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The Official Euro 2016 Megathread

I'd add Gaz Nev to that group.
 
He was brilliant but I wouldn't say he was that naturally talented...his career came about through extreme hard work and a unbending willingness to get the absolute maximum out of what he had. Same as Becks to an extent.

The Lee Sharpe story about him leaving training right on the dot while G-Nev was practising his long throws for an hour on his own is possibly apocryphal but a fair illustration of what he was all about.
 
Le Tissier is the best English footballer I've ever seen. Then Rooney for about 2 years. Then Gazza.
 
Rooney in Euro 2004 is the best I've seen by an English player closely followed by Beckham getting us to the 2002 World Cup on his own.

I still seethe about how criminally underused Carrick has been when him as the holding player would have solved all our issues of the Gerrard-Lampard playing together debate.
 
Lord Knows said:
On the contrary I think Rooney has become a massive hindrance to good English results and the sooner he is dropped the better. I wish to see the best of Kane, Vardy and Ali, Rooney prevents that possibility.
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Sam with all England managers. Don't choose a system just select the players you like best and try to bend, squash and stretch the system to make sure they all get in. So what if people are playing out of position and being asked to do jobs they don't do for their club? It'll be fine.

This philosophy even extends to taking injured players FFS.
 
Only just had chance to watch Shearer's Euro 96 documentary, absolutely brilliant it evokes so many memories from that summer I was only 14 at time. I went with my dad to watch Italy lose 2-1 to the Czech Republic at Anfield.
The disappointment after that shootout loss to Germany is up there with any play off loss I've experienced.
I still can't work out how Gazza doesn't score. Reality is Germany were no great shakes at that time and we should have been good enough to see them off, biggest shocks of that summer was how bad Italy and Netherlands were, seem to remember there was a lot of in fighting within there dressing room at the time. Didn't Edgar Davids get sent home early?
 
jd1981 said:
Only just had chance to watch Shearer's Euro 96 documentary, absolutely brilliant it evokes so many memories from that summer I was only 14 at time. I went with my dad to watch Italy lose 2-1 to the Czech Republic at Anfield.
The disappointment after that shootout loss to Germany is up there with any play off loss I've experienced.
I still can't work out how Gazza doesn't score. Reality is Germany were no great shakes at that time and we should have been good enough to see them off, biggest shocks of that summer was how bad Italy and Netherlands were, seem to remember there was a lot of in fighting within there dressing room at the time. Didn't Edgar Davids get sent home early?
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/feb/27/holland-euro-96-racism-england
 
McNulty has a blog on the beeb website about shoe-horning Rooney into the team being detrimental to the assets we have throughout the squad.
 
Deutsch Wolf said:
In terms of 'natural talent' (which I appreciate is a bit of a nebulous term):

Gascoigne
Scholes
Shearer
R Ferdinand
Ashley Cole

Five bona fide world class players.

Hoddle was before my time (I know England vs Ireland in Euro 88 was the first game I ever watched...can't remember much about it though other than my Dad telling me we'd 'be alright' when Houghton scored...lies) which is handy as I can just hate him for being a disgrace of a manager, pundit and human being without it being tempered by remembering him as a quality player.
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And Hoddle was a quality player. He had a superb range of passing, and could create something out of nothing. What he lacked in pace he more than made up for with his brilliant football brain.
 
Some real class players who were borderline world class but never got the recognition internationally would include
Rodney Marsh
Stan Bowles
Matt le Tissier
Glenn Hoddle

As for goalkeepers Joe Corrigan was a brilliant goalkeeper as was Phil Parke's of QPR and West Ham but Shilton and Clemence had the monopoly.

Frank Worthington was another who could have done a whole lot better than he did and Duncan McKenzie. Would not have either as world class though.

Gascoigne Lineker Ferdinand Shilton were all class in their time. Rooney is now and a pre injury Owen. Pace and finishing.
 
Can't believe I forgot Lineker! 10 world cup goals and the reason I started watching football. Still England's best ever striker.
 
Cyber-_-man said:
Some real class players who were borderline world class but never got the recognition internationally would include
Rodney Marsh
Stan Bowles
Matt le Tissier
Glenn Hoddle

As for goalkeepers Joe Corrigan was a brilliant goalkeeper as was Phil Parke's of QPR and West Ham but Shilton and Clemence had the monopoly.

Frank Worthington was another who could have done a whole lot better than he did and Duncan McKenzie. Would not have either as world class though.

Gascoigne Lineker Ferdinand Shilton were all class in their time. Rooney is now and a pre injury Owen. Pace and finishing.
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George Best aside, Stan Bowles was possibly the most talented player I ever saw. He was a brilliant player.
 
Templeton Peck said:
Can't believe I forgot Lineker! 10 world cup goals and the reason I started watching football. Still England's best ever striker.
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Yeah, when I was a kid it was Lineker who inspired me to play football. I remember being gutted when he moved to Japan as it meant I couldn't follow his exploits on TV.
 
Langers said:
Shearer's Euro 96 programme was fantastic. Essential viewing. I saw it on the BBC iPlayer last night.

Even 20 years on, Gazza getting THAT close to Shearer's cross in the semi final is agonising to watch!!
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Excellent show. I was in the UK during that summer and the buzz was incredible! The 3 Lions song was perfect and seemed to be playing out of every car, pub, cafe we went past! We were in Manchester outside Old Trafford on the day that Italy drew 0-0 with someone as my mate is a Utd fan and my Aunty took him to the Megastore there. The atmosphere was incredible, fans everywhere, news cameras everywhere.

We then went to a holiday park with my Aunty in Dover, it was a glorious summer and every shop we went to, every pub, restaurant, supermarket was decked out in bunting, Euro 96 merch onsale everywhere, kids playing football everywhere, it was heaven for me and my mate aged 12 at the time. Football, football, football.....

I will never forget the morning of the Semi-Final, my uncle came back from the shop with a copy of the Mirror whose front page had a pic of Gazza wearing a WWII helmet with a screaming headline: ACHTUNG! FOR YOU FRITZ, ZE EURO 96 IS OVER. I remember thinking that was too far, borderline racist and it seemed to curse England.

I remember the game really well too. Shearer scored early and the atmosphere was incredible, it looked England were going to walk it. And then the Germans equalised and I think it knocked the wind out of Englands sails. Gazza came close with a header in extra time and Anderton hit the post. Those penalties were one of the most tense that I've ever witnessed and I genuinely wanted England to go through, so I was on the verge of tears when Southgate missed.

I remember arriving home in Ireland on the Sunday of the Final and wanting the Czechs to beat the Germans but it wasn't to be. Still though, it was an unbelievable Summer. Can't believe it's 20 years ago now.
 
Dublin Drummer Wolf said:
Yeah, when I was a kid it was Lineker who inspired me to play football. I remember being gutted when he moved to Japan as it meant I couldn't follow his exploits on TV.
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His equalizing goal against Germany is literally one of the greatest moments of my life! It's the way he banks on both defenders missing the ball (as Bully would have), finishing perfectly with his weaker foot and the sheer look of relief on his face. A player who always performed at the highest level when the chips were down.
 
Dire performance from Wales so far against Sweden. 2-0 down, no shots on target after 58 minutes, could easily be 5-0. I fear for them with Coleman in charge, rubbish manager.
 
Strange that he wouldn't play Bale from the start too.
 
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