England - Euro 2021 Discussion | FA chairman: Southgate to be offered new contract until Euro 2024

Random Task said:
He's doing it with Mourinho-style football, though.
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Didn't do Portugal any harm in 2016 did it?

Think only issue is it's not sustainable in the long run (as Portugal have found out since with two last 16 exits).

I don't think any partisan England fan would care if they won the euro final 1-0 with 8-1-1 formation, one shot on target and 10% possesion. 55 years of hurt after all.

England aren't great to watch at all but people acting like no one else has ever won a tournament or reached a final before in this style is amusing me a bit if England do it that way, just look at knockout stages of 2014 world cup and how Argentina got to the final for instance.
 
England surely have to be in the final otherwise it’s really disappointing, considering their squad against the teams that they face in the quarters and semis.
 
This is your best chance to win something I can remember since I've been watching football.

Aside from having a relatively easy draw, you actually have a squad full of quality. As opposed to the last tournament, where you had the easy draw but basically just Jordan Henderson on his own in midfield.

The biggest obstacle is Southgate, who has taken a squad full of attacking talent and created a dour side whose Plan A is to grind their way to results, starting this game against a German side who are certainly no better than you with three CBs and two DMs. And he has done so while making outright stupid decisions in terms of who he picks over who.

It's hard enough to win a tournament as is, let alone if you have to do so by having your talent bail out your manager's bad decisions, as they have done thus far.
 
Still think Southgate plays cowardly but it gets results, so fair fecks. Grealish has to start in the next game though.
 
Gareth Southgate is better at Mourinho football than Mourinho is, so that's something.
 
Some roar from the Wembley crowd when the goals went in! Somehow sounded louder than when at capacity.
You lot have a great chance now, momentum is building and each win will enhance that for whichever big team you might face in the final.
 
Our best performance of the tournament. Controlled performance I felt with a few moments of luck.

Another huge game on Saturday.

On a separate note, the suggestion to drop Pickford prior to the tournament by some on here was crazy. You don't just suddenly switch up your most experienced keeper on the eve of a tournament.
 
Do people want Sweden or Ukraine next? Ukraine for me. Got a bad feeling about Sweden.
 
Probably going to play Sweden and then Denmark. Ughhh Southgate is going to spawn it to the final.
 
sullydnl said:
This is your best chance to win something I can remember since I've been watching football.

Aside from having a relatively easy draw, you actually have a squad full of quality. As opposed to the last tournament, where you had the easy draw but basically just Jordan Henderson on his own in midfield.

The biggest obstacle is Southgate, who has taken a squad full of attacking talent and created a dour side whose Plan A is to grind their way to results, starting this game against a German side who are certainly no better than you with three CBs and two DMs. And he has done so while making outright stupid decisions in terms of who he picks over who.

It's hard enough to win a tournament as is, let alone if you have to do so by having your talent bail out your manager's bad decisions, as they have done thus far.
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It depends.

I mean Portugal in 2016 had Ronaldo plus assume likes of Bernardo Silva and a few others floating around final third so coul've played in similar manner to what they did in the 2000s but ultimately Santos decided to strangle the life out of games despite having a path of Croatia-Poland-Wales to get ot the final. And it worked.

By the time they got to the final they were such a brick wall defensively and meant France couldn't score despite completely dominating on the night.

Rightly or wrongly Southgate is following that template. Until proven otherwise I see plenty of parallels between Portugal in 2016 and this England.
 
I had doubts when I saw that lineup, but I have to say 343 fits England. Especially when you have the solidity of Maguire and the pace of Walker in behind. Solid enough to allow the wing backs push up and provide the interplay that the midfield could not.

The big thing now is that Grealish clearly has to play. What the 343 lacked in the first half was creativity in the attacking areas. Grealish immediately provided that. Kane and Sterling can focus on goals, but when you have a really creative player like Grealish, the midfield don't have to be as attackingly proficient.
 
Pros

Back three was VERY solid.
Pickford also very reliable in goal
Shaw was excellent at LWB, especially when Grealish came on
Grealish has to start the next game
Sterling is scoring

Cons

We should be more adventurous vs. Sweden/Ukraine
Trippier wasn't great
I don't think Philips is good enough at this level.
Kane was really bad, but maybe the goal will kick start his tournament.
 
Schneiderman said:
Ukraine for sure. Don't like the prospect of Sweden so soon after the World Cup win.
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The win in 2018 was fairly comfortably IIRC. Sweden used to be a massive jinx team for England in the 90s and 2000s but not sure that's an issue these days although front three of Forsberg-Isak-Kulvelski would be decent.

Denmark will be the big test if it all pans out like it should.

However no Eriksen and England playing it at Wembley means I give them far more of a shot than playing Croatia in SF in 2018 as a chance to get to the final.
 
saivet said:
Our best performance of the tournament. Controlled performance I felt with a few moments of luck.

Another huge game on Saturday.

On a separate note, the suggestion to drop Pickford prior to the tournament by some on here was crazy. You don't just suddenly switch up your most experienced keeper on the eve of a tournament.
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Pickford's always been great for England. Solid in 2018 world cup and made two crucial stops at key points today. Can't even remember him making serious error for England compared to all those he replaced.

I get he's rash and makes errors for Everton but loads of international keepers aren't that good at club level or not even playing e.g. Olsen who'll be starting for Sweden tonight so seems people judge him for that rather than England performances.
 
Dante said:
With the amount of ability England have in their front 4 and the lack of quality in the backline, I'd be tempted to set up ultra-defensively.

Play on the counter. Make us difficult to beat. Keep a deep defensive line. And give the opposition something to worry about whenever they lose possession and we can actually hurt them.

It wouldn't be pretty, but it's the most pragmatic thing Southgate can do. It's arguably the best (maybe even the only) chance he has of winning the competition.
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Southgate's sticking to the gameplan.

Tactical genius.

So is Gareth.
 
Harry Maguire was fantastic today. His presence is 10x more impactful than Stone and Mings. Need to keep him fit.
 
FootballHQ said:
It depends.

I mean Portugal in 2016 had Ronaldo plus assume likes of Bernardo Silva and a few others floating around final third so coul've played in similar manner to what they did in the 2000s but ultimately Santos decided to strangle the life out of games despite having a path of Croatia-Poland-Wales to get ot the final. And it worked.

By the time they got to the final they were such a brick wall defensively and meant France couldn't score despite completely dominating on the night.

Rightly or wrongly Southgate is following that template. Until proven otherwise I see plenty of parallels between Portugal in 2016 and this England.
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Two of the prime factors that saw you win today were Grealish and Shaw. Both of whom would have been nailed on to start for England in the opinion of most here before the tournament even started, because they're both obviously part of England's best 11. Yet one of them started the tournament on the bench (behind a RB playing at LB) and the other is still starting on the bench.

Even if we accept that an extremely dour approach is the best one for England (which I think is fairly dubious as it would be an unusual team who need to be that negative to be at their best), you could still opt for that approach while actually starting your best players.
 
Did Grealish only come on because fans were calling for him? He was on the bench and then he was suddenly coming on.

The timing seemed too coincidental.
 
James coming in for Trippier would really help us down that right side.

Could also allow him and Walker to switch positions in-game which would be an interesting dynamic
 
About time England get a bit more credit . Sick of people criticising the team and the manager all the time in this thread
 
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