Cybereagles

But they said it was coming home.

The YeyeMan wrote:

kalani JR wrote:Well done guys, well done. Now to deal with the infidels.

There will be a roll call soon enough and they will line up one by one to be executed.

We will begin with coach.

Biko, let me plead for Coachito my lost African brother. The guy is misguided and confused by Skynews Sports and the rest of the useless English media. Have you collected your money from him? That is enough. I will persuade him to come correct and join ABEG next week.

The YeyeMan wrote:

But they said it was coming home.

ohsee wrote:

The YeyeMan wrote:

kalani JR wrote:Well done guys, well done. Now to deal with the infidels.

There will be a roll call soon enough and they will line up one by one to be executed.

We will begin with coach.

Biko, let me plead for Coachito my lost African brother. The guy is misguided and confused by Skynews Sports and the rest of the useless English media. Have you collected your money from him? That is enough. I will persuade him to come correct and join ABEG next week.

I'm owing him money for that yeye Sweden game. I wanted to make a bet against England winning the WC but he no gree. Deep down he knew it wasn't going home so he will be spared.

I will not spare Damunkey.

danfo driver wrote:

Water found its level. Despite my bias against them I noticed early on England didn't have the creativity needed to win the WC. They rely too much on dead balls and revert to defense after scoring even when they are capable of controlling the game. Crisis has been averted and order is restored. I'm confident this generation will not win anything. They should be proud of making it this far but at the end of the day it was due to their favourable draw.

By the way, the English could learn a lot from a country that dominated them in a WC semi even though that country is 13x smaller than them.

@Helio, is it only England who need study the Croatianist Manifiesto? The moment the second-half started and those fullbacks stepped up, the punches gained precision. From 3-5-2 to 5-3-2, Modric feinted left, dummies right, hooks on the outside, uppercuts on the inside, it was Lymichenko in full flight. Every punch connected, every jab softened the nose. It was, in the end, a thorough beating. Much had been borrowed from Woodward’s World Cup winners and much like their template, they relied on line outs and set pieces. It wasn’t pretty, but twas effective. For five and a half games, few had figured out how to beat this brand of rugby football and then it happened. Strutting back onto the field for the second half, Modric grabbed of the match pitch and press it from both sides, the oval became circular and England were forced to play football.

Welldone to both contestants, who’d have thought either would’ve made it this far. Croatia will be studied by England no doubt, that’s their newly embraced growth mindset. Needless to say, when the registers read out, Nigeria will not only have played truant for double Science, they’d have skipped geography too. Big for nothing.

England will learn from this defeat in good faith, there is still a lot for them to learn, the experienced side won on the day

marko wrote:England will learn from this defeat in good faith, there is still a lot for them to learn, the experienced side won on the day

They're in the chasing pack and will have renewed belief come the Euros. Theres no trend extrapolation here, a semi-final now doesn't mean a final to come. England fell at the foot of their eternal nemesis, the kryptonite to their Clark Kent graft, the ball playing side. Having weathered the storm, they seized the centre of the ring and slowly, steadily, with confidence and command, marched those men down. Modric was masterful, Perisic persistent, Mandzukic, machine-like. England will spit out the gum shield and bloodied water with the rinse, they know they loosened a tooth or two and for thirty or so minutes, had the boxer in a brawl, scoring points with unseen elbows and head clashes.

Southgate may well be forging an identity, but the key question remains, whilst many are doing the running, some the boxing, others the rugby, who can be entrusted to play the football? Henderson tried, but has never been a creative source. The evolution must see a deep-lying playmaker, with the triumvirate of running men in midfield seen as adequate aggro to cover defensively. 3-1-5-1. Bacon, Sausage, Beans, Toast.

marko wrote:England will learn from this defeat in good faith, there is still a lot for them to learn, the experienced side won on the day

keep quiet, mscheeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww

@Marko, experience is arbitrary, experience of what? How many of those Croatian players have played international semi-finals? Is experience a euphemism for old age, yet wasn't the youthful exuberance banded around by all as the game changing attribute? There was a certain nonchalance and arrogance that came with youth, an innocence and unknowing that would have them stopover and backheel where senior heads would square pass. Pickford has the experience of fighting a losing battle, clinging on to slender hopes and flinging his body to and fro to keep the impossible alive. Kane, Alli, Trippier have locked horns with European Champions and emerged victorious. John Stones experienced near invincibility with Man City, Henderson has experienced cup finals, Lingard, the weighty burden of playing for the biggest club in England. What experience are they supposedly missing? Yes, its a new team, but one hatched together over a number of months, one bonded by ancestry and employers, in many cases.

England were not beaten by experience, they were beaten by the better team, a team who used their ascendancy wisely. For thirty minutes, England were in full flight, that was when the game needed to be buried. Hurrying out of the corner, they landed with the big right, but failed to breach the coverup thereafter. Seeing their punches rebound off gloves and struggling to work in the clinches took its toll. Croatia boxed expertly, whilst working out how to play against Southgate's brand of rugby-football, they did what a good boxer does, covered up, worked the clinch and leaned in full body weight. England had to stretch the distance, step back, work the jab, they didn't. Clinch after clinch after clinch. Full body weight working away at the shoulders. When it came to box in the latter rounds, they couldn't raise those wearied arms. That wasn't a matter of experience, it was sheer brilliance. Croatia took the brawl back to a boxing match, where Modric rose to Floyd Mayweather.

The YeyeMan wrote:

But they said it was coming home.

It's now come home to them that they are sh*t like I knew they are.

^But with enough steatorrhea, even sh*t floats. Some sh*t is so dense it sinks straight to the bottom and disappears with the first flush.

danfo driver wrote:

I said this earlier.

cic old boy wrote:
The heart of the English defence is Kyle Walker (a full-back playing as a central defender), Calamity Stones that Pep seems to have lost faith in, and Maguire from mid-table Leicester. They are very likely to crumble under sustained pressure - which they haven't seen so far.

Now I no longer have to hear "It's coming home". The English should ask themselves why others want them to lose so much. When I lived in Scotland I fully supported their team and those of us who watched the Nigeria Scotland friendly in 2014 can attest to the good nature of both sets of fans. When I lived in Finland I always wanted them to win the ice hockey and I still wish they can get the undoubted football talent they have and make it to a major tournament - if they do, I'll go there as a Finland supporter.

With England I actually remember supporting their team in 1986 (I was quite young then) but from 1990 onwards with more exposure to their press I couldn't bring myself to support them. 1996 brought a frenzy similar to 2018 and the way they wrote off other opponents after beating the Netherlands did it for me. My full conversion came in the 1999 World Youth Championship where the English press campaigned against their team coming to Nigeria. I remember an article by Jimmy Greaves (reproduced then in Complete Sports) urging the FA not to let the kids travel. The English did not even send their best players. Spain sent the likes of Cassillas and Xavi. Brazil sent Ronaldinho. Ireland sent Damien Duff.

I really tried to support this team (my son was born here and so he is also English) but it was difficult after the Colombia game and the "It's coming home" eruption. They were already talking about beating France before Croatia. I'm sorry for Gareth and the boys but I'm not sad that England are out.

Take away their set pieces and you get a minnow.

Teams will be watching the film on those set pieces for future tournaments.

It won't work again.

Coach wrote:@Marko, experience is arbitrary, experience of what? How many of those Croatian players have played international semi-finals? Is experience a euphemism for old age, yet wasn't the youthful exuberance banded around by all as the game changing attribute? There was a certain nonchalance and arrogance that came with youth, an innocence and unknowing that would have them stopover and backheel where senior heads would square pass. Pickford has the experience of fighting a losing battle, clinging on to slender hopes and flinging his body to and fro to keep the impossible alive. Kane, Alli, Trippier have locked horns with European Champions and emerged victorious. John Stones experienced near invincibility with Man City, Henderson has experienced cup finals, Lingard, the weighty burden of playing for the biggest club in England. What experience are they supposedly missing? Yes, its a new team, but one hatched together over a number of months, one bonded by ancestry and employers, in many cases.

England were not beaten by experience, they were beaten by the better team, a team who used their ascendancy wisely. For thirty minutes, England were in full flight, that was when the game needed to be buried. Hurrying out of the corner, they landed with the big right, but failed to breach the coverup thereafter. Seeing their punches rebound off gloves and struggling to work in the clinches took its toll. Croatia boxed expertly, whilst working out how to play against Southgate's brand of rugby-football, they did what a good boxer does, covered up, worked the clinch and leaned in full body weight. England had to stretch the distance, step back, work the jab, they didn't. Clinch after clinch after clinch. Full body weight working away at the shoulders. When it came to box in the latter rounds, they couldn't raise those wearied arms. That wasn't a matter of experience, it was sheer brilliance. Croatia took the brawl back to a boxing match, where Modric rose to Floyd Mayweather.

we have seen this too many times in football, when one team does not take their chances and the other one scores and wins, Belgium, France, quite similar, for all Belgium dominant play, they could not convert their chances but France did and defended well

when i say experience, they have players who have won champions league a few times, like Modric and the other Barcelona player, this is where experience comes into play, not about age but been used to this environment, same reason, Liverpool bottled it at the champions league final when the British pundits said Salah was better than Ronaldo and Messi

England will learn from this experfience, they over achieved, thats a fact, these pundits before the world cup said, England will be out by the quarter finals, but they went one step ahead, of course they went into a frenzy and were looking at the final as if Croatia did not get to the semi-finals on merit

they will learn from this episode

A team with only 6 shots on target, has no business in the semi-finals

Coach and all, England will not learn. This is a country that for decades has failed to produce enough upfront creativity to compete with the true elites of the game. My point about learning from the likes of Croatia was to illustrate that England needs to develop players with the requisite technical skills if they truly want to put themselves in position to win the WC.

I attended 2 England games this WC and I was alarmed by how unimpressive they were vs Colombia despite all the hype. I observed in that game and vs Croatia they offered nothing in open play and when their buildup was inaffective they resorted to long balls and other kick and rush tactics. This is a country with a great domestic league, fantastic football infrastructure, and all the traits you need to be a football powerhouse yet they aren't introspective enough to realize that the way they teach the game is not conducive to winning Euros and WCs. They will not learn and future tournaments will feature the same refrains about the team being tired, unlucky, etc. I spoke with England fans after the loss yesterday and they were taken aback when I discussed their lack of creativity throughout the tournament illustrated by key stats such as shots on target. The fans and media have a tendency to focus on just results rather than performance. You can get favourable results in the short term but can only win the Euro and WC through long term planning which entails ensuring your players are technical enough to unlock tight games such as the one yesterday. I still don't understand how such a country is unable to produce a single player that is comfortable on the ball. Even with time and space it is rush, rush, rush which is easy for any top team to snuff out.

Marko, England was one creative attacking midfielder away from being in the WC final. Their defense and CM are good enough and so too is Kane upfront. However I promise you that even with maturity and experience this same group of players will fail to make it this far in any upcoming major tournament. England does not have a midfield maestro or #10 to give them the edge against the best teams in the world and are incapable of producing one given how they teach the game.

Fellow ABEGers, yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster. I was sooo weak when England scored early. Then they started their typical gra-gra and Croatia kept misplacing passes. I was cussing, kicking every ball, muttering under my breath, etc. My wife said one day she will video me watching a match like this and put it on YouTube.

At a point, I started looking resigned to England fluking their way into the final. Then Croatia equalised. But when they hit the post and couldn’t score from the rebound, I started thinking it was going to be one of those days. When Pickford saved Mandzukic’s flick from point-blank range, I had this sinking feeling that England were going to ride their luck into the final.

The tension for me was unbearable and I was even blasting Croatian players for not burying England. Rebic missed a couple of sitters. And I wanted to kill Rakitic when he broke down the left and dawdled with the ball instead of squaring to Modric, who was free.

Then Mandzukic buried his chance. But there was still like 10mins left. I still feared an England comeback. I kept thinking: look how they got such an easy group, how all the big boys were knocked out, how the other side of the draw had Brazil, Belgium, Uruguay, France, etc and they were knocking each other out. Maybe England have their name on the WC. When Rashford took the FK in the last min of extra time, I thought: “Here comes the dagger through my heart”.

The tension was too much oooh! To hate England like this is not good for the heart. But the joy at the final whistle made it all worthwhile.

cic old boy wrote:

danfo driver wrote:

I said this earlier.

cic old boy wrote:
The heart of the English defence is Kyle Walker (a full-back playing as a central defender), Calamity Stones that Pep seems to have lost faith in, and Maguire from mid-table Leicester. They are very likely to crumble under sustained pressure - which they haven't seen so far.

I was really getting annoyed listening to them raveabout Maguire like he was some maestro. All because his head collided with the ball and it ended up in the net. Personally I had never heard of him till this world cup. Nxa