euro 2020 | Vital Football

euro 2020

octopus

Vital Squad Member
To kick things off here is a predictor game.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/euro-2020-wallchart-predictor/





With my optimistic head on, If we win our group ( and France do) I have us beating Italy the final, Coming second I have us out in the quarters v France. Interestingly if we win our group and Scotland qualify as one of the thirds we would meet them again the in the quarters.



Italy might go far I reckon and worth a punt as not that well fancied
 
I had us getting beaten by France in the first knockout round :oops: such a shame we pair up with that savage group for the next round.
 
I'm going to be a bit controversial here, and I really really hope I'm hopelessly wrong, but, I think this is the worst England side for many years going into a tournament. I think the goalkeepers are at the best average, defenders Tyrone Mings is a joke of a centre half and if he doesn't give away a penalty and also get sent off,I will be amazed.
John Stones ,has improved a bit ,but the defenders around him at city help him a lot.
My second team is Man Utd, but whilst Shaw has had his best ever season,he does get caught out by staying too far upfield when an attack breaks down. Chilwell is a better bet at leftback. I assume Kyle Walker will be right back ,but so often he gets caught ball watching.
Midfield is our strength ,although how Southgate will fit in Grealish,Mount ,Fodin and Henderson I don't know. Henderson is probably the only ball winner in there,and he's got to be doubtful after such a long layoff
Upfront really concerns me. Kane is liable to break down with his ankle, and why oh why does he keep dropping back into midfield to try to win the ball
Now I come to Rashford. He's had a very poor season and continually tries to take on one man too many, and if Southgate plays him on the right he is very ineffective.
Stirling for whatever reason has gone backwards this season, and he can consider himself fortunate to be in the squad
Of the rest that I can remember without loking them up
Maguire, better that Mings but will he recover for the later stages in the unlikely event we get there?
Calvin Lewis ( is that spelt right) Kanes deputy, exceptional in the air,but where will the supply come from as Southgate has left Ward -Prowse out?
Ben White looks good but very inexperienced at international level
Sorry to be so pessimistic but like a lot of you, I've watched England fail with far better squads ( remember the golden generation).
I think we will fail to beat Croatia,lose to the Czechs and against Scotland,who knows? They always make it tough for us.
Still, if it all goes belly up ( and I really hope it doesn't) the media can always blame the booing of taking the knee
 
Re Tyrone Mings, you can back your judgement (of him getting sent off at least), at the bookmakers. Should get fair odds on a named player getting sent off in an individual match
 
England have a bloody good squad with some exceptional young talent! Don’t understand why Italy are unfancied by some? They are unbeaten in 28 matches…..
 
I had us getting beaten by France in the first knockout round :oops: such a shame we pair up with that savage group for the next round.

England will only play Portugal, France or Germany if they win their group! If they are runners up they will play the group winner of Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
 
England will only play Portugal, France or Germany if they win their group! If they are runners up they will play the group winner of Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
England have a bloody good squad with some exceptional young talent! Don’t understand why Italy are unfancied by some? They are unbeaten in 28 matches…..
I've laid out £10 ew on Immobile to win the golden boot at 22-1 on sky bet. I then get a free £3 bet every time he scores
 
Upfront really concerns me.

kane, foden,Sancho, Stirling, rashford, grealish.

The only concern is how do you fit them all in!

Defence in a concern for certain but not going forward. And at last we have players with creative flair.
 
England will only play Portugal, France or Germany if they win their group! If they are runners up they will play the group winner of Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia

I wouldn't rule out Hungary. Far from a good team, but play two of their group games at home - could easily turn someone over and take a point from the other game, which may be good enough to go through in an ultra tight group.
 
What are we going with for the starting XI on Sunday then?

I'm going 4-2-3-1

Pickford

James / Walker / Stones / Shaw

Bellingham / Rice

Foden / Mount / Grealish

Kane

I think we have an immensely talented squad - probably the best attacking options and pure talent we've ever had. Sadly, the defence and keeper options are not the best, but we may be able to get by, but I suspect that the defence may be out undoing. We've seen dull sides like Italy and Greece win tournaments almost purely on their organised and brilliant defence and keeper as they've thwarted more talented and attacking sides. Not often do we see teams win tournaments solely based on their attacking talent - yes, we've seen some great attacking sides win tournaments, but they've pretty much all had solid defences.

If we can get through the group stages and get Maguire and Henderson back and near fully fit, we massively improve our defensive options and, if we do that, out attacking options are as good as any. Even with a shaky defence, we really should get out of a group easily against an ageing but talented Croatia team, an improving and better than usual, but ultimately average Scotland team and an average Czech team - especially as all of our games at home.

For me against Croatia, I'm going for the Man City CB options of Stones and Walker as they player together there, albeit in a three. I'm not convinced fully with Walker as a CB in a two, but think his experience puts him above the talented but inexperienced Coady and White and walking disaster, Mings. Our FBs are probably the best picks in the world and you could pick any two from about 6, but I'm going for the best defensive two IMO, given the weakness at CB until Maguire returns, but you could easily go with Trieppiar on that front. Rice, Mount and Kane are gimmes in the central positions, I'm going for the in form Foden and Grealish either side of Mount as they are so exciting and creative. Ideally, I might want a Rashford and Sterling in there with their express pace - especially against some of the ageing Croats - but I think Foden, Mouth and Grealish are more talented, and all of them and Kane are hardly slouches, so I'll happily start with them, but I wouldn't be afraid, if I'm GS, to sling on Rashford, Sterling and/or Sancho pretty early.

Touching wood for that 3 point start which makes life so much easier for us.
 
kane, foden,Sancho, Stirling, rashford, grealish.

The only concern is how do you fit them all in!

Defence in a concern for certain but not going forward. And at last we have players with creative flair.
Do you really think southgate will start with all those.? Grealish,Fodin and Mount are midfield. Sancho won't be selected to start ,so that leaves Kane,who may or may not last many games ,Rashford and Stirling who both had poor seasons and only one of them will play alongside Kane anyway
 
I like that team, ST, but not sure Gareth will do it - I think he’ll play three at the back, and/or Phillips alongside Rice. I hope he doesn’t and his starting line up is similar to yours. If we were against a weaker side, he could drop Mount deeper and get some pace up front. I think that’s the only thing lacking.

I read an article earlier on Sky Sports, they have about 10 writers name their preferred 11 - not a single one picked Sterling. Strangely, I wouldn’t be surprised if Southgate plays him.

I also can’t see him playing both Foden and Grealish - but really hope he does.

I could also see him playing a back three of Walker, Stones and Shaw as he’s scared by our own centre backs. In a way though, the selection issues are good to have, much better than the 11 picking itself like it did for a decade - every player has got to perform.
 
My biggest hope is he doesn't play both Rice and Henderson but I think we will. Our defence has looked weak and I think Southgate is the type to try (and probably fail) to solve that rather than thinking we can dominate going forward and utilise all these tricky players the FA has spent decades trying to nurture.
 
I like that team, ST, but not sure Gareth will do it - I think he’ll play three at the back, and/or Phillips alongside Rice. I hope he doesn’t and his starting line up is similar to yours. If we were against a weaker side, he could drop Mount deeper and get some pace up front. I think that’s the only thing lacking.

I read an article earlier on Sky Sports, they have about 10 writers name their preferred 11 - not a single one picked Sterling. Strangely, I wouldn’t be surprised if Southgate plays him.

I also can’t see him playing both Foden and Grealish - but really hope he does.

I could also see him playing a back three of Walker, Stones and Shaw as he’s scared by our own centre backs. In a way though, the selection issues are good to have, much better than the 11 picking itself like it did for a decade - every player has got to perform.

Agree. My biggest fear is the two central defensive midfielder thing, but with concerns about our defence, I can see Southgate doing it, the net result of which means we lose a word class player (as any of our attacking midfield are) and in place we get an average Prem player like Phillips starting.

I can see GS starting with a back three to compensate for our defensive weakness, but am a strong believer in that he should stick to his guns, and he usually goes with four at the back. If we can’t get out of the group with the players we’ve got, at home, against the teams in the group and build momentum. We might as well not bother.
 
4-3-3

Henderson
Walker
Stones
Mings
Chilwell
Rice
Phillips
Mount
Foden
Grealish
Kane