EURO 2020 ('21) THREAD

[moorside roughyed]

Oopps

[Futtocks]

Extra time!

[Futtocks]

 

[Futtocks]

Yes folks, it has gone to penalties.

[moorside roughyed]

God help the town of Wembley tonight. Judging on what went on even before kick off. 

[Futtocks]

Age and Guile beat Youth, Innocence, and a bad Haircut (P.J.O'Rourke)

[wilsontown]

Really disappointing, but hopefully it will be remembered for a great run to the final.

Still a young side and now have loads of tournament experience.

[Futtocks]

2 minutes ago, wilsontown said:

Really disappointing, but hopefully it will be remembered for a great run to the final.

Still a young side and now have loads of tournament experience.

This could, in hindsight, be seen as the first step on the way to another level.

Or it could all go pants, and revert to the norm.

[Damien]

Aw well the boys still did great and getting to the final and only losing on penalties is still a fine achievement.

Football is a game of fine margins with a lot of teams capable of beating each other, that's what makes it so hard to win major tournaments like this. 

[Maximus Decimus]

Balls. 

That was so cruel. We didn't just lose on pens, they gave us hope in the shootout.

I'd love to think this was a stepping stone, but I can't help but think it was the one chance I'll see in my lifetime. 

[Wiltshire Rhino]

It's the young fans I feel sorry for. 

You know, the ones, without the years of scars, who actually thought "it was coming home". 

[GUBRATS]

Said at half time he needed to get a hold of them and actually get us playing instead of treading water , didn't happen with the players on the pitch , and he didn't bring on any to kick start us either 

We were the best team for 2 minutes , Italy were the best for 60 minutes , apparently Mr Kane didn't have a single touch in the opposition box , surprisingly we lost 

 

[Gerrumonside ref]

Italy were the better team and deserved to win on the night.

They controlled midfield for much of the game after the first fifteen minutes and dominated the second half.

Always a gutting way to lose though.

 

[Futtocks]

4 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

We were the best team for 2 minutes , Italy were the best for 60 minutes

England were the better team for most of the first half, to be fair. It was the passivity after about half an hour that gave the Italians a way back in to the game. In the second half it was like an England/Italy game from 10 years ago.

[Industria ditat]

Italy were the best team in the tournament from the very first game. Lost their best player in the quarter final through injury but still made it to the final and were the better team tonight.

Disappointed we lost but we can't complain. Very very surprised at the choice of penalty takers.

[GUBRATS]

9 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

England were the better team for most of the first half, to be fair. It was the passivity after about half an hour that gave the Italians a way back in to the game. In the second half it was like an England/Italy game from 10 years ago.

We're saying pretty much the same thing , once we scored we gradually retreated back into our own half , on the odd occasion Sterling got the ball and took it forward there was nobody for him to work with , second half it was just a matter of time till they scored  , when the opportunity to break came , we were too slow 

 

[Niels]

10 hours ago, Bob8 said:

In the game in which Eriksen collapsed, Finland went on to win 2-0.

No-one was upset at Finland, as in the aftermath, people did not care about a football result. It gives the lie to some of the pious BS being spouted.

It was 1-0 Bob. 

The Finland game was very unique. At the time Denmark weren't bothered about the result.

Yet by the next game against Belgium, when Christian Eriksen was ok, things had changed and they wanted to do well for him. As a result fans of many nations got behind the team. 

His recovery was the catalyst for the change of attitudes. 

There was nothing pious, just fans supporting players who had acted with courage and dignity. 

[Futtocks]

6 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

We're saying pretty much the same thing , once we scored we gradually retreated back into our own half , on the odd occasion Sterling got the ball and took it forward there was nobody for him to work with , second half it was just a matter of time till they scored  , when the opportunity to break came , we were too slow 

The difference I saw was who ended up in possession of the loose ball from tackles and contested headers. For a lot of the first half, the ball was going to white shirts, who then kept possession with slick passing, coherent structure and anticipating Italy's attempts to take control.

After that, it reverted to type, with the Italians disrupting our passing game and picking up most of the loose balls, as they normally would against England. Our clearances became wilder and less controlled, with more of them landing at Italian feet, so the pressure was straight back on.

In RL terms, we went from forcing drop-outs to kicking the ball straight to a charging opposition fullback's hands without us forming a proper defensive line.

[Bedford Roughyed]

There appears to be a slight rewriting of history going on, on the old social media… turns out Southgate is a terrible manager and fluked this final appearance….

A semi-final at a World Cup, and final of the European cup seem a pretty good record to me…

[Gerrumonside ref]

3 minutes ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

There appears to be a slight rewriting of history going on, on the old social media… turns out Southgate is a terrible manager and fluked this final appearance….

A semi-final at a World Cup, and final of the European cup seem a pretty good record to me…

Some people are just bad losers.

[Niels]

5 minutes ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

There appears to be a slight rewriting of history going on, on the old social media… turns out Southgate is a terrible manager and fluked this final appearance….

A semi-final at a World Cup, and final of the European cup seem a pretty good record to me…

I think Mancini is of a lot higher standard than the other ex national premier league managers. He is the only one who has managed a top side and won the premier league. For comparison Southgate relagated Middlesbrough and De Boer lasted 4 games at Crystal Palace. Martinez failed at Everton. 

It is difficult for a national side to get a top manager as they all want the day to day involvement with club sides. I think Italy were definitely the best coached and best managed. 

I think the semi final and final would usually be considered sufficient. However, I wouldn't like to say what England football fans think

 

 

 

[Niels]

37 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Italy are a class side there's no argument there. England however were well on top for the first half and for reasons unknown decided to change the plan. They could have won this game, even in the dying moments but Italy's 'if you can't win don't lose' mentality won through.

I do however expect a load of social media posts from all over Europe about how Chiellini disgraced the game and should have been sent off. (Which he actually should have been)

Nonetheless, congratulations to Italy who are at least

 a phenomenal side. 

Do you mean Jorginho?

Chiellini is the captain, really sporting and amiable. 

 

[Damien]

10 minutes ago, Niels said:

I think Mancini is of a lot higher standard than the other ex national premier league managers. He is the only one who has managed a top side and won the premier league. For comparison Southgate relagated Middlesbrough and De Boer lasted 4 games at Crystal Palace. Martinez failed at Everton. 

It is difficult for a national side to get a top manager as they all want the day to day involvement with club sides. I think Italy were definitely the best coached and best managed. 

I think the semi final and final would usually be considered sufficient. However, I wouldn't like to say what England football fans think

I'm not sure if Mancini, with countless millions at his disposal at Man City, is fair comparison with managers at clubs with barely any money between them.

[Niels]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm not sure if Mancini, with countless millions at his disposal at Man City, is fair comparison with managers at clubs with barely any money between them.

He stands well above the other managers in comparison of their full careers. 

He took Lazio to top 4 when they had to sell all their best players due to financial issues. Then he won back to back titles with Internazionale. He then managed Galatasaray and Zenit. 

He now has won the European Championships. 

The reason he was made Manchester City manager and use of the money was due to his success in Italy. 

[Bedford Roughyed]

19 minutes ago, Niels said:

Chiellini is the captain, really sporting and amiable. 

Not sure the pull on Saka was particularly sporting…

 

(not a red card for me though)