Well, I genuinely thought we were going to win last night, no matter how we played. Can’t be too disappointed that we didn’t as we really haven’t been any good for the whole tournament. A staggeringly easy draw and some flashes of individual brilliance saw us through. Otherwise a very old fashioned way of playing, some obviously tired players like Bellingham, some woefully out of form ones like Harry ‘Loser’ Kane and the mystery that is Phil Foden made us once again less than the sum of our parts. Overall a pretty dull tournament, other than Spain who look like they can dominate for another decade. Winning last night without Pedri and with Rodri off for the second half and not missing a step is quite a statement. Great, back to proper club football.
The better footballing team won last night and it's better for the game that they did. England have been very uninspiring throughout this whole tournament. We have played 45 minutes of decent football and that's it. Yes we got to a final, via winning one game within normal time and an easier route than we could have hoped for. Playing with Kane, within this set up, is completely ridiculous. There is no runner up top for a forward pass to be made to. Not starting our most in form, top scorer in the premier league is beyond bizarre. The simple fact is, we were very lucky to get to the final, we certainly didn't get there by playing good football or dominating oppositions.
Another disappointing end to a tournament we had no right to have got so far in playing such mind-numbingly boring football. Save for the 1st half against Netherlands we were an abject advert for a squad with so much talent and this was just further confirmation that Southgate's tactics (or lack of) are one dimensional in the modern game. The fact he was about to bring on Trippier & Gallagher when Spain scored the winner sums up his management in a nutshell. Hopefully he will walk away as statistically our most successful manager of all time but that is in spite of rather than because of his input and shows what might have been had we had a more tactically astute manager. If the FA really want success they should make Jürgen Klopp an offer he can't refuse before he's snapped up elsewhere. We have some great attacking talent, we just need the right catalyst to set them free...
Katy Perry has been mocked for posting a union flag rather than a St George cross alongside a good luck message to England. This was the crowd in 1966.... please log in to view this image
I used to go to all the home games at Wembley when I was a kid, didn't miss a game from 79 to 85 when I left home....it was all union flags then. Not sure when it changed to George Crosses, but must've been 90s as all the games I went to at Euro96 there were hardly any union flags
Had to go one way or another. We need a modern approach to the game..someone who's also not terrified to drop supposedly star players. There's a wealth of talent out there. Pick a set up and then the best players to play in it, rather than the other way round.
So pleased he's gone. When you see what a modern manager can do to a team (Ainsworth/Marti) it makes sense to bring in someone who can get the best from the unbelievable talent pool we have. Onwards and upwards.
There are no obvious English candidates and if he’s knackered by club management he might be up for it. Pochettino apparently interested. No thanks.
Potter is currently avoiding work as he is still being paid a ludicrous amount by Chelsea. This is called ‘doing a Roberto Matteo’. I don’t think he has the minerals for the kind of abuse he would get. Both he and Pochettino looked absolutely useless at Chelsea.
The FA were talking about an interim manager as a possibility, which could mean they want to talk to Klopp or even Guardiola. All of tge possible English candidates are very uninspiring and just as tactically clueless as Southgate. If they appoint Lampard or Gerrrard we'll be torn to shreds by San Marino !
Will we now actually get over the line and win something as 60 years is a very long time...probably not but something for the media to get excited about again
