It was sad to see today but I thought we lost to the better team that were also better prepared for the long game battle. We got our goal too early and then slowly allowed Italy back in the game and if you consider them to be the Djokovic of football that decision to sit back was a major failure. We had limited chances and didn't take advantage of them which eventually came back and bit us on the arse. Please explain to me what the hell Rashford was trying to do with his penalty because managers should ban showboating at this level and I thought his lack of pride was followed by 2 p[layers who followed his directions rather than what was in the game plan. The ball was in our court for most of the early match but our initial exuberance fell by the wayside and we came to look like a team waiting for the bubble to burst - BANG! There it is for another 55 years?
Rashford's penalty was a disgrace. He should have known better. All we heard was about how they had been practising pens for weeks, so I don't believe that Rashford was allowed to do that in training without being pulled up by any of the coaching/management team. I feel more for Sancho and Sakha as it's clear the pressure at their young age got to them. God knows why Sterling and Grealish didn't take a pen each, I guess they bottled it. As much I think Rashford was at fault for his pen, as that would have given us the advantage in the shootout, neither he nor Sancho and Sakha should be targeted by racist idiots, that is disgusting. My criticism of Rashford is because it was a poor penalty from someone who should have known better, not because of the colour of his skin, if it had been Grealish, he would have got the same criticism from me.
Apparently Grealish made it clear to Southgate that he wanted to take a pen........Think Stirling bottled it though...
That wouldn't surprise me, Southgate has something against Grealish. We knew it before, but if further proof were needed, the fact he left Mount on for 100+ mins last night before bringing Grealish on says it all. I think the whole country was saying swap these 2 from about the 70 min mark... And that isn't the wonder of hindsight saying that, it was in the moment being said, as Mount was MIA for the vast majority of the second half.
Possibly even sooner in my books supcon because I saw little of Mount throughout the match and he should have been subbed at halftime. Perhaps Grealish, or Phil Foden, could have brought more to the team but the decision was made to stick rather than twist and Southgate has to wear that and I think it was one of the mistakes that cost us dearly. The second mistake in my books was the choice of the penalty takers by putting international rookies to the sword in the most important match for England since 1966. Rashford made his own disgrace but the next 2 penalty takers get a lot of my sympathy due to the tremendous stress they must have felt when we had more seasoned veterans on the bench. The racial dross handed out to any player is disgusting and abhorrent and sadly it doesn't look like it will vanish anytime soon and the perpetrators rarely get their come uppance. It has become a national disgrace when these posters are more than willing to cheer a goal by someone who is of a darker skin colour but insult their existence when it suits them. This tells me that these idiots either don't have a brain or heart, and possibly both, which enables them to make rational decisions based on common sense and empathy. Perhaps they need to find a team to support that is racialy pure in their blinkered eyes but just in case they haven't checked most teams pick the best players based on skill and commitment rather than skin colour. Is Grealish the same to Southagte as Kalas is to Pearson?
Apparently, the penalty-taking order was agreed on pre-game. GS had a list of the order based on their performance in practice over the past few months, and it depended on who was on the pitch at the time, allegedly Grealish was 8th pick... The list had Pickford above Grealish ffs... I'm sorry, but from someone who carries the monkey of penalty failure on their back, I find that an absurd logic from GS.
My understanding is the scores on the doors is 3 spats between Kalas and Pearson, one publicised + 2 other separate spats.
Sell him before it gets real ugly because that is the last thing we need going in to a seriously important campaign. In the past years we have had several reports of dressing room turmoil and cliques and look where that got us - absolutely nowhere. One for all and all for one.
Sterling knows that he’s not a penalty taker as he’s not that good at them. You’ve got to admire someone who chooses the team over his inability to score in those situations.
He's a professional footballer, and aside from earning a ton of cash in salary and endorsements every week, he should be able to take a perfect penalty. Your description is 100% correct, it was a disgrace to his supposed 'profession'.
Sorry Guys, we're usually on the same page, but I can't call missing a penalty with all the pressure of a European Final a disgrace.
I think the whole way he approached his penalty, let alone the dreadful execution of it, it was always going to end in tears especially how important his penalty was. Take a run up, put your laces through it, and the ball will scream into the back of the net unless the keeper gets lucky. Better penalties than Rashfords are seen week in week out in the National League, and he's an experienced pro, not some raw kid.
Rashford's was, I have never seen him attempt to place one before, he normally laces it so why try something new 'under the pressure of a European final?
99 out of a 100 it would have gone in I was never a above average footballer average being 10 out of 20 I was probably a 3 MESSI 20, better CHAMPIONSHIP players 15... sunday league 7 But we did do penalty compo's [ goalie was obviously not A1! ] and my style was same as Rashford goalie moves and tap it in ] occasionally [ was best of 5 or 10 ] would belt it [ was a kicker in rugby, main sport, so could hoof it! ] never more than 1 or 2 paces … in cricket was medium fast from 3 step run up! …. 3 or 4 were off spin then whoosh ….
It's the manner of the Rashford miss that irks me greatly. Sancho and Sakah didn't score either and I can live with that, just, and won't criticise them because of the pressure you mention. For me, Rashford tried to be cocky and got it horribly, horribly wrong, which put extra pressure on the other 2, when it would have been on Italy if he had scored. When you take a pen in that fashion, you have to score, or you're going to get criticism, be that in a final or a league game. If Rashford had made up his mind, put his laces through it, and still hit the post, then yes I would be disappointed, but not critical. He brought the criticism upon himself for that penalty. But I repeat that the racist abuse that is associated with it is disgusting.
I agree, the stuttering run up is normal for him but the attempted placement is not, he normally laces it and for some reason known to him he changed from the norm.
I’m disappointed of course, but to push the Italians to penalties in the final, when the noise coming from their camp was that they would stuff us out of sight, was a pretty good achievement in my book. Who would have predicted us as finalists before a ball was kicked?
Had we continued to press when we went ahead, it might have been a different outcome. But reaching the final exceeded most people's expectations. It's just worse to lose a final As we all well know !
I agree but I also agree for once with Gary Lineker, we have to learn from this and tweak our style of play, we have an embarrassment of attacking talent like Saka, Sterling (when he stays on his feet), Foden, Sancho, Mount and of course Kane, I don't think we need to play such a negative style.
