The Euro2020 Thread

[Give it to Ron]

Just now, Lord Duckhunter said:

Why not? 

Really? 

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, SKD said:

Maguire played well and Henderson looked pretty good when he came on. Strange for a players who’s clearly not fit and ready. 

I remember a serous discussion on here with people saying that saints were better than England. When we were in league one. 

[Sheaf Saint]

5 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

2 wins, 3 clean sheets. Who can argue with that. 

Plenty of people can, it seems.

[Pedantic Pete]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Only thing I argue is the sub why remove Stones for Mings 15 to go at 1 up 

Didn't Italy sub their goalie just for the lols? Nothing says we are through easy than subbing a random player!

 

[Cabrone]

And so on to England's last game.

At least they will go down at Wembley.

[Baird of the land]

While the Modric goal was lovely, the other two were very poor from scots.

Adams had another decent game. Don’t get how the useless dykes managed another 90 again.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 minutes ago, SKD said:

He performs week in week out in the best league in the world, what are you on about? 😂

My opinion is that he is over-rated. Not asking you to agree with me. Yes,he is a good player, but the drooling over him is just over the top

[OttawaSaint]

2 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

While the Modric goal was lovely, the other two were very poor from scots.

Adams had another decent game. Don’t get how the useless dykes managed another 90 again.

That’s the head scratcher. Surely they have better than Dykes. He won a fair few flick-one but was such a class below almost everyone else on the pitch. 

[SKD]

There’s more from England to come. In all Likelihood we’ll go out but at home, we have the potential to beat anyone. 
 

Maguire and Henderson seemingly fit and ready despite what physo (Always_sfc thinks), we’ll be defensively more solid with a bit more experience. 
 

Kane needs to up his game massively, he’s been very poor, but if it clicks and we get through, we could / should go all the way. 

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

My opinion is that he is over-rated. Not asking you to agree with me. Yes,he is a good player, but the drooling over him is just over the top

Fair enough. You’re wrong, but fair enough. 
 

Any player City are willing to spend £100m on are clearly very very good players. 

[S-Clarke]

Not sure what to make of England. Part of me is like ''well, there's better yet to come!'' - but the other part of me is saying...this is probably it. This is how we will paly under this pathetic excuse for a manager.

Risk adverse, alienating quality like Sancho is truly weird. You can be sure he'll throw him on in the next game on 80mins when we're behind, just as a reactionary sub - but it will be all pretty pointless.

Still has the potential to be a great euros, but equally it could end up being one of our worst ever tournaments for goal scoring and attacking quality.

[SKD]

Just now, S-Clarke said:

Not sure what to make of England. Part of me is like ''well, there's better yet to come!'' - but the other part of me is saying...this is probably it. This is how we will paly under this pathetic excuse for a manager.

Risk adverse, alienating quality like Sancho is truly weird. You can be sure he'll throw him on in the next game on 80mins when we're behind, just as a reactionary sub - but it will be all pretty pointless.

Still has the potential to be a great euros, but equally it could end up being one of our worst ever tournaments for goal scoring and attacking quality.

Next week is essentially a semi final for us. A win and we could go the whole way looking at the likely draw, but it really will be a 50/50 game. 

[Chapel End]

France ,Germany or Portugal.

We can go all the way.

Football's coming home.

😳

[stknowle]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Not sure what to make of England. Part of me is like ''well, there's better yet to come!'' - but the other part of me is saying...this is probably it. This is how we will paly under this pathetic excuse for a manager.

Risk adverse, alienating quality like Sancho is truly weird. You can be sure he'll throw him on in the next game on 80mins when we're behind, just as a reactionary sub - but it will be all pretty pointless.

Still has the potential to be a great euros, but equally it could end up being one of our worst ever tournaments for goal scoring and attacking quality.

The other part is calling it right. Maybe just the tiniest chance of us doing a Greece (albeit with far better players capable of so much more) but ultimately I cannot believe for 1 second that a Gareth Southgate team can win an international tournament. 

[Give it to Ron]

10 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

My opinion is that he is over-rated. Not asking you to agree with me. Yes,he is a good player, but the drooling over him is just over the top

Not sure about the drooling but I thought he was what we needed tonight he wanted the ball made himself available for midfield something missing on Friday.

He was a big positive driving forward meaning not so static backwards and sidewards so much. 
Kane poor again but he will come good class is permanent 

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, Chapel End said:

France ,Germany or Portugal.

We can go all the way.

Football's coming home.

😳

Why do you hate England you weirdo?

[Lee On Solent Saint]

8 minutes ago, SKD said:

Fair enough. You’re wrong, but fair enough. 
 

Any player City are willing to spend £100m on are clearly very very good players. 

City might well be willing to play top dollar for him, but there is no way that he is any better than Mahrez, Foden, Gundogan or Silva.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, stknowle said:

The other part is calling it right. Maybe just the tiniest chance of us doing a Greece (albeit with far better players capable of so much more) but ultimately I cannot believe for 1 second that a Gareth Southgate team can win an international tournament. 

It is hard to see. All Southgate has on his CV is relegating Middlesbrough and U21 International football, not sure how that qualifies him.

It feels like a really wasted opportunity to be honest. Players like Mount, Grealish, Sancho, Sterling, Foden. These are guys who terrorise teams in their respective leagues....but at international level, against the same...and sometimes lesser players, play a totally different game. It's obviously by instruction to just play as slow as we do and it's so frustrating, because we should be enthralling to watch with the attackers at our disposal. But I fall asleep most games. That might just be me getting old though.

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

It is hard to see. All Southgate has on his CV is relegating Middlesbrough and U21 International football, not sure how that qualifies him.

It feels like a really wasted opportunity to be honest. Players like Mount, Grealish, Sancho, Sterling, Foden. These are guys who terrorise teams in their respective leagues....but at international level, against the same...and sometimes lesser players, play a totally different game. It's obviously by instruction to just play as slow as we do and it's so frustrating, because we should be enthralling to watch with the attackers at our disposal. But I fall asleep most games. That might just be me getting old though.

The World Cup being 18 months away will likely mean he keeps his job whatever happens. 
 

It’s really not a great watch, but I think against the better teams, his defensive set up may help us. 
 

Who knows, not expecting much, we need to build for World Cup imo. Giving tournament experience to players like Saka, Bellingham, Grealish, Foden etc. Will only help that. 
 

I don’t think anyone other than maybe Italy has looked unbeatable this tournament, if I’m honest. 

[S-Clarke]

Just now, SKD said:

The World Cup being 18 months away will likely mean he keeps his job whatever happens. 
 

It’s really not a great watch, but I think against the better teams, his defensive set up may help us. 
 

Who knows, not expecting much, we need to build for World Cup imo. Giving tournament experience to players like Saka, Bellingham, Grealish, Foden etc. Will only help that. 
 

I don’t think anyone other than maybe Italy has looked unbeatable this tournament, if I’m honest. 

Best 3 outfits for me so far are Belgium, Holland and Italy. Although all 3 did get quite fortunate with really easy peasy groups. But they did the business, Italy in particular look a bit of an all rounder.

[Saint Garrett]

We’ve set up how we’re going to play against better opposition. Pretty dour, and shit to watch, but keep it tight and nick one, might work against better sides.

Saka has to start next game. Kane dreadful again

[offsidetrap]

1 hour ago, OttawaSaint said:

That’s the head scratcher. Surely they have better than Dykes. He won a fair few flick-one but was such a class below almost everyone else on the pitch. 

Didn't have the edge of the wembley game. I think Scotland only play well against england who clearly are less good at keeping the ball than croatia (when they turn up) and looked totally outclassed. Never mind, been a saints fan for more than half a century so I can deal with this.

[Lord Duckhunter]

If Germany got out of the group winning 2 and conceding 0 goals everyone would be saying “typical Germans”.
 

The Portuguese drew all 3 games last group stages and weren’t the best side by miles.

Greece won it by keeping clean sheets and pinching a win here and there.

Get behind the lads, just because there’s no Saints involved doesn’t mean you have to slag off  the players that are there. 

[Saint_clark]

6 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

One of them isn't a home nation and is a foreign country.

But both Scotland and Wales are home nations, so my use of the plural was correct. 

[skintsaint]

Another dour win but would rather win ugly than lose well. Kane really needs to play as a front 2 and doesn't suit this formation and just nulls his effectiveness as a player. 

Wonder if the Scots still celebrating that great 0-0 from the other day, in which they really should have won. Least they don't have to travel far to go home.

[The Cat]

8 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Get behind the lads, just because there’s no Saints involved doesn’t mean you have to slag off  the players that are there. 

Most match threads on here every week are full of people slagging the players, not sure why anyone would expect it to be any different for England.

[Chapel End]

8 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

If Germany got out of the group winning 2 and conceding 0 goals everyone would be saying “typical Germans”.
 

The Portuguese drew all 3 games last group stages and weren’t the best side by miles.

Greece won it by keeping clean sheets and pinching a win here and there.

Get behind the lads, just because there’s no Saints involved doesn’t mean you have to slag off  the players that are there. 

Absolutely, come on England 

No need to slag of Saints players who aren't there either

[CB Fry]

9 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Get behind the lads, just because there’s no Saints involved doesn’t mean you have to slag off  the players that are there.

100% agree. Now we've made it through the group stage without conceding a goal maybe it will stop folk on this forum from interpreting every setback or issue as justification that everything would have been perfect if only we had selected Saints players instead.

I'd call out the unfair criticism of perfectly fit players like Henderson and Maguire who some were insisting should have stayed at home. Pretty disgraceful really.

Get behind your country.

 

[qwertyell]

6 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Kane really needs to play as a front 2 and doesn't suit this formation and just nulls his effectiveness as a player. 

He's played pretty much his entire career in this formation.

His body's fucked. Moves like a fridge. That's why he's been dropping deeper over the past 18 months - he can't run in behind anymore.

Can't argue with his goalscoring output, but it'll be interesting to see who's prepared to stump up £100m+ for a 28 year old in the early stages of physical decline. Once the legs start going, even the best players can drop off a cliff rapidly.

[Badger]

Am pleased we came through the group and are into the knock out stages. Hopefully we'll see a more exciting 'cup tie' type of performance as opposed to the group stage which has appeared a bit of a going through the motions of a pre-season friendly at times, we couldn't even raise our game v Scotland.

Whilst we 'won' the group, and that along with no goals conceded is an achievement, I can't see the benefit of this knowing we're likely to face France or Germany (or Portugal) next round. Is there any reason we'd have not been better off playing for the draw last night to finish second with the more likely route of Spain, Sweden or Slovakia (think that's right) next ?

Has Southgate been naive in this ? 

[badgerx16]

8 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

But both Scotland and Wales are home nations, so my use of the plural was correct. 

Sometimes Matthew's eagerness to impress with his geek pedant superpower gets the better of him and he gets a premature interjection.

Edited 23 June, 2021 by badgerx16

[nta786]

9 minutes ago, Badger said:

Am pleased we came through the group and are into the knock out stages. Hopefully we'll see a more exciting 'cup tie' type of performance as opposed to the group stage which has appeared a bit of a going through the motions of a pre-season friendly at times, we couldn't even raise our game v Scotland.

Whilst we 'won' the group, and that along with no goals conceded is an achievement, I can't see the benefit of this knowing we're likely to face France or Germany (or Portugal) next round. Is there any reason we'd have not been better off playing for the draw last night to finish second with the more likely route of Spain, Sweden or Slovakia (think that's right) next ?

Has Southgate been naive in this ? 

Nope not this again, winning breeds confidence so on that front we did well yesterday.

Had we come second in the group, the quarterfinals would have been against the winners of Group F most likely anyway so we did the right thing in winning as it also means we stay at Wembley for the next round.

I also agree with @Lord Duckhunter, too many of us out here wanting champagne football but I think let's stay positive and wait on the outcome until we berate the team.

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, nta786 said:

Nope not this again, winning breeds confidence so on that front we did well yesterday.

Had we come second in the group, the quarterfinals would have been against the winners of Group F most likely anyway so we did the right thing in winning as it also means we stay at Wembley for the next round.

I also agree with @Lord Duckhunter, too many of us out here wanting champagne football but I think let's stay positive and wait on the outcome until we berate the team.

Fair point about the confidence, and building momentum of course.

[Charlie Wayman]

Hapless and hopeless, both England and Scotland. Excruciating viewing so I watched Clarkson's Farm instead. 

Tuesday night will be England's Swansong no doubt about that. Surely Southgate has got to be sacked soon.

[egg]

10 minutes ago, nta786 said:

Nope not this again, winning breeds confidence so on that front we did well yesterday.

Had we come second in the group, the quarterfinals would have been against the winners of Group F most likely anyway so we did the right thing in winning as it also means we stay at Wembley for the next round.

I also agree with @Lord Duckhunter, too many of us out here wanting champagne football but I think let's stay positive and wait on the outcome until we berate the team.

Agree with that. I'm happy to see us grind out results. My concern is that we're not creating enough chances, but are getting exposed from time to time. Hopefully Stones is OK as I think him and Maguire gives us a very solid CB pairing. 

The next game is arguably the toughest we could face. Get through it and things could get interesting. 

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Kane needs to get going or be dropped.  We're currently playing with one striker and that striker has been hopeless, I actually think other than that we're been pretty good.

[Viking Saint]

7 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Hapless and hopeless, both England and Scotland. Excruciating viewing so I watched Clarkson's Farm instead. 

Tuesday night will be England's Swansong no doubt about that. Surely Southgate has got to be sacked soon.

Out of interest, who would you replace him with?

[Saint Garrett]

Personally think Saka and Grealish deserve to start the knockout game. Midfield still a sticking point, as don't think the Rice/Phillips combo seems to work, he doesnt want to play Bellingham, and Henderson is shite.  Kane has been dreadful in all 3 games, but I don't see any other option.

Pickford
Walker Stones Maguire Shaw

Rice Phillips

Sake Grealish Sterling

Kane

 

[trousers]

38 minutes ago, Badger said:

Am pleased we came through the group and are into the knock out stages. Hopefully we'll see a more exciting 'cup tie' type of performance as opposed to the group stage which has appeared a bit of a going through the motions of a pre-season friendly at times, we couldn't even raise our game v Scotland.

Whilst we 'won' the group, and that along with no goals conceded is an achievement, I can't see the benefit of this knowing we're likely to face France or Germany (or Portugal) next round. Is there any reason we'd have not been better off playing for the draw last night to finish second with the more likely route of Spain, Sweden or Slovakia (think that's right) next ?

Has Southgate been naive in this ? 

I've got a hunch we'd have to play France, Germany or Portugal at some stage in order to win the thing ( ) so doesn't really matter which order we do it in. Indeed, the pain of going out in the semi-finals (for example) is much worse than going out earlier, so better to get the toughest game out of the way sooner rather than later IMO.

Edited 23 June, 2021 by trousers

[egg]

6 minutes ago, Viking Saint said:

Out of interest, who would you replace him with?

Rashford for me. 

[Saint Garrett]

1 minute ago, egg said:

Rashford for me. 

Who has been terrible for months on end and has offered bugger all when he's come on in this tournament?

DCL? maybe...shame Ings didnt make it as a fit Ings would offer more than all of them right now.

[Sunglasses Ron]

18 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Who has been terrible for months on end and has offered bugger all when he's come on in this tournament?

DCL? maybe...shame Ings didnt make it as a fit Ings would offer more than all of them right now.

Agreed, if Ings and Rashford played for the opposite clubs then Danny would probably be there right now.  Unless of course Rashford's place is now untouchable due to him being an MBE?

[egg]

15 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Who has been terrible for months on end and has offered bugger all when he's come on in this tournament?

DCL? maybe...shame Ings didnt make it as a fit Ings would offer more than all of them right now.

I'd still have played him in the Czech game. Kane needs a shot across the bows to liven him up. I'm no DCL fan, at least not the way we play. For all the JWP talk, I actually think Ings was a better candidate for the squad. He'd offer us a different option going forward with his pace and pressing. 

[egg]

8 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Agreed, if Ings and Rashford played for the opposite clubs then Danny would probably be there right now.  Unless of course Rashford's place is now untouchable due to him being an MBE?

I don't get this at all. Do you really think that Southgate would put a player in his squad who he thinks offers less than another player just because of who he plays for? There's no sense in that. 

Edited 23 June, 2021 by egg

[JustinSFC]

5 minutes ago, egg said:

I don't get this at all. Do you really think that Southgate would put a player in his squad who he thinks offers less than another player just because of who he plays for? There's no sense in that. 

I do.

And I'm not suggesting they should be there, but 💯 who you play for will give you leverage over those that play for shit teams.

Yeah, Ben White, Ben White, Ben White....

Granted, but Southgate hasn't exactly got a whole heap to choose from in THAT position has he.

[egg]

1 minute ago, JustinSFC said:

I do.

And I'm not suggesting they should be there, but 💯 who you play for will give you leverage over those that play for shit teams.

Yeah, Ben White, Ben White, Ben White....

Granted, but Southgate hasn't exactly got a whole heap to choose from in THAT position has he.

I think it's bollox. Southgate is judged on what his team does at the tournament, not whether he keeps Man Utd management happier than ours, or gives Rashford a seat on the bench rather than Ings. 

You show me Ben White, I'll raise you Kalvin Phillips. 

 

[Toussaint]

17 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Agreed, if Ings and Rashford played for the opposite clubs then Danny would probably be there right now.  Unless of course Rashford's place is now untouchable due to him being an MBE?

I must be due one soon…

[John B]

12 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Not sure what to make of England. Part of me is like ''well, there's better yet to come!'' - but the other part of me is saying...this is probably it. This is how we will paly under this pathetic excuse for a manager.

Risk adverse, alienating quality like Sancho is truly weird. You can be sure he'll throw him on in the next game on 80mins when we're behind, just as a reactionary sub - but it will be all pretty pointless.

Still has the potential to be a great euros, but equally it could end up being one of our worst ever tournaments for goal scoring and attacking quality.

Seems at the moment to be one of our best defensively which means we do not have to score many to win.

 

Pretty good tactics I would have thought perhaps Ralph could use them 

 

 

 

[egg]

59 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Hapless and hopeless, both England and Scotland. Excruciating viewing so I watched Clarkson's Farm instead. 

Good call. That Caleb is a good lad. 

[igsey]

First game I've watched in a pub in well over a year, good atmosphere and the first half was enjoyable to watch! Not sure what Gareth said to them at half time but we were clearly happy with a 1-0, and I get the feeling the Czechs were too - easier opposition in the next round for them.

Sterling and Grealish were good first half, and Phillips was everywhere - not always in a good way though, he kept turning up on the right wing and he's probably the last person we want there.

Special mention to Henderson who came on, did some pointing and some jogging, and other than that was shite. At least we didn't win a penalty for him to miss.

Can't really complain too much - unbeaten so far and top of the group - but I think we will struggle next round. 

0.00xG in the second half tells the story really!