England v Eyeties Euro Qualifier

[bigfrank]

What is everyone thinking? 0-0 or 1-0 to them

[Russ of the BML]

"Manuel 1:02 Wed Oct 18 So you did! Apologies. Mis-read that. Some really good posts on here. Agree with all. I would say historically Portugal have always been there or there-abouts but again, they have fallen away with true quality. Even though they have a good qualifying record. Still reliant on Ronaldo. And no real young talent coming through at the quality of Bellingham, Foden, Rice. I genuinely believe England's B side would give Portugal a tough game. For me you cannot look past England and France."

[zico]

Yep the spine of the side. I think if we had now a centre back like Bobby Moore and a goalkeeper like Gordon Banks we would be right up there as a national side. Even a Rio and David Seaman would do it.

[swindon hammer]

"Liverpool were pretty much the best team in the world in the late 70s and early 80s so I can understand why Greenwood would try and replicate that by picking lots of their players like Clemence, Neal, Thompson, Lee, Kennedy & McDermott. Unfortunately the backbone of that great side were Scottish in Hanson, Souness & Dalglish."

[zico]

"swindon hammer 1:44 Wed Oct 18 Yep agree with that. What is interesting to me though is the England of the 70's failed on so many levels. You look at the talent available, certainly in attacking areas to the extent that the likes of Alan Hudson, Rodney Marsh, Frank Worthington etc couldn't get into the team. Maybe there was pressure in the years following winning the World Cup as well or maybe we just had so many top individuals rather than a top team. I seem to remember Greenwood tried to rectify that by playing most of the Liverpool team."

[BRANDED]

"Oh. In the summer I discussed football training, coaching and general preparation with an Italian youth coach and he said that St Georges Park has made a huge difference."

[BRANDED]

"If you look at who is playing in the top leagues they are players from all over the World. That wasnt the case not long ago. Or, lets say, much less the case. In England it looked like all these foreign imports would result in less quality in the English players but the opposite has happened. The best English players have to compete with the best players in the World, both internally in their clubs and on the field of play. This import of great talent has helped English players. Also, the top two English leagues as about as competitive as you’ll get in World football. Yes, there are a small number of exceptional teams but there is almost always a game. So, the English game has improved and the English players too. All we need is a great manager."

[swindon hammer]

"zico, regarding Spain, they were very much like England where they had a strong league full of really good players at top clubs but at International level they always flattered to deceive and struggled with the pressure. When they finally did win something it propelled them to go on and win more in the period afterwards which is my point about England really needing to win the first one (in over 50 years) to give them more belief and a launching pad going forward. Of course that belief and success doesn’t last forever, much like club football with the likes of Liverpool & Man Utd but for this generation of players it can be."

[zico]

"Interesting what you say about DNA. The Dutch, Germans and Italians for years and years seemed to have the same strengths but in the last 10 years or so that's started to disappear. As Russ says the Italians lack world class defenders, but that is what they had in abundance in for years. The Germans seem to have lost that collective strength and the Dutch have just fallen away as one of the top nations in the game. I wouldn't put Spain in that historical bracket as I think that side back in the 2000's was a world class anomaly and whilst their Euros record is decent their World Cup record is similar to England's. If you go back to 1998 when England qualified for the WC in Rome that 0-0 draw was considered an unbelievable result against a top Italian side. The celebrations were incredible, now a win over Italy is considered just a good result but they are no longer a world class side."

[swindon hammer]

"It’s a English mentality that prevents us going all the way in the major tournaments. Due to the constant failures of the past and the English media building up expectations it seems to create a fear of failure in the players. As others have said it’s rarely to do with other countries outplaying us. It’s nearly always down to the small things such as penalties, lack of discipline etc. In terms of historical success we should be matching Germany, Italy, Spain & France. We have had the players to do that but our players seem to freeze in big moments regardless of who the manager has been. Robson, Venables, Sven, Capello. They are all highly successful managers but none of them have managed to get England over the line. It feels like England need to win a tournament to break that mentality and pressure barrier to then go on and have the confidence to win some more. That penalty shoot out loss to Italy was a huge missed opportunity. It would have finally removed the constant reminders of not winning anything since 1966 which seems to be a constant burden."

[,]

"Russ, both Denmark in 1992 and Greece in 2004 have won the European Nations championship as unfancied underdogs. So it is not always the big football nations that win things. As for the 2024 tournament I agree with most of your list but for me the likes of Portugal have a better chance than say Italy."

[Manuel]

"Russ - Fwiw, I did say we have a great chance, not good. Agree with your analysis of the oppo, maybe Portugal are a dark horse, even Croatia? I think a big problem for England now is it's seemingly part of our DNA to fall in the real big games. When you look back we haven't often lost to better sides, it's usually been on pens or through missing a pen, like last year against France. Southgate himself has had huge disappointments for England as a player and now as a manager, that must be at the back of his mind a lot, so fuck knows how we can get over that last hurdle and why next summer will be different, unless like you say Bellingham makes the difference. I don't think Southgate did much wrong against France, it was all us second half, I don't think he will bottle it next summer, he ain't totally stupid, he knows he has to go for this one, and the players that he has at his disposal demand that he does so."

[Russ of the BML]

"Manuel - Good post. But I would say we have not just a good chance but an excellent chance. Historically, (well, in my lifetime) and generally, in any Euro's its always going to be out of the following group: Germany Spain Italy France England Holland But, as time has gone by, Holland have dropped away and haven't rebuilt suitably. Italy do not appear to have any 'world class' defenders or attackers right now and do seem to be in transition. Spain have slipped and are in transition with a young generation that's not yet capable. Germany. the same, and it seems have missed a generation. So for me it leaves France and England. Both have superior squads to the other countries and will be favourites. Problem for me, will England being a favourite with arguably the best international squad in world football be a hindrance to Southgate? Will he cope with the expectation? Previously we've seen huge disappointments where, as soon as we've met someone with any balls and know-how, in Croatia 2018, Italy 2020 and France 2022, we've fallen over. So does Southgate have it in him to push this squad over the line to a trophy. Or, will he, once again, fail when it matters? History says he will fail. And he will do so because, well, he's just Gareth Southgate. An ordinary man with an extraordinary squad. A man that should've won at least one trophy by now. But, this time there will be one difference. Bellingham. I know he played against France in 2022. But then he was an international newby. Finding finding his young feet at the highest of levels. Since then he has smashed it for Dortmund, moved to Madrid and become their talisman and is now an international pro. His rise has been unbelievable and like something out of a comic book. But I believe that when it comes to next years Euro's he will be the key. The extra spark that Southgate needs. I think we'll win it with Belllingham. Without him we will lose to France in the final."

[Manuel]

"As for the football, all we can say is that England have a great chance of winning the Euro's. You can never really confidently predict any side to win a tournament as only one team can win and anything can happen over one 90+ mins game of football. My worry would be the CB spots, that could be our failing. On the plus side, we now (finally) have a new Gascoigne in Bellingham, and maybe Kane will be even better now he's at Munich? But then you have over cautious and too loyal Southgate. Anyway, should be good next year in Germany."

[Manuel]

"See there are still some on here harping on about shit from months back trying to point score. It's incredible how some take this place so seriously. Get over yourselves ffs, it's an online football forum full of cunts. You ain't important."

[bigfrank]

My starting 11 Pickford Walker Stones Guehi Shaw Rice Ward-Prowse Foden Bellingham Rashford/Grealish Kane

[Come On You Irons]

A solid win. All set up by Billingham's world class dive in the first half to win the penalty. What a player! *rolls eyes*

[Pagey]

"I fully expect us to win the Euros with Bellingham and Rice in midfield. Both are pure class. The way Bellingham speaks, for a 20-year old, is unbelievable. An absolute superstar."

[Pagey]

"I fully expect us to win the Euros with Bellingham and Rice in midfield. Both are pure class. The way Bellingham speaks, for a 20-year old, is unbelievable. An absolute superstar."

[goose]

Assume Luke Shaw will start when fit.

[lowlife]

", the only change I can see is Saka coming back in."

[,]

Difficult to get in this England squad now let alone the starting eleven.

[BRANDED]

What we need is a reserve manager.

[zico]

You got to credit Kane. They say pace in a striker is essential and he has had a great career without any.

[goose]

"2-1 would have been a fairer reflection of the game. Bellingham the difference. 3rd goal was such a poor goal to give away, Phillips should have gone at 1-1."

[bigfrank]

"Where's the bloke, the bloke we talk football with"