Euro 2024

[Letters]

Alright. 2nd most

[HCZ_Reborn]

Alright. 2nd most

:haha:

[Letters]

This’ll probably jinx it but Switzerland look pretty good.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Would like to see the Italians get a goal back just because could make things interesting

Don’t see them as capable though.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Darmian proving that if you’re not good enough for United, you’re shit

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Scamacca hits the post!

[Letters]

Italy hit the post.
Looked miles offside. Although not sure it was

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Switzerland 2-0 Italy, FT! :bow:

[HCZ_Reborn]

This Swiss side will beat us as comfortably as they have Italy if we do not up our game starting tomorrow

[Letters]

Xhaka :bow:
Toblerone :bow:
The Alps :bow:

[Letters]

This Swiss side will beat us as comfortably as they have Italy if we do not up our game starting tomorrow

I only just heard that’s who we will play next if we get through.
They look a million times better than us. They’ll wipe the floor with us if we don’t get better

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wirtz dropped for Germany, Sane starts

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Germany: Neuer, Kimmich, Rudiger, Schlotterbeck, Raum, Andrich, Kroos, Sane, Gundogan, Musiala, Havertz
Subs: Gross, Fullkrug, Fuhrich, Baumann, Muller, Beier, Anton, Wirtz, Mittelstadt, Henrichs, ter Stegen, Koch, Can, Undav

Denmark: Schmeichel, Andersen, Vestergaard, Christensen, Bah, Delaney, Hojbjerg, Maehle, Eriksen, Skov Olsen, Hojlund
Subs: Kjaer, Jensen, Dolberg, Jorgensen, Damsgaard, Norgaard, Hermansen, Kristiansen, Wind, Poulsen, Ronnow, Dreyer, Kristensen, Bruun Larsen

[Letters]

1-0 Germany.

Good header

Oh hang on. Disallowed :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Disallowed goal for Germany!

[Letters]

I agree with McCoist, seemed soft to disallow that
Good save from Schmeichal

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ugh, agreeing with Ally McCoist. Soft as Freddie Mercury’s Willy on his wedding night to Mary Austin

[Letters]

Ugh, agreeing with Ally McCoist. Soft as Freddie Mercury’s Willy on his wedding night to Mary Austin

:haha:

Good save from Havertz.
Germany looking in the mood

[HCZ_Reborn]

Clive Tydlesley “Germany have certainly made themselves at home in Dortmund tonight”

:arry:

[Letters]

Clive Tydlesley “Germany have certainly made themselves at home in Dortmund tonight”

:arry:

:lol: I :rolleyes: at that.

What a first touch from Eriksen. Good block though

[Letters]

Denmark playing their way back in to this after early German dominance

[Letters]

Did Tydlesley just say “vertical rain”? :blink:

Now the ref has stopped it because of lightening :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Tyldesley again “Vertical Rain”

As opposed to what? Horizontal Rain

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Players back in the tunnel.

[Letters]

I wonder if this stadium is as watertight as Old Trafford

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Waterfalls like at Old Trafford. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Players are back out now.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Havertz header saved!

[Letters]

Havertz heads it straight at Schmeichal.
What a chance!

[Letters]

What a break from Denmark!
Good goal keeping

[Letters]

1-0 to Denmark!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

-1 Denmark, Andersen!

[Letters]

But of course because everything is shit now they’re checking stuff :rolleyes:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Goal disallowed!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Now checking for a pelanty to Germany!

[Letters]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5MohK5FHEY

What kind of game is it where you can’t celebrate “moments” because of all the checking after goals.

Oh and now they’re checking for a penalty to Germany :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Smashed right at him, you can't give that.

[Letters]

He’s given it.

The game is finished. Utter bullshit

[McNamara That Ghost...]

HAVERTZ!!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

But that is no pel. Ridiculous.

[Letters]

I’ve turned it off. I just can’t be doing with it any more.
You can’t celebrate goals because the spectre of VAR hangs over too many.
You have to have your arm’s surgically removed if you don’t want to give away penalties.
This isn’t the sport I used to love.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great play Havertz but what a miss!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 Musiala!

[HCZ_Reborn]

2-0 FT

Good game, marred by absolutely ridiculous handball rules

I think Germans deserved to win, but Denmark equally can feel hard done by


They certainly put up far more of a fight than the pathetic Italians

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

I’ve turned it off. I just can’t be doing with it any more.
You can’t celebrate goals because the spectre of VAR hangs over too many.
You have to have your arm’s surgically removed if you don’t want to give away penalties.
This isn’t the sport I used to love.I did exactly the same thing. Just couldn't be bothered watching it.
The offside is offside and the handball is just bullshit.

But it's this obsession of making sure we get everything correct (which isn't even really working anyway) that's sapping away the very reason we actually spend so much time, money and effort of watching it; the enjoyment. Now whether we should be deriving enjoyment from football anymore is one thing, but watching a computer or Atwell in his tactics truck for minutes at a time is something else entirely.

Sent from my M2101K6G using Tapatalk

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Rice, Mainoo, Bellingham; Saka, Kane, Foden.
Subs: Shaw, Ramsdale, Konsa, Dunk, Gallagher, Toney, Gordon, Watkins, Bowen, Eze, Gomez, Henderson, Palmer, Wharton, Alexander-Arnold.

Slovakia: Dubravka, Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko, Kucka, Lobotka, Duda, Schranz, Strelec, Haraslin.
Subs: Obert, Rigo, Gyomber, Suslov, Tupta, Benes, Rodak, Hrosovsky, De Marco, Duris, Bero, Ravas, Sauer, Kosa, Bozenik.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Small part of me wants us to go out today, the stubborn refusal to try and shoehorn Bellingham and Foden in the same team, the insistence on playing Trippier on top of that which completely nullifies any attacking potency we have on the left hand side.
Denmark and Slovenia games were just painful and I simply cannot expect this will be any better. Better to tear off the plaster and take the sting.

Southgate goes, and we have the time to not rush bringing in a replacement and we make preparations to have a proper assault on the World Cup in two years

[Mac76]

England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Rice, Mainoo, Bellingham; Saka, Kane, Foden.



:yawn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Guehi booked and will miss the QF, awful from Trippier.

[Letters]

Holy shit. Brilliant ball across from Slovakia.
Lucky no one was on the end of it or it would have been a tap in

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good attack from Slovakia!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Saka did well there

[HCZ_Reborn]

Never a booking for Mainoo, ridiculously overzealous

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Mainoo booked too. :wacko:

[Mac76]

Trippier :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Trippier :banghead:

[dazthegooner]

Same ref that was attacked by a club chairman.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Trippier. :haha:

[Letters]

Should be 1-0 down :doh:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Walker and Trippier having a who can be more shit competition

:lol: fuck me this ref is card happy

[McNamara That Ghost...]

How haven't Slovakia scored?!

[Letters]

Another card. This game might not end 11vs11

[HCZ_Reborn]

Bellingham booked :haha:

About thirty seconds before, slovakians are pressing us back towards our own goal and Walker is just standing there watching, not making any effort to show for the ball and allow our defence to play out

[HCZ_Reborn]

Rice has to tidy up Stones’ fuck up

[Letters]

1-0 Slovakia :lol:

[Mac76]

1-0 Slovakia :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

1-0 Slovakia

Initial failure to win a header from Guehi and Walker again not providing cover

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Slovakia!!

Hopeless. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Where was Walker off too?

[HCZ_Reborn]

I genuinely can’t remember the last time were this hopeless. I think this exceeds the World Cup in South Africa and Brazil

[HCZ_Reborn]

“These fans behind us can’t believe what they’ve seen”

I think they can believe it only too well

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England. :lol:

So shit.

[Letters]

Shania Twain at Glastonbury and then another excellent 45 minutes from England.

That don’t impress me much <_<

[Mac76]

Awful as usual

He needs to swap K**t for someone who can run, beat defenders and be available for quick moves into the box, i.e. Watkins

He needs to get Palmer on too, Saka seems to be doing ok so maybe it's for Bellingham or Foden

[Mac76]

Swap Foden for Gordon too

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Foden!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Offside. :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Foden did this exact same shit against Slovenia

[Letters]

Better though.

[dazthegooner]

Twice now we've had goals disallowed due to Foden offside.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Fuck me Stones

[Letters]

What the fuck just happened? :haha:

[dostoy]

I just don't understand and I don't think I ever will.

Why is there so much celebration before the goal has been confirmed?

It was clearly offside.

Why celebrate so early?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What happened there. :haha:

[Letters]

I’m just starting to think we might not win the Euros

[dazthegooner]

I’m just starting to think we might not win the Euros

More chance of Eurovision :)

[dostoy]

I’m just starting to think we might not win the Euros

England will still win the 'yeros' even if they lose today.


The majority of England fans are like Tottenham fans.

Delusional.

[Letters]

More chance of Eurovision :)

:lol:

[Letters]

Ugh. This is painful.
Reminds me of the latter days of Wenger, pass, pass, pass, pass but no end product or prospect of one.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Kane classic. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Unlucky Rice

[Letters]

Rice hits the post!

[Letters]

Off you fuck, Southgate :wave:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Torment almost over

[Mac76]

Knew that would happen, there's just too much quality in that side to lose to Slovakia

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Bellingham!

[Mac76]

Torment almost over

Nope...

[HCZ_Reborn]

Nope...

Cruel tbh

[Mac76]

I didn't think they were having ET in this, I thought it went straight to pels?

[Mac76]

England-'ll win this easily now, Slovakia needed to win in 90

I'd already written that before 2-1 :)

[Letters]

Kane! :haha:

[Letters]

Knew that would happen, there's just too much quality in that side to lose to Slovakia

Tell Iceland that.
We got lucky

[dazthegooner]

Well that's Kane's place in the team cemented for the next 10 years :blink:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wow. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saka back on the right now. :lol:

[Letters]

Ooft! Nearly 2-2

[dazthegooner]

Had is covered :sarcy:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England. :lol:

Still bad.

[dazthegooner]

Wow they've finally managed to sneak in a mention about Man U 1999.

[Letters]

Wow they've finally managed to sneak in a mention about Man U 1999.
:haha:

Bit disappointed they didn’t show the Giggs goal

[dazthegooner]

:haha:

Bit disappointed they didn’t show the Giggs goal

That's being shown after :good:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wow they've finally managed to sneak in a mention about Man U 1999.

I remember that game vividly. United rode their luck but mainly because Bayern should have put the game to bed

But they were ten fold better than England against an average workmanlike Slovakia

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oooofff heard that impact with Eze

[Letters]

There are such fine lines in football.
We remember the Double in 97/98.
No one remembers that in the first round we played we were held at home vs Port Vale and only beat them away on penalties.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England scrape through.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I think looking back, the only real fond memory I will have of this game is that one of the Slovakian players has the given name Norbert

[Letters]

Southgate:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5yrcOQIZOI

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Spain: Simon; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Cucurella, Rodri, Ruiz, Pedri; Williams, Morata, Yamal
Subs: Raya, Remiro, Nacho, Vivian, Merino, Joselu, Olmo, Torres, Grimaldo, Baena, Zubimendi, Oyarzabal, Navas, Lopez, Perez

Georgia: Mamardashvili, Kakabadze, Gvelesiani, Kashia, Dvali, Lochoshvili, Chakvetadze, Kiteishvili, Kochorashvili, Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia
Subs: Loria, Kvirkvelia, Zivzivadze, Davitashvili, Kvilitaia, Gugeshashvili, Gocholeishvili, Kvekveskiri, Altunashvili, Shengelia, Tsitaishvili, Lobjanidze, Tabidze, Sigua

[HCZ_Reborn]

Player ratings

Pickford 6.5 - Didn’t have a great deal to do but claimed crosses well


Trippier 4 - I don’t like seeing any player get injured but this was a deliverance


Guehi 6 - Still not good enough but actually did better than those around him


Stones 4 - More like Stoned


Walker 4 - improved in extra time, but a complete Wally for most of the game


Rice 7 - One of the few England players who actually emerges from this tournament with any credit



Mainoo 6 - The work rate is there, the quality isn’t


Bellingham 6 - Did nothing but gets bumped up to a 6 for the bicycle kick


Foden 4 - Dickhead


Saka 6.5 - Once again isolated because of lack of width on left hand side


Kane 5 - Could hardly miss after Toney’s cushioned header into his path



Subs:


Palmer 5 - Could barely get in behind the defence so just floated in crosses that were often too deep


Eze 6.5 - Introduced pace into the game and did really put in a shift


Toney 7 - Held up the ball well which is what we needed


Gallagher 5 - Tried hard but part of the reason we ended up dropping so deep


Konsa 5 - Not the pace to be a full back

[Mac76]

England scrape through.

Honestly has there ever been a worse team - play really shit but don't have the decency to lose and let us just enjoy the tournament

They'll obvs pub their way through against Switzerland to the semis

[Mac76]

Anyway here comes a game between two teams who are exciting and play to the best of their ability :)

[HCZ_Reborn]

Honestly has there ever been a worse team - play really shit but don't have the decency to lose and let us just enjoy the tournament

They'll obvs pub their way through against Switzerland to the semis

Not sure you can pub your way through against the Swiss as the Italians discovered

[dazthegooner]

Anyway here comes a game between two teams who are exciting and play to the best of their ability :)

So 0-0 then? ;)

[HCZ_Reborn]

Georgia score from their first attack. Napoli lad whose name I can’t spell

[HCZ_Reborn]

No it’s OG again

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wow Georgia

[HCZ_Reborn]

This reminds me a bit of us against West Ham at the Emirates six months ago

[HCZ_Reborn]

Saying that maybe I’m being a bit unfair. Georgia playing some excellent football on the counter

[HCZ_Reborn]

Spain living dangerously with the way they commit so many players forward


Georgians doing well to play out of the Spain press

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Rodri!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Anyway here comes a game between two teams who are exciting and play to the best of their ability :)

Yep, been an excellent game so far

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 HT. That was brilliant.

[Mac76]

Not sure you can pub your way through against the Swiss as the Italians discovered

Ok maybe not total pub, I suspect Southgate will edge towards picking a better side next time, surely even he has to get the message

[Mac76]

1-1 HT. That was brilliant.

The time passed really quickly, unlike the England game which seemed to last years

[Mac76]

So 0-0 then? ;)

No ... ;)

[dazthegooner]

No ... ;)

Well it was for a little while then..... BOOM! :)

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ok maybe not total pub, I suspect Southgate will edge towards picking a better side next time, surely even he has to get the message

I just don’t think he has it in him. These players aren’t playing for him. They look fed up and annoyed with themselves and each other. The best I think we can hope for is to take it to pels where the Swiss also have an indifferent record

There’s a clear lack of trust, no collective press and players constantly looking over their shoulder when they do push up.

Stones and Walker were a genuine pair of cunts today, it’s not even about lacking ability it’s about being so disinterested that your concentration is gone.

I’ve had a lot of criticism of Guehi and it’s mainly because I don’t think he’s good enough on the ball, but he put far more effort than those two today and even had a hand in our last gasp equaliser


One of Foden or Bellingham has to come out, they are constantly getting in each others way. The only way you can accommodate them both is by asking Bellingham to play deeper but then Foden shouldn’t be rewarded for being a petulant bell end who can’t even time his runs to keep himself onside

Kane dropping into midfield is just incredibly frustrating but frankly when the ball isn’t getting forward quickly enough it’s kind of irrelevant anyway. He’s not leading by example and whoever takes over from Southgate at the end of this tournament needs to give the captaincy to someone else (Pickford or Rice would be my pick)

I think with the way we’ve played over four games I cannot see how we can turn it round and start playing in a better way, Germany and Spain…their play is a result of intricate preparation. Southgate when he first came in had the excuse that we didn’t have much in midfield and therefore this rather dour defensive football could be excused but the truth is he doesn’t know how to set us up to play another way.

[Marc Overmars]

Another shit show for England and Southgate gets away with it again. A moment of magic stopped it being one of the most disastrous results ever.

Given the side of the draw we’re on I really wouldn’t be surprised if we bumbled our way to the final now. Southgate’s England reign has been based on luck let’s face it.

[Letters]

What an effort from Georgia!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Simon nearly caught out!

[Letters]

2-1 Spain

[HCZ_Reborn]

2-1 Ruiz

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-1 Fabian Ruiz! What a ball in.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Looking like a Germany-Spain 1/4 final. And I think the winner of that wins the tournament

[Letters]

Great goal from OG, but could be offside

[Letters]

Now it’s 3-1. Great goal

[HCZ_Reborn]

3-1 Williams

Devestating counter after Georgian attack

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Brilliant from Williams.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-1 Olmo, that's brilliant.

[HCZ_Reborn]

This has been the best game in the tournament. Poor Georgia are dead on their feet, it almost feels patronising to say they deserve credit for the way they’ve played but it’s true

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-1 FT.

Pretty good from Spain.

[Mac76]

Georgia would have thrashed England playing like that

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Had a tenner on that stupid lisping bastard to have 1 shot on target in 90 minutes :doh:

Sent from my M2101K6G using Tapatalk

[Letters]

Had a tenner on that stupid lisping bastard to have 1 shot on target in 90 minutes :doh:

Sent from my M2101K6G using Tapatalk

:haha:

[Letters]

Georgia would have thrashed England playing like that

They looked pretty handy going forward, tbh. Gave Spain a few scares.

[Letters]

But it's this obsession of making sure we get everything correct (which isn't even really working anyway) that's sapping away the very reason we actually spend so much time, money and effort of watching it; the enjoyment. Now whether we should be deriving enjoyment from football anymore is one thing, but watching a computer or Atwell in his tactics truck for minutes at a time is something else entirely.

Nick Hornby notes in Fever Pitch that football is an unusual type of entertainment, it's unlike the theatre or a gig where you're pretty much guaranteed to have a good time. You can leave a football match frustrated and distraught. So you're not guaranteed to be entertained, but you don't want to go out of your way to make the fans feel cheated and that's what's happening right now. In football a goal is a "moment", in the vast majority of games you're only going to get a few of them ( https://www.windrawwin.com/statistics/full-time-scores/ ). If those moments are ruined then it ruins the whole experience.
By the letter of the law yes, the Denmark goal was offside. But not by the spirit of it. Offside is intended to stop people goalhanging and poaching goals, a top striker will play right on the shoulder of the last defender and they often cross quickly. We are now discovering that they are often very fractionally off. But no real advantage is being gained. The cost of getting these things "right" is ruining the moment of goals being scored. I have a feeling Germany would have won on Saturday anyway, but Denmark going 1-0 up would have made for an intriguing game. But instead it stays 0-0 and then that's exacerbated by the ridiculous penalty a minute later. A snickometer in football? Really?

VAR is supposed to deal with "clear and obvious" errors. No issue with the England goal being disallowed yesterday, it was immediately obvious he was probably off and that was quickly verified. But if you're having to draw lines and zoom in to see if any pixel is offside then holy shit just let it go. It's getting so you can't celebrate goals - and waiting to do so till a check is complete ruins the experience too, a goal celebration is an immediate response to the moment of the ball going in. When it comes to handball that whole rule is not fit for purpose. Defenders shouldn't have to be playing with their arms behind their back because the ball blasted at their arm is a penalty now. I don't know if you remember the one in the last World Cup where a player was falling, put his arm out to break his fall - which isn't even a conscious thing, it's just instinct - the ball brushed his hand and it was a penalty. It's bollox. These are not difficult things to fix, pretty much all fans are united on this, when are the powers that be going to start listening?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Online discussions about who would be doing a better job than Southgate, guy who is similar age to me stated that only two coaches in his lifetime would have done a better job with these players (Robson and Venables)

I conversely think there are only two coaches who wouldn’t have done a better job and those are Graham Taylor and Glenn Hoddle. I think even with the hapless McClaren we’d be playing better football

[Letters]

Online discussions about who would be doing a better job than Southgate, guy who is similar age to me stated that only two coaches in his lifetime would have done a better job with these players (Robson and Venables)

I conversely think there are only two coaches who wouldn’t have done a better job and those are Graham Taylor and Glenn Hoddle. I think even with the hapless McClaren we’d be playing better football
You think all the other coaches would have done better than a World Cup Final, a Euros Final, a World Cup Quarter Final (lost to eventual finalists) and (so far) a Euro Quarter Final?

England aren't exactly impressing me right now but Southgate's record isn't exactly bad.

[HCZ_Reborn]

You think all the other coaches would have done better than a World Cup Final, a Euros Final, a World Cup Quarter Final (lost to eventual finalists) and (so far) a Euro Quarter Final?

England aren't exactly impressing me right now but Southgate's record isn't exactly bad.

Talking specifically about how we are playing in this tournament with this bunch of players

So I’m saying all but two of the coaches would have us playing better than we are now

[Mac76]

You think all the other coaches would have done better than a World Cup Final, a Euros Final, a World Cup Quarter Final (lost to eventual finalists) and (so far) a Euro Quarter Final?

England aren't exactly impressing me right now but Southgate's record isn't exactly bad.

England have pubbed their way through a lot of those tournaments, this one is a classic example, we top a very easy group and then draw a very limited team in the last 16 and while Switzerland are ok, it's another relatively easy tie which again I think we'll just about scrape through

If we'd not had the luck of the draw we'd have a much worse record

[Letters]

Talking specifically about how we are playing in this tournament with this bunch of players

So I’m saying all but two of the coaches would have us playing better than we are now

That's a position I can get on board with.

Mac - I don't dispute that we've been poor in this tournament and had we got a harder group we wouldn't have got through it the way we're playing. Overall Southgate's record with England is good though and I can't agree it's been complete luck.

[HCZ_Reborn]

That's a position I can get on board with.

Mac - I don't dispute that we've been poor in this tournament and had we got a harder group we wouldn't have got through it the way we're playing. Overall Southgate's record with England is good though and I can't agree it's been complete luck.

I think there’s been a big element of fortune. Russia we got to the semi finals by beating Tunisia, Panama and Sweden (and Colombia on penalties)

In the last Euros the draw opened up for us, in that our route to the final in the knockout stages took us past Ukraine and Denmark…the only scalp we took was Germany and if you’re being super critical you’d acknowledge that this was a German side bereft of confidence and at a time where Joachim Low was at the end of his tenure.


It’s not to say literally anyone could have done that, but I do think there is very much a barrier to beating the best sides. I genuinely think we could and should have beaten the Italians at Wembley but we just allowed ourselves to be pushed back more and more.

We gave the French a torrid time for about 15 minutes of the second half in the World Cup 1/4 finals we just retreated within ourselves again.

This tournament as I say is whole other level. Watching Southgate England can be frustrating but there were some games where we scythed through sides. Denmark second half was probably the worst ive ever seen an England side play.

[Mac76]

I think there’s been a big element of fortune. Russia we got to the semi finals by beating Tunisia, Panama and Sweden (and Colombia on penalties)

In the last Euros the draw opened up for us, in that our route to the final in the knockout stages took us past Ukraine and Denmark…the only scalp we took was Germany and if you’re being super critical you’d acknowledge that this was a German side bereft of confidence and at a time where Joachim Low was at the end of his tenure.


It’s not to say literally anyone could have done that, but I do think there is very much a barrier to beating the best sides. I genuinely think we could and should have beaten the Italians at Wembley but we just allowed ourselves to be pushed back more and more.

We gave the French a torrid time for about 15 minutes of the second half in the World Cup 1/4 finals we just retreated within ourselves again.

This tournament as I say is whole other level. Watching Southgate England can be frustrating but there were some games where we scythed through sides. Denmark second half was probably the worst ive ever seen an England side play.

in all seriousness, did you mean to say here "...where we should have scythed through sides"?

if so i agree :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

in all seriousness, did you mean to say here "...where we should have scythed through sides"?

if so i agree :lol:

Ukraine and Iran, and to a lesser extent Wales

[Letters]

By the way, it's easy to look with misty-eyed nostalgia at past tournaments but let's not forget in 1990 - when we really should have got the the final and could have won the thing - we needed 2 penalties to beat Cameroon and we only beat the Belgians with a very late goal. England have never swept all before them. There's been occasional good games - Euro 96 was a pretty enjoyable tournament all round from England till...you know. But those are very much the exception rather then the rule.

[HCZ_Reborn]

By the way, it's easy to look with misty-eyed nostalgia at past tournaments but let's not forget in 1990 - when we really should have got the the final and could have won the thing - we needed 2 penalties to beat Cameroon and we only beat the Belgians with a very late goal. England have never swept all before them. There's been occasional good games - Euro 96 was a pretty enjoyable tournament all round from England till...you know. But those are very much the exception rather then the rule.

England also haven’t had the vast array of talent that they’ve got now. That England team of 1990 was a team where the top players were Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne and Gazza bless him, you never quite knew what you were going to get from him.

The Germany side we played in Turin was in almost every area of the pitch superior to us, we equalised against the run of play and worked our bollocks off to even take it to pels

Cameroon were the Georgia of that tournament, just went for it in games….even with a 38 year old Roger Milla

If the FA were ruthless they’d have looked beyond Southgate’s tournament achievements and looked to have appointed someone who let’s be fair isn’t a plodding defensive minded coach. I’m not buying that Spain for example are all technically more accomplished than England, their coach isn’t this big name but he has them playing a style much in the same way Germany do.

I accepted mediocrity under Hodgson because the quality of the players wasn’t there. But this feels like wasted time and potential.

[Letters]

I keep hearing things like this. Is our squad really that good? There are some really good players, but I'm not sure it's quite the quality that we should be installed as favourites - although we certainly should be a lot better than we are.

[HCZ_Reborn]

The thing is Letters, this England side could be playing to its full potential and there’s no guarantee it would beat Spain, Germany or France. But I can guarantee that we’d go toe to toe with them. At the moment we aren’t doing that with post communist countries still finding their feet on the international stage

[Letters]

No argument there.
England fans do have a tendency for sky-high and unrealistic expectation. But this team has so far been a lot less than the sum of its parts.
Although I don't think you can blame Southgate for everything. Some of the quality of delivery is really poor. Players at this level are surely capable of better.

[Mac76]

Ukraine and Iran, and to a lesser extent Wales

Oh you mean in the past, ok

[Mac76]

No argument there.
England fans do have a tendency for sky-high and unrealistic expectation. But this team has so far been a lot less than the sum of its parts.
Although I don't think you can blame Southgate for everything. Some of the quality of delivery is really poor. Players at this level are surely capable of better.

I don't totally disagree, but there's an argument that says that mostly, even the best players need to be played in the right team with the right system to maximise what they offer, otherwise there's uncertainty and that can affect performance

[HCZ_Reborn]

No argument there.
England fans do have a tendency for sky-high and unrealistic expectation. But this team has so far been a lot less than the sum of its parts.
Although I don't think you can blame Southgate for everything. Some of the quality of delivery is really poor. Players at this level are surely capable of better.

I think it’s 90% Southgate. He has persisted with a team lineup that isn’t working, and his ultra defensive style is straitjacketing us.

I think a lot of players need to look at themselves as well for sure, but you need a coach that has the ability to bring the best out of his best players.

Similarly I think the fact that France have been disappointing both in this Euro and the previous one and arguably that they couldn’t beat a feeble Portugal side in the 2016 final is on Deschamps. He’s dining out on the World Cup win when actually his inadequacies have been compensated for by Mbappe

[HCZ_Reborn]

I don't totally disagree, but there's an argument that says that mostly, even the best players need to be played in the right team with the right system to maximise what they offer, otherwise there's uncertainty and that can affect performance

Correct

[Mac76]

Just look at Cucurella, shite for Chelsea but playing blinder after blinder for Spain

[Mac76]

Lukaku dumped on the ground by Saliba :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oh you mean in the past, ok

Well definitely not in this tournament :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

What is Thuram doing

His father was more of a threat in front of goal and he was a defender

[Letters]

That was eccentric goalkeeping!

[Mac76]

Dumb tackle from Griezman

[Mac76]

3 french players in the book already

[Letters]

Good chance by Thuran. Heads over

[HCZ_Reborn]

Thuram is just not good enough for France. Surprised they don’t go with Kolo Muani

[HCZ_Reborn]

Tchouameni twice tried to replicate his Hollywood moment against England

[Mac76]

Mbappe creates a chance,Tchuameni messes it up

[Mac76]

Can't see either of these sides winning the thing, neither are good enough

[HCZ_Reborn]

I remember this from the World Cup, but Keane’s beard in HD is mesmerising. It’s like a winter forest

[Mac76]

I remember this from the World Cup, but Keane’s beard in HD is mesmerising. It’s like a winter forest

If only someone could plug the hole in the middle of it

[Mac76]

Faes goes for the OG but it's saved

[HCZ_Reborn]

If only someone could plug the hole in the middle of it

I don’t mind Keane as a pundit, although he can be a bit overly dour at time. I’d find him depressing company personally because I feel like he’d be incessantly going on about me letting myself down or my lack of desire.

[Mac76]

Awful from Belgium, the guy makes a good run but doesn't take the shot, then an awful corner from KDB followed by a terrible ball back in by someone-or-other

[HCZ_Reborn]

Saliba been a bit ropey. Whilst is he playing on the left side of central defence

[Mac76]

Meanwhile the French are getting shots in but can't hit the target

[HCZ_Reborn]

Meanwhile the French are getting shots in but can't hit the target

Sums up their tournament rather

[Mac76]

Saliba been a bit ropey. Whilst is he playing on the left side of central defence

Makes no sense but presumably Deschamps is very keen to have the other guy at RCB

[Mac76]

Tchouameni :rolleyes:

[Mac76]

I reckon Trossard could win this for Belgium if he gets on with enough time

[Mac76]

Saliba ghosts in, shoots and duly misses

[Letters]

Can't see either of these sides winning the thing, neither are good enough

It hasn’t been a good game. Not much quality on either side

[HCZ_Reborn]

It hasn’t been a good game. Not much quality on either side

I want it to go to Pels, I deserve some kind of gratification for this snoozefest

[Letters]

Good effort from De Bruyne. Well saved, no one following up

[Mac76]

I want it to go to Pels, I deserve some kind of gratification for this snoozefest

I'd still like to see a Leo winner, there's been hardly any subs though strangely

[Letters]

1-0 France.
That was a weird goal

[Letters]

Oh. Deflected

[McNamara That Ghost...]

OG again?

[Mac76]

France pub it in :lol:

[Mac76]

I reckon that might be an OG, not sure it was on target

[Letters]

OG again?

It was probably on target anyway but wouldn’t have gone in had it not been for the deflection

[HCZ_Reborn]

I missed the prolific OG notch up another one

[Mac76]

Vertonghen OG :haha:

[dazthegooner]

Chelsea are apparently preparing a multi million pound bid for OG…

[Letters]

FT. That was poor

[Letters]

Chelsea are apparently preparing a multi million pound bid for OG…
:lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

France in the quarter finals with two own goals and a penalty to their name

[Mac76]

France win 1-0

Belgium :haha:

Kdb :haha:

Poirot :haha:

Strawberry beer :haha:

Moules frites :haha:

[Letters]

Poirot :pal:

Oh, you said that

:getcoat:

[Mac76]

:lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Marc Detroux? Quite a famous Belgian

[HCZ_Reborn]

Anyway come on Slovenia, want to see you do a Georgia on the Portuguese. Watching Ronaldo’s tears for himself cascade down his now leathery face in HD

[Mac76]

Marc Detroux? Quite a famous Belgian

Had to look him up, sounds like a guy right up your street, but i guess that's why you suggested it ...

[Letters]

Marie Curie? Was she one?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Had to look him up, sounds like a guy right up your street, but i guess that's why you suggested it ...

It’s a mystery why I’ve never warmed to you, when you say things like a murderous child molester is “up my street”

[Mac76]

Marie Curie? Was she one?

Polish-French apparently

You know you can just google this stuff right? ;)

[Mac76]

It’s a mystery why I’ve never warmed to you, when you say things like a murderous child molester is “up my street”

Even if you don't personally carry out such acts (and I say 'if' :)) it's your big obsession, as it clearly is his, so why not?

[Letters]

Polish-French apparently

You know you can just google this stuff right? ;)

I do know that. I thought I’d pretend we were having a conversation :p

[Letters]

Anyway come on Slovenia, want to see you do a Georgia on the Portuguese. Watching Ronaldo’s tears for himself cascade down his now leathery face in HD

:gp:

[Letters]

It’s a mystery why I’ve never warmed to you, when you say things like a murderous child molester is “up my street”

:lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Even if you don't personally carry out such acts (and I say 'if' :)) it's your big obsession, as it clearly is his, so why not?

Don’t be a cunt all your life

Being salty because someone points out that you hold predictable political views is one thing. Making insinuations like that is another level, and it suggests you’re more than just the sad pedantic bell end I took you to be. You’re actually a bit of a nasty piece of work.

[Mac76]

I do know that. I thought I’d pretend we were having a conversation :p

IKR, all good :lol:

[Mac76]

Don’t be a cunt all your life

Being salty because someone points out that you hold predictable political views is one thing. Making insinuations like that is another level, and it suggests you’re more than just the sad pedantic bell end I took you to be. You’re actually a bit of a nasty piece of work.

As always you assign completely false motives to what I say - I think the phrase is 'sense of humour failure'

See it for what it was, just a joke :good:

[HCZ_Reborn]

As always you assign completely false motives to what I say - I think the phrase is 'sense of humour failure'

See it for what it was, just a joke :good:

Oh I see it for what it is all right.

A pathetic display of passive aggressive behaviour from you once again.

[Mac76]

*sigh*

A pity, I thought we were getting on quite well this evening

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Portugal: Diogo Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes; Palhinha, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes; Bernardo, Leão, Ronaldo
Subs: Rui Patrício, Sá, Semedo, Dalot, Ramos, João Félix, Danilo, Inácio, J.Neves, M.Nunes, R.Neves, Jota, António Silva, Neto, Conceição

Slovenia: Oblak, Karničnik, Drkušić, Bijol, Balkovec, Stojanović, Čerin, Elšnik, Mlakar, Šporar, Šeško
Subs: Belec , Vekić, Blažič, Stanković, Verbič, Lovrić, Kurtić, Horvat, Vipotnik, Celar, Brekalo, Žugelj, Zeljković, Iličić

[Letters]

*sigh*

A pity, I thought we were getting on quite well this evening


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1mdQrG26o

[HCZ_Reborn]

https://youtu.be/iKt8BvpdL7Q?si=J9ldhTIF43mvfzmN

[Letters]

What’s the silence for?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Portugal's team and bench is absolutely stacked.

Roberto Martinez is the coach though so can't seem winning it.

For depth they might have the most though.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ronaldo. :haha:

[Letters]

Ronaldo. :haha:

:gp:

[Mac76]

Good first half, would be hilarious if Slovenia nicked it :lol:

[Mac76]

Slovenia's corners are as bad as ours used to be and that's saying something

[Mac76]

Sesko :rolleyes:

Teams like Slovenia and Slovakia are so frustrating, they're well organised and look good in defence as well as couterattack, and while they don't have as skilled players as a team like Portugal, they'd have a real chance but for the really poor passing at times and bad decision-making that really holds them back, if they just kept calm and kept the ball better they could win, as it is Portugal are bound to get through, just as England did yesterday

[Marc Overmars]

Is it just me or has this tournament been quite low on quality and entertainment?

[Letters]

Ronaldo :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Ronaldo is absolutely desperate to score and I have no doubt his presence is holding them back.

[Mac76]

Ronaldo is absolutely desperate to score and I have no doubt his presence is holding them back.

Yes, it's pathetic, the manager needs to get Fernandes on the next one

[Mac76]

Is it just me or has this tournament been quite low on quality and entertainment?

Some of the best games were earlier on and featured some of the minnows, needless to say I missed most of them...

[Letters]

Is it just me or has this tournament been quite low on quality and entertainment?

It is not just you.

I enjoyed the start of it but it's seriously gone off the boil since the first round of games.

[Mac76]

It is not just you.

I enjoyed the start of it but it's seriously gone off the boil since the first round of games.

There's been some good games, Austria v Holland for example

[HCZ_Reborn]

So many games have seen teams employ a deep block, the only team I’ve seen successfully counter that is Spain


As I said last night, Spain-Georgia has been the best match in this tournament.


All the games involving Austria have been pretty decent, Turkey are quite an attacking side so I expect their game tomorrow to be good.


The games you’d expect to have something about them Spain-Italy, France-Netherlands, France-Belgium. Have all rather been damp squibs

[Letters]

Ronaldo is absolutely desperate to score and I have no doubt his presence is holding them back.

This is one of the reasons I can't stand him. It always has to be about him.
Fuck him.