender. England lack a Pirlo (for me no one can touch Pirlo), a registro...a metronome...slow it down, keep possesion, give everyone a rest and launch attacks when necessary. Carrick was close, Scholes was perfect - but no one in the English game currently comes close. The draw was kind, no doubt about that and I would expect England to beat Tunisia and Panama (forget Belgium it was a dead rubba - although had that been the second game - it would have been brilliant). Columbia set up to contain England, however when they came out and played, they caused some major problems. Sweden as well set up to contain, but caused some serious problems (still can't believe Sweden beat Italy and France - actually I can believe Italy as we're sh!t at the moment). Croatia got their tactics right, sadly England found their ceiling and reverted back to hoofball. I think the problem is that there's no one in the squad who is tactically aware or a leader, they just follow instructions and don't tend to think for themselves - maybe that's down to inexperience or lack of a Plan B. I'm reminded of Inter under Mourinho, against Barcelona, Cambiasso and Zanetti identified a problem and went and spoke to Mourinho to change it. Henderson as captain should have to spoken to Southgate and told him they needed another body in midfield - however Southgate should have seen it himself but didn't react. The Euros should be interesting though as England will mature, however I don't think England will win anything with Southgate at the helm as I don't think he's tactically aware. Just my two penneth.
Except that, as far as I can determine, home is actually Scotland - where the rules of the modern game were drawn up. Sent from my A7Pro using Tapatalk
No - Sheffield can lay claim to being the oldest existing independent football club, independent in that they are solely a football club as opposed to being attached to another organisation (university/hospital/school for example). They were founded in 1857 - the Football Club of Edinburgh were founded in 1824, but are no longer in existence - and played the game under their own rules, rules that were more akin to Rugby. The FA rules were drawn up in 1863 but were refined by Queens Park in Glasgow four years later to include such innovations as dribbling & passing - and those refinements are the rules that the modern game is based upon. As an aside - this is a picture of the oldest known football in the world. It's housed in the Smith Museum in Stirling & was found behind paneling in the Queen's chamber in Stirling Castle in the 1540's. It's leather with a pig bladder inner and is believed to have been played with by Mary Queen of Scots as a child.
Keighley is it too late to say I'm sorry? And Keighley Gouda we get it together again? I just can't go on pretending that it came to a natural end
Sounds like FIFA are going to investigate our fans for inappropriate chanting. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44811549 Well the FA need to not worry too much given FIFA's very lax attitude to racism and the like! Or will we get fined more than the FA did for our playing wearing the wrong socks?
FIFA: We're against racism! *gives World Cup to country renowned for football racism* FIFA: Investigate the England fans!
They’re seriously high up the league for Nobel prizes so footie rules would be straight forward for them.
Ms Riley 1/4 mile nearer the camera and in higher resolution. I think Malteser had her perfectly framed a year or so ago ?
Sorry if this has been posted previously - I couldn't be bothered trawling through a few hundred posts to see if it had been. I never noticed this at the time - after the Croatians were celebrating going 2-1 ahead, the English players kicked off and tried to score, only to be given offside - or so this seems to suggest.
Maybe at least one Croatian player was in our half of the field. I saw examples during the World Cup of teams leaving one player in the other half of the pitch to prevent their opponents kicking off while they were celebrating
I'm pretty sure it's just one of those stupid myths that inexplicably spreads sometimes. There's no basis for it in the laws of the game. The game restarts when the referee says it does.
It was brought up in the Spain/Portugal game too. When Ronny Aldo scored his third (I think) all the Portuguese players celebrated off the pitch except for one. It was said then if all 11 players left the field of play the opposition could re-start the game.
Yeah. I think I remember that. It's still bollaux. Wouldn't surprise me at all if it was just more commentator balls.
I think you're right UEA. I can't find any official FIFA document stating a team can restart the match with the other side off the pitch. The only official stipulation for where the players must be is in their own half except for the player taking the kick-off. Here are the official FIFA laws for 'Kick-Off'. 1. Kick-off • the team that wins the toss of a coin decides which goal it will attack in the first half Procedure • their opponents take the kick-off • the team that wins the toss takes the kick-off to start the second half• for the second half, the teams change ends and attack the opposite goals• after a team scores a goal, the kick-off is taken by their opponents For every kick-off: • all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play • the opponents of the team taking the kick-off must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball until it is in play • the ball must be stationary on the centre mark • the referee gives a signal • the ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves • a goal may be scored directly against the opponents from the kick-off; if the ball directly enters the kicker’s goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opponents. So yeah, having to leave a player anywhere in particular is all a load of balls really. Oh well.
Now the dust has settled on England's World Cup, how much of a success do you feel it was? In terms of opinions towards the England football team from those both within and outside England (myself included) it was obviously a massive success, everyone seemed to want this team to win! Southgate deserves massive credit for that too, as do the players. However, I was doing some reflecting on England's world cup and despite making the semi final I actually felt it was quite disappointing. Last minute winner to beat Tunisia... Beaten by Belgium... Penalties required to beat Colombia (without Rodriguez) and then beaten by Croatia. I have seen plenty of fans saying they are so proud of the team etc but I was wondering if there were many who felt slightly disappointed? I can't imagine you will ever have a potentially easier route to the final than this year!