Colombia v England - Tues 3rd July 7pm

Marcus_cafc said:

Can’t wait to watch a bore draw and go out on pens!!

Why not just not watch?

MuttleyCAFC said:

With this team we a) Have a system devised to be effective in the competition b) Have practised set pieces c) are probably better prepared for penalties than any other side and d) have a natural goalscorer. Ok, we may not have the best players overall, but systems win World Cups - look at Messi's and Ronaldo's World Cup records.

I love the enthusiasm but surely points b and c are meaningless, who doesnt practice set pieces and how do you know how other teams have prepared for pens? Russia seemed to do ok.

Winner 25% ...... Runner up 30% ..... losing semi finalist 20% ......losing quarter finalist 15% ...... losing last sixteen 10%

It’s coming home (well nearly)

JessieAddick said:

Anyone feeling nervous about this game? It's a 2am kickoff for me so I'm not going to watch it but I guess I'll either wake up during the game or have dreams about it. Back when Charlton were in the Premier League I always had dreams about our games if I didn't/couldn't watch them, probably because I thought about them too much before sleeping...

I always take the same approach with England and Charlton games - expect the worst, usually you get the worst, but sometimes you get the result. 4 more wins isn’t too much to ask is it?!?!

DamoNorthStand said:

1-0 Falcao goal just before half time, we labour through the second half and never look like scoring. Goes down as ‘the best chance we will ever get to go to a World Cup final’ even though we get exposed as being worse than Colombia etc.

Or we turn it on Euro 96 v Holland style, Kane grabs a hat trick and we move on to the most winnable quarter final we could ever get vs Sweden or Switzerland.........

Which one will it be?

We move on to the most winnable quarter final we could ever get..............then lose it.

Nervous, our record in knockout matches is pathetic. However, I hope this is a New England who are not worried about the past.

2-1 win, a double from Harry Kane and a boost for the Colombian economy after that result.

i do think it is a huge opportunity against teams on paper we are better than - yes i know world cups aren't won on paper but its a huge opportunity and one i don't think we will get again.

We will never have an easier run to get to a World Cup Final than this , the Belgium result was perfect no matter what happens now .
We may have a better team and a tougher run and go further In the future but these 3 fixtures are as easy as anyone will see in their lifetimes .
It’s the equivalent of when the scum had a run to the FA Cup Final without playing anyone decent (and if we’d beaten Gillingham that year it could well have been us )

I’m so nervous but whatever happens if you can’t beat this lot you deserve to be on your way home

The Belgian game was like a reminder of the England we have become all too familiar with in recent times.
The contrast with the first 2 games was stark.
It shows the measure of the progress under Southgate, tempered of course by the quality of the opposition.
Trippier and Maguire (who'd a thought) have made a qualitative leap and are now key imo.
We will have Lingard, Kane and Alli (?) back.
Tonight will be a real marker of our recent progress and will answer a lot of questions.
We have cause for optimism for a change, but any further progress will likely depend on keeping key players fit.. Belgium confirmed we have no strength in depth.
Heart says the dream lives on.
Head sees a lively start, Columbia nicking the lead, England outplaying for the majority but struggling to create and score, late Kane equaliser and lose on pens :-)

The good news is that James rodriguez is still a major doubt. Even if they do risk him, i can't imagine he'd be more than 60-70% fit.

going to be a very long day, anyone in the bexleyheath area heading out to watch it so far have watched the tunisia game in the red barn, and the 1st half of the belgium game in there then made a half time dash to the yacht.

Stu_of_Kunming said:

MuttleyCAFC said:

With this team we a) Have a system devised to be effective in the competition b) Have practised set pieces c) are probably better prepared for penalties than any other side and d) have a natural goalscorer. Ok, we may not have the best players overall, but systems win World Cups - look at Messi's and Ronaldo's World Cup records.

I love the enthusiasm but surely points b and c are meaningless, who doesnt practice set pieces and how do you know how other teams have prepared for pens? Russia seemed to do ok.

Are you a previous England manager? There is preparing and preparing - There is something called over learning something. It is repetitive/boring but from what I understand, this has been England's approach. Southgate has targeted these areas as being key to winning a world cup. Even if we don't win it, I make him right where decent managers like Hoddle (penalties are a lottery) are wrong!

The Organiser said:

Our last 3 tournament fixtures against them reads draw, draw, win, so not quite sure where the negativity comes from on this one.

And that was Hodgson's distinctly average 2012 team who beat them.

Such a meaningless comparison though. Not sure how relevant comparing a result in 1998 against them to 2018 is.

They're a quick, counter attacking side but defensively weak. They will cause us problems and may get a goal but we should have enough to overcome them.