World Cup KO: En-ger-land, En-ger-land, En-ger-land (was 'Group G')

Vorselaarhammer

Amazed to watch an England team where all CB's bought the ball forward past the halfway line and I think in one case was playing around Oppositions penalty box..

Southgate is trying something interesting...

Already has done more to interest me that Hodgson did in three Tournaments...

MunichHammer

At one point Tunisia crossed the half-way-line and immediately got flagged for offside. That is not what I call defensive.

imagelost

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

Well its obviously a preference of opinion

Everyone in the pub i was at were calling for a change

We didnt look like scoring until lthe last 5/10 mins of the 2nd half against a pretty poor team, and the 2 goals wree from set pieces

Imo the shape was worng

When Ali was holding his leg, he should been off,with Stirling not up to much, it was like playing with 9 players.
I think England done ok, which is better then the past
;cheers

OutcastLondoner

Another great one from the Players Tribune - from Raheem Sterling. Covers his dad being killed, helping his mum clean hotel toilets and his sister taking him on three buses to training so he wasn't travelling alone. (has someone already posted it, again?)

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/raheem-sterling-england-it-was-all-a-dream?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=worldcup18&utm_term=Sterling

"I can remember when I was a kid, there was like three or four times when I was on the bus home from training and my mum would text me a new address.

And she would say, “This is where we’re living now.”

...

If you grew up the same way I grew up, don’t listen to what certain tabloids want to tell you. They just want to steal your joy. They just want to pull you down.

I’m telling you right now …

England is still a place where a naughty boy who comes from nothing can live his dream."

MrsGrey

Literally, had just been reading that, via the BBC, when you posted it. A good read ;ok

I skipped on to the Shaqiri one.

Are they ghost-written, do you know? Or based on interviews?

I like the concept, the 1st person thing. But the website doesn't tell you much about how they put their articles together.

OutcastLondoner

With Lukaku, they spent about four hours with him. I think it's mostly an interview but they get them to speak in the way they want it written. Their people then edit it up but the guy behind the Lukaku one said it's mostly about grammar.

BBC and others do similar things with the analysis you see from some footballers.

I like the concept. I imagine a lot of footballers aren't so confident in their own writing ability and would probably just procrastinate if they agreed to write it themselves.

MrsGrey

;ok

I was wondering how much the style reflects the 'voice' (if you know what I mean). I thought the Lukaku one had a very London 'vernacular' which (to me) made it sound less authentic.

But I don't really know what Lukaku sounds like when he's speaking English (assuming they do the interviews in English) so I may be making incorrect assumptions. ;puzzled

OutcastLondoner

I was wondering how much the style reflects the 'voice' (if you know what I mean). I thought the Lukaku one had a very London 'vernacular' which (to me) made it sound less authentic.

Carl Anka, the guy who edited, said he changed very little. I think it was colloquial but the style of speaking's unsurprising as you see how quickly footballers pick up the language of the local players around them. E.G. Bilic's "to be honests"

Just reading the Shaqiri one. Another great read.

You have all these things mentioned in passing in the supercritical, run-of-the-mill footballer interviews - that Sterling's father was killed, Lukaku's family came from Congo, Shaqiri's from Kosovo – but what all that meant to them is never explored.

A lot of people might not care or might even dislike this view but that kind of thing's made me feel a lot more connected to the England team this time. It's more of a mix that reflects what the PL has looked like for a long time and them playing well would really reflect something positive about our society and stick it to the tabloids and some of our politicians. France did that in '98 (even if it maybe didn't last).

MrsGrey

OutcastLondoner said:

You have all these things mentioned in passing in the supercritical, run-of-the-mill footballer interviews

?superficial, did you mean to type.


Yes, I like the insight it gives. They are actually quite ordinary people, who are currently doing extraordinary things.

(Referring to the interview subjects, not the England team.)

OutcastLondoner

Yes, autocorrect. Most interviews with footballers follow a set format that's boring.

SuzanneClaret

;ok Outcast

Just read that on Twitter, it was a great read.

Chappers

Thanks for sharing those - quite interesting to read.

I have to admit the stories of the 3 I read were a little strange to me. All 3 (Sterling, Shaqiri, Lukaku) were almost written in the past tense - as if 'I've made it now I play as a professional and I'm rich'.

There wasn't much of thinking of the next level and kicking on to reach greatness or international accolades.

Interesting to read nontheless.

I'm probably being a bit harsh TBF

OutcastLondoner

I think they get asked about that kind of stuff a lot in general interviews and they'll generally say the same things because they have the same goals in football. The point was to show the human side - what they went through to get where they are.

MrsGrey

tbf, the focus in all 3 pieces was (it seems to me) about their history ... roots, childhood influences, what drove them, getting into football, how they got their first big break and so on.

alderz

I read the Keisuke Honda one too and that was really good and interesting

Bazshuayi

Its easy to see how driven Honda is ;wink

grey_til_I_dye

Baz. BAZ.

You'll be needing this: ;yercoat

PrestonHammer

Not when the engine is put in a McLaren.

MunichHammer

PrestonHammer said:

Not when the engine is put in a McLaren.

You want to put an engine on a pram? Really? ;lol ;yercoat

IronHerb

It's a long way to the nursery. ;yercoat

PrestonHammer

Out the pair of you! ;lol

Bazshuayi

grey_til_I_dye said:

Baz. BAZ.

You'll be needing this: ;yercoat

Oh come on! That had a Baz reply written all over it...

MrsGrey

How many more times is Phil Neville going to say Belgium are too quick for Tunisia?

#sevenandcounting

ASLEFshrugged

Tunisia not having a lot of luck with injuries

Cuz1

It’s because the great Neville has said there too quick for the Tunisians lol

IronHerb

How quick are these Belgians?

;run

ASLEFshrugged

Another Tunisian gone off on a stretcher. What's ''are you West Ham in disguise'' in Arabic?

MIAHammer

MrsGrey said:

How many more times is Phil Neville going to say Belgium are too quick for Tunisia?

#sevenandcounting

Just be grateful that you don’t have to listen to the commentators on Fox Sports.

MunichHammer

Tunisia are giving Belgium a game, though. Lots of errors but they are creating their chances. I expect England will go through to the next round tomorrow, though.

MIAHammer

Appalling clearance attempt leads to Belgian 3rd.