by Durhamfootman » Sat Dec 10, 2022 9:06 pm
Feels to me as though the game hasn't really got going yet, despite the 1-0 scoreline. England have played okay, but they are a bit pedestrian the way they start their attacks. Deschamps has won the early tactical battle, for me, because I think England would prefer to be the team that sits back a bit and then breaks at speed, but France have parked their tanks on that lawn and forced England to make the running, which they are far too slow at. That being said, for all England look a little ponderous in the first two thirds, they look a threat in the final third. Kane is proving a real handful for the French back line, so I wouldn't be surprised if he scores tonight.
I confess I didn't think it was a penalty in real time (although I've seen plenty of those given.... Acuna for Argentina last night is an example), so I'm not surprised VAR decided the ref hadn't made a clear and obvious error. I have more sympathy with the shouts for the foul on Saka, but it was miles and several passes away from where the goal was scored, so again I'm not surprised it wasn't overturned.
England need to start these attacks with more intent, stop giving the French so much time to get into defensive positions. Maguire hasn't a clue who to pass to when he has the ball and that's because the French have time to mark everyone ahead of him, so he either slows it down even more with a short pass going nowhere, or he lumps it forward and the ball goes straight out of play. He's done that a couple of times already
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