France V England Match Thread

[Alex]

I cant belive the amount of Hyperbole following England around now. I was chatting to a few mates last night and they now think we have a good chance of winning the thing. Apparently we have the best defense in the tournament.

[tufty]

agree Milner is ****e, as someone who's job it is to cross the ball, how did he not wrap his foot around the ball for that chance ?

and Ribbery struts around like he's something special, which he's not

[Lee]

Yup, the amount of people who I've spoken to who have said "Oh well, a draw is a draw, at least we haven't lost".

It's unreal how Hodgson manages to lower people's expectations so much. Unreal.

[Vermilion]

Substitutions killed the game for me last night. Henderson came on because England have no other midfielders, which is understandable. But when they were already starting to play it long, why the hell didn't he bring on Carroll?

Also...Wellbeck MOTM?!? I thought he was completely ineffective.

[sean_lfc]

I cant belive the amount of Hyperbole following England around now. I was chatting to a few mates last night and they now think we have a good chance of winning the thing. Apparently we have the best defense in the tournament.

I'm glad I'm not alone! Going by some reactions, I thought I was watching a different game in a different universe! It was abysmal!

Yup, the amount of people who I've spoken to who have said "Oh well, a draw is a draw, at least we haven't lost".

It's unreal how Hodgson manages to lower people's expectations so much. Unreal.

Staggering it is!

[MrMichael]

I'm another in the "wtf is the Ribery hype all about" camp.

As for England... meh. Just so uninspiring.

[dww]

agincourt. waterloo. donetsk. glad itv have got a sense of perspective on the game.

My favourite part was the way they implied they covered the first two live as well.

[Shaggy]

Yeah same with Ribery. Can hardly recall a game when he's been genuinely brilliant.

I'm annoyed by this England/Hodgson ****. Practically every "man on the street" has been taken in it by all this. They'd all have moaned like **** if Capello had served up that dross but it's like Hodgson has brainwashed everyone with this low expectation ****.

I thought England were okay in the first half and I was depressed/surprised by some of their passing, but 2nd half was desperate stuff. 9 men camped on the edge of the box "in position". Heard some say "we dropped a bit deep 2nd half" - no, that's the plan. That's what they're supposed to do.

[Chazza]

I'm another in the "wtf is the Ribery hype all about" camp.

His main attributes seem to be liking young prostitutes and punching Arjen Robben

[dww]

Yup, the amount of people who I've spoken to who have said "Oh well, a draw is a draw, at least we haven't lost".

It's unreal how Hodgson manages to lower people's expectations so much. Unreal.

In this case though those expectations are about right. The France team was better, more experienced, on a good run and had played together more than we had.

His tactics were still crap though. I thought France backed off and lacked the will to keep going - their passing was making gaps in our two banks of four/one bank of eight but they didn't commit more players forward to exploit them. The team showed all the terrible things that made us so hard to watch - Welbeck and Young were coming back into our half and were still massively disconnected from any of our midfield.

[baitman]

anyone who wants to slam robben cant be all bad.

[Kenneth]

Yeah same with Ribery. Can hardly recall a game when he's been genuinely brilliant.

I'm annoyed by this England/Hodgson ****. Practically every "man on the street" has been taken in it by all this. They'd all have moaned like **** if Capello had served up that dross but it's like Hodgson has brainwashed everyone with this low expectation ****.

I thought England were okay in the first half and I was depressed/surprised by some of their passing, but 2nd half was desperate stuff. 9 men camped on the edge of the box "in position". Heard some say "we dropped a bit deep 2nd half" - no, that's the plan. That's what they're supposed to do.

But against a better side in the opening game with a couple of young and inexperienced players in the side, when most people expected a defeat, it got a point. I don't think people would have moaned at Capello for drawing against France.

[Pablo]

All I've heard on the radio all morning is how no-one organises a 4-4-2 like Roy does, what a solid unit we were etc. Annoying as hell, which is why this made me chuckle:

David Schneider @davidschneider
I presume every cupboard in Roy Hodgson's kitchen is a solid, well-organised unit.

David Schneider is awesome on Twitter

[Kenneth]

In this case though those expectations are about right. The France team was better, more experienced, on a good run and had played together more than we had.

His tactics were still crap though. I thought France backed off and lacked the will to keep going - their passing was making gaps in our two banks of four/one bank of eight but they didn't commit more players forward to exploit them. The team showed all the terrible things that made us so hard to watch - Welbeck and Young were coming back into our half and were still massively disconnected from any of our midfield.

But surely part of the reason France didn't commit more men forward was becasue England had pace up front and welbeck was dropping back into midfield.

[Chazza]

France
21 Shots
7 On Target
11 Corners
9 Fouls
0 Yellows
0 Reds
0 Offside
65% Possession

England
5 Shots
1 On Target
4 Corners
7 Fouls
2 Yellows
0 Reds
5 Offside
35% Possession

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/match/2012/jun/11/france-v-england