UEFA European Football Championship 2020 (21) , the Time has Come

It's been a long wait but the tournament only started on Friday and already we've had goals , drama and hopefully today a win for England in their opening game against Croatia , Wales managed to scrape a lucky draw yesterday against the strong looking Swiss side and tomorrow Scotland will face the Czech Republic.

The only fly in the ointment for me is England's decision to continue to "take the knee" before matches , the point has been made already and continuing to make this political statement for what is a political movement before every game is wearing thin and pissing people off .... all lives matter FFS !

Today's match will take place at Wembley Stadium so home advantage goes to England , weather forecast says we are in for the hottest day of the year so far so that will no doubt play a part but Croatia are a dangerous side as we've discovered in the past , I've just finished cutting the grass and my beer and snacks are ready so ..... Come on Engerland !!!



Ooops , wrong one.

a reply to: gortex


Come on Croatia !!!

A bit of friendly banter mate. Good luck to yiz.

Its as close to a home tournament as yiz can get.

And yeah, stop with the knee already

English,Anglish,like the angles-what a joke.More like an African select.
But they'll take a knee because they are oh so downtrodden.
Another joke is Scotland are going to join them in the black supremacist salute at Wembley.

I agree that taking the knee is now nauseating.

Anyway, the match has just started, if England win then you can look forward to a knees up instead of a knee down!



Personally, I'm for Italy... Forza Azzurri!
I feel sad for Denmark, but happy that Eriksen is Ok.

10 minutes into the second half ... England 1 Croatia 0

England win 1-0 , happy with that.

Over to you Scotland.

glad to see that most are tired of politics being inserted into what used to be entertainment and an escape from that stupidity. Perhaps the brainless turds who can't help but virtue signal will eventually get the memo.

originally posted by: gortex
England win 1-0 , happy with that.

Over to you Scotland.

Good win and start to the tournament.

My only doubt is with the goalie Pickford. IMHO, I don't see him in the same class as Seaman and Shilton of old. I hope I'm wrong, but I feel he could be the Achilles' heel of the squad. Your defence needs to stay tight to support and protect him.

A reasonable performance.

Southgate is way too negative for my liking and his refusal to play Grealish is quite revealing.

Still, a win's a win.

I think our first game in the knockout stage - last 16 I think - could be a very hard game.
Win that and there's no reason why we shouldn't expect to get to the semi's at least.
Our biggest handicap will be Southgate's negativity.

But my money is staying firmly in my pocket, not backing England.

As for 'taking the knee'; they're taking the piss.
Never agreed with it in the first place, but it's ran its course.

The jocks are up tomorrow.

a reply to: Freeborn

As a Villa fan I support not playing Grealish as he's just come back from injury , he had a problem in the last friendly so the more rest he gets the better , save him for the games that matter.

I agree they did what they needed to do , it's our first win in an opening game for a while so it's the start we needed ahead of the Scotland game on Friday , I'm looking forward to France vs Germany on Tuesday.

a reply to: gortex

If I thought that was Southgate's intention with Grealish then I'd sort of agree....but I think he will only use Grealish as a last resort, he's far too adventurous a player for Southgate.

But a win's a win and it is a good platform to build on.

There's some tasty games coming up, I really can't wait for the game against the Auld Enemy.

My tip for the tournament is Italy.
I hope I'm wrong.

a reply to: gortex

I reckon he'll only use Grealish if yizzar losing a game.
Cant see him starting him.

Calvin Phillips played an absolute stormer, great assist for the goal.

Come on Scotland !!!

(friendly banter lads, if we were all at the pub i'd be exactly the same.)

My tip is Portugal to retain the trophy. Powerful squad they have.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

I love our Scottish brothers and will defend them to my last dying breath.....but when it comes to sport, particularly football, I want them to get beat every single time.
I know the feeling is reciprocated, in spades!

Anyone but England and all that.

Nothing wrong with a bit of craic and banter.

Portugal have a cracking squad but something is telling me they just won't do it this time.

The Netherlands are best priced 20/1 with BetVictor, I'm tempted to have a nibble before tonight's game.
A good performance could see the price come down quite a bit.

a reply to: Freeborn

Southgate got so much right - Calvin Philips was fantastic, as was Sterling.also very pleased to see Foden start. However, Kane look well off his pace and, no disrespect to the great player, he should’ve been replaced with Grealish at, or shortly after half time.

When he finally replaced replaced Kane it was too late and with the wrong player. I’ve got a feeling Southgate isn’t keen on Grealish because he can and will end up playing everywhere and Southgate’s perhaps showing himself to be a micro manager by not playing him. Like Gazza, Grealish puts teams on the back foot, making his consistent drives forward the best attack and defence in one.

I hope it’s not a Southgate ego thing going on and that we see Grealish play in the next match. I don’t buy that it’s either grealish or sterling. Both a versatile enough to play inside.

Still, it was a stunning first 20 minutes and without the scorching g heat in Glasgow they might keep that pace up a lot longer.

originally posted by: Freeborn
…I think he will only use Grealish as a last resort, he's far too adventurous a player for Southgate.

I agree, sadly! It’s why Southgate will never win a tournament. The great managers aren’t afraid to gamble. They also know how to exploit creativity, rather than dump it if it doesn’t fit their plan. Problem with plans is that the good teams quickly figure them out, at which point you need to improvise. Hope Southgate proves me wrong and shows some cognitive flexibility to keep the good teams guessing (such as starting, or at least shoving on grealish.)

a reply to: McGinty

It took Southgate quite a while to even give Grealish his first cap... He doesn't like him in his starting line up.

Who would he omit to play him? Mount? Sterling scored and was sharp enough. Foden you can't leave out. Phillips is a def starter and that only leaves Rice. And thats wrong position.
So Grealish instead of Mount would be the call.

No i think Grealish will come on when England need a goal in the 2nd half. Of any match.

Tyrone Mings was immense in defence, Stones looked tired.
Yiz also have Bellingham who made an immediate impact, but wont start. And Sancho. Saka, who scores a lot but wont start either.
If yiz win your next match then he will rest most of todays starters and play most of the bench from today.

a reply to: McGinty

Grealish would be the first name on my team sheet.
He provides that spark, something different and unpredictable that other teams can't really plan for.

I get the impression Southgate doesn't like unpredictability.
Everything is measured and ordered.
And he plans NOT to lose rather than to win games.

England undoubtedly has a talented bunch of players at present.
I fear that yet again we will fail to get the best out of them.

Southgate is a safe pair of hands for the F.A., nothing controversial at all.
And that is shown in his team selections and tactics.

Sterling looked a little bit like his former self today, but for me Grealish poses the greater threat.

Kalvin Phillips was a revelation today.
Will he be able to repeat that performance on a consistent basis and/or against top teams like France, Germany etc?

I'm not convinced with either full back and both central defenders are prone to lapses of concentration.

And there lies the problem; little confidence in the defence so Southgate plays two holding midfielders thus reducing options further upfield.

Mason Mount would be my second name on the team sheet.
Fantastic player but he can at times drift out of games - I thought he did that today.

Good though todays performance was I still think we lack the intensity and creativity to beat the best teams.

I sincerely hope I am wrong.

a reply to: Freeborn

I’m in total agreement, sadly. What England had going for them today was intensity while their legs could handle it. After the first 20 it was nervous back passing with the odd chance hear and there - very average. All hard work and good intentions, but no creativity. Only foden and mount showed a desire to get past their defence and of course Philips. Not to forget Sterling - he put in a real shift, but too often couldn’t finish.

Old school managers would identify their best attacking creative playmaker and set up around them. That’s without any doubt grealish. As you said, Southgate plans not to lose. What a waste of a great crop of players.

a reply to: Freeborn

These players need El Tel as manager.

Its the most talented, exciting bunch of players ive ever seen yiz with.
Southgate comes across as a manager who wants to be seen to play the 'right' way. Whatever the current winning model is. No long balls. No dribbling.
He's too 'safe'.

2 holding midfielders? Ridiculous. Even though Phillips played further up the pitch, which i think is his best position. He was outstanding there.
So who does Grealish replace? Coz he's gonna stick with Rice and Phillips...

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Oh 100%! El Tel all the way for this bunch of players - been thinking the same thing.

I can see why Southgate wanted 2 holding midfielders for Croatia, since their biggest threat is Modric. He more or less beat us single handedly in the World Cup, so SG wanted to stifle him and it worked. Question is was he a stopped clock that just happened to be right for Croatia; does he intend to play that formation every game? If he switches to a more attacking setup for the next 2 games then he’s vindicated on that point.

As for Grealishgate… Personally I’d interchange Sterling or Kane for Grealish. Since Kane looked well off his game yesterday I’d start with Grealish and Foden as left and right forwards and Sterling centre forward. If Kane looks fitter in practice, then it’s between him and Sterling, but for me Grealish and Foden would always start. Given the minutes those two can end up being the stars of the Euros.

Next games starting 11 will tell us whether Southgate even wants ‘stars’, or if he prefers to have no one outshine his managerial ascendency. An imagined one, because micro managing has never, ever worked for England.