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Putting up a thread in case anyone would like to temporarily avert their gaze from the slow motion horror story that is the Ireland mens team & its unicorn hunt for a manager by talking about the best European footballing nations expressing themselves on the pitch in ways we can only dream of. Because that should cheer us up lads eh.
So its four games, thirteen goals so far & two hidings so far.
Shaping up to be an entertaining open tournament.
Serbia +650 (US)
I have a weird feeling about this game.
Think it’s going over 2.5
I’ll add in the weirdy world of prop bets that if you think whoever Trent Alexander Arnold is, he is +190 to get a shot on goal.
Maybe Serbia losing to Iceland is a good thing?
Pundits do not seem excited about the Poland game…
Hope there’s some good action tomorrow
Cracking match between Georgia and Turkey yesterday. Breathless stuff, but combined with a lot of slick attacking play. Georgia passed the ball really well.
How come the legends on here aren't talking this?
Interesting moments so far:
Visiting fans trying Curry Wurst...
The clip yesterday of the British fighting (other British?) Guy 1 gets help from Guy 2, three minutes later Guy 2 throws chair at Guy 1, knocking said out.
The annoying trend of breaking baguettes and spaghetti etc and pretending it's still funny after the first few days
My theory on why top Foot.ie members aren't watching: It's too depressing! Hungary are so, so bad. Just awful. And we are two rungs below them!
The viral Twitter feed on England '06
https://x.com/UpshotTowers/status/1803038478797517058
Denny's giving the Limeys all they can handle!
That was the furthest goal since...Denmark vs England '21
Only seen about half an hour across the second halves of England's two games, but they've looked desperate in both. What were Foden and Kane taken off for today - was Southgate holding the draw? I get they haven't the best keeper or centre backs (though even that's relative) but they shouldn't need to worry about that with their attacking options.
They do look like the first decent team they meet will knock them out again. Southgate must be under pressure if that's before the semis - plenty of boos today for example - but he'll get found out very quickly doing that at club level. Does he stick or twist? Jump or get pushed?
Germany not showing any home-side nerves and may be favourites at this stage.
The first two Turkey goals and the Swiss strike against bl Scotland early Goals of the Tournament candidates?
Looked like they were just not playing all that well. Kane was going too deep when they needed him forward. Foden was shooting from range a lot, though he hit the post with one. Sometimes a guy like that is just wasting ball on low probability chances. Watkins looked livelier. Maybe he thought he'd best not burn them out chasing a win in a game he didn't absolutely have to win. They'll play plenty of football before the end.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
They have lots of good attackers, but lack a playmaker. Eriksen played some lovely passes today. I think Southgate would give his back teeth for a player like that. His best passer seemed to be Walker, and he was talking post-match about not going forward too much in case the defence were blamed for conceding. I think Southgate has tried to address that by moving Trent Alexander Arnold into centre mid, as he is quite creative for Liverpool from right back. And on paper, it seems like Walker, Arnold, and Saka should make for some big overloads on the right, but that experiment seems not to have worked.
I think people still underestimate Denmark. They're a tidy side, and on a good day can ruin anyone's game. England do look a bit disjointed though. It's hard to see them competing if they don't raise their game.
Oh Denmark are a decent team for sure; ran England close in the semis last time for example.
But that England performance wasn't a one-off. I watched the second half v Serbia and they looked like they didn't want to get on the ball at all. More than one 80s style defender hoof for example. Serbia a bit unlucky not to get something out of the game.
You look at some of the smaller countries and see how technically confident they are - like Slovenia against Serbia earlier; Slovenia have the potential to cause England problems - and you wonder how England manage to play like they do. I get that, say, Turkey or Georgia played lovely stuff but could well get torn apart by a stronger side, but there has to be a balance somewhere
And yet for all that Southgate tends to get beaten by the first decent team he faces (Germany in Wembley last Euros the only real exception), he hasn't lost to Iceland or failed to get out of the group or anything mental like that.
Looking at the subs England brought on today its baffling that Grealish and Rashford arent in the squad. Jarred Bowen ahead of them is incredible to me.
I also think Southgate shows that a bad manager can genuinely bring a team down with how they are set up. They had 3 right backs in that starting 11 today, you cant tell me that Alexander Arnold is a better option than an actual center midfielder. As an aside it also highlights why I tend to rail against the idea of us putting Collins into midfield.
Bellingham is why I thought/feared England might be different in this tournament. I think hes the real deal. His performances in Germany and Spain show how good he is at such a young age, but they are just not getting the best out of him. Foden similarly.
They are an odd team who might still find themselves in a semi final just based on how the draw falls, but I dont think any of the top sides will fear them.
Overall its been a brilliant tournament so far. To me its so much better than the Champions League, which I just find soul less
Its a fine theory, this tournament has particularly quietened the pragmatist brigade and the slightly newer mix it up when we have to brigade too ( mixing it up is in my opinion merely a euphemism for not being able to keep the ball when our opponent decides they'd like it back & kicking it away down the field instead )Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
No one is mixing it up at this tournament, they can all play ball & do so all the time & all can be admired during games. Scotland are closest to doing that mixing it up crack, with a midfield we can only dream of & they'll likely fly home soon. No outright pragmatic sides even qualified.
& thats why its good & that's why they're gone quiet.
But they are watching.
Much to ponder basically Crosby. Much soul searching.
Its not big & its not clever but it is & will always be very entertaining how England are consistent in finding a way to be less than the sum of their parts & are particularly stinking the place out this time round.
You have really started making sense these last few years Crafty.
Next round is going to be fantastic! I might meet Paul O'Shea to watch a match
Is Mbappe still hurt or are France so loaded they can bench him
Italy are boring even for Italy.
Enjoyable tournament. Watched most games. England, like their spluttering rugby counterparts in the World Cup, in the weak half of the draw and with the two harder teams (Swiss and Italy) playing each other, I expect them to get to the Final and all the earlier criticisms will be forgotten. Germany flattering to deceive ? Hard to pick a winner. Group form usually goes out the window in the knock out phase. Hopefully Ireland will learn than "progressive football" is not all about the centre halves passing the ball back and forth to each other but moving the ball forward. Scottish "peno" - looked offside to me but if not, bizarre not referred to VAR (I'm a poet and didn't know it). Very little of controversy which is good other than Tony O'Donoghue in a "he's from Barcelona" type moment, querying whether the Argentinian ref understood European football (I thought the penalty rules were the same worldwide).
James McClean adopting the Dunphy mantel of saying the controversial stuff ? (Rice is not "a great player").
Interesting that Group C has ended up being almost a carbon copy of Ireland's Italia 90 group with all games but one ending in a draw, England winning the only game that wasn't a draw and Denmark and Slovenia taking on the Ireland/Netherlands role of being almost inseparable in second and third (Slovenia took second due to fewer bookings whereas in Italy we took second based on a drawing of lots).
Meanwhile Group E has gone exactly the same way as our USA 94 group with everyone ending up on four points. Ukraine this time taking on the Norway role of being the unfortunate team to earn four points and still go out at the group stage.
Both groups Ireland were involved in were considered among the most unusual tournament groups there have been, yet both have been replicated in the space of 24 hours.
Also looking like three of the four quarters of the knockout bracket will be absolutely stacked. With the other potentially being Austria, Slovenia, Turkey and Romania, meaning one of those four would make the semis. Could give one of them the chance to do a Greece/Denmark/Czech Republic and go all the way to the final.
Bit of a lull the last couple of days with some dreadful stuff from England and Belgium. Belgium really playing with fire as a loss for them and they would have been out. Really frustrating to see teams like those settling for 0-0 draws against inferior opposition.
But then Georgia come along and straight away add some spice - 1-0 up on Portugal after 90 seconds. I've really enjoyed watching Georgia and North Macedonia at the Euros; the League C/D playoff spot was criticised originally but I think it's been great