Jump to content

Euro's - Englands Chances


Simpson

Recommended Posts

Right after 3 days of waiting finally tonight England kick off their Euro campaign against France at 5.

Discussion points -

What do people think of Hodgsons appointment?

Personally I think its good that we have an England manager for once but he is old and mumbles a lot and encourages defensive teams (which I hate). But we have won both our matches with him in charge so hopefully thats a sign of things to come. I also like his confidence in the Ox although I think it may be a bit misplaced seeing as Hodgson himself said he got inspired watching the 2nd leg against Milian where the Ox played on the left where he was outstanding; but many of his Arsenal matches have been non events. However he has done well in U21 so deserves an occasional full cap.

What do people think about the team selection?

At first I was outraged, but now I'm coming around to it, I just don't think we should have John Terry playing for us, especially with all this rasism "outrage" in Poland and the Ukraine. (Hardly supprising to anyone who watched the Ross Kemp on Gangs which aired 3 years or so ago which showed the extent of the rasism and football gang culture. IMO the player shouldn't be out there.) but for Terry at least I suppose its strictly innocent until proven guilty but I think hes been lapse at times for Chelsea. I would have liked Mikel Richards in the team but thats just because hes a unit. I think were missing a right winger, Hodge doesn't like Walcott because he loses the ball too much (which is fair) but Milner on the right wing makes me want to kill myself.

How far can we go?

I've watched every match of the tournament so far and I think the best match so far was the Spain - Italy match, although it finished a poor 1-1 draw the opportunitys created by both teams showed some real class in the build up play and if they build on that could see them go far in the tournament. No offence to Ireland who put up a sterling performance last night, was some real passion on the pitch but I think they need more than Irish luck to get out the group. But still everyone else has under performed or done as expected, the only real shocks were denmark beating the Netherlands and Portugal beating Germany but both winning teams will have to get a lot better to go further in the tournament.

So personally I think we could do alright I just worry that when you chose to play defensivly you expect the games to be low scoring so it is important that you are clinical in your finishing and I just don't think were there right now, there is not an England player who when they pick it up inside the box I think "this is a goal" but so long as we play a high line I think we could do surprisingly well and all English men love an underdog hey!

Tonight I recon England 1-0, if we can beat France then our tournament really starts, if we lose I think we will still qualify but we need that confidence boost early to reach the latter stages of the tournament.

Edited by Simpson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't Germany beat Portugal?

I Think we have a decent side, not a winning side but I like the choices hodgson has made, I'm a fan of oxlade too.

Whatever happens though England aren't under a great deal of pressure to perform like usual due to the new manager etc and I think that could help them relax a little and help them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Terry and Ferdinand should have both just been left out. Not only to avoid the meda shit storm (yer I know you can't give in to the media, but there's enough unrest in our dressing room as it is) but also just because I wanna see less of Englands pre madonna old dogs and more hungry young underdogs.

As for how far we can go, I'm gonna sit bang on the fence here and say it will either go really badly (knocked out in group stages) or we'll get to quarters/semis, and if you get there you just need things to go your way before you find yourself in the finals, could happen if EVERYTHING works out. Your right in that no other team has really looked that special, I know our defence hasn't been properly tested yet, but I haven't seen much in the other matches that would have tested it.

International football makes me so lazy haha, we literally just sit on the sofa watching it with a draw from 4 till 10 every day.

Edited by Max Quinn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't Germany beat Portugal?

Yea your right, I watched the match but wrote it down wrong on my wall chart haha drinking from 4-10 and then trying to fill in a wall chart is apparently too much for me to comprehend lol

Yea I think your right Max my initial feeling was ditch all the old players except for Rooney, the old guard have had the last 3-4 tournaments to thrive in their prime for England and acheive something great but they failed and I think that they should get moved aside for the younger players with something to prove, (Ox, Walcott, Wellbeck, Sturrage, Hart, Baines, young, smalling?, evans? still don't like those 2 and maybe even (Downing (I know hes got a lot of critisism recently but hes got something to prove and if he hones his skills will be a solid player).

Hopefully Hodgson can find a ballance with the excitement and flair of the new generation and the solid composure of the experienced players. I just worry about our CB's, CM's and ST's. Were short on solid centrebacks, in CM I don't like Barry, Millner, and Gerrard and think Parker could be weak at this level a bit like Arteta this season who did well in all his league games but came exposed in the champions league against slicker midfields. And we don't have a goalscorer really, all our players (expect downing) have been in the goals this season but we don't have a leader who pops one in a game, Rooney on a 2 match ban almost unsettles the team because without him we don't have a true CF so will Hodgson change the whole team set up when hes eligible again?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

England's chances of winning the whole thing are practically zero.

My bet is a disappointing scrape through the group and a first knock out stage exit that everyone will say we were unlucky or some controversial moment goes against us when the truth was we weren't good enough. Roy could be the greatest manager in the world, but it won't matter it's our shit players that play.

Don't get me wrong ill be cheering us on (read getting pissed) but we haven't played much good football or produced a team with more than a couple of great players since 96. Mostly down to the sorry state of the premiere league and the fact that football is now a business, with all the clubs filling their teams with foreign players.

Also football is now shite.

Grown millionaire men diving and rolling round on the floor, acting, cheating and generally being total douchebags. Give me another rugby world cup win anyday.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yer it is at five. Cue Simps sitting down to watch the game at 7 while we're all on here reflecting on our 6-0 win haha (actually scrap that there's no way I could type if that happened).

I know what you mean about the goal scorers, there's no one in our team who you ever really expect to create something from nothing in the way Owen would have done in his international prime for example. I'm glad Gerrards still in there, guess I'm a bit biased being a Liverpool fan but I think he's still the only real option as a solid, reliable captain at the minute.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Sun jinxed us, showed a photoshopped image of Terry holding the Euro Trophy.

I think with some young blood in the team trying to prove themselves worthy will be interesting.

Hopefully we can replicate the 'Chelsea' defence and scrape a 1-0 win. Unlikely though as the French team is full of absolute beast footballers. Bit gutted M'Vila isn't playing.

Yer it is at five. Cue Simps sitting down to watch the game at 7 while we're all on here reflecting on our 6-0 win haha (actually scrap that there's no way I could type if that happened).

I know what you mean about the goal scorers, there's no one in our team who you ever really expect to create something from nothing in the way Owen would have done in his international prime for example. I'm glad Gerrards still in there, guess I'm a bit biased being a Liverpool fan but I think he's still the only real option as a solid, reliable captain at the minute.

Bias aside, Gerrard is a cracker. Glad he's in the squad.

(Liverpool still suck though) :P

Edited by Luke Dunstan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

isnt kick-off at 5?

Oh yea shit, I edited the first post. I watch it all anyway so it wouldn't have been an issue, in fact that means its socially acceptable to start drinking now? Bonus.

Hopefully we can replicate the 'Chelsea' defence and scrape a 1-0 win.

Sorry but I hate people saying this, we shouldn't that was such a horrible game which Chelsea had to adopt because there so bad, we should play positive confident football. Although I want Ashley Cole to play the game of his life like he did that match.

I'm glad Gerrards still in there.

As much as I don't like Gerrard (he admitted in one interveiw I watched that he's not the player he used to be and can't get forward as much because he's not as fit as before) I've grown on the idea of him in the middle as captain. Partly due to the sad fact that I can't think of anyone I'd prefer to be in the middle or captain, he's the best of IMO a bad bunch.

Rowan stop being so negative you'll get wrinkles early. I don't ever see the point in watching football being negative, your there to support them. If they play without pride or determination then fair enough I'll get on the band waggon and start being negitive, but if they give it their all every match then I think the team could surprise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry but I hate people saying this, we shouldn't that was such a horrible game which Chelsea had to adopt because there so bad, we should play positive confident football. Although I want Ashley Cole to play the game of his life like he did that match.

They beat Barcelona and Bayern using it, if they were that bad those teams could have picked them apart.

I thought the same as you while watching it, it's the beautiful game made ugly...but it works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No; playing that style you must conceed so much possession in your half and rely on last second tackles to keep it out the back of the net. Even for a good team you only about a 30% chance so winning it, it was nothing more than luck that made Chelsea win it, a couple of lucky breaks and sketchy defending that won them anything. Go out be positive and go to win the match, not have the mentality that "if were lucky we may win".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No; playing that style you must conceed so much possession in your half and rely on last second tackles to keep it out the back of the net. Even for a good team you only about a 30% chance so winning it, it was nothing more than luck that made Chelsea win it, a couple of lucky breaks and sketchy defending that won them anything. Go out be positive and go to win the match, not have the mentality that "if were lucky we may win".

You can't win the Champions league purely by luck. They're defence was solid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes there defence was solid but the tactic only worked against Barca because they have no plan B, they can only pass it round teams. But that doesn't mean that the tactic is a well rounded strategy, as seen today with Gerrard and Parker being too deep and giving Nasri too much room and not pressurising the ball enough. And yes you can win anything by fluke they came 6th in the league......... thats like saying Greece were the best team in Euro 2004, well they wern't but they went on to win it - mostly through luck of the bounce.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think defensive football can work, and being a defender I appreciate the intricacies of it a lot of the time to be honest. But the problem is when you do get the chance to go forward and those breaks open up, you've gotta be clinical, and we're not. Personally I think we're stronger defensively sometimes so maybe we can gamble a bit more there in order to give greater chances going forward, and going on percentages that means a higher success rate.

It's all good relying on breaks and good forward performances in order to snap those occasional chances in the back of the net for one game, but your not gonna get that form for a whole tournament.

Edited by Max Quinn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yea I guess its exactly the same... but opposite for me. I play CB and I would never play that deep, ever. Its just frustrating, the best form of defence is attack imo, if the balls in their half then they aint gonna be scoring. When I managed my team always played 2 holding CB's, and a CDM for if one CB went forward, and wing backs, get it up there create more chances, the only way to win is to score more than the other team.

Edited by Simpson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the years go on I seem to be getting less and less interested in England. Not watched one game of the tournament so far and highly doubt I'll bother though I hope big Roy does a good job as I liked him at West Brom and think it's a big loss for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...