Quote:
Originally Posted by EZM
They did, but the quality of their possession and opportunities were not as "dangerous" in my opinion. They had a better second half but most of the first half they seemed to be lagging behind a little.
I also thought England seemed better (in this game and others) when Sterling, Lingard and Rashford played. I really like those guys.
Belgium also had their problems with under performance from key guys ... Lukaku, grossly unimpressive this tournament, had a couple golden chances he did nothing with. He was pulled in virtually every game ..... I think Belgium could have benefited from him playing up to his potential.
I guess that happens for all teams in the tournament. Giroud has been largely unimpressive to me despite his fleeting moments of brilliance and turns over the ball in really unnecessary circumstances or puts a ball where it shouldn't be. DeBrunye was similar to me all tournament, made some brilliant passes but coughed up the ball in stupid situations.
Rakatic also isn't playing as well as he should be and maybe sharing that central holding and then attacking and back to holding mid position with Modric is hard to get used to. The fluidity of that midfield may have been as hard to manage for teammates (like Rakatic) as it has been for their opponents.
Tomorrow should be a great game. France overwhelming favourites, but they are playing the tournament dark horse, a team that can turn and attack in a blink of an eye and you are left bending over picking the ball out of your net on one little mistake. Croatia plays lack-luster against moderate to weak teams, but the excel against strong opponents. Should be interesting.
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I really liked De Bruyne - sure he gave up the ball when he tried to carry it occasionally (I hope he matures out of that a little), but dang he's a hard worker - probably the hardest running player I've seen all tournament.