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You’re one of the posters on here I whose messages I like reading, daveB, but I’ll disagree with you to an extent here.
Our side of the draw was very easy on paper compared to the other side of the draw for the knockout stages of the 2018 World Cup. Other side of the draw was as follows: France, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium & Japan. I wouldn’t have been confident playing any of those teams at that time.
We had, Colombia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Croatia & Denmark. Spain were not as good as they are now back then, so there wasn’t a team on that side of the draw I was scared of.
In the 2020 Euro’s, we played one of the worst Germany teams I’ve seen in the last 16, a very poor Ukraine in the quarters and Denmark at Wembley in the semis. We avoided Italy, Spain and France who were in the other half.
Southgate done well ditching a lot of the deadwood from the team, and then adding some good youngsters as replacements. The World Cup in 2018 was a breath of fresh air and it actually united the nation, and dare I say, made us fall in love with the national team again.
Saying that, we were in one of the easiest groups imaginable, and our route couldn’t have been handled picked any better. Croatia in the semis proved a bridge too far though.
The 2020 Euro’s (2021) we had another easy group, and another easy pathway to the final. We played a decent Italy in a home final, and scored after 2 minutes. We should’ve gone for their jugular at this point. We were playing against an ageing defence who were there for the taking. I’ve never forgiven Southgate for that.
Ok, we reached the final of last year’s Euro’s in Germany. But we were bloody fortunate to get that far. We needed a 96th minute equaliser from Jude Bellingham to take Slovakia to extra time. Up until then, we were bloody dire the whole tournament. Southgate was a lucky manager in tournaments with the groups and subsequent routes to the final. Apart from the 2022 World Cup, where we met France in the quarters, we had very very kind routes to the latter stages.
Southgate started something, and I’m grateful for that. We look as though we’re now bearing the fruit of that.
I was having a message chat with a work mate about our respective teams. He’s an AFC Wimbledon supporter, and he’s very proud of his team with the way it’s going this season.
He said they’re a team who play 100% for each other, and they’ve been very competitive in all games this season. He loves the new ground, and is loving life as a fan.
I wish them all the best, as their fans deserve it after what happened years ago to their team.
After we finished the conversation, I felt so jealous of them. How bad is it that it’s come to thinking like that?
I know we’re all fans, but I really feel sorry for the diehards who follow this team away from home. This club doesn’t deserve their support.
I’m getting grief from family and friends on social media taking the píss. I’m too embarrassed to reply to them. This feels much worse than the 7-1 battering from West Brom a few years back.
We’re gonna win the lot next season. The Championship, FA Cup, League Cup, Grand National, Eurovision Song Contest, Isle of Man TT and the Henley Regatta. 😎😎
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