After what happened in Marseille 2 years ago along with the fact that Russia is further and a heck of a lot more expensive to go and stay. I think there would be virtually zero chance of any of our knuckleheads looking for trouble.
I think I’m one of the few that thinks there will be little problem, not with any England fans anyway. Due to lack of numbers/idiots travelling and I actually believe the Russians will heed Putin’s word and keep violence to a minimum or non-existent.
Ian Wright finks that only good fings can come of Southgate finking really hard about the final fird.
Rashford playing well - I remember he did before 2016 but then hardly got a kick in the tournament . Good atmosphere at Leeds btw probably helped by the home team dominating for once .
Gotta love the commentators trying to generate enthusiasm. "Unbeaten run of 9 games", "this team are going into this tournament with a great togetherness which bodes well" blah de blah de blah. Didn't we go about 20 games unbeaten before the last diabolical tournament? We will probably lose to Panama.
England's opening game record at the World Cup isn't great - 3 defeats, 6 draws and 5 wins - not quite a 36% win rate. The last success came against Paraguay courtesy of an own goal back in 2006. Our results are as follows: 50 - England 2-0 Chile 54 - England 4-4 Belgium 58 - England 2-2 Soviet Union 62 - England 1-2 Hungary 66 - England 0-0 Uruguay 70 - England 1-0 Romania 82 - England 3-1 France 86 - England 0-1 Portugal 90 - England 1-1 ROE 98 - England 2-0 Tunisia 02 - England 1-1 Sweden 06 - England 1-0 Paraguay 10 - England 1-1 USA 14 - England 1-2 Italy It wouldn't surprise me at all if our opening game against Panama is another underwhelming draw.
Good work on the stats. Yep - we'll go 1-0 up in 10 minues. Show no more signs of creativity for the next 70 minutes. Concede in the last 10 minutes.
What's wrong with underwhelming? The only time England have gone on to win the WC was after an underwhelming 0-0 with Uruguay. On that basis an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Panama may well be welcomed with rapturous joy. God forbid that anyone score in the opening match...
I think it needs to be said again and people read between the lines... There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY WE WILL DRAW 0-0 with Panama in our first game.
You still think we'll lose ? I'm still reeling from the fact that TD and Gray haven't made the squad. What more could they have done ?
Manuel Lanzini, of West Ham fame, has had to drop out of the Argentina squad having ruptured his ACL in training. He'll be out for months of the PL season too. Spammers fans gutted. Can't imagine the owners are too fussed, the compo payments will more than cover their costs.
Very impressive that I managed to get correct fixtures and scores for games that took place over 50 years ago, only to then fail with a match being played in ten days..... An underwhelming draw against Tunisia it is then! On a different subject - did anybody hear/pick up on what the match commentator (Clive Tyldesley?) said yesterday about the amount of minutes each squad has played this season? He mentioned a stat that shows England's players to be one of the lowest in this regard. I thought it was interesting, as it's very likely (should we stink the place out again) that "the players were tired due to all the games they've played" excuse will be used as one of the reasons we failed.
Well done to Aidy, seems to be resurrecting his career within the England set-up: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Toulon-tournament-victory-ticket-Russia.html But this is the greatest bit of the article - "Boothroyd’s presence inside the camp will position him as a potential successor to Southgate if the FA want to keep continuity".
Even more reason to want England to go out in the first round. Aidy Boothroyd becoming England manager would be the greatest footballing moment in history and will never be surpassed.
Just one of so many semi-Orns and ex-Orns at the World Cup. Carrillo (I'm hoping he has a great tournament so somebody else snaps him up), Amrabat (likewise), Behrami (I wish him well) and Layun (not bovvered). Shame that Clev isn't there and that Henderson or Dier will have to play the Chalobah role.
Report on him going to Russia in the WO - looks like Aidy has aged quite a bit! Very grey haired! Not really seen much of the Under 21s - presume they don't quite use the same tactics as Boothroyd did under us.
