We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
There are more glorified friendlies today, AKA The Nation's League , AKA pre World Cup Qualifying this edition. The highlight today is a noon kickoff EDT from Reykjavik as the Three Lions travel to the Icelandic capital to open their Nation's League campaign in a potentially tricky group that also includes Denmark and Belgium. Join me if you can for the all the action on ABC.
posted by manunitedrules @ 11:35 AM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
185 Comments:
Morning, David - I'm just getting back from Kate's appointment and am watching the NL highlights from the last couple of days on ESPN+. Nice little package.
This is of course a chance to exact a bit of revenge on the Iceland team that dealt England a humiliating defeat at Euro 2016.
Team news out of Reykjavik this afternoon:
Iceland (4-4-2) Halldorsson; Hermansson, Ingason, Arnason, H Magnusson; Traustason, B Bjarnason, Palsson, Porsteinsson; Sigthorsson, Bodvarsson.
Substitutes: Kristinsson, Runarsson, Fjoluson, Eyjolfsson, Friojonsson, A Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Anderson, Fridjonsson, Baldursson, Hallfredsson, Skulason.
England (possible 4-3-3) Pickford; Walker, Gomez, Dier, Trippier; Ward-Prowse, Rice, Foden; Sancho, Kane, Sterling.
Substitutes: Pope, D Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, Mings, Keane, Grealish, Mount, Maitland-Niles, Coady, Phillips, Ings, Greenwood.
Phil Foden makes his full England debut tonight in a midfield that also includes James Ward-Prowse.
Good Morning, Bob. I jusyt urned in to ABC and typical that there is no pre-game. Nice from Plus though
I just looked at the lineups you posted. It looks primarily like a friendly lineup. Not sure about Iceland but no Sign sounds like less than a full strength lineup
In a classic League C match North Macedonia defeated Armenia 2-1. All three goals were penalties , including one from Ali for the Northerners .
Southgate is definitely trying out some new combinations.
In League D . Gibraltar defeated San Marino. That's so exciting we can't contain ourselves
Definitely so, Bob. Some of the subs aren't really international quality. The Three Lions will have a tough test in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
How was the morning?
LOL! Nice one, mate. Maybe Gibraltar will have a chance of promotion to League C?
Routine, mate - we got up there early, so we got back in plenty of time.
Less than five minutes from kickoff and still no broadcast from Iceland. Horrific form from ABC
LOL! Hard to say promotion and Gibraltar in the same sentence
Glad you and Kate had a successful morning
Crikey - the coverage has started right at kick-off. No preliminaries at all.
They're off from Reyjkavik. ABC just barely in time
Without even fake crowd noise, it sort of feels as if Iceland were being banned for some racist abuse by fans. Distinctly rinky-dink surroundings.
The player who scored the winner against England in Euro 2016 injured himself in the warmup. A good sign for England
Hiya chaps. I'm happy to see this is on terrestrial ABC, but I hate it when there's no lead in or build up.
I'm looking for a strong performance from England today. The Icelanders are at a low ebb with injuries and hold outs.
Harry Kane warms up the gloves of the Icelandic keeper. Just a sighter there.
I saw the line-up about an hour ago because of a FB post, and the reader comments were scathing because Pickers keeps his place ahead of Pope. I don't get it. Pickers works for me.
HK nearly in there at the back post. Flagged offside.
On the replay, it looks like a good goal there from Kane. We wuz robbed!
Good afternoon, Steve. How have you been?
Kane puts the ball in the net, and the review shows he's onside. No goal given.
That wouldn't pass a VAR review, and adds to my suspicion that the officials are using the tech as a crutch. I don't think that's a mistake they make pre-VAR, and that the result is that the linos are totally flag-happy knowing that VAR will bail out their incompetence.
England should be one up
The player who scored the winner against England in 2016 injured himself in the warmup. Good luck for England?
It's all England at this point - Walker fires a good shot at the near post. Wins a corner.
Kyle Walker with a shot turned around for a corner
Corner from Trippier headed on by Dier. England keep possession
I'm good Dave. We are enjoying a respite from the heat and humidity today. It's about 85 without any humidity. That started last night and we celebrated that break in the weather with a barbi and socially distanced friend. Glorious.
I missed the disallowed goal , but both Champ and Twel agree with you, Bob and Steve
Iceland allowing England to play it about for fun here.
Glad to read that, Steve. We are enjoying a break in the heat too. It's 75 and raining cats and dogs in Harlingen
Wow, I hadn't heard that the Icelanders lost another one. I know they had a few crocked, and another few that didn't want to leave their clubs to fly to Iceland and then face a 2-week quarantine before being allowed re-entry to their club-teams.
I think Trippier might have that problem when he returns to Spain, but the rest of England play in England without those restrictions.
Hiya, Steve! Welcome!
Wotcha!
Interesting Steve. I heard Iceland were playing a few reserves, but didn't know why. That makes perfect sense
It's 65F and cloudy here in WNY - we've definitely taken a turn into fall weather.
Declan Rice misses his kick a few yards from goal. Nice run and pass
I'm beyond thrilled to see that Liverpool v. Leeds is on terrestrial NBC next weekend - 12:30pm. I'm pretty sure that it's the first time for my beloved Leeds on American telly.
That's definitely Autumnal, Bob. We're getting a mild front Wednesday night. Highs in the low 80s Thursday and Friday. Much cooler compared to what it has been
Probably so, Bob. It will be a great match to watch on NBC
Declan Rice allowed that one to hit his standing foot. I'm not sure that Rice is the guy England need in this kind of match where Iceland are falling deep. I'd have had another creative player out there.
Arsenal have Ceballos who loafed off to Spain at the end of his loan when Real recalled him for no good reason. Now that we've got him back for the season, he won't be available for our first match because he has to isolate.
I hate how our club's structure is so reliant on dealing with Madrid and Barcelona, both of which I would gleefully push into the sea. In fact, watching Barca self-destruct by bringing in Tintin, and watching the Messi situation play out so farcically has given me great pleasure.
Iceland win a rare corner on a rare attack
Hopefully the cooler weather will keep the undergraduates in doors over the holiday weekend. We're up to 56 cases here on campus. 10 of them isolated on campus, 46 off campus.
Agreed, Steve. The BArca collapse has been coming. It's fun to watch. Many clubs may have weakened lineups the first couple of matches
I think you're right about Rice. I don't doubt he's solid, but he doesn't match up with the top German, French, and Portuguese options there.
WOW! Sad and as on other campuses students not doing their part. The Labor Day weekend doesn't help
56. Bloody hell, that's another six since my convo with Roz. You keep safe Bob.
Barca would've done better to off-load Messi for mega bucks and then rebuild with the dosh. He's the wrong side of 30 at this point.
It's supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow, so hopefully that curtails outdoor activity, especially at the beach where a lot of cases have originated in this area
Will do, mate. Taking no chances at all. I'll be taking my undergrad class remote this week. The university has been moving the goalposts, which has caused all sorts of aggro on campus. DIdn't want to discuss it on a public thread on FB. They're trying not to have to abandon the semester like Oneonta did.
I second that. Stay safe, Bob. Is your campus talking about going completely digital?
That's a fantastic idea, Bob. You may have to go digital for a few weeks. Stay safe
Barca bottled that situation. They brought in a proven disaster to antagonize the team with his disagreeable personality, and didn't cut the cord with their talismanic former superstar. But I wish that club every disappointment. I hope Madrid and Athleti also have great difficulty this season and for successive seasons.
Yeah - the original plan was to revert at 30 active cases. Now they're going with the Governor's order of going remote for 14 days once we hit 100 cases. That could easily be the middle of next week, if the nonsense continues.
I've got two discipline hearings that I'm on next week. I told the organizers that I'm gonna be a hanging judge.
Czech Republic vs Scotland may be abandoned because the Czechs may not have enough fit players! YIKES!
They should have gone remote already, but at that right the middle of next week sounds about right.Great idea about being a hanging judge. Are the hearings Covid related?
Of course Bob. I understand that everyone there is expected to rally around the impossible decision the U has made. But I'm glad your undergrad course is going remote. I always thought that was the problematic one for you.
It makes me sad for the kids, but putting you in peril is not the answer to this insolvable problem.
Iceland with a long throw from the right and much better defended than in Euro 2016
Wow - that's not good. What's going on in the Czech camp?
I was surprised to hear that some of the Icelanders like Siggy had declined to play!
Very well stated, Steve. I second that
There simply must be better options than Kyle Walker for England. Gareth should use this farcical aquatic ceremony of a competition to ease him out and find a solution.
Definitely not. The undergrad class call was an easy one because two of the students were already quarantining because of exposure to a roommate who is a positive case. Fortunately, I had only met with the other side of the class face-to-face so I had no exposure to them.
The college who lives up the street told me last week that there was a COVID party downtown the first weekend before classes with upwards of 250 people all of whom had to lick a doorknob to get into the party. Madness!
The Czechs have been plagued by overnight positive Covid tests.
I saw the challenge from Kyle Walker while doing diaper duty . His challenge matched the contents of the inside of the diaper
Party attendees should be sent home. Just mine their FB and Insta feeds for photos and vafanculo!
It must be Trent Alexander Arnold, right? Or does he play on the other side?
That's disgraceful. What is wrong with theses students? a bunch of morons and scary that this is our future
Well, there are 13 who've already been turfed out. More probably to come. All colleges are facing the same thing. It's chronic on big state schools in the south. I'd be in real trouble if I were still at UF this semester.
Those at the party should be expelled. Elizabeth said they deserve to be on a ventilator
Is turfed out suspended or expelled? Hopefully expelled. Hang them , mate!
The problem is, as my doc told me this summer, that it's a completely different disease for under 30s. Mild symptoms for a week for most of them and then they're back up and running. So if they've got no social conscience, then they can't avoid the temptation to party.
TAA even on the wrong side would be an upgrade. And may I suggest Maitland-Niles?
Yeah - 13 have been expelled for organizing parties. More to come probably.
I was wondering about Maitland-Niles. He'd be a nice change there.
Agreed, Bob . It's inconsistent if the other 237 aren't expelled.
I would have started TAA or Maitland- Niles. Supposedly, this competition is a chance to bring in fringe players. Old players should Walker away
Blimey - there's a Group of Death with France, Germany and Portugal in it? I had forgotten that. Glad that England avoided that mess.
WOW! That's a tough group for sure
Absolutely. Give Grealish a chance, AMN, TAA, Mason Mount... We learn very little with a defensive lineup of the old guard.
It's 0-0 at the end of a less than thrilling half. Harry Kane and Not Able to get credited for a perfectly valid goal
Half-time - not the most inspiring outing so far. Iceland are clearly playing for a draw, while England don't have the cutting edge right now. I'd like to see some attacking changes made at the interval.
Greenwood too.
Nice to see our new boy Rodrigo knocking one on for that Spanish goal. I can't wait to see him in a Leeds kit. Huge signing for us.
The second half is underway
We're back on for the second half. England should be, by all rights, 1-0 up but it still hasn't been good enough. We should be putting plenty of goals past an outfit like this with no ambition.
Agreed, Bob. That's a very accurate description. Saw the goal at halftime. Not sure why it was disallowed.
Corner from JWP ping pongy in the box then hoofed away
No changes at the interval, sadly. I don't know what Gareth is waiting for - this isn't working.
Eric Dier down in Dire Straits
I think he's only allowed three changes since this is not officially a friendly
Nice England passing sequence then Declan Rice more like Johnny Wilkinson with that shot from 25 yards out
There simply must be changes at the 55. This is not working, and worse, utterly boring.
Joe Gomez Addams more like Uncle Fester with that foul near his corner flag. Thankfully a poor free kick is easily headed away
Agreed Steve. This is really tedious to watch
Portugal vs Coratia next on ABC. COR!
That was an unfortunate sequence of play for Gomez. The foul, the positioning so that he had to resort to some flippy nonsense to clear, and letting a shoulder drop fool him and give the Icelander a chance to cross it. Note to Gareth, every defender looks good when he can hang off VVD.
Agreed - Gomez is about four or five back for me at that position.
Agreed, Steve. There's nowhere to hide for Gomez Addams.
And with Iceland dropping so deep, it negated what Sterling does best. It's just not a game for him today. Get the subs in who can break this down.
According to Champ's stats Iceland has had fewer cases of COVID than Harlingen. WOW!
Running repair for the lino who got the Kane decision wrong.
The use of width, especially through Sancho, has been the most successful part of England's game. Btw, what's the status of Sancho - has he completed the deal with United?
That early goal would have forced Iceland to come out and play a bit of football
I'm not sure about the Sancho deal. We lost out on Havertz to Chelsea
Sancho is an ongoing Saga.
Sterling fouled just outside the ice box
Raheem wins us a decent free kick chance now. Wish we had Harry Maguire to aim one at.
Free kick from Trippier headed out for a corner
Oh - nearly an own goal there as the Icelandic defender flicked it on.
That would have been perfect, an Iceland OG.
Corner headed wide
Iceland about to make a change. Gareth not.A Siggy of CSKA Moscow on for a young player
Bob, Elizabeth has question to ask you
Danny Ings is about to be sprung now. Not sure he's the answer. A reliable scorer for a bottom side, yes, but not England quality IMHO.
Danny Ings to come on form only his second cap. His other cap was five years ago
What's that?
He might be able to get on the end of some of those crosses and challenge the big defenders
There's a fairground where the patrons are stranded at the top of the Ferris wheel as Ings looks ready to come on.
Phil Foden is replaced. Decent outing for Foden but nothing that sparkling.
She wants to know if the university is using an app called the contact tracer app. It's a tracking device that alerts you that you are putting yourself in jeopardy and it' supposed to remain anonymous
Agreed, Bob. One striker, but less service to be provided
Dear oh dear - Kyle Walker is off for a second bookable offense and England are reduced to ten men! Stupid!
One more reason to put Walker out to pasture after the moronic display.
Gareth will be criticized for waiting too long to make changes. He doesn't need to wait till the 85th minute to make the other two changes. He needs to make them now
I would retire him for sure
That should herald the end of Walker's England career. He's been poor today and his judgement has been appalling. Now we're at 10 men. Quick England goal, please.
Oh - Sterling did so well there and pulled back a lovely ball but no one was following in.
TAA on for Sancho. He could have come on for Walker earlier and England would not have been a man down
Jadon Sancho is sacrificed for TTA - I don't understand that decision at all. Iceland have no ambition to win this match.
Walker's tempramant is questionable as he was caught partying during shelter in place. Why keep him?
Now Sancho has to make way to fill TAA into Walker's spot.
Cross from Sterling headed out for a corner
Sterling has switched sides now to attack the fullback that Sancho was having some joy with.
Oh - that dropped into the danger area from the corner but for some reason neither Kane nor Ings was there for a tap in. I don't get that.
Poor corner goes across the box, England keep possession
Gareth took off two midfield players and replaced them with a striker and right back. Is he playing a 4-2-4?
Double T is surprised that Iceland aren't going for the win now; I'm not. I've seen their dross many times before.
The final roll of the dice and like for like as Mason Greenwood on for Harry Kane for his international debut. Should have come on earlier
Good time for Greenwood to light it up.
Mr too, Bob. They might go for it if it's 11 vs 8
TT was a decent American player, but I don't think he's got a clue about what he's watching. And I really doubt he does any prep at all. He was a b-squad player, and is a d-list commentator.
Magnusson started it but didn't finish it as the Bristol City player put in a horrendous cross
Agreed, Steve. Spot on
I suppose it's the age old conundrum for a major network that they want to throw an American voice on for the commentary.
Poor corner from Trippier headed out by the first man
Trapper's corners haven't been good enough. Too flat and most haven't beaten the Icelander on the near post.
On a side-note, I was pleased to see that Steve Nash is now an NBA coach which should bring an end to his football analysis for TNT. Now to deal with Adu, though maybe they just need to poke him awake with a sharp stick.
Greenwood wins us another corner. Bring the big boys up and get a decent delivery over.
That's good news and even better TNT seems to be done covering matches. Agreed about Edu , but not as annoying as Nash
Corner from TAA headed away
It's going to have to be a smash and grab job for England now.
And yet another corner. This one has to go in now.
Sterling tackled for a corner. Thought he would get a shot off
Sterling almost through. He's come alive in the absence of Kane.
Wahay! Penalty to England!
WOW ! PENALTY ENGLAND OFF THE CORNER. HAND BALL CALLED
HAND BALL! England get a face-saving penalty and it's a second yellow for the Icelander.
And Ingestion has been given his marching order as well, so Iceland will end with ten men as well.
Come on Raheem!!!
Ingasson sent off and the sattellite just went out
I'm going to miss the penalty
So, Sterling to step up to win it....
Cheeky penalty rolled down the middle. Don't like it but it's a winner for England. Deserved because of that earlier Kane goal but still....
Not a good penalty but good enough. Too cheeky by half to put it down the middle in this situation. But if you're in form I guess that you get that luck.
Bloody hell - Gomez has conceded a penalty right at the death!
WTF!!! Gomez clatters right through their player and gifts Iceland a penalty now.
Clumsy from Gomez there. It's was just a hit and hope and was probably going to run out of play. Stupid!
Come on Pickers!!!
Over the barrrrr. Yesssss
Oh my word - the Icelander has skied it!
One more minute.
He was looking to pick out the upper 90 but he got that all wrong. Phew!
Now just keep it tight for a minute or two, boys.
And that's it! England get revenge for that Euro 2016 loss. And I suppose it's a valuable win for some reason that only David knows.
Southgate will hopefully have learned some lessons about Walker and Gomez and maybe a few others.
Glad England won. for England, it's three points toward another mini tournament and a playoff should they finish below second in their group.
Phew! A victory off a really poor performance. Walker and Gomez were rubbish, and I didn't see enough from Ward-Prouse, or Rice, or Ings. Gareth better pull his finger out and put a better XI together than that.
Portugal vs Croatia the next match on ABC, kicking off at 2:45. The other match in England's group is Denmark vs Belgium on Plus kicking off at 2:45
Agreed, Steve. We learned that if England have injury problems there's a lack of depth in terms of high caliber opponents
I'm going outside for a while. I'll be back for the next one in a bit
I'm not sticking around for the Portugal v. Croatia match, so it's cheerio for me for now. Nice chatting with you guys.
I think we learned that Gareth doesn't do well against heavily defensive counter attacking teams. It requires a more forward thinking lineup than Rice and Ward-Prouse, and more solidity than Walker and Gomez.
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