UEFA EURO 2024 (Winners: Spain)

[SM]

And a World Cup Semi Final too.

Indeed.

 

[giggler99]

Well done England! Hope they go all the way now.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Making two finals is pretty impressive.

I think most believe England and France have the best squads and both been disappointing. Think both have got through in spite of their managers. England particularly. I’m old enough to remember WC ‘90 and Robson’s hoofball in the group stage led a few players to have a crisis meeting and opened up in the knockout stages. They were unlucky not to make the final that year but brilliance of Lineker, Gascoigne and Waddle were the reason

 

[SM]

I think most believe England and France have the best squads and both been disappointing. Think both have got through in spite of their managers. England particularly. I’m old enough to remember WC ‘90 and Robson’s hoofball in the group stage led a few players to have a crisis meeting and opened up in the knockout stages. They were unlucky not to make the final that year but brilliance of Lineker, Gascoigne and Waddle were the reason

You say 'in spite of' Southgate, but has any other manager performed remotely close to as well as he has?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

You say 'in spite of' Southgate, but has any other manager performed remotely close to as well as he has?

Have they had as much talent relative to other teams? I don’t think so.

 

[SM]

Have they had as much talent relative to other teams? I don’t think so.

You don't think Beckham, Lampard, Gerard, Scholes, Cole, etc. in the same team wasn't as much talent?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

You don't think Beckham, Lampard, Gerard, Scholes, Cole, etc. in the same team wasn't as much talent?

I think the opposition was better both in Europe and South America

 

[typeclub]

You say 'in spite of' Southgate, but has any other manager performed remotely close to as well as he has?

He's absolute trash. His opponents in quarter final and semi final of 2020 was Denmark and Ukraine. Now its Switzerland. You're trying to compare this to the Beckham squads who got knocked out to Brazil, Argentina and Portugal stacked teams. Nice troll

 

[typeclub]

I think the opposition was better both in Europe and South America

There's no think it was. Not only were they better but they got drawn against England. Even the good teams now aren't drawn against England.

 

[FreoRicci]

You say 'in spite of' Southgate, but has any other manager performed remotely close to as well as he has?

Southgate got easy draws in the knockouts.

As soon as England ran into a decent opposition in the quarter finals of 2022 WC, France, they get eliminated.

 

[Camros2]

What a shocking penalty. You could tell he was gonna miss with the stare down and run or jog up.

I’ve seen better pens in the A League

 

[And_ROOS]

The downfall of Foden in an England shirt needs to be studied. Looks an entirely different player altogether at City.



lol, but yeah. Seemed to be a pretty cynical challenge.

Its fairly obvious, Southgates tactics and team selections and formations, along with the fact that City is a very structured team and play style and Foden is usually the one given the freedom to roam around.

At England you have Bellingham and Foden in similar roles in previous games so they get in each others way, then you have Kane who keeps dropping deep which crowds things.

Its no surprise that with Foden on the right AM and Saka who naturally holds his width that his best was when they were combining well and Foden was getting space on the ball.
Foden wasn't good against the Swiss, but he was better than he has been all tournament.

We won't see it, but I think starting Toney over Kane who holds his position and is great at setting up mids and crashing the box with runs would make Foden look better.
Or play Watkins who is quicker and makes smarter runs.
Either option brings Foden into the games more.

England generated some really good chances in the first half and Kane looks like an over 45s player at the start of preseason right now. The last 2 matches there are times Foden gets the ball, he doesn't have a quick forward as he is used to with City to play the ball in for, and often when he looks up Kane is far too close to him.
Foden is having a poor tournament, but when his role in this team is probably geared towards assists more than scoring it doesn't help that your only striker outlet is looking very geriatric.

 

[Coolangatta]

Boring, defensive, dour football can win you major tournaments, it's proven effective. Some people act like it's as simple as England play attacking = they win by 5 goals a game which is nonsense. Maybe they have an off day and then they concede 2 or 3 and are done.

 

[SM]

I think the opposition was better both in Europe and South America

I think that's bonkers personally. Southgate hasn't just lucked into 2 SF and a final in his last four tournaments.

 

[FreoRicci]

Its fairly obvious, Southgates tactics and team selections and formations, along with the fact that City is a very structured team and play style and Foden is usually the one given the freedom to roam around.

At England you have Bellingham and Foden in similar roles in previous games so they get in each others way, then you have Kane who keeps dropping deep which crowds things.

Its no surprise that with Foden on the right AM and Saka who naturally holds his width that his best was when they were combining well and Foden was getting space on the ball.
Foden wasn't good against the Swiss, but he was better than he has been all tournament.

We won't see it, but I think starting Toney over Kane who holds his position and is great at setting up mids and crashing the box with runs would make Foden look better.
Or play Watkins who is quicker and makes smarter runs.
Either option brings Foden into the games more.

England generated some really good chances in the first half and Kane looks like an over 45s player at the start of preseason right now. The last 2 matches there are times Foden gets the ball, he doesn't have a quick forward as he is used to with City to play the ball in for, and often when he looks up Kane is far too close to him.
Foden is having a poor tournament, but when his role in this team is probably geared towards assists more than scoring it doesn't help that your only striker outlet is looking very geriatric.

Foden is given license to allow what he does because he has a pure striker in Haaland who is last line/holding the offside trap. Foden and De Bruyne play off Haaland.
Kane isn’t a striker. He’s more a centre forward with a defensive side. It’s easy for the top teams to look after. Just allow him to have the ball in the middle of the pitch rather than around the box. It’s a win for the opposition, not England to do so.

He’s always has been a problem for England, even though they’ve played well. It’s crowds the centre midfield and no one up forward to threaten the last line.

Add to Bellingham, who plays exactly that way but is a high midfielder playing off Vini and Rodrygo.

 

[FreoRicci]

I think that's bonkers personally. Southgate hasn't just lucked into 2 SF and a final in his last four tournaments.

He has.

Denmark in Semi, Ukraine in Quarters at 2020 Euros.

Arguably a gimme in 2018 Semi Finals with Croatia. Sweden in Quarters. Colombia in Round of 16.

 

[SM]

He has.

Denmark in Semi, Ukraine in Quarters at 2020 Euros.

Arguably a gimme in 2018 Semi Finals with Croatia. Sweden in Quarters. Colombia in Round of 16.

Right ok so England fans will sit there if they win the Euros, not enjoying it, saying "Well he just got lucky"?

 

[Frank Bunn]

Southgate got easy draws in the knockouts.

As soon as England ran into a decent opposition in the quarter finals of 2022 WC, France, they get eliminated.

That's a bit unfair. England outplayed France in that game. Kane scored a penalty, missed another and was denied a penalty after being tripped on the edge of the box.

 

[FreoRicci]

Right ok so England fans will sit there if they win the Euros, not enjoying it, saying "Well he just got lucky"?

Of course not.
They’ve been unlucky previously for years.
But England fans are still fickle in how they’re performing, regardless of results.

Sometimes it’s luck in tournaments, and England certainly have got that the last few.

 

[SM]

Of course not.
They’ve been unlucky previously for years.
But England fans are still fickle in how they’re performing, regardless of results.

Sometimes it’s luck in tournaments, and England certainly have got that the last few.

Agree to disagree. Switzerland just knocked Italy out, dunno if Italy would be thinking that was a particularly easy match up.

 

[99 Problems]

Agree to disagree. Switzerland just knocked Italy out, dunno if Italy would be thinking that was a particularly easy match up.

Yeah this one I don’t get. England played Switzerland because they belted Italy, but people still think England were lucky they avoided Italy.

Some draws are tougher than others sure, but even the draw at this Euros ended up with a tougher half because some high profile teams underperformed in the group stage.

 

[moomba]

Hopefully Southgate wins it and replaces Ten Hag at United when they have a shit start to the season.

 

[And_ROOS]

Swap Trippier for Gordon or Eze and swap Kane for either Toney or Watkins and this England team immediately improves.

Kane is ridiculously out of form, looks miles off the pace and is going to cost England. What exactly is he going to do against VVD or Saliba?

 

[BigBoSS_Riot]

Yeah this one I don’t get. England played Switzerland because they belted Italy, but people still think England were lucky they avoided Italy.

I don't think anybody is saying this. Italy were awful all tournament.

 

[moomba]

Makes me laugh a bit the media over here going on about Pickfords "shithousery" and his cheat sheet on the pens as if he didn't save 1 awfully taken penalty and not save the other 4.