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Fierce_LiNk

Football Season 2020-21

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It wasn't a pretty game by either side, and neither of us really got going. Home advantage had a massive impact on the result you feel, Germany looked intimidated at times. 

But I'll take that result. Sometimes you need that home advantage or moments of luck to get by. 

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2 hours ago, Julius said:
2 hours ago, Julius said:

43,000 fans and only 1,800 being German

Wow. Massive advantage. How much did England stump up to UEFA for that or have all matches been so partisan? :blank: 

I watched Wimby instead (especially since I read the England band would be in the crowd) and I see they managed to get the upset. I feel Germany are in need of a rebuild similar to what Lowe did when he first got the job. They'll be back. Anyway, that's a free pass into the final for England, right? That's what was being said in the build-up to today if they won so I hope there's no backpedalling with the arrogance and entitlement now.

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The defence was absolutely superb, best at the tournament.

Won’t lie, I was frustrated in the first half, as it looked like we lacked ideas in attack. That was not helped by the fact that the sitting midfielders were not pushing up into space to support attack.

But that was a tactical choice, and in the end we won, so I can’t complain. Proof is in the pudding with Southgate.

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Just now, killthenet said:

Not to sound biased or anything but that was all about Grealish...

Shaw?

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Losing penalty shootouts and losing to Germany have been two certainties for as long as I can remember. What a few years England have had, even if they do play a bit boring at times.

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4 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Shaw?

I'm not so shaw about that either.

England: We've beaten our arch-nemesis in a tournament! This is huge! Massive! A turning point! We have proved ourselves on the European stage at long last!

Germany:
For Me It Was Tuesday GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

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Hey @darksnowman, I’m not good with the memes, would you mind finding one for us? Something that accurately illustrates the amount of salt you’re producing right now. Thanks

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15 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

Wow. Massive advantage. How much did England stump up to UEFA for that or have all matches been so partisan? :blank:

I watched Wimby instead (especially since I read the England band would be in the crowd) and I see they managed to get the upset. I feel Germany are in need of a rebuild similar to what Lowe did when he first got the job. They'll be back. Anyway, that's a free pass into the final for England, right? That's what was being said in the build-up to today if they won so I hope there's no backpedalling with the arrogance and entitlement now.

Pretty sure it was down to the reality of the arrivals quarantine still in place (is it still 10 days?).

I actually think it could come around to bite us back in a weird way now as the home advantage - and the crowd, who had a huge impact today - will be gone in Rome, and as many fans will be wanting to save themselves for the potential semi-final and final over here at Wembley (if the 10 days arrival quarantine is still in place, you wouldn't be able to travel over to Rome and come back and have quarantined in time for those matches), I struggle to see many of them travelling. So it'll be interesting to see. 

Germany have needed a rebuild for a while, they got lucky after 2014 in that Kimmich turned up in time for the Euro's and basically slotted in there and at Bayern as a replacement for Lahm, but it was only a matter of time, and they've been without a quality out-and-out, tournament bred striker since Klose. And let's not forget that Löw made a point of having culled this squad of its veteran stars for years, before bringing some of them back into the fold anyways. 

Like you say, they'll be back. Flick is absolutely the right man for the job, but given how close the World Cup is, I hope the German FA give him the time he needs and don't read too much into how far they manage to go there. 

6 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Hey @darksnowman, I’m not good with the memes, would you mind finding one for us? Something that accurately illustrates the amount of salt you’re producing right now. Thanks

I've got you @darksnowman:

tenor.gif?itemid=10624644

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9 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Hey @darksnowman, I’m not good with the memes, would you mind finding one for us? Something that accurately illustrates the amount of salt you’re producing right now. Thanks

Get your own, lazy.
:indeed: 

@Julius why you bringing the worst Star Wars film into this thread? Yuck.

Edited by darksnowman
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21 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Shaw?

why-not-both-animated-gif-7.gif&f=1&nofb

They were both superb today. Grealish changed the game to be fair, but Shaw was our best player for the 90.

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11 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

@Julius why you bringing the worst Star Wars film into this thread? Yuck.

Oh, hard disagree, there's definitely worse than that.

Exhibit A:

tenor.png

Exhibit B:

tenor.gif?itemid=14871894

Exhibit C:

tenor.gif?itemid=16854955

It's definitely the worst Star Wars film. 

But anywho, here's to hoping Sweden vs Ukraine is a cracker :D

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55 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

Wow. Massive advantage. How much did England stump up to UEFA for that or have all matches been so partisan? :blank: 

England have had a massive leg-up with this competition in terms of their venue for matches, their little need to travel, and having their home fans so easily able to attend games. I do think other nations have a right to feel aggrieved.

Belgium had their games at St Petersburg, Copenhagen, back to St Petersburg, Seville, and the next game is in Munich! In comparison, England have had four games at Wembley. Not sure how this can be justified...

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When the format for the tournament was decided upon though there was no expectation of it taking place in the midst of a global pandemic, they had no idea of the travel restrictions that would be in place. Fair enough England and some other hosts have benefited from playing their group games at home but England only played the round of 16 game at Wembley because there had to be a late change of venues when two of the original host cities couldn't guarantee 25% stadium capacity. All the travel that some of the teams had admittedly been very poor, the original vision for the tournament is nice and romantic but in practice it doesn't make much sense - Europe isn't as sprawling as some other regions but it's still too big for this pan-continental format to work. Definitely needs to stick to one or two host nations in future tournaments. 

England started so badly, they looked super nervous so I was fully expecting Germany to take the lead. England definitely settled and there was some nice movement up front at times but there wasn't enough urgency. Despite their good start Germany didn't really grab hold of the game, they made some good chances in the second half (that Muller miss was a very close call) but in the end England's tactics worked out. I was being a little sarcastic in my praise of Grealish earlier but his introduction allowed Shaw the opportunity to overlap which is something that England had been needed to do more of, I still don't think Southgate is a great manager but he used the bench really well today and I think the whole squad can feel like they are contributing as the tournament goes on, they know that they are capable of changing the game from the bench. 

I think Ukraine might sneak a win against Sweden but either opponent will give England a tough quarter final, it'll be interesting to see how England approach things now given that they are the out and out favourites in the lower half of the draw, will the pressure of expectation prove to be their down fall? Will also be interesting to see how they settle in Rome on Saturday, they have become so used to playing at Wembley in front of their own support that it might be a bit of a shock to the system to go away from home again - especially given that the majority of the crowd in Rome, whoever their opponents are, will be rooting against England

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Yeah, Sweden vs Ukraine has been about as wide open as I thought it would be, really fun to watch and end-to-end. Woodwork has had a proper beating by both sides. 

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Definitely slowed down in that last 15-20 minutes, players looked tired and resigned to going to extra time. Which I guess is good news for us English fans! 

Fourth match to go to extra time this round, meaning that's been the case for half of the Round of 16. Crazy. 

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Ukraine have got a heck of a chance now, Sweden will be trying to hang on for penalties 

That was a really nasty challenge, Besedin looks like he'll be on the sidelines for a while after that - studs went right through his knee. Definite red card. 

Really interesting game though, must be the first round in a tournament where every game has been exciting.

 

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Ukraine have got a heck of a chance now, Sweden will be trying to hang on for penalties 
That was a really nasty challenge, Besedin looks like he'll be on the sidelines for a while after that - studs went right through his knee. Definite red card. 
Really interesting game though, must be the first round in a tournament where every game has been exciting.
 
It wasn't a challenge, it was a clearance. I don't even think he knew the other guy was there.

I think it's a really unlucky red card.

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AND YET ANOTHER TWIST! 

Great stuff from Ukraine, it's been coming since they started exerting themselves after that sending off, but nearing the last kick of extra time is truly cruel. 

Edited by Julius

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Red card was a clear red, all day long for me. If that guy's leg isn't broken, he is extremely lucky. It wasn't intentional, but it's an out of control lunge that was high on the opponent's leg and looked very nasty. We can't be going around saying that attempts like that are ok for the ball. It's dangerous and reckless.

I'm slightly amazed at how divisive that sending off has been across social media and other forums. So many seem to think that it was a very harsh judgement. 

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@bob he got the ball, yeah but the way decisions are looked at in microscopic detail these days it was always going to be given as a red card. Danielson was definitely unlucky, there was no malice or ill intent in what he did but when your studs connect with somebody's leg like that then a sending off is always going to happen

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I do think it was a red card, but I don't think it was intentional, and I do think he was very unlucky.

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Yeah, agreed that's a sending off. Obviously I don't think there was the intention there to potentially end Besedin's career from Danielson, but let's say the ref hypothetically gives a yellow instead -- the outcome would be that the players lose their heads and everyone starts shattering each other's knees. It's a red for the danger it causes, not for the intent. 

Which wouldn't feel much different from what we ended up seeing, as they all started going down like flies towards the end anyways :p

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So, France, Germany, and Portugal all out on the Round of 16. Group of Death? More like... group of out of breath... because they all choked, and... sorry, it's been a long day.

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1 hour ago, Jonnas said:

So, France, Germany, and Portugal all out on the Round of 16. Group of Death? More like... group of out of breath... because they all choked, and... sorry, it's been a long day.

No it was accurate. It's called the Group of Death because they all died.

 

I must admit I did sleep through most of the second half of Sweden vs. Ukraine, I was just interested in knowing who England were going to get!

 

That being said, both Sweden and Ukraine look like sides England could beat.

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