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Euro 2020/2021


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2 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Southgate starting Sterling over Grealish or Sancho is hilarious. Sterling was terrible the last 6 months.  Rashford wasn’t much better over that stretch. 

The fact that Kane can't give them 90 good minutes is embarassing.

Edited by ztejas
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Can someone explain why Kalvin Philips gets to play? I have a hard time recalling one time that he had a positive pass. He just runs around and when the ball is passed to him, he immediately disrupts flow and sends it back to the back line. Why not slot Mount back to the box to box and make room for Sancho or Graelish?

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2 minutes ago, Dr Fear said:
5 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:
Dude still lost
 

There was a later tweet that he also had 25k on Scotland +0.5 first half that he won. Don't know what the odds were probably better than even money.

He probably lost $15k+ if those were his 3 bets 

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50 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

He was run into the ground by his club in the compressed season. It’s not embarrassing, it’s expected. Put Calvert-Lewin for the last 20.

He didn't play any more than any other team's top player.   Same as Salah. Less than Fernandez.  90mins more than Rashford.  Southgate is stupid for taking him off.   He got zero service.   Mount tried to shoot through 3 freaking Scot defenders with both Kane and I think shore on the left.  Pull off one of your midfielders since Kane can play that spot anyway.

Edited by midtown
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47 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Graelish on the bench is criminal.

This. Unless Southgate is going to use Kane like Spurs do, he needs to have a playmaker in the game to get him service. Graelish is the perfect role for that.

Honestly, that Sancho and him have less than 30’ combined so far should get Southgate fired. 

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43 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

The ones that are, did they lead the EPL in scoring AND assists?

Maybe.  I just not ready to buy in that an athlete of that level and conditioning is so exhausted he can't finish a match but maybe I just don't know enough about it all.   I just looked like to me that he didn't get the service and maybe it's because you have Foden, Mount, Sterling.  All up front with him. 

Edited by midtown
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3 hours ago, Captain Ron said:


Salah isn’t playing this tournament. The ones that are, did they lead the EPL in scoring AND assists?

Mount played a fuckton and probably more since we went deep in the CL.

Granted he's younger...

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3 hours ago, midtown said:

Maybe.  I just not ready to buy in that an athlete of that level and conditioning is so exhausted he can't finish a match but maybe I just don't know enough about it all.   I just looked like to me that he didn't get the service and maybe it's because you have Foden, Mount, Sterling.  All up front with him. 

Yeah I don't really buy it either. He was playing 90 every game for Spurs - he can't give England 90 a few times after a nice break?

It seemed like a quality issue rather than a fitness issue today. So back to my original point - the fact that your GUY can't be quality for 90 mins is kind of a big issue. 

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bbc

England 0-0 Scotland: 'Real hope for Scotland but a wake-up call for England'

By Phil McNultyChief football writer

 

The sound of Flower Of Scotland echoing around one end of Wembley and loud jeers emanating from the other provided the snap verdict on the goalless Euro 2020 meeting between England and Scotland.

This was the first time the old enemies had met in a one-off encounter at major men's tournament since Euro 96 and that famous day when Paul Gascoigne's wonderful goal - and the 'Dentist's Chair' celebration that followed - lit up a 2-0 England win.

But no-one could be in any doubt about who was the happier this time around, on a night when the adversaries did battle amid a thunderous atmosphere despite the presence of only 22,500 fans inside a rain-swept Wembley.

Scotland were more than good value for a point that keeps them in the race for a place in the knockout phase ahead of their final Group D game against Croatia at Hampden Park.

And how Scotland's rain-soaked followers let them know it as they gave manager Steve Clarke and his players a heroes' reception when they went to the rain-soaked Tartan-clad hordes at the final whistle.

England's supporters also let manager Gareth Southgate and his players know what they thought of a lacklustre display lacking in spark and threat - although the chorus of boos that greeted them at the conclusion did seem something of an overreaction.

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No-one, least of all Southgate, would be deluded enough to describe this as a good England display - in fact for large parts it was dull - but it must be placed in the context of what is still a very healthy position going into their closer against the Czech Republic, where victory will see them top the group.

England's performance will give concerns looking further down the line but they are still well placed with four points from two games.

Scotland frustrate England at Wembley

Scots must build on draw - Robertson

England v Scotland, the old enemies - 5 Live podcast

How 'Scotland's Kante' shone at Wembley

As for Scotland, this was a superb response to their opening loss to the Czech Republic, Clarke showing once again what a smart operator he is and how this is a unified, talented band of players.

This was an occasion that revived the old rivalries inside and outside Wembley, with Scotland fans gathering in their colourful droves hours before kick-off.

Inside, England anthem Three Lions was less-than-well-received by the Tartan Army before they delivered a deafening version of The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond in response.

Inevitably, there was mutual jeering of the respective national anthems but pretty much unanimous approval as players took the knee before kick-off, barely audible boos swiftly drowned out by loud applause.

This is an international game that is like a local derby. Even team-mates can briefly fall out amid the combat, a fact clearly demonstrated by Chelsea pair Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour as they enjoyed a great running battle early on, the diminutive Scot making it clear he was not backing down in the physical challenges with his talented Stamford Bridge colleague.

It was Gilmour's opening salvo on what was an outstanding first Scotland start. He was the best player on the pitch although the superb Kieran Kierney ran him close.

The draw will satisfy Scotland more than England but it is hardly a result that will devastate Southgate, either.

The difference came in the performances, the responses to those contrasting opening results for Southgate and Clarke.

Clarke's gameplan worked to perfection, introducing Gilmour, using Manchester United's Scott McTominay as an impressive defender and benefiting from the return of the fit-again Tierney.

Scotland knew exactly what they were about and no-one should run away with the idea this was a smash-and-grab point. Clarke's side were trying to win this right until the last minute.

The Scots can take huge heart into their final game after giving themselves a shot at qualification. This is a performance to lift confidence and self-belief.

England, on the other hand, were a let-down, although once the dust settles Southgate can gather his thoughts and reflect things are not quite as bad as that rough reception they received at the final whistle might suggest.

Harry Kane had just 19 touches before he was replaced on 74 minutes

Southgate's main concern has suddenly come from an unexpected source: a strangely lethargic England captain Harry Kane.

Kane has not looked quite right in England's opening matches, lacking his usual sharpness and threat. It may be a surprise to some that he has been substituted in both but not to those who have watched him.

He looked forlorn as he was replaced with 16 minutes left here but Southgate had to do something and Kane could have no complaints.

It would be ludicrous to reach for the panic button over Kane. He is undisputedly world class and who would back against him playing and scoring against the Czech Republic?

Listen: Kane's feeling the pace - Waddle

But Southgate and Kane must hope the spark fires up soon because in the wider context, he is arguably England's key figure if they wish to go deep into the tournament.

And will Southgate now try something different and start Jack Grealish, the current England fans' favourite and such a creative force? It will be tempting given this toothless display.

So it was scores even, honours mainly to Scotland, and work to do for England.

And, to the satisfaction of both England and Scotland, still the opportunity to move out of Group D and into the knockout stage of Euro 2020. It was good to have this game back.

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6 hours ago, midtown said:

He didn't play any more than any other team's top player.   Same as Salah. Less than Fernandez.  90mins more than Rashford.  Southgate is stupid for taking him off.   He got zero service.   Mount tried to shoot through 3 freaking Scot defenders with both Kane and I think shore on the left.  Pull off one of your midfielders since Kane can play that spot anyway.


Not saying Spurs did anything wrong. Salah/Mane/10 other guys on Liverpool were running on fumes at the end of the season.

Quality in this tournament is going to be a step down with so many players out of gas. With 5 subs (and 66% of teams making the knockouts) the over-reliance on starters to play huge minutes is asinine to me. 

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independent

Voices

The England-Scotland game was the best advert for the union you’ll ever see

The evidence suggests that England alone can’t mix it with the big boys. Scotland punch their weight, just about, but it’s not their fault it’s a light one

Tom Peck@tompeck

2 hours ago

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Scots watch Euro 2020 match against England

 

On Whatsapp, the atmosphere built all afternoon. Not since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic can so many of the same videos have been forwarded so many times.

The days when the world moved indoors, its meaning reduced to little more than changing shapes and colours on screens, are passing now, but they’re not gone yet. The most certain barometer of rising national tension is still the rising volume of Whatsapp notifications.

In this patiently anticipated, set-piece moment of national cultural reality, what reveals more about who or what we are? Is it really some mumbled anthems in the grim June rain? Is it Che Adams watching destiny fly upwards in the wrong direction off his outstretched shin?

Or is it a slightly fat, very drunk and not hugely competent breakdancing Scotsman in a kilt and absolutely nothing more, diving to the floor of a Jubilee line carriage to perform the worm, to the delight of his phone-waggling friends? Truly, it brings me no pleasure to report that more than one worm was clearly visible.

Once upon a time these things were described as “not safe for work”, but no one goes to the office anymore, so if you want to get your friends to video you pressing absolutely all of your flesh against the speckled linoleum flooring of the London Underground then it’s probably fine on almost every level.

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England underwhelm as Scotland earn deserved point from Euro 2020 clash

England vs Scotland: Scots feed off fervent atmosphere on night of blood and thunder at Wembley

‘Party atmosphere’: Scotland fans jubilant in London, as Tartan Army earn point in draw with England

A year of madness has almost dimmed the glare of the unsettled times in which we live. To be discombobulated is normal, to the extent that there was almost nothing strange about watching the news channels broadcast live from glorious sun-dappled fan zones in Glasgow parks while Glaswegians performed Klinsmann dives through the epic puddles of a flooded Leicester Square.

There was more tension on the pitch than on the phone, in the end, not least as Scotland should have won.

Cynics might have noted, as the tension mounted, that the rather underwhelming almost-everyone’s-a-winner 24 team format decimated what was really at stake here. Absurdly, it is still far too early to tell whether win, lose or draw was the most advantageous result for England in this historic fixture, though such ambiguity was around for their opponents.

Last week, Gareth Southgate wrote an article about what playing for England means, and its first paragraph speaks of the unique opportunity to create moments that a nation remembers forever. Southgate is English but the sentiment is universal. We can remember where we were when Gazza flicked the ball over Colin Hendrie’s head, so the theory goes.

Personally, having seen the clip somewhere in the range of 10,000 times in the last week, the original’s been wiped from my mind. When the brain replays a memory it doesn’t play the original but the last time it replayed it, and then overlays it with that version. Which is why, if you happen to still be good pals with your schoolmates, the memories from back then play out in your mind’s eye with the faces of 40-year-olds and the actual photographs retain the power to shock.

Had Reece James not wisely placed his head between the ball and the England goal, Lyndon Dykes might have spent an ensuing lifetime willingly spread eagled beneath the conscience of a nation, to be basted for evermore with infinite layers of that sweet, sweet lacquer of nostalgia. But it didn’t and he won’t.

The auld enemies really are enemies these days. England voted for Brexit. Scotland didn’t. And because of it, Scotland might yet do an exit of its own. There is little point pretending our problems with each other are really very friendly anymore. I can’t say as I’d much noticed the words of the third verse of Oh Flower of Scotland before. “Those days are passed now, and in the past they must remain.” For a fair few hundred years they did, but not anymore.

At the end of an exciting but ultimately underwhelming evening for all concerned, does one dare even type that football is the greatest advert for the union you’ll ever find? TeamGB came second at the last Olympics, while the accumulated evidence of half a century is that England alone can’t mix it with the big boys. Scotland can punch their weight, just about, but it’s not their fault it’s a light one.

Most European World Cup wins have happened because one of the great European club sides have transposed their identity onto the national team of the day. Juventus won two World Cups in the 1930s. Bayern Munich did the same in 1974. It was Barcelona’s philosophy (albeit the gift of a Dutchman) that conquered all in 2010. Ajax have never won but they played in two finals in the 1970s.

Great Britain’s great clubs have never quite managed it. They’ve always been a Kenny Dalglish or a Ryan Giggs short. The greatest of them all, Manchester United, has just five men immortalised in bronze around their stadium, all of them British, but just one of them English.

What glorious summer memories might Best, Law and Charlton have gifted the nation, given the chance? What might Sir Alex or Sir Matt done with a glittering pack of world-class talent from every corner of the kingdom? Would Liverpool’s all-conquering Celts of the 1980s have conquered the world in red, white and blue? We’ll never know. Dare one think it’s a shame it has to be this way?

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8 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:


Not saying Spurs did anything wrong. Salah/Mane/10 other guys on Liverpool were running on fumes at the end of the season.

Quality in this tournament is going to be a step down with so many players out of gas. With 5 subs (and 66% of teams making the knockouts) the over-reliance on starters to play huge minutes is asinine to me. 

This is the main thing. The clubs did what was important for the clubs. And they should, they are the ones investing the most time/money for these guys to be ready.

But I very much agree these guys were gassed at the end of the season. Spurs fans were all wondering why Kane was playing 90 for a ton of games when he should have been resting as much as he could get in. 
 

13 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Sorry, England just isn’t that good.  Well they are good just not Belgium France good, who are a cut above everyone else.   England is what England always is, overhyped dudes because of EPL exposure.   

No question England is not France/Belgium good. But they are easily a top 5 team at this tournament, especially talent wise. I think looking at this you see the difference in when a team plays well together (France) and when they don’t (England). That’s coaching. 

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