Serbia 0-1 England - Sunday 16th June, 2024

[6666]

Foden & Kane really haven't shown up so far.

[Tommy]

Serbia look like the better team now. 

[Stan]

4 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Serbia look like the better team now. 

Much better since half time. 

[RandoEFC+]

There's reverting to type and then there's this from England.

Fair enough they got the lead at half time but I thought they were carried away in the first half. Fist pumping the crowd and stuff. It's the first group game. You have to pace yourself emotionally.

[Stan]

We're doing exactly what Denmark did. 

Makes me think Serbia will score a jammy goal soon... 

[Redcanuck]

England started well but have been poor since they scored.  At least TAA got me a clean sheet.  

[Stan]

Kane header saved onto the bar! 

[Michael]

Kane's header is saved by Rajkovic and then hits the bar. Big chance for England to score their 2nd goal there.

[Michael]

Great shot by Valhovic from outside the area is brilliantly tipped over the bar by Pickford.

[Rick]

Business as usual then. If we struggle like this against Serbia, how is anybody expecting us to do anything in the last 16, nevermind any further. 

[Tommy]

Lucky escape for England. 

[Devil]

I don't think the Trent experiment works, I also think we like a man in behind and we haven't go that with this team.

Gallagher and Bowen look below this level for me, both really strange substitutions.

[Reluctant Striker]

Positive view: Serbia played like a team possessed in the 2nd half. Like it was knock out football already. England restricted them to one or two long range efforts.

Negative view: if Serbia can take control of a match, in that way, for such a sustained time, pretty much anyone else can.

Edited June 16 by Reluctant Striker

[RandoEFC+]

Not saying that Alexander-Arnold played badly but tactically, I didn't think it was a roaring success either.

I'm going to have to wash my mouth out after saying it, but Alexander-Arnold has been managed by one of the most qualified, decorated managers of this era at Liverpool who has worked with him day in and day out for years. Klopp has always laughed it off when people have suggested the lad can be transformed into a midfield player. He never played him there (to my knowledge). It's always been something punted by casual fans on social media who don't really know anything, or those pundits who may be former professionals but know more about drinking and gambling addictions than they do about tactics. Southgate thinks he knows better though and just "tries it out" in an opening group stage match at a major tournament. Gallagher, Mainoo and Wharton are all inexperienced but at least know the position off by heart.

He's put Alexander-Arnold in there like a FIFA manager who's only thinking about the 60 yard switches he's going to ping around the pitch and not worrying about the finer points of playing as a holding midfielder, especially alongside a Declan Rice who likes to roam from his position. Just my opinion but it's pretty amateurish for me. If England succeed at this tournament it will be out of the sheer quality they can put on the pitch and in spite of the manager.

England's only real excuse was being handicapped by the lack of overlap on the left which you can't blame Trippier for. Otherwise not an emphatic performance by any means. A win is a won though.

[Michael]

England were clearly the better team in the 1st half and we deservedly took the lead through Bellingham. In the 2nd half, Serbia came much more into the game and created some good chances themselves, which is not too surprising as they have some dangerous players in their team as well. But we had the biggest chance in that 2nd half, with Kane's header that was brilliantly saved onto the cross-bar.

We got the 3 points today, our win wasn't as spectacular as Germany's or Spain's, but we are top of the group. This win should make us play more freely in the upcoming games against Denmark and Slovenia. 

[Whiskey]

The United players were poor tonight, no surprise that we had so much pressure with a sub par performance from all of them.

[6666]

Didn't think we were good. Didn't think Serbia were good either. Talent is there but the players haven't clicked yet.

And Foden needs to turn up one of these days. Never plays well for England. Might as well try out Palmer from the start.

[Stan]

Don't think we need to go into overdrive and panic about the latter stages just yet. It's the first game in a group stage and better to build yourself into the tournament instead of peaking too soon. 

It's a young squad in some senses so there's still some things to learn. And there were definitely lots of positives to go with from tonight. 

Main thing is 3 points. All that matters. 

[Redcanuck]

Not the most reassuring performance , but its a win.  Have to agree that's the end of TAA in midfield, Gallagher or Manoo to start against Denmark.  They need to get Palmer in there somehow as well. 

There was talk of Shaw being available for some action in the second game a few days ago.  Not sure he's fit enough though. 

[Machado]

Serbia probably deserving of a draw in the end. Serbia the tallest and possibly strongest squad in the competition. Some credit has to be given to Stones and Guehi for conceding only 0.17xG.

I still expect England to win some game in this group by 6 goals. They'll click eventually.

Bellingham very good in the first half. He will be confident for the tournament which is important for the team.

[Devil]

19 minutes ago, Machado said:

Serbia probably deserving of a draw in the end. Serbia the tallest and possibly strongest squad in the competition. Some credit has to be given to Stones and Guehi for conceding only 0.17xG.

I still expect England to win some game in this group by 6 goals. They'll click eventually.

Bellingham very good in the first half. He will be confident for the tournament which is important for the team.

Very physical, which is what I expected.

We won't face that every game but we will face technically better sides and I'd be worried if we didn't pick it up after that.

[Devil]

The way this tournament is set up we basically go through with 4 points. I'd say we're as good through with that win tonight.

 

[Dan+]

It's just going to be the same old. Could've been from any other Southgate tournament. It'll be mostly about the draws we get and mainly if Bellingham really is as big a matchwinner as we need him to be - Champions League campaign makes me think he's not quite at that level just yet.

Job done but that wasn't good at all. Absolute slog of a performance. I do think England have a bit of a balance issue for all the talent.

[Rick]

In a tournament, you can’t really expect to start off slow and it work out every time. Yes, the 3 points were won in the end, but it was really unconvincing. And this is Serbia, a team know mostly for their physicality than their technical play, yet the controlled the second half entirely. We are lucky that neither Denmark or Slovenia have much more than Serbia. If we had somebody like Switzerland or Austria, we would be in trouble. 
 

I have no expectations of this team, not under that pleb. He started the lineup I expected, player for player. Trent is not a midfielder, and definitely not when you're putting him next to somebody who isn’t a DM. The midfield was always going to get overrun at some point. Should be starting Wharton or Mainoo, but he hasn’t the balls for that. At the most, we’ll make the quarters then bye bye. 

[Michael]

8 hours ago, Machado said:

Serbia probably deserving of a draw in the end. Serbia the tallest and possibly strongest squad in the competition. Some credit has to be given to Stones and Guehi for conceding only 0.17xG.

I still expect England to win some game in this group by 6 goals. They'll click eventually.

Bellingham very good in the first half. He will be confident for the tournament which is important for the team.

Yes, they were a very physically strong side and that was a bit of a challenge for us. I doubt we will win by 6 goals in this group, but our play will slowly improve as the team starts to click better. Bellingham is the key player in this team, lets face it, he is the most talented and the leader.

6 hours ago, Devil said:

The way this tournament is set up we basically go through with 4 points. I'd say we're as good through with that win tonight.

 

That's true, but technically England will want to finish in 1st position, because if we finish in 1st place, the odds that we face easier opposition in the Round of 16 are greater.