Icegas
Joined: September 2014
Posts: 1,830 
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Post by Icegas on Jun 20, 2024 22:10:52 GMT
Quality is certainly not in abundance, raving about Germany,who demolished a piss poor bunch of Scots, never really impressed against Hungary, be interesting how they manage against a sort of half decent Swiss team.. Spain squeezed past against an average Italian team, mainly because they don't score enough..other than that there is no team that you could really say, yup there are your winners I would have said France but then I saw they still have Giroud upfront. Dembele for me is not a world-class player (basically flopped at Barca considering what they paid for him) and so there is a lot hanging on Mbappe. Italy have West Ham flop Scamacca upfront and Spain the Chelsea flop Morata. Germany are nowhere near what they used to be, including at Euro 96. There is an awful lot of mediocrity on show, just as there was in the 2022 WC. That's why England under Southgate are shocking. Technically,this group of players are the best I've seen from us in 42 years of my life. We have the technical ability to dictate and control games which is the most important thing in international football which we have never been able to do before. Man for man we are arguably as good as anyone in this tournament.Ive always written us off before due to the media build up and biase reporting. But genuinely we are one of the best teams in the world,but Southgate is such a defensive minded manager. If we don't get to the semis/or final,or even if we don't win it with these players then it's a disgrace. He is not a good coach.He is a box ticker and yes man.He fell to the semis final of the WC in Russia, should have won in the Euros 3 years ago,and now with the talent peaking is f**king us up again. Sadly, he is a championship level coach with top class players. If we don't win or compete at least here in Germany it's simply down to him. That said,our players looked knackered come the end after a long season. You think, even if we get knocked out in a weeks time most of these players will be on pre season tours in 3 weeks later. They get paid millions,so I'm not feeling sorry for them but we looked hanging. |
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bluetornados
Predictions League
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Post by bluetornados on Jun 20, 2024 22:46:46 GMT
Thursday 20th June 2024 - UEFA European Championship - Group Stage - Group B
Spain 1 (Calafiori 55 og) Italy 0
GOAL - Spain 1-0 Italy - Own goal (Riccardo Calafiori) 55 mins
ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/6/20/a776ceea-7bfe-42fc-b0d3-361b9df1eda2.png
FULL-TIME - Spain 1-0 Italy
Match report by Emma Sanders, BBC Sport journalist at Gelsenkirchen StadiumSpain secured their spot in the last 16 of Euro 2024 with a scintilating performance against defending champions Italy in Gelsenkirchen. They created countless chances and were utterly dominant but won by a narrow scoreline thanks to an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori in the second half. After being kept at bay by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for almost an hour, Alvaro Morata's flick-on was poked in by the knee of the unfortunate Calafiori. There was no response from Italy, who were comfortably second best, despite playing their part in a captivating match. Two European giants meeting in the group stage of the tournament meant there were high hopes and it lived up to its billing with an electric opening half. Spain were the ones delivering most of the eye-catching stuff, moving the ball around beautifully with intensity and creativity, while Italy succeeded in keeping them out - but only just. They had Donnarumma to thank as he made three excellent saves, tipping over Pedri’s header in the first two minutes, before later denying Fabian Ruiz and Morata. Spain’s Nico Williams should have scored when he headed wide, then struck the crossbar, but he put in an impressive display alongside teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, 16, who played with freedom, curling an effort narrowly wide later on. Italy had just three touches in the opposition box in the first half and not a single shot on target, and did not up their game after the break. There were glimpses of a threat on the counter-attack but it was Spain who continued to rack up the chances - Pedri and Morata coming close again as they cruised into the last 16 with two wins from two matches, having not conceded. Italy still have a chance of progressing. They face Croatia on Monday - a nation that has finished in the top three of the past two World Cups - while Spain take on Albania.
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bluetornados
Predictions League
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Post by bluetornados on Jun 21, 2024 5:48:55 GMT
Thursday 20th June 2024 - UEFA European Championship - Group Stage - Group C
England 1 (Harry Kane 18) Denmark 1 (Hjulmand 34) - Reaction
ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/6/20/dc710501-6826-4951-bad3-1f3b9e5561c3.png
ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/6/20/415b84ec-8ddc-482e-997c-2fbd84dffa5c.png
England captain Harry Kane, speaking to BBC One: "I think we said before the tournament there's no easy games and I think that's showing. "We've got levels we can reach and we can be better both with and without the ball. I think the sign of a good team is when you're not playing at your best and still find a way to get results like we have in the last two games. "We're top of the group. We know we can improve. I know there will probably loads of noise and a bit of disappointment back home but we experienced this in the last Euros as well when we drew to Scotland. "Step by step, we'll get there." More from England captain Harry Kane, speaking to BBC One, about dropping deep after scoring: "I think it's something we've got to get better at. I think we're starting games well but when the teams are dropping deeper we're not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who's going. "In the second half we tried to change a little bit but it was difficult. "Credit to Denmark, they caused us some threats. Overall we've got to look back and see where we can improve." England captain Harry Kane on on whether England are making it difficult for themselves: "I think we're struggling both with and without the ball. I think the pressure in both games hasn't been right and with the ball hasn't been good enough. Everyone's dropping below their levels a little bit. It was tough out there, but we're calm. It wasn't our greatest game but we got away with a point." ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/594/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/6/20/2f4185c7-765a-4ed7-811b-3475c5afdb00.jpgEngland manager Gareth Southgate, speaking to BBC One: "Clearly not what we would have hoped [for]. We're not using the ball well enough and we have to accept that if you do that you will suffer at times as we have tonight. We know there's another level we have to find." On whether he tells the team to drop deep after scoring: "No. I think we've played teams that are quite fluid in back threes and it's not easy to get pressure on them but we've got to do that better than we have in these last two matches. Not keeping the ball has been another problem." On why he took Trent Alexander-Arnold off: "I wanted Conor [Gallagher] on. We needed energy, we needed to press better. Conor does that very well." More from England boss Gareth Southgate, speaking to BBC One:On how he thinks Trent Alexander-Arnold is doing in midfield: "He's had some moments where he's delivered what we thought he would. We know it's an experiment. We know we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Philips. We're trying different things and at the moment we're not flowing as we'd like." On taking off Harry Kane: "We needed energy. We've had two games in a short turnaround and we needed fresh legs, energy to press. I think Harry has only had one 90 minutes in over a month so that was the decision we took." On how much work England still have to do: "There's a huge amount of work, that's evident from the two performances we've given and we've got to be tight. We understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so and we've got to make them better." More from England manager Gareth Southgate, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "We know people will be disappointed with our performances. At the moment we are not pressing with the intensity that we need to and that's meaning we are having to sit be a bit deeper. "They are the problems and we need to find the solutions. We need to asses the two performances and work through it together. If you allow players to pick passes then they can play passes which can hurt you." ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/594/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/6/20/85aef4df-aa3f-4e49-b8c3-7af69db2df29.jpg
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
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Post by eppinggas on Jun 21, 2024 9:06:41 GMT
Sack Southgate while there is still time.
Even Scotland had more about them than England. It really is THAT bad.
Bring in Roy Keane as England manager, at least he'll fire them up! Problem solved.
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Post by lostinspace on Jun 21, 2024 10:24:02 GMT
Keane should be in Jail.....let alone manager of England.. he's as bad as The nutter we employed!!
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ltdgas
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 1,093
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Post by ltdgas on Jun 21, 2024 10:55:22 GMT
I didn’t get home from work in time to watch , but sounds poor , i like Keano , better than Southgate
Frank lampard for me , think he’d do well
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Post by baselswh on Jun 21, 2024 11:14:18 GMT
Klopp would suit the England job.
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Post by rideintothesun on Jun 21, 2024 13:23:51 GMT
I would have said France but then I saw they still have Giroud upfront. Dembele for me is not a world-class player (basically flopped at Barca considering what they paid for him) and so there is a lot hanging on Mbappe. Italy have West Ham flop Scamacca upfront and Spain the Chelsea flop Morata. Germany are nowhere near what they used to be, including at Euro 96. There is an awful lot of mediocrity on show, just as there was in the 2022 WC. That's why England under Southgate are shocking. Technically,this group of players are the best I've seen from us in 42 years of my life. We have the technical ability to dictate and control games which is the most important thing in international football which we have never been able to do before. Man for man we are arguably as good as anyone in this tournament.Ive always written us off before due to the media build up and biase reporting. But genuinely we are one of the best teams in the world,but Southgate is such a defensive minded manager. If we don't get to the semis/or final,or even if we don't win it with these players then it's a disgrace. He is not a good coach.He is a box ticker and yes man.He fell to the semis final of the WC in Russia, should have won in the Euros 3 years ago,and now with the talent peaking is f**king us up again. Sadly, he is a championship level coach with top class players. If we don't win or compete at least here in Germany it's simply down to him. That said,our players looked knackered come the end after a long season. You think, even if we get knocked out in a weeks time most of these players will be on pre season tours in 3 weeks later. They get paid millions,so I'm not feeling sorry for them but we looked hanging. The best technical player we have produced in the last 42 years was Gascoigne. And I would take Seaman, Neville, Southgate, Adams, Pearce over Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guehl, Trippier every day of the week. Would also take pre-injury Shearer over Kane every time. For me, a large part of it is mentality, which is what Capello was talking about the other day. The team failed against Croatia, Italy and France when it mattered, and I've never been convinced by the hype. |
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Post by baselswh on Jun 21, 2024 13:35:18 GMT
That's why England under Southgate are shocking. Technically,this group of players are the best I've seen from us in 42 years of my life. We have the technical ability to dictate and control games which is the most important thing in international football which we have never been able to do before. Man for man we are arguably as good as anyone in this tournament.Ive always written us off before due to the media build up and biase reporting. But genuinely we are one of the best teams in the world,but Southgate is such a defensive minded manager. If we don't get to the semis/or final,or even if we don't win it with these players then it's a disgrace. He is not a good coach.He is a box ticker and yes man.He fell to the semis final of the WC in Russia, should have won in the Euros 3 years ago,and now with the talent peaking is f**king us up again. Sadly, he is a championship level coach with top class players. If we don't win or compete at least here in Germany it's simply down to him. That said,our players looked knackered come the end after a long season. You think, even if we get knocked out in a weeks time most of these players will be on pre season tours in 3 weeks later. They get paid millions,so I'm not feeling sorry for them but we looked hanging. The best technical player we have produced in the last 42 years was Gascoigne. And I would take Seaman, Neville, Southgate, Adams, Pearce over Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guehl, Trippier every day of the week. Would also take pre-injury Shearer over Kane every time. For me, a large part of it is mentality, which is what Capello was talking about the other day. The team failed against Croatia, Italy and France when it mattered, and I've never been convinced by the hype. There most certainly is a mental weakness in our current squad. The Premier is a massive filthy lucre scoffing monster and to satisfy its insatiable appetite Sky television and other media ,tell us our England players are like gods. Then we play eg Denmark and we see they don't have much idea,a leader ( on or off the field ) or passion. Thoroughly disappointing. Gareth Southgate will be happy in that we have a decent chance to progress from the group,it's what 'it's all about at this stage' he'll say and to be fair he's right. He says we have to up our game. Hopefully he has a strategy and the ability to get his plan across to the squad. 🏴 |
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Post by russiangas on Jun 21, 2024 15:45:34 GMT
Klopp would suit the England job. Agree, I think Eddie Howe wouldn't make a bad England manager either. Southgate has to go after this tournament whatever happens. Romania look like a better team than the way Southgate has them playing. |
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Cheshiregas
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Post by Cheshiregas on Jun 21, 2024 18:51:10 GMT
Klopp would suit the England job. Agree, I think Eddie Howe wouldn't make a bad England manager either. Southgate has to go after this tournament whatever happens. Romania look like a better team than the way Southgate has them playing. Howe has done well raising standards and expectations at clubs but international winner not so sure. Germany enter a tournament believing they can win, we don't. We need a manager that can instil belief in the squad. We have immense talent but they don't believe in themselves as a team. Individually they have talent and belief but not so much that the team can win a tournament. We need a manager that can chat that attitude. |
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Post by Colyton Gas. on Jun 21, 2024 19:48:21 GMT
Why did the Italian keeper get booked?
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Jun 22, 2024 8:10:46 GMT
Agree, I think Eddie Howe wouldn't make a bad England manager either. Southgate has to go after this tournament whatever happens. Romania look like a better team than the way Southgate has them playing. Howe has done well raising standards and expectations at clubs but international winner not so sure. Germany enter a tournament believing they can win, we don't. We need a manager that can instil belief in the squad. We have immense talent but they don't believe in themselves as a team. Individually they have talent and belief but not so much that the team can win a tournament. We need a manager that can chat that attitude. On paper England have a young squad, brimming with talent (going forward anyway). Reflected in being pre-tournament favourites. They are currently producing the most turgid, slow, unimaginative, boring football by anyone at the Euros. Sack Southgate. Bring in Mike Bassett or Sam Allardyce. Sorted. |
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
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Posts: 10,361
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Post by kingswood Polak on Jun 22, 2024 8:58:59 GMT
... and so you should be but the English fans are an embarrassment to the nation. No respect for other nations, booing their national anthem. Idiots. Booing Serbia's national anthem is entirely fine by me. Their fans aren't any more respectful to other countries, and that's without even getting into politics. More embarrassed by the 'ten bombers' chant, as the Germans made an effort to atone and make amends in a way that Serbia has never done. This England side really aren't all that. Very kind draws papered over the cracks and they will get found out against a decent side. Disrespectful and not necessary. It shows ignorance, lack of honour and common decency. Something you’d expect from a child |
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Post by rideintothesun on Jun 22, 2024 9:21:45 GMT
Concerning to see the comments from Southgate about a lack of fitness in the squad, owing to particular players not having had enough minutes coming into the tournament. If players aren't fit, you don't play...that simple. We found that out with the whole tragi-comedy around Beckham's metatarsal at WC2002.
It's becoming increasingly clear that Southgate should have stepped down after the QF defeat against France. For me, it all went bad with England after Hoddle stepped down. He was a very good manager and had the team playing very well - the 0-0 with Italy in Rome was an outstanding England performance, and this was for me the last time we had the potential to push on and become a genuinely top international side. Never taken in by the 'Golden Generation' stuff - the mentality of that team was just wrong.
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Post by rideintothesun on Jun 22, 2024 9:31:15 GMT
Howe has done well raising standards and expectations at clubs but international winner not so sure. Germany enter a tournament believing they can win, we don't. We need a manager that can instil belief in the squad. We have immense talent but they don't believe in themselves as a team. Individually they have talent and belief but not so much that the team can win a tournament. We need a manager that can chat that attitude. On paper England have a young squad, brimming with talent (going forward anyway). Reflected in being pre-tournament favourites. They are currently producing the most turgid, slow, unimaginative, boring football by anyone at the Euros. Sack Southgate. Bring in Mike Bassett or Sam Allardyce. Sorted. In a fit of nostalgia, I watched England vs Portugal from Euro 2000 (3-2 defeat) the other night. Three things struck me: 1) Despite the England team containing a number of recent European champions (Man Utd having won the champion's league in 1999), Portugal were absolutely streets ahead in terms of technical ability. Just look at the difference between the goals. 2) After losing the two-goal lead, England played like Burton Albion. Throwing the ball into the box at the first opportunity, hoping to get rebounds or a cheap goal from set pieces... 3) With a few exceptions (Euro 96 and WC 2002) , England seem to play exactly the same way (i.e. badly) in major tournaments. They look nervy, disjointed and can barely string a few passes together. I remember that even at WC 1990 and Euro 96 they started the tournament playing like this. |
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
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Post by kingswood Polak on Jun 23, 2024 22:42:10 GMT
So this looks like a QF defeat against the first decent team we face? At WC in Russia, scraped past an average Columbia on pens, beat a poor Sweden and then lost to a decent Croatia in the SF. At EC, beat a poor Germany, beat an average to poor Ukraine and then beat an average Denmark because losing to an average to poor Italy in the final. The team is overhyped and too many of the 'big' players flop when it matters (Kane being the worst offender). I preferred the Euro 96 and WC 98 teams to this one. The main thing in our favour is that the quality of international football has fallen so dramatically. Nonsense. Many start poorly. Teams like Portugal, Italy, Spain. We will do well. Kane must go |
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
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Posts: 10,361
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Post by kingswood Polak on Jun 23, 2024 22:47:18 GMT
Sunday 16th June 2024 - UEFA European Championship - Group Stage - Group D
Poland 1 Netherlands 2
FULL-TIME - Poland 1-2 Netherlands
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman, speaking in the post match press conference: "Wout Weghorst was able to play and he has added value to the team, he has a different way of behaving and that is what we needed. "This should have been 4-1 in favour of us after one hour, we played very well but couldn't finish opportunities. "The Polish squad were nearly able to find the net themselves but we were lucky and scored a second goal. "We have good qualities, the team performed well. After 60 minutes we should have been able to score more. "Cody Gakpo played very well. He was dangerous and we should give him the ball more often." Poland have the youngest team, been naive. They will come good when Lewandowski is gone |
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Jun 24, 2024 7:24:03 GMT
Scotland keep up their impressive record of never getting out of the group stages at a major tournament.
A late German equaliser against Switzerland, and a very late Hungarian winner.
Marvelous.
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Post by rideintothesun on Jun 24, 2024 7:52:19 GMT
So this looks like a QF defeat against the first decent team we face? At WC in Russia, scraped past an average Columbia on pens, beat a poor Sweden and then lost to a decent Croatia in the SF. At EC, beat a poor Germany, beat an average to poor Ukraine and then beat an average Denmark because losing to an average to poor Italy in the final. The team is overhyped and too many of the 'big' players flop when it matters (Kane being the worst offender). I preferred the Euro 96 and WC 98 teams to this one. The main thing in our favour is that the quality of international football has fallen so dramatically. Nonsense. Many start poorly. Teams like Portugal, Italy, Spain. We will do well. Kane must go Indeed, and England started poorly in both WC 1990 and Euro 96. England only came alive in Euro 96 after the Scotland penalty miss and the infamous Gazza goal. My concern is that almost everything coming out of the England camp is so negative. The manager raising fitness and the absence of Phillips, Kane suggesting that the team are not equipped to press, and so on... I stand by the OP. I don't think this is an exceptional team and I think many of the players are overrated and come up short when it matters. |
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