Euro 2024

[Bobfoc]

You would never have guessed that these two teams reached the semi-finals last time round.

[Moses Julep]

Funny that now that he’s got a ridiculously good team on paper at least, Southgate has gone for boring, boring England as a tactic.

[The Lusophone]

England boring but essentially through - but all the pundits will pretend like England can still go out in the group stage.

[Bobfoc]

They might as well try something different against Slovenia. It's unlikely that four points wouldn't be enough to qualify.

[DavidMarrio]

 

 

 

[therockbox]

He should be sacked for that alone.

[The Lusophone]

Is he wrong? Who in the squad would do the role that Southgate had Phillips do? He's not saying Phillips is good and should be in the squad now, he's saying they don't have the player to play his role.

[DavidMarrio]

Mad idea but he could alter his tactics so he doesn't need someone to play that role instead of putting square pegs in round holes and hoping it works out in the end

[gunnar hendershow]

It's not a wrong point but is he actually saying "I'm trying the same tactics but without the guy who made them viable"? That's just not a good place to have your squad in midway through a major tournament.

Especially when you now can build your squad around Jude Bellingham .

[Chris2K]

Tyldesley and McCoist re-united at last!

Forza Italia. Try to keep the goal difference to a reasonable amount.

[gunnar hendershow]

I thought we'd get the red vs blue classic kit matchup but remembered they rightfully don't do that due to color blindness. The Italy away kit does not look great unfortunately, it looks like something they'd be selling at the tourist shops in Milan and assuring you it's "official" while also letting you haggle them down to whatever.

[Chris2K]

After the first ten minutes I wish I had some kind of blindness myself.

Clive has been calling Di Lorenzo "Dani Carvajal" for the entire match. I wish he was.

[The Lusophone]

26 minutes ago, DavidMarrio said:

Mad idea but he could alter his tactics so he doesn't need someone to play that role instead of putting square pegs in round holes and hoping it works out in the end

 

25 minutes ago, gunnar hendershow said:

It's not a wrong point but is he actually saying "I'm trying the same tactics but without the guy who made them viable"? That's just not a good place to have your squad in midway through a major tournament.

Especially when you now can build your squad around Jude Bellingham .

I don't disagree and think this is a much more reasonable (and true!) criticism of Southgate than he's getting for the comments.

My theory is that he was hoping that one (or both) of Henderson and Phillips would be playing to an acceptable standard that he could pick them which is another major failing of his. His lack of adaptability, both in game and long term, will cost him and England dearly.

[gunnar hendershow]

Spain has clearly dominated but Italy has certainly done well making the chances difficult. They're certainly playing to steal a goal on the counter, and can't say I blame them.

[Chris2K]

We had a shot!!!!  

3 minutes ago, gunnar hendershow said:

Spain has clearly dominated but Italy has certainly done well making the chances difficult. They're certainly playing to steal a goal on the counter, and can't say I blame them.

Difficult maybe, but every shot Spain have had has been pretty much down the middle, or off target when it was harder to miss than score. Even Italy can't hold on against this level of pressure for a full 90 minutes.

[Adam]

I've been a big defender of Southgate for his entire reign, but this is poor and the signs are there that we won't get far into the knockouts.

That was so benign a display today. Trent isn't a midfielder, everyone can see it. Foden is nullified and really suffering from the lack of an overlapping left back. We are sitting too deep against teams we should be strangling the life out of with possession, and we aren't getting the best out of Europe's best striker. It's dreadful.

That quote after the game about Phillips...embarrassing. Not just the oblivious thought that they need a Phillips replacement. Just play a different way! But also that he says Trent is an experiment and has had some moments. Sorry Gareth, but this is the main event. Don't experiment in the tournament itself and don't justify it by saying that he has done alright sometimes. It's not good enough.

Meanwhile, Spain looking very good indeed.

[gunnar hendershow]

Rodri with the potentially strategic second yellow to get the reset for the round of 16.

[Chris2K]

Lol.

 

Another one for the own goal tally.

[gunnar hendershow]

And we thought Italy would struggle putting it in the net.

Honestly that's probably more on Donnarumma, if you're going to hit it into traffic like that you're gonna have a bad time.

[Chris2K]

Granted I am physically incapable of criticising Donnarumma, but none of this happens if any of the defenders had seemed remotely capable during this match. They've spent the entire game either getting beaten 1 on 1, giving every Spanish player too much space, and resorting to just throwing themselves in the way of shots.

This is the Italy that don't qualify for World Cups. Not able to keep possession, not able to create chances, nobody worth calling a striker even if they did, and no longer able to defend at the levels of the previous tournament winning sides. Donnarumma holds the team together but there's only so much he can do.

Apart from that, I'm having a great time.