The Football.....

[downesy]

A manager that trusts the attacking players we have , we started that game with 8 defensive minded players. Then when mancini sussed it out and adapted his team, Southgate did nothing like a rabbit in the headlights

 

[Accy cyclist]

My summary of the game and the tournament.

Southgate's defensive tactics and his decision to make (not let) players who have hardly or even never taken penalties for their clubs take such responsibility,cost England the game and the trophy! Forget Quatar 2022! Last night was our once in a lifetime chance to win a major trophy! It was a 'home game' played by a very good England side. This team will probably go to Quatar,but the heat,the higher standard of opponents expected in a world cup and the expected defensive tactics will mean England will be lucky to make the knock out stages. Maybe Euro 2024 then? Forget it,it's being played in Germany (they'll have their name on it already)!!

Last night was a bit like watching the national lottery draw,seeing your usual numbers come up then realising you forgot to buy a ticket!

That chance in a lifetime came along and England blew it!!

 

[Scaleyback]

I cannot criticise GS too much, he seems a genuine nice bloke and has certainly improved Englands performances. But . . . !
What was so noticeable to me against, especially Italy, but not only Italy, was the lack of ability to keep possession and progress up field. Italy, after the first 20 mins were keeping possession, quick accurate passing between players in triangles, players always moving, in front of the ball giving 'options' England seem largely incapable of this ? Their 'retain possession' routine largely revolves around passing it square across the last defenders. Shaw turns back inside, passes to Macguire, on to Stones, on to Walker, etc etc, ringing the changes by alternately passing back to Pickford who promptly 'launchs' it and gives possession back to Italy. There is a noticeable lack of movement ahead of these defenders, hence the square passing. When we do try to 'shuttle' the ball forward we rarely get far due to poor choices. I think this is in large part due to GS's preoccupation with defence and a desire to 'keep ball' sadly we don't have the necessary skills.

 

[Archie_tect]

With so much national expectation the stress the players were under must've been unbearable... OK, they play football for a living and get paid ridiculous amounts of money but give them a break. Out of 10 penalties Italy and England only managed 5 of them- that was brutal.

 

[Brandane]

Forget Qatar 2022!

Your English media won't though.
From the BBC Newsround page this morning:
(OK I know strictly speaking the BBC is British, funded by British residents, but we all know they couldn't give a stuff about anything outside England).....

Next up to the World Cup in 2022!!

"It's coming home..."

 

[PaulB]

Your English media won't though.
From the BBC Newsround page this morning:
(OK I know strictly speaking the BBC is British, funded by British residents, but we all know they couldn't give a stuff about anything outside England).....

Ahh look. Our likkle Scottish cousin's got something to smile about. Isn't that sweet?

 

[Brandane]

Ahh look. Our likkle Scottish cousin's got something to smile about. Isn't that sweet?

Plenty to smile about, thanks. I'm Scottish, for starters. And I live in a town with a sizeable Italian community. The sun is shining, and I'm not working. All good here .

Edit to add.... I am especially happy to be £50 better off as a result of an English friend's stupidity in his assumption that England would win the tournament. He made the bet as soon as he saw "the easy route to the final" at the start of the knockout stages. I didn't expect it to be such a close run thing, but I'm going to enjoy spending that £50. Several Italian restaurants nearby to choose from...

 

[vickster]

Are Scotland going to Qatar?
If so we will gladly cheer them on
And Wales and NI of course

 

[VelvetUnderpants]

View: https://twitter.com/JackGrealish/status/1414522271859888132?s=19

 

[Brandane]

Are Scotland going to Qatar?
If so we will gladly cheer them on
And Wales and NI of course

Entirely up to you, of course; but why would you? They are playing under the banner of the individual countries, not Britain.
See previous posts re "rivals" and rivalry.
Taking it to a club level; if I was to cheer for England , it would be like supporting Celtic when they play in Europe. Not happening; not ever!

 

[matticus]

I cannot criticise GS too much, he seems a genuine nice bloke and has certainly improved Englands performances. But . . . !
<snip> ...
... passing back to Pickford who promptly 'launchs' it and gives possession back to Italy. There is a noticeable lack of movement ahead of these defenders, hence the square passing. When we do try to 'shuttle' the ball forward we rarely get far due to poor choices. I think this is in large part due to GS's preoccupation with defence and a desire to 'keep ball' sadly we don't have the necessary skills.

It isn't GS's job to teach the players skills. The slow build-up is the same tactic every top team uses - even Italy. The sad fact is we don't have top-class players to execute that approach - they're pretty good, but not the best in Europe. (They still created a few problems for Italy, but those guys have a pretty good defence too, so clear goal chances were few.)

GS organised the defence superbly. How many goals did they concede compared to the other "top" teams??

I think they exceeded their potential, and GS can take a lot of credit for that.

 

[Deleted User]

I mentioned SWEATIES in a post and got chucked off the forum for three days

I have been in the past as well so I'm sure it's coming again.

 

[vickster]

Entirely up to you, of course; but why would you? They are playing under the banner of the individual countries, not Britain.
See previous posts re "rivals" and rivalry.
Taking it to a club level; if I was to cheer for England , it would be like supporting Celtic when they play in Europe. Not happening; not ever!

Clearly I wouldn’t against England but I would be happy for Scotland to beat any other team in the WC
But have they qualified? I’m not sure (or is qualification ongoing?)

 

[Accy cyclist]

Plenty to smile about, thanks. I'm Scottish, for starters. And I live in a town with a sizeable Italian community. The sun is shining, and I'm not working. All good here .

But you live in a in your mind utopia. Once the dust has settled and you find yourself without anything English to hate....and it starts peeing it down again(where's your donkey under a rain cloud avatar by the way?),it'll hit you that Scotland can only celebrate someone else's loss and not celebrate a victory of their own.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Save for 1966, Southgate has led England to their best performances ever in consecutive championships. The England squad is good, but not that good.

In the last Euros, England were also deservedly defeated. By Iceland. In the world cup previous, England failed to win a single game, and drew 0-0 with Costa Rica.

Southgate arguably has the best record of any England manager in history, and is way out in front of anyone save Ramsey.