Euro 2024

[HCZ_Reborn]

I don’t think I’ve seen less enthusiasm for an international tournament then I have for this one (and that includes Euro 2008 where England weren’t playing) for me at the very least it will provide a welcome distraction to a general election campaign that has somehow managed to be even more depressing than the last one (I only decided the day before polling day that I wasn’t going to vote then)

I don’t get why England are favourites, take away the impediment of Southgate and France have a stronger squad than us (we don’t have any depth in central midfield or defence). I’d like to see us play the attacking quartet of Saka, Foden, Kane and Bellingham….and at least we won’t be plagued with Harry Maguire and Mason Fucking Mount but I think we will do well to get further than the semis.


France are my pick to win (they were three years ago, but I changed my mind and went with Italy shortly after watching their opening game), England are doubtless a team that can win….along with Germany, Spain, Portugal and there’s even a small chance for Belgium.


My pick is for France to beat Spain in the final

[Letters]

We traditionally do a section for these tournaments but given the lack of
a) People and
b) Entheusiasm
I reckon a thread is about right.

[Mac76]

It's coming home

[HCZ_Reborn]

We traditionally do a section for these tournaments but given the lack of
a) People and
b) Entheusiasm
I reckon a thread is about right.

We didn’t I don’t think have a whole section for the last World Cup.

I’m reasonably looking forward to it for the reasons stated above. Whilst I obviously hope England win, it won’t exactly break my heart if we don’t (I was disappointed by Euro 2020 pel defeat, but can’t say was massively deflated) because club will always matter far more to me than country.

Just will be good to hopefully watch some interesting games where for the most part I don’t give a fuck who wins.


Some pelanty shoot outs in the knockouts would be good after high scoring games (I love me a pel shootout when I don’t care about the outcome)

[Marc Overmars]

Should be an interesting tournament. I’m going to say Portugal will win it. Mad that Ronaldo and Pepe are still part of the set up. :wacko:

[Letters]

We didn’t I don’t think have a whole section for the last World Cup.
I had a look and yeah, the last dedicated section we had was 2018.

I'm quite looking forward to it now, I also don't understand why we're favourites.
I'll be bloody furious if Portugal win because fuck Ronaldo.

[Mac76]

I had a look and yeah, the last dedicated section we had was 2018.



It wass Maccy setting that up and I think it was quite a lot of work, he had each group etc, a thread is enough

[HCZ_Reborn]

Should be an interesting tournament. I’m going to say Portugal will win it. Mad that Ronaldo and Pepe are still part of the set up. :wacko:

Can’t see that. Not with Roberto Martinez in charge. I mean for sure they have a chance, but I’d put them behind not only us and France but Spain and Germany too

[Letters]

It wass Maccy setting that up and I think it was quite a lot of work, he had each group etc, a thread is enough

Aye, it had all the country flags and that.

Wonder what happened to Maccy :unsure:

[HCZ_Reborn]

He literally only posted a couple of weeks ago, probably taking a holiday from this place for a bit

[Letters]

Well that's not acceptable <_<

He's just such an ever present it seems off if he doesn't post even for a bit! But it is close season and there's not much to talk about I guess.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

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

Scotland: Gunn, Ralston, Hendry, Porteous, Tierney, Robertson, Christie, McGregor, McTominay, McGinn, Adam.
Subs: Kelly, Clark, Hanley, Shankland, Gilmour, Cooper, Armstrong, Morgan, Conway, Jack, McCrorie, McLean, Taylor, Forrest, McKenna

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Just been waiting for the Euros to come tbf.

[Mac76]

Just been waiting for the Euros to come tbf.

:lol:

good to have normal service resumed :good:

[Mac76]

Scotland: Gunn, Ralston, Hendry, Porteous, Tierney, Robertson, Christie, McGregor, McTominay, McGinn, Adam.
Subs: Kelly, Clark, Hanley, Shankland, Gilmour, Cooper, Armstrong, Morgan, Conway, Jack, McCrorie, McLean, Taylor, Forrest, McKenna

Surely got to be the strongest Scotland team in decades

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Probably. 6-0 coming up.

[Mac76]

Tierney :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Wirtz!!

[Marc Overmars]

Scotland :rose:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Gunn. :haha:

Chucked it in I say.

[Marc Overmars]

2-0 Musiala :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 Musiala. :haha:

Havertz. :bow:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Havertz assist

[Mac76]

Pelanty

[McNamara That Ghost...]

They could be in for a hiding.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Changed to a freekick!

[Mac76]

McTominay gets a kicking - shame....

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That's a pel no?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That's a red too.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pelanty to Germany!

And a red card.

Scotland. :haha:

[Mac76]

This is going to get pretty bad for the Scots now

[Marc Overmars]

3-0 Havertz :bow:

Get in the bin Scotland

[McNamara That Ghost...]

HAVERTZ!!! Our boy!!

[Mac76]

Surely got to be the strongest Scotland team in decades

:pal: :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Germany 3-0 Scotland, HT. :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

:pal: :haha:

Sadly…you’re probably still not wrong :lol:

[Mac76]

Sadly…you’re probably still not wrong :lol:

Indeed :)

[HCZ_Reborn]

Germany look decent. Musiala is an absolute menace, Kroos and Gundogan still have it, Havertz has looked good as well. I think they’ll top this group and then will be interesting to see how they do in the business end of the tournament.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Havertz off. :bow:

Fullkrug on.

Wirtz off, Sane on.

[Mac76]

Fullkrug - what a strike - what a guy to have on the bench

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-0 Fullkrug, holy shit what a strike!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Musiala off for Muller.

Musiala. :bow:

[Mac76]

How many Euro finals has Muller played in now? Must be 4 or 5?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

5-0. :haha:

Clowns.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-0, offside.

[Mac76]

Offside

[HCZ_Reborn]

How many Euro finals has Muller played in now? Must be 4 or 5?

This is his fourth I think

Yeah just checked…his first was Euro 2012.

[HCZ_Reborn]

He’s also featured in four world cups

[Mac76]

Thanks

Meanwhile, I still haven't worked out why Trossard's refereeing this game

[HCZ_Reborn]

Thanks

Meanwhile, I still haven't worked out why Trossard's refereeing this game

Everyone’s allowed a hobby

[HCZ_Reborn]

4-1 Rudiger OG

[Mac76]

Scotland score :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-1 Rudiger OG!

Comeback is on. :bow:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Is it me or has VAR been quite efficiently used tonight. And maybe the problem is less the technology and more the clowns we have at PGMOL

[McNamara That Ghost...]

5-1 Can. :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Emre Can adds a fifth. Couldn’t even draw the second half

[Mac76]

5-1 :rose:

[Mac76]

Germany looked very strong although Scotland were pretty shite tbh

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Germany 5-1 Scotland, FT. :haha:

Germany scored all six. :bow:

[Mac76]

Keane saying the Scots should've "hit people" :lol:

[Letters]

Just been waiting for the Euros to come tbf.

Maccy :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hungary: Gulacsi, Lang, Orban, Szalai, Fiola, Nagy, Schafer, Kerkez, Sallai, Szoboszlai, Varga.
Subs: Dibusz, Szappanos, Balogh, Nego, Adam, Bolla, Kleinheisler, Gazdag, Styles, Nagy, Botka, Csoboth, Dardai, Horvath, Kata.

Switzerland: Sommer, Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez, Aebischer, Freuler, Xhaka, Ndoye, Widmer, Vargas, Duah.
Subs: Mvogo, Kobel, Stergiou, Elvedi, Embolo, Okafor, Steffen, Zesiger, Sierro, Shaqiri, Jashari, Amdouni, Rieder.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Didn’t know Murat Yakin was Switzerland coach

Had no idea who it was in truth, I remember Ottmar Hitzfeld doing the job for a bit


I also thought Murat and Hakan Yakin were twins, but Murat is the older brother

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sallai. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That should be a goal for Duah!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And it is given!

[HCZ_Reborn]

VAR doing what it’s meant to do, rather than the circus chimps we have presiding over it in the premier league

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What a chance for Vargas!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-2 Aebischer! Lovely strike.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That was awful from Szoboszlai.

[HCZ_Reborn]

How did Varga not score

[HCZ_Reborn]

Varga scores this time

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hungary 1-2 Switzerland, Varga!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Schär could have restored two goal lead

[Marc Overmars]

1-3 Embolo

[HCZ_Reborn]

Lovely control and finish from Breel Embolo after terrible defensive header

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hungary 1-3 Switzerland, Embolo! Terrible from Hungary there, woeful clearance.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-3 Switzerland. :bow:

Always get through the groups.

[HCZ_Reborn]

16 year old Lamine Yamal starts for Spain

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Spain: Unai Simon, Carvajal, Le Normand, Nacho, Cucurella, Pedri, Rodrigo, Fabian, Yamal, Morata, Williams.
Subs: Raya, Baena, Grimaldo, Laporte, Lopez, Joselu, Merino, Jesus Navas, Olmo, Oyarzabal, Perez, Remiro, Torres, Vivian, Zubimendi.


Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Pongracic, Gvardiol, Sutalo, Majer, Kovacic, Kramaric, Modric, Brozovic, Budimir.
Subs: Baturina, Erlic, Ivanusec, Ivusic, Juranovic, Labrovic, Marco Pasalic, Mario Pasalic, Perisic, Petkovic, Pjaca, Sosa, Sucic, Vida, Vlasic.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Raya on the bench. :doh:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya on the bench. :doh:

Not that surprising Unai Simon has been the established Spanish No1 for some time now

[HCZ_Reborn]

Some very clear raw talent in Yamal, but very green as you’d expect from 16 year old

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Spain, Morata!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 Fabian! Wow

[McNamara That Ghost...]

3-0 Carvajal!

[Letters]

Croatia haven’t been that bad, but Spain have been pretty clinical

[HCZ_Reborn]

Croatia haven’t been that bad, but Spain have been pretty clinical

Croatia’s style of play, plays into Spain’s hand. They are open…play out from the back etc. Spain have just better offensive players

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Unlucky Yamal.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Embarrasing from Simon.

Pel to Span.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

3-1, Petkovic.

Simon saved the pel. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

No goal for encroachment!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Spain 3-0 Croatia, FT!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Calafiori, Bastoni, Dimarco; Barella, Jorginho; Frattesi, Pellegrini, Chiesa, Scamacca.
Subs: Vicario, Meret, Buongiorno, Gatti, Raspadori, Darmian, Bellanova, Cristiante, Mancini, Retegui, Zaccagni, Fagioli, El Shaarawy, Cambiaso, Folorunsho.

Albania: Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asllani, Ramadani, Bajrami; Asani, Broja, Seferi.
Subs: Berisha, Kastrati, Balliu, Manaj, Gjasula, Mihaj, Laci, Berisha, Muci, Ismajli, Daku, Abrashi, Kumbulla, Aliji, Hoxha.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jorginho. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Albania! :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Bastoni!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-1 Barella. What a strike. :bow:

[Letters]

0-1 Albania! :haha:

Comedy goal :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Shearer is already struggling.

One tournament jolly up too far I think.

[Letters]

Albania doing ok here. Italy obviously the stronger side but Albania are holding their own

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great chance for Albania!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Italy 2-1 Albania, FT!

[Letters]

Plucky performance from Albania

[Mac76]

and of course he knows all about winning things...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2vv2144n7jo

with this serial loser in the side we've got no chance

[HCZ_Reborn]

and of course he knows all about winning things...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2vv2144n7jo

with this serial loser in the side we've got no chance

You think having Kane in the team gives us less chance of winning?

That’s an opinion I guess

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Poland: Szczesny, Bednarek, Frankowski, Salamon, Kiwior, Urbanski, Zielinski, Romanczuk, Zalewski, Buksa, Szymanski
Subs: Skorupski, Bulka, Dawidowicz, Walukiewicz, Piotrowski, Swiderski, Moder, Lewandowski, Grosicki, Puchacz, Szymanski, Bereszynski, Piatek, Slisz, Skoras.

Netherlands: Verbruggen, Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake, Schouten, Reijnders, Veerman, Simons, Depay, Gakpo
Subs: Bijlow, Flekken, Geertruida, De Ligt, Wijnaldum, Weghorst, Frimpong, Van de Ven, Blind, Malen, Maatsen, Zirkzee, Bergwijn, Gravenberch

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Poland!

[HCZ_Reborn]

1-0 Poland!

Adam Buksa unmarked from a corner

The Dutch look much better team but have missed quite a few decent chances

Would be surprised if it stayed 1-0

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Gakpo!

[HCZ_Reborn]

1-1 Gakpo!

No less than Dutch deserve, bit wayward with their finishing but their attacking play has been good

[Mac76]

You think having Kane in the team gives us less chance of winning?


How can it not, he never wins anything wherever he goes

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-2 Weghorst!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Poland 1-2 Netherlands, FT!

[HCZ_Reborn]

How can it not, he never wins anything wherever he goes

He’s spent years at Spurs who perennially never win anything and England haven’t won anything in sixty years

It would be ridiculous to argue he’s been an impediment to Bayern with the number of goals he scored

Silly argument

[Letters]

Poland 1-2 Netherlands, FT!

Bit harsh on Poland. The Netherlands did deserve it overall I guess but I was impressed by Poland, they looked ok and had a go

[Letters]

How can it not, he never wins anything wherever he goes
As much as it’s fun trolling Kane about that, clubs have failed to win things despite him, not because of him. It was amusing that Bayern won 10 titles in a row and then failed to win it the minute Kane goes there, but he was the league’s top scorer and broke a bunch of Bundasliga records.
He’s clearly a top player, denying that because he used to play for Spurs makes you sound like a child.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Slovenia: Oblak, Karnicnik, Drkusic, Bijol, Janza, Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Sporar, Sesko, Mlakar
Subs: Balkovec, Blazic, Stankovic, Verbic, Lovric, Belec, Kurtic, Horvat, Vekic, Vipotnik, Celar, Brekalo, Zugelj, Zeljkovic, Ilicic

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

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Eriksen!

[HCZ_Reborn]

As much as it’s fun trolling Kane about that, clubs have failed to win things despite him, not because of him. It was amusing that Bayern won 10 titles in a row and then failed to win it the minute Kane goes there, but he was the league’s top scorer and broke a bunch of Bundasliga records.
He’s clearly a top player, denying that because he used to play for Spurs makes you sound like a child.

My sentiments exactly

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What a miss from Eriksen.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Slovenia 0-1 Denmark, HT.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

How haven't Slovenia scored? Offside or not.

[Letters]

0-1 Eriksen!

1-1!

Moments after Slovenia absolutely thumped the post

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sesko smashes the post!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Then they equalise

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I may need to refresh. :lol:

[Letters]

I may need to refresh. :lol:

:lol:

You watching online? I’m watching on proper TV, so may be a bit ahead

[Letters]

:doh:

Slovenia really should have scored then

[Letters]

Finished 1-1. Decent game.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ugh Alexander Arnold playing in midfield

And Trippier playing full stop

[Mac76]

You'd rather have TAA trying to defend...?

[HCZ_Reborn]

You'd rather have TAA trying to defend...?

No id rather have him on the bench and brought on as an impact sub

[McNamara That Ghost...]

:lol:

You watching online? I’m watching on proper TV, so may be a bit ahead

Yeah, watching online. Well, streaming apps.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Serbia: Rajkovic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Gudelj, Lukic, Kostic; Vlahovic, Mitrovic
Subs: V. Milinkovic-Savic, Petrovic, Stojic, Maksimovic, Jovic, Tadic, Babic, Mijailovic, Ilic, Ratkov, Samardzic, Gacinovic, Spajic, Mladenovic, Birmancevic.

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

[Letters]

I hope we win, tbh

[HCZ_Reborn]

A lot of these Serbian players seem to have their eyes quite far apart

[Niall_Quinn]

Very difficult to cheer for a team with Foden in it. He's such a hateful human being. BUT, outnumbered by Saka and Rice, so hold nose and - sort of - come on England. Sort of.

[Niall_Quinn]

A lot of these Serbian players seem to have their eyes quite far apart

Foden can dive left and right at the same time. So good planning.

[Niall_Quinn]

First ludicrous dive by Saka. He needs to stop that shit.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yawn. Best in Europe. It's pathetically poor. What about the Dutch? Have you ever seen a Dutch team that bad? It's so sad. Not an ounce of talent.

[Letters]

1-0! Bellingham!

Great cross by Saka, excellent header

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Bellingham! Saka assist. :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

Our lad did well. It's so strange - play it wit a bot of pace, get it down the wing, cross it in, head it. How did they ever invent this?

[Niall_Quinn]

Serbia just need to press and England will shatter. They need time to play their bullshit tippety-tap. Serbia are happily affording it.

[Letters]

We got away with that :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

AA. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

We got away with that :doh:

Not really, it was a pathetic effort from an absolute spooner. What passes for a professional footballer these days is truly laughable. Can you imagine Bergie taking that on?

[Niall_Quinn]

Open goal missed because Kane can't be arsed.

[Letters]

Open goal missed because Kane can't be arsed.

Bit harsh. There were options in the middle, he just needed to send it across.
Or shoot.
He did neither.

[Niall_Quinn]

Rice is a decent player, but when you have to pass to the likes of Walker - what's the point?

[Letters]

That wasn’t actually a foul :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

Ian Wright? what do you think?

[Niall_Quinn]

That wasn’t actually a foul :lol:

Everything is a foul. They are ladies.

[Niall_Quinn]

TAA has been absolutely shocking from minute 1 through to now. Can he up his game to Sunday park level?

[Niall_Quinn]

Saka is a good player, but a cheat. Rice is a good player and not a cheat. Bellingham is a good player. Kane - okay - fucking hate to admit it. The rest are fucking useless - it's embarrassing.

[Niall_Quinn]

Impressed by Bellingham - didn't know much about him, but he does the whole show. Good player.

[Letters]

Saka has the beating of that bloke on the right.

[Letters]

Impressed by Bellingham - didn't know much about him, but he does the whole show. Good player.

Yeah. I don’t watch enough football these days to have much of a view but he is looking good.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 HT

[Letters]

Decent half.

[Niall_Quinn]

A genuinely pub. league half of football. Mostly entirely untalented shitkickers on the pitch, especially Serbia - what a useless bunch of fucks. The goal is not to play football, it's to get your body in the way of playing football. It's so horrible, but it's modern and the best league in the world - please buy the shirts. Ridiculously poor. Embarrassing - but they won't care because these wanker commentators will pretend we just saw a football match.

[Mac76]

1-0's not bad considering we're playing with 10 men

K--t's been so slow and ponderous, failing to get onto some great crosses from Saka and with only 1 touch i think - needs to be subbed

[Niall_Quinn]

The Bellingham hype is hilarious. He's a COMPETENT footballer and that's it. Which is HUGE these days. Because most are incompetent. And THAT'S what they mean when they say he's a superstar.

[Letters]

A genuinely pub. league half of football. Mostly entirely untalented shitkickers on the pitch, especially Serbia - what a useless bunch of fucks. The goal is not to play football, it's to get your body in the way of playing football. It's so horrible, but it's modern and the best league in the world - please buy the shirts. Ridiculously poor. Embarrassing - but they won't care because these wanker commentators will pretend we just saw a football match.

Midsommer Murders is on ITV. No need to thank me.

[Niall_Quinn]

Midsommer Murders is on ITV. No need to thank me.

Oh, don't watch, pretend it's not happening? Is that it? I'll tell you how it is. You can tell me what a brilliant game it is. Go on then. Do your audition for ITV.

[Niall_Quinn]

I actually forgot Foden was playing.

[Letters]

Oh, don't watch, pretend it's not happening? Is that it? I'll tell you how it is. You can tell me what a brilliant game it is. Go on then. Do your audition for ITV.

I don’t care if you watch or not, dude.
But if you’re not enjoying it then why put yourself through it?
I don’t understand the fuss about Taylor Swift. My clever way of dealing that is not to listen to what I will charitably call her music.

[Niall_Quinn]

I don’t care if you watch or not, dude.
But if you’re not enjoying it then why put yourself through it?
I don’t understand the fuss about Taylor Swift. My clever way of dealing that is not to listen to what I will charitably call her music.

To compare. I actually remember REAL Euros.

[Niall_Quinn]

Off we go. Another 45 minutes of insulting the beautiful game.

[Letters]

To compare. I actually remember REAL Euros.

I don’t think things were as much better as you remember tbh.
I agree with some of your thoughts though.
Basic competence seems to be rated highly these days when I’d suggest that should be a basic requirement to play at this level. They seem to value athleticism over skill more now.

[Niall_Quinn]

Honestly have to wonder what would happen to England's non-defence if Rice was not back there.

[Niall_Quinn]

I don’t think things were as much better as you remember tbh.
I agree with some of your thoughts though.
Basic competence seems to be rated highly these days when I’d suggest that should be a basic requirement to play at this level. They seem to value athleticism over skill more now.

Oh yes they were. Even if you can't admit the football was 1000x better, which it was - don't you remember what it was to be in this country when a Euros or World Cup kicked off? You thin kthat changed because WE changed? Nah - the product sucks.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Serbia have started this half well.

[Niall_Quinn]

Should have been a goal for Serbia - who are much the better team, and they aren't good. Their strikers are as bad as ours. Never in the box when they are needed. It's Pep ball - or bullshit, if you want the translation.

[Niall_Quinn]

So poor by Belligham, his worst moment. Why didn't he just score instead?

[Niall_Quinn]

Rice is a good player though, isn't he? Was he that good at West Ham?

[Niall_Quinn]

Girlies rolling around the box when absolutely nothing happened.

[Niall_Quinn]

Did that Mitrovich play for the spuds? No wonder. Serbs take off two cack-heaps and bring on two more cack-heaps.

[Letters]

Oh yes they were.
If we’re going to turn this in to a panto then those days are BEHIND YOU!


don't you remember what it was to be in this country when a Euros or World Cup kicked off? You thin kthat changed because WE changed? Nah - the product sucks.
It does feel like there was more buzz around the place when these tournaments came round. To be honest I didn’t know till yesterday that we were playing today. I knew about Thursday but thought that was our first game (which, thinking about it, doesn’t make much sense).
But that is definitely a change in me, I just care less than I used to.
One quite nice thing about getting older - just generally being more laid back about things.

As for whether there’s less buzz generally. Quite hard to quantify but if there is less then without wishing to go down a rabbit hole about this, the…demographic change in the last 20 years could be a factor there.

[Niall_Quinn]

Hard to believe these are international footballers. They can't do the basic things I can't do. If it was me out there I'd understand it. But they get payed a fortune to not be me.

[Niall_Quinn]

If we’re going to turn this in to a panto then those days are BEHIND YOU!


It does feel like there was more buzz around the place when these tournaments came round. To be honest I didn’t know till yesterday that we were playing today. I knew about Thursday but thought that was our first game (which, thinking about it, doesn’t make much sense).
But that is definitely a change in me, I just care less than I used to.
One quite nice thing about getting older - just generally being more laid back about things.

As for whether there’s less buzz generally. Quite hard to quantify but if there is less then without wishing to go down a rabbit hole about this, the…demographic change in the last 20 years could be a factor there.
Although some

So you agree. Great. Moving on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Alexander-Arnold off, Gallagher on.

[Niall_Quinn]

TAA was a piece of shit in the forst minute, and a piece of shit up to the minute he went off. What a disgrace. Lazy bastard.

[Letters]

Oi, Pickford, you are allowed to catch it :doh:

[Niall_Quinn]

It's so plodding, so slow. Jeez, I could play at that comatose pace.

[Niall_Quinn]

Serbs make their 94th sub in this woke football parody.

[Niall_Quinn]

Foden's wearing pink boots - lol. Queer little fuck.

[Letters]

Saka off. Someone on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saka off for Bowen.

[Niall_Quinn]

Saka off - decided not to play in the second half. His head is too big for the whole 90 these days. But he cheats well.

[Letters]

Great effort by Kane. Excellent save to push it onto the bar

[Niall_Quinn]

Saka off. Someone on.

Yes, who is Bowen? You never know, he might be able to play.

[Niall_Quinn]

Kane misses an easy goal.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Kane header saved on to the bar!

[Letters]

Yes, who is Bowen? You never know, he might be able to play.
If he’s the West Ham bloke then I think he actually can.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Foden. :haha:

Lost if he doesn't have the opportunity to comb it in from 20 yards.

[Niall_Quinn]

They can stitch it up however their adverts need it to be, but Rice is the man of the match. Very few players out there who have the first clue. He's done the biz. It's not sexy, but given the absolute shit he''s surrounded by, he;s done very well.

[Niall_Quinn]

Foden. :haha:

Lost if he doesn't have the opportunity to comb it in from 20 yards.

You mean with 20 attempts to comb it? He's bollocks.

[Niall_Quinn]

If he’s the West Ham bloke then I think he actually can.

Oh yes, I know him. Good player. We should buy him.

[Letters]

Good save Pickford

[Letters]

Oh yes, I know him. Good player. We should buy him.

I agree. I’d love him at Arsenal

[Niall_Quinn]

Easy save for Pickford. So don't make too much of a mess in the studio.

[Niall_Quinn]

I agree. I’d love him at Arsenal

Walker, on the other hand. What a fuck up. Just because he has pace. And he also has... pace. And then there's his pace.

[Niall_Quinn]

Kane's most impressive contribution. A dive.

Bellingham off. He sort of gave up in the second half. Shame.

[Niall_Quinn]

I have no clue who half these (ahem) "players" are. I suppose anyone can get a call up these days. Might apply myself.

[Niall_Quinn]

Foden is a horrific piece of shit.

[Niall_Quinn]

Looks like the plodders will beat the plodders 1-0. Slighly faster plod made all the difference. Embarrassing stuff from two horrifically bad teams. Don't rule either of them out though. Because every team in this tournament is pure dogshit.

[Letters]

1-0 FT

Painful second half.

[Niall_Quinn]

The disgusting Kane dives. But, tbf, he's very good at it.

[Niall_Quinn]

The worst game I've seen in a long, long time. Those so-called players should be ashamed. But they'll be giving it the big one, wait and see.

[Niall_Quinn]

Just spent the last couple of weeks watching Oxford and Cambridge crews battle it out on the river. Vomiting over the side after they gave 100% and the found more. Genuinely inspiring stuff, it was amazing. What incredible kids. Then they go and do their studies. Inspirational. No prize money, just pride and the essence of competition.

Then we have these millionaires. I mean really - fuck them and damn them to hell. Horrific abusers of sport and what sport means. Or SHOULD mean.

And EVEN the bullshit studio commentators can't apologise enough.

[Niall_Quinn]

LOL - woman commentator - you couldn't make it up.

[Mac76]

Great effort by Kane. Excellent save to push it onto the bar

Poor header straight at the keeper, good cross from Bowen wasted

[Mac76]

Kane's most impressive contribution. A dive.


Literally all he does is dive, if refs actually had any brains he'd be off every game with two yellows

If Southgate had had the guts to start with Watkins we'd have been two or three up at HT

[Mac76]

England pubbing a win, usual story, the great thing is their games hold no tension for me, I literally don't care if they win, lose or draw, in fact I thought a draw would've been a fairer result

[Niall_Quinn]

Literally all he does is dive, if refs actually had any brains he'd be off every game with two yellows

If Southgate had had the guts to start with Watkins we'd have been two or three up at HT

Agreed actually. I like that player. He's direct and he's exactly what is needed in a tired and worn-out, Pep infected tournament like this. If things go on like this the tournament will be won by whoever can tippety-tap the most tippety-taps. Holland were horrific. And absolute embarrassment to their great tradition. Get they playes, any players, who could easily light this shitfest on fire, and play them. But Gareth Boregate is hardly going to do it. If he can bore his way to another semi-final penalty loss he'll be whooping it up wit Nike and Addidas.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Well another typical Southgate shit show

Why on earth does he have us playing like this. Spain, Germany, France would have taken those unwieldy thugs apart at the joints

It’s party tactical, it’s part mentality. We have a coach who has won nothing of note in his career…the main thing he is remembered for is having his penalty saved by Kopke. How can a coach like that really inspire confidence

This safety first standing off bollocks doesn’t help.


The Man City contingent were hardly enough to generate confidence. Foden was terrible, Walker started well but ran out of steam, and Stones was quixotic.

Guehi isn’t good enough at this level, neither is Trippier neither is Alexander-Arnold in central midfield


Kane far too deep, despite what someone with a childishly obsessive hatred of him stated….he did well to outmuscle Serbian defender and draw instinctive save onto the post….but that was his singular contribution.

[Letters]

Poor header straight at the keeper, good cross from Bowen wasted

Bullshit :good:

[Niall_Quinn]

We should take our football back. I don't know how right now, but I do know the first step is like alcoholics anonymous - you have to admit football has a problem. If you can't admit that then hit Sky TV one more time and maybe do a weekend binge. It's all abject, total shite. Okay, in the PL there were maybe 2-3 minutes per match of Arsenal, Liverpool and City playing actual football. But that's it. The rest is utter garbage. And these useless fucks who earn millions a year are doing an interview a day telling us how amazing they are. Because their agents, who feast off the ticket prices and shirt sales, tell them it's the modern game. Well, I don't like the modern game. I like the proper game. When can we have that back? Not during this shit tournament posing as excellence - obviously. I don't expect miracles. But when will the fans wake up, I wonder?

[Marc Overmars]

Typical England stodge really.

It was good to see Saka playing a bit more like a traditional winger rather than constantly cutting inside like he does for us. The stepovers and running on the outside, something we don’t see often enough from him.

[Mac76]

Bullshit :good:

What, you don't think Bowen's cross was good? ;)

[Mac76]

Kane far too deep, despite what someone with a childishly obsessive hatred of him stated….he did well to outmuscle Serbian defender and draw instinctive save onto the post….but that was his singular contribution.

Well i assume that's aimed at me, but where did i.say he didn't play too deep? I agree and his total lack of pace meant he couldn't get onto crosses

Oh and it's 'single' not 'singular' and it was pushed onto the bar not the post - but either way, the keeper was only able to do so because it was headed straight at him

[HCZ_Reborn]

Well i assume that's aimed at me, but where did i.say he didn't play too deep? I agree and his total lack of pace meant he couldn't get onto crosses

Oh and it's 'single' not 'singular' and it was pushed onto the bar not the post - but either way, the keeper was only able to do so because it was headed straight at him

Singular can mean one thing or one exceptional thing that stood out

Saying he played too deep was my analysis of how he played not everything is about you

He had to outmuscle a defender to get to the ball it’s an instinctive header and an instinctive save.

You’re not going to generate the kind of power to get it both across goal and make it so the keeper can’t get to it. It was a decent effort. You won’t acknowledge it because it came from Kane. Simple as that

[HCZ_Reborn]

Player ratings

Pickford 6 - Decent save from Vlahovic but not exactly imperious coming for the ball

Walker 5.5 - Started really well but just completely ran out of fuel by half time

Guehi 5 - Needed protecting by Rice all evening. Despite the clean sheet, not up to it at this level


Stones 5 - As erratic as Rudolf Hess in the dock


Trippier 6.5 - No fan of his but easily our best defender on the night


Rice 7 - Had to spend a lot of the evening putting out fires caused by players around him


Alexander-Arnold 5 - No chance of winning anything playing him in central midfield


Bellingham 8 - Became increasingly more isolated in second half but controlled the game up to that point


Foden 4 - Cunt


Saka 7.5 - Like Walker ran out of energy, but beasted Serbian full backs before hand


Kane 5 - Ridiculously deep, contributed to the pressure put on us by Serbia by not making himself available further up the pitch. Only contribution of note was second half headed effort


Subs

Bowen 6.5 - Another one not good enough at this level, but introduced some energy into the game


Gallagher 6.5 - Fair play to him, prepared to draw fouls from Serbia


Mainoo 5 - Looked out of his depth physically

[Mac76]

Singular can mean one thing or one exceptional thing that stood out

Saying he played too deep was my analysis of how he played not everything is about you



you referred to me in a sideways manner in relation to that remark, so it's clearly you that thinks everything's about me :haha:

[Mac76]

It was weird with Saka in the second half, he began by playing on the left and even when he went back to the right the team stopped giving him the ball and just kind of froze him out, which I guess was part of the defensive mindset Southgate has drilled into them.

This team with this coach is winning nothing.

That said I still think if Watkins had played instead of K**t it would have been a far more comfortable win though, that moronic beached whale is past his sell-by date. But then Southgate's too much of a coward to take a genuinely bold move

As for Holland, Saka should be telling him to fuck off every time he walks past him

[HCZ_Reborn]

Would swap things around for Denmark, play Guehi as a Kiwior type player on the left, move Walker into the centre of defence, play despite my better judgement Alexander Arnold as a wing back on the right (at least Walker can cover the space he will leave)

Play Gallagher with Rice in midfield

Drop Foden (got to be consequences for playing like that) and put in Palmer.

Give Kane one more game to stop being the wandering Jew, and if he doesn’t potentially drop him for Slovenia

[Marc Overmars]

I think Southgate probably wants Gallagher in there anyway as it offers up more balance. He went with what he did last night because he’s spineless and chose to pigeon hole players into the team because of the media and fan clamour.

I would actually consider bringing Gordon in because of the width he’d offer. Foden is a Pep player who can’t play in another system and doesn’t have a role for England. Bench him and you’ll see a difference.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Romania 1-0 Ukraine Stanciu

Romania doing the deep block and then managing to punish a moment of Ukrainian sloppiness from Lunin (ha predictive text tried to make that Lenin). Ukraine will huff and puff for the rest of the game but ultimately will lose

[Letters]

Ukraine will huff and puff for the rest of the game but ultimately will lose
Like against Russia tbh.

[Letters]

3-0 now.

Ukraine :rose:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Fuck me I hope Arteta is watching this and decides not to sign Lunin

[HCZ_Reborn]

First result I’ve got wrong in this tournament on the Euro predictor

[HCZ_Reborn]

Trossard starts for Belgium

[Mac76]

Trossard starts for Belgium

and David Luiz by the looks of it

[HCZ_Reborn]

and David Luiz by the looks of it

He might have David Luiz’s hair but he’s got a distinctly Teutonic jawline

[Letters]

Lukaku :haha:

[Mac76]

messup from Lukaku after a great pass

[Letters]

1-0 to Slovakia at half time

[HCZ_Reborn]

1-0 to Slovakia at half time

I mean fair play to them really, yeah Lukaku has been a disaster but Slovakia haven’t just sat on that lead

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Lukaku!

[Letters]

1-1 Lukaku!

Looked off to me :popcorn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Offside?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Belgium. :lol:

[Letters]

Yep. Chalked off.

[Letters]

Decent effort from Trossard. Well saved

[Letters]

Fantastic clearance off the line from Slovakia

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Knee to the head. :sick:

[Letters]

Lukaku 1-1

Shame.