He would have known before the game, it wasn't just sprung on him at the end... All the players would have known the takers before the game
Absolutely.. a penalty hit hard enough usually goes in. The stupid dancing and piss-weak hit has every chance of being saved. We used to call it being telegraphed.. showing my age now…
Can only echo what's been said already .. First half hour apart Italy were the better team .. it was crying out for change.. get some possession .. Grealish must have been pulling his hairband out sat on that bench for so long and then to bring 2 penalty takers on with a minute to go ridiculous decision .. give the poor buggers a feel of the game before asking them to take the biggest spot kick in their lives ! We've done well throughout the tournament and although I'm disappointed to say the least there is some talent in that team .. let's hope they all learn from this chastening night in particular our manager who up to this point did well with his tactics .. for me though tonight he was out manoeuvred.
Best team won, with or without pens. We can criticise Southgate, late substitutions, penalty takers, whatever but I think Italy would still have found a way to win. Class, mature team.
Well if you think they wait untill the end of extra time and then Gareth just randomly tells players they are taking a pen, then you crack on.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of an era for us. We have a young team and a manager still learning, and still somewhat tactically naive when it comes to making game-altering changes. As City fans we are veterans of this . I think we can learn from this and have shown how far we have developed since the last World Cup. Big respect for Mancini.. he got it totally right.
england did very well but not quite well enough. learning curve, perhaps. the current regime is going well and we need to stick with it. i should say that there has been a hell of a change of attitude towards england management from the press, which older viewers will remember were almost always mega-critical of england managers, with the possible exception of landan lad venables. i didn't watch many matches, but the officiating i did see was well up to standard, which is excellent. i've often been highly critical of refereeing at bp and the circle, and especially at the usual jobsworth litte hitlers from irrelevant countries during world cup finals. nice to see maguire bury his penalty, but disappointed at all the faffing about in many run-ups - we used to call it "cabbaging" and regarded it as cheating.
This!! A very harsh life and professional lesson for the players and the management tonight. We have an abundance of talent at a very young age and we should and will be amongst the favourites next year
If they don’t want their medal I’ll have the ****er! It’s an achievement coming second ffs Be proud of it
