**The Euro 2024 Thread**

[Robert N. LiM 5,749]

6 minutes ago, Fen Canary said:

Now I think reaching the semis with this squad is the minimum he should be achieving (rightly or wrongly) 

Yeah, I totally get that. Before the tournament I thought the semis was par for this team, though I did expect us to (a) have a tougher draw and (b) play better. When I saw the draw I assumed we'd get France in the quarters, so I'm thrilled we're still in it at this point.

[Robert N. LiM 5,749]

Just now, Old Shuck said:

The smile on Saka's face when he scored his....wow!

Made this old cynic quite emotional, I don't mind telling you. Loved the shot of him at the end, too, dropping to his knees in relief.

[Coneys Knee 1,036]

41 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Made this old cynic quite emotional, I don't mind telling you. Loved the shot of him at the end, too, dropping to his knees in relief.

That boy carried his team at times yesterday and I feel so pleased for him more than anyone.

[Canary73 291]

I'm assuming they've scraped the 3rd v 4th game as I can't see it in the fixtures next week.

[sgncfc 1,304]

7 hours ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Yeah, and I think this is where he suffers. He has succeeded so completely in making this group of players a team who plays for each other and actually likes wearing the shirt, rather than a collection of grumpy egomaniacs, that we have forgotten just what a seismic mess the England team was before he took over. Even though many of those grumpy egomaniacs are conveniently on show in the BBC and ITV studios to aid the comparison.

So we now take his considerable strengths for granted and only focus on his (undeniable) weaknesses, such as his inability - and seeming lack of interest! - in changing the team from the bench when the game starts going against us.

Would be the absolute pinnacle of the toxic relationship between the England football team and its coach (whoever he is) if we win this tournament and people still hate him.

Three semi-finals in four tournaments is the bottom line. You can prove anything with facts

A bit like making the playoffs in 6th place but being the most boring team to watch in the history of the universe whilst doing it. Southgate and Wagner must have gone to coaching school together.

We might win it playing this way, but there's every chance someone will do a Leeds on us.

[Midlands Yellow 4,583]

4 hours ago, Canary73 said:

I'm assuming they've scraped the 3rd v 4th game as I can't see it in the fixtures next week.

If it’s England v France the world will demand it. Call it a draw though and straight to penalties so no one suffers viewing it. 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,485]

5 hours ago, Canary73 said:

I'm assuming they've scraped the 3rd v 4th game as I can't see it in the fixtures next week.

The Euros hasn't had one since 1980.

[canarybubbles 2,148]

With a few exceptions - the Dutch and the Spanish and Turkey and Georgia - this has been an utterly soul-destroying tournament dominated by teams whose only interest is not to lose rather than to win. It will probably have a final which perfectly reflects this - England vs France - which will be, for neutrals, one of the most tedious finals in the history of international football where neutrals won't give a damn who wins but just be glad that at last it is over and they don't have to watch any more.

In some ways this is a tribute to the professionalism of modern football: everyone nowadays can put together a decent defence, even countries with weaker players like Slovenia and Slovakia. And fans who see themselves as a grade above the hoi polloi will like this and say that those of us who want thrills and spills are dinosaurs who are incapable of recognising the tactical genius behind these interminable chess games.

There is a problem in sport in that the players who don't make a mistake will nearly always beat the players who take risks. Think of Chris Evert, the most robotic tennis player ever to set foot on a court, who made about two winners a game but kept getting the ball back into the court, and won tournament after tournament simply by doing this. Or Steve Davis in snooker. As spectators we long for genius, but this happens very rarely and usually the players or team who don't make errors will win.

Personally I can't wait to get back to the Championship, where there are lots of errors and therefore some excitement. I'm 70 years old and this has been the most pointless, tedious tournament I have ever seen.

 

[FenwayFrank 2,621]

[Midlands Yellow 4,583]

3 minutes ago, FenwayFrank said:

Shame on William, did this happen today? 

[Mello Yello 2,500]

32 minutes ago, FenwayFrank said:

 I wonder who came off Wurst?....

[Conrad 209]

11 hours ago, canarybubbles said:

With a few exceptions - the Dutch and the Spanish and Turkey and Georgia - this has been an utterly soul-destroying tournament dominated by teams whose only interest is not to lose rather than to win. It will probably have a final which perfectly reflects this - England vs France - which will be, for neutrals, one of the most tedious finals in the history of international football where neutrals won't give a damn who wins but just be glad that at last it is over and they don't have to watch any more.

In some ways this is a tribute to the professionalism of modern football: everyone nowadays can put together a decent defence, even countries with weaker players like Slovenia and Slovakia. And fans who see themselves as a grade above the hoi polloi will like this and say that those of us who want thrills and spills are dinosaurs who are incapable of recognising the tactical genius behind these interminable chess games.

There is a problem in sport in that the players who don't make a mistake will nearly always beat the players who take risks. Think of Chris Evert, the most robotic tennis player ever to set foot on a court, who made about two winners a game but kept getting the ball back into the court, and won tournament after tournament simply by doing this. Or Steve Davis in snooker. As spectators we long for genius, but this happens very rarely and usually the players or team who don't make errors will win.

Personally I can't wait to get back to the Championship, where there are lots of errors and therefore some excitement. I'm 70 years old and this has been the most pointless, tedious tournament I have ever seen.

 

Didn't you watch Norwich last season? If so, you should be used to this type of tedious football.

[Yobocop 1,390]

18 hours ago, Canary73 said:

I'm assuming they've scraped the 3rd v 4th game as I can't see it in the fixtures next week.

I don’t ever remember seeing one and I’ve watched since euro96 only in World Cup 

Pointless game 

Edited July 8 by Yobocop

[shefcanary 2,854]

There's every chance this thread may make 100 pages if England continue to benefit from Southgate's luck. Who would have thought that back when it was created?

[The Raptor 1,470]

I reckon It would be even more pages if we'd have been knocked out!.

150 pages of moaning/Southgate out/it's all Vars fault/if only grealish was there running about then falling over etc

[MooreMarriot 334]

German referee previously banned over match-fixing will oversee England v Netherlands

https://www.itv.com/news/2024-07-08/german-referee-banned-over-match-fixing-to-take-charge-of-england-v-netherlands

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,485]

11 hours ago, Conrad said:

Didn't you watch Norwich last season? If so, you should be used to this type of tedious football.

Last season, there were 143 goals in Norwich games, only two clubs in the Championship had more.

I'm not really sure how you can compare that to England at the Euros.

[Well b back 3,570]

14 hours ago, shefcanary said:

There's every chance this thread may make 100 pages if England continue to benefit from Southgate's luck. Who would have thought that back when it was created?

Why luck ? France or Netherlands didn’t win their group, we did. The same in the World Cup and the last Euro’s we won our group whilst teams that people claimed were much better than us failed to win their group.

As explained today, three years ago we lost a penalty shootout, since then Jimmy Floyd Hasslebank and some analysts have worked on ways to take penalties to up your chances of scoring. In Foden’s interview today he said it was highly unlikely we were going to miss. He also says these same guys rarely miss in the EPL because of their coaching on this matter. We took an average of 5.2 seconds per penalty, the Swiss 1.3 seconds. It is even claimed that our players can lower their heart rate when taking a penalty.

 

[Well b back 3,570]

There aren’t 3rd and 4th playoffs in the Euro’s, they were scrapped in 1980. 

[cambridgeshire canary 7,565]

So France vs Spain tonight. What we thinking?

[Newtopia 563]

Generally I prefer the Spanish - IMO better food, warmer culture, and fantastic to watch football.  It has been a tournament of attrition- so my head says France.

[Fuzzar 1,825]

On 06/07/2024 at 18:18, Ward 3 said:

The saying is dull as DISH water. Just so you know

[It's Character Forming 1,201]

12 hours ago, Well b back said:

Why luck ? France or Netherlands didn’t win their group, we did. The same in the World Cup and the last Euro’s we won our group whilst teams that people claimed were much better than us failed to win their group.

As explained today, three years ago we lost a penalty shootout, since then Jimmy Floyd Hasslebank and some analysts have worked on ways to take penalties to up your chances of scoring. In Foden’s interview today he said it was highly unlikely we were going to miss. He also says these same guys rarely miss in the EPL because of their coaching on this matter. We took an average of 5.2 seconds per penalty, the Swiss 1.3 seconds. It is even claimed that our players can lower their heart rate when taking a penalty.

 

Very good point.  The Dutch finished 3rd in their group and they've had to get past Romania and Turkey to get to the SF, now that's what I call lucky !

[cambridgeshire canary 7,565]

8 minutes ago, It's Character Forming said:

Very good point.  The Dutch finished 3rd in their group and they've had to get past Romania and Turkey to get to the SF, now that's what I call lucky !

How dare you, that's not the right narrative! Everyone knows only England get lucky. Other teams get through beacause they played well, but England only ever beat tinpot 3rd world nations and when they do beat a good team it's all down to luck and the other team having an off day.

 

Get it right! 😉

[TheGunnShow 7,081]

On 06/07/2024 at 22:57, Robert N. LiM said:

Tofik Bakhmarov lives.

Well, he got a national stadium named after him. Eat that, David Elleray.

[Robert N. LiM 5,749]

1 hour ago, TheGunnShow said:

Eat that, David Elleray.

I know someone who worked with Elleray at Harrow School. In his office he had a photo of him booking Roy Keane. Says it all.

[Robert N. LiM 5,749]

3 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

How dare you, that's not the right narrative! Everyone knows only England get lucky. Other teams get through beacause they played well, but England only ever beat tinpot 3rd world nations and when they do beat a good team it's all down to luck and the other team having an off day.

Ah, @cambridgeshire canary riding both horses at the same time.

[hogesar 10,378]

1 minute ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Ah, @cambridgeshire canary riding both horses at the same time.

You make it sound like this is new. 

[The Raptor 1,470]

6 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

So France vs Spain tonight. What we thinking?

I'm thinking that Spain will win 1-0. Been disappointed with France and wander how much the whole team have been affected mentally by Mbappe breaking his face. It will be a fairly poor game probably going to extra time. 

However. Due to an early start in the morning I've opted to give it a miss and get an early night so it would just be my luck that it will end up 4-3 to someone!

Has that covered everything?!

 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,485]

6 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

So France vs Spain tonight. What we thinking?

France to shlthouse their way to a scrappy 1-0 win.