On paper it should be manageable and I highlight should as I just can't call it until I see what Squad Southgate picks. My faith in him is about as low as it can be I'm sorry to say.
I'll take it. If we can get points off Belgium then we negate the risk of the others getting them. I really don't think it's mid-range difficulty, by the way. On paper, we've got very lucky.
That's about as easy a group as you could have hoped for, and the 2nd round tie shouldn't be too difficult. Anything less than the quarters will be an abject failure, not that I'm confident!
Start planning your summer...#worldcupdraw pic.twitter.com/6l6DUdrt5o— England (@England) December 1, 2017
Yeah, the order of matches is perhaps the one downside. We have to get off to a quick start so that we don't go into the Belgium match needing a result.
I can see it now. Goalless draw to start, beat Panama and then lose to Belgium. Lose to Colombia in round of 16. Would rather have faced Belgium first, always takes a while to get warmed up.
Love our group. We should get out, but if we don't then Southgate gets axed. On paper Panama and Tunisia should not be progressing ahead of us or Belgium. Having said that I like our chances a lot if we have the right team. I think we'll have to win every game to top the group becaue Belgium have been decent at hammering average sides, while we don't hammer anybody.
There was a 6 in 32 chance I'd be flying back from England and miss our second game, so in that respect I'm happy that didn't happen! Now I get to see our first group game in England and the other two back in the US. Not particularly thrilled with the draw though.
What more could you reasonably ask for? Tunisia got beat 4-1 by Guinea in qualifying. Panama barely won any games. Looks like it'll be near 3 hour plane journeys between venues for England, if it's private flights, which I'm sure it will be.
Poland or Columbia will cause serious problems to England in the second round Quarter-final : Germany or Brazil Semi-final: France or Spain
I think we will struggle against anyone if Southgate plays Henderson or Livermore or heavens forbid both in any games during the World Cup.
Makes you wonder about playing this seemingly declared system. Three at the back, two full backs and two options merely holding and not offering a great deal on the ball. For those first two games? Fair enough to play it against Belgium.
Quite interesting (albeit meaningless) that Raheem Sterling has more CL goals than any Belgian ever. He seemingly can't get into our starting team either
People want an easy route to the final? Look at Germany in 02 U want to play good teams on the way imo to build Confidence and show if u are capable Nothing worse than losing a final
We've screwed up seemingly weak groups before. I'd much rather see us in a stronger group to build our performance level from the get-go. Look at what happened in 2010.
http://www.sportbible.com/football/...southgate-says-is-in-his-starting-xi-20171202 I think this is going to go down well with the majority on here So, he's got to maintain his current good form as Southgate obviously sees it If we play tomorrow, I think Joe Hart would be our number one. I said that before the last game and he had a very good performance against Brazil. Equally, as I keep having to say to him, we are six months away and he has got to maintain form and make sure [of that] in the lead up to the World Cup."
Seriously, god knows with Southgate though. He seems to watch football in a very different way to the rest of us it feels.
I don't think the comments on Hart are an issue. He's supporting an option that is blatantly struggling and at the same time saying the place is up for grabs if someone else hits form until the end of the season. Someone still needs to step up and take the place. Maybe with a more structured defence under Allardyce Pickford can start to look like a genuine option.
Shearer thinks Panama is the worst team in the competition and John Bennett, who reported a lot on qualifying in Africa says that Tunisia is the worst African team.
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