Euro 2016 Thread

[Winston Smith]

The group games are important considering we should've easily topped the group

no offence to you genome as there are loads of people saying this, but why should we have easily won the group? tournament after tournament, decade after decade we show we are not a very good football team yet every 2 years people start saying again that we should easily progress at the Euro's or WC. It boggles the mind.

[No Fixed Abode]

It's ok though - we dominated the 3 group games and that's never really been done by an England team in a tournament before.

[tidus_mi2]

That bit that struck me yesterday was that we never made their keeper work, I can think of a decent long shot the keeper had to parry away and that was about it, they were so slow it was like they were just expecting something to happen.

[double d]

What I find most shocking about all of this, is that we have allegedly the best league in the world, and this was our so called "golden generation". They have 1 PL player in their team, no professional leagues at all and they played like they wanted to win. That is the problem. They wanted to win this game, our players go back to their clubs and still pick up a massive pay check in a few weeks. No wonder our league is carried by international players.

[East Grinstead Royal]

That bit that struck me yesterday was that we never made their keeper work, I can think of a decent long shot the keeper had to parry away and that was about it, they were so slow it was like they were just expecting something to happen.

TBH, it was like that in the group games as well. We barely created any chances in the box and resorted to long range shots. A bit like Reading when Pogrebnyak was in the side!

[AthleticoSpizz]

Didn't happen.

Daughter just got in from boot camp....car emblazoned with England flags, saying people were laughing at her

you were there?

[genome]

The group games are important considering we should've easily topped the group

no offence to you genome as there are loads of people saying this, but why should we have easily won the group? tournament after tournament, decade after decade we show we are not a very good football team yet every 2 years people start saying again that we should easily progress at the Euro's or WC. It boggles the mind.

A team that beat the world champions, France and Portugal in recent months on the back of 10 wins in a row should be beating Russia, Slovakia and Iceland. No excuses.

[Sutekh]

That bit that struck me yesterday was that we never made their keeper work, I can think of a decent long shot the keeper had to parry away and that was about it, they were so slow it was like they were just expecting something to happen.

TBH, it was like that in the group games as well. We barely created any chances in the box and resorted to long range shots. A bit like Reading when Pogrebnyak was in the side!

Agreed. It was exactly like watching Reading this season. Clueless from beginning to end. Iceland even told England their gameplay and that useless waste of space that was masquerading as a manager still couldn't put a team together to beat them or give the players any organisation and direction.

Biggest joke was putting Wilshere on at half time to save the game and giving Rashford a whole 5 minutes.

If England had picked a squad from FOOTBALL LEAGUE players only and hired a FOOTBALL LEAGUE manager we would probably have done better.

England were so crap that they probably couldn't even beat England.

But don't worry it's OK as the PL is the best league in the world (but only because there are so few English players playing in it).

[John Madejski's Wallet]

I must be a massive pessimist, but I was a bit gutted for England that they're facing Iceland

Nothing in the last 3 games has made me think we'd take them apart. However I really valued our chances against that Portugal defense.
Add in the fact that the one team everyone in Iceland wanted to draw was England.

Should have placed a bet

[No Fixed Abode]

I said Andy Carroll should have gone.
I said I would have picked Carrick over the likes of Henderson.
I said Mark Noble should have gone over Wilshire
I said Antonio should have gone
I said Drinkwater should have gone

Kes for England manager.

[stealthpapes]

mcLOLaren

https://mobile.twitter.com/chunkymark/status/747658695476154368/video/1

That is beautiful.

What got me was most of my facebook feed turning on england at about 60 minutes in. Just unrelenting criticism of the whole thing.

Also, beautiful.

[BR2]

Lovely hatchet job on Woy by Linekar, Shearer, Rio and Jenas. Made Wrighty earlier on ITV, seem possibly sanguine.

All fair points I thought. Slight whiff of player's union about it but they were right to say that we were tactically clueless. No identity, no idea what is his best team or how to use the players at his disposal.

Lots of people saying that our players aren't good enough - in certain areas maybe, but I don't buy that. We had the two top scorers in the Premier League playing for us and they looked completely ineffective, there seemed to be no plan on how to use them.

You mention the two top scorers in the Premier League.
Sorry to sound a bit Alan Hansen but our much vaunted Premier League must be one of the easiest to score in-the defending is atrocious.
It makes strikers IMHO look much better than they really are and in the Premier League just don't face decent defenders week-in, week-out.

I never understood why we took 4 full-backs, some only functional midfielders (Dier, Henderson, Milner) but no winger other than Sterling.
The idea that our creativity should come from moderate full-backs who can't cross a ball was pathetic and Roy wanting to put players in positions that they don't normally play was also pathetic.
Also, in the first game, having your biggest striker taking corners was incomprehensible.

Yet another shambles of a tournament and as Stranded said, why should we be surprised?
BTW who are these fantastic young players that we supposedly have?
Roy carries the can and rightly so but our players really are not that good and very seldom are but this is England where hype about all things English is often just that-hype.

[Winston Smith]

not sure a single England player comes out of this tournament with anything positive at all.

no doubt Rashford's 7 minute appearance will get built up and up into something it wasn't and by the start of next season it will be said that he needs to be the main man up front for England.

Biggest flops must be Hart, Sterling & Kane.

[6ft Kerplunk]

What I find most shocking about all of this, is that we have allegedly the best league in the world, and this was our so called "golden generation".

The golden generation? Wasn't that the Lampard/Gerrard/Ferdinand/Terry/Rooney/Cole (A) etc era, you know that set of players that fialed badly. This one was the "well they might turn our alright if we're lucky" era. Nothing has changed in our domestic game to make us any better, why were we expecting it to be any better?

[Sutekh]

Why, after every tournament, do the FA and players and management concerned say we'll learn from this and be better next time only to make exactly the same mistakes (or worse) all over again when the next time finally comes round?

What do these overpaid so called experts actually do other than just blab what they think everyone wants to hear ?

Waiting for the next finals and an exit in the usual manner after the standard struggle to get through the group stage, presuming they can actually handle a qualification process of course.

All comes down to the worst thing that ever happened to football in this country; SKY money and the Premier League.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Why, after every tournament, do the FA and players and management concerned say we'll learn from this and be better next time only to make exactly the same mistakes (or worse) all over again when the next time finally comes round?

What do these overpaid so called experts actually do other than just blab what they think everyone wants to hear ?

Waiting for the next finals and an exit in the usual manner after the standard struggle to get through the group stage, presuming they can actually handle a qualification process of course.

All comes down to the worst thing that ever happened to football in this country; SKY money and the Premier League.

+1

[Mr Angry]

The thing about last night was that it wasn't a surprise; apart from the first 75 minutes against Russia, we have been terrible, and then, with hindsight, we were only good in those 75 minutes because Russia turned out to be even more gash than we were!

The problems were there from before the first ball was kicked; leaving out - for example - form players who weren't playing for big teams (Noble, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Defoe, Townsend), sticking with unfit players (Wilshire - why bring him on at half time last night Roy?? The situation cried out for something positive - why not use Barkley, or throw on Rashford and Vardy immediately - at least it would have signalled intent; but nope, on trotted Wilshire - the man you want if you need a lot of pointing and square balls played) and then using players who the whole world could see were shot (such as Sterling, Henderson (did a single cross of his beat the first man, ever?), Milner) and screwing up any chance we had by shoe-horning Rooney into the side.

Rooney should retire immediately; his passing was simply atrocious last night, inch perfect accuracy in finding a blue shirt time and time again; we need to be fast in attack and move the ball quickly - every time he got the ball, the pace immediately dropped. I don't give a care that he is our all time leading goal scorer; his time has gone and if England are to progress, he needs to either retire or be dumped by the new Manager.

Sturridge; gets lucky against Wales (I thought he fouled Gunter in the build up to his goal) stays in and produces exactly sod all cubed from then on; someone else who slowed the game down when getting the ball.

As for Sterling - words fail me; I don't give a toss that he "won" the penalty against Iceland; a poor touch and a clumsy keeper does not justify the game time that waster got during the tournament.

How crap must Stones be not to get picked instead of 2 of the slowest centre halves in World football in Smalling and Cahill; they were shocking. Added to 2 full backs who were good going forward but an absolute liability at the back and a keeper more concerned about his poxy shampoo adverts that doing the basics of goalkeeping, and we always looked as if we could concede when opponents got into the final third.

Hodgson hadn't got a clue about how he wanted the team to play, so was of course confused about the best formation to achieve that plan (as he hadn't got a plan) and the best players to fit into that formation to make the (non-existent) plan work. His resignation was the most pointless exercise of self centred BS ever, as his contract had ended with that defeat and everyone knew he wasn't getting an extension. It reminded me of Smashy and Nicey desperately rushing to the cameras to resign before they were sacked..................

I just hope the FA show some courage and NOT appoint Gareth "Loser" Southgate; down that path lies yet more nights of wretched disappointment like last night, more defeats against "lesser" sides, because all he will do is exactly what Roy did. Conservative, stick to the players from the big clubs cos they must be good and ignore form in favour of hype and reputation.

[AthleticoSpizz]

........and make that the last we see of that sh1t kit too

[No Fixed Abode]

We're out. Let it go now.

That's for Brexit too btw.

[genome]

A caller on 606 last night made a good point. When you think of the top teams in Europe the best teams have an identity and way of playing that often reflects the best teams in the country.

Italy: Strong emphasis on defence and organisation - Juve
Spain: Tiki-taka football, high possession - Barcelona
Germany: High work rate, quick movement, disciplined - Bayern

I feel England have lost theirs, that physical aspect, good pace, playing to the qualities of the strikers. I felt more than a few parallels with England and Reading actually