The Euro2020 Thread

[whelk]

1 hour ago, The Cat said:

I wonder if that MP who got all riled up by the team taking the knee is still boycotting England games?

And all those Saints fans boycotting after JWP left out. I feel sorry for them being so principled

[wild-saint]

Just now, whelk said:

And all those Saints fans boycotting after JWP left out. I feel sorry for them being so principled

That’s such wank comment. Yes plenty disagreed with the squad selection (including non saints fans) but can’t remember many (if any) saying they would boycott. 

[S-Clarke]

54 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

There's a level of calm control - in squad selection, in team selection, in game management - that has never happened under any England manager in my lifetime.

There is an eerie pragmatic efficiency that is quite frankly not normal for England.

We won easily yesterday without the talisman/poster boy/great hope even stepping onto the pitch. 

I guess the only thing we haven't faced is adversity yet, but that's because we haven't conceded a single flipping goal. So why would we.

It's another world.

This lot is a much better team too, it's a different generation than before and they seem to be adapting to the challenge much better. Back in the days when we had household names such as Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Terry, Cole etc...you'd say player for player that was top. But that lot was never a team, just a bunch of talented individuals never cohesively combining to form a team. We had the odd good results with that lot, but in the main it was disjointed, frantic and very confused as numerous managers scratched their heads as to why so many good players struggle together.

This lot play like a team, they may not have the stardom of that 'golden generation' individually, but they are still superbly talented and the team cohesiveness and control is on a different level than we've seen before. One element that has probably helped a lot is the progression of these players under Southgtate from the U21's through to the senior, there's a continuity right through the setup at the mo.

[Chapel End]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

This lot is a much better team too, it's a different generation than before and they seem to be adapting to the challenge much better. Back in the days when we had household names such as Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Terry, Cole etc...you'd say player for player that was top. But that lot was never a team, just a bunch of talented individuals never cohesively combining to form a team. We had the odd good results with that lot, but in the main it was disjointed, frantic and very confused as numerous managers scratched their heads as to why so many good players struggle together.

This lot play like a team, they may not have the stardom of that 'golden generation' individually, but they are still superbly talented and the team cohesiveness and control is on a different level than we've seen before. One element that has probably helped a lot is the progression of these players under Southgtate from the U21's through to the senior, there's a continuity right through the setup at the mo.

Well, its certainly surprised me, I have been used to England underachieving at every tournament despite having some very good talent at the managers disposal, can we fulfill our potential? Only time will tell but lets hope so...

[Lord Duckhunter]

9 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

That’s such wank comment. Yes plenty disagreed with the squad selection (including non saints fans) but can’t remember many (if any) saying they would boycott. 

I quoted 6 posts stating that  the other night, however the mods deleted them. Look back through the thread, there’s plenty. 

Edited 4 July, 2021 by Lord Duckhunter

[SKD]

29 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

That’s such wank comment. Yes plenty disagreed with the squad selection (including non saints fans) but can’t remember many (if any) saying they would boycott. 

There were idiots on here claiming they’ll be supporting Scotland over England because a couple of saints players were playing. 

[SKD]

You have to say fair play to Maguire. Been one of the players of the tournament since he came in and been able to do without being fit, as Always_sfc told us. 

[Antrimsaint]

13 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Are you for real. The thread is full of people slagging Southgate, Kane, Sterling, Rice, Phillips off. Full of people “supporting” Scotland or having no interest in England. Luckily for them (and you) the mods keep deleting posts that quote them. 

Love the lefty, Woke, Marxist take the knee team don’t you? 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Tactically, it’s the best English managerial performance I can remember, and that goes back to ‘70. Sir Alf was pretty poor in that World Cup with his substitutions during the  Germany game, but Southgate has got his absolutely spot on. 

The attacking talent at his disposal is quite unbelievable, Foden & Grealish didn’t even kick a ball last night, yet we absolutely murdered them. The key to unleashing this talent is the way he’s set us up defensively and protected our weakest area. Superb management. 

[sadoldgit]

Blimey! Who’d have thought that England could win a match without loading the team with defenders?

Who’d have thought that an England squad loaded with attacking talent could score goals for fun if given the chance?

For those having a pop at those of us who were disappointed with the earlier negative tactics, give it a rest. We were perfectly entitled to feel aggrieved at the defensive attitude when we have so much attacking flair in the squad.

There are more than one way to win football matches. Southgate chose one particular way that involved extreme caution where he probably could have got a win with more attractive football. What is wrong with expressing an opinion about that? We do it all the time with our own club.

it is perfectly possible that if Southgate had set his stall out to play expansive attacking football from the start we would be in exactly the same position as we are now. If you want to put it down to some kind of tactical genius (stacking the team with defensive players) so be it.

As I said before, no one will give a stuff how we play so long as we get to the final, less so if we win it.

And just for my own personal internet stalker, no I am not moaning. I am as happy as everybody else about our progress in this competition and am happy to give credit to Southgate, his coaching team and the squad for getting this far.

I am also happy about a very favourable draw 😉.

Denmark will be no pushover but they did look very tired at the end of their game whereas we look like we have plenty in the tank. Expecting an Italy v England final. 

[Badger]

27 minutes ago, SKD said:

You have to say fair play to Maguire. Been one of the players of the tournament since he came in and been able to do without being fit, as Always_sfc told us. 

Especially as, paraphrasing but 'no better than Jack Stephens' - on this forum c 2017.

No idea who said it though.

[aintforever]

Great performance, Southgate has certainly proved me wrong.

Will be fantastic watching the lads take the knee in the final, wonder if the wankers will still boo?

[SKD]

8 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Tactically, it’s the best English managerial performance I can remember, and that goes back to ‘70. Sir Alf was pretty poor in that World Cup with his substitutions during the  Germany game, but Southgate has got his absolutely spot on. 

The attacking talent at his disposal is quite unbelievable, Foden & Grealish didn’t even kick a ball last night, yet we absolutely murdered them. The key to unleashing this talent is the way he’s set us up defensively and protected our weakest area. Superb management. 

Yep. I think everyone, including me, would prefer to see us set up like Brazil of the early 00’s but the reality is having a solid defence wins you tournaments. 

I was critical of southgate and let’s be honest, Denmark will be a step up again, but you have to say these last 2 games we and he has been superb. 
 

Rice and Phillips have been outstanding. 
 

 

[CB Fry]

34 minutes ago, SKD said:

You have to say fair play to Maguire. Been one of the players of the tournament since he came in and been able to do without being fit, as Always_sfc told us. 

Fantastic to see Maguire score from a set piece last night. Isn't it fascinating that there are other players who can take free kicks and corners?

And also what a set piece goal from Jordan Henderson. Of course some forum genius had recommended Henderson should be watching this game, at home, on his big TV. 

Kinda good news that he wasn't doing that, I'm sure everyone would agree.

Well done Gareth on making the right choices for the right reasons at the right time. 

 

Edited 4 July, 2021 by CB Fry

[CB Fry]

It's good we are playing a Denmark team who have actually beaten us at Wembley in a competitive match not so long ago.

Excellent to counteract any complacency.

[Kingsland Codger]

In his post-match interview Southgate was keen to emphasise the entire squad and not just the starting eleven and the used substitutes. And those who didn’t make the squad could make up a pretty good “3rdXI”. 

In no particular order and off-the-top-of-my-head - Pope, Wan-Bissaka, KWP, TAA, James, Dier, Tarkowski, Maddison, Greenwood, Ings, Antonio, Wilson and, no doubt, several others. Most of these players would not seriously weaken the existing squad. I have omitted JWP to save us from having Duckhunter inflict his all too familiar views upon us yet again.

[SaintBobby]

If JWP had been playing, we would have won 8-0. The poor selection decisions by Southgate are still costing England dearly 😀

[SKD]

Just now, Kingsland Codger said:

In his post-match interview Southgate was keen to emphasise the entire squad and not just the starting eleven and the used substitutes. And those who didn’t make the squad could make up a pretty good “3rdXI”. 

In no particular order and off-the-top-of-my-head - Pope, Wan-Bissaka, KWP, TAA, James, Dier, Tarkowski, Maddison, Greenwood, Ings, Antonio, Wilson and, no doubt, several others. Most of these players would not seriously weaken the existing squad. I have omitted JWP to save us from having Duckhunter inflict his all too familiar views upon us yet again.

I don’t think we have / had the strongest 11 going into the tournament, but I certainly think we have the best squad. So much talent in depth. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

I think when you look at the tournament as a whole, the three most successful teams thus far, England,Italy and Denmark have a togetherness and unity that the other squads don't seem to have. Seems to me that the pre-tournament favourites, the likes of France and Belgium, all had fantastic individuals, but they perhaps like previous England teams have struggled to play as a team.  

[egg]

9 minutes ago, SKD said:

Yep. I think everyone, including me, would prefer to see us set up like Brazil of the early 00’s but the reality is having a solid defence wins you tournaments. 

I was critical of southgate and let’s be honest, Denmark will be a step up again, but you have to say these last 2 games we and he has been superb. 
 

Rice and Phillips have been outstanding. 
 

 

Agreed. I didn't agree with the squad, or the first Xl, and thought leaving Grealish or Foden out against Ukraine was nuts.

Southgate knows what he's doing though, and he's used his squad amazingly. To think that we did that last night without Foden or Grealish getting a single minute, and with half the team getting a breather from fairly early on. Credit to Southgate and I'm happy to say I was wrong. 

Rice and Phillips have indeed been outstanding, but Southgate won't be afraid to sacrifice one of them if he feels that Henderson can offer more in the semi, and/or the final if we make it. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

6 minutes ago, SKD said:

I don’t think we have / had the strongest 11 going into the tournament, but I certainly think we have the best squad. So much talent in depth. 

We also look fresher than most teams. Normally the hard slog of an English season does us in, but everyone is in the same boat this season. The ideal scenario is for Spain to beat Italy on penalties. That will then be 3 games running they’d have needed extra time, it’s like playing an extra game. 

[benjii]

Let's be honest, though. Ukraine are shite. This reminds me a bit of the last World Cup where we played a load of shite teams.

I expect us to beat Denmark too but I think the final will be difficult. 

But still, well done so far to everyone. 

[Matthew Le God]

20 minutes ago, benjii said:

 a load of shite teams 

Beaten Germany and Croatia (runners up in the last World Cup)

Edited 4 July, 2021 by Matthew Le God

[Lord Duckhunter]

Just read online that Southgate was knocked back by us as a youth. Was training in the same year group as Alan Shearer,  but let go at 13. Went onto palace wanting to prove us wrong. 

[East Kent Saint]

JWP would be good to have in the squad but the squad is ok anyway . They are playing as a team and Southgate has deployed subs and the team seem to have accepted that so team selection has been good for each match . If England beat Denmark then it was the right decision. Will Walker keep his place ? 

[Saint Mikey]

14 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Just read online that Southgate was knocked back by us as a youth. Was training in the same year group as Alan Shearer,  but let go at 13. Went onto palace wanting to prove us wrong. 

All becomes clear now. Obviously the reason he left out Ings, JWP and Bertrand before that. Can’t be any other explanation. 😐

[Jimmy_D]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

We also look fresher than most teams. Normally the hard slog of an English season does us in, but everyone is in the same boat this season. The ideal scenario is for Spain to beat Italy on penalties. That will then be 3 games running they’d have needed extra time, it’s like playing an extra game. 

It’s not just that it’s put everyone in the same boat as us, but also that England have a lot more experience of being in this boat, not least shown by Southgate rotating the squad well, and so far not only avoiding any injuries, but also working injured players back into match fitness.

[Lord Duckhunter]

11 minutes ago, Jimmy_D said:

It’s not just that it’s put everyone in the same boat as us, but also that England have a lot more experience of being in this boat, not least shown by Southgate rotating the squad well, and so far not only avoiding any injuries, but also working injured players back into match fitness.

Agreed.
 

The stock piling of full backs looks inspired now, because the modern game requires real freshness in that position. James & Chilwell will be fresh as daisies if the worst comes to the worst and the ones that played become fucked. Same with Phillips & Rice, Henderson’s at their level and Bellingham looks able to deputise as well. For me, barring injuries to Kane, McQuire, Stones and maybe the keeper, this squad can cope pretty well with anything else. 

[John B]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Tactically, it’s the best English managerial performance I can remember, and that goes back to ‘70. Sir Alf was pretty poor in that World Cup with his substitutions during the  Germany game, but Southgate has got his absolutely spot on. 

The attacking talent at his disposal is quite unbelievable, Foden & Grealish didn’t even kick a ball last night, yet we absolutely murdered them. The key to unleashing this talent is the way he’s set us up defensively and protected our weakest area. Superb management. 

In 1970 If I remember the game turned on a goalkeeping error by Bonetti not the substitutes

[John B]

3 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Agreed.
 

The stock piling of full backs looks inspired now, because the modern game requires real freshness in that position. James & Chilwell will be fresh as daisies if the worst comes to the worst and the ones that played become fucked. Same with Phillips & Rice, Henderson’s at their level and Bellingham looks able to deputise as well. For me, barring injuries to Kane, McQuire, Stones and maybe the keeper, this squad can cope pretty well with anything else. 

I think you missed out Sterling from your list but I agree what you are saying although I think Mings has played pretty well when he has played but he not as comfortable coming forward as Maguire  

[Lord Duckhunter]

7 minutes ago, John B said:

In 1970 If I remember the game turned on a goalkeeping error by Bonetti not the substitutes

2-0 up and taking Bobby Charlton off to rest him. My old mans never forgiven him. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 minutes ago, John B said:

I think you missed out Sterling from your list but I agree what you are saying although I think Mings has played pretty well when he has played but he not as comfortable coming forward as Maguire  

The back ups to Sterling are in the same bag talent wise as him. Whilst he’s on top of his game, whoever comes in would probably start for most other countries. The drop off in talent is between Kane & DCL, The centre halves (IMO) and maybe in nets. 

[kyle04]

Yes we do have a squad of 2 first teams I think, and it's all going for us at the moment. Despite earlier criticism of Kane , myself included, he's about the only player aside from Pickford we would miss. We've got this far for a number of reasons - our players are fit and tactically drilled; we can score from any type of situation; we haven't yet fallen foul of any dodgy referee decisions, the officiating has been the best I've seen; our opposition has generally been poor, we looked the most uncomfortable v Scotland which says a lot, but we've exploited that superbly which we haven't always done over the years. GS deserves all the credit he gets, he's neither a flamboyant character nor a wise old head but whatever is going on behind the scenes it's working, so far.

[East Kent Saint]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

2-0 up and taking Bobby Charlton off to rest him. My old mans never forgiven him. 

I think Bobby had hit the wall , Bonetti took the flack but it was the game that did my head in  !

[Jimmy_D]

On 24/06/2021 at 00:18, Jimmy_D said:

R16

Portugal, Italy, France, Croatia

Sweden, England, NL, Denmark

QF

Italy, France, England, Denmark

SF

Italy, England

F

Italy

R16 predictions were poor, but all three that made it through I also correctly predicted for the QF results.

[Antrimsaint]

3 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The back ups to Sterling are in the same bag talent wise as him. Whilst he’s on top of his game, whoever comes in would probably start for most other countries. The drop off in talent is between Kane & DCL, The centre halves (IMO) and maybe in nets. 

Still here I see

[Kingsland Codger]

3 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

2-0 up and taking Bobby Charlton off to rest him. My old mans never forgiven him. 

It was 2-1 when Bobby Charlton was subbed.  The sub who made the real difference was Jurgen Grabowski who gave our tiring defenders the run-around. Colin Bell, who had come on for Charlton, was taken down by Beckenbauer - as clear a penalty as one could ever wish to see - but not given.

[Dark Munster]

We would've lost to Brazil in 1970 in the final anyway. No-one could touch that team, probably the greatest ever.

[LeBizzier69]

I didn't see last night coming at all, and also happy to be proved utterly wrong on my predictions....thought Germany would turn up and hand us a spanking the other night too.

Only downside, with Saints tinted spec's on, is that JWP isn't going to get a look in for some time now barring injuries. Southgate will have his new midfield favourites (rightly so i suppose)  so i'd be surprised if JWP gets close to the starting XI any time soon. 

[AlexLaw76]

I honestly believe we will win it.

[Turkish]

7 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

I honestly believe we will win it.

It’s hard to imagine how it could be any better lined up for us. 2 games now at Wembley a very average Denmark team standing in our way of a final. We seem to be improving as the tournament progresses, have momentum, are hard to beat and got some real talent going forward and I guess most importantly the players seems to have a great team spirit and believe they can win it. 

[sadoldgit]

7 hours ago, East Kent Saint said:

I think Bobby had hit the wall , Bonetti took the flack but it was the game that did my head in  !

Charlton said that he felt fine and could have run all day but you can see why Ramsey took him off as well as Peter’s to save their legs for the semi final as we were well in control of the game at that point. Don’t forget we were playing at high Ltitude too. The Germans felt that Beckenbaur was released to a freer role after Charlton went off as he was man marking him and that is what turned the game.

There were many rumours of dark arts. Bobby Moore was falsely accused of stealing a bracelet and was arrested for a time. Gordon Banks said he thought his beer was spiked causes his stomach problems and withdrawal from the game. A bunch of Mexican fans kept a load of noise going outside the England hotel until 4am in the morning of the match and the police did nothing. There were a number of other issues that threw curved balls at our preparations. Some thought that the CIA were behind it as they wanted Brazil to win for political reasons! 
Its hard to imagine Brazil not winning it as they we awesome at the time. We probably had a better squad than the WC squad but couldn’t touch them. 
 

[benjii]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

It’s hard to imagine how it could be any better lined up for us. 2 games now at Wembley a very average Denmark team standing in our way of a final. We seem to be improving as the tournament progresses, have momentum, are hard to beat and got some real talent going forward and I guess most importantly the players seems to have a great team spirit and believe they can win it. 

Agreed, except if we beat Denmark we will be playing, in the final, a team which is far better than anyone we have played so far, whether it’s Spain or Italy. Significantly better. We haven’t really seen how this team would do against a top team and I still worry a bit about our defence.

But a one-off match, home advantage, Sterling in form and Kane getting his confidence back… we’ve got a decent chance for sure.

[Jeremy]

It's good to read positive posts about football on this site for a change.   

[Jimmy_D]

6 hours ago, benjii said:

Agreed, except if we beat Denmark we will be playing, in the final, a team which is far better than anyone we have played so far, whether it’s Spain or Italy. Significantly better. We haven’t really seen how this team would do against a top team and I still worry a bit about our defence.

But a one-off match, home advantage, Sterling in form and Kane getting his confidence back… we’ve got a decent chance for sure.

To be honest it’s really difficult to tell how good Spain/Italy are. They’ve both needed extra time in the knockouts, and even the Italy-Belgium match could easily have gone to extra time.

They haven’t been blowing teams out of the water so far, while we’ve gone past everyone, including Croatia and Germany, without conceding a goal.

I’m not sure it’s as big a step up for us as we’re expecting. Or as big a step up for us as it would be for them, if we manage to avoid slipping up against Denmark.

[skintsaint]

Denmark won't be too easy but feel we are building moment now. Denmark looked leggy 2nd half v Czechs so could go in our favour. We didn't score past them in two attempts last year so they will be a bit confident against us going into it.

[Sheaf Saint]

Kane versus Vestergaard.

If it was a PL match, there's only one way that would end.

[Lord Duckhunter]

4 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Kane versus Vestergaard.

If it was a PL match, there's only one way that would end.

Let’s hope the Danes employ the Ralph “let’s play high up the pitch with a slow centre half pairing” tactics which led to the Spurs debacle earlier in the season. The most inept display of managerial fuckwittery witnessed in years. 

[S-Clarke]

7 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Denmark won't be too easy but feel we are building moment now. Denmark looked leggy 2nd half v Czechs so could go in our favour. We didn't score past them in two attempts last year so they will be a bit confident against us going into it.

Agreed. I think this will be a very tough game, but I still think we have the edge.

Denmark will be leggy, whilst we have the likes of Sancho, Grealish, Foden etc who haven't really played a great deal - great weapons to have up your sleeve. No risks of yellows or suspensions for the final either.

It's pretty much the perfect situation to go into a Semi Final. At home, full of confidence, fresher squad, no suspensions. We will never get a better opportunity.

Edited 5 July, 2021 by S-Clarke

[Jeremy]

NZ TAB paying $1.82 for England win, $5 Denmark. Looking forward to an $8.20 colllect.