Euros 2024

If Paul is correct about several of the squad complaining to the manager about Grealish being left out it speaks volumes about them.

Watching the Scotland v Hungary game.  Scots player has golden opportunity to score and tries to win a penalty.  It's all about mentality, and negativity seems to be endemic in the UK.
No surprise really given the example set by our politicians.

In the Denmark game even Bellingham was below par.

They play far too negatively, possession of the ball doesn't equal a win. Someone has to mix up the play with a dribble and long passes on occasion.

Or even a short pass that someone can run on to rather than having to be stock still.

BenE wrote:A lot of pundits keep talking about the 6, 8 and 10 positions. Can anyone tell me what the hell they are talking about? It does my head in as I suspect it is a substitution for actual insight.

I'm surprised no one has been able to answer this

Surely even Paul will find it difficult to be positive about yet another dire England performance.

comrade powell wrote:Surely even Paul will find it difficult to be positive about yet another dire England performance.

I'm waiting for Paul's take...top of the group...easier side of draw...subs improved the team and must start...and Dutch will hammer us !

That really was the group of death (as in boredom). Just seven goals scored in six games by four teams who I wouldn’t cross the road to watch.

Looks to me like Southgate is ignoring the media and sticking to a plan he has been working on for years. Keep your powder dry in an easy group and gradually build throughout the knockout stages.

Agreed. Only results count in a tournament. England have won the group without getting out of 2nd gear. Never any danger of conceding tonight, never mind losing.

Slovenia could say exactly the same! Still, I’ll be positive in case Harry Kane is reading this - England are in the easier half of the draw (for the other seven teams)

comrade powell wrote:If Paul is correct about several of the squad complaining to the manager about Grealish being left out it speaks volumes about them.

Why? Good to speak your mind. If your unhappy you tell the person. No point beating around the bush. Managers get complaints all the time. Better than moaning behind the managers back. They can resolve things then. The dressing room seams too be struggling though but who knows. Might be the formation. Players might not be clicking on the pitch. The main event starts now though. Bring on the knock outs. Perhaps we were playing with the mentality that we were virtually guaranteed to get through the group stage and subconsioulsy knew we didn't have to raise our game. Hopefully now we play the big hitters we can raise our game. Competitons aren't won in the group stages. Hard to know the best 11. Perhaps we are missing the experience of Henderson, Maguire and Sterling. Will see. Really hope we can go deep into the competition.

People forget that before Southgate England were poor under a succession of managers.
Southgate's tenure has been characterised by starting competitions brightly and gradually becoming more stilted and timid. I blamed this on having too many spurs players in the team.
Now we have a higher proportion of winners - Foden, Stones, Walker, Bellingham, Mainoo, Rice. They know it is all about winning not how you play. I am hopeful when the crunch comes they will show their mettle even when we aren't setting the world alight (which is pretty much what you get from England historically).

What a breath of fresh air Georgia are. Fight passion quality, tempo.

Agreed. They actually look like they enjoy doing their job!

So, with the completion of the group stages, here is the predictions table...

10 ashley
10 wsp
9 bletso
9 mid chris
8 2weirdo
8 beau nash
8 ben e
8 mrs white
7 powell  

Please make your predictions for the last 16 matches by copying + pasting then highlighting in bold your winners for each match.

1 point for each correct prediction.

Deadline - 5pm Saturday

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Paul1978 wrote:

comrade powell wrote:If Paul is correct about several of the squad complaining to the manager about Grealish being left out it speaks volumes about them.

Why? Good to speak your mind. If your unhappy you tell the person. No point beating around the bush.

True, but it hardly follows the 'let's all be positive' mantra - or does that only apply to media analysers doing their job, fans who've forked out thousands to follow their team or the rest of us watching at home?
As I posted before, I don't believe the players have moaned to the manager as you described nor other online comments about divisions within the squad. But if there are then the culprits need to be on the next plane home.

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey

Switzerland vs Italy
Germany vs Denmark
England vs Slovakia
Spain vs Georgia
France vs Belgium
Portugal vs Slovenia
Romania vs Netherlands
Austria vs Turkey