Off Topic Euro “2020” Discussion Thread

[JamesVilla]

In terms of the England game, I was no where near impressed compared to other fans and media outlets. 

We started brightly, couldn't take any chances but then looked flat and lacked any serious attacking intent. Sterling was average at best, and got lucky with his finish which covered up his performance. 
 

I know you lot are going to think this is cause Grealish never played, but its more than that. Shaw was one of the top 5 lefts backs last season, and Chilwell won the Champions League, yet neither started and Chilwell wasn't even in the squad. Walker made too many mistakes, mis-placed passes, James or Tripper for me in the RB spot going forward. 

Midfield was fine, Phillips was my MOTM, excellent performance by him all round. 

Kane needs to stay forward, I don't want my main goal threat dropping down towards the half way line just to get a touch of the ball. 

Foden was unlucky his shot did not go in, and feel we need to bring him into the game so much more. He is the future of this squad.

[Rob]

47 minutes ago, JamesVilla said:

Kane needs to stay forward, I don't want my main goal threat dropping down towards the half way line just to get a touch of the ball. 

But that’s how Kane plays for Spurs? 

[JamesVilla]

2 minutes ago, Rob said:

But that’s how Kane plays for Spurs? 

I get that, and understand that's his game. But for me, and I may be wrong, for a striker who is as good as he is, I want him in the attacking third. Let the likes of Foden, Mount, Sterling, Grealish, Sancho etc do the leg work and the running around. The players behind him are more than capable of winning the ball and playing it through to him, either from a cross or a pass through the middle. 

He has never been the fastest of strikers, so winning the ball on the half way line, unless some players have stayed out of position further forward there is little chance of an attack being made. 

[broodje kip]

1 minute ago, JamesVilla said:

I get that, and understand that's his game. But for me, and I may be wrong, for a striker who is as good as he is, I want him in the attacking third. Let the likes of Foden, Mount, Sterling, Grealish, Sancho etc do the leg work and the running around. The players behind him are more than capable of winning the ball and playing it through to him, either from a cross or a pass through the middle. 

He has never been the fastest of strikers, so winning the ball on the half way line, unless some players have stayed out of position further forward there is little chance of an attack being made. 

I would rather see Kane in the build up than Sterling tbh. You’d just lose possession by doing that instead of gaining one.

[JamesVilla]

Just now, broodje kip said:

I would rather see Kane in the build up than Sterling tbh. You’d just lose possession by doing that instead of gaining one.

Then Sterling is the problem not Kane? If our midfield can't maintain possession, that's the issue. Kane shouldn't need to drop so deep to win the ball, or get a touch. 

[broodje kip]

Just now, JamesVilla said:

Then Sterling is the problem not Kane? If our midfield can't maintain possession, that's the issue. Kane shouldn't need to drop so deep to win the ball, or get a touch. 

He always is. He wasted lots of passes yesterday. Sancho would’ve done a lot better job in the build up.

[JamesVilla]

Just now, broodje kip said:

He always is. He wasted lots of passes yesterday. Sancho would’ve done a lot better job in the build up.

Agreed. With the quality of attacking players England have, combined with the likes of Rice, we should have no problem controlling the game, keeping possession. 

[Rob]

Kane isn’t an out and out striker. Never has been, never will be.

I will moan about Southgate as much as the next person, but yesterday he got it spot on. In the the next game he may not, as he hasn’t in some previous games. But gotta give him credit where it is due and yesterday he did well.

added 0 minutes later

7 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

He always is. He wasted lots of passes yesterday. Sancho would’ve done a lot better job in the build up.

Sterling’s job was to get beyond the main striker and score, which he did. 

[Aaron Thornton]

Southgate is unpredictable for the sake of it, I think he gets aroused a little each time he surprises everyone. 

 

Trippier was daft AF. 

Two keepers on the bench with no Sancho or Chilwell.

Sterling was horrible and should never of been starting. 

Though credit where credits due, Phillips and Rice were one of few bright sparks yesterday. 

 

England were fortunate that Croatia were so poor, otherwise we'd all be talking about how crap Southgate is. 

 

[JamesVilla]

Anybody watching the Scotland game? What a goal that was! 😂

[Rob]

1 hour ago, Aaron Thornton said:

Southgate is unpredictable for the sake of it, I think he gets aroused a little each time he surprises everyone. 

 

Trippier was daft AF. 

Two keepers on the bench with no Sancho or Chilwell.

Sterling was horrible and should never of been starting. 

Though credit where credits due, Phillips and Rice were one of few bright sparks yesterday. 

 

England were fortunate that Croatia were so poor, otherwise we'd all be talking about how crap Southgate is. 

 

Except they beat Croatia because England made Croatia look poor as opposed to the other way around?

On a side note: Spain, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and France are six teams with players much better than England, so let’s not pretend England are actually a favourite. Quarters is par for the course; anything better, like at the World Cup under Southgate, will be a massive success.

[JamesVilla]

6 minutes ago, Rob said:

Quarters is par for the course; anything better, like at the World Cup under Southgate, will be a massive success.

I must disagree here Rob unfortunately ha. Going into the tournament England were bookies favorites, yes doesn't mean much. But the quality is there to win these competitions. 

If we actually break down the squad, and look at personal achievements over the last season, I think we have a better group of core players than most other countries. 

Defence; 

James & Chilwell = Won the Champions League

Stones & Walker = Won the league/final of the Champions League

Trippier = Won La Liga

Shaw & Maguire = 2nd in the league/Europa League final. 

Midfield;

Mount = Won Champions League

Foden & Sterling = Won the league/Final of the Champions League

Bellingham & Sancho = Won DFB-Pokal

Rashford = 2nd in the league/Europa League final

Strikers; 

Kane = Won the Golden Boot & Playmaker award.

Thats not even taking into account Rice/Phillips/Grealish who had excellent club seasons, but no finals/trophies. 

I can't think of another nation who has that many domestic winners from last season in their squad, so based on that we should be aiming for at least the SF/Final. 

I am happy to be proved wrong though 😂

[Rob]

2 hours ago, JamesVilla said:

I must disagree here Rob unfortunately ha. Going into the tournament England were bookies favorites, yes doesn't mean much. But the quality is there to win these competitions. 

If we actually break down the squad, and look at personal achievements over the last season, I think we have a better group of core players than most other countries. 

Defence; 

James & Chilwell = Won the Champions League

Stones & Walker = Won the league/final of the Champions League

Trippier = Won La Liga

Shaw & Maguire = 2nd in the league/Europa League final. 

Midfield;

Mount = Won Champions League

Foden & Sterling = Won the league/Final of the Champions League

Bellingham & Sancho = Won DFB-Pokal

Rashford = 2nd in the league/Europa League final

Strikers; 

Kane = Won the Golden Boot & Playmaker award.

Thats not even taking into account Rice/Phillips/Grealish who had excellent club seasons, but no finals/trophies. 

I can't think of another nation who has that many domestic winners from last season in their squad, so based on that we should be aiming for at least the SF/Final. 

I am happy to be proved wrong though 😂

As I read each of those names one by one it reaffirms my opinion that the squad really isn’t all that good. A colleague once said to me that all English players, besides Kane, are supports to the main players. He’s right too.

Man City: KDB and Fernandinho;

Dortmund: Haaland;

Atletico: Certainly not full-back Trippier;

Man Utd: Bruno;

Chelsea: Kante

[JamesVilla]

18 minutes ago, Rob said:

As I read each of those names one by one it reaffirms my opinion that the squad really isn’t all that good. A colleague once said to me that all English players, besides Kane, are supports to the main players. He’s right too.

Man City: KDB and Fernandinho;

Dortmund: Haaland;

Atletico: Certainly not full-back Trippier;

Man Utd: Bruno;

Chelsea: Kante

I get that, and I agree. They are not the best of the best at their club. But, with perhaps apart from Bellingham, they all played the majority of the season, which shows they are vital for their domestic success? 

[samhardy]

Outstanding effort from Sweden. You can have as much possession and tippy tappy the ball around all you like but Spain are so boring to watch. The Swedes had the two best chances and should have won the game for me.

[Dai_]

9 minutes ago, samhardy said:

Outstanding effort from Sweden. You can have as much possession and tippy tappy the ball around all you like but Spain are so boring to watch. The Swedes had the two best chances and should have won the game for me.

I was looking forward to seeing Spain play. How disappointing they are. Pedri looks like a little baller. Tried speeding things up and wasn't just passing for the sake of it. Looked like he was trying to add a bit of thrust. Not easy to do on your own. Olmo was getting into the box and got on the end of some decent moves but his attempts were saved or blocked. Other than that, they looked very average.

As you said, Sweden works their nuts off and deserved something really. 

[samhardy]

19 minutes ago, Dai_ said:

I was looking forward to seeing Spain play. How disappointing they are. Pedri looks like a little baller. Tried speeding things up and wasn't just passing for the sake of it. Looked like he was trying to add a bit of thrust. Not easy to do on your own. Olmo was getting into the box and got on the end of some decent moves but his attempts were saved or blocked. Other than that, they looked very average.

As you said, Sweden works their nuts off and deserved something really. 

Spot on. Commentators and pundits creaming themselves at half time at the fact they had 80% of the ball and Danny Murphy said at the start of the second he’d be “amazed” if Spain didn’t win. Ridiculous comment considering that Morata chance aside they created nothing at all. Sweden look comfortable. There just seems to be an obsession with possession for some reason and if you have a lot of the ball you’re seen as a great team and expected to go well. As I said before Sweden had 15% of the ball tonight yet should have scored twice.

But yep, loved the Sweden performance, they’ll get no credit as that’s the way it goes. Shame the fella didn’t put that open goal in then they might have got some.

[Woody]

33 minutes ago, samhardy said:

Outstanding effort from Sweden. You can have as much possession and tippy tappy the ball around all you like but Spain are so boring to watch. The Swedes had the two best chances and should have won the game for me.

Cant stand tiki taka crap...bores the shite out of me too.

Isak had a good game and caused Spain some problems.

[Dai_]

11 minutes ago, Woody said:

Cant stand tiki taka crap...bores the shite out of me too.

Isak had a good game and caused Spain some problems.

I don't dislike Tiki taka if it's used effectively. Just keeping the ball for the sake of it is stupid. Granted, the other team won't score when you have the ball so much but you have to play some "risky" passes to break down teams that sit back. Movement is key also.

The Spain (and Barca) team that included Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro, Villa and such were brilliant to watch for years. They always kept the ball so well but knew when to play the right forward pass. This all might be down to the quality of player. Looking at the current Spain team, it's a shadow of that glory team that Dominated everything. Trying to play that style with the current players available will always fail.

[broodje kip]

1 hour ago, Woody said:

Isak had a good game and caused Spain some problems.

Vibe’s god causing trouble in real life 😍

[Rob]

7 hours ago, broodje kip said:

Vibe’s god causing trouble in real life 😍

Except on Vibe he’d have scored 🤦‍♂️

8 hours ago, samhardy said:

Spot on. Commentators and pundits creaming themselves at half time at the fact they had 80% of the ball and Danny Murphy said at the start of the second he’d be “amazed” if Spain didn’t win. Ridiculous comment considering that Morata chance aside they created nothing at all. Sweden look comfortable. There just seems to be an obsession with possession for some reason and if you have a lot of the ball you’re seen as a great team and expected to go well. As I said before Sweden had 15% of the ball tonight yet should have scored twice.

But yep, loved the Sweden performance, they’ll get no credit as that’s the way it goes. Shame the fella didn’t put that open goal in then they might have got some.

100% agree on possession. You can control a game letting the opponents have the ball. Pep and Spain seem to have convinced people that passing the ball two yards is the only way to play football. 

[broodje kip]

17 minutes ago, Rob said:

Except on Vibe he’d have scored 🤦‍♂️

 

He was very good today. I believe he will score in the next game.

[Ashez]

17 hours ago, JamesVilla said:

I must disagree here Rob unfortunately ha. Going into the tournament England were bookies favorites, yes doesn't mean much. But the quality is there to win these competitions. 

If we actually break down the squad, and look at personal achievements over the last season, I think we have a better group of core players than most other countries. 

Defence; 

James & Chilwell = Won the Champions League

Stones & Walker = Won the league/final of the Champions League

Trippier = Won La Liga

Shaw & Maguire = 2nd in the league/Europa League final. 

Midfield;

Mount = Won Champions League

Foden & Sterling = Won the league/Final of the Champions League

Bellingham & Sancho = Won DFB-Pokal

Rashford = 2nd in the league/Europa League final

Strikers; 

Kane = Won the Golden Boot & Playmaker award.

Thats not even taking into account Rice/Phillips/Grealish who had excellent club seasons, but no finals/trophies. 

I can't think of another nation who has that many domestic winners from last season in their squad, so based on that we should be aiming for at least the SF/Final. 

I am happy to be proved wrong though 😂

Do this again for France, Belgium, Spain, Germany and whoever else 😂. Half those players you're saying did well to reach such achievements did it with help from the nation's above. 

[Kanegan]

Schick's second goal was a thing of beauty. 

[Rich]

16 minutes ago, Kanegan said:

Schick's second goal was a thing of beauty. 

Beautiful goal.

Looking forward to France Vs Germany tonight, if there’s anything to go by, whoever I went for in the predictions will more than likely lose.

[Woody]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

Beautiful goal.

Looking forward to France Vs Germany tonight, if there’s anything to go by, whoever I went for in the predictions will more than likely lose.

Mine have been well off so far 😢

[Rich]

1 minute ago, Woody said:

Mine have been well off so far 😢

They’ve all fixed it against us, no doubt in my mind. Hoping to improve on my fantastic 2 points soon 🤞🏻

[Rob]

Portugal’s front four: Ronaldo, Jota, Bernardo, and Bruno. Madness.

[Rob]

4 hours ago, Rob said:

Portugal’s front four: Ronaldo, Jota, Bernardo, and Bruno. Madness.

France’s front four: Benzema, Griezmann, Pogba, and Mbappe. Even more madness.

[Woody]

1 hour ago, Rob said:

France’s front four: Benzema, Griezmann, Pogba, and Mbappe. Even more madness.

It was a scrappy game.