England v Poland (Wed)

It is going to help the best striker in the world out with injury. I though believe in this England team that continues to develop and feel we should start to believe we can beat anyone in the world including an Lewandowski inspired Poland.
 
Personally think the qualifiers are a useful tool for bedding in new players and systems, we really should be winning at least nine out of ten in this group. But yeah I find it difficult to watch against no mark pub teams
 
This is really the only game that matters. Both us and Poland should win all the other games, which means it's possible that only the winner might qualify.

I agree that losing Lewandowski is a massive blow for the Poles
 
Tangojoe said:
This is really the only game that matters. Both us and Poland should win all the other games, which means it's possible that only the winner might qualify.

I agree that losing Lewandowski is a massive blow for the Poles
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Poland can't win all their other games as they've already failed to beat Hungary, who are a much improved team. Winning all the other games from England's perspective is also very premature.
 
Hungary and Poland are not easy opponents.
Time and again England supporters have been arrogant, thinking these games are a given, they are not.
England scored only 5 against a team of part timers and only 2 v the giant that is Albania.
Possible banana skins, both of them.
Poland without Lewandowski are less of a threat, obviously, but they won't roll over.
Hungary can be as poor as they can be brilliant.
 
Ginge said:
Hungary and Poland are not easy opponents.
Time and again England supporters have been arrogant, thinking these games are a given, they are not.
England scored only 5 against a team of part timers and only 2 v the giant that is Albania.
Possible banana skins, both of them.
Poland without Lewandowski are less of a threat, obviously, but they won't roll over.
Hungary can be as poor as they can be brilliant.
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Hungary haven't beaten us since 1962 and Poland have beaten us once in 1973 in 19 attempts. I don't think we should be losing any sleep over either of them.
 
We shouldn't really be worrying about Poland or whoever plays up front. If our players produce a performance we will win. What I would say is that they are more likely to try and park the bus now.
 
I think we look less of a side with Grealish out?
He just seems to cause real problems for defenders and creates space for others. You also need a dead all specialist available for all the fouls he collects
 
Spot prize for how long it takes ITV to bring out the name Jan Toma(what's his name!). I've lost count of the amount of times we have beaten Poland since 1973,yet it always gets dusted off and wheeled out.
 
It's the softest group we've been in ages and thats saying something. Even are bunch of prima donnas can't cock this up.
 
There was talk about Southgate reverting to a back 3 hopefully now he bins the idea way too negative and why we should overly worry about one of the best strikers in the world if he'd been playing er when we have one of the best strikers in the world.
 
Tangerinetiltingatwindmil said:
Cloughie referred to Tomashevski as a Clown🤡before the kick off.
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That game was as one sided as the SAN Marino game. Their only serious attack from a breakaway he shoots at goal without looking and straight through Shiltons legs.
Not sure how many attempts we had but we could only score from a penalty.

Most raggy draw ever and all their luck hasn’t returned since
 
GrahamwantshisOates said:
That game was as one sided as the SAN Marino game. Their only serious attack from a breakaway he shoots at goal without looking and straight through Shiltons legs
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No, it`s etched in my memory for ever.The ball went under Shilton`s body after a poor tackle by Norman Hunter had lost possession near the halfway line.
 
Went to watch England play Poland in Poland and it was a bit interesting to say the least!!!

Fortunately got away unscathed 👍
 
1950`spoolfan said:
No, it`s etched in my memory for ever.The ball went under Shilton`s body after a poor tackle by Norman Hunter had lost possession near the halfway line.
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Even though the build up to the 74 finals was an anti climax with no England, Poland did well. Think they finished 3rd which made me feel slightly better. That Wembley game was like the Alamo. We had so many quality strikers who just couldn't score 😪
 
Tangerinetiltingatwindmil said:
Cloughie referred to Tomashevski as a Clown🤡before the kick off.
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Tange, I recall it was AFTER the game Clougie referred to him as lucky and a clown.

I do remember we should have won the game by 5 or 6 and a combination of some unbelievable saves and some shocking misses caused us to somehow manage to draw the game 1-1 and miss out. 😫
 
Raging_Bull said:
Tange, I recall it was AFTER the game Clougie referred to him as lucky and a clown.

I do remember we should have won the game by 5 or 6 and a combination of some unbelievable saves and some shocking misses caused us to somehow manage to draw the game 1-1 and miss out. 😫
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Don't be silly , of course it was before the game!
 
FessParker said:
Really? Why on earth would he call him a clown after the game when he'd been mainly responsible for
them getting the draw they needed?
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Because Cloughie would never admit he was wrong in his analysis. He insisted his clown status was intact because all those saves the ball hit him as he threw himself around clownlike, rather than him saving them.
 
ballysboots said:
Because Cloughie would never admit he was wrong in his analysis. He insisted his clown status was intact because all those saves the ball hit him as he threw himself around clownlike, rather than him saving them.
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I don't remember him saying that after the game. If he did then he's gone down in my estimation!!
 
Raging_Bull said:
Fess, watch the Youtube attachment to my post at 12.12, he called him a clown and the others on the panel disagreed with him.
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Thanks Raging , I stand corrected. I was at the game and he certainly gave a man of the match performance which makes
Clough's comment after the game all the more nonsensical.
 
Can't remember the last time I had any interest in England as a side (let alone watched them!) - probably France "98 - genuinely couldn't give a rat's ass about the national side and have never got the 'would you want England to win a competition or Blackpool to win a league' question as there is really no comparison. Whilst we have some numpty supporters at Blackpool - I just can't associate with either the players or supporters of the national side and Southgate leaves me cold. Another bbq and garden night for me.
 
BFC76 said:
Can't remember the last time I had any interest in England as a side (let alone watched them!) - probably France "98 - genuinely couldn't give a rat's ass about the national side and have never got the 'would you want England to win a competition or Blackpool to win a league' question as there is really no comparison. Whilst we have some numpty supporters at Blackpool - I just can't associate with either the players or supporters of the national side and Southgate leaves me cold. Another bbq and garden night for me.
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Is that a wind up as I find it hard to believe if you are a Football fan.
Surely you must have watched the previous World Cup and progress to the semi-final.
 
Hertsseasider said:
I remember that 1973 game vividly. After 66 and 70, there were high hopes of success. It was a crushing disappointment
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We battered them then Norman Hunter missed a tackle and Shilton dived over a regulation save. Then we resorted to knocking a diagonal ball into the box to no great effect. Bad night which meant we didn't qualify for the 74 World Cup. To be fair, they finished 3rd in the tournament beating Brazil in the playoff game.
 
Wizaard said:
We battered them then Norman Hunter missed a tackle and Shilton dived over a regulation save. Then we resorted to knocking a diagonal ball into the box to no great effect. Bad night which meant we didn't qualify for the 74 World Cup. To be fair, they finished 3rd in the tournament beating Brazil in the playoff game.
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Yes that Lato fella finished top scorer ahead of the likes of West Germany's Gerd Muller and Holland's Johan Neeskens.
 
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BFC76 said:
Can't remember the last time I had any interest in England as a side (let alone watched them!) - probably France "98 - genuinely couldn't give a rat's ass about the national side and have never got the 'would you want England to win a competition or Blackpool to win a league' question as there is really no comparison. Whilst we have some numpty supporters at Blackpool - I just can't associate with either the players or supporters of the national side and Southgate leaves me cold. Another bbq and garden night for me.
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Gotta say I know where your coming from, think it’s years of disappointment that causes it..🤣, players always being bigged up in the press doesn’t help...
I think the current England crop are pretty average for example sterling and rashford look good at club level, due to them being surrounded by better players than when playing for England..
 
It`s certainly been tough following England for the last 50 years after the euphoria of 1966 with 2 Blackpool players in the squad Jimmy just missing out and Alan Ball close to MOTM. We generally have qualified easily beating mostly minnows in our groups, 1973 unluckily being one of a few exceptions. Once into the finals we seem to have consistently disappointed perhaps excluding 1990 with that lovely man Bobby Robson in charge and a great effort under Venables, picked by Jimmy Armfield for the job,our last decent manager,in the 1996 Euros. But hope springs eternal and while I struggle to be optimistic once we`ve qualified I always support them and never give up on them.

We finally won the cricket ODI World Cup after so many years of trying so maybe we can do the same at another game we gave to the world although much of that was due to the positivity of their captain Morgan.

Truth to tell I don`t think Southgate is nearly positive enough or with the kind of personality to make the players believe they can actually win anything big. Another appointment amongst many FA clangers. Let`s hope I`m wrong but I doubt it.
 
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1950`spoolfan said:
It`s certainly been tough following England for the last 50 years after the euphoria of 1966 with 2 Blackpool players in the squad Jimmy just missing out and Alan Ball close to MOTM. We generally have qualified easily beating mostly minnows in our groups, 1973 unluckily being one of a few exceptions. Once into the finals we seem to have consistently disappointed perhaps excluding 1990 with that lovely man Bobby Robson in charge and a great effort under Venables, picked by Jimmy Armfield for the job,our last decent manager,in the 1996 Euros. But hope springs eternal and while I struggle to be optimistic once we`ve qualified I always support them and never give up on them.

We finally won the cricket ODI World Cup after so many years of trying so maybe we can do the same at another game we gave to the world although much of that was due to the positivity of their captain Morgan.

Truth to tell I don`t think Southgate is nearly positive enough or with the kind of personality to make the players believe they can actually win anything big. Another appointment amongst many FA clangers. Let`s hope I`m wrong but I doubt it.
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Agree with you 50s regarding being too negative not just Southgate but previous England Managers. I recently watched a re-run of the England vs Argentina game in 1986. A lot of the detail was lost because of the "Hand of God" goal but we struggled to get out of our own half in the first half. Our starting midfield was Hoddle, Peter Reid, Steve Hodge and Trevor Steven. I think Bryan Robson was injured and Wilkins suspended but even so it was a "safe" selection. When we brought John Barnes and Chris Waddle on in the 2nd half we were all over them.

Southgate does seem to go for "safe" selections usually employing two defensive minded midfielders in Rice and Phillips. We have some fantastic forward minded players in Foden, Grealish, Maddison and Mount but Southgate always wants to play safe. I don't know why we don't just go for it especially in knockout games.
 
Seainsea said:
Agree with you 50s regarding being too negative not just Southgate but previous England Managers. I recently watched a re-run of the England vs Argentina game in 1986. A lot of the detail was lost because of the "Hand of God" goal but we struggled to get out of our own half in the first half. Our starting midfield was Hoddle, Peter Reid, Steve Hodge and Trevor Steven. I think Bryan Robson was injured and Wilkins suspended but even so it was a "safe" selection. When we brought John Barnes and Chris Waddle on in the 2nd half we were all over them.

Southgate does seem to go for "safe" selections usually employing two defensive minded midfielders in Rice and Phillips. We have some fantastic forward minded players in Foden, Grealish, Maddison and Mount but Southgate always wants to play safe. I don't know why we don't just go for it especially in knockout games.
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Yep,I agree with that too which is why I said that we actually haven`t had a decent manager since Venables which is 25 years ago. The best managers are not afraid and give their team the positive self belief to go out and win the game and the bigger the game the more this is needed.
 
Sven and Fabio were poor choices that cost us years of opportunity when we had some half decent players, who were capable of playing different formations but were nearly always set up as if they were trying to win the Italian League in the early eighties 🙄.
 
1950`spoolfan said:
It`s certainly been tough following England for the last 50 years after the euphoria of 1966 with 2 Blackpool players in the squad Jimmy just missing out and Alan Ball close to MOTM. We generally have qualified easily beating mostly minnows in our groups, 1973 unluckily being one of a few exceptions. Once into the finals we seem to have consistently disappointed perhaps excluding 1990 with that lovely man Bobby Robson in charge and a great effort under Venables, picked by Jimmy Armfield for the job,our last decent manager,in the 1996 Euros. But hope springs eternal and while I struggle to be optimistic once we`ve qualified I always support them and never give up on them.

We finally won the cricket ODI World Cup after so many years of trying so maybe we can do the same at another game we gave to the world although much of that was due to the positivity of their captain Morgan.

Truth to tell I don`t think Southgate is nearly positive enough or with the kind of personality to make the players believe they can actually win anything big. Another appointment amongst many FA clangers. Let`s hope I`m wrong but I doubt it.
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We didn't successfully qualify between 1962 and 1982 when you think about it. Home nation and winners privileges for 66 and 70 of course.
 
Seainsea said:
Agree with you 50s regarding being too negative not just Southgate but previous England Managers. I recently watched a re-run of the England vs Argentina game in 1986. A lot of the detail was lost because of the "Hand of God" goal but we struggled to get out of our own half in the first half. Our starting midfield was Hoddle, Peter Reid, Steve Hodge and Trevor Steven. I think Bryan Robson was injured and Wilkins suspended but even so it was a "safe" selection. When we brought John Barnes and Chris Waddle on in the 2nd half we were all over them.

Southgate does seem to go for "safe" selections usually employing two defensive minded midfielders in Rice and Phillips. We have some fantastic forward minded players in Foden, Grealish, Maddison and Mount but Southgate always wants to play safe. I don't know why we don't just go for it especially in knockout games.
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Sea, because you and me are just patriotic fans, who want the team to be successful but also do it with a bit of style.

In no particular order England managers for years have had to cope with:
Criticism and micro analysis from the media, which ultimately costs them their job.
Expectations of the FA who found out in 94 what non qualification results in, and that was even before the over hype of the Erikson - Capello - McLaren years.
Expectation brought on by the over hype of the Prem.
Anyone in charge knowing that anything less than multiple short pass moves all on the deck will see them labelled as Route1 and taking the national side back 30 years.
 
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