...so you have a second 11 on the bench....few of whom have any chance of doing anything other than replace the first 11 player...many of whom can play in different positions anyway.....why don't we have in the squad a "launch to" player (Carroll) just in case things get dire at the end? Even Kane won most things in the air against that lot. Was there ever any chance of bringing Danny Welbeck on? No. Sometimes you need a gorilla in the mist. Might not have worked but... Grrrrrr……….
6 of those 15 months are non-footballing months. He's been injured, as per usual. 3 goals in 7 starts I believe. Anyway, it's the carnage around him that counts. Aylott hardly ever scored, but was worth his place. Shipperley was non-prolific. etc. etc. All teams in these cup competitions at the knockout end tend to turn to desperate measures when the exit door beckons. Carroll'd be our last resort.
Ahhhhh you mean the age before ******* around at the back was the in thing? Before making sure you don't switch off with 10 mins to go in extra time was deemed the way forward?
Not entirely sure how the two are linked. Neither Croatia goal was caused by "******* around at the back". In fact the winner came from an attempted routine clearance which didn't get far enough and was put back in wrong footing the defence. It was a typical extra time goal, due to tired legs and minds, a momentary lapse of concentration and lack of collective experience. Our brilliant young defence will learn from it, and become better. As for "******* around at the back" being the "in thing" you sound like one of those dads at a junior football match who shouts "boot it!" or "get rid!" every time a defender is in possession, sending a mortal fear of the football through every young defender's bones. The exact reason why until recently, English defenders even at international level, were so utterly terrified of spending more than three seconds in possession, and stood as much chance of finding a team mate with the subsequent pass as a roulette wheel does of landing on red.
Surely you have just defined switching off? “due to tired legs and minds, a momentary lapse of concentration and lack of collective experience.” He does have a point though, unfortunately stones was to blame for the goal, but you can’t fault any of the defence for their overall World Cup performance. Hopefully we’ll get another shot at glory soon!
Definitely. Just my point was that it's got nothing to do with defenders having a tendency to play out from the back. If anything that should keep them more alert.
The ******* around at the back is in reference to not only Stones but Walker too who regularly casually ****** about at the back, losing it numerous times throughout the tournament and luckily never got punished. I'm all for playing out from the back aslong as you know when to do it and when to clear your lines and also do it with purpose not for the sake of possesion stats.