| Really odd tournament 19:46 - Jul 6 with 2496 views | Dubtractor |
We've not played well at all, yet here we are with a winnable semi final ahead of us. |  |
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| Really odd tournament on 19:53 - Jul 6 with 2434 views | LankHenners |
Being defensively solid and nicking the odd goal has won most of the major international tournaments in recent years and no surprise we've tried to follow suit but as you say we've not looked very good doing it! Does remind me of Portugal when they won the Euros - they were pretty dire to watch and didn't feel like they 'deserved' to keep going through but kept managing to do it.
Spain will feel so pissed if they don't win the whole thing. |  |
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| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 19:54 - Jul 6 with 2432 views | Bloots |
...really.
Not in terms of style, but in terms of the final 4 teams.
Even if we lose on Wednesday, it won't go down as a massive failure.
Amazing what such utter incompetence can achieve.
Totally bemusing. |  |
| "The sooner he comes back the better, this place has been a disaster without him" - TWTD User (July 2025) |
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| Really odd tournament on 23:33 - Jul 6 with 2255 views | vilanovablue |
In my lifetime that's the best penalty shootout we've ever had. Our third semi~final since 96 all managed by Southgate. No complaints here. I'm pragmatic as a England fan and tournament football is an ugly business. |  | | |
| Really odd tournament on 23:56 - Jul 6 with 2189 views | MVBlue |
| Really odd tournament on 19:53 - Jul 6 by LankHenners |
Being defensively solid and nicking the odd goal has won most of the major international tournaments in recent years and no surprise we've tried to follow suit but as you say we've not looked very good doing it! Does remind me of Portugal when they won the Euros - they were pretty dire to watch and didn't feel like they 'deserved' to keep going through but kept managing to do it.
Spain will feel so pissed if they don't win the whole thing. |
Greeks won 2004 defensive upsets
Danish won 1992 narrowly
Thats who we are trying to immitate |  |
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| Really odd tournament on 00:06 - Jul 7 with 2157 views | Superblue95 |
| Really odd tournament on 19:53 - Jul 6 by LankHenners |
Being defensively solid and nicking the odd goal has won most of the major international tournaments in recent years and no surprise we've tried to follow suit but as you say we've not looked very good doing it! Does remind me of Portugal when they won the Euros - they were pretty dire to watch and didn't feel like they 'deserved' to keep going through but kept managing to do it.
Spain will feel so pissed if they don't win the whole thing. |
That dire Portugal team were on the 12 year cycle though.
1992 Denmark
2004 Greece
2016 Crap Portugal
2028 ….. |  |
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| Really odd tournament on 00:33 - Jul 7 with 2122 views | LankHenners |
| Really odd tournament on 23:56 - Jul 6 by MVBlue |
Greeks won 2004 defensive upsets
Danish won 1992 narrowly
Thats who we are trying to immitate |
Southgate has taken inspiration specifically from Deschamp's France team, hence why we've played like we have under him. | |
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| Really odd tournament on 07:27 - Jul 7 with 1928 views | theinbetweener |
It has been a very strange tournament, all round.
None of the major teams have turned up imo, bar the possible exception of Spain, so I wouldn’t say we’re alone in feeling the way we do. I think this year was a real opportunity for an underdog to go all the way, similarly to Greece in 2004. I could see Austria potentially getting there before getting knocked out by Turkey.
Is this just a result of player burnout which has been previously suggested? |  | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 08:53 - Jul 7 with 1812 views | CaptainAhab |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 19:54 - Jul 6 by Bloots |
...really.
Not in terms of style, but in terms of the final 4 teams.
Even if we lose on Wednesday, it won't go down as a massive failure.
Amazing what such utter incompetence can achieve.
Totally bemusing. |
I'd argue it's utter competence that's got us where we are not incompetence. We are utterly, safely bland, all the rough edges and excitement polished off and coached out of our play. It might just work as well.
I don't hate Southgate as much as some, but can't wait to see what an adventurous manager can do with this group. |  | | |
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| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:00 - Jul 7 with 1778 views | itfc_bucks |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 08:53 - Jul 7 by CaptainAhab |
I'd argue it's utter competence that's got us where we are not incompetence. We are utterly, safely bland, all the rough edges and excitement polished off and coached out of our play. It might just work as well.
I don't hate Southgate as much as some, but can't wait to see what an adventurous manager can do with this group. |
Imagine what a Glenn Hoddle, circa 1998, would get out of this group. | | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:35 - Jul 7 with 1697 views | tractorshark |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:00 - Jul 7 by itfc_bucks |
Imagine what a Glenn Hoddle, circa 1998, would get out of this group. |
Probably a second-round exit like he managed in 1998.
Southgate is not an exciting manager and clearly has to take a large amount of responsibility for the way have England performed and yet he’s in the semi-finals of a major tournament again.
Something Hoddle, Keegan, Sven, Capello and Hodgson couldn’t manager even with a supposed Golden Generation.
Our players at this tournament are not blameless either. Perhaps they’re not as good as people think, Against Slovenia, they could barely control or pass the ball. I’m not sure you can blame Southgate for that.
If you look at this tournament and recent tournaments, not many teams play great football. You get the odd country, like Spain this time, who show a bit of flair but, on the whole, they’re pragmatic rather than entertaining. They’re certainly not as talented as a Real Madrid or Man City.
The other thing is the traditional big nations are no longer as dominant as they once were. In recent years, you’ve seen the likes of Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey go deeper in tournaments at the expense of Italy, Germany etc. It’s a changing landscape.
I don’t like Southgate’s tactics or team selection but he’s becoming a convenient scapegoat and that’s a little naive and simplistic when you compare his tournament to the likes of Belgium and Italy’s.
I watched Germany on Friday and thought that was the most English tournament performance I’ve seen. Played well against very good opposition, probably should have won and yet it all ended in glorious failure.
England have perfected that type of tournament exit for years. The irony is this time we’re playing ugly and could win the whole thing and yet we’ve got the hump about it. | | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:45 - Jul 7 with 1658 views | Radlett_blue |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:35 - Jul 7 by tractorshark |
Probably a second-round exit like he managed in 1998.
Southgate is not an exciting manager and clearly has to take a large amount of responsibility for the way have England performed and yet he’s in the semi-finals of a major tournament again.
Something Hoddle, Keegan, Sven, Capello and Hodgson couldn’t manager even with a supposed Golden Generation.
Our players at this tournament are not blameless either. Perhaps they’re not as good as people think, Against Slovenia, they could barely control or pass the ball. I’m not sure you can blame Southgate for that.
If you look at this tournament and recent tournaments, not many teams play great football. You get the odd country, like Spain this time, who show a bit of flair but, on the whole, they’re pragmatic rather than entertaining. They’re certainly not as talented as a Real Madrid or Man City.
The other thing is the traditional big nations are no longer as dominant as they once were. In recent years, you’ve seen the likes of Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey go deeper in tournaments at the expense of Italy, Germany etc. It’s a changing landscape.
I don’t like Southgate’s tactics or team selection but he’s becoming a convenient scapegoat and that’s a little naive and simplistic when you compare his tournament to the likes of Belgium and Italy’s.
I watched Germany on Friday and thought that was the most English tournament performance I’ve seen. Played well against very good opposition, probably should have won and yet it all ended in glorious failure.
England have perfected that type of tournament exit for years. The irony is this time we’re playing ugly and could win the whole thing and yet we’ve got the hump about it. |
Good post, but you must find Southgate's reluctance to make substitutions - which are a big part of modern football - baffling.
On the positive side, during his tenure there has always seemed to be a better atmosphere and team spirit around the England camp, while we also have got better at penalty shootouts, which is a change from the "there's no point in practising penalties" mentality. |  |
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| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 10:05 - Jul 7 with 1598 views | tractorshark |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:45 - Jul 7 by Radlett_blue |
Good post, but you must find Southgate's reluctance to make substitutions - which are a big part of modern football - baffling.
On the positive side, during his tenure there has always seemed to be a better atmosphere and team spirit around the England camp, while we also have got better at penalty shootouts, which is a change from the "there's no point in practising penalties" mentality. |
Yes hugely baffling. I can’t work out why we haven’t started Palmer for instance.
But here we are with a very good chance of winning the tournament and we’re moaning because we aren’t going to win it with flair and panache.
It’s a legitimate gripe but, let’s be honest, we’ve tried to be entertaining in the past and it hasn’t brought us a major trophy.
Maybe this will be the same but the point I’m making is for all of Southgate’s faults, you can’t argue with his record and, while some will still disagree, he undoubtedly knows more about the intricacies of football management than we do. | | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 10:18 - Jul 7 with 1577 views | chicoazul |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:45 - Jul 7 by Radlett_blue |
Good post, but you must find Southgate's reluctance to make substitutions - which are a big part of modern football - baffling.
On the positive side, during his tenure there has always seemed to be a better atmosphere and team spirit around the England camp, while we also have got better at penalty shootouts, which is a change from the "there's no point in practising penalties" mentality. |
Almost every substitution he has made has had a positive effect on the game in these championships. Hard to think of one that hasn’t in fact.
International tournament football is about results not performances. Me, I don’t watch England to be entertained. I watch it to support my country. |  |
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| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 10:30 - Jul 7 with 1550 views | itfc_bucks |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 09:35 - Jul 7 by tractorshark |
Probably a second-round exit like he managed in 1998.
Southgate is not an exciting manager and clearly has to take a large amount of responsibility for the way have England performed and yet he’s in the semi-finals of a major tournament again.
Something Hoddle, Keegan, Sven, Capello and Hodgson couldn’t manager even with a supposed Golden Generation.
Our players at this tournament are not blameless either. Perhaps they’re not as good as people think, Against Slovenia, they could barely control or pass the ball. I’m not sure you can blame Southgate for that.
If you look at this tournament and recent tournaments, not many teams play great football. You get the odd country, like Spain this time, who show a bit of flair but, on the whole, they’re pragmatic rather than entertaining. They’re certainly not as talented as a Real Madrid or Man City.
The other thing is the traditional big nations are no longer as dominant as they once were. In recent years, you’ve seen the likes of Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey go deeper in tournaments at the expense of Italy, Germany etc. It’s a changing landscape.
I don’t like Southgate’s tactics or team selection but he’s becoming a convenient scapegoat and that’s a little naive and simplistic when you compare his tournament to the likes of Belgium and Italy’s.
I watched Germany on Friday and thought that was the most English tournament performance I’ve seen. Played well against very good opposition, probably should have won and yet it all ended in glorious failure.
England have perfected that type of tournament exit for years. The irony is this time we’re playing ugly and could win the whole thing and yet we’ve got the hump about it. |
We were the better side in that game, even with ten men.
Had Becks not had a brain fade, that was a tournament there for the taking. | | | |
| Really odd tournament on 12:11 - Jul 7 with 1464 views | OldFart71 |
Can't say I have seen any team who I would put money on. Overall the tiurnament has been a huge disappointment. You have teams that have flair, but haven't to a huge degree shown it and you have teams that seem totally content to sit back for 90 or 120 minutes in the hope they might nick a goal or win on penalties.The so called big games involving two top sides have been cagey with only flickering moments of brilliance and the odd super goal here and there. But a large majority of the long shots have been appalling. | | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 13:08 - Jul 7 with 1400 views | tractorshark |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 10:30 - Jul 7 by itfc_bucks |
We were the better side in that game, even with ten men.
Had Becks not had a brain fade, that was a tournament there for the taking. |
We were marginally the better side in the 1990 semi final and definitely the better side in 96 but it counts for nothing if you don’t win the game.
Hoddle was an idealistic manager. Undoubtedly a great player and an innovative coach but a very flawed manager.
Had he stayed as England manager, there is no evidence to suggest he would have won anything. | | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 13:29 - Jul 7 with 1364 views | gringoblue |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 10:30 - Jul 7 by itfc_bucks |
We were the better side in that game, even with ten men.
Had Becks not had a brain fade, that was a tournament there for the taking. |
This is another thing Southgate doesn't get much credit for. Our discipline under him in major tournaments has been excellent. It sunk us on a couple of occasions. [Post edited 7 Jul 2024 17:35]
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| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 15:44 - Jul 7 with 1264 views | itfc_bucks |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 13:29 - Jul 7 by gringoblue |
This is another thing Southgate doesn't get much credit for. Our discipline under him in major tournaments has been excellent. It sunk us on a couple of occasions. [Post edited 7 Jul 2024 17:35]
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Have we had a red under him? Suspect Maguire might have collected one, but I can't say I've got a firm recollection. | | | |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 15:59 - Jul 7 with 1239 views | textbackup |
| We've reached the "expected" level.... on 19:54 - Jul 6 by Bloots |
...really.
Not in terms of style, but in terms of the final 4 teams.
Even if we lose on Wednesday, it won't go down as a massive failure.
Amazing what such utter incompetence can achieve.
Totally bemusing. |
I’m convinced now that we’ll get Spain in the final and actually beat them to win it. |  |
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