Some thoughts regarding Saturday

I’d choose Boro over England, but I don’t have to choose.

The fact I’m more invested in England on Saturday is simply because it’s a much more important match. If Boro win we won’t even go top half! Sure, it’s a step closer to the play-offs, but I’ll get excited about the play-offs in March/April time if we’re still on track.

I might actually be able to watch some/most of the England match this Saturday. But if I log in to my VPN to watch Boro v Luton at 3pm on my phone as well that’s not going to go down well. It’s not a Teesside wedding either.
 
Give me 3 points against Luton over a win for England against France.

Every
Single
Day
Of
Every
Week.

Saying that, I'll be at the 'Boro match as usual and then I'll be heading into town to watch the England game and hopefully we both win.

I'm excited with how we will go about it. I honestly think on paper our squad and first 11 is better, but they have that machine in Mbappe who is just incredible. I genuinely think he's one of the world's best (irrespective of the league he plays in).

Control Mbappe and I think we'll win.

I think our midfield is better than theirs and hopefully we control the midfield as that is where most games are won and lost.

My prediction is - Extra time then penalties and then it's in the hands of the gods. I don't rate Lloris, but I do feel he's a very good penalty save keeper.
 
Marvanelli said:
Give me 3 points against Luton over a win for England against France.

Every
Single
Day
Of
Every
Week.

Saying that, I'll be at the 'Boro match as usual and then I'll be heading into town to watch the England game and hopefully we both win.

I'm excited with how we will go about it. I honestly think on paper our squad and first 11 is better, but they have that machine in Mbappe who is just incredible. I genuinely think he's one of the world's best (irrespective of the league he plays in).

Control Mbappe and I think we'll win.

I think our midfield is better than theirs and hopefully we control the midfield as that is where most games are won and lost.

My prediction is - Extra time then penalties and then it's in the hands of the gods. I don't rate Lloris, but I do feel he's a very good penalty save keeper.
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I think Mbappe is one of the world’s best too, but I still can’t help but notice that he doesn’t actually play against top level opposition that often. And when he does, he’s not always that good.

He does have a good CL goal : game ratio but his team don’t usually get that far, is my point.
 
atypical_boro said:
But that got me thinking; has Mbappe actually played that many games against “top” opposition and been successful?
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Have Southgate’s England played many games against top opposition and been successful?

I was thinking about this the other day. Considering the tournament runs we’ve had (which have been unbelievable)… which really top teams have we actually beaten?

Germany in the Euros and Colombia in the WC on pens.

Other than that, the draws have been so kind to us that we’ve won the games you’d expect us to win and got beat at the first time of asking by a serious team. Then there’s the Nations League, where we had a brilliant win against Spain, got schooled by Italy and Holland and disappointed against Germany.
 
jonny_greenings_sock said:
Have Southgate’s England played many games against top opposition and been successful?

I was thinking about this the other day. Considering the tournament runs we’ve had (which have been unbelievable)… which really top teams have we actually beaten?

Germany in the Euros and Colombia in the WC on pens.

Other than that, the draws have been so kind to us that we’ve won the games you’d expect us to win and got beat at the first time of asking by a serious team. Then there’s the Nations League, where we had a brilliant win against Spain, got schooled by Italy and Holland and disappointed against Germany.
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All good points, but the players themselves play against top level opposition all the time.
 
For balance, I'd happily watch Boro lose 10-0 on Saturday if it meant England beating France.

A World Cup quarter-final is vastly more important than a run of the mill Championship match.

Win or lose on Saturday, Boro have another 24 matches to navigate and any result can be recovered from or wasted.

Lose on Saturday and England don't get another chance for 4 years.

I find the attitudes just as strange from the other direction.

Any Boro win over England winning the World Cup is just bizarre.

Obviously in a standard season, Boro losing 10-0 would be devastating to me, but FIFA have ****ed with the world schedule and made it awkward.
 
Zoophonic said:
Funny how people get so invested at different levels. For me it is always always Boro over country. Its that tribal thing. I fully feel together with fellow Boro fans but when I watch England all the nobheads, part time football fans and jingoistic hullabaloo just isn’t the same. I will still be watching on Saturday evening and great if we win but I’m fully expcting us to lose and in the morning will feel no disappointment whatsoever. However if Luton turn us over I will still be in a bit of a downer on Sunday morn.
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If Boro lose against Luton it will affect my mood, I wont want to watch the highlights, come on here to talk about the match etc etc. If England lose against France I have forgotten about it 2 minutes after the final whistle.

Do i still wonder about Gazza's missed chance against Germany in Euro 96 and what could have been? NO
Do i still wonder what might have been if we didn't get three points deducted and the little fella stay's alongside all the rumoured signings? ABSOLUTELY
 
jonny_greenings_sock said:
Have Southgate’s England played many games against top opposition and been successful?

I was thinking about this the other day. Considering the tournament runs we’ve had (which have been unbelievable)… which really top teams have we actually beaten?

Germany in the Euros and Colombia in the WC on pens.

Other than that, the draws have been so kind to us that we’ve won the games you’d expect us to win and got beat at the first time of asking by a serious team. Then there’s the Nations League, where we had a brilliant win against Spain, got schooled by Italy and Holland and disappointed against Germany.
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Spain, Croatia, Germany, Belgium, Denmark.

Not sure how a draw and a narrow 1-0 loss to Italy is schooling though.
 
atypical_boro said:
when he does, he’s not always that good.
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I don't tend to agree with that.

Just because PSG don't do well in the CL, doesn't mean he doesn't.

They got KO'd by the winners last year (unluckily too as they battered Real in that first leg) and he still scored 2 goals over the tie.

He was one of the biggest reasons Monaco won Ligue 1 a few years ago.

He was one of the biggest reasons France won the World Cup in Russia.

And now he's currently the top scorer in the World Cup with 5 goals from 3 starts.

He's 23 years old and currently has 9 World Cup goals?

I think it's right to be scared of him.
 
Marvanelli said:
I don't tend to agree with that.

Just because PSG don't do well in the CL, doesn't mean he doesn't.

They got KO'd by the winners last year (unluckily too as they battered Real in that first leg) and he still scored 2 goals over the tie.

He was one of the biggest reasons Monaco won Ligue 1 a few years ago.

He was one of the biggest reasons France won the World Cup in Russia.

And now he's currently the top scorer in the World Cup with 5 goals from 3 starts.

He's 23 years old and currently has 9 World Cup goals?

I think it's right to be scared of him.
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I am scared of him. But we have to find something to give us hope!
 
atypical_boro said:
But we have to find something to give us hope!
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There's always hope. This is why football is the best sport going.

As I said previous, Mbappe has always raised his game for PSG in the CL, and so far, it's never been enough for PSG.

If the same happens on Saturday (and he's on fire), then hopefully we still have enough to counteract the rest of the French team.
 
Just appreciate a great day of football seeing both Boro and England play on the same day is not a regular occurrence - I cannot wait.

Re the England game which is what the OP is talking about. We have no players on yellow card's and they get wiped after the Quarters so i would like to think we can push the boundaries a little and upset them.

This is a tough game, they rely on Mbappe to click but you cannot discount Griezman and Dembele - my concern is the amount of pace they have in attack and weather we can cope. I fully expect Gareth to revert to a back 3 which he has done against better opposition, this will mean Walker goes up against Mbappe which is our best hope. I hope we make the first 20-30 minutes very boring, close France down and disrupt there play as i think they will come out fast. That will give me confidence and they do give you chances, their defence is not all that.

If we do go 3 at the back, who drops out? Would he drop Henderson and play Bellingham alongside Rice or would he drop Bellingham. the latter will affect us in the switch from defence to attack but Henderson has played himself in to contention to start and i worry 4 at the back will leave us vulnerable, we saw how easy Senegal cut through in the first half.

This is the first game this World Cup that i have genuine nerves. We wont be favourites and we are playing for me the number 1 team in the world. If we win, we are serious contenders, if we lose it will still be a disappointment but i am keen to see how we perform against the best.

Either way, lets hope for a Boro and England double and plenty of sore heads on Sunday!!!!!
 
The fact we have no yellow cards in the tournament so far means we can certainly make use of some of the darker arts of the game and take a few for the team where necessary without anyone risking a suspension as all yellows will be wiped after the quarters (assuming no-one see's red).

Not sure how many of the French team are already on a yellow but surely this is a small advantage for us.
 
I've always been club before country but when push comes to shove, I'm definitely thinking more about the England match this Saturday than the Boro game. But that's probably just because I've been in World Cup mode for the last 3 weeks, haven't even thought about the next Boro match tbh.

Anyway, going back to the OP...

I think the point you make about PSG always coming up short in the CL is a good one. For some reason people seem to think France and Mbappe are this unmovable force and can't be stopped. Well we've seen Mbappe stopped more than a few times now in Europe and most recently by Kyle Walker.

Denmark beat them twice recently in the Nations League despite being poor in this World Cup, so they can be stifled and I'm sure Southgate and his team have done plenty of homework.
 
There is no need for debate on the Boro/England situation, it's quite simple:
Boro win 3-0 and then England win 3-1, everyone's happy (apart from Luton, the French & fellow nations of the British isles).
 
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