The Importance of Sport (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Hatty]

The national anthem does the job quite effectively I thought

[Boreades]

[Boreades]

[Mick Harper]

What's all this pigswill about momentum? A ridiculous concept. Boil your head, Dion Dublin. You go play Brazil rather than Switzerland and see how far your silly momentum gets you. Plus it means we can play the reserve team with a clear conscience. Of course Belgium will do the same and we'll win but at least we'll have a rested team when we play Brazil then Argentina and then Belgium again in the final. But so will they of course. Yes, true, but aren't you forgetting something? We'll have the momentum of having won all our matches.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Momentum.

If Kane scores and he is not injured.... I reckon England's odds will shorten whether they narrowly win lose or draw.

[Mick Harper]

Momentum

If Kane is rested he won't be injured. His 'momentum' is irrelevant in the overall situation, far too marginal. England's odds will shorten if they lose, they will lengthen if they win. The narrowness of the result is immaterial unless a full strength England win or lose by a considerable margin to a full strength Belgium and then only if it is observed that both sides are trying to their uttermost, an extremely unlikely eventuality.

Even Gareth Southgate is not this much of a boy scout, and even if he is, his players aren't.

[Mick Harper]

A parallel situation arose in 2010. England were playing Slovenia in the last group match needing a win to go through. When they went one-up they started playing ultra-cautiously to hang on to the lead, a strategy unanimously endorsed by pundits, players and manager. I was screaming at the screen to go for the second goal that would have meant avoiding Germany in the next round.

Only I understood that short term risks should be taken in the pursuit of long term goals. Of course I wouldn't be the one that got slaughtered if Slovenia had equalised and we went out straightaway rather than in three days time, but I was still correct.

[Mick Harper]

At first I preferred Japan and Brazil. Japan haven't beaten us since 1942 and we could clog Neymar off the park à la Pelé in 1966. But when Belgium scored it was instantly clear that Colombia and Switzerland was better. Poor Belgium, they could have been contenders. Let down by their silver generation.

[Grant]

This was actually a master class by Southgate. First he steered England into the weaker side of the draw (and Mick is right about the momentum nonsense) and second he learned so much in the game. For a start he learned that Rashford is not the answer to his prayers, and he learned how bad our defenders are. He also boosted team morale now everyone has had a game.
Poor Martinez will be hammered after they lose to Brazil

[Wile E. Coyote]

[Mick Harper]

I didn't like to say since I've been lambasted for objecting over-vociferously to saloon bar opinions. You are of course right but Belgium and England have slightly different objectives. We count success as 'the semis' -- and that surely means Columbia and Sweden/Switzerland, accepting the risk of Columbia vis à vis Japan, though in passing I ought to point out that Sweden is something of an English bogey team. Belgium want to win it all so Japan and Brazil is an acceptable route. Although it is true that Martinez would probably have preferred our route, all things being equal, we wanted to lose more than they did.

As to Grant's other tired nostrums
1. Southgate, like the whole world, already knew about Rashford.
2. The first choice defence has been reasonably sturdy. We always develop unnecessary alarums about our defenders because of the palpitation factor, ignoring that all defences of all teams are breached some of the time. It is in the nature of football.
3. Team morale has not been enhanced now that the other half know for certain sure they are the other half.
4. Martinez will not be slaughtered after losing to Brazil. Belgians are well used to being overrun by larger powers, though admittedly this will be the first time they are themselves one of the larger powers.

[Boreades]

Good news chaps!

The expert forecasters at UBS have been busy deploying their expertise at forecasting the results of the World Cup 2018.

[Mick Harper]

An interesting table nonetheless. It seems to follow the bookies fairly precisely except for England being placed so mysteriously high. They were dead right there -- with Spain out, we've got a free passage to the final. Why is Italy there? Pretty in pink but not actually a participant. The Union Bank of Switzerland was virtuously realistic about Switzerland's chances.

By the by, you Brexiteers should not be too gung ho about our prospects. It may be you ain't seen nothing yet.

[Boreades]

For Sale: One England Penalty Monkey

Has had a good home on the back of the England Football Team for many years. Due to a change in circumstances, it is no longer required at this home. All suggestions for a suitable new home are welcome.

[Boreades]