Euro 2020

[Kai]

Congrats guys

Any thoughts on price against Denmark? Too short again?

[Morbius]

Very little you could fault with that performance and Henderson scoring told you it was going to be England's night!

I was very negative about Southgate to begin with but the more I watch the more humble pie I'm eating.

There could be an awful lot of humble pie being eaten mate if England win this tournament and I will be eating my fair share of it with you. But it will be the nicest pie I've ever had lol

It was difficult to foresee England winning anything under him.....and they may not. But three semis if you count the Nations League is something we've never had in our entire history. Even the win in 66 wasn't preceded or followed by semis. So we have to take our hat off to him but part of me thinks was my negative views on him just simple cognitive bias??? He didn't have a stellar playing or managerial career and the penalty miss in Euro 96 and his own geeky appearance doesn't help him.

Maybe we could soon be celebrating Big Sam taking that 400k bung and getting the sack as being a blessing in disguise. Hope I'm wrong but I felt after the first game of the tournament that we had just seen the potential winners. Italy three up against Turkey and Chiellini is giving high fives and chest pumps after denying turkey a chance to score with ten minutes to go.

Spain 82 and Germany 2006 spring to mind that when an Italian team comes into a tournament with this much fire, purpose and team spirit that they go very close and usually win it and boy can they defend.

[greenmark]

Congrats guys

Any thoughts on price against Denmark? Too short again?

Denmark have been pepped up by Eriksen. But that can only take you so far. Reality has to assert itself at some point.
The problem is the England 'brand'. We flip-flop from euphoria to self-flagellation. I suspect you're seeing that in the odds.
In any case case, get past Denmark and I reckon we're facing Italy. And that's a big hurdle. They currently are a proper Italian team.
Stubborn defence, clinical attack.

[Trader Pat]

I still think Southgate is the Solskjaer of international management, nice bloke but you'll never win anything with him as coach (Maybe a Nations Lge but thats the Europa Lge of international football, nobody counts that unless you win it)

Easy group, played a crap Germany team (who still should have equalised through Muller), then Ukraine a really poor team who on top of that were tired (I reckon if we put together a forum team we could have beaten them) If I was an Englander I'd be a little nervous with Pickford showing what he's capable of when coasting against them, Denmark might be a test but you should still have enough quality to beat them, I'd fancy Italy or Spain to have too much in the final BUT it's a one off game so anything can happen

Obvs if England win the tournament I'll admit to not having a clue what I'm talking about and needless to say I won't be turning on the TV for 10 years (having said that you still haven't stopped banging on about 66)

Of course the above is tongue in cheek (or maybe it isn't ) either way if England don't win it I promise not to gloat (too much)

I wish you all the very best of luck (said with fingers crossed)

[Kai]

There could be an awful lot of humble pie being eaten mate if England win this tournament and I will be eating my fair share of it with you. But it will be the nicest pie I've ever had lol

Good to see you still lurking around Carl

As a neutral I don't see anything wrong with England last few years and the pessimism is definitely over the top, even the German rivalry I think is more or less one-sided. England like most other good teams have everything they need to win, just need to manage the pressure and perform on the day, if they can harness the power of Wembley then they are clear favorites as well.

The hype surrounding international tournaments is so great that all the casuals that don't care about club football become obsessive fanatics and any reasonable failures get exacerbated, if all the expectations became reality there would be 18 teams in the semifinals and at least 10 in the final. France literally lost because they're just too damn good and too skilled. Yep, that's possible as well, can easily lose to sheer arrogance, they've basically beaten themselves

[Kai]

I still think Southgate is the Solskjaer of international management, nice bloke but you'll never win anything with him as coach

I somehow think they'd play just about the same even if he wasn't there Unsure about his tactical acumen but I think he's done well off the pitch, compared to someone like Dechamps who apparently can't handle the egos and his players hate each other, rotten mentality overall from the likes of Pogba and Griezmann. Mancini has apparently instilled that world class mentality on top of excellent coaching as well.

Good arguments about an easy road plus home advantage on top, but it's a good defensive squad without any real weaknesses, not their fault really for not having been tested properly, a lot of physicality and pace with a bit of flair mixed in as well. They can easily win it, you don't even need to be a top team to go all the way, it's enough to be solid to stay in games and a goal can come from anywhere and if it doesn't there's always pens, just gotta support your team til the end, especially if they're struggling in a match.

[Trader Pat]

I still think Southgate is the Solskjaer of international management, nice bloke but you'll never win anything with him as coach

I somehow think they'd play just about the same even if he wasn't there Unsure about his tactical acumen but I think he's done well off the pitch, compared to someone like Dechamps who apparently can't handle the egos and his players hate each other, rotten mentality overall from the likes of Pogba and Griezmann, or compared to Mancini who has apparently instilled that world class mentality on top of excellent coaching as well.

To be fair I didn't rate Italy's chances going into this with Mancini even though he has pedigree but at least I was right about Roberto Martinez!

And I suppose to counter what I said about Southgate just look at Portugal. They won this last time out with a coach whose name I still don't know mostly because Ronaldo pulled all the strings and made the decisions I call him Di MAtteo because he reminds me a bit of Robbie when Chelsea won the Champions Lge in 2012 thanks to the coaching acumen of John Terry

[xtrader16]

I still think Southgate is the Solskjaer of international management, nice bloke but you'll never win anything with him as coach (Maybe a Nations Lge but thats the Europa Lge of international football, nobody counts that unless you win it)

Easy group, played a crap Germany team (who still should have equalised through Muller), then Ukraine a really poor team who on top of that were tired (I reckon if we put together a forum team we could have beaten them) If I was an Englander.....

Stop reading this right there, bitter much?

[Trader Pat]

I still think Southgate is the Solskjaer of international management, nice bloke but you'll never win anything with him as coach (Maybe a Nations Lge but thats the Europa Lge of international football, nobody counts that unless you win it)

Easy group, played a crap Germany team (who still should have equalised through Muller), then Ukraine a really poor team who on top of that were tired (I reckon if we put together a forum team we could have beaten them) If I was an Englander.....

Stop reading this right there, bitter much?

I think people on the forum know me well enough by now to know most of what I said is tongue in cheek, which I thought was pretty much self explanatory with all the smiley faces

I stand by the crap Germany and really poor Ukraine comments though

[jamesg46]

I don't think there is anything wrong with those comments, just saying it how it was. We have played some solid football but were perhaps fortunate that Germany weren't that good... it takes nothing away from what the team have done so far though, the team still had to show up even if other teams haven't.

[Morbius]

I still think Southgate is the Solskjaer of international management, nice bloke but you'll never win anything with him as coach (Maybe a Nations Lge but thats the Europa Lge of international football, nobody counts that unless you win it)

Easy group, played a crap Germany team (who still should have equalised through Muller), then Ukraine a really poor team who on top of that were tired (I reckon if we put together a forum team we could have beaten them) If I was an Englander I'd be a little nervous with Pickford showing what he's capable of when coasting against them, Denmark might be a test but you should still have enough quality to beat them, I'd fancy Italy or Spain to have too much in the final BUT it's a one off game so anything can happen

Obvs if England win the tournament I'll admit to not having a clue what I'm talking about and needless to say I won't be turning on the TV for 10 years (having said that you still haven't stopped banging on about 66)

Of course the above is tongue in cheek (or maybe it isn't ) either way if England don't win it I promise not to gloat (too much)

I wish you all the very best of luck (said with fingers crossed)

Tongue in cheek or not, there's not much of that I can agree with we didn't have the hardest group but then again we didn't have the easiest either. Italy drew Switzerland Turkey and Wales while we had Croatia Czech Republic and Scotland. I don't see much in that at all but the one truly top team with top class footballers in depth on that list is Croatia and we had them.

Last 16 and Italy have Austria while we have to play Germany. And no German team is rubbish. Look at the number of CL winners in their side compared to us. Italys run has at least been no harder than ours and probably easier. To win tournaments is about probabilities. You can't have hard obstacles every round because very few teams would come through that.

Look at Portugal... France and Germany in the group and Belgium in the last 16 and Italy in the last 8 had they beat Belgium. Very few teams would come through that series. Then they would have played Spain in the semi. You simply need easier on paper obstacles to win any tournament

As for Southgate then read my previous post really. We have to start changing our opinion on Southgate. He may not have the calibre to manage a top club side but you don't need that to win an international tournament. Its 7 matches and we are only 2 short of doing it with a mediocre denmark side in the semi and a one off final AT HOME with 60k present. Even if we don't win.. We could have

[Kai]

England reminds me of Spurs at club level, there's more than enough ability in the squad but there's just some mental blockades to overcome. The media doesn't help with all the lineup leaks but it obviously helps having a likeable manager like Southgate.

[Trader Pat]

Tongue in cheek or not, there's not much of that I can agree with we didn't have the hardest group but then again we didn't have the easiest either. Italy drew Switzerland Turkey and Wales while we had Croatia Czech Republic and Scotland. I don't see much in that at all but the one truly top team with top class footballers in depth on that list is Croatia and we had them.

Last 16 and Italy have Austria while we have to play Germany. And no German team is rubbish. Look at the number of CL winners in their side compared to us. Italys run has at least been no harder than ours and probably easier. To win tournaments is about probabilities. You can't have hard obstacles every round because very few teams would come through that.

Look at Portugal... France and Germany in the group and Belgium in the last 16 and Italy in the last 8 had they beat Belgium. Very few teams would come through that series. Then they would have played Spain in the semi. You simply need easier on paper obstacles to win any tournament

As for Southgate then read my previous post really. We have to start changing our opinion on Southgate. He may not have the calibre to manage a top club side but you don't need that to win an international tournament. Its 7 matches and we are only 2 short of doing it with a mediocre denmark side in the semi and a one off final AT HOME with 60k present. Even if we don't win.. We could have

Like I said tongue in cheek so a few little exaggerations thrown in as well. If England win then they'll deserve to and Southgate will deserve the inevitable knighthood that will come his way. Hell of a chance to win it now.

[Realrocknrolla]

England reminds me of Spurs at club level, there's more than enough ability in the squad but there's just some mental blockades to overcome. The media doesn't help with all the lineup leaks but it obviously helps having a likeable manager like Southgate.

Why would a lineup leak affect a team performance?

[Trader Pat]

England reminds me of Spurs at club level

Bang out of order Kai!

Even I wouldn't insult England like that