Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Jun 2010
- Posts
- 12,494
- Location
- London
Just read Saka has NEVER taken a penalty for Arsenal (I couldn’t remember one myself but I haven’t got a photographic memory). Whyyyyyyyyyyyy???!
Just read Saka has NEVER taken a penalty for Arsenal (I couldn’t remember one myself but I haven’t got a photographic memory). Whyyyyyyyyyyyy???!
The hardest part is that I don't expect any lessons to be learned.I don't think the players did badly, they weren't used to their best potential by Southgate who I suspect is too blinded by ideology, or maybe hands tied by other factors, to ever learn from what went right and what went wrong.
he is a profesional footballer, why shouldn't he be taking one ??? . It's not like they don't practice pens, it's not like that's the first time he ever placed a ball on the spot in his life, plus they had home advantage, were at the England fan end and there were only 6k italian fans so not exactly making lots of noise. If ever there was a time that pens should have been psychologicaly less stressfull it was today.
I don't think Southgate is that bad. It's just the same old story with England, get a goal = Park the bus. They score = panic. We were bossing then in the 1st half so the mentality should have been get 2 or 3 whilst they're figuring us out. I was flabbergasted with the pundits at half time. Blah blah were playing great. No we've missed a great opportunity.
Your 'best'! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and have snus snus with the prom queen - Sean Conery, and he was right. Clearly Englands best was dismal, which is no surpise considering the crap teams they defended their way past to the final.
Italy's only whipping boy game was turkey, they had to play quality sides all the way there, and it showed when they went 1-0 down. Southgate thinks the team did great but by comparison they played subpar / mediocre teams at best. Kane should have been walking away with the golden boot considering the team they played.
1) because older, senior players with penalty taking experience were available to take that 5th deciding penalty.
2) you must not watch much football if you think a home crowd makes a shoot-out in a final like this - particularly the deciding penalty as to whether the other team wins - any less stressful. Players are human. It’s like walking across a plank in your garden vs one 100ft in the air; even with everyone cheering you on vs half the crowd telling you to jump, with the latter the plank will feel like it’s an inch across no matter how many times you’ve walked across it on the grass and memorised your step pattern. There have been exceedingly few, if any, players in history that have 100% conversion rate from the spot - even Ronaldo and Messi have crumbed under pressure and missed penalties on numerous occasions. Bayern Munich once lost the Champions League final to Chelsea on penalties in their home stadium - if the most dominant German side ever can choke at home in a shoot-out, anyone can.
so just excuses then ? If he can't be trusted to take a penalty because he is "so young" then maybe Southgate should have left him at home. Seriously cry me a river they are profesional football players and get paid a kings ransom to do their job. If they can't handle the heat then maybe they should look for another form of gainful employment, road sweeping is quite stress free and you get lots of fresh air.
I wouldn't call the French league a major league. Which is why their players play elsewhere.
There are happy humans and sad humans. To be honest, I'm happy for the happy ones and feel sad for the sad ones.
Don't really care about flags or language.
Decent match, high theatre.
It was on the cards in the first place because we played 5 at the back. The Italians never thought of doing that and played a proper formation and went for the game even though we had home advantage! Just goes to show the mentality between the two different managers.
Well said. Great match and Italy deserved the win.There are happy humans and sad humans. To be honest, I'm happy for the happy ones and feel sad for the sad ones.
Don't really care about flags or language.
Decent match, high theatre.