Euros 20/21 Thread | Page 5 | Vital Football

Euros 20/21 Thread

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Where would the current England team finish if it competed in the Premier League ? I'd say maybe mid-table.

I think the squad is better than teams like West Ham, Spurs, Arsenal, Leeds which would put you in about 6th. I think as John says though, would fancy a lot of the top club sides to win the whole thing.
 
Has Southgate actually ever coached a team to win a game against a team we were not expected to win. He is so predictable and boring and his team tactics follow his lead. Grealish and Foden won’t start but Sterling and Rashford both in poor form will. If he plays both Rice and Phillips I won’t bother watching, I think we will struggle to get pit the group stages.
Weak goalkeeper and poor defence means we have no chance anyway but with a better manager it could have been fun.
We are back to picking players on reputation, rather than form. So tedious.
 
A quick glance at the fixtures suggests England would be advised to finish second in the group, not top. Finishing top ensures a Round of 16 game at Wembley, but they would (probably) be playing Portugal, Germany or France. Finishing second would send them to Copenhagen, but they would face (probably) Sweden, Poland or Slovakia.
 
A quick glance at the fixtures suggests England would be advised to finish second in the group, not top. Finishing top ensures a Round of 16 game at Wembley, but they would (probably) be playing Portugal, Germany or France. Finishing second would send them to Copenhagen, but they would face (probably) Sweden, Poland or Slovakia.

I never get this I really don't.

If you are going to win a tournament then you need to be capable of beating everybody not get into the final by some backdoor route only to lose to the team that came through the difficult side of the draw and is playing better.

Win the group and bring them all on I say. If we are going to get to the final and win this then we need to be playing the best and beating them because that way we will improve as the tournament goes on. If we can't do that then don't deserve to win it imo.
 
Finishing second would send them to Copenhagen, but they would face (probably) Sweden, Poland or Slovakia.

I could (very likely) have worked this out wrong, but if we won that game wouldn't we then be faced with the possibility of one out of France, Germany or Portugal in the quarter finals?
 
I could (very likely) have worked this out wrong, but if we won that game wouldn't we then be faced with the possibility of one out of France, Germany or Portugal in the quarter finals?
I think you're right. England win the group they play Round of 16 against runner-up of the Portugal-France-Germany 'Group of Death', followed by a quarter final probably v Spain.

If they qualify as runners-up they play an 'easier' Round of 16 v Sweden, Poland, Slovakia (or Spain if they fail to win their group). QF then probably against the winners of that 'Group of Death'.

It feels a bit lop-sided but that's down to that heavyweight last group. 6 of 1 half a dozen of the other. Win the group, deal with what's then up through to the QF.

Then it gets easier.
 
Yes there is that, very important geographical fact ... but if you’d been lately you’d realise it’s an absolute tip, with little or no legroom. It’s well past it’s sell by date, and not fit to welcome guests worldwide for a prestigious tournament.
Manchester is a funny one for facilities. Both of the clubs have barely any amenities outside of their rip off fan zones. If you look hard there's a hot butty cafe, and a McDonald's at Asda about 5 minutes walk from the Etihad, with a pub plus Lou Macari's chippy near the other place; and that really is just about it.

It's possible both clubs like it that way, as for the tourists that rock up at the ground (*having paid a tenner to park at the Etihad) they are pretty much hostages to the stadium fare. As a result swathes of fans tend to socialise in the city centre, before tramming or walking to the grounds.

*Free Tip for the Etihad - tell the parking check point you are going to the tennis centre on the left hand side (when not in use for Covid vacs.) and park in there for free. Note, you can still be waiting up to an hour to get away from the ground along with everybody else that has paid their tenner.
 
A quick glance at the fixtures suggests England would be advised to finish second in the group, not top. Finishing top ensures a Round of 16 game at Wembley, but they would (probably) be playing Portugal, Germany or France. Finishing second would send them to Copenhagen, but they would face (probably) Sweden, Poland or Slovakia.
Gotta lose to one of them sometime; might as well save on the travel and get it done at Wembley.
 
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My theory is that when Southgate came in
We are back to picking players on reputation, rather than form. So tedious.
My theory is that when Southgate came in he simply changed the old guard with the young players he already knew. Now several of those players like Rashford, Pickford and Sterling for example are basically Southgate's 'new' old guard.

In his defence, where on earth does he find two competent centre halves at international level, from the collection of liabilities, cart horses and donkeys currently available to him. It must be tricky trying to cover for that shower by having to choose between a double pivot for security, or say 'sod it' and go for a more attacking option.

From my point of view I'm yet to be massively impressed by the quality of pivot players such as Rice, Henderson et al so I would rather see the likes of Foden and Grealish picked so at least we would go down swinging.
 
[QUOTE="Rasenimp, post: 2882560, member

Sterling and rashford both unplayable on their day but also both way out of any sort of form[/QUOTE]

Only unplayable when they're playing alongside foreign imports
 
I'm always cautious predicting our chances in to tournaments. The media seem to have tempered the manic nationalistic approach of recent years and Russia was great example of what this young England can achieve when left to its own devises. There are some interesting opinions regarding Southgate and the players. For me Southgate is great ambassador for our Nation. The way we play reflects the modern game .He also embraces the multi cultural identity of today's England .I can only hope we do well this time around .Maybe like the Imps the good times could coming again? Fingers crossed
 
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Tbh, it's not often teams win a tournament playing like that.

France were pretty risk averse when they won the WC despite their talent. Germany are never particularly attacking when they've won a tournament. Portugal weren't when they won, likewise Greece.

Spain had a lot of the ball but weren't *that* attacking. I think it was 2010 they basically 1-0'd their way to victory.
Touching on this again, there's a piece here about the difference between Club and Country, which usually gives less attacking games at Country level.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/euro-2020-2021-international-game-b1861736.html
 
Like in 66, 86, 90, 96, 02, 04 we shouldn't panic if we draw our opening match against the World Cup runners up.
However, if we lose, do panic as we generally don't make it out of the group (2004 being the exception).

One win will probably guarantee a last 16-spot. If we can't get that from the three Wembley games then there's something wrong.
 
I see the Euros is exclusive to Optus Sport. Is that big in the UK as I haven’t come across it here in Aus. Is it being streamed anywhere else or do us real football fans have to miss out again because of big business paying more money for an exclusive contract ?
Or am I just out of touch 🙄
 
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