Tonight, I'm going to see The Ruts play at a venue down the road. please log in to view this image I think that I might go and stand aimlessly outside for an hour or two....
It's actually got to the stage where I almost have a total belief we will always win the penalty shoot out..
If England do go on to win it, who will have produced the more exciting tournament, us or Greece in 2004? One for the philosophers.
I read he's taken 62 free kicks in international tournaments, scoring none of them. It's the only record he holds that is entirely negative. Cult of personality finally comes to an end.
I’m pretty sure the commentators said a similar thing the other night albeit he has scored one - against Spain back in the World Cup in Russia. Still a terrible record for someone so great.
I don't know how anyone can possibly say that Southgate has no tactical brain. Clearly his tactics to hold the opposition to a draw and force a penalty shoot out is sound because we have better penalty takers. It's a plan I tell you!
Brazil vs Uruguay in the Copa is the antidote to the Euros on the showing so far. Both teams playing with immense intensity and the pace of the game is crazy. Some big challenges too.
Anyone else here think England should leave out Kane for the semi? Would be a huge call (not the sort Gareth makes), but he was awful yesterday and has been poor throughout the tournament. Would be a good option from the bench with Watkins starting so that we actually try to stretch the Dutch defence which has not looked great so far either.
Apart from one decent pass, I don't recall him doing anything of note at all, yesterday. He's been really poor in the other games, too. I agree, it's time to play one of the other options from the start...or drop Foden (also very poor) and play Kane in a more withdrawn role.
He has scored two goals, but I can’t recall another shot on target. He’s had no service and seems off the pace himself. One option would be to play 3-5-2 and pick both Kane and Toney, allowing Kane to drop deeper at times (which he likes to do), But there’s no chance of Southgate trying that. So I’d still play him, but be prepared to sub him for Toney after 60 minutes if it’s not working.
Based on the passmap from last night, it's likely because he's having 'Nam flashbacks of Conte please log in to view this image
Looks nowhere near fit for me and I would agree. We were talking it about it last night but you know Gareth will not take that decision......
How many did kane have a go at before he got the deflection , his free kick career started with an inoff against Villa iirc
Lots of weird and probably unnecessary bans dished out in this round. Morata, for example, will miss the semi after getting a yellow for overcelebrating. He was on the bench at the time.
UEFA appointed an all-German team of officials for the England vs Netherlands game. Sounds vaguely sensible in a mad way, as there's a rivalry with both sides. Unfortunately they picked Felix Zwayer to referee it. Who's he? He got banned for match-fixing for six months in 2005. To make matters worse the German FA kept it secret until someone leaked the file to the press. Jude Bellingham also criticised him in 2021 after he had a controversial game: "You give a referee that has match fixed before the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?" UEFA are now reviewing the decision to give him such an important match.
Wait until you see the Copa America discipline table More straight reds than a Liverpudlian Pride march
