Euro 2012 - Knockout Stages

[leon]

Spacecruiser - Grace no. Maturity no.

It just ain't gonna happen.

exactly and he's not going to watch the rest of the tournament because he hates all the countries involved. I'm sorry, but what a fucking sad, ignorant, little man.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

as if england ever expect to win a major tournament again whilst sky rule the roost and the champions league is the arbiter of quality.

for once I don't think you can really blame SKY or any financial greed for this particular problem.

We still train kids, and encourage them to play in exactly the same way that we did in the 1960s, yet get all surprised when other teams look better than us.

[Hoop Blah]

We've already established that we agree to disagree about the other night.

You started it!

[frimmers3]

as if england ever expect to win a major tournament again whilst sky rule the roost and the champions league is the arbiter of quality.

for once I don't think you can really blame SKY or any financial greed for this particular problem.

We still train kids, and encourage them to play in exactly the same way that we did in the 1960s, yet get all surprised when other teams look better than us.

err..but buy players that cannot play for england?

[Royal Rother]

Time to ditch Rooney. Yes he is class for Man U but at international level he just can't produce. I honestly think it's because he wants it so much which is a shame but he definitely needs to be dropped.

But we all know he is going to play every game he is fit for for the next 5 or 6 years.

Even Hodgson doesn't have big enough balls to drop him. Ain't gonna happen.

Still, persistence worked with Gerrard I suppose because after years of underperforming he's had an excellent tournament - maybe Rooney will have a good one in 2018.

[cmonurz]

So what's your solution, frimboy?

[Royal Rother]

We've already established that we agree to disagree about the other night.

You started it!

How very dare you!

[Hoop Blah]

as if england ever expect to win a major tournament again whilst sky rule the roost and the champions league is the arbiter of quality.

for once I don't think you can really blame SKY or any financial greed for this particular problem.

We still train kids, and encourage them to play in exactly the same way that we did in the 1960s, yet get all surprised when other teams look better than us.

I'm sure it's supposed to be exageration for effect, but that last bit is totally untrue, even if some people do still believe it.

We don't produce the depth of technical quality the Spainish or Italians do, but it's much different and better than 20, 30 years ago etc.

[Royal Rother]

as if england ever expect to win a major tournament again whilst sky rule the roost and the champions league is the arbiter of quality.

for once I don't think you can really blame SKY or any financial greed for this particular problem.

We still train kids, and encourage them to play in exactly the same way that we did in the 1960s, yet get all surprised when other teams look better than us.

I'm sure it's supposed to be exageration for effect, but that last bit is totally untrue, even if some people do still believe it.

We don't produce the depth of technical quality the Spainish or Italians do, but it's much different and better than 20, 30 years ago etc.

Indeed, bit of deja vu but my son is in one these Elite Development Centres and the training and coaching is all about skill development, small pitch, small goals, 7 a side normally, (non-compulsory) one touch pass and move with no emphasis placed on a scoreline.

The competitive games are however 11 a side full size pitch and that's where the problems still exist - but that is being changed soon.

It's going to take a while for the culture to change entirely as the league structures have always encouraged win at all costs - until the attitude of coaches / parents change, (or a new generation of those filters through) progress will be slow.

[Millsy]

What a load of f**king sh*te.

Firstly people going on about Italy "deserving" to win. Absolutely f**king bullsh*t. If they deserved to win, then they should have won in 90mins, or at least 120mins. I'm sorry but if you manage double the possession and double the passes it means nothing if you can't make them count for anything. And if you manage double the shots on target again it amounts for nothing if they're awful shots. If you can't finish, you don't deserve to win. End of... almost: if anyone "deserved" anything it was us who should have had at least one penalty if not two. Dirty cheating continental teams will always be dirty cheating continental teams and with the jokes that are referees in this stupid game that's not going to change any time soon. Italy deserved nothing. We deserved penalties.

As for who was the better team - Italy without a doubt. That doesn't mean they deserve to win it just means they are a better team it's just a fact. We are bloody disgracefully bad. Young - WTF Milner - WTF +++ Rooney WTF++++++++. I'm sorry but the sad fact of the matter is that we're a nation that thinks football is a dirty word, with too many people preferring other sports like egg-chasing. And when we do play football we think we're eggchasing using big kicks and physical presence instead of ability. Anyone who has played footy abroad will know that at grass roots levels foreign players absolutely run rings around us with technical ability because it's all abotu technique, whereas we're brought up hoofing. We are embarrassingly bad at football.

F**k it, at least I have Reading to look forward to.

Off to bed.

[Archie's penalty]

My thoughts on all of this. It were nae that bad folks, honest

http://rightbankwawaeuro2012.wordpress. ... mess-21-2/

[leon]

What a load of f**king sh*te.

Firstly people going on about Italy "deserving" to win. Absolutely f**king bullsh*t. If they deserved to win, then they should have won in 90mins, or at least 120mins. I'm sorry but if you manage double the possession and double the passes it means nothing if you can't make them count for anything. And if you manage double the shots on target again it amounts for nothing if they're awful shots. If you can't finish, you don't deserve to win. End of... almost: if anyone "deserved" anything it was us who should have had at least one penalty if not two. Dirty cheating continental teams will always be dirty cheating continental teams and with the jokes that are referees in this stupid game that's not going to change any time soon. Italy deserved nothing. We deserved penalties.

As for who was the better team - Italy without a doubt. That doesn't mean they deserve to win it just means they are a better team it's just a fact. We are bloody disgracefully bad. Young - WTF Milner - WTF +++ Rooney WTF++++++++. I'm sorry but the sad fact of the matter is that we're a nation that thinks football is a dirty word, with too many people preferring other sports like egg-chasing. And when we do play football we think we're eggchasing using big kicks and physical presence instead of ability. Anyone who has played footy abroad will know that at grass roots levels foreign players absolutely run rings around us with technical ability because it's all abotu technique, whereas we're brought up hoofing. We are embarrassingly bad at football.

F**k it, at least I have Reading to look forward to.

Off to bed.

I'm confused. Who do you think should have won that game?

We were a disgrace because we are bad at football, and Italy were the better team without a doubt. But that's bullshit because we were robbed but deserved to go to penalties.

Which we did and then lost, because presumably, we are shit. Or we were cheated.

[BenReadingFC]

We were outplayed for the entire 2nd half and extra time but this fuckers weak penalty pissed me off the most

http://www.bebo.com/c/video?FlashBoxId=4861464915

[Royal With Cheese]

I've not seen many teams that have faded as badly as England have during the tournament.

At the end they looked like they were running in treacle.

Still, I'm not that bothered really. Roll on the start of the season.

[Zaretsky]

England losing on penalties to Italy >>>>>>>>> any playoff final defeat.

We weren't very good but who ever thought we were going to be in this tournament? That game was nigh on identical to Italy v Spain in 2008 (with the victory on the other foot), when I had great respect for Italy for their defensive discipline and fortitude but couldn't argue with the merit of a Spain win.

[winchester_royal]

We are 15 years behind the best teams and unless the new ST George's center starts a conveyor belt of players who can keep the ball, then that gap will only get larger.

Agree that the team we saw tonight is way behind the best in the world...

But lets not forget that England have some genuinely excellent technical young footballers. Players like Wilshere, Ox, Nick Powell, McEachran, Kyle Walker, Rodwell should start to be integrated in slowly, and then hopefully we might have a chance to compete.

[Ian Royal]

I thought we actually did pretty well with Pirlo for most of the first half, especially the first 25 minutes. He got very little room on the ball anywhere other than deep inside his half and was frequently just bypassed by Italy. When he did get the ball and perform in that half it tended to be after a quick turnover of possession.

Sadly, Rooney and Welbeck couldn't keep it up / got bored of doing it.

Gerrard disappeared after he got cramp in the second half having been excellent the rest of the time. He obviously just couldn't keep up any more and we consequently sat deeper and deeper. Without him featuring we lost the midfield battle completely and had no outlet.

Young was abysmal for every game he played wide and not particularly good in the first game. Walcott came on for the wrong player and saw no service. Italy managed the game very well giving England no opportunity to break with pace into space.

It was a creditable effort under the circumstances, but we were crying out for a couple of in form strikers, a decent left winger and Wilshire.

As for Young's penalty cmonurz. Hit it high and you've got a much larger chance of missing. There is absolutely no need to blast it if you hit it high. High and on target is virtually unsaveable and the harder you hit it the less accuracy you have. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Blast it straight down the middle at chest height maybe... You could see from his face before the penalty it wasn't going to end well, same as Cole who just absolutely choked and fluffed it.

[Libertine]

Nothing to be ashamed of. First major tournament with a new coach. Won the group. Went out to an Italy team which was clearly the better of the two teams on Sunday but you were disciplined, showed a lot of heart and fight. You guys are starting to resemble a slightly better version of the US. Qualification is usually pretty smooth sailing. Once in the tournament you are solid defensively, and now in goal, but don't have the talent in the midfield, and the depth upfront presently (though that might change as the younger players mature), to have a realistic shot of winning against the elite teams. So you play 2 banks of 4 and hope to catch something on the break (like we were lucky enough to do against Spain when we beat them in the last Confederations Cup). I am sure you all wanted to get to the semis but if you did it might have been counterproductive disaster, seeing a big loss to Germany, which is pretty much clicking on all cylinders right now, might have represented more harm than good for the morale of the squad. Now it is time with out with the old (the over 30 players) and in with the new.

[Cripple Creek]

Just to backtrack a bit, it seems to be part of the English footballing culture not to make the most of genuinely creative, technically gifted players on the rare occasions when we do have them. Fair play to Bobby Robson who at least tried to semi-build the team around Gasgcoigne. However, Hoddle would have been first on the line-up of any continental team (and he was completely underutilised for England) and why Le Tissier was so ignored at international level remains one of life's mysteries.

[Wimb]

Considering how we went into the tournament, getting into the last eight was a decent enough achievement in my book.

Considering we changed manager and then lost Lampard, Barry and Cahill in the build-up, not to mention off-field problems seemingly forcing them into leaving either Terry or Ferdinand at home, what did people really expect?

Not to say I'm not disappointed with that performance but did a draw against a France team ready to self implode at any minute, a gritty late win over Sweden and beating a team ranked 52 in the World really make people believe we could go much further?

The massive, massive plus for us was that players like Hart, Walcott, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck and Carroll all got experience playing in a major finals and that we showed we can at least CONTAIN some of the world's best teams despite being inexperienced and patched together.

Hodgson has now got something to build on and I think public opinion of an England team has come out of a major tournament better than it went in for arguably the first time since Euro 96.