World Cup: England v Belgium 28/06/18

NINE changes, not surprised but what a sh*te game.

It was always going to be a shit bore of a game Phil I doubt Belgium really wanted the win.
No way did we want a result picking Eric Dier and Phil Jones saw to that!

Perfect game management Gareth Southgate.
Finally an England manager with a brain!
Game time for squad players.
Defeat without embarrassment and on the right side of adraw that gives us a chance.
Perfect.

To be fair, Pete only said it gives us a chance and I think it is all about who slots in that other half of the draw. I would fancy us much more against Colombia, Sweden and Switzerland than Brazil. That’s the thing that most will be looking at when being optimistic after defeat tonight.

I agree, though. Colombia is far from a given. We could lose or beat any of the three we might play from Tuesday onwards. One game at a time and all that, though. I did see James Rodriguez went off with something that may well render him unfit for Tuesday. He is clearly a key part of their fluidity in attack. If we got past them, both of either Sweden or Switzerland are not a given either.

I'm surprised FIFA allow so many changes with folk having paid to watch what in reality is a second string training squad type game.

So which side of the draw would have been best for England ?   I take little interest in the England team, rarely if ever watch their friendlies, and watched MOTD only 2 or 3 times last season, resulting in an England squad being announced for the World Cup with at least 3 names I've barely heard of, and therefore couldn't even name the club side of those players. So I'm not in a position to make an accurate assessment of the team. Are they one exceptional goalscorer and 10 mediocre teammates, or is there quality running through the team from front to back?

I remember going to the F.A Cup Quarter Final back in 1984 when a hopeless Argyle side were very unlucky not to beat Peter Taylor's even more hopeless looking Derby County at Home Park. I assumed Argyle had blown their chance and that Derby would play 'properly' at home in the replay and win. In the event Argyle won at the Baseball Ground 1-0 and incredulously found themselves in the semi finals. Yes, Derby really were that bad. Johnny Hore's Argyle were terrible. Hore only held the job for just over 12 months (with a win percentage of 28%) before he was sacked. But the side is fondly remembered for reaching the semi finals, and I doubt anyone much reflects that they got lucky with the draws before losing to the first decent opponents they had to face.

So how good are England?  If they're not much good then the other side of the draw would have been best for them. You play Tunisia, Panama, Belgium Reserves, Egypt, and then get knocked out in the Quarter finals against Brazil. No shame in that, no one expected you to beat Brazil, Quarter finals is quite respectable, and by playing only relatively weak opponents before being knocked out by a very strong one, the fact that you weren't particularly good yourselves never comes to the fore or gets exposed.

If England aren't actually much cop,  and their next match shows them not to be quite up to Columbia's standard, then they'll take some stick. Face one reasonable team in a meaningful match and you've lost it. The important difference is if England really are half decent, and if they are then they're surely in the more favourable side of the draw now. If this is a genuinely good team and not just Harry Kane and ten others then they may have the ability and a better than even chance of their rested players stepping it up to beat Columbia and whichever of the 'Sw' teams they'd face after that. OK so you probably lose to Spain in the semi final, but you return home as heroes with your heads held high. Have the luck and VAR on your side, maybe a fortuitous deflection, and you could even win a nervy semi, and find yourself in the bloody final !

If we're a run of the mill side who would be found out against quality, then the other side of the draw would have been far better to conceal our limitations. If we're not flattering to deceive, and feel we've got the ability to trust in real ambition rather than damage limitation, then we're currently in the right place.

Serious contenders or Johnny Hore's Argyle?  That's how you differentiate between right sides and wrong sides