The Euro 2024 Thread

[ROVERT47]

He’ll get a Premier League gig but to be brutally honest he’s just a top of the range Mick McCarthy.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

I prefer Mick.

 

[Tredman]

Hmmm I don’t know.

Our back 4 are better “defenders” than them, but they are infinitely better on the ball. Kyle Walker is one of, if not the best 1v1 defender in the world. But his use of the ball in rancid and Carvajal is streets ahead here and that is more useful to Spain. Same with this random version of Cucurella. He was actually good this tournament and 100% start ahead of Trippier and half fit Shaw.

Rodri obviously and Fabian Ruiz was miles clear of anyone else.

Foden was invisible tonight and has been poor all tournament bar against Netherlands. Kane was a waste of space. Saka and either winger is a toss up.

Are they overhyped or was Southgate not getting enough out of them? Definitely some of the latter but we still don’t have a central midfield capable of dictating a game against the best, our defenders don’t seem as good or as comfortable on the ball and then after that is doesn’t really matter what you’ve got up the top end if you can’t get out your own half. More so when the players up there are used to playing the entire game in the opposition half.

Walker, Foden & Stones, with a decent manager, have dominated the PL and most European teams too. Bellingham went to Spain as a kid and won it all.

Saka, 1 on 1, is pretty peerless. Rice has had a superb season, as has Kane. Add Palmer and Gordon (assuming he still exists) and England can match anyone. FFS, Eze came on and was brilliant then was never seen again.

The difference is the guy in the dugout.

 

[Alan]

On the defenders, I thought Stones and Guehi both looked a bit… I don’t know, overawed by the occasion.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Walker, Foden & Stones, with a decent manager, have dominated the PL and most European teams too. Bellingham went to Spain as a kid and won it all.

Saka, 1 on 1, is pretty peerless. Rice has had a superb season, as has Kane. Add Palmer and Gordon (assuming he still exists) and England can match anyone. FFS, Eze came on and was brilliant then was never seen again.

The difference is the guy in the dugout.

I don’t deny the guy in the dugout has a role.

But Walker/Foden/Stones don’t make city tick. It’s the manager and Rodri (Bernardo/KDB also). Take those 3 out and it doesn’t make any difference, Rodri doesn’t play and they go to bits.

Rice doesn’t make Arsenal tick either. They have a ridiculously strong CB pairing as a solid foundation allowed to defend 1 v 1 and Odegaard pulls the strings. Rice has been great is role but he’s not running it.

The others are crucial members to their weaker teams but he didn’t play them, Palmer being the most crazy decision you’ll see. Most goals and assists was it for a bang average Chelsea?

 

[Lycan]

I thought it was a pretty dreadful performance to be honest. England never really got close to Spain, even in the first half they were held at arms length. Spain were excellent in the second half, created overloads in central areas and constantly found the spaces either side of Rice with Mainoo nowhere to be found and both full backs caught between moving centrally to help or stick with Williams/Yamal.

Southgate is never going to be the type of manager to be able to respond to tactical problems like that, what you can expect from him though is to consistently get the most out of players but there was a lack of fight tonight as well which really wasn't acceptable considering the occasion. England players looked intimidated by Spain's press right from the start and it never really changed until Palmer came on and started snapping into challenges. Not good enough really considering the calibre of player at England's disposal.

On the balance of play England were pretty fortunate to have only lost by one goal.

 

[Alan]

On the defenders, I thought Stones and Guehi both looked a bit… I don’t know, overawed by the occasion.

They both had really shaky moments pop up throughout, I thought. Most didn’t come to anything tbf.

For Tone and the Johnster.

 

[Tredman]

I don’t deny the guy in the dugout has a role.

But Walker/Foden/Stones don’t make city tick. It’s the manager

Kinda my point

 

[Johnny75]

They both had really shaky moments pop up throughout, I thought. Most didn’t come to anything tbf.

For Tone and the Johnster.

I thought both were excellent. Guehi in particular read the game well and used the ball effectively. The 2nd goal wasn't really on him as Oyazabal's movement was superb as was the ball in.

England scored an excellent team goal and so did Spain.

Stones was also very good, definitely not overawed, made several excellent challenges and covered the invisible Mainoo numerous times.

Both CB's suffer from Southgate's uber defensive tactics and the need to draw the Spanish press on to them.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Kinda my point

But he’s the best there’s ever been! And even he fails when he doesn’t have his key pieces

 

[Tredman]

But he’s the best there’s ever been! And even he fails when he doesn’t have his key pieces

And we fail when we do have our key pieces

Edit - total apologies, my bad. We absolutely 100% were unable to cope without a good replacement for Kalvin Phillips

 

[b3h]

And we fail when we do have our key pieces

We'll never know what would have happened with Phillips in

 

[Sniffer]

The formation was the problem all tournament. It didn’t work with four at the back with the front four of Saka, Bellingham, Foden and Kane. It sort of worked with three at the back but you can understand his fears with Spains wide men tonight. It needed width with a back four and we didn’t have it on the left hand side. Wise after the event but a 4-2-3-1 with Gordon on the left and Saka on the right would have at least posed them problems.
Another what might have been. I felt sorry for Mainoo tonight as he just couldn’t get into the game having been our best player in the last two. I was a fan of Southgate before this tournament but he seemed blind to our problems in this one and the bucks stops with him.

 

[jd1981]

Booked tomorrow off hoping I’d be suffering an alcohol related hangover instead it’ll just be a “what if” football hangover.
Two finals we’ve lost and the feeling is just awful, I take zero consolation in coming second. Personally losing finals are up there with Bolton 95, 2002 fuck up, and Watford 2019.

 

[Sniffer]

Booked tomorrow off hoping I’d be suffering an alcohol related hangover instead it’ll just be a “what if” football hangover.
Two finals we’ve lost and the feeling is just awful, I take zero consolation in coming second. Personally losing finals are up there with Bolton 95, 2002 fuck up, and Watford 2019.

I can take this far more easily than Watford or Italy as we should have won both of those games. Spain deserved to win tonight they outplayed us.

 

[jd1981]

I can take this far more easily than Watford or Italy as we should have won both of those games. Spain deserved to win tonight they outplayed us.

It’s the fact we got level with 20 minutes left and proceeded to go back to type

 

[GLASGOWOLF]

Best team won, Fucking feel horrible..bwtter tean afte they scored and did what we should have done all game get the equaliser and then decide to sit back and be defensive so fuxking shit

 

[Tony Towner]

I don’t deny the guy in the dugout has a role.

But Walker/Foden/Stones don’t make city tick. It’s the manager and Rodri (Bernardo/KDB also). Take those 3 out and it doesn’t make any difference, Rodri doesn’t play and they go to bits.

Rice doesn’t make Arsenal tick either. They have a ridiculously strong CB pairing as a solid foundation allowed to defend 1 v 1 and Odegaard pulls the strings. Rice has been great is role but he’s not running it.

The others are crucial members to their weaker teams but he didn’t play them, Palmer being the most crazy decision you’ll see. Most goals and assists was it for a bang average Chelsea?

We had that today though, such an opportunity missed. We've not really had the decisions go for us before, penalty defeats, Beckham red, Campbell disallowed goal, Lampard scoring and it not being given. We've had that this tournament, penalty win, ridiculous penalty in the semi, best opposition player go off at half time in the final ...and still lose.

 

[Tony Towner]

Booked tomorrow off hoping I’d be suffering an alcohol related hangover instead it’ll just be a “what if” football hangover.
Two finals we’ve lost and the feeling is just awful, I take zero consolation in coming second. Personally losing finals are up there with Bolton 95, 2002 fuck up, and Watford 2019.

It's an interesting conversation. Losing to Coventry hurt me more than tonight and tbh it's not particularly close. I really want England to win, it's not close to Wolves contextually though.

 

[PuntsWolf]

And we fail when we do have our key pieces

Edit - total apologies, my bad. We absolutely 100% were unable to cope without a good replacement for Kalvin Phillips

Well this is it. We don’t have the key pieces required. Rice has been moved further forward for Arsenal as he can’t pass water, and then we’ve had no one to partner him until we’ve ended up with Mainoo who was poor tonight.

We had that today though, such an opportunity missed. We've not really had the decisions go for us before, penalty defeats, Beckham red, Campbell disallowed goal, Lampard scoring and it not being given. We've had that this tournament, penalty win, ridiculous penalty in the semi, best opposition player go off at half time in the final and still lose.

City don’t have another Rodri. Spain already had Ruiz and Olmo running things and the new guy just slotted in and did the same. They Had defenders and the GK pinging it into forwards feet bypassing our press. Rodri didn’t seem that important to Spain tonight, barely noticed him first half.

Our main issue was Kane was useless. He didn’t run in behind, didn’t get on the ball, didn’t cause a nuisance. We’d have been better off with Diego Costa. If we’d have made Spain drop off with Watkins pace or lamped some balls up to Toney and play for seconds, who knows.

But I just don’t agree we have better players than this Spain team. Certainly not trying to play possession football. Play Gordon instead of Foden. Gallagher instead of Mainoo and just play direct then maybe we could have.