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Euro 2020

Said it so many times. We can bang on about the new England DNA and how the coaching system has changed etc, but until we as a country start valuing possession of the ball we'll continue to struggle.

Not one passer in the squad, you just need a version of Pirlo, Xavi or Modric. Doesn't even have to be up to that level, but someone who can just dictate the pace of the game and look after the ball.

From about 30 mins in when Italy started to play there was no response. The pundits were banging on about England controlling the game but you could already see the tide turning.


I
 
tommysvr said:
He missed a penalty and he's still already acheived a brick load more than what you (or I) will ever achieve in our lifetimes.
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He shat himself from the moment he walked onto the pitch.

If the press do their jobs, it'll be the end of his"achievements"
 
The real reason we lost is nothing to do with penalties. Southgate was far too timid and lacked ambition. At half time he should have brought on Grealish and maybe even Sancho. If we had had the balls to take the game to Italy while we were ahead, we could well have got a result. As it was, the formation was simply too defensive to win.
As for the penalties, I hope that Rashford becomes less of a social champion, and focuses on his dayjob. His penalty was so so awful, no wonder the rest lost their nerve.
 
fernadez said:
Said it so many times. We can bang on about the new England DNA and how the coaching system has changed etc, but until we as a country start valuing possession of the ball we'll continue to struggle.

Not one passer in the squad, you just need a version of Pirlo, Xavi or Modric. Doesn't even have to be up to that level, but someone who can just dictate the pace of the game and look after the ball.

From about 30 mins in when Italy started to play there was no response. The pundits were banging on about England controlling the game but you could already see the tide turning.


I
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We as a country do not look at players like that at grassroots level, its all about who stands out from the crowd. We have started to bring through technically good players like Grealish, Mount, Foden etc but still haven’t had a deep lying playmaker for years. We done the same when all we was bringing through were speedy wingers, Lennon, Walcot, Shaun Wright Phillips etc.

We as a nation seem to always be strong in some area’s and really lacking in others. Who have England got to call upon thats in the mould of Xavi, Pirlo, Modric? I mean even Italy has Barella, Jorginho and even Veratti who can play that role.
 
Yiddo said:
We as a country do not look at players like that at grassroots football, its all about who stands out from the crowd. We have started to bring through technically good players like Grealish, Mount, Foden etc but still haven’t had a deep lying playmaker for years. We done the same when all we was bringing through were speedy wingers, Lennon, Walcot, Shaun Wright Phillips etc.

We as a nation seem to always be strong in some area’s and really lacking in others. Who have England got to call upon thats in the mould of Xavi, Pirlo, Modric? I mean even Italy has Barella, Jorginho and even Veratti who can play that role.
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Scary thing is that the closest player we have is Winks.

You could even go the other route and bring through some press resistant midfielders like Dembele or Busquets. Just need someone who demands/protects/controls etc the ball. I remember Pirlo mugging off England twice without ever leaving the centre circle.
 
lurker of old said:
The real reason we lost is nothing to do with penalties. Southgate was far too timid and lacked ambition. At half time he should have brought on Grealish and maybe even Sancho. If we had had the balls to take the game to Italy while we were ahead, we could well have got a result. As it was, the formation was simply too defensive to win.
As for the penalties, I hope that Rashford becomes less of a social champion, and focuses on his dayjob. His penalty was so so awful, no wonder the rest lost their nerve.
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I don't, what he has done there has real value to people's health.
 
Been ages since I've seen a good ratings thread here so I'm going to do that and have a healthy old vent at the same time.

Pickford - Made some good saves, excellent penalty save from that Chelsea clam. Had a few Gomes moments when he had decisions to make.

Walker - Solid. I really miss having him at Spurs, one of our best on the night

Stones - Meh. I'm sure he was worth City money because he was a good passer of the ball. Saw none of that tonight.

Maguire - Good pen, mainly decent. Completely lost his man for their goal though.

Trippier - Started brightly, his lack of adventure after 30 minutes pretty much symbolised England's gutless retreat.

Phillips - Did what Phillips does. Not his fault he was selected but he's just a screen.

Rice - Best I've ever seen him play. Still not nearly enough to be considered anything other than mediocre.

Shaw - played well again - probably our player of the tournament behind Kane. Suffered a bit from the retreat in the same way as Trippier

Sterling - My son thinks his full name is "FFS Sterling" with very good reason. He is the most selfish, gutless and witless player I've ever seen in an England shirt - and I've seen Gerrard in one. Completely failed to track back for their attack that led to the corner from which they scored, failed to look up and pass at any point, ran into defenders all match, dived when he wasn't fouled, stayed on his feet when he was, the list goes on. Went hiding for the penalties. Should be fudging ashamed of himself.

Mount - Did he play?

Kane - Ran the first half when the Italian OAPs were chasing him around the pitch. When they stopped following him and dropped off, the rest of the team/manager lacked the nous to stand on their shoulders and pin them back. Our player of the tournament by a clear margin.

Saka - You let your country down. The "fearless" one shat himself the moment he walked onto the pitch. Hid from the ball, ducked out of tackles, misplaced his passes, refused to run at/past his man, and shat the bed on his penalty. Should never have been in the squad, let alone on the pitch. Worst of the lot. Even worse is that we have to wait until January to let him know he let his country down.

Henderson - Sissoko.

Grealish - Why a player with his reputation for "earning" free kicks stayed on his feet every time he was hacked at, I'll never know. Did OK as he didn't have as much time as the others to fudge up

Sancho/Rashford - Should have been on the pitch longer. Should have taken proper penalties.


Southgate - Timid, spineless, gutless, milquetoast, overly defensive, waited until after their goal to make changes that were clearly needed, made all the wrong changes, doesn't understand what a midfield is for. His penalty in 96 was better than his management of this game.
 
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Yiddo said:
We as a country do not look at players like that at grassroots level, its all about who stands out from the crowd. We have started to bring through technically good players like Grealish, Mount, Foden etc but still haven’t had a deep lying playmaker for years. We done the same when all we was bringing through were speedy wingers, Lennon, Walcot, Shaun Wright Phillips etc.

We as a nation seem to always be strong in some area’s and really lacking in others. Who have England got to call upon thats in the mould of Xavi, Pirlo, Modric? I mean even Italy has Barella, Jorginho and even Veratti who can play that role.
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Best midfielder on the pitch by some way. Italy struggled after he went off.
 
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