The hard way or the easy way?

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sendô
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sendô »

I'm not sure why Mexico/Serbia/Switzerland are automatically easier if I'm honest. We can beat Brazil or Germany based on what we've seen so far.

Aim to beat Bobby Brown Shoes by as much as we can.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by James P »

For me it’s a matter of experience and general football know how. The bigger sides just have that better ability to get quarter finals won. Particularly the Germans. As Saturday night showed, by hook or by crook they find a way to advance.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by AAL86 »

we have to target the weaker side of the bracket system. if we're going to not win a game, it might as well be this one and learn from that whilst we can afford to do so. we have to win every game from Thursday onwards to win the cup so lets put ourselves in a position by having that loss already under our belts to ensure that we don't lose again. learn from mistakes in a "nothing" game before making mistakes when it matters. Belgium isn't even our toughest opponent now, and we could only meet them again in the final (wishful thinking).


if we top the group we could end up playing Brazil/Germany in the quarters and Portugal/Uruguay/France/Argentina in semis...

if we come second we could end up playing Switzerland or Mexico in the Quarters and Croatia/Denmark/Spain/Russia in the semis.

despite the "weaker" bracket, these teams are in form and could lose it, where as the other side have out of form big teams who could start to get into 5th gear.

So would you play an out of form big team or an in form small team?
A poor Man United or a strong Wigan Athletic?
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sendô »

AAL86 wrote:A poor Man United or a strong Wigan Athletic?
I'm not sure how you could possibly compare Croatia or Spain to Wigan?

It's more like choosing between Man Utd or Man City for the semis, but hoping to get Everton rather than Liverpool in the quarters. :|
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by hammers92 »

Likes of Mexico and Croatia won’t let an opportunity against “England” go lightly. They’d see it as a good chance to progress too.

I’d rather Germany or Brazil. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by dodger »

People saying they’d rather we won and got in the stronger side of the draw are forgetting 2002.

Probably our best World Cup and team (apart from 1990 maybe) since we won it, and we were only stopped by playing the outstanding team in the tournament (Brazil) too early in the quarter finals.

Take a draw tonight and pick up a couple of yellows for less important players. Finish 2nd and go from there.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by S-H »

It doesn't matter which way we go, there is no easy knockout game.

Keep winning, keep the momentum.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by dodger »

somerset-hammer wrote:It doesn't matter which way we go, there is no easy knockout game.

Keep winning, keep the momentum.
Would you rather play Brazil or Denmark/Switzerland?

Certainly the first focus should be the knockout game but tonight’s game means precisely zilch in terms of winning the tournament. There is potentially a psychological impact but there are also many potential negative impacts of going for it tonight.

I’d suggest a wait and see attitude tonight, but tell the players to take it easy, avoid injury, and allow a few fringe players a go.

Oh and say I wouldn’t be against the odd yellow card picked up.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by continental skills »

somerset-hammer wrote:It doesn't matter which way we go, there is no easy knockout game.

Keep winning, keep the momentum.

I agree - not only adds to your own self-confidence as a team, but also makes any upcoming opposition. small or large, more wary of you.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by S-H »

I know where you're coming from dodger, but Brazil are there for the taking and certainly haven't impressed so far.

Imagine the confidence the players would get from smashing Brazil to pieces!

We really shouldn't fear any team, everyone in the knockouts, is there on merit, so are all equally tough games in their own right.

Iceland or Portugal in the Euros, I bet 99% of people were happy with that draw at the time.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sutts07 »

Win the group and go into a half of the draw that has France, Argentina, Russia, Spain, Brazil and Mexico...

Finish runner up and go into the half with Portugal, Uruguay, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland...

Surely most people would pick option two??
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by S-H »

sutts07 wrote:Win the group and go into a half of the draw that has France, Argentina, Russia, Spain, Brazil and Mexico...

Finish runner-up and go into the half with Portugal, Uruguay, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland...

Surely most people would pick option two??

Talented teams sutts, but none of them have played well at all.

The other path looks good on paper, but they are all teams that would raise their game against England, whereas you could argue we would raise our game against the bigger teams?

At the end of the day, we all want England to win it, doesn't really matter how.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by Row X »

sutts07 wrote:Win the group and go into a half of the draw that has France, Argentina, Russia, Spain, Brazil and Mexico...

Finish runner up and go into the half with Portugal, Uruguay, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland...

Surely most people would pick option two??
Have I filled in my wall chart wrong then? Russia and Spain are on the 'easier' side. Also it has Portugal and Uruguay in the 'harder' side.

Don't tell me I have to get the tip-ex out!

I'll still say I would win the group and go into the 'harder' side, none of those teams look great, people are just fearing the names.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by S-H »

With our record, we have no right to pick what's an easy game or not.

One game at a time.

:thup:
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by Row X »

The 'easier' route just got harder.

Who do you want to play in the next round? Ranked 16th in the world or ranked 61st?

Put me in the 'tougher' side all day long... win the group, build momentum and create fear please.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sutts07 »

So it is the 'easier' route for us after all...

Can't see Argentina beating France unless they drastically turn their form around.
There are only so many games that Ronaldo can drag Portugal through so I think Uruguay will have too much for them.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see hosts Russia beat one of the poorest looking Spain sides in 20 odd years.
Croatia are looking like a bit of a machine and should ease past Denmark.
Same for Belgium with Japan.
Same for Brazil with Mexico.

Sweden and Switzerland are much of a muchness for me but Sweden did impress against Mexico when it mattered.

I thought Columbia looked very unimpressive yesterday, even more so after Rodriguez went off. They will be terrified of our set pieces and with Trippier back in the side to deliver them, we really do pose a genuine threat to everyone. Add Kane and the likes of Lingard and Stirling who keep defenders on their toes and we really 'should' have enough to get to the Semi Final.

Desperately trying not to get carried away, but we realistically could get through the next two games without really even needing to hit top gear. Better still, we could end up with a one off game against either Croatia or Russia for a place in the Final...!

If results go our way, we won't face anyone ranked higher than Columbia (16) until the final.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by Haarlemammer »

Impressive, Sutts! Any thoughts on this week's lottery numbers? :wink:

Just for a bit of fun, I took the latest FIFA rankings (yes, I know) and mapped them against the final positions in the Premier League, Championship, League 1 & League 2 (You have to go that far down to include Russia & Saudi Arabia). Yes, I know
I took a slight liberty in that England & Denmark are currently ranked equal 12th, so put England as 13th, which matches England (conveniently) with West Ham.

Using this “logic” (yes, I know it is flawed), we currently have this situation in the draw: -

In the top half, with Burnley and Watford having knocked out Liverpool and Chelsea respectively, they play in the 1st QF.
Today we have Man Utd vs Brighton and Spurs vs Gillingham, with the winners playing each other in the QF and the winners of that matched up with the winners from the Burnley Watford game.

In our half of the draw, after Coventry’s win against Newcastle (by the way, all the games are being played in Coventry) and West Brom knocking out Bournemouth, they face each other in the 3rd QF.
Tomorrow, Aston Villa face Arsenal and, in the evening, West Ham face Huddersfield, with the winners from each playing each other in the 4th QF.

By being in our half of the draw, we missed the “equivalents” of Man Utd, Spurs, Chelsea & Liverpool, now with only Arsenal currently ranked above us, so really must have the best chance in years to get to a final.

However, I think it’s fair to say that almost any team can beat any other team on the day (though I’m feeling confident that Man Utd will be playing Spurs in the 2nd QF), so I am assuming nothing – I think most of the games will be decided by the odd goal or go to extra time or penalties.

Dons tin hat…
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sutts07 »

Haarlemammer wrote:Impressive, Sutts! Any thoughts on this week's lottery numbers? :wink:
Haha, not bad so far right??
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sutts07 »

Haarlemammer wrote:
Just for a bit of fun, I took the latest FIFA rankings (yes, I know) and mapped them against the final positions in the Premier League, Championship, League 1 & League 2 (You have to go that far down to include Russia & Saudi Arabia). Yes, I know

Dons tin hat…
Interesting to see it all put in 'day to day' terms, although as you alluded to at the top of your email, the rankings FIFA use are very flawed and I'd question Switzerland as an equivalence of Arsenal truth be told. More of an 'Everton' in my eyes.

Point you are making remains the same though. We really couldn't have hoped for a more attractive route to the final of a World Cup.

Now watch us go and f**k it all up in typical fashion, losing to Columbia.
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Re: The hard way or the easy way?

Post by sicknote »

Haarlemhammer

Brilliant :lol:
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