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Euros 2024


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4 minutes ago, Tylluan said:

A result is a result but you've mugged them.

 

Behave Ty,

Dutch packed the midfield for the 2nd half and made it boring.

England were the better team

And it's not often I disagree with you!

Well done Southgate on those changes.

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I fucking hate Southgate for his reluctance to let this squad play football but I’ll admit he got it bang right tonight! Even without the lucky penalty we was the better side.

tough night against Spain.

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6 minutes ago, owl4ever1867 said:

Behave Ty,

Dutch packed the midfield for the 2nd half and made it boring.

England were the better team

And it's not often I disagree with you!

Well done Southgate on those changes.

I mean it must be disheartening if you realise Craig Bellamy is your nations new manager

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Twice we unlocked them in that second half, one where we had the disallowed goal and then Watkins winner. Shows we can unlock a side that sits back and plays the counter. Graham Taylor will be enjoying that last minute strike. 

Just hope there's a better performance in the final this time round than the last time we played Spain in a major tournament final..

That's the 2023 world cup final

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10 minutes ago, mkowl said:

I mean it must be disheartening if you realise Craig Bellamy is your nations new manager

He's won the same amount of trophies as Southgate has as a manager. 

You're through to a final and still thinking about Wales. 

Bless

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22 minutes ago, owl4ever1867 said:

Behave Ty,

Dutch packed the midfield for the 2nd half and made it boring.

England were the better team

And it's not often I disagree with you!

Well done Southgate on those changes.

Never a penalty, as you said earlier along with Beacon and MK alluded to it as well with his VAR comment. 

The bigger pen shout was Rice manhandling the Dutch player to the floor. If that was the other way round you'd have been screaming for it. 

And Watkins got lucky with the deflection, as Ian Wright said. 

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1 minute ago, Tylluan said:

Never a penalty, as you said earlier along with Beacon and MK alluded to it as well with his VAR comment. 

The bigger pen shout was Rice manhandling the Dutch player to the floor. If that was the other way round you'd have been screaming for it. 

And Watkins got lucky with the deflection, as Ian Wright said. 

The penalty is a funny one, if he catches him 2 seconds earlier before he's hit the ball, it's stonewall, but after it's not?

You can't talk about luck and not mention Fodens shot that was stopped on the line...

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It was a penalty. Definitely a foul anywhere else on the field.

Outplayed them for most of the first half, but didn't quite make enough of it.

Struggled in the second, reverted to type and The Fraud was too afraid to change it.

Eventually the Subs worked but please please please make them earlier as we can't keep spawning it and that could be put downfall against the Spanish.

Dutch created too much in the  second half for us to think it was a comfortable win

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32 minutes ago, OptimisticOwl said:

@Tylluan I really enjoy reading your posts on this site, but tonight you sound like a very bitter loser my friend.

Step away from the envy and accept our achievement.

Not envious mate and definitely not a bitter loser as my team weren't playing. We weren't good enough to get there. 

Just watching the game through the eyes of a neutral and making observations that others on here have also said before me and echoing what professional pundits have said. 

England bossed the first half and the Dutch couldn't live with you. They sat too far back and invited you on which allowed the penalty opportunity, Foden hitting the bar, and the shot cleared off the line. But they also hit the bar in the first half and created a couple more chances. Second half they switched things and smothered you and Pickford had more to do. You didn't really have an answer until Southgate made his substitutions almost too late again. And Southgate got lucky with Kane getting injured again otherwise Kane stays on the pitch and doesn't make the same run as Watkins as Kane doesn't make those spaces. 

As I said, a result is a result and you're through to the final and I accepted that achievement the moment the whistle went.

In the same way I'd accept Man City getting to the FA Cup Final. Means nothing to me. 

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Again I will hold my hands up and say I was critical along with almost everyone that england were too cautious in group games and last 16. But in tournament football it's winning the thing that matters and building momentum. Holland have good players willing to work hard and pertinently arguably a better tactical coach than GS but we won. GS again looking a tactical genius in his subs, BUT again they worked.

Tough Sunday of course but we are there.

EVERY chance.

Mind you it's more important the owls get promoted. 

Let's believe and not rule that particular detail out of happening.

As ever

UTO

 

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1 hour ago, JBO said:

Striker makes that challenge as a defender clears it and it's a foul every single time. Foot was high and studs showing.

Penalty.

Having seen again, correct! Studs up being the compelling reason 

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The penalty is interesting as the different TV angles change my thoughts. There is one where it appears Kane's boot follows through to hit their player. The other way round on another.

For all those saying it was a stonewaller the other way round it would have been an outrage. Such is football

 

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7 hours ago, bradowl said:

What a time to score a winner. 

I'm gutted for the fat ginger cheese munching Koeman. 

 

No I'm not, pay back for all those years ago, that long ago I can't remember which year. 🤣

Given the complaints coming from the Netherlands players about the ref as well

Do I like that!!!

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Overall it was a decent first half display that forced the Dutch to change their system and stifle the midfield area thereafter. 

The fact the Dutch could counter attack quite quickly meant England resorted to a more pragmatic style. Not uncommon in football that the 2nd half goes that way, the first semi final was pretty similar really.

I also think England run out of steam and that is where the frustration lies with Southgate. You can see at or around the 65 minute mark, the opposition start to dominate, create opportunities etc. It's not necessarily about a huge tactical switch, just increasing the energy levels, give them a new challenge. 

He will be lauded as some mastermind sub maker - I mean it was a good pass, run into space and cracking shot but it was not some tactical genius going on

 

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16 minutes ago, Kiwi Owl said:

Given the complaints coming from the Netherlands players about the ref as well

Do I like that!!!

Karma in many ways. 30 years ago if VAR had existed then Koeman would have been sent off in the qualifier 

And then Carlton Palmer could legitimately have won the World Cup as opposed to just him thinking he has

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I play as a defender in veterans football and, whilst I can see why the penalty was given, I would have been absolutely livid if it was against me.  But England are getting marginally better, I’ve been saying right from the start we’ll win it, even with 2 minutes to go against Slovakia, and I stick by it. 

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I’m they said you can use 5 subs normal time and a extra sub in extra time!

he could change half the team but rarely does but I do think against this quick Spain side he’s going to have too.

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Southgate may not be the guy I’d want as manager but it’s hard to be critical of someone that has got us to finals and semi final as he has. Yes we have some great players in the squad but you can’t ignore the fact that the teams that have beaten us in tournaments have also been very good teams, ie we didn’t lose to team we should have beaten every time, whether we are talking, Croatia, Italy, France - all good teams. Of all of those I think Italy was the one we rightly felt most disappointed about.

Spain are beatable, if we get to say 75mins and we are level or ahead I’d fancy us to get it over the line. However, Spain are probably the toughest opponents of the finals we have played based on their performances in this tournament.

im going to say we win 2-1 in 90mins.

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Think we have a chance on Sunday certainly if we play as we did during the first half.  Get Foden in the pockets and play the ball into him and something will happen.  It the most he had looked like the Man City Phil Foden. 

Not buying totally into this Spain love in with quite a few going over the top.  They have played well and unlike many others have been consistent.  France were poor on Tuesday but were not a million miles off. 

Think we have the players to handle the 2 young wide players, and we can boss Morata.   The key is going to be neutralising Rodri and Olmo in the midfield so a lot of onus on Rice and Mainoo.

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I thought that we were really good first half. And to give Southgate some massive credit, there was an absolute plan to expose the left side of Holland with Walker, Saka and Foden creating overloads knowing that Gakpo wasn’t going to help Ake.

We did the opposite on the left and Rice, when Walker went, drifted left and outside of Guehi to stop the counter with Dumfries. It worked a treat after the Dutch goal.

We should have gone it half time ahead given the dominance.

But, Koeman is a good coach and he plugged the midfield and let the Netherlands get up the pitch. Even so, their threat came from set pieces and not open play. When we got beyond there midfield, they had all kinds of issues and the changes we made got control back. All three subs made a difference. Shaw was good, Palmer was good. Watkins was the missing link. When a game gets stretched, players with pace who run down the sides cause havoc and it was a brilliant run and finish.

Job done!

Some great displays. Walker, Mainoo. Kane and Foden first half were excellent. Saka was brilliant again. 

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You have to laugh though. The most successful manager England have had except Sir Alf, a manger constantly taking England to semi-finals and the second successive European final but you'd think he was xisco reading the comments.

Of course we have quality players, like we once had Lineker, Shearer, Beckham, Scholes, Gerard, Gascoigne, Waddle, Hoddle and so on. None of them got us to a final though.

TAA was an experiment far too far though and he realised it in time. A bit like when Robson was forced to play Beardsley in Mexico after a dismal start. Injury and a sending off forcing his hand. Talking of Hands!

Of course we've had some luck thus time as well. And about time.

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The only downside in all this is having to suffer the "expertise" of the glory seeker fans. The ones that normally heavily into Fantasy Football and never been to a football stadium in their life. 

With it comes that rising but misplaced optimism supported by the media, that only serves to bring that crash down to earth to be much harder.

And yes I am a miserable fucker but the weight of evidence is on my side. The celebratory mood can happen but only after the final whistle and the hoped for victory has happened as our PM rightly suggests "let's not jinx it".

 

 

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