Yeh we did great overall. Hats off to Italy they pretty much dominated the game and all their experience came to the fore tonight.
Italy deserved it tonight. They're top dogs now and hats off to them, the experience come through in the end. Our squad will overtake them at some point. I'm sure of that.
We need that aggressive, dogged winning mentality though. We were far too negative and some players just looked burnt out.
Just slightly off topic. Some of you crazy kids won't remember the 1982 world Cup. Brazil were star studded and played some of the greatest football ever witnessed at a world Cup. That was until they played a pretty average Italy side. Needless to say they were kicked up and down the pitch and bottled it. The point is, these Italian national teams are born winners and have a nasty win at all costs streak. I think England are far too nice at times ,hence our disappointing tournament record.
I can't believe what I am reading here. Southgate is a ****ing ****er, more interested in in his own ego for doing the unexpected than doing the right thing. We were on top for the first 20 mins and things were looking good. But once they took Sterling out of the game he should have been taken off and replaced by a stronger attacking player. What does he do? He brings on 2 more defensive players. Then he brings on Saka who was out of his depth (effectively reduced to 9.5 players). Gambled on extra time, which was risky but came off, and then allows his team to have virtually no possession for the entire extra time. And leaves Rashford and Sancho (2 attacking players) 1 min of extra time to pull it off. Why the **** did he not take off Saka and Sterling when they were doing sfa in extra time. Then we missed 3 penalties, Rashford and Sancho who had hardly seen the ball and Saka Sorry folks but I can't be having this "Well done Southgate". The team played their hearts out but Southgate, please own up to having ****ed up. I would actually sack him for his unbelievable mistakes tonight, and that is not with hindsight.
Saff, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to see that happening. It is the only enjoyment in life this worthless twat has. His own team, Scotland I believe it's called. were sunk without trace in the Group stage. The hatred of the English is all they have, 'they' being mostly Glaswegian wetbacks. I certainly wish it were 2050 before we see Scottish fans at Wembley again, after the disgusting mess they left in central London. Left it to just two noble lads to try and clean things up. An impossible task. So you can shove it, Boris Fenster. What's your next pseudonym? Current one could be a real disaster in the not too distant future?
A simple analysis.... We avoided the best teams in the Group Stage and faced two retrogressive teams in Croatia and Germany. We had the advantage of Wembley and strong home support- and a crucial dubious penalty against Denmark. In the final, neither team created much and Italy failed to score and capitalise on their second half dominance. Ron is correct. We were too negative in extra time, but had a chance in the shoot-out. Our three failed penalties highlighted this stupid practice of shooting with the inside of the foot. When will players learn to drive through with the instep instead of an underpowered curl of the foot- creating a golfing 'duck hook?' In fairness, Italy passed the ball better and just about deserved their win but their only good effort (after the goal) was a good, hard low shot through the wall from a free kick (defenders invariably leave a gap)- which is a much higher percentage than a stupid, curled shot over the bar. Overall we played pretty well, especially defensively, but failed ultimately to ride our luck. Re. Southgate, I don't rate him or any other manager before him, apart from Ramsey and Robson. It amazes me that the FA always choose a manager whose 'face fits.' How they could reject Brian Clough is beyond me but, there again, before choosing Alf Ramsey, they offered the job on the telephone to Burnley's captain, Jimmy Adamson, who had never coached, let alone managed! That sums them up. Never mind, there'll be another one along soon!
After berating Southgate all tournament and calling him ****, you can now tell yourselves it was justified because we only got to a penalty shoot-out in the final of a major tournament. Forget how these same people were wrong after berating his team and tactics against Germany and probably every other team we have played, this time they can say they were right all along about Southgate. Hurray!
So, its the morning after the night before where no doubt the England lads are nursing the 'what if' and 'if only' as the Italians put us to the sword in a penalty shoot out that had the most & best drama on the night...!! The football for the most part wasnt a great watch regardless of who you were supporting which to be fair to this England side is what they have produced for the most part during this tournament. The end result just makes you question why after going 1-nil up they just didnt try and go and get the next instead of sitting back and hoping that the Italians make a mistake and we might possibly score from it. We didnt and ultimately paid for it... The subs for the Italians made a huge difference to how they became re-energised in trying to get back in to the game. Our subs had no impact and we ended up chasing shadows for the most of a 2nd half that seemed to pass a slow death as they strangled all of our creativity for what it was. As for the pens, they were just poor, not one of those players wanted to miss his attempt, its just the drama and head f-up that plays on the strongest of minds and ours cracked in the end. It's the best way to win a competition but equally the worst way to lose one, but penalty shoot outs are always very dramatic for the fans involved and for those just watching on as a neutral. We came out on the losing side and that's just disappointing considering the effort that the team had put in to it to whole tournament... As for the abuse that the 3x England players are receiving it is just damn right horrible, disgusting but inevitable in this day and age and Twitter, Facebook or what ever medium they are using to abuse them have to be held responsible...!! Ultimately England went further than i thought that they would so they can take a lot out of this tournament, and Southgates biggest challenge will be to keep the squad in a good place when they next face a team who on paper are equal or better than them as they seem to be able to beat the ones ranked below them with a bit to spare at times...
Spain and France are both better than Italy, England had this tournament absolutely gift wrapped and will never in 100 years have a better chance of winning. The team is massively overrated due to 2 incredible draws in the past 2 tournaments allowing them to go far. Physically strong due to EPL steroids but not much else going for them, outclassed by the smaller Italian ball players.
^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'm Scottish and I have an inferiority complex with the English because the only thing we can compete with the world for is highest drug deaths. We are **** at everything else. England have won the football world cup, rugby world cup and even the cricket world cup and it's just not fair
I told you I would be back after you lost the final, dont know why you are getting so upset, you had advanced warning
Nobody cares about the Euro's anyway. That was just our warm-up. Everybody knows the World Cup is the big deal. We'll bring it home then.
this is why everyone loves to see England lose, I woke up half thinking it would be good to see yous win it yesterday but by the time the game came round and all the pre match nonsense like you had already won it, Sweet Caroline PRE MATCH!!, I was back to wanting Italy to win
I'm with Ron, Tamerlo and redcgull, and I really can't believe how easy a ride Southgate has been given in today's media (screen and print): to my mind, we've seen a simple failure of tactical management. I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet, but it's not the first time: it was Croatia 2018 all over again. Score the first goal, get the opposition in considerable disarray, then go for the jugular, get the second, and put the thing to bed. As it was, he reined back, let the Italians regroup on the pitch, and gave Mancini the opportunity to figure out attacking variations to compensate for the absence of Spinazzola down the left. Obviously you can't blame a manager for missed penalties, but it shouldn't have come to that. All that said, it's not as if it was a World Cup. Despite the media hype, the Euros are just a UEFA fundraiser and regularly won by tier-2 countries. But if England couldn't win a tournament uniquely set up for them in terms of draw, travelling and venues, you do begin to wonder if it will ever happen. And well done, Stick. Give us the Open winner, then.
Really...!!?? If you have gone as long as England have from drinking in the winners bar then any tournament win is a big thing. I can remember us winning Le Tournoir, not sure on the spelling, when Shearer was Captain back in the 90's and that was meant to kick us on to bigger and better things... Errrrr....
Good Morning gentlemen, I hope this day finds you all well and not too disappointed. The first default here of course is to ignore the Scotsman as lets face it all he wants to do is wind us all up as per so many of his countrymen. This of course to compensate for the shortcomings of his own national team who couldnt get out of the group stage. As far as the competition as a whole goes I feel that ultimately the best team throughout the competition finally won it. France drastically underperformed when the chips were down, Spain put in the single best performance (v Italy) of the competition but lacked ant sort of consistency and Belgium were treated to an Italian masterclass. Belgium by the way are rated the Worlds number one team so I would say it is hardly possibly to over-rate them! So the Final came down to the best teams on either side of the draw and despite having made a dream start England were unable to push on and bring it home. I actually thought that Southgate got the opening tactics spot on. Italy didnt really get a sniff of goal for the opening half hour. However, having got the opening tactics spot on right he was outmanouvered by a far more gifted manager who got his in-game tactics right and made the right substitutions at the right time. Changes that positively affected the flow of the game. It was only a matter of time until the Italians levelled and despite the occasional break the second hald and extra time was dominated by Italy. Having not made the right substitutions at the right time Southgate then commited what for me was the ultimate sin. He introduced two players just to take penalties with a matter of seconds left on the clock. Sit back and think of the pressure, being sent on because you are a banker for your penalty. Spain did the same in the semi final and that player missed also. Alas the final penalty came down to the teenager Sako facing the lad that in coming years I believe will prove to be one of the best keepers we have ever seen (pretty sure I said this in an earlier post). I just hope all three of those England lads can shrug this off but really they shouldnt ever have been that situation. This is an Italian team different to the ones we are used to seeing but they are getting old at the back and looking forward England can overtake them. We do however need to get smarter with our tactics, go out to win and not be afraid to lose. Overall a competition performance to be proud of for England fans but also sadly one that at times brought out the worst in us. I abhor the hearing of booing foreign national anthems, I dont like the social media ridicule of foreign fans and the abuse given to some of our players when they really need an arm around the shoulder is frankly moronic. Well played England but ultimately the best team and certainly the better manager won the day.
