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If England can get past Germany - quite doable, depending on which Germany show up - you'd imagine they'd get past either Sweden or Ukraine to reach the semi's, at which point it would probably be the Dutch?
The other half of the draw looks really good though. Belgium/Italy would be a special quarter-final, maybe a World Cup Final replay in the other?
Great performance by Denmark, albeit Wales just didn't show up for huge stretches. Bale just vanished from the game after 10 mins. You'd imagine it will be Danes/Dutch in the quarters, should be good.
OK, my stats earlier were very much at a point in time (as I had flagged! :) )
Specifically, in the first 23 games, there were 49 goals, at a sub-Italia 90 level.
In the next 19 games, there's been 69 goals, at a level unprecedented in a modern tournament. Yesterday's two games were utterly extraordinary.
The fear now is Gareth Southgate's England are unlikely to keep the ball rolling - though I said the same about the usually-dull Swiss before their France game in fairness.
Speak for yourself. I expect goals from Kane, Sterling, Foden, Grealish, Rashford, Saka, Sancho, and Mount in a glorious 9-8 penalty defeat to the Germans.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Touché!
But it's a strange thing with this England tea - they have all those great attacking players, but Southgate doesn't seem to want to let them play that way.
Oh, I didn't mean they'll play anything but dull, dour football. I'm curious how they stack up against the bigger teams; I think Southgate is partly playing so conservatively because he has a weaker core (centre halves and particularly centre mid) than the British press seem to believe. The two defensive mids are inexperienced players from mid-table teams. The attack might be a big deal if and when they are left off the hook chasing a game, but I think they lack fluency because of how they're being coached and don't see any great danger of them playing out a 5-3 win over anyone. And if this is a jinx and they do just that tonight, then I'll just have to sit there and endure the goalfest.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Big, big moment for England. Win and it's hard to see them not making the final with the opposition to come. Lose, and there will be some degree of recriminations that will probably see Southgate out circa early December 2022. I'd saw Low is happy to be labelled an underdog.
If I was to hazard a winner now, it would be whomever wins the Belgium/Italy game, and I suspect that'll be Italy.
Sky were eager to report that he won't be "resting" any players for the Ukraine game. What ? Who would have thought for a second, other than Sky, that they'd rest players for a quarter final of the Euros. It's not the Carabao Cup. Sky obviously think the result is an automatic win for England. We shall see.
Amused by a Financial Times article I saw linked elsewhere (paywall), on fears that England's players/management could be a problem for the Tory government if they win the tournament:
Because Southgate has always had the appearance of a knuckle-dragging "ITS COMIN ORM" soccer hooligan, yes? Also "deep Woke", is that what we're calling it now? Examples cited of such things include Harry Kane wearing a rainbow armband and Marcus Rashford suggesting that child hunger is something the state shouldn't allow.Quote:
Conservatives and Johnson supporters are less ecstatic. Some seem to believe that Southgate is becoming a tool of deep Woke — with one Tory strategist telling me that the England manager’s patriotism essay was “suspiciously well-written”.
Brilliant semi, lots of nice attacking football. Got a bit slow in ET, but enjoyed the shoot-out, especially the final kick which says something of Italy's composure despite the perception of them as some sort of patriotic freight train.
I think it's necessary to treat articles like that as little more than institutionalised trolling. If someone made that argument on a forum, I'd be adding them to my ignore list. I find that helps tune out some of the noise.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
I've heard a couple of people call tonight the "real final", which I think is a little disrespectful to England and Denmark, both of whom are close to Italy and Spain in results, whatever about polish. Two decent pairings left, however tomorrow night goes. I'm not a betting man, but I think Denmark's current tournament odds of 9/1 are a little long.
What a free kick.
I was just thinking that I'd love to see England go behind, just to see what they are really made of. About to find out! For the record I do think they've grown a bit since they collapsed after going behind three years ago in their last semi-final, so I still expect them to win.
And we've found out. Game on. Denmark shading it on balance - first time England have played a team in form this tournament. They've improved since equalising though
Good game. If Denmark had held to half-time I might have more confidence in them taking the tie, just because the narrative of things collapsing for England would have been so obvious (if England are losing late on, that crowd's going to get ugly). As it is I think England will come out for the second half happier and I'd still back them to win. Denmark remain so impressive though, considering the circumstances.
Half-time's come at a good time for Denmark though. Interesting second half ahead.
Some dive...
Marginal contact at best, 90% simulation. I'd love to read reports from VAR on these exact incidents, to understand the interpretation of the foul.
England are good alright, but have had the enormous benefit of playing three very beatable opponents in each of their knock-out games. Denmark were the best and looked out of energy and ideas around 70 minutes in. There are times when they appear very loose, especially when opponents are running at them after a turnover in midfield, or such was my perception: Denmark had a man advantage in such situation at least twice last night, but failed to make the right pass to make it count. I don't think Italy will be intimidated at all. I would say it' s a toss-up, but home advantage tips it England's way. If Italy could neutralise Sterling and put Walker under more pressure than other teams have been able to, it would go the other way.
It's the oldest story in football, but you have to say as well that England's goalie is a disaster waiting to happen. Thought Pickford was sub-par yesterday and other teams would have been more punishing.
Very disappointing conclusion. The penalty was soft at best - and in a way, had it been better struck, Schmeichel would have saved it, but because it wasn't right in the corner, he dived past the ball and didn't have the natural angle to parry it to one side. England were the better team and probably would have won anyway - but not like that.
But then - against a side out on their feet and actually down to ten men through injury - Southgate decides to take off Grealish, who he'd brought on only 30 minutes earlier, and put on a full-back. Shutting up shop in those circumstances was a ridiculous decision.
You have to acknowledge that Southgate has England far more resilient than they used to be. And you can't argue with the results, even if in the Euros and the World Cup he ended up on the right side of very lop-sided draws. Of the world's top ten, 2018 had Portugal, France, Argentina, Brazil and Belgium all on one side of the draw, while England's half only had Spain and Colombia, and Spain were surprisingly knocked out early; 2020 had Belgium, Portugal, France, Spain and Italy all on one side, while England had Holland (surprisingly knocked out early) and Denmark.
So he's done well and had luck along the way. But he's so defensive that it's hard to actually like him.
Predictions for the final anyone ?
I'll go - Italy 1 0 England
A soft, late penalty which VAR fails to overturn, in off Pickfords arse via a post, would do grand with close ups aplenty of Rice & Grealish to end the weekend. This isn't a base anti English thing so much as a karma do your thing thing.
I’ll sign up for that Crafty.
I’ve been saying since the quarters-ish that Italy were the team best placed to stop them. Streetwise, tough, been there done that.
On another note reading the comments by Coveney and Martin make me want to puke. Bellends.