Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 (edited) Beautiful goal from Hjulmand. Yeah, no-one can be surprised we dropped deep and then conceded after scoring. It's our MO at this point. It's what lost us the Euro's final in 2021, and it's coming back to bite us now. I can't help but think that it's a mental thing where players are looking at their captain dropping deeper. Kane scores plenty, but he's a bit of a snail these days and drops deep a lot, which works great with pacey wingers but not so much when we hate fizzing the ball around and over the top (for some reason). So he comes back, the midfield then I think comes back too, they see him playing a bit slower, and everyone else slows down too? He's a great goalscorer, so obviously he needs to be on the pitch, and his time with Spurs and even Bayern this past season shows him dropping deep can be very effective because he's a great passer of the ball. When he drops, though, we lack players on the wings who are willing to run back and forth to make those sprints to make use of those passes -- and, again, fizzing it over the top and around diagonally doesn't seem to be part of Southgate's plan anyways. Anyways, grateful I'm not needing to listen to Lee Dixon and the ITV bunch, but I'm not sure what surprises me more: Southgate-ball and how stupid it is, or people - including the BBC commentators and pundits - expecting him to not play Southgate-ball and being surprised when he does. Like, have you seen England play at the last few major tournaments? This is us through and through. Hopefully it picks up but I'm pinning most of my hopes on Spain v Italy to give us something fun to watch. It's not even tense watching England in the group stage, it's just boring; imagine not taking any risks or making any changes when you're the big boy in one of the easiest groups in the tournament. Urgh. Edited June 20 by Julius
Hero-of-Time Posted June 20 Posted June 20 I'm hoping we get beat. It's the only way Southgate will make some changes.
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 8 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I'm hoping we get beat. It's the only way Southgate will make some changes. Made it to our first final in 55 years and lost trying to protect a 1-0 lead for 120+ minutes that we got in the 2nd minute and no longer had in the 67th. I mean, if you don't learn from that, I don't think he'll learn from this either 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 20 Posted June 20 6 minutes ago, Happenstance said: This is painful to watch 1
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 We'll have men on Pluto before England make it out of a group with all 9 points. Why the hell were we passing it centrally instead of pushing the ball into a corner to cross it in at the very end there? Speaks volumes.
Happenstance Posted June 20 Posted June 20 I'm appreciating at least how frustrated and annoyed the pundits are getting with England as well. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 20 Posted June 20 3 minutes ago, Happenstance said: I'm appreciating at least how frustrated and annoyed the pundits are getting with England as well. Indeed. Shearer sounded like he was going to burst a blood vessel when commentating. 1
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 4 minutes ago, Happenstance said: I'm appreciating at least how frustrated and annoyed the pundits are getting with England as well. Absolutely. Gary's giving a mini masterclass on exactly what Kane should be doing when coming short, too. Awkwardly half seated and half standing, mind you 1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said: Indeed. Shearer sounded like he was going to burst a blood vessel when commentating. Yeah, it'd be so easy to fake but you can really tell that he genuinely cares about the result. Not that they all don't, but I absolutely think some play it up as part of their on-screen(/in-ear?) personas a bit much, whereas Shearer's frustration seems pretty absolute and very understandable. Unrelated, but just realised this means Spain vs Italy is on ITV. Fml...
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 (edited) Spain really showing their intent early on, Williams has been running riot on the left. Also, anyone want to point out to Clive Tyldesley that Carvajal is Spanish? Because he's called Di Lorenzo (Italy's RB) "Carvajal" about five times already he made some similar errors in the buildup, too. Bad night of sleep, Clive? Edited June 20 by Julius
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 Excellent, excellent, excellent first half from Spain. But no goal.
Julius Posted June 20 Author Posted June 20 Spain look the real deal. Great match between the two, once again, and Spain looked keen for a second goal to kill the game off - but couldn't find it amongst the Italians. You still sense the passing DNA of the Spanish side of a decade ago is still here, but this is by far the most direct and attacking Spanish side we've seen in a long time. Really fun to watch.
Julius Posted June 21 Author Posted June 21 Yep, this pretty much sums up Spain v Italy last night... Gave me a good chuckle 2
Hero-of-Time Posted June 21 Posted June 21 Cracking match so far. Hard to say who's going to go on and win it as both France and Netherlands look dangerous.
Julius Posted June 22 Author Posted June 22 (edited) 4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: Cracking match so far. Hard to say who's going to go on and win it as both France and Netherlands look dangerous. You just had to say it -- first goalless game of the tournament Edited June 22 by Julius 1 2
Julius Posted June 22 Author Posted June 22 Oh, Turkey, what on earth was that own goal? No pressure, Ronaldo and Cancelo looking away and fighting over a miscommunication with an attempted through ball – and then communication breaks down at the back for Turkey to put it in their own net. Absolute gift. Turkey had been starting to show a few lapses before then, mind, and haven't been going at the Portugal as much as they were in the first 15. They'll still get chances, though, far too much quality not to. 2
Julius Posted June 22 Author Posted June 22 Deserved 2-0 lead to Portugal at half-time. A lot of yellow cards, won't be shocked if we see a red before the 90 are up, and I'll be surprised if there aren't any more goals. The Portugal defence looks there for the taking and Turkey's is a whole other mess.
Julius Posted June 22 Author Posted June 22 Most unselfish Ronaldo I've seen in front of goal with only the 'keeper to beat...ever? Especially considering he's still waiting to score that record-extending goal in his 6th Euro finals, oldest goalscorer in the competition, etc. He'd normally absolutely bury that himself but does the "right" thing in passing it to Bruno for a simple tap-in. Excellent run behind the line, too -- showing Kane how a drop in pace can still be used to bring everything forwards. Seems like he's serious about just wanting to put the team first and win. Good for him, potentially scary for everyone else. 2
Jonnas Posted June 22 Posted June 22 I've only started watching since the 25th minute or so... This is a very entertaining game! This is also a Portugal I enjoy watching, much better than against Czechia. And lol, Rafael Leão got a second yellow for diving 1
Julius Posted June 22 Author Posted June 22 (edited) Very much deserved win for Portugal. Much more convincing this time around, perhaps could have scored more and will need to be more clinical in the knockouts -- felt like they had Turkey at arm's length from the first goal onwards. Pepe was class at the back, too. Great game overall, shame Turkey couldn't put it in the back of a net that wasn't their own because they were fun to watch. Crazy just how much better they were in the final period of the game when Güler came on, shame he couldn't start after concerns around his fitness the last few days, because there were some sweet passes by him in his short time on the pitch and seemed like the launchpad for every Turkey attack towards the end. Hated the reminder that he wasn't even born when Ronaldo got his first goal at the Euros in 2004, mind Lastly, very concerned about just how many pitch invaders there were today, especially with it happening again and again AFTER security increased towards the end of the match. Scary stuff and needs to be taken much more seriously, all it takes is one person with a screw loose for us all to see something horrible take place. Edited June 22 by Julius
Hero-of-Time Posted June 22 Posted June 22 Amazing performance from Portugal. It's scary how good a lot of these teams look when compared to the tripe that is England. Really hoping Romania pull off an upset and do over Belgium.
Julius Posted June 23 Author Posted June 23 Excellently worked goal from the Swiss, and, for now, they're now top of the group over Germany. Let's see how the rest of this plays out, but we've been saying all along just how leaky this German defence looks, they really seem there for the taking.
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