Euro 2024 Squads

FootballHQ said:
I genuinely think back to front Portugal will have the strongest squad at this tournament. Only problem is they should have Ronaldo in a Giroud role but Martinez pretty much started him every qualifier so can't see him being dropped like he was in the World cup.
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Would like to agree with you on this one but for me it will be this in the tournament.

Tier 1: Germany, France England
Tier 2: Italy, Spain, Portugal
Tier 3: Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia

Unfortunately have to say I agree with you regarding the Ronaldo situation, and if it happens maybe I will have to look around and switch Portugal with one of the Tier 3 teams.

FootballHQ said:
They are so stacked in defence and midfield though in terms of experience and quality.
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The final list comes Tuesday, but we have a gap in the GK (Diogo Costa don't gives me great vibes tbh) the fullbacks situation aren't as good as I hoped it would be after Qatar (Cancelo level has dropped off, Nuno Mendes spent most of the time injured, is Dalot reliable for the international level, Guerreiro barely plays, Semedo only ok and so on).

Then the CB situation is a hell of a problem, the only guy I can expect to be reliable is Dias (if he doesn't have his brainfart on the day) Pepe is 41, Inácio didn't finished that well the season from an individual point of view, and Antonio Silva had a terrible season IMO.

Think the midfield can be ok if Martinez trusts more Vitinha for an important role in this team and doesn't play him on stupid positions like he did recently on the left (seriously WTF) and then upfront will be a bad situation between starting Ronaldo, if he doesn't start well majority of the people who are fed up with him will ask for him to be dropped of the first 11, the other alternative Ramos isn't that reliable, Jota is injured, Felix 8 out of 10 is useless, Leão we never know what to expect from him on the day.

Overall the picture for me is this. To achieve something like reaching the last 8 we will need a fit Pepe, Diogo Costa to step up his level as a reliable international GK (at least for international tournaments, his CL was ok) Ruben Dias, Cancelo (can he at least defend for his life?) and Vitinha (seriously Martinez, stop messing around, you're not Guardiola).

If this 5 players click together, no physical problems, start well the competition maybe the rest of the team will follow and find their rythm during the group stage, finish first as they should be, face a reasonable team on the last 16 and with more or less difficulty reach the last 8, then it will depend on the level of the opponent they will face and if the team improved his level during the competition.

I have to say, if Fernando Santos wasn't so out of touch with reality our 2021 squad was better than current one ( the squad, not quality of football).

But if Martinez isn't able to reach the last 8 for me it's a huge failure, even with our current problems he can fix some issues, but the way he handles Ronaldo during the competition will tell a lot on who really is in charge of the team.

If we are knocked out on the last 16 or we have a crap group stage with unpopular players starting for us he won't have an easy life to stay.

Only tbf, I don't think the only problem in the team is Ronaldo, that's the most popular thing to say because he is controversial, already explained other issues, but the collective problems he brings to the team until 2020 he was able to shut up who pointed that out with goals, these days against better NT's and without the same athletic qualities he had 4 years ago I just don't see on him the capacity to do it.
 
top1whoisman said:
Will Southgate pick him? (Probably not as he would’ve called him up earlier to ”secure” him)

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Don't think they need to this Euros. Have Saka and Palmer to play in his best position. He's unfortunate that he's playing in the area where England are most stacked. I think he and Eze should have both opted for Nigeria.
 
The squad of the Netherlands is pretty good and really interesting (Of course they have a poor coach in Koeman).......but the non-inclusion of Zirkzee is pretty weird.......J.Timber, Botman and Wieffer are injured but that shows they have a few more good players in their whole squad (Hato should have a big future too).

First Team
Flekken - De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake - Frimpong, Koopmeiners, De Jong, Maatsen - Malen, Brobbey, Xavi

Second Team
Verbruggen - Geertruida, De Vrij, Van de Ven - Dumfries, X, Reijnders, Blind - Bergwijn, Memphis, Gakpo

X = Wijnaldum, Schouten, Veerman, Gravenberch or De Roon
 
If england don't get atleast to the final southgate needs to go.

He should probably go even if England win tbh
 
NoPace said:
Scary to bet on a team with that little presence up top, but De Jong in midfield, Frimpong and Maatsen at wingbacks, very good CBs, I wonder if they should have just hired say an Italian coach who is used to slow but good midfielders, great CBs, wingbacks providing much of the attack and meh strikers. There's a tournament-winning hold out and win a knockout game or two in extra time sort of squad hiding in there if one of the attackers can score a key goal or two, even off the bench.
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I think with that team the obvious lineup is a 3-4-3 formation with Dumfries as the wingback and Frimpong further forward (which he's done in games for Leverkusen).
Verbruggen
Van Dijk--Van De Ven--Ake
Dumfries--Koopmeiners--De Jong--Maatsen
Frimpong--Gakpo--Simmons
​
I like that team a lot but guessing Koemen would pick De Vrij or De Ligt. Harsh on Donyell Malen but I think Frimpong has to play. And Xavi Simmons out of position sort of but I think he's best option on the left. I don't think that team is bad in attack and probably the best set of CBs of all the squads. That would be my dark horse team I think.
 
Mb194dc said:
Even if they win :lol:...

He'll be Sir Gareth...
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You can be a shite to mediocre coach and still win cup trophies -> Scolari, Lippi was incredibly overrated, Joachim Low, Rafa Benitez, etc etc

I just hope the FA recognize that.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
If england don't get atleast to the final southgate needs to go.

He should probably go even if England win tbh
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They play France in the semis if all works out as it should - I don't think anyone 'should' beat France

Unless I've fecked the draw up - which is possible
 
FootballHQ said:
England probably got the best attacking and in form depth in the whole tournament but the big problem is going to be left side of defence. Shaw won't have played in four months by the time tournament has kicked off so I can't see him making it through tournament if he's picked. Chilwell was rubbish in the March games and hasn't played much for Chelsea either since then and Trippier was way off the pace last night and that's basically the fall back LB option. Maguire and Stones also not playing currently.

Basically playing England it's a case of getting a rapid RW the ball quickly and see what happens.
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I was thinking probably Gomez if Southgate keeps a back 4. If he goes back 3 could do something like Doughty at left wing back, Walker Stones Dier/Maguire/Someone as the CBs, then allows Alexander Arnold in the team as a right wing back. If you have a back 3 maybe Rice Bellingham could work as a midfield and then Saka and Foden behind Kane. I think Doughty has had a really good season but too risky to play him as a LB imo.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
You can be a shite to mediocre coach and still win cup trophies -> Scolari, Lippi was incredibly overrated, Joachim Low, Rafa Benitez, etc etc

I just hope the FA recognize that.
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Lippi overrated :lol::lol:

The other people you mentioned are pretty good managers as well, not sure what you're going on about here.....
 
Kwabs said:
Lippi overrated :lol::lol:

The other people you mentioned are pretty good managers as well, not sure what you're going on about here.....
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What has Scolari done apart from 2002 Brazil, which he had the best team in the world?

Lippi peaked 30 years ago, and in the 21st century had 1 good season at Juve (he won two serie A titles but one of them was just the league being awful, Juve were nothing special either), and an Italian WC win. He won the WC with Italy. Then spent 15 years pissing away in China. If his Career ended in 2000 it would be incredible but for such a "great" manager, he sure had some pretty dour troughs, including getting sacked at Inter milan and deciding to spend ages 60+ in China.

Rafa was decent at cup competitions, and had a title win at Valencia and ... well had decent seasons at Liverpool including a miracle CL, followed by failure after failure after failure.

Joachim Low spent 15 years as Germany's manager, despite winning a world cup people and one of the greatest and most stacked sides ever assembled, people were still calling for his head.
 
SirBillNic said:
I think with that team the obvious lineup is a 3-4-3 formation with Dumfries as the wingback and Frimpong further forward (which he's done in games for Leverkusen).
Verbruggen
Van Dijk--Van De Ven--Ake
Dumfries--Koopmeiners--De Jong--Maatsen
Frimpong--Gakpo--Simmons
​
I like that team a lot but guessing Koemen would pick De Vrij or De Ligt. Harsh on Donyell Malen but I think Frimpong has to play. And Xavi Simmons out of position sort of but I think he's best option on the left. I don't think that team is bad in attack and probably the best set of CBs of all the squads. That would be my dark horse team I think.
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Maybe Dumfries vs France, a striker vs Poland and Austria and Frimpong switching roles depending?

I wouldn't be completely shocked if Frimpong is a bench option in the knockouts with Dumfries and a striker starting, and you bring on Frimpong when there's space against tired legs. Maybe even the same on the left with Blind starting and Maatsen coming on, though all that would be unpopular and uncool.

I have no idea if the Dutch need a proper #9 to defend well, as was the case for United most of the season and sometimes seems to be an issue for teams. Could also see Gapko off the bench in your above lineup with one of the #9s starting. No idea how fit Depay is, as only a sorcerer could.

As for the backline, I assume they want Van Dijk central to run things (and be fairly 2-footed), but there's a case for him on the right if he's moving well in training with De Ligt being a little slow.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
What has Scolari done apart from 2002 Brazil, which he had the best team in the world?

Lippi peaked 30 years ago, and in the 21st century had 1 good season at Juve (he won two serie A titles but one of them was just the league being awful, Juve were nothing special either), and an Italian WC win. He won the WC with Italy. Then spent 15 years pissing away in China. If his Career ended in 2000 it would be incredible but for such a "great" manager, he sure had some pretty dour troughs, including getting sacked at Inter milan and deciding to spend ages 60+ in China.

Rafa was decent at cup competitions, and had a title win at Valencia and ... well had decent seasons at Liverpool including a miracle CL, followed by failure after failure after failure.

Joachim Low spent 15 years as Germany's manager, despite winning a world cup people and one of the greatest and most stacked sides ever assembled, people were still calling for his head.
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Ooh, I can play this game too!

Ancelotti? 30 years in the game and only 5 titles?!?! Never went back to back in any league? Only one title in each league apart from with Madrid, who've won a gazillion titles? Went to Everton and flopped?! Presided over the biggest bottle job in the history of the Champions League final in 2005?!?...etc etc

Pep? 1 CL win in nearly 15 years? WTF has he been doing all this time?! Picking his nose?!?! Couldn't win the CL with the most stacked Bayern squad of all time?!?! One City CL win with an unlimited budget? Bottled a CL final to a crappy Chelsea team?! Meltdown after meltdown in the KO rounds of the CL?!?!? Loser!!

Fergie? 2 CL wins in 25 years?! Those wins almost 10 years apart? Each win lucky as all get out (pens with people falling over and fluke goals from corners)?!?! Being humiliated in the CL by scrub teams like Gothenburg, Galasataray, Lille and Leverkusen year after year after year? Dominated by the same club in 2 CL finals a couple of years apart?!? What a bum.

Bottom line, Marcello Lippi is one of the greatest managers of all time. Any other opinion is just wrong.

The other guys are pretty good too, if you stop focusing on the negative. Every manager has that, even the most successful ones in history.
 
NoPace said:
Maybe Dumfries vs France, a striker vs Poland and Austria and Frimpong switching roles depending?

I wouldn't be completely shocked if Frimpong is a bench option in the knockouts with Dumfries and a striker starting, and you bring on Frimpong when there's space against tired legs. Maybe even the same on the left with Blind starting and Maatsen coming on, though all that would be unpopular and uncool.

I have no idea if the Dutch need a proper #9 to defend well, as was the case for United most of the season and sometimes seems to be an issue for teams. Could also see Gapko off the bench in your above lineup with one of the #9s starting. No idea how fit Depay is, as only a sorcerer could.

As for the backline, I assume they want Van Dijk central to run things (and be fairly 2-footed), but there's a case for him on the right if he's moving well in training with De Ligt being a little slow.
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I just think Frimpong is too good to leave on the bench. He's better than Dumfries but can definitely also play further forward, so I see it as a choice between Dumfries and maybe Malen or some other right forward. I don't think any of Holland's strikers really add much so I was just thinking go with Gakpo up front because he's the best of a bunch of bad options.

Most likely Van Dijk central but if Van De Ven plays (which I think he absolutely deserves to) in addition to Ake it would make more sense for VVD to be on the right. But yeah in the more likely scenario of De Ligt or De Vrij probably VVD central of the 3 defenders.
 
Kwabs said:
Ooh, I can play this game too!

Ancelotti? 30 years in the game and only 5 titles?!?! Never went back to back in any league? Only one title in each league apart from with Madrid, who've won a gazillion titles? Went to Everton and flopped?! Presided over the biggest bottle job in the history of the Champions League final in 2005?!?...etc etc

Pep? 1 CL win in nearly 15 years? WTF has he been doing all this time?! Picking his nose?!?! Couldn't win the CL with the most stacked Bayern squad of all time?!?! One City CL win with an unlimited budget? Bottled a CL final to a crappy Chelsea team?! Meltdown after meltdown in the KO rounds of the CL?!?!? Loser!!

Fergie? 2 CL wins in 25 years?! Those wins almost 10 years apart? Each win lucky as all get out (pens with people falling over and fluke goals from corners)?!?! Being humiliated in the CL by scrub teams like Gothenburg, Galasataray, Lille and Leverkusen year after year after year? Dominated by the same club in 2 CL finals a couple of years apart?!? What a bum.

Bottom line, Marcello Lippi is one of the greatest managers of all time. Any other opinion is just wrong.

The other guys are pretty good too, if you stop focusing on the negative. Every manager has that, even the most successful ones in history.
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Uhm, they are nothing alike.

Ancelotti has won titles and European trophies at practically every club he has gone to. Pep has done the same, apart from not winning CL With Bayern.

I'm not cherry picking like you. If a person has a 40 year career, and 30 years of them are mediocre, it does not make you "great", it means you had some great purple patches with some normalcy inbetween.

None of those three managers will ever have as bad a run as Lippi's 2nd Italy stint or his Inter stint.

Let me ask you, if you were in 2016 and Benitez, Scolari, Lippi or Joachim Low got the job as Man Utd's manager to replace Van Gaal, would you be happy? I sure as hell wouldn't.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Uhm, they are nothing alike.

Ancelotti has won titles and European trophies at practically every club he has gone to. Pep has done the same, apart from not winning CL With Bayern.

I'm not cherry picking like you. If a person has a 40 year career, and 30 years of them are mediocre, it does not make you "great", it means you had some great purple patches with some normalcy inbetween.

None of those three managers will ever have as bad a run as Lippi's 2nd Italy stint or his Inter stint.

Let me ask you, if you were in 2016 and Benitez, Scolari, Lippi or Joachim Low got the job as Man Utd's manager to replace Van Gaal, would you be happy? I sure as hell wouldn't.
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I normally wouldn't respond to nonsense like this but I just can't let this one slide even as a Milan fan. Lippi was top notch from 93-06, he did well at Napoli, Juve dominated both Serie A(5x) during the leagues golden age & in Europe by reaching the finals 5 times. Feel free to name another coach for comparison who have achieved similar while also winning the WC.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Uhm, they are nothing alike.

Ancelotti has won titles and European trophies at practically every club he has gone to. Pep has done the same, apart from not winning CL With Bayern.

I'm not cherry picking like you. If a person has a 40 year career, and 30 years of them are mediocre, it does not make you "great", it means you had some great purple patches with some normalcy inbetween.

None of those three managers will ever have as bad a run as Lippi's 2nd Italy stint or his Inter stint.

Let me ask you, if you were in 2016 and Benitez, Scolari, Lippi or Joachim Low got the job as Man Utd's manager to replace Van Gaal, would you be happy? I sure as hell wouldn't.
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I'm not a Manchester United fan so whoever they choose as manager has no bearing on my happiness whatsoever. Why the arbitrary choice of 2016? And you do realise that Scolari and Lippi are well into their 70s and would have been almost 70 in 2016?

The entire premise of your original post is wrong. You were like, if Southgate wins the Euros then I hope it is recognised that crap managers can win big cup competitions, so that we don't go overboard in crediting Southgate.

A) That's not true, all the managers you named are good to great managers and their records prove it. The fact that they haven't sustained success over a 30 or 40 year period does not mean that they are not good or great. Mourinho and Wenger fell off, are they not great managers? There are a few that manage to do it but they are the elite of the elite. There are gradations below that which are still not 'crap' or 'mediocre'

B) Southgate IS actually mediocre. He has won literally nothing at senior level as a manager and was given the England job. If England were to win the Euros, Southgate would in fact be the proof that bad managers can win big trophies, not the other guys.

Lippi won 13 trophies including 5 league titles and the Champions League (not to mention getting to 3 other CL finals) before he took over as Italy boss and won the World Cup. Scolari won nearly 20 trophies in Brazil before he took over as the national team manager and won the World Cup. And Brazilian domestic football in the 80s and 90s was a lot better than it is now. Benitez won 2 league titles with Valencia in a country dominated by Real and Barca, and a UEFA Cup, before going on to win the CL with Liverpool.

Low is perhaps the only one who is a bit comparable to Southgate but he still had more club success prior to taking over the NT, leading Stuttgart to a European final and a cup win.

So your entire premise is flawed to begin with. The chances are that England will fail to win the Euros again, because Southgate actually is the type of mediocre manager that you are disrespectfully trying to paint the others as.
 
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Portugal not going far. 3 players on the squad play in Saudi League, makes no sense. No sane manager would call-up players from such a mediocre technical level league.
 
André Dominguez said:
Portugal not going far. 3 players on the squad play in Saudi League, makes no sense. No sane manager would call-up players from such a mediocre technical level league.
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They should be relatively well rested considering the level of the league, could be a genius move to field the fittest players of the tournament.
 
stefan92 said:
They should be relatively well rested considering the level of the league, could be a genius move to field the fittest players of the tournament.
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Ronaldo apart because he's clearly being called-up due to his reputation and status, we have players as good as the other to call-up, but M€nd€s tentacles have a long reach.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
You can be a shite to mediocre coach and still win cup trophies -> Scolari, Lippi was incredibly overrated, Joachim Low, Rafa Benitez, etc etc

I just hope the FA recognize that.
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Ah come on now.

Guided his team to 4 CL finals (3 in a row 96,97,98) and semi finals in 99 and the final again in 03. 1 CL, 5 Leagues, several Italian cups etc and a world cup.

Throughout the 90s he was one of the best coaches in world football and Juve were one of the best teams in Europe. The world cup just topped off his career, he had nothing left to prove. Can't blame him for taking up the offer of a new less pressurised challenge outside of Europe after that.
 
Oranges038 said:
Ah come on now.

Guided his team to 4 CL finals (3 in a row 96,97,98) and semi finals in 99 and the final again in 03. 1 CL, 5 Leagues, several Italian cups etc and a world cup.

Throughout the 90s he was one of the best coaches in world football and Juve were one of the best teams in Europe. The world cup just topped off his career, he had nothing left to prove. Can't blame him for taking up the offer of a new less pressurised challenge outside of Europe after that.
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Real Name said:
Lippi overrated. When I thought I read everything...
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If you're going to shoot down Neymar and such for not fully fulfilling their potential and spending some of the best years of their career in Saudi Arabia, surely you can't put someone like Lippi in the top bracket of managers for pissing away an entire decade in China.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
If you're going to shoot down Neymar and such for not fully fulfilling their potential and spending some of the best years of their career in Saudi Arabia, surely you can't put someone like Lippi in the top bracket of managers for pissing away an entire decade in China.
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It's not even comparable. He was over 60 when he went to China, up to that point he spent almost his entire career at the top end of Italian, European and world football and won almost every trophy he could have won as a manager.
 
No idea on the form of a lot of their players but that Portugal squad looks quite strong on paper.
 
SER19 said:
Such a strong squad. Would be my favorites to win it
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Only 1 problem with that.

4328-1673266584.jpg
 
saivet said:
No idea on the form of a lot of their players but that Portugal squad looks quite strong on paper.
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Yup. In the hands of a great manager they would be close to favourites. I have my doubts about Martinez to be honest
 
Would this team/squad (with Pope in goal and with the 7 players that will not make the final cut) get out of the:

Group A (Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland)
Group E (Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine)
Group F (Portugal, Turkey, Czechia, Georgia)

 
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