Euro 2024

The France - Spain game was worthy of a final, sadly I think it may be downhill from here.
 
JohnC6 said:
That 16 year old goal-scorer for Spain, Yamal, is going to be a handful in the final. He's not afraid to have a shot on goal from just outside the box.
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He looks a talent but thats his first goal IIRC and has wasted a number of chances so far. We have equally good players, so if we get through I wouldn't worry. Spain look to be the best in the tournament but defensively a bit weak so if we do play attacking we have a chance. Maybe that will suit us better than a team that sticks players beind the ball.
 
cambsno said:
He looks a talent but thats his first goal IIRC and has wasted a number of chances so far. We have equally good players, so if we get through I wouldn't worry. Spain look to be the best in the tournament but defensively a bit weak so if we do play attacking we have a chance. Maybe that will suit us better than a team that sticks players beind the ball.
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Lamine Yamal, started playing for a local youth team aged 4, then was scouted by Barcelona aged 6. Yamal was selected by Xavi to train with the Barcenola first team aged 14, then made his first team debut aged 15.
Do not kid yourself, we do not have anyone of this calibre in our team,
By comparison, he has 3 goals in 13 appearances for Spain, whereas Jude Bellingham has 5 goals in 34 appearances.
 
andya700 said:
Lamine Yamal, started playing for a local youth team aged 4, then was scouted by Barcelona aged 6. Yamal was selected by Xavi to train with the Barcenola first team aged 14, then made his first team debut aged 15.
Do not kid yourself, we do not have anyone of this calibre in our team,
By comparison, he has 3 goals in 13 appearances for Spain, whereas Jude Bellingham has 5 goals in 34 appearances.
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Different positions, but in any case Belling outscored him 3:1 in La Liga - I know who I would rather have in my team!
 
I saw this on the evening news..

From the article: "The photos show Yamal as an infant being bathed by none other than Lionel Messi who was 20 at the time and just beginning his own ascent to greatness."

www.espn.co.uk

The story behind viral photos of Messi holding infant Yamal

Little did Lionel Messi know when he picked up the baby Lamine Yamal almost 17 years ago that he was holding a future Barcelona and Spain star in his arms.
www.espn.co.uk www.espn.co.uk
 
Well, that was interesting!
 
Pound Coin said:
...the recent match between Netherlands and England
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I know...I was having you on.. :D

Re the match. I had a thought about the way Southgate leaves substitutes to shortly before full time. He hopes they will score or assist a goal so close to full time that the opposition have little time to come back. If that's his thinking I still say that 11 minutes is cutting it a bit fine. I'd have thought 20 minutes plus extra time would be safer.
 
I’ve never understood why substitutes are made late in a game. Even if they are supposed to be time-wasting, the ref can add more time on.
 
Credit where credit's due, that first half was much better. They played well and at times were verging on the entertaining (which, I think we've established and accepted isn't really considered important in the balance against winning). Nice to see a couple of the players feeling brave enough to try shots, too - and Heavens above looks how that turned out!

We reverted to type in the second half and I must admit my attention wandered, until the subs came on and we bucked up again.

The trajectory feels good...
 
delb0y said:
Credit where credit's due, that first half was much better. They played well and at times were verging on the entertaining (which, I think we've established and accepted isn't really considered important in the balance against winning). Nice to see a couple of the players feeling brave enough to try shots, too - and Heavens above looks how that turned out!

We reverted to type in the second half and I must admit my attention wandered, until the subs came on and we bucked up again.

The trajectory feels good...
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I don't think we "reverted to type" at all, The Netherlands changed their system and tactics to stop England from dominating, no more, no less.

There was still a lack of movement from Kane, but Foden had a much better game, and I've been impressed with Kobbie Mainoo, a wonderful young talent.
 
Does anyone know why these evening games have been kicking-off at 9.00pm local time ? I thought it was to accommodate SE Asia audiences (re ads revenue etc) but it's the early hours there. It will be 10.00pm in Eastern Europe. Heat maybe ? It's only 23ºC in Berlin at the moment..5.25pm. Normal time and the game will fish at 1045pm plus any extra time. 0-0 and it goes to extra time..30 minutes so..11.15pm. 0-0 ? Penalties so about 11.30 pm. That's late for a just-turned 17 year old..Lamine Yamal. He should be in bed.. :D

Other aspects are transport after the game finishes so late and on a Sunday. It's a mystery to me.
 
Thank you Gareth. The team done well.

You've brought the team a long way.

It can go further, who will do that?
 
I read a quote somewhere where Englands final performance was described as ' like a formula 1 car driving with the brakes on " I think that sums up all of England performances throughout the tournament. Everyone accepts we have the players but obviously these players do not have the belief / mentality / desire / manager ? to reach the levels required. Southgate is a ' good guy ' and has certainly improved England. However, he has failed the team with some of his decisions during this tournament. Loyalty to players may seem commendable but imo it breeds complacency. By persisting with his 1st choice players until very late in the game he has allowed energy levels to drop unacceptably. Harry Kane was a pale shadow of the player he has been. Yes, he scored 3 goals but (correct me if I'm wrong) 2 were penalties and the 3rd a header when standing on the goal line. Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney deserved better opportunities than they received throughout the tournament.
On a general note. The ' beautiful game ' is no more. Possession football is largely boring and has removed much of the needed ' goalmouth incident ' from the game. The success of Pep Guardiola has much to answer for. Finally, grown men throwing themselves to the ground and shrieking when any contact (or near contact) is felt is an unedifying site and needs to be ' stomped on ' What would Chopper Harris think ?
 
The first half against the Dutch was the highpoint of our tournament when we played with a bit of freedom and left the fear in the changing room. The rest of the time we have been less than impressive. Yet we still reached another final. So well done for that. Only one other team made it that far.

Alas, what a gulf between us and Spain. They looked comfortable and composed on the ball, creative, and willing to move the ball at pace and have a go. A well deserved win.

No idea what the answer is, but from memory it was the same three years ago, when we were simply outplayed in that final, too. And going way back I recall, maybe thirty years ago after another tournament failure, how the FA review concluded the answer lay at grass roots level and how our youngsters needed to be developed differently (I recall a video showing Brazilian kids playing six or seven a side and demonstrating wonderful skill and vision). I guess another review may very well come to the same conclusion, although tactically I think we lacked a lot, too.

More than anything I think the weight of expectation was too heavy, again.
 
Southgate needs to be sacked. Too negative, why Kane and Foden still get picked is beyond any of us. Had he been in charge of Spain they would have been knocked out in the quarters.
 
Lack of movement, Kane as slow as a snail on crutches, and no plan B. The first time we got Saka on a 1v1 with a bit of space, we scored. It was clear that the right side was our best option but we failed to utilise it. Great strike by the lad from Chelsea, but Spain were another level, they had everything we lacked, movement, pace, and a winning mentality. Still we were beaten by the best side in the tournament, so we can still hold our heads up. Kane & Bellingham didn't do what everybody expected, but then again, don't we always expect too much?
 
I really don’t understand all this anger aimed at the England team and Gareth Southgate in particular. Its a football tournament. Its not as if they have gone out and scammed little old ladies out of their life savings.

And let’s look at what England have achieved under Southgate. Two successive Euro finals, the third place play offs in the World Cup, and the Quarter Finals in the World Cup. That is one hell of an achievement.
 
Jelster said:
Still we were beaten by the best side in the tournament, so we can still hold our heads up.
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Sadly, our saving grace is we reached the final.

I think realists will believe had we been in the other half of the draw we would have probably lost to any one of Portugal, France or Germany.
 
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I've not witnessed any anger towards the team. But maybe that's because I don't move in the hardcore football fan circles. From what I've seen it's been more of an expected disappointment, some puzzlement, some same-old same-old c'est la vie, and a lot of "it's only a game, there's a lot worse stuff happening in the world, and we did well to get as far as we did." It would be great to win something, but it's only going to get harder with many teams from smaller countries, or countries that traditionally haven't had a football tradition, getting ever better. And all that said, despite the performances, it was still good to watch (in an ever hopeful way), and we were in it until the very end.
 
I think if I'd been Southgate and seen how the team perked up after bringing on Palmer and Watkins in the semis I'd have started them.There was Gordon,too. I did suggest that maybe Southgate brought them on with 10-15 minutes left in the semi-final hoping they'd score or create a goal and that would leave it too late for the opposition to score. My take on the midfield was that too often, they passed the ball between them ,none, seemingly, knowing where to go next so it often ended up going back to Pickford who big-footed it up the field only to land at the feet of a Spanish midfielder. Why couldn't they have pushed forward,at speed ? That's the kind of play we saw from Palmer, Watkins and not to forget Saka who zipped around the defence and caused all sorts of problems..... in the style of Grealish who after coming on in any games gets the team free-kicks just outside the 25 yard box. His form wasn't that good ,it seems, so Southgate didn't include him in the twenty-six man squad. Also, others,on the left had played well. After Palmer and Watkins came on, BBC summariser at the stadium, Alan Shearer,said England were now playing much better and are on the front-foot which is why I thought a start for Watkins and Palmer ..not to forget Toney..would have been a good move.

Anyway, for those who want to see Southgate gone it seems the FA are very keen for him to sign another contract. One Five Live studio pundit today said he thinks Eddie Howe shoud get a shout bu the FA do like a "safe pair of hands" and not forgetting that Southgate replaced Sam Allardyce who was caught in a trap, re getting around FA rules re third party ownership of players.

Btw. One England fan..about 45 years of age..was asked ouside the stadium before the game, how much he'd paid for a ticket. He smiled.."A lot" he said.."Thousands?" asked the reporter. "Tens of thousands" said the fan. :eek:
 
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Eucris said:
I really don’t understand all this anger aimed at the England team and Gareth Southgate in particular. Its a football tournament. Its not as if they have gone out and scammed little old ladies out of their life savings.

And let’s look at what England have achieved under Southgate. Two successive Euro finals, the third place play offs in the World Cup, and the Quarter Finals in the World Cup. That is one hell of an achievement.
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Because it’s like having a Ferrari and driving everywhere at 40mph, or having 20k worth of camera gear and taking 20 pics a year. Under achieved.

We did what we did despite Southgate. We could do loads better without him. Last 4 tournaments we have gone out once by luck, France and 3 times by being negative and reactive when we could have got something out of all 3.
 
Glyn60 said:
Apart from his goal v Slovakia, Bellingham has been underwhelming overall. I can see him producing a big performance in the final to cap what’s been an unbelievable season for him.
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Nope. Bellingham continued to look out of sorts, the game largely passed him by. Kane, Rice and Foden also disappointing. England players just looked very pedestrian compared to the energy shown by Spain.
 
Apparently Garry Glitter has been added to the defence of the England team to keep any youngsters from scoring!!
 
Eucris said:
I really don’t understand all this anger aimed at the England team and Gareth Southgate in particular. Its a football tournament. Its not as if they have gone out and scammed little old ladies out of their life savings.

And let’s look at what England have achieved under Southgate. Two successive Euro finals, the third place play offs in the World Cup, and the Quarter Finals in the World Cup. That is one hell of an achievement.
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Unfortunately that all adds up to nothing. Nobody ever remembers the losers. We are constantly told we have the best league in the world and our players are the best in the world and they get paid the highest in Europe. We need to be more realistic, good results for us means beating teams in the top 40 by the odd goal and losing to those in the top ten by not too many (hopefully)
 
gerry s said:
Unfortunately that all adds up to nothing. Nobody ever remembers the losers. We are constantly told we have the best league in the world and our players are the best in the world and they get paid the highest in Europe. We need to be more realistic, good results for us means beating teams in the top 40 by the odd goal and losing to those in the top ten by not too many (hopefully)
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Yeah, but we're talking about England, not Scotland......

As I keep on saying, we have the most competitive league in the world (best is a bit too subjective) with some of the best teams in the world, with some of the best players. But England is a group of individuals, the reason we have had our "moments" is down to some individual brilliance by one or two players. The next manager, now that Southgate has gone, needs to work out how to get this bunch of excellent footballers playing together, as a team.

When the new manager comes in, I for one would like him to concentrate on the World Cup in 2 years time, so start by not selecting anyone currently aged over 30, and build a new "team" for 2026. That means the likes of Kane & Walker will be out of contention, so younger players can be utilised.
 
Jelster said:
Yeah, but we're talking about England, not Scotland......

As I keep on saying, we have the most competitive league in the world (best is a bit too subjective) with some of the best teams in the world, with some of the best players. But England is a group of individuals, the reason we have had our "moments" is down to some individual brilliance by one or two players. The next manager, now that Southgate has gone, needs to work out how to get this bunch of excellent footballers playing together, as a team.

When the new manager comes in, I for one would like him to concentrate on the World Cup in 2 years time, so start by not selecting anyone currently aged over 30, and build a new "team" for 2026. That means the likes of Kane & Walker will be out of contention, so younger players can be utilised.
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Most competitive league, mmmm, how many overseas players in it regularly? Or many England squad members play overseas

England-Scotland, your fans live in expectation, Scots fans live in hope and the excuse for a party, win-lose or even draw.

Any way, football's finished thank god, only weeks now till the rugby season starts, proper game.
 
Yes we are talking about England and its about time we stopped overhyping our team and players. We might well have one of the best leagues but most of the best players are defo not English. We do have some excellent players but the trouble is Southgate was living in the past with players reps from the past. He has only just stopped playing Henderson and only went without Mcguire because he was injured, what on earth does that say about his `vision`. Rice is so far away from being the best, Kane is a has been, Walker is too interested in fatherhood, and Foden can only play well in the exact routine of Man city. You are so right in that is time to concentrate on the younger elements and hope they dont become yet another forgotten/failed golden generation.
 
I'm no expert, not by a million miles, but I've often thought the England manager tends to pick players rather than teams.
 
gerry s said:
Yes we are talking about England and its about time we stopped overhyping our team and players. We might well have one of the best leagues but most of the best players are defo not English. We do have some excellent players but the trouble is Southgate was living in the past with players reps from the past. He has only just stopped playing Henderson and only went without Mcguire because he was injured, what on earth does that say about his `vision`. Rice is so far away from being the best, Kane is a has been, Walker is too interested in fatherhood, and Foden can only play well in the exact routine of Man city. You are so right in that is time to concentrate on the younger elements and hope they dont become yet another forgotten/failed golden generation.
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Rice had been outstanding this season and still pretty young.
 
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