Euro 2024 - Inc Southgate resignation

[Phall Throw]

"We seem to have an England v Bosnia thread but not an actual Euro 2024 thread so here it is So, do we realistically think England can win it? On paper we obviously have a very talented squad but I just don't see us going all the way. For me it's ""same old"" when it comes to England. Breeze the group, favourable draw in last 16 and win then up against far superior opposition in the QFs and out. At best I can see us at the SF stage before being beaten again. Winners for me: France, Portugal, Spain Dark horses: Germany - even though it's a home tournament they've been in a consolidation period, could go close Biggest flops: Scotland - no goals scored Top goalscorer: Mbappe I'm just hoping it's a decent tournament with plenty of decent games that's not ruined by VAR (are they using it?) consolidation period but could go close"

[marty feldman]

The Germans are going to take a shitload of stopping. Granted Scotland are absolutely toilet. But the way mctominay and mcginn were so completely dominated bodes well for the Huns .

[marty feldman]

The Germans are going to take a shitload of stopping. Granted Scotland are absolutely toilet. But the way mctominay and mcginn were so completely dominated bodes well for the Huns .

[El Scorchio]

"Shocker for Belgium. I can't see them not creating enough chances to win this comfortably still with the players they have, but a potential upset could be ground out here."

[nerd]

"Are these pundits for real trent must never play on midfield again utterly awful and lost there, better teams will kill us."

[nerd]

"Are these pundits for real trent must never play on midfield again utterly awful and lost there, better teams will kill us."

[El Scorchio]

"Thomas Frank is great to listen to. Also, loving the passion of the Romanians. This is massive for them clearly and celebrating like they've won the tournament. Some great goals too. Well played."

[happygilmore]

Ukraine .. It never rains but it pours..

[LeroysBoots]

Ukraine currently being gubbed 3-0 by Romania

[violator]

Ukrainian keeper surely taken a back hander

[Fauxstralian]

I thought Chillwell was fit & just missed a game at season end because of illness If not him why not Mitchell of Palace? Shaw hasn’t played since February and is prone to a FAT ARSE Is he the only left back in the country?

[El Scorchio]

"Agree with the sentiments below. I cannot believe he's taken such a lopsided squad and put out such a lopsided team with all the players available to him. One injured left back with no cover at all so the second best right back just plays there. How about doing what all other international managers do and take the second fucking best left back we have to the tournament instead. It was all to justify taking TAA really. let's be honest. We could have done with one less centre back. One left sided attacking player in the squad. Made it obvious he was going to play Foden out of position there. So we have a left side totally made up of players who don;t play there ever for their clubs, while players who do are sat watching on TV or in Gordon's case on the bench. That's terrible management. Terrible. Honestly he probably should have taken Grealish if this was the situation. He didn't need Toney there. I'd have Bellingham deeper and Foden in the middle with Gordon on the left, given what hes got at his disposal there. But if Bellingham is his number 10 he needs to have the bollocks to drop Foden and it's just tough we have two world class players for the same position. He needs to forget his vanity project TAA in midfield. Another player not in his natural position preferred to actual central midfielders. The few great passes in a game are not worth it. Too much time always looking for that hollywood pass, getting in the way in the right channel and clearly just not being used to all the responsibilities of the position. He's going to get cruelly exposed against a proper good team. For me it's got to be Rice Bellingham Foden Gordon Kane Saka (but Bowen is really pushing him close- if Saka wasn't a poster boy undroppable I think he'd be under serious threat for his place) However he's going to persist with Bellingham in the 10 so he really needs to decide who is Rice's best partner in the 8 position- Gallagher or Mainoo, and what to do on the left flank. I hope to fucking God Shaw is fit to start the next game, sharp and in match fitness and stays fit for the rest of the tournament. Taking injured players to a tournament so rarely works out well though. I do rate him but he hasn't played since fucking February. It's crazy he's there with no real cover. On the bright side, if Southgate makes as much as a mess of this tournament as I think he may, this will be the end of him and someone with the nous to turn this talent into ruthless world beaters comes in. Any manager in the world would be licking their lips with the prospect of working with these players. We should be able to take our pick from the very best."

[RootsRadical]

*Foden not Golden*

[RootsRadical]

"Not hard to agree with everyone else on balance of the side and playing your best players in their best positions. Bellingham as he's proved at Madrid this season is just as effective if not more effective as a number 8. Seems that Southgate is determined to shoehorn TAA into the team at the expense of Golden playing in his best position when there is no justification for TAA starting in the middle, thought he was one of worst players last night too which highlights it. Reminds me of when Scholes was put out on the left to accommodate Lampard who at least was worth his place. Also don't get why he didn't take Chillwellan actual LB instead of one of the CBs or midfielders who won't play. He's no world beater but surely a better option at LB than Trippier who is another that Southgate seems determined to shoehorn in if he can. All very Moyes like."

[dealcanvey]

"Agree with the below. Our left hand side looked redundant. Foden, ok, he is left footed but he is not a winger. Ontop of that, having a right back playing left made us even more narrow. Will end up coming too reliant on Walker and Saka. Might get away with it against likes of Serbia but will get found out by the bigger sides. Foden central and a natural winger on the left is the way forward not that Southgate would have the balls in the later stages to do that."

[dealcanvey]

"Agree with the below. Our left hand side looked redundant. Foden, ok, he is left footed but he is not a winger. Ontop of that, having a right back playing left made us even more narrow. Will end up coming too reliant on Walker and Saka. Might get away with it against likes of Serbia but will get found out by the bigger sides. Foden central and a natural winger on the left is the way forward not that Southgate would have the balls in the later stages to do that."

[Manuel]

"IIRC at the last world cup Southgate pretty much admitted they played for a draw in the scond group game after winning the first with a very winnable last game, ''negotiating the group'' I think he called it, I can see that happening again on Thursday, a draw would be good for Denmark too. Agree that Gallacher will come in for TAA and that will likely be the only change. We are nailed on to win the group now so I suppose we are going to have to wait a couple of weeks to find out if this time it will be any different, but I doubt too many are confident."

[Sydney_Iron]

"Trippier is a decent defender though so that aspect of his game I have no issue with, the full backs especially in today’s game needs to be quick and be able to overlap and imo he falls well short, this then weakens the whole left flank as seen by how poor Foden was."

[Eerie Descent]

"It wouldn't be so bad, were all the failings not so blatantly obvious beforehand. Ropey defence, a flakey right back at left back, a flakey right back in central midfield, Foden on the left, Saka's lack of final ball (unless it's a deflected cross), but the biggest problem is without doubt Harry Kane. Not the player himself were he in the right team and system, but he does not fit a Southgate set up. It's like watching quality but slow strikers for us under Moyes. Hopefully Luke Shaw is fit, Drop Bellingham back slightly where he can impact the game more, Foden central further up, and Gordon on the left, he's not outstanding but he's quick and direct, and in this system you need quick players. Watkins up front, so when we're pinned back like will happen in most games to us at some point, we have a release ball. Kane can't do it, he was a passenger last night. If we did that, I'd drop the ridiculously overrated Saka (2nd half when the defender was told how to defend against him he was useless) and put Palmer on the right, he isn't as quick but with the other 2, that's enough pace. None of the above will happen, Gallagher will start next game, and he'll persist with everything else. And it'll be boring again."

[Sydney_Iron]

The biggest issue though was Trippier as the left back. You either need to be really quick to provide the width and overlapping runs down the left or be able to whip in a cross with your left foot. Unfortunately Tripper has neither of these. This then causes problems for Foden as we are providing no attacking threat down the left flank which then would open up space in the middle. Foden though does not help himself. He gets knocked off the ball to easily in International football and TBH is a bit shit!

[stubbo]

"As has been clear for a long time now, Southgate is horribly weak and will fail to get the most out of the squad. Great ambassador, terrible coach and tactician. None of the top 10 in the league will be remotely interested in him when this gig is up...if he's got any sense he'll move from management into a Technical Director type role. Di Canio post game was right in what he said in my opinion: “...Some players are physically exhausted, and they don’t have a coach that motivates them and gives them five, seven or 10% more energy....It is okay to catch your breath but not to get rid of the ball. This is a team that is not well-trained. The players go to the pitch and must find a solution.” “He [Southgate] is a young coach, but he’s old school. I had some of those, like Redknapp or others, at Sheffield Wednesday,” continued Di Canio. “I had coaches who would tell me the position on the pitch and say, ‘Now it’s up to you.’ They didn’t give many instructions. England are a talented team, but they didn’t do well [against Serbia] after minute 30.”"

[Russ of the BML]

"Some good posts on here and I do agree with concesus. For me: Positives: We won Clean sheet Bowen looked good Bellingham different level Guihe different level Negatives: Kane and Foden passengers No penetration from the left Southgate lacked influence from the side-lines Bellingham / Foden can't play in that formation Southgate really found his inner Moyes last night with his first substitution being Gallagher. Good player but from that point it was very clear that Southgate is going to be the one that loses us this tournament. He had Palmer, Gordon, Bowen, Watkins and Toney on bench in a game that was drifting away from us and his decision was to go defensive and protect. It's like watching West Ham under Moyes. Southgate threw caution to the wind selected young, bright, positive goal scoring players for his offensive positions and just when we need them he goes defensive. As I have said all along, we may still win this. But I am worried that Southgate in being brave with his squad selection will revert to type and lose his backbone. That will ultimately see us getting knocked out at 1/4's or semi's. You have to be brave."

[onsideman]

"Foden was indeed wasted where he played, but unless he was given a free role (which would have been madness) he clearly isn't able to follow instructions given that he spent most of his time in the 10 position getting in Bellingham's way Not a single cross from the left all evening and not once did anyone get in behind on that side. For much of the game Trippier was on his own, halfway inside the Serbian half, hugging the touchline with not another England player within 15 metres. Not only this, but every dangerous cross from Serbia originated on their right because Tripopier repeatedly failed to stop them and he had no support The weakness on that side was obvious before the game and more so once they got underway but was never addressed in the entire 90 minutes"

[Lee Trundle]

"I thought TAA was shit, yet the press seem to be all over him. I'm surprised I haven't seen the QUATERBACK ROLE churned out yet. Square pegs in round holes will lose us this tournament,. We win the whole thing if we play a left back at left back, a left winger at left wing, and central midfielder as a central midfielder."

[Side of Ham]

Stop trying to shoehorn TA we have that already with Trippier at left back due to injuries. There’s not enough genius passers in the England team for Foden to work and because there’s fuck all on the left attack wise it was easy to snuff out the Saka threat ( not his fault) due to the imbalance. I’m not seeing us beat one of the top nations at the moment when we come up against them as you do in the latter stages. AGAIN.

[Rossal]

"Nice to start with a win but there is loads to work on if we are going to get close to winning it agree it was like watching West Ham, tonnes of talent but can't get a tune out of them. Score a goal then go defensive, no one runs in behind, no subs, baffling comments after from the manager Thought Guehi and Rice were superb and then you obviously have got Bellingham who was levels above. The way he plays though can see him getting clamped and someone ending his tournement early. Kane and Foden were passengers, Kane looks unfit and sluggish. The Foden that turns up for England isn't the same one that plays for Pep. He needs to be dropped Palmer should be ahead of him in the 10 and Gordon and Saka should be ahead of him wide left. TAA will get found out against a decent set of CM's He can pick a pass out and deliver a great ball when he has time out wide but you don't get that in the middle. There is also no point playing him to get those cracking through balls if you aren't going to play attackers who run in behind. As already said, shoehorning him into CM to put the player of the season wide left is crazy. Gordon or Saka need to play left. Bowen or Palmer on the right and put Bellingham alongside Rice. Get Foden or Eze in the 10 with the instruction to run behind. Kane needs a good game against Denmark, otherwise bring in Watkins Tournament favourites we are not"