Euro 2020 Thread (11th June-11th July)

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Starts in under a week. Might be a fun summer of football to lift the gloom of the previous 12 months.

Groups:

Full Schedule:

Outright Odds:

Portugal to defend their title? France to go one better? Germany return to prominence? Belgium finally get it right? England bring football home? Or will Scotland shock the world?

[Guest]

We are going to see Sancho, thank christ!

He’s been poor for England during his 15/20 odd caps, hence why he’s not cemented his place in the side. Difficult to come in from the cold and immediately make an impact. We’ll see how he does.

[Guest]

1-0 Kane

Game over

[Duty281]

Sir Harold of Tottenhamshire!

That's royally messed up Ukraine's plans.

[Riggs]

Within 4 mins and he scores.

This could be over in a very short amount of time.

[alfie]

Nice start but it would be daft to assume anything with the way this tournament has gone...

[Guest]

Decent start, but we let them off the hook, and it was a poor end to the half. Kyle Walker absolute liability.

[GSC]

Need to learn the lesson from Croatia 3 years ago and kill this off. Enough chances to have taken more than 1

[Soul Requiem]

Far too passive for the most, as soon as we move the ball quickly we cause problems but sitting back too much.

[alfie]

Thought they might well have been two or three up by now. But credit to Ukraine they haven't rolled over after the early pressure - even had a couple of threatening moves themselves.

England really should be confident of getting the job gone from here. But while it stays at 1-0 it only takes one error to undo things. Will be interesting to see how they start again after the break.

[Duty281]

Not the best half from England. Good opening 30, poor last 15 minutes.

They've been too passive off the ball right from the start, and since Ukraine's tactical alteration the Eastern Europeans have been able to manoeuvre the ball cleverly between the lines and create opportunities. England need to close down Ukraine quicker and expose their technical shortcomings. Few jitters in the defence, the odd error.

In possession the tempo a little too slow for the most part, Shaw getting in down the left-hand side well, Walker not doing likewise on his flank. When England have moved it quick they've done it well and caused Ukraine all sorts of issues. Have enjoyed the greater movement between the attacking midfield three, which was mostly absent in the group stage. Sancho would have probably been more useful off the bench for the final thirty, than trying to pick his way through a deep line in the first 45.

1-0 but a long way from being over. England must hunt for that second goal, kill the tie off, and not sit back.

[alfie]

Need to learn the lesson from Croatia 3 years ago and kill this off. Enough chances to have taken more than 1

Fair to say finishing has been the main thing they haven't nailed yet in this tournament. Surely going to score again sooner or later if these chances keep coming though ?

Guess the heat will be taking energy out of everyone so who lasts best/makes the right subs will probably decide the result.

[owen10ozzy]

Ukraine were getting themselves into the game from half hour on; we had couple of good chances but its like watching England teams of old..

That gap between midfield and attack getting wider, defence getting deeper. Inviting them back into the game. Southgate has been late making changes up till now....todays a day to get one on pretty early and try to regain control of the game.

Duty & alfie both spot on. Those comments have been consistent throughout this tournament. England good start then lose control of the game a little...began to become a little slow in the defence getting out. The speed of play has been a worry throughout the Euros and that alongside the fact once we becone unsettled we struggle to get back into gear, are the two reasons i still think we will come up short ahould we get to the final.

Not sure what change we need to make at halt time/by 55th minute but think we need one just to freshen things up. Game is slowly getting away from us in terms of momebum

[Soul Requiem]

Slab head!

[GSC]

That'll do duck

[alfie]

Well that was a good restart

[Duty281]

That should kill it off. A Manchester United goal.

[Guest]

Ukraine are just horrific. Next up, Denmark.

[GSC]

At least we're practiced in taking the pace out of the game

[GSC]

That'll do duck

X2

[Guest]

Not sure why these Ukraine fans are crying. This was the most predictable outcome going

[GSC]

Time to protect those on yellows

[Duty281]

What a tournament Luke Shaw's having. And Harry Kane's charging towards the Golden Boot.

[alfie]

Now , what was I saying about finishing

Harry Kane getting into stride at a good time...

[Guest]

What a tournament Luke Shaw's having

That’s what international football does for your. Easy compared to club level.

[GSC]

Well he is pretty good at club level too

[Soul Requiem]

Best left back in the league last year.

[GSC]

Probably leave Kane on given hes found his scoring touch. But Bellingham/Grealish could have a run here

[Duty281]

I do think Ukraine are the worst team England have played at this tournament. Only got here because they beat North Macedonia and because Sweden got a player sent off.

Denmark will be the best team England have faced and will require another level of performance. Home advantage, though, and the Danes may be a bit more fatigued.

[Guest]

4-0 embarrassing

[Duty281]

Henderson, it's 4-0! Just before that Kane hit a spectacular volley...he's certainly got his confidence back after the Germany game.

Easiest knock-out game for England since Denmark 2002.

[GSC]

Ukraine have folded since the second goal. Still at least the set pieces are back.

[alfie]

Henderson

Fair to say Ukraine are having problems defending corners

Time for safety subs. Get Maguire off surely ?

Sterling and Phillips changed - good.

[Riggs]

I'm willing to consider a fifth goal to England by full time.

[GSC]

2 straight semi final appearances, whatever caveats applied, from where England were post Iceland, an impressive recovery. Now to go further than 3 years ago...

[Duty281]

Have to giggle at Ukraine making three changes with only stoppage time left.

[Duty281]

Oh, they don't get a chance to make said changes. Sensible refereeing.

Good job by England. Cruise control from goal three, Harry Kane starting to fire, and confidence and optimism bubbling away. Denmark will be the toughest test yet.

I make England favourites to win that one and reach their first ever European Championship final. It's coming home? It might just be. England are steadily growing into this.

[alfie]

4-0 it is. I'll settle for that.

OK , Ukraine were probably making up the numbers in the quarters ; and Denmark will be a much tougher test. But I think we can be satisfied with The Italian Job and go back to HQ with some confidence

[dummy_half]

Bar 15 minutes at the end of the first half, utter domination. Maybe Ukraine aren't the best team we've ever faced, but we saw them off in a virtually stress free manner. Not something England have always been able to do in tournaments (remember Iceland).

[Pr4wn]

Class from Ukraine after such a thrashing. Applauding their fans and congratulating the England players and staff.

[Guest]

Looking ahead, thoughts on changes for Denmark. I don’t think we need a massive formation overhaul, and match up to the Danes, like we did against Germany. Think the only change I’d make is, Mount, who has been horrific in all three games he’s played. Surely time for, Grealish? Think Sancho did enough to keep Saka and Foden on the bench. Midfield & defence seems fine, although I think it’s only a matter of time before Walker gets exposed by a slightly better offensive opponent.

[Duty281]

Was a good display from England last night, won the game in 50 minutes so conditioning and such like will be tip-top for the semi-final. Most excited that Harry Kane has rediscovered his scoring touch at just the right time, but there's plenty of other players in good form as well, which is such a rarity for England at major tournaments.

Sterling and Shaw are such a good combination down the left. Phillips is having a fantastic tournament. Sancho's barely played this tournament, but you wouldn't have known it from his sharpness last night. It's coming together well, especially now England have started to deliver good set-pieces.

The depth to this England squad is also wonderful. I remember England tournaments of the past where the likes of Phil Neville, Darius Vassell and Kieron Dyer were the ones coming off the bench. Now there's options like Foden, Grealish, Bellingham, Rashford, Henderson, Chilwell, James...it's fantastic and absurd in equal measure.

Main worries at this point are:

1) England haven't yet conceded or gone behind at any point, so it's unknown how England will respond to such a challenge. Will Southgate be able to make the right changes if England are 1-2 down with 20 minutes left? Will the team be able to keep its head up and not panic in such a scenario?

2) Despite never conceding, there's the odd defensive jitter, mainly from the Walker/Stones side, as we saw last night, and mostly poor defensive cover from Rice/Phillips when the opposition are exerting pressure. So far the opposition haven't been good enough to exploit it...so far.

3) Will Southgate play with a back-four all the way through? If he does I feel England have the best chance of winning. If England revert to a back-five I'm less convinced.

Denmark will provide the toughest test yet. I had them down as the most likely outsider team to cause a splash, but thought such chances were redundant when they lost Eriksen in awful circumstances and were defeated by Finland. They've defied those odds and have been getting stronger by the game, putting four past (admittedly poor) Russian and Welsh teams before edging out the Czechs.

Denmark are unlikely to provoke surprise with their XI or formation. They have a robust and physical defence, perhaps vulnerable to pace, but one that has conceded numerous good opportunities to the opposition so far. Hoijberg and Delaney in the middle of midfield have the potential to run the show - they provide invaluable off-the-ball work as well as an impressive range of passing. Arguably Denmark's greatest threat comes from Maehle down the left flank - I wouldn't be surprised if Southgate opts for a back-five for this reason. I'm unconvinced by Brathwaite as  a quality finisher, but Damsgard scored a rocket v Russia and Dolberg has three for the tournament so far.

I probably make England around 70-30 favourites for the semi-final, home advantage and possible Danish fatigue helping that. Where England can definitely lose the game is the midfield battle between Hoijberg/Delaney v Rice/Phillips. Where England can win the game is stretching the potentially fragile Danish line with pace and width. I'd like England to play a back-four and use two of their pace options (Sterling + Sancho/Saka), but we'll wait and see what Southgate does.

I make Italy even stronger favourites to beat Spain. Italy have been the best team in the tournament so far, and perhaps the most cynical, and I don't envisage them having any issues with a terrible Spanish side, who have only beaten Slovakia in 90 minutes so far.

Bookmakers don't seem to agree with that assessment. They make Italy narrow favourites to qualify for the final (7/10), with England strong favourites (1/3).

[GSC]

Don't think you can just slot Grealish into Mounts role tbh

[Riggs]

It'll be hard for England to take on the Italians if they beat Denmark.

The Italians are in hot form.

[Pr4wn]

It'll be hard for England to take on the Italians if they beat Denmark.

The Italians are in hot form.

No better form than England. I remain unconvinced by Italy. Yes, they've played well but there are points where they look very shaky at the back.

[Galted]

Was a good display from England last night, won the game in 50 minutes so conditioning and such like will be tip-top for the semi-final. Most excited that Harry Kane has rediscovered his scoring touch at just the right time, but there's plenty of other players in good form as well, which is such a rarity for England at major tournaments.

Sterling and Shaw are such a good combination down the left. Phillips is having a fantastic tournament. Sancho's barely played this tournament, but you wouldn't have known it from his sharpness last night. It's coming together well, especially now England have started to deliver good set-pieces.

The depth to this England squad is also wonderful. I remember England tournaments of the past where the likes of Phil Neville, Darius Vassell and Kieron Dyer were the ones coming off the bench. Now there's options like Foden, Grealish, Bellingham, Rashford, Henderson, Chilwell, James...it's fantastic and absurd in equal measure.

Main worries at this point are:

1) England haven't yet conceded or gone behind at any point, so it's unknown how England will respond to such a challenge. Will Southgate be able to make the right changes if England are 1-2 down with 20 minutes left? Will the team be able to keep its head up and not panic in such a scenario?

2) Despite never conceding, there's the odd defensive jitter, mainly from the Walker/Stones side, as we saw last night, and mostly poor defensive cover from Rice/Phillips when the opposition are exerting pressure. So far the opposition haven't been good enough to exploit it...so far.

3) Will Southgate play with a back-four all the way through? If he does I feel England have the best chance of winning. If England revert to a back-five I'm less convinced.

Denmark will provide the toughest test yet. I had them down as the most likely outsider team to cause a splash, but thought such chances were redundant when they lost Eriksen in awful circumstances and were defeated by Finland. They've defied those odds and have been getting stronger by the game, putting four past (admittedly poor) Russian and Welsh teams before edging out the Czechs.

Denmark are unlikely to provoke surprise with their XI or formation. They have a robust and physical defence, perhaps vulnerable to pace, but one that has conceded numerous good opportunities to the opposition so far. Hoijberg and Delaney in the middle of midfield have the potential to run the show - they provide invaluable off-the-ball work as well as an impressive range of passing. Arguably Denmark's greatest threat comes from Maehle down the left flank - I wouldn't be surprised if Southgate opts for a back-five for this reason. I'm unconvinced by Brathwaite as  a quality finisher, but Damsgard scored a rocket v Russia and Dolberg has three for the tournament so far.

I probably make England around 70-30 favourites for the semi-final, home advantage and possible Danish fatigue helping that. Where England can definitely lose the game is the midfield battle between Hoijberg/Delaney v Rice/Phillips. Where England can win the game is stretching the potentially fragile Danish line with pace and width. I'd like England to play a back-four and use two of their pace options (Sterling + Sancho/Saka), but we'll wait and see what Southgate does.

I make Italy even stronger favourites to beat Spain. Italy have been the best team in the tournament so far, and perhaps the most cynical, and I don't envisage them having any issues with a terrible Spanish side, who have only beaten Slovakia in 90 minutes so far.

Bookmakers don't seem to agree with that assessment. They make Italy narrow favourites to qualify for the final (7/10), with England strong favourites (1/3).

I can only assume that you mentioned Vassell with the intention of ruining my Sunday.  He was excellent off the bench, invariably revitalising an England side that had run out of steam and ideas.  Eriksson then started him a couple of times and he had less of an impact which presumably (along with the miss in the shoot-out v Portugal) resulted in him being discarded altogether.

[Duty281]

Got nothing against Vassell, just pointing out that the depth that Southgate can turn to is greater than that of most previous England managers. Vassell should never have taken that penalty v Portugal. I think Gerrard said that Sven pushed Vassell into taking it, even though Vassell was incredibly nervous and there were other willing volunteers such as Sol Campbell.

Also remember his cousin, Isaac Vassell, playing well at Truro for a couple of years.

[Duty281]

It'll be hard for England to take on the Italians if they beat Denmark.

The Italians are in hot form.

No better form than England. I remain unconvinced by Italy. Yes, they've played well but there are points where they look very shaky at the back.

I'd probably marginally favour Italy at this point, they've got a win over good opposition (Belgium) even if Belgium weren't at their best. As well as being on an incredible unbeaten run, Italy are the one team that have the defence to nullify England's potentially vibrant attack.

But, of course, the Italy-England matchup may not happen. Hope it does, England-Italy has been quite a scarce tournament fixture, only happening three times properly (1980, 2012, 2014) and one rather pointless third-place game in 1990.

[Galted]

It'll be hard for England to take on the Italians if they beat Denmark.

The Italians are in hot form.

No better form than England. I remain unconvinced by Italy. Yes, they've played well but there are points where they look very shaky at the back.

I'd probably marginally favour Italy at this point, they've got a win over good opposition (Belgium) even if Belgium weren't at their best. As well as being on an incredible unbeaten run, Italy are the one team that have the defence to nullify England's potentially vibrant attack.

But, of course, the Italy-England matchup may not happen. Hope it does, England-Italy has been quite a scarce tournament fixture, only happening three times properly (1980, 2012, 2014) and one rather pointless third-place game in 1990.

I'd also be wary of Italy, the only goals their defence has so far conceded are a slightly unlucky penalty and a freakish header at the near post.  Despite claims I've read on here that it's been shaky at times I'd say it's been the best in the tournament so far (as it often is).  They're also far more threatening in attack than they usually are and aren't playing as though they're permanently down to 10 men.

Would be glad to be proven wrong but, if it comes to Eng v Italy in the final, I can't help picturing an Italian win on penalties.

[Duty281]

Yeah I'd agree Italy's defence has been the best in the tournament so far. Any team that goes behind to Italy, and that includes England, aren't going to come from behind to win. Their attacking play has been smooth and clinical. I get the sense the Italians are just purring along.

I can take England getting to the final and losing...just not on penalties! That would be one horror too many.

I just checked Italy's record at this competition and, rather surprisingly, they've only won the Euros once, all the way back in 1968 (on home soil). Since then they've reached four World Cup finals (winning two; losing one on penalties) and two European Championship finals, so it's odd to consider they haven't lifted this trophy for 53 years.

[Guest]

Doku absolutely destroyed their right back, and they’ve also lost, Spinazzolla. Pace, and quality end product to go with it, will decimate them. If Lukaku could of finished his chances, he would of had a hat trick against the Italians. Even Arnautovic caused them a whole host of issues, and was a VAR decision away from knocking them the hell out.

Italians are a decent outfit, and have great team spirit, but that’s about as far as I can go. Spain are pretty woeful, and the Danes are just being carried by the emotion and responsibility they feel, to play for, Eriksen. One would imagine that would be mentally and physically draining, and signs of that was showing against the Czech’s in their second half.

It’s coming home

[Sponsored content]