The Euros Thread

Ever thought that the constant criticism of young, England players, some incredibly talented, might just affect their performance?
Comments on here like they've been the worst team are just baffling.
If the wonderful 'azzuri' or flamboyant 'les blues' had won their group without conceding a goal with 2 wins out of 3, there's no way some on here would lay into them like they do England.
For some, if we don't play like Brazil every game it's the worst thing they've ever seen.
In reality, we've looked good at times. The game against the Scots in their cup final was a one off derby and is rarely pretty.
Croatia and the Czechs are decent sides and we beat them both.
We've hit the woodwork early on in all 3 games, which could easily have made things look a lot different had they gone in.
I despair that the most talented group of players we've arguably ever had will be brought down by the constant sniping, sarcastic remarks and whinging. Not to mention the bloody media's habit of piling on the pressure.
God help them if they lose the next game against one of the top sides.
Saka ripped them a new one yesterday, being introduced as yet another very talented young player, yet he gets pelts on here before the game even starts. Had that been a 19 year old Italian or Frenchman etc some on here would have spaffed all over their keyboards over his performance.

Everyone is obviously entitled to their opinion, but England really haven't been as bad as some are suggesting.

Having said all that, they obviously need to improve again to get through the next round.
Do that and they avoid France and Belgium in the quarters and semis.

 

Yes, we are all entitled to our own opinions and you should try to remember that. My opinion is that England have been under par so far against pretty average opposition, hampered by an over-cautious manager. That Kalvin Phillips was our best player against Croatia speaks volumes. That's not to say that we can't improve, but we will have to improve a lot to progress further. Oh, and I don't suppose the players are going to be too affected by what we write on here.

 

We all want England to do well but at present they are being held back due to a lot of negative tactics being applied, we do have exciting youngsters & saka & Grealish was a breath of fresh air last night but haven’t seen enough of this, Sterling apart from his 2 goals his overall play has been poor & he’s been like that at club level & same goes for Rashford, these two a year or so ago was playing brilliantly for both teams.
Defence has been good but haven’t really been tested yet & do we need to play with two defensive midfielders?

I used to enjoy going to pub & watch England play but not anymore, something is not right not to let these youngsters express themselves on the pitch, hope Southgate can see that & push on & play with a bit more exciting football, will be rooting for them & love to see us win it but will need a new game plan

 

The next match is the one Southgate has been practicing for. We will be playing Rice and Phillips for that. He has had his eyes on it since before the start. Just get through that

Going out at the 16 team stage ..is a failure... Getting through that, he should get an easier match in the 1/4...and then it's all gravy.

We will be a different teamif we get through the next match

 

Although I agree with a great deal of what you write Col, I think you are reading too much into what is written or not even written on this board.

I personally cannot remember anyone saying England are the worst team in the tournament ( but i am willing to be corrected ) and upon re-reading yesterday's match comments I see there are no disparaging comments about Saka whatsoever.

Let's just hope England improve with each match and show more attacking guile that we know they are capable of.

Whatever happens, Gooooo Ingerlaaaaaand!

 

I am critical of the manner in which they are being directed to play, not the players themselves (although I think Kane has been pretty poor so far).

These young players are tutored in how to deal with the media and social media. A few miserable farts like me complaining on a small forum will have zero impact.

All we want is entertaining, passing backwards and sideways with zero flair is a rotten spectacle. This is made all the more frustrating when there’s some real talent in a team that seems curtailed in being allowed to express itself.

 

I actually am going to stick my neck out here and say, i think England have been ****ing boring to watch and not impressed me at all. That said, its a results based game and we have got the results necessary to progress, granted we went through after scoring 1 single goal. Maybe i expect too much from the players, maybe they arent actually as good as i thought when comparing playing league football to international football, maybe we have had a few 'off' games. Maybe the fear of losing dictates the tactics, maybe we cant play at the intensity we think we can. One thing i am pretty conclusive about is our lack of world class players. That, in my opinion, is a rare player anyway but im struggling to think who i would class in that catrgory at the moment. I hope we win it, of course i do but with a bit more flair, creativity and passion that is currently been shown.

 

After the game when interviewed, Saka said Southgate told him to go out and play like he does for his club, with freedom and to express himself.
It's a myth that Southgate sends players out with instructions to play negatively.
Did you not see the first half yesterday?
It's hard to imagine us playing more attacking.
The front 4 were fluid and always changing positions.
The passing was good and progressive.
As I said, it seems that only England have to play like the 1970 Brazil team for 90 minutes of every game to satisfy some.

As to comments on here affected them, well I wasn't just referring to this board and tge few who seem to relish knocking England.
It's all social media as a whole.
On Facebook, people were calling for Southgate to resign before last night's game.
Pathetic.

 

Tough choice as to what game to watch tonight, both should be crackers......

Think the Portugal v France game has more riding on it as I expect Germany to dispatch Hungary in a rainbow coloured avalanche of goals........

 

Interesting snipet from beeb text about how much cash each team gets for wins, draws, qualifying for knockout stage etc.....

Portuguese outlet Sapo makes some interesting financial observations. “Scoring against France will be decisive in championship terms, but also financially. So far, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has earned 10.75m euros. Uefa pays each team 9.25m euros for taking part in the championship… Prizes are 1.5m euros per win and 750,000 euros per draw. The bonus for teams that qualify for the round of 16 is 2m euros. If Portugal beat France, it will receive a total of 3.5: that’s what Wednesday’s match in Budapest is worth.”

 

4 more poor 1-0 win performances will do

 

Did you find the first half yesterday boring to watch mate?

 

Hungary 1 up....... the locals at the France/Portugal game are making some noise......

 

If it stays like that and France beat Portugal by a couple, we could be playing Hungary.

 

If it stays that way Germany are out.........

 

C'mon Hungary.

 

Another good game today Sweden 3-2 over Poland with the winner in the last minute of added time. Good goals. Poland a bit unlucky after coming back from 0-2 to 2-2 through Mr L.

 

If it stays like that and France win by any score, Hungary finish 2nd.
Oh blimey. Penalty to Portugal.

 

Penalty to Portugal......Lloris went to punch the ball and punched player instead.......

 

****'s sake. As it stands, we play France!