Day 17: England vs Germany | Sweden vs Ukraine (Ro16 7&8)

Punters England (-3) I have a feeling England will win 4-0 and am Germany fan
 
Exciting game, but I hope England will play more fun football than the previous games.
 
So 40k fans are allowed now on tuesday, even though yesterday it were 20k or less and while german fans are not even allowed to travel in?

Seems a bit fishy to me. Weird EURO.
 
So 40k fans are allowed now on tuesday, even though yesterday it were 20k or less and while german fans are not even allowed to travel in?

Seems a bit fishy to me. Weird EURO.
Keep the Germans out. Get as many English fans in as possible. feck them, they’ve won enough trophies, we never win anything. It’s our turn now.
 
So 40k fans are allowed now on tuesday, even though yesterday it were 20k or less and while german fans are not even allowed to travel in?

Seems a bit fishy to me. Weird EURO.
Yeah, like not having to play Hungary in their packed stadium while your competitors have to.
 
Yeah, like not having to play Hungary in their packed stadium while your competitors have to.

Yes, a lot is weird with this EURO and doesn't make this competition fair. I don't like it at all and i am looking forward for tournaments in only one country.

1. Why did some teams such as Germany, England, Spain and Italy have all of their group games at home, while others didn't? Just choose neutral places for every game ffs!

2. Why are so many games in the knockouts in England? (especially their own route)

3. Some stadiums are full, some are not.

4. England not allowing german fans to attend.

5. Why are some stadiums/places much more used than some others?

etc.
 
Yes, a lot is weird with this EURO and doesn't make this competition fair. I don't like it at all and i am looking forward for tournaments in only one country.

1. Why did some teams such as Germany, England, Spain and Italy have all of their group games at home, while others didn't? Just choose neutral places for every game ffs!

2. Why are so many games in the knockouts in England? (especially their own route)

3. Some stadiums are full, some are not.

4. England not allowing german fans to attend.

5. Why are some stadiums/places much more used than some others?

etc.

is that a joke? Merkel didn’t want Germans to travel to the UK, so it’s not “England’s” fault, but that German devil Angela!
 
Not to get ahead of myself but with the result earlier and the side of the draw England are on, Tuesday feels like the semi-final to me.
 
is that a joke? Merkel didn’t want Germans to travel to the UK, so it’s not “England’s” fault, but that German devil Angela!


From what i've read it's because german travellers have to go to quarantine for a couple of days in England, so there was no possibility to do it in time.

Seems every country is spreading other news to their people.
 
Tuesday is an absolutely huge game.

Whoever wins it will be considered a failure if they don’t go on to make the final
 
From what i've read it's because german travellers have to go to quarantine for a couple of days in England, so there was no possibility to do it in time.

Seems every country is spreading other news to their people.

No, as widely reported in the media, Merkel requested that the German allocation given to by UEFA was withdrawn due to her not wanting them going over to the UK due to the Delta variant, even though Germany is probably already awash with it.

German fans would have to quarantine when they arrive but they could easily come before the game and test. The issue is with the German government when they return from the UK.

Back in topic though, Tuesday is huge for English football considering the result earlier on. Proper chance to put down a real marker and reach the final. Unbelievable this side of the draw now!

With Southgate at the helm, I’m sure we’ll find a way to mess it up!
 
Kane won't get dropped, but it would be interesting to see something like this, which would match Germany's wingbacks and at the moment Grealish looks far more likely to get on the ball and not just be anonymous than Kane in a game where the Germans have possession:

--Sterling-------Grealish-----------Rashford
----------------Rice---Bellingham-------------------
Saka--Maguire--Stones--Walker--James

with actual pace out wide.

And since Germany are playing Kroos-Gundogan as a midfield pair you have to try to run by their aging legs and generally poor athleticism and tackling, which Grealish dropping deep (or Foden for that matter) would provide.

I think at gunpoint I'd start with a back 4 because Walker at RCB seems terrifying to me anyways against Muller and Havertz's movement in a game where England seem set to defend for large portions of the game. People would freak out at Southgate if he switched formations mid-game, but if they look overmatched out wide like Portugal did, having Saka in the lineup allows for a quick change to a back 5 as long as Shaw is at LCB, and I'd trust him over Walker anyways, but obviously he hasn't played there for England so it's not really on the table.

Also, Rice and Phillips in midfield with 5 behind them seems like it's not going to create much, and I'm not sure I'd toss Bellingham in there. At least with 4 at the back you can basically move Rice back a few yards and still engage 2 on 2 in midfield.
 
I think Germany will beat England and Ukraine will beat Sweden.
 
Really hard one to predict but one would be a fool to underestimate Germany in big tournaments. They have a sense of resiliency and big game nous that very few can match.

England have skilful individuals but I don’t think they are well-oiled as a team. Historically that has always been a problem.
 
I think England will win. A close game, but a win nonetheless.

Yes, Southgate is a coaching midget but this very good generation of England players should be able to see off the weakest Germany in nearly 20 years. At home in Wembley, no German fans. If they don't do it now, they will never ever manage to beat the Germans in a knockout stages.
 
Whoever wins this basically has a straight shot to the final. C'mon Germany, get this over with so we can end this Sancho transfer once and for all.
 
And since Germany are playing Kroos-Gundogan as a midfield pair you have to try to run by their aging legs and generally poor athleticism and tackling, which Grealish dropping deep (or Foden for that matter) would provide.

I´m pretty sure Goretzka will start instead of Gündogan especially since the latter is dealing with headaches according to the German press. I would have prefered the Kroos-Goretzka pairing anyways because it is definitely better "speed wise"
 
Kane won't get dropped, but it would be interesting to see something like this, which would match Germany's wingbacks and at the moment Grealish looks far more likely to get on the ball and not just be anonymous than Kane in a game where the Germans have possession:

--Sterling-------Grealish-----------Rashford
----------------Rice---Bellingham-------------------
Saka--Maguire--Stones--Walker--James

with actual pace out wide.

And since Germany are playing Kroos-Gundogan as a midfield pair you have to try to run by their aging legs and generally poor athleticism and tackling, which Grealish dropping deep (or Foden for that matter) would provide.

I think at gunpoint I'd start with a back 4 because Walker at RCB seems terrifying to me anyways against Muller and Havertz's movement in a game where England seem set to defend for large portions of the game. People would freak out at Southgate if he switched formations mid-game, but if they look overmatched out wide like Portugal did, having Saka in the lineup allows for a quick change to a back 5 as long as Shaw is at LCB, and I'd trust him over Walker anyways, but obviously he hasn't played there for England so it's not really on the table.

Also, Rice and Phillips in midfield with 5 behind them seems like it's not going to create much, and I'm not sure I'd toss Bellingham in there. At least with 4 at the back you can basically move Rice back a few yards and still engage 2 on 2 in midfield.

Do not plan with Gündogan-Kroos. That is a terrible midfield anyways. But Gündogan did not participate in the training yesterday because of a head contusion?? and that makes the switch to Goretzka that would have been necessary easier for Löw.

Müller returns to the starting lineup and Sane will probably start on the bench.
 
I don't see why Southgate will reinvent the wheel. Well, it's hard to predict some of Southgate's decision making but the team for Czech looks a reasonable bet.

Maguire has to come back after a good showing, Saka looks natural to target Germany in particular. Maybe he'll do something with the full backs again but I would not, for what purpose? They've defended well and are our best attacking options, the fact they've been restricted is not due to quality. We'll need Shaw and James running in my opinion against Germany's setup.

I cannot see any particular reason to change from that. I don't like the idea of changing the formation to match Germany, they have experience playing that system so is that really wise? We have been stable with this setup. With the way our full backs have been playing I don't think their wing backs will be unopposed and why do we want a third centre half marking Germany's forwards? Better off having our holding players tracking those types of players because they will drop into spaces anyway.
 
Foden is set to start apparently, I'm guessing on the right again with Sterling on the left. I think that's disappointing he has made very little impact and Saka was very good there in the last game.
 
England playing all games at home is a bit silly. Though if they're the only real team we have to beat to get to the final, bring em on. Least impressive top team so far. Go England!
Czech you out. ;)
 
Foden is set to start apparently, I'm guessing on the right again with Sterling on the left. I think that's disappointing he has made very little impact and Saka was very good there in the last game.
It's idiotic. We need actual wingers and Kane has played well with both Rashford and Sancho in the past. Instead we shoehorn attacking midfielders out wide..
 
Keep the Germans out. Get as many English fans in as possible. feck them, they’ve won enough trophies, we never win anything. It’s our turn now.
I absolutely agree.

"Fasts forward to 10pm tuesday and another crushing exit at the hands of Die Mannschaft."
 
No, as widely reported in the media, Merkel requested that the German allocation given to by UEFA was withdrawn due to her not wanting them going over to the UK due to the Delta variant, even though Germany is probably already awash with it.

German fans would have to quarantine when they arrive but they could easily come before the game and test. The issue is with the German government when they return from the UK.

Back in topic though, Tuesday is huge for English football considering the result earlier on. Proper chance to put down a real marker and reach the final. Unbelievable this side of the draw now!

With Southgate at the helm, I’m sure we’ll find a way to mess it up!
I haven't really followed this story, but Germany is on the UK's amber list so any travelling fans would have to quarantine for 10 days, unless they do a day 5 test to release to shorten their quarantine. But still that's potentially a minimum of 5 days (plus time to get test results back). So any politics aside that makes it virtually impossible to travel to London to watch the match. The match is on tuesday, and it was only decided wednesday night Germany will be playing England.
 
Problem is that England because of the high numbers of the Delta variant - is a virusvariant area and travellers from there have to go into a 14-day-quarantine - without the possibility to test themselves free after some days. In Germany we have less than 10 cases per 100.000 inhabitants right now - and only a small part of it is the delta variant. And Germany wants to keep that variant out as long as possible - until more people have two vaccinations (right now about 53-54 per cent of the population have had the first doses, 35.4 % are fully vaccinated.

So it would have meant to travel 5 days earlier (with a valid negative Covid test) and afterwards to be quarantined 14 days in Germany. There is no way out of the 14-day-quarantine in Germany - not even if you are fully vaccinated or had Covid before.
 
So 40k fans are allowed now on tuesday, even though yesterday it were 20k or less and while german fans are not even allowed to travel in?

Seems a bit fishy to me. Weird EURO.
It's definitely a conspiracy.
 
England got a visit of Ed Sheeran...

Germany got a visit of Peter Maffay... - a 70-year-old singer who had hits in the 70s...

That must be a conspiracy...
 
The thing that makes me least confident about the game as an England fan is our weakness in CM. I think this will be our undoing because Rice is a good interceptor but he is not that great on the ball and he is under pressure so looks even worse. Phillips has done ok but come on they're up against Toni Kroos.

I think if England take the lead I can see it going wrong, getting gradually overrun in midfield and then tired and exhausted conceding two late on. I would feel more comfortable if we were 1-0 down and forced to put Bellingham and other attackers on and then maybe could ride our luck to a couple more goals.

Not an easy game to call at all, too many variables.
 
The thing that makes me least confident about the game as an England fan is our weakness in CM. I think this will be our undoing because Rice is a good interceptor but he is not that great on the ball and he is under pressure so looks even worse. Phillips has done ok but come on they're up against Toni Kroos.

I think if England take the lead I can see it going wrong, getting gradually overrun in midfield and then tired and exhausted conceding two late on. I would feel more comfortable if we were 1-0 down and forced to put Bellingham and other attackers on and then maybe could ride our luck to a couple more goals.

Not an easy game to call at all, too many variables.

Right. Maybe the teams can fix it that way, so both sides are happy?
 
I wonder if the knockout performances of Austria, the Czech Republic and to a lesser extent Croatia (who are more of an established 'good' side) might make Southgate even more cautious despite the fact that only one of those teams won a game at this stage. Been lots of nervy moments for Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.
 
Winner of England v Germany should reach the final. Probably Belgium are the favourites now to go to the final from the other side of the draw.