From Martin:
I thought after Tunisia game, and couple of others, that VAR penalties were inevitable.
Some teams just do not know how to keep their hands off the opposition.
Kane was smart and immediately made the referee aware prior to first corner and that inevitably won me £70 at 7/2 for Kane scoring from penalty.
But agree totally on what you say. England are not a dead ball only team but they have the personnel to be truly dangerous in that area and good to see that has obviously been a focus. Also agree that best area of their team is the forwards, so you do set team up to use your strengths and attack at pace. That creates more dead ball opportunities.
It is just Tunisia and it is just Panama, but England went out pitifully to an Iceland team not that long ago, so it was good to see England do a ruthless first half job on Panama and score the goals. They should have buried Tunisia similarly in that first game.
Belgium will be a strange game, as neither will be sure if winning group is a good thing or not –
Think we would be better off avoiding Colombia as they look the best of the group of the teams we could face, and neither Japan or Senegal would be easy as they have shown strengths but more exploitable weaknesses too.
So really have no idea how Belgium game will play out, could be tight and cagey poker game or open Premiership game given the PL players out on pitch.
Enjoying the World Cup in general and think it is good for Russia as a country. Hopefully it will break down some barriers that most of us wish did not exist and which provides great atmosphere as everyone mixes freely.
Nice to watch an England team that is not carrying any baggage, just playing the game in best way they can as a collective. We may not have enough quality to threaten the business end of tournament, but it’s refreshing all the same.
Belgium game is a scrub in terms of qualifying, so England only need to win 4 more games ?
http://arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/wp/southgates-england-meet-colombia-who-were-lucky-to-beat-senegal/