England v Sweden Match Thread

Playing in the role he is, goals are a big factor.  I get that.

But if Sterling (and I appreciate the big IF here) had put a few of his chances away this tournament we would be all be raving about how well he's played and how good he is.  He was absolutely top drawer on Saturday, until it came to his finishing.  His movement was a joy to watch, a classic example to any young lad on how to find space, how to draw defenders out and how to create space for others.

I don't really agree that the draw has been kind either.  We haven't met any big names because they don't deserve to have progressed.  It's odd because so many big name sides have fallen by the wayside at the same time.  This isn't coincidence.  

Germany - complacent and full of infighting.  Low tried to mix things up last year at the Confederations with a veiled threat to make wholesale changes.  He got shot down for that and had to revert to the old guard who let him down badly.
Spain - Awful.  Absolutely awful. Imploded from within.  Too many similar types in the squad, a manager/coach who didn't know how to open games up and they got what they deserved.
Argentina - Overhyped once again.  Controlled by one player who wants the whole team to operate to what suits him best, once again it resulted in failure.
Portugal - See Argentina but Ronaldo's slightly better at that role than Messi, i.e will at least grab the game by scruff when needed.
Brazil - See Argentina but add rolling about in theatrics for Neymar.

For the supposed easier side of the draw, Columbia are no pushovers and we made hard work of them.  Sweden were a side that had only previously conceded to the much feted Germany (when inviting pressure needlessly against ten men), yet we cut them open with relative ease on Saturday.  

Croatia are the only side I've seen in a major tournament who have got worse as the tournament goes on.  Denmark and Russia are both quite average sides yet they required penalties to beat both.  Modric is a wonderful player but he's one man.  They rely heavily on him and as both Russia and Denmark proved, you can shut him out.  Neither Belgium or France bother me either.  Belgium have the players that stand out but that defence looks sluggish, our movement would cause them no end of problems.  Same really for France, only impressed with them against a very poor Argentina (who still managed to score 3).

What England have is a togetherness, a shared objective and an acceptance that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.   In my opinion we have a single world class player in Harry Kane.  Head and shoulders above every other centre forward in the world at the minute.  But he's not like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar etc. as he is prepared to be part of a team, which is why he's such a good choice as captain.    After Kane we've a lot of very good, but very disciplined and very hard-working players.  Southgate is lucky to a degree that he's been afforded those players but he also deserves credit for picking them, finding a system that works and getting those players to buy into what he's doing.

Whatever happens on Wednesday and then hopefully on Sunday, this England side is something to be proud of.  More importantly the future looks very bright.

For me Sterling lacks judgement. Some great runs but he more often than not he makes the wrong choice whether to go left or right (if there's a blind alley he'll take it), or whether to pass the ball or go for it himself. God knows how he is so successful with Man City with the options they must have.

I suppose a lot of top level football is about making the right decision at the right time. On Saturday, he made the right decision to try and round the keeper (who pulled off a great save to tip it away from him) but then the wrong decision in dallying on the second ball and attempting a shot when a pass to Kane or Alli at the back post would have led to a great chance. End result, nothing.

Problem is, his lack of goals and poor finishing at international level remains a real problem for us and could prove to be the difference between reaching a World Cup Final or not or even lifting the trophy or not. His goal return for a forward (or even a winger) is just dismal.

Edit:  Same goes for Alli as well when playing for England. Between the two of them, it's 5 goals in 70 caps which is pretty terrible for such attacking players who score for fun at their clubs. The goalscoring can't fall onto the shoulders of Kane alone because he's not always going to be able to do it himself.

I notice that the tv pundits all say how much running and making space Sterling does, this is fine but as I think it is quite obvious now that he is not a natural finisher, I even think he does not always have a good first touch, so if we're going to have a runner up front who cannot score it way as well be Brendon Foster, I know he's old now but I mean when he was 25.

Quoted from Gaffer58

I notice that the tv pundits all say how much running and making space Sterling does, this is fine but as I think it is quite obvious now that he is not a natural finisher, I even think he does not always have a good first touch, so if we're going to have a runner up front who cannot score it way as well be Brendon Foster, I know he's old now but I mean when he was 25.

First touch? Watch the highlights again and check out the first touch when Henderson plays the ball over the top for him. Brings it down with a great touch from a long looping and curling ball over the top coming out the sky.

I assume Sterling's position is as a striker, I do not know the exact figures so hopefully someone can put up his games played, starting and as a sub, goals scored and assists, I think the figures will back up my comments.

Noone's questioned your comments about his finishing, I just responded to the comment about his first touch, which I don't think can be questioned. Think that's just looking for things to hammer him for that don't exist.

Having a player who can get the opposition defenders panicking and backing off is a great asset at this level of football. He can single handedly drag us 30 yards further up the pitch, which gives the opportunity for other players to score.

Pep Guardiola, Gareth Southgate, David Beckham and Gary Neville all think he creates space for others, makes things happen and contributes strongly. But then Gaffer58, my father-in-law (who prefers Rugby) and some male private in the pub on Saturday night who thought Modric was playing for Russia think he's excrement so I just don't know who to listen to.

If Sterling was playing for Town with his goal scoring record everyone would be shouting for him to be dropped, international level not club, we had enough strikers last season who couldn't score, all the experts quote his running and pulling players out of position, so as I've mentioned in an earlier message play a marathon runner who can run for 90 minutes. Also I noticed in the match stats for the Sweden game there was only Maguire and Walker who actually covered fewer kilometres than Sterling.