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Post by fiveattheback on Mar 28, 2021 17:51:39 GMT
Ireland could have had quite the side
Bazunu
Doherty Ampadu Egan Coleman
Rice Cullen
Grealish Maddison Redmond
Kane
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Post by welshiron on Mar 28, 2021 17:54:13 GMT
Think they would have a different keeper lol
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Post by jbt95 on Mar 28, 2021 18:54:45 GMT
Armenia 2-0 up against Iceland with Mkhitaryan Nations League has meant more regular competition between teams of the same level, this will improve teams and I think we are seeing that now in some of these results Iceland have been on a slide since the end of 2017. |
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Post by underwood on Mar 29, 2021 11:52:34 GMT
Robert Lewandowski is out of Poland’s game against England.
Without wishing to sound bitter, could the English get any luckier?
We have to visit the best team in the world without 3 of our most influential players, yet they get to play their closest challenger in the group minus the best striker in Europe.
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Post by dai on Mar 29, 2021 12:12:22 GMT
Robert Lewandowski is out of Poland’s game against England. Without wishing to sound bitter, could the English get any luckier? We have to visit the best team in the world without 3 of our most influential players, yet they get to play their closest challenger in the group minus the best striker in Europe. I often think it's rigged. I know they are tops seeds and will qualify 99 times out of a 100 but Poland are probably their toughest oppositions in years and then their star player misses out! I was trying to think who's been their toughest opponents at the qualifier stage, and the Czechs beat them last time! |
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Post by underwood on Mar 29, 2021 12:16:40 GMT
Robert Lewandowski is out of Poland’s game against England. Without wishing to sound bitter, could the English get any luckier? We have to visit the best team in the world without 3 of our most influential players, yet they get to play their closest challenger in the group minus the best striker in Europe. I often think it's rigged. I know they are tops seeds and will qualify 99 times out of a 100 but Poland are probably their toughest oppositions in years and then their star player misses out! I was trying to think who's been their toughest opponents at the qualifier stage, and the Czechs beat them last time! I’m sure Lewandowski will be fit & firing on all cylinders when he lines up against Wales in the Play-Offs... |
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Post by underwood on Mar 29, 2021 12:17:43 GMT
Whilst we will undoubtably be without Rambo & Bale.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 29, 2021 12:18:30 GMT
Robert Lewandowski is out of Poland’s game against England. Without wishing to sound bitter, could the English get any luckier? We have to visit the best team in the world without 3 of our most influential players, yet they get to play their closest challenger in the group minus the best striker in Europe. So jammy The English will never understand the plights of qualifying as a small nation. They've had lucky draws over the past 20 years, aside from the 2008 Euros which they did actually slip up in. Us on the other hand seem destined to struggle with qualifying. Interestingly the roles seem to reverse when it comes to tournament time. We have no pressure on us & perform well, they often buckle under tournament expectations Poland still have 2 capable forwards ready to come in, in Milik & Piatek. I think Lewandowski could have been a game changer though. It will be an interesting game either way, they could still lose An improved Hungary may cause them some trouble too. Would love to see the Poles pull off a result even without Lewandowski |
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Post by underwood on Mar 29, 2021 12:23:04 GMT
The Poles always go into their shell against England though, they show them too much respect & find themselves a goal down trying to get back into it.
For all of England’s flair players their defence is a real Achilles heel & a top class striker would expose them.
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Post by CrackityJones on Mar 30, 2021 5:51:40 GMT
Interesting stat on Denmark:
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Post by insertname on Mar 30, 2021 9:28:55 GMT
Robert Lewandowski is out of Poland’s game against England. Without wishing to sound bitter, could the English get any luckier? We have to visit the best team in the world without 3 of our most influential players, yet they get to play their closest challenger in the group minus the best striker in Europe. I often think it's rigged. I know they are tops seeds and will qualify 99 times out of a 100 but Poland are probably their toughest oppositions in years and then their star player misses out! I was trying to think who's been their toughest opponents at the qualifier stage, and the Czechs beat them last time! I don’t think it’s rigged...but then I think they do get the luck of the devil. England’s fortune stems from the way they never get a tough second seed. They are good enough to beat third seed to last with their eyes shut, even when they aren’t in good form, so the groups aren’t a challenge for them. That being said a poster referenced coincidence with regard to Ramsey and I’ve seen And experienced so much of human nature I struggle to believe in coincidence and the more coincidence you get the less likely it is that it’s coincidence. So looking at qualifying (not the nations league) the last time imo England had a tough qualifying group was 2008 when they didn’t qualify. Tournaments need England there for the numbers fans travel in and the money they spend when they are there. The constant easy groups are crazy considering how often, by contrast, we get tough ones. I don’t think England even respect it either. Their media has in the past complained about the standard of opposition and how under-cooked they are when they qualify. It’s always a formality and it will be no different this time with Poland missing Lewandowski. That being said of course I’m not sure we want them to do anything other than finish top because you just know we would draw them in the play off and they seem to always have the beating of us, by hook or by crook. |
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Post by insertname on Mar 30, 2021 9:32:46 GMT
Interesting stat on Denmark: They are that price because when it comes down to fine margins in knock out football Denmark are edged out. Denmark v Croatia in the WC was a dog of a game, Denmark couldn’t put them away and went out on pens |
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Post by squatter1 on Mar 30, 2021 15:41:41 GMT
Also the term ‘must win’ is getting plenty of abuse round here.
This game would be ‘must-win’ if losing it would mean we could no longer realistically qualify for the World Cup.
The fact is that we could lose this game, and all the others in the group and still be guaranteed a playoff.
Of course we should - and will - try to win it, cos winning is good, and if by a miracle we topped the group we would qualify automatically.
But it’s not a ‘must win’
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Post by CrackityJones on Mar 30, 2021 15:47:39 GMT
It’s a must win if we want to avoid being unseeded in the playoffs
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Post by squatter1 on Mar 30, 2021 15:54:31 GMT
It’s a must win if we want to avoid being unseeded in the playoffs That statement is true, although seeding in the playoffs might be worse than not being seeded, as another poster pointed out elsewhere. The simple unqualified statement 'this is a must win game' however is false. |
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Post by jackanapes on Mar 30, 2021 16:06:38 GMT
It’s a must win if we want to avoid being unseeded in the playoffs That statement is true, although seeding in the playoffs might be worse than not being seeded, as another poster pointed out elsewhere. The simple unqualified statement 'this is a must win game' however is false. It’s a must win if we harbour any ambitions if competing for the top spot and automatic qualification. I haven’t given up on that and I’d be bitterly disappointed if the squad had. The Czech result against Belgium has opened the door for us and them. We have to take advantage TONIGHT, or that door closes for us. |
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Post by iot on Mar 30, 2021 16:11:53 GMT
Yep, after Belgium's slip at Czech, and assuming we take full points from Estonia and Belarus (I'm confident that we will), it 'only' leaves us with three games that we need to win. It's very unlikely that we'll do it, but certainly possible. Win tonight, and it means we're more than less winning two games away from automatic qualification. So in that respect, it certainly is a must-win.
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Post by manulike on Mar 30, 2021 18:10:28 GMT
Lukashenko should surely motivate the team tonight against Belgium with free Sputnik vaccines and perhaps a get out of gulag free card ;-)
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Post by lawthom on Mar 30, 2021 18:22:24 GMT
Robert Lewandowski is out of Poland’s game against England. Without wishing to sound bitter, could the English get any luckier? We have to visit the best team in the world without 3 of our most influential players, yet they get to play their closest challenger in the group minus the best striker in Europe. So jammy The English will never understand the plights of qualifying as a small nation. They've had lucky draws over the past 20 years, aside from the 2008 Euros which they did actually slip up in. Us on the other hand seem destined to struggle with qualifying. Interestingly the roles seem to reverse when it comes to tournament time. We have no pressure on us & perform well, they often buckle under tournament expectations Poland still have 2 capable forwards ready to come in, in Milik & Piatek. I think Lewandowski could have been a game changer though. It will be an interesting game either way, they could still lose An improved Hungary may cause them some trouble too. Would love to see the Poles pull off a result even without Lewandowski It’s funny, I was playing golf with an English and Irish friend and the English fella said “these international breaks are shit” and the Irish fella agreed The thing is England go into every game expecting to win, so when they do win there’s no real joy to it and their players are on a hiding to nothing if they lose The Irish fella agreed but they are on the opposite end of the spectrum, he admitted 2002 was unbelievable and international football was great then That’s why I think this period of welsh football is so great for us, we compete every game against the big teams but also aren’t great enough to walk over “smaller” nations so there’s excitement around every game for us. Very hard for a nation like England to get the same feelings for it as we do |
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Post by conwy10 on Mar 30, 2021 18:26:17 GMT
How is Lewandowski not allowed to play if Lawrence is?
On a personal note, amazing to see Cyprus doing well.
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Post by welshiron on Mar 30, 2021 18:35:42 GMT
He is injured
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Post by underwood on Mar 30, 2021 18:37:49 GMT
How is Lewandowski not allowed to play if Lawrence is? On a personal note, amazing to see Cyprus doing well. Lewandowski is injured. |
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Post by conwy10 on Mar 30, 2021 18:46:09 GMT
How is Lewandowski not allowed to play if Lawrence is? On a personal note, amazing to see Cyprus doing well. Lewandowski is injured. Oh ok, I’ve been reading for a while he’d miss out over COVID rules in Germany |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 30, 2021 21:10:04 GMT
Luxembourg went 1-0 up against Portugal who eventually came back and won. Luxembourg look like a team on the up though
Turkey, who everyone was rightly praising just a few days ago, were held to a 3-3 draw at home to Latvia. The only teams below Latvia in the European rankings are; Andorra, Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar & San Marino. This shows Turkey have a big performance in them, but also weaknesses
The group of death seems to be Group H. With Cyprus beating Slovenia today, and Slovakia beating Russia it's wide open. For context, Slovenia beat Croatia, Russia beat Slovenia, Slovakia beat Russia, Cyprus beat Slovenia, Croatia beat Cyprus & Slovakia drew to Cyprus as well as bottom seeds Malta
Group G also hotting up with only 1 point separating Turkey, Netherlands, Montenegro & Norway
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Post by saints19 on Mar 30, 2021 21:10:13 GMT
Turkey have gone from beating Netherlands 4-2 to drawing 3-3 against Latvia.
Let's hope the shite version turns up against us in the Euros rather than the world beaters.
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Post by saints19 on Mar 30, 2021 21:10:57 GMT
Turkey, who everyone was rightly praising just a few days ago, were held to a 3-3 draw at home to Latvia. The only teams below Latvia in the European rankings are; Andorra, Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar & San Marino. This shows Turkey have a big performance in them, but also weaknesses God that had to be a matter of seconds  about 13 seconds, from what I just counted by the post time flipping over to one minute. |
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Post by gruffudd on Mar 30, 2021 21:11:41 GMT
I often think it's rigged. I know they are tops seeds and will qualify 99 times out of a 100 but Poland are probably their toughest oppositions in years and then their star player misses out! I was trying to think who's been their toughest opponents at the qualifier stage, and the Czechs beat them last time! I’m sure Lewandowski will be fit & firing on all cylinders when he lines up against Wales in the Play-Offs... Honestly who gives a fuk! |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 30, 2021 21:15:53 GMT
Turkey, who everyone was rightly praising just a few days ago, were held to a 3-3 draw at home to Latvia. The only teams below Latvia in the European rankings are; Andorra, Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar & San Marino. This shows Turkey have a big performance in them, but also weaknesses God that had to be a matter of seconds about 13 seconds, from what I just counted by the post time flipping over to one minute. Maybe one of us should say jinx! |
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Post by gruffudd on Mar 30, 2021 21:15:57 GMT
Turkey have gone from beating Netherlands 4-2 to drawing 3-3 against Latvia. Let's hope the shite version turns up against us in the Euros rather than the world beaters. Exactly, strong at the back 2 sitters, energetic wing backs Moore up front. We will go a long way. |
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Post by saints19 on Mar 30, 2021 21:16:51 GMT
God that had to be a matter of seconds about 13 seconds, from what I just counted by the post time flipping over to one minute. Maybe one of us should say jinx! Nah, I'm always just behind the times, happens all the time lol |
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about 13 seconds, from what I just counted by the post time flipping over to one minute.