Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales

[MikeH72]

China has no football culture. Belgium, as a founding member of FIFA, does. Apples and oranges, Mike.

Are you telling me that Belgium didn’t produce the best set of players in the world on paper and I just dreamt it?

 

[Drico]

@Drico is going above and beyond trying to convince himself and everyone England are wank. LOL

The amount of paragraphs he’s wrote today is impressive.

….. because they drawn a game.

tHeY aRe pOOr PlaYErs cOs DeY pLaY wiD thE bEsTest pLaYerS iN dEr werrrrLD at cLub lEvEL mAtE

Not at all. England are very good. But probably not quite as good as their most ardent admirers imagine them to be. I think England can legitimately hope to make the semi finals, and after that who knows. I suspect the lack of a quality midfield will let them down. Top four in the world is, by definition, excellent. It's fine margins at this level.

 

[MikeH72]

What's stopping you saying Foden and Walker make De Bruyne look better? Your eyesight and intelligence, I suspect. lol

The point is the good English players will always look better with great foreign players around them and Premier League form is no guide to international form especially when the international side will, be definition, be weaker.

But you just said that Foden only looks good because he’s surrounded by top class foreigners, which makes me also wonder if your eyesight and intelligence are in sync.

 

[Drico]

Are you telling me that Belgium didn’t produce the best set of players in the world on paper and I just dreamt it?

Belgium produced SOME excellent players over the last few years. The best set? That's a completely different argument. I would argue that the French have more world-class players collectively, ditto the Spanish.

 

[Drico]

But you just said that Foden only looks good because he’s surrounded by top class foreigners, which makes me also wonder if your eyesight and intelligence are in sync.

I said nothing of the sort. I said he will look better - like most good players - when surrounded by great players.

 

[Kurt.]

England = International kopites

The sense of entitlement is off the scale for a team who haven’t won anything in almost 60 years

 

[TheBigIguana]

Do you believe the Belgian players of the past 6 years were also overhyped by the Premier League machine or do you think they’re being wasted on a clueless blurt of a manager?

Your second paragraph doesn’t make any sense. City and Arsenal have far more English players starting for them than any other single nation, you can’t just say there’s English players and then “foreign” as if that’s a nation in and of itself. What’s stopping me from saying Foden and Walker are just making De Bruyne look better? After all he’s the only Belgian in their team surrounded by other nationalities.

De Bruyne and Hazard at their peak were well better than anyone England has had since Rooney's prime

 

[Goat]

You hate us cos you wanna be us

Long live King Charles.

 

[4 Eyes Better Than 2]

Not at all. England are very good. But probably not quite as good as their most ardent admirers imagine them to be. I think England can legitimately hope to make the semi finals, and after that who knows. I suspect the lack of a quality midfield will let them down. Top four in the world is, by definition, excellent. It's fine margins at this level.

Ardent admirers ?

Not one person here expects or thinks England will win the World Cup. From what I’ve seen anything past the quarters would be a surprise given the draw.

To say the players aren’t as good as we think they are, that they only look a better standard because they play with foreign players…. Then say England are very good and could make the semi finals; I’m confused by the contradiction.

So I think I’m gonna leave the convo

 

[MikeH72]

Belgium produced SOME excellent players over the last few years. The best set? That's a completely different argument. I would argue that the French have more world-class players collectively, ditto the Spanish.

Belgium’s 2018 squad was miles and miles better than Spain’s, and at least on a par with France at the time. Right now it isn’t, but that’s not the point I was making. The point is that great squads can indeed be wasted on garbage managers.

There is absolutely no universe other than Gareth Southgate’s brain where Phil Foden doesn’t walk into this England side and be the best player. The best manager in the world Pep Guardiola agrees with me, he binned off Sterling and kept Foden around as a key player because he knows who is the better of the two, he also wouldn’t entertain signing Mason Mount in a million years. There’s levels to this game, Guardiola is on one level and Gareth Southgate is on an entirely different one.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Belgium’s 2018 squad was miles and miles better than Spain’s, and at least on a par with France at the time. Right now it isn’t, but that’s not the point I was making. The point is that great squads can indeed be wasted on garbage managers.

There is absolutely no universe other than Gareth Southgate’s brain where Phil Foden doesn’t walk into this England side and be the best player. The best manager in the world Pep Guardiola agrees with me, he binned off Sterling and kept Foden around as a key player because he knows who is the better of the two, he also wouldn’t entertain signing Mason Mount in a million years. There’s levels to this game, Guardiola is on one level and Gareth Southgate is on an entirely different one.

I don't think this is entirely true, Raheem wanted to leave too

 

[MikeH72]

I don't think this is entirely true, Raheem wanted to leave too

He wanted to leave because he was surplus to requirements. He’s taken a step down joining Chelsea and has been poor for them. Foden continues to be a key player for City. The facts just don’t lie.

 

[TheBigIguana]

He wanted to leave because he was surplus to requirements. He’s taken a step down joining Chelsea and has been poor for them. Foden continues to be a key player for City. The facts just don’t lie.

You're treating Phil Foden like he's Neymar which is hilarious. Raheem isn't that good you're right but Foden doesn't win that game for you either.

 

[MikeH72]

You're treating Phil Foden like he's Neymar which is hilarious. Raheem isn't that good you're right but Foden doesn't win that game for you either.

Foden is a generational talent, I do not understand how you can tell me with a straight face that he doesn’t instantly make us better if he’s on the pitch. We played Mason bloody Mount for 90 minutes who contributes quite literally nothing.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Foden is a generational talent, I do not understand how you can tell me with a straight face that he doesn’t instantly make us better if he’s on the pitch.

Because he's not that much better right now. I agree he will be, but the gap isn't huge now.

And also because the issues were in midfield because the US (like I said they would) had the better of it in there. Foden struggles to get service just like Kane and Raheem did.