Ha, I see that England at one time or other were down to face any of the teams in Group F before it ended back where it started the evening. No joy at the end of the rainbow for Hungary ( I meant no KO qualification for them at all rather than not getting to face England! )
So filling in the Group F teams into earlier :
Belgium vs Portugal (Seville 27/06)
Italy vs Austria (Wembley 26/06) France vs Switzerland (Bucharest 28/06) Croatia vs Spain ( Copenhagen 28/06)
Sweden vs Ukraine (Hampden 29/06) England vs Germany (Wembley 29/06) Netherlands vs Czech Republic (Budapest 27/06) Wales vs Denmark (Amsterdam 26/06)
Ha, I see that England at one time or other were down to face any of the teams in Group F before it ended back where it started the evening. No joy at the end of the rainbow for Hungary ( I meant no KO qualification for them at all rather than not getting to face England! )
So filling in the Group F teams into earlier :
Belgium vs Portugal (Seville 27/06)
Italy vs Austria (Wembley 26/06) France vs Switzerland (Bucharest 28/06) Croatia vs Spain ( Copenhagen 28/06)
Sweden vs Ukraine (Hampden 29/06) England vs Germany (Wembley 29/06) Netherlands vs Czech Republic (Budapest 27/06) Wales vs Denmark (Amsterdam 26/06)
That top group of Belgium, Portugal and Italy makes a very interesting section.
Probably some safe predictions here but I reckon:
Belgium (on pens maybe over Portugal) v Italy
France v Spain
Sweden v England (got to go for it and I think they will - germany not looked good really; England v strong at back and have the flair if they play properly)
Netherlands v Denmark
Then I am going with
Belgium v France
England v Netherlands - at Wembley
and then a final of
France v England
and sadly France to win that. But id have taken a final at the start and still would
Denmark looked decent yesterday, enough quality players and tactical nous to do a job on Bale and Ramsay. Such a step up in quality from the group stage. They could easily make the semis
Denmark looked decent yesterday, enough quality players and tactical nous to do a job on Bale and Ramsay. Such a step up in quality from the group stage. Have as much quality as Holland and have always understood how to play to their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. They could easily make the semis
Plenty to play for Tuesday! The winner will play good defenders sitting in a low block relying on hitting their opponents on the break, England havent really practiced this, we will see Foden, Mount beautiful footballers but as things stand Grealish and Phillips have the assists and Saka looked electric. Despite this we will undoubtedly will play with two sitting defenders and I fear we may have to suffer continued painful lateral & retrograde build up play for at least 60 minutes, a full 90 if we nick a goal. Heres hoping I am so wrong and we explode through the knockout stages
I think Southgate was spooked after the first year or so following World Cup 2018.
England won matches, including vs Spain and Croatia in the Nations League, generally entertained and scored plenty of goals but lost goals too and at times looked vulnerable. I recall though folk were saying that it was actually enjoyable to watch England.
Cannae be having that said Gareth, hence more recent times. And I'm not saying it won't work.
I am currently doing some translation work for a friend who is involved in a medical negligence case. We have been waiting ages for an appointment to see a "second opinion" doctor before deciding to proceed with the case or not.
Found out yesterday that the appointment is this evening in Alicante at 19.00 hrs (18.00 hrs UK) - right in the middle of the Eng vs Ger match. Worse still is that my friend is a Scot and couldn't care less about missing the match.
I am currently doing some translation work for a friend who is involved in a medical negligence case. We have been waiting ages for an appointment to see a "second opinion" doctor before deciding to proceed with the case or not.
Found out yesterday that the appointment is this evening in Alicante at 19.00 hrs (18.00 hrs UK) - right in the middle of the Eng vs Ger match. Worse still is that my friend is a Scot and couldn't care less about missing the match.
So come on England. Surprise me when I get home.
Darn, Bob, thats a bummer. My work colleague booked with his fiance to go and look at a wedding venue at 5 pm, assumed match was 8 pm.
No trying to decide between footie and his missus to be...
Well 3/5 at the back with Trippier and Shaw as the 'wing backs' and 2 holding midfielders certainly leaves plenty attacking flair err on the bench. England starting with Saka ( now there was a possible proper wing back ), Kane and Sterling as their front 3. Grealish, Mount, Foden, Sancho and Rashford are among these on the bench plus a more box to box midfielder in young Bellingham.
Gareth indeed not up for any 3-3 palaver but if you've arguably got the better creative attacking talent, why not put it out there and impose your game while defending properly without ultra protection. Hey ho ...
-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 29th of June 2021 03:52:05 PM
I am currently doing some translation work for a friend who is involved in a medical negligence case. We have been waiting ages for an appointment to see a "second opinion" doctor before deciding to proceed with the case or not.
Found out yesterday that the appointment is this evening in Alicante at 19.00 hrs (18.00 hrs UK) - right in the middle of the Eng vs Ger match. Worse still is that my friend is a Scot and couldn't care less about missing the match.