Re: WC 2018 | Semi-Finals | England vs Croatia

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:35 pm

If you say so.

The actions of many betray that viewpoint, it's quite obvious the large majority have wanted us out since the group stage.

Many are desperate for it, you can see it in the tone of their posts.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:46 pm

juvealbanian wrote:
CBarca wrote:
BarrileteCosmico wrote:Let's be real. Croatia has a defense lead by Lovren. They won't be able to stand up to Kane, he will have a field day. Croatia's only hope is to control the match so that Kane doesn't even get the ball.

That's not difficult the way the English midfield is set up. Kane hardly got the ball against Sweden

Exactly. With Croatia dominating the midfield he might not even see a good chance for him unless from corners or free kicks.

I would say Kane is the only true threat to Croatia.He's the only true world class player in a team that tends to get overrated because they all play in EPL aka best league in the world.
Sterling is selfish and wasteful af while Lingard is damn average.

They have mr.50m Stones leading their defense.I feel Mandzukic will be a nightmare to him.

The only chance for England will be counters and having in front a tired and injury plagued Croatia.And again they should hope Kane really shows his class by being clinical as he might not get much chances of Modric & Rakitic will dictate in midfield.

On a good day for both teams I think Croatia will pass this 7/10 times. but right now it's 6/10 around 60% chances for Croatia to win imho.

This post is an example of what I mean in a nutshell.

Kane being overrated lmao, also what's wrong with Stones? Croatia defenders have made much more obvious errors than him this tournament as have France defenders etc etc.

You are vastly overhyping Croatian players and vastly underselling England players because you don't like the Premier league for whatever reason.

Sterling is a sure fire starter for Man City but I'm supposed to believe that Man City would get rid of him to sign one of Croatia's attackers?

You don't come out and say it but there's clearly a level of anti English here, if Sterling played for another national team I'm sure the reaction to him would be very different.

I understand Croatia are a good team and have a good chance of beating us but Modric-Rakitic aside they are nowhere near as talented as you and others are painting them to be.

by Robespierre Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:49 pm

Well if an Argentinian named even Barrilete Cosmico supports England it is bizzarre TBH

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:53 pm

He was born in England so he should do tbh.

by Doc Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:56 pm

If we could laugh at Serie A with Italians, Italians living abroad and Rincon taking it in stride, England's NT is fair game.

So what if people look down on the team, don't rate them despite her players putting up great numbers, England is in the semis. More than likely, those that looking down aren't seeing their team there.

by S Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:56 pm

Anti-Premier league rhetoric exists for a reason.

And I am still not sure who's underrating England here except for that one odd poster. Most of them have given credit where it's due and most think this will be an even game. Seriously what more are you expecting people to say ? I think England will make the final btw

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:59 pm

I don't mind people not supporting us BTW, that's entirely up to them.

It's the way people are going about it I have an issue with.

Everyone is coming across that if we manage to win they'll be smiling through gritted teeth, they'll say well done but they won't mean it.

I first noticed it with Babun, he made an entire post criticising us and then at the end said " don't care I'll be happy for you if you win " Sure brah

You've all enjoyed our failures and can't stand it we aren't a laughing stock this time. You can deny it all you want but most of your posts betray you.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:07 pm

S wrote:Anti-Premier league rhetoric exists for a reason.

And I am still not sure who's underrating England here except for that one odd poster. Most of them have given credit where it's due and most think this will be an even game. Seriously what more are you expecting people to say ? I think England will make the final btw

I expect people to stop acting like players who have enjoyed top level success at club level are bums.

People are coming across as criticising our players just because their English.

Imagine if Mandzukic scored 30 goals for more than 3 straight seasons what the reaction would be.

Imagine if any of the Croatian attackers played for a top 5 in Europe and scored 23 goals and 17 assists on route to a record breaking season what the reaction would be.

There's clearly a level of anti English going on here when you start to act the likes of Kramaric are superior.

by Doc Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:19 pm

Anti-English, lol. It would be of the same ridiculous notion if Farfan and Sports said you're anti-French because you think players from Ligue 1 are overrated.

Some posters think British players are overrated, big deal. Seriously, why the fk would you care for that or feel the need to let all your emotions out of your purse? England is in the semis while Babs' Germany got KO in the group stages. All he can do is post his opinion of other teams because he can't talk about German games in the WC.

by Luca Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:24 pm

But did Sterling score a brace away to Madrid with a pair of back post headers en route to losing in a trashcan way? I don't *bleep* think so @mole, put some RESPECT on Mario's name

by Luca Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:26 pm

Anyways, on topic. England's midfield 3 of Lingard-Henderson-Alli is poised to be exposed defensively by Croatia's fantastic midfield, this is where the game will be won or lost in my opinion but I love the match up.

Nothing against England but I rate Croatia's midfield among the best in the world. Modric, Rakitic, Brozo and Kovacic can even play a role. I find their defence extremely poor, and their attack isn't better than England's, by any means.

by futbol_bill Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:31 pm

Mole, the further your NT goes, seems the more outspoken you become with this anti British or anti EPL rants.

Every country has their detractors, but it goes with the territory. Most people at this point are going with the underdogs which are clearly the two countries who have never won before.

It’s not a big deal, stop getting your kickers in a knot!

by elfmeter Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:46 pm

Yep, I truly believe we will see history made in the next week, this just has to be the year England finally make it happen. After I dont know how many years, this must be the time that we will all be able to finally witness an English team put together three consecutive passes? I truly think we will finally witness just that! What a time to be alive!

by juvealbanian Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:54 pm

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
juvealbanian wrote:
CBarca wrote:

That's not difficult the way the English midfield is set up. Kane hardly got the ball against Sweden

Exactly. With Croatia dominating the midfield he might not even see a good chance for him unless from corners or free kicks.

I would say Kane is the only true threat to Croatia.He's the only true world class player in a team that tends to get overrated because they all play in EPL aka best league in the world.
Sterling is selfish and wasteful af while Lingard is damn average.

They have mr.50m Stones leading their defense.I feel Mandzukic will be a nightmare to him.

The only chance for England will be counters and having in front a tired and injury plagued Croatia.And again they should hope Kane really shows his class by being clinical as he might not get much chances of Modric & Rakitic will dictate in midfield.

On a good day for both teams I think Croatia will pass this 7/10 times. but right now it's 6/10 around 60% chances for Croatia to win imho.

This post is an example of what I mean in a nutshell.

Kane being overrated lmao, also what's wrong with Stones? Croatia defenders have made much more obvious errors than him this tournament as have France defenders etc etc.

You are vastly overhyping Croatian players and vastly underselling England players because you don't like the Premier league for whatever reason.

Sterling is a sure fire starter for Man City but I'm supposed to believe that Man City would get rid of him to sign one of Croatia's attackers?

You don't come out and say it but there's clearly a level of anti English here, if Sterling played for another national team I'm sure the reaction to him would be very different.

I understand Croatia are a good team and have a good chance of beating us but Modric-Rakitic aside they are nowhere near as talented as you and others are painting them to be.

Look mate I don't see why you pick my post but I must say you are wrong for doing so.
First of all I never said Kane is overrated. I said he is the only one true world class player ffs. Do you even read fully or not bro?
Yes Croatia's defense is mediocre and I actually SAID THAT.They have found some stability compared to England as Lovren has slighlty improved imo and Versaljko offers much more than a 65 year old Srna they had there as RB.
England's defense is around same level.Stones is overrated af and you will see why when he faces an experienced striker like Mandzukic.
Many underrate Mandzukic but that's because his playing style. Yet he has been Croatia's most important striker scoring 1 and assisting 3 while doing a hell of teamwork.

No my opinion on Sterling wont change. I said he's pacy and could be deadly in counters but he has no end product.I still have his awful miss vs Sweden on my mind.He scores in EPL because he fits there.
Theo Walcott was great there despite being even more poor technically then Sterling.
Croatia's wingers are quite strong physically and pacy as well.
Perisic is good but out of form. Rebic has impressed but he is wasteful sometimes. Kramaric is average and Pjaca is still a mystery but he's talented imo.

As for midfield is pointless to discuss. I think even you agree Croatia is better.

And in the end I specified that it's my truly honest opinion and I could be wrong and I wouldn't mind being wrong or even England lift the cup.
I'm not against them doing well. ffs.

by messixaviesta Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:30 pm

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Let's be real. Croatia has a defense lead by Lovren. They won't be able to stand up to Kane, he will have a field day. Croatia's only hope is to control the match so that Kane doesn't even get the ball.

They stood up to Messi. Is that not enough? If they are as bad as you make them out to be then how dense is Sampaoli for not being able to take advantage of that?

by messixaviesta Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:35 pm

juvealbanian wrote:
CBarca wrote:
BarrileteCosmico wrote:Let's be real. Croatia has a defense lead by Lovren. They won't be able to stand up to Kane, he will have a field day. Croatia's only hope is to control the match so that Kane doesn't even get the ball.

That's not difficult the way the English midfield is set up. Kane hardly got the ball against Sweden

Exactly. With Croatia dominating the midfield he might not even see a good chance for him unless from corners or free kicks.

I would say Kane is the only true threat to Croatia.He's the only true world class player in a team that tends to get overrated because they all play in EPL aka best league in the world.
Sterling is selfish and wasteful af while Lingard is damn average.

They have mr.50m Stones leading their defense.I feel Mandzukic will be a nightmare to him.

The only chance for England will be counters and having in front a tired and injury plagued Croatia.And again they should hope Kane really shows his class by being clinical as he might not get much chances of Modric & Rakitic will dictate in midfield.

On a good day for both teams I think Croatia will pass this 7/10 times. but right now it's 6/10 around 60% chances for Croatia to win imho.

Excellent post. Agree with almost every word. Thumbs up

As you said Kane hardly got the ball against Sweden. How he is being rated high for Golden Ball is beyond me.

by The Demon of Carthage Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:39 pm

messixaviesta wrote:
BarrileteCosmico wrote:Let's be real. Croatia has a defense lead by Lovren. They won't be able to stand up to Kane, he will have a field day. Croatia's only hope is to control the match so that Kane doesn't even get the ball.

They stood up to Messi. Is that not enough? If they are as bad as you make them out to be then how dense is Sampaoli for not being able to take advantage of that?

Standing up to Messi doesn't mean anything. He was so horrendously bad in the tournament to the point that stopping him wasn't a difficult task.

Kane is another story. He's the tournament top scorer and Croatia will suffer a lot against England.

I want Croatia to win because I want Modric to win. But I won't be disappointed to see England go through because the gloating of our British friends here will be so worth it.

by Babun Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:42 am

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
I first noticed it with Babun, he made an entire post criticising us and then at the end said " don't care I'll be happy for you if you win " Sure brah

Hmm, talking out of your ***** Very Happy

Find a post in my long posting history where I made fun of English NT. In my post, I was talking about DIVING IN EPL but you wanted to connect everything with the English NT. I don't care about English NT, for real now :coffee:

Honestly, you remind me of :

To avoid confusion, you remind me of the black dude in that video.

By the way, I am interested in this party and am going to watch it. A very good friend of mine, tototo19 is Croatian. You could guess who I support in this match :coffee:

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:24 pm

messixaviesta wrote:
juvealbanian wrote:
CBarca wrote:

That's not difficult the way the English midfield is set up. Kane hardly got the ball against Sweden

Exactly. With Croatia dominating the midfield he might not even see a good chance for him unless from corners or free kicks.

I would say Kane is the only true threat to Croatia.He's the only true world class player in a team that tends to get overrated because they all play in EPL aka best league in the world.
Sterling is selfish and wasteful af while Lingard is damn average.

They have mr.50m Stones leading their defense.I feel Mandzukic will be a nightmare to him.

The only chance for England will be counters and having in front a tired and injury plagued Croatia.And again they should hope Kane really shows his class by being clinical as he might not get much chances of Modric & Rakitic will dictate in midfield.

On a good day for both teams I think Croatia will pass this 7/10 times. but right now it's 6/10 around 60% chances for Croatia to win imho.

Excellent post. Agree with almost every word.

As you said Kane hardly got the ball against Sweden. How he is being rated high for Golden Ball is beyond me.

That isn't something against Kane tbh, it's how we played. We used Kane as a decoy ( because they have huge defenders) to create space for others around him.

Guess what? it worked, the amount of space afforded to Lingard, Alli and Sterling resulted in a lot of opportunities.

It's almost like we don't rely on him as much as people think we do hmm

by CBarca Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:50 pm

My post wasn't to denigrate Kane but the English midfield.

How is it Kane's fault he didn't see the ball much? His hold up play was actually fantastic when he did see the ball, and he dragged a Sweden defense into disarray to allow England to score twice on one of the best defenses in the tournament so far.

It wasn't outstanding, but it was as good as you could ask for from someone who was marked so heavily

by sportsczy Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:02 pm

The best player on the winning team gets the golden ball. It's that simple other than the disgraceful vote in the last WC for Messi...

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:06 pm

sportsczy wrote:The best player on the winning team gets the golden ball. It's that simple other than the disgraceful vote in the last WC for Messi...

That's not true, a quick research of the winners will tell you that hmm

by Unique Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:07 pm

The Demon of Carthage wrote:
messixaviesta wrote:
BarrileteCosmico wrote:Let's be real. Croatia has a defense lead by Lovren. They won't be able to stand up to Kane, he will have a field day. Croatia's only hope is to control the match so that Kane doesn't even get the ball.

They stood up to Messi. Is that not enough? If they are as bad as you make them out to be then how dense is Sampaoli for not being able to take advantage of that?

Standing up to Messi doesn't mean anything. He was so horrendously bad in the tournament to the point that stopping him wasn't a difficult task.

Kane is another story. He's the tournament top scorer and Croatia will suffer a lot against England.

I want Croatia to win because I want Modric to win. But I won't be disappointed to see England go through because the gloating of our ~~British~~ english friends here will be so worth it.

by sportsczy Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:19 pm

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
sportsczy wrote:The best player on the winning team gets the golden ball. It's that simple other than the disgraceful vote in the last WC for Messi...

That's not true, a quick research of the winners will tell you that

It used to be. But for some reason, media has gone haywire with the vote. Kahn should not have gotten it over Ronaldo. With all due respect to everyone else, Buffon should have won it in 2006. Villa, Iniesta or Xavi in 2010. Neuer in 2014.

All these awards are shams and have been since 2000.

by Valkyrja Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:27 pm

Neuer wasn't even the best GK at WC 2014, let alone the best player.

by sportsczy Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:48 pm

Neuer was clearly the best GK in 2014... come off it dude. Not only was he dominating as a traditional keeper; he played as a 3rd CB basically behind Hummels and Boateng.

It was a dominant performance that got rid of any doubt who the best keeper in the world was.

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