Post
by redandwhitemike » Sat Jul 07, 2018 11:01 pm
Full credit to Southgate for sticking with his underperformers BUT England won in spite of those players NOT because they played IMO.
Young did provide the cross for Maguire's goal but did little else to justify his selection.
Sterling did show a bit more but once again there was no actual end product - I still think Rashford is a better bet, and Dele Alli finally turned up and showed us some of the Spurs class for the second goal.
There are some players who are growing in stature and performance as this World Cup progresses - Trippier was once again exceptional, Maguire has come of age and is now an automatic choice and Henderson has finally shown us what he is capable of in an England shirt as opposed to the Red of Liverpool, but finally a special mention for Jordan Pickford who's performances more than any other player (Kane included) is the reason England are in the semi finals - and again today he was awesome.
Personally just wish some of the others (Rose, Rashford and Loftus-Cheek) are given more of a chance to impress than just the odd few minutes at the end of a game.
Disappointed with Sweden I thought they would give England a much bigger test - three efforts on target, all brilliantly saved by JP.
Now for Croatia,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Come on England"
Scores on the Doors
Pickford............. 10 - Magical display wonderful agility and reactions to save three certain goals.
Trippier............ 8 - Real threat going forward and and with some more height in the middle could be even more effective.
Young ...............6 - Great corner ball for the first goal and he did get into more forward positions but without any real killer balls.
Maguire..............8 - Colossus at both ends of the pitch - he won't be at Leicester for much longer - I bet Jose is on the phone right now.!
Stones ...............7 - Still not sure about him in a three - there are times when he's out muscled at set pieces.
Walker...............6 - Looks the weak link aerially, but his pace is an asset in covering the other two so he stays.
Lingard..............7 - Ran his socks off for the cause - peach of a cross for number two.
Alli...................6 - Anonymous for most of the game to the point where I forgot he was playing - so did the Swedish defence !!!
Henderson..........8 - Ran the midfield and also ran a marathon - will need his energy against Croatia.
Sterling .............6 - Got into more forward positions and promised on several occasions to deliver a goal - but again failed when it mattered.
Kane ................6 - Didn't see much of the ball and at times looked strangely subdued - service up to him was almost non existent - doesn't seem to buddy very well with Sterling .
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. ~Norman Vincent Peale