Julius Posted June 16 Author Posted June 16 Ended up a bit too busy to give the England match my full undivided attention, and so had it on in the background. Kind of glad I got busy, to be honest. Lowest scoring game and win of the tournament so far, I guess we'll be singing about that for a good while to come? A lot of missed opportunities it felt like. Plenty of opportunities to improve.
killthenet Posted June 17 Posted June 17 England looked very fluid and exciting for the first half an hour or so but there wasn't much to shout about after that. Like you say plenty for them to work on before the Denmark game but at least they held on for the win. Seems like it's going to be quite a tough group, Slovenia looked brilliant in the second half - deserved to win the game really, so they'll definitely cause Serbia & England problems in their remaining group games. I had allowed myself to get excited about Scotland possibly getting out of the group in the lead up to the tournament but the performance on Friday night was so disappointing. The chances of getting anything against the host nation were always going to be low but from the first whistle Scotland didn't look up for it at all, no energy or effort, no real plan - they just let Germany run rampant. I'll still hold out faint hope of being able to finally get out of the group but the heavy defeat means they'll likely need to get 4pts to even have a hope of going through as one of the best third placed teams. Feels like goal difference is going to prove our Achilles heel yet again.
Hero-of-Time Posted June 17 Posted June 17 I thought we were garbage. Once again we have the same problem that we had during the Lampard/Gerrard era where a manager tries to shoehorn players into positions that they don't usually play. Foden cannot play on that side and he is constantly drifting into the right. Southgate should just drop him and then just switch between him and Bellingham. Kane was doing my head in well before Shearer made comments about him. He was constantly playing far too deep and there were a few times he drifted over to the left, probably because Foden kept sodding off to the right. Anytime we had the chance to break we were useless because Kane was nowhere to be seen. I do think this is a managerial decision because he was never like that at Spurs. Saka had that right hand side in his pocket in the first half and we should have exploited it more but instead we kept playing the boring, side to side football that Southgate plays, instead of just charging forward. There were some stats shown during one of the games of the most goals scored at club level per country. England were number 1 and miles ahead of any other country. It goes to show that we have the talent but the manager fails to utilise them properly. It was exactly the same in the World Cup. That was ours for the taking and I still maintain had we had a better manager we could have brought home the trophy. 1
drahkon Posted June 17 Posted June 17 Still not feeling the Euros Might change during the weekend/next week, as I will go to at least one public viewing thingy. But who knows, maybe it'll suck
Julius Posted June 17 Author Posted June 17 (edited) Absolutely absurd call from the ref in Austria vs France to not give a corner to Austria after a terrific save from Maignan, which was obvious as all hell for all to see. Then France score from an OG in the next attack. Ridiculous. I've said it before but this is my problem area with the game these days which should be on par with the messy handling of VAR and should be semi-automated as offsides are becoming, because the ripple effects of not giving a deserved set piece can't be overstated, especially in a tournament setting like this. Edited June 17 by Julius
Julius Posted June 17 Author Posted June 17 Did I mention before that I hate Lee Dixon as a commentator? Baumgartner had every right to go for the ball with Maignan coming in, and he got the ball first, but he could've easily studded the keeper in the face. If that was another player it's 50/50 because it's feet and legs sliding in, but when chest and head are exposed to boots like that? It's only going one way. So yes, that's a yellow card, Lee Dixon -- you twit.
Julius Posted June 17 Author Posted June 17 Really poor form from the refs to not allow the subs to come on when the ball next went out with Mbappé off the pitch with his nose in terrible shape -- potentially broken? Big brain thinking to walk back on the pitch then sit down due to the injury to force the ref to stop the game and allow the subs on. Picked up a yellow but shouldn't have been carried on without the subs in the first place.
Hero-of-Time Posted June 18 Posted June 18 Turkey vs Georgia has been the game of the tournament so far. Absolutely fantastic game that was end to end. How Georgia did equalise is beyond me.
drahkon Posted June 18 Posted June 18 Yeah, an absolute banger of a game! And now I just need Portugal to lose (sorry @Jonnas) so I can see Ronaldo crying. Alternatively: Portugal wins and Ronaldo dies gets injured. 1
Jonnas Posted June 18 Posted June 18 6 minutes ago, drahkon said: Yeah, an absolute banger of a game! And now I just need Portugal to lose (sorry @Jonnas) so I can see Ronaldo crying. Alternatively: Portugal wins and Ronaldo dies gets injured. That's fair. I want to see us play without Ronaldo, too 6 minutes ago, drahkon said: Alternatively: Portugal wins and Ronaldo dies gets injured. That is how we won in 2016! 3
drahkon Posted June 18 Posted June 18 Just now, Jonnas said: That is how we won in 2016! Ah shit, I forgot about that... 2
Julius Posted June 18 Author Posted June 18 Time to see what this Portugal team have to add to this tournament
drahkon Posted June 18 Posted June 18 (edited) I know I'm jinxing it but: Edit: Edited June 18 by drahkon 1
Julius Posted June 18 Author Posted June 18 (edited) 6 minutes ago, drahkon said: I know I'm jinxing it but: You just had to say it Game on! Edited June 18 by Julius 1
Julius Posted June 18 Author Posted June 18 Well I typed it up, then deleted it, then typed it back out again... @drahkon what did the people of the Czech Republic ever do to you?! 1
Jonnas Posted June 18 Posted June 18 For 60 minutes, it felt like the game deserved this soundtrack in the background. PT players losing the ball halfway through the attack, Czech players barely holding onto their own balls, some of the weakest corners I've ever seen from our team... We even got a Yellow for diving! What a world! Then it picked up proper after the Czech goal. Lit up a fire under every arse on that field. Much more enjoyable after that point. Don't really see us facing big hitters like France or Germany in this state, honestly.
Julius Posted June 19 Author Posted June 19 (edited) Hungary are chomping at the bit early on in this match against Germany. Nothing to show for it yet, but in less than 10 minutes they've already had a few more chances than Scotland did across the 90 last Friday. Edited June 19 by Julius
Julius Posted June 19 Author Posted June 19 Really professional handled game by Germany to get the win over Hungary, who on another night could've drawn or even won -- they just couldn't take their chances. Musiala has been great once again, in last tournaments there were flashes of brilliance but he's so far been very consistent in the opening two matches. Germany's defence looks like it could be there for the taking against a better team, though, but I'd say the same about most of the defensive back lines at this tournament; football is seriously lacking in quality centre backs and defensive-minded fullbacks these days, similar to how we don't see many traditional 9's.
Julius Posted June 19 Author Posted June 19 Really professional handled game by Germany to get the win over Hungary, who on another night could've drawn or even won -- they just couldn't take their chances. Musiala has been great once again, in last tournaments there were flashes of brilliance but he's so far been very consistent in the opening two matches. Germany's defence looks like it could be there for the taking against a better team, though, but I'd say the same about most of the defensive back lines at this tournament; football is seriously lacking in quality centre backs and defensive-minded fullbacks these days, similar to how we don't see many traditional 9's.
drahkon Posted June 20 Posted June 20 Didn't watch the game but as @Julius says it seems to have been pretty solid aside from a few shaky moments. Will try to watch Spain v Italy tonight, but not sure if I can make it. 14 hours ago, Julius said: Musiala has been great once again, in last tournaments there were flashes of brilliance but he's so far been very consistent in the opening two matches. I've seen him a few times in the last season and he's such an incredible talent. If I was still a Bayern Munich fan I would root for him even more
bob Posted June 20 Posted June 20 Seems crazy that Spain Vs Italy is a group game. Groups B and D really are the groups of death this tournament.
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 (edited) 12 minutes ago, bob said: Seems crazy that Spain Vs Italy is a group game. Funnily enough, this happened back in 2012 as well - when they met in the group stages and then again in the final. They do tend to cross paths a lot, though -- and checking on it now, they've played against each other at least once at every edition of the Euro's since and including 2008 (so this is the 5th competition in a row!), and Italy haven't beat Spain in any competition since they did so in the knockouts of Euro 2016. Should be an interesting one. Definitely two of the favourites and their clash on the semi-finals in Euro 2020(/21) is still one of the best international matches I've seen. Edited June 20 by Julius 1
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 Here England go again, then. Would be nice if we could score more than just the one goal tonight boys
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