Thoughts so far? England suprised me today as they could actually string more than 4 passes together, my view on these euro championships is that the two poorest games have contained the Irish and English teams. There is a definite lack of technique that both our closest neighbours lack compared to teams like Russia and nearly all the others in this tournament . Intresting to see the Liverpool players performing with a view to Brenden taking over, Glen johnson will fit his mould perfectly but im not so sure about stevie G ! he doesnt seem to have any patience in keeping the ball and tried a few "hollywood" passes out of of the defensive 3rd that didnt come off, at this moment im not sure if buck will play him in the Leon role or the Gylfi role, he doesnt looked disiplined enough to play the same way as leon so that would leave him to play in Gylfi's position which would beg the question as to why Gylfi would go there to play 2 nd fiddle to Gerrard, one thing is certain, Brenden is not foolish enough to drop Stevie and face the wrath of the kop so it will be intresting to watch the Liverpool england guys to see how they will fit in. Russia are the team that have impressed me the most so far, but there doesnt seem to be any stand out performers in these early games, there were 1 or 2 greek players that might come cheap and look like they could do a job,maybe a some swedes and danes also but im thinking most other players would be too far out of our price range, the best looking young players look to be coming from the Ukraine,Holland and Russia and with regards the former eastern block countries they are loaded with oil billionaires to keep their talent in their countries. The standard of football has been very high IMO and its good to see that these countries (apart from Ireland and England) play a similar brand of football to us (or vice versa actually) Any players you've seen that could do a job for us and be within budget ?? Will Buck like what he sees with stevie G running around like a headless chicken and negating his tactical duties ?? Russia good outside bet ? Find out in next weeks episode of...Soap
two sides that are there to make the numbers up thats all. clingons goal was good but these two teams wont have much of a chance against spain or italy....
I have to say that I wasn't very impressed with Holland, they were very poor as were the Swedes who have just lost. I think that Hodgson has set up the England squad to play to our strengths, that is clearly our defence. As for the Irish, I was routing for them and feel that they definitely lacked the usual fighting spirit we see with them at big tournaments. I'l stick with my initial prediction and say that the Germans will lift the trophy.
spain for me but germany always does well in any competition. hodgson needs time i think and he will do well. a good manager that has been around the block a bit and knows what he is doing....
Thought England did well today. Tactically very impressive against a dangerous French team that they nullified quite well. They should get out of the Group, but you never know with them.
England's midfield was inferior to the Swans'. Gerrard or Leon? Parker or Joey? No comparison Engalnd way too deep - as typified by Nasri's goal with Gerrard parallel with the back4 LAck of energy, buzz and youthful vigour
Try and outplay teams that are technically better and you'll get mullered. I'm not a massive Hodgson fan but tactically he got it right imo. However I do agree that France were there for the taking and England were asking for trouble by playing too deep after going ahead.
The Greece game was as bad as any I've seen .... I'm so mystified with the Netherlands , they've always a good team but bare the burden of compound failure ... think they have to play Germany next . Not much different for the English , lot of pressure on the English to improve on nothing really , hope they can do it . The miss kick to keep the Croatian onside for his goal is Ireland at her best Lol !!
The dutch were bound to fail after I pulled them out of the work sweep. England just didn't seem to have the technical ability. Too many missed passes and inaccuracies. Gerrard was all over the pitch so Welbeck had no help.
Good views by all, seeren had a guy on the Winge, cant remember his name but he lokkes a real good prospect, i Will have to see who he plays for but would be a good signing for us,in theory of course. I agree that hodgson got it right though, Think he was let down a little bit by players not closing down fast enough, ashly cole got ****ed up plenty of times dont see why people say he is the best in the world ,surely that is some kind of joke!
Congrats Ivor !! . Not much of a game though , a lot of them haven't been so far . Hopefully it will pick up a bit .
I was pleased with England; boring performance but a good result against the dark horse for the tournament. Still a long way to go though, have to get past bogey team Sweden - and then co-hosts Ukraine. Oh, and on this part of the OP: "The standard of football has been very high IMO and its good to see that these countries (apart from Ireland and England) play a similar brand of football to us (or vice versa actually)" Really? Ireland and England were boring but Portugal disappointed me (bus parking galore) and Greece were pretty dire for most of their game.
Cherry, That's because Greece can't pass it as well as us. Portugal probably were playing for a draw. I don't know if it's just me but I'm finding that I'm getting impatient with teams who can't keep the ball. I think we've been spoilt at the Liberty and long may it continue!! I just hope that the new manager, whoever he is, can take our game on a stage further. If he can add goals to what we've got, we will be a pretty powerful outfit. I wonder how many Premier League teams will try and copy what we do next season? Great if some do because we should be a lot better at it than them.
I would like to see england get past the group stage just for the interest of a home nation team to follow but they wont go any further than that, Hodgson is a fine manager but this buisiness with john terry is spoiling their chances of a better team. he should have been dropped and left at home until his case come up. I feel sorry for players like rio who was hitting form at the right time and he should be there and not terry....
England are unbearable when they lose,and insufferable when they draw,or win. So better they go home early,I think.
