UEFA Euro 2020 Group D ** spoilers ** (England, Croatia, Scotland, C.Republic)

[arctine]

On the money.



What balance? Where? Any time the ball went near our defence we looked terrible. Likewise, our sole striker playing as a holding midfielder for the first 20 mins of the game.

Yes, our defence looked terrible. That’s because it is. However we came away with a clean sheet because of the way we are set up, the balance between attack and defence is right. I genuinely don’t know what your point is?

arsenal had the 2nd best defence in the league this season

didnt do us much good

Yeah well, I’m not going to go into Arsenals problems haha. They’re not the same as England’s though.

To be honest I've seen very little evidence that we can put a decent attack together. So unless we're planning on winning every game on penalties.

Are we going to pass backwards to victory?

We have had some decent chances but I’ll agree it hasn’t been in ambundance and that’s because we’ve had to bolster the weakest part of our team, defence.

We have still won 2/3 games against teams that have parked the bus however. The opposition going forward will be more open to counter etc which is a big part of how we get goals in recent years.

 

[Nasher]

1-0 and ticky-tacky everyone to death.

 

[FoxEye]

We have still won 2/3 games against teams that have parked the bus however. The opposition going forward will be more open to counter etc which is a big part of how we get goals in recent years.

Hmm, about that specific point... neither Scotland, Croatia nor the Czechs parked the bus against us.

In fact after grabbing our goal we invited them to come attack us. And they did. Croatia did, Scotland did, the Czechs did.

Parking the buss implies it was all England on the offensive. That didn't happen. A lot of England's possession was aimless, and often resulted in simply going back to Pickford for him to punt upfield again.

 

[arctine]

Hmm, about that specific point... neither Scotland, Croatia nor the Czechs parked the bus against us.

In fact after grabbing our goal we invited them to come attack us. And they did. Croatia did, Scotland did, the Czechs did.

Parking the buss implies it was all England on the offensive. That didn't happen. A lot of England's possession was aimless, and often resulted in simply going back to Pickford for him to punt upfield again.

Well no, not necessarily. It means that they’ve played very defensively which all three teams did.

They’d didn’t commit too many players forward even when they had long spells of possession. They were quick to drop everyone behind the ball as soon as possession turned back to us, making it very difficult to either counter or break them down through open play. There were a few mistakes that led to us getting chances but none of them have taken any risk at all. This is another reason we’ve got three clean sheets.

The teams we will now face will likely play less defensively and press more from the front depending who we play. This suits the way England is set up more as we will have more room to break teams down or counter attack which we’ve been very good at when presented opportunity.

edit: by this I don’t mean to say we are about to become fantastic and win every game by the way. I only mean that we will be slightly better set up for teams that are willing to take risks. We will also be tested defensively a lot more and it could well mean we end up losing. I just mean that the way we are playing is about to make sense against bigger teams. We are not the complete article and therefore we have to play pragmatically.

 

[BobShark]

Yes, our defence looked terrible. That’s because it is. However we came away with a clean sheet because of the way we are set up, the balance between attack and defence is right. I genuinely don’t know what your point is?

If by balance you mean passing sideways constantly and having a striker in midfield then I kind of understand your point.

My point is, apart from a short spell in the first half of the last group game, we have no real, potent attack. Likewise, our defence is ropey, even without any pressure. Granted, it hasn't really been tested and we've not conceded, but wait until mbappe and co start putting pressure on us.

So with that in mind, there is no "balance" within the team. Just pinging it around pointlessly in midfield doesn't make us have balance.

Neither does parking the bus and settling for 1-0's.

 

[omnomnom]

Huh.

That doesnt mean they got to the intended target though .

 

[Malevolence]

Does Kane have compromising photos of Southgate or the FA higher ups or something? Is that why he keeps getting picked?

 

[Rroff]

To be slightly fair to Kane he does attract a lot of attention and marking hampering his performance and why he probably plays a bit deeper (not that other high profile strikers don't get that and still manage to perform) - but we don't really capitalise on that to draw other teams out.

 

[BaZ87]

Does Kane have compromising photos of Southgate or the FA higher ups or something? Is that why he keeps getting picked?

I'm guessing not and it's more to do with the fact that he's the best striker England have by a mile and only reliable goalscorer in the squad. Yes he's not played well these last couple of games and there might be an arugment for leaving him out for the good of the team but it's hardly an easy decision. It's also a decision that if Southgate did take, he'd be absolutely hammered for if Rashford or DCL came in and missed 3 chances.

 

[jonneymendoza]

hows that gonna work

Drop sterling

 

[fez]

Drop sterling

It would be a brave man to drop the only goal scorer we currently have in the tournament.

 

[aslco]

Just did a quick bit of research and we haven't beaten any 'top' team in major finals knockout rounds other than 0-0 (win on pens) Spain 1996 Euros since our world cup win in '66. That's 55 years of us being distinctly second rate.

Generally if you review our results and performance of major finals since 1966 there is literally nothing to suggest we should ever be considered favorites. We are a good solid team, but we should be celebrating top of the group with no losses, rather than critiquing every aspect of a team as though we are one of the worlds best.

 

[FoxEye]

Just did a quick bit of research and we haven't beaten any 'top' team in major finals knockout rounds other than 0-0 (win on pens) Spain 1996 Euros since our world cup win in '66. That's 55 years of us being distinctly second rate.

Generally if you review our results and performance of major finals since 1966 there is literally nothing to suggest we should ever be considered favorites. We are a good solid team, but we should be celebrating top of the group with no losses, rather than critiquing every aspect of a team as though we are one of the worlds best.

We have some of the highest paid footballers in the world, playing in the so-called "best league in the world" at some of that's league's top clubs.

Are those players not good enough?

Teams like Germany have failed, rebuilt and come back swinging. Why should England, with the players they have at their disposal, be unable to rival teams like Germany, Belgium or Holland?

Why?

 

[BobShark]

We have some of the highest paid footballers in the world, playing in the so-called "best league in the world" at some of that's league's top clubs.

Are those players not good enough?

Teams like Germany have failed, rebuilt and come back swinging. Why should England, with the players they have at their disposal, be unable to rival teams like Germany, Belgium or Holland?

Why?

Good point well made.

 

[turbot1984]

We have some of the highest paid footballers in the world, playing in the so-called "best league in the world" at some of that's league's top clubs.

Are those players not good enough?

Teams like Germany have failed, rebuilt and come back swinging. Why should England, with the players they have at their disposal, be unable to rival teams like Germany, Belgium or Holland?

Why?

Fear ye not, we can rival Germany, Belgium and Holland + France, Italy, Spain and Portugal

 

[BaZ87]

We have to be the most negative nation around. I don't think we have the best squad in the world and certainly not the best manager but other than France, which squad is obviously better than ours? We've seen sides like Greece and Portugal win the Euros with poorer squads than ours. Anything is possible in tournament football and with it effectively being a home competition for us, we have as good a chance as anybody.

Had we been up against a prime Germany or Spain side as well as the French then I could understand the defeatist mentality but against these German, Spanish, Dutch & Portuguese sides? International football is dead to me but even I have more enthusiasm about our chance in the Euros compared to some of you guys.

 

[Shamikebab]

I would say we easily have a top 3 squad in the tournament, but unfortunately we probably have a bottom 3 manager

 

[FoxEye]

We have to be the most negative nation around. I don't think we have the best squad in the world and certainly not the best manager but other than France, which squad is obviously better than ours?

It's hard to tell because Southgate has them all playing with the shackles firmly on, afraid to do anything other than pass backwards, in case we do something contra to the plan like score a goal.

Did anyone listen to Sterling's interview afterwards? He's a striker, and he said, "The most important thing is not to concede." That's the mindset Southgate has instilled into these players. Even our strikers are more worried about conceding a goal than anything else.

I would say we easily have a top 3 squad in the tournament, but unfortunately we probably have a bottom 3 manager

I think we've all reached that conclusion. Dire to watch and extremely limited in ambition. Just don't concede a goal!

 

[HangTime]

arsenal had the 2nd best defence in the league this season

didnt do us much good

Poppycock, City and Chelsea let in fewer goals for starters.

 

[HangTime]

I think we've all reached that conclusion

I definitely haven't. We are not "easily top 3" IMO. Belgium and France have blatantly better squads so that's saying we are easily better than all the other teams.