Who wins euro 2024?

Hypnus said:
I don't think Portugal are going far at all. They score a lot of goals and play impressive against Andorra, Luxembourg and Liechenstein, but they are far from impressive against decent sides, and also play inconsistently.

I think it'll be England and France in the final, and France will win because of Gareth Southgate.
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This is literally the opposite of what Portugal do.

They consistently play down to inferior opposition in infuriating ways yet are capable of hanging with the very best teams in the world. At this point it all comes down to whether Martinez has the stones to keep Ronaldo on the bench; the team is significantly more effective without him (case in point, their last results were win vs Sweden 5-2 without him, loss vs Slovenia 0-2 with him).
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
This is literally the opposite of what Portugal do.

They consistently play down to inferior opposition in infuriating ways yet are capable of hanging with the very best teams in the world. At this point it all comes down to whether Martinez has the stones to keep Ronaldo on the bench; the team is significantly more effective without him (case in point, their last results were win vs Sweden 5-2 without him, loss vs Slovenia 0-2 with him).
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With Ronaldo chasing 1000 career goals, that’ll be an interesting scenario for Martinez. I don’t see him dropping him.
 
Florida Man said:
With Ronaldo chasing 1000 career goals, that’ll be an interesting scenario for Martinez. I don’t see him dropping him.
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Obviously I can't speak for everyone here in Portugal but it does feel like the general populace has cooled on him somewhat. No one really gives a shit about Saudi football of course which is part of it but it does feel like there is genuine recognition that he's a net negative on the team at this point.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Obviously I can't speak for everyone here in Portugal but it does feel like the general populace has cooled on him somewhat. No one really gives a shit about Saudi football of course which is part of it but it does feel like there is genuine recognition that he's a net negative on the team at this point.
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May be that the only positive outcome is to win the cup altogether. You tell me if I’m wrong but in the event Portugal don’t win, I can see Martinez getting blame because of playing Ronaldo too much or not playing Ronaldo enough.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Obviously I can't speak for everyone here in Portugal but it does feel like the general populace has cooled on him somewhat. No one really gives a shit about Saudi football of course which is part of it but it does feel like there is genuine recognition that he's a net negative on the team at this point.
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The Portuguese know ball then
 
Florida Man said:
May be that the only positive outcome is to win the cup altogether. You tell me if I’m wrong but in the event Portugal don’t win, I can see Martinez getting blame because of playing Ronaldo too much or not playing Ronaldo enough.
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Yeah will be huge pressure either way you'd think. Especially with Mourinho already eyeing the job. Glad at least that Santos is gone; that guy is Avram Grant-tier stupid
 
I have put a bet on Portugal. England on paper should win this. But Southgate not good enough.
 
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TheMagicFoolBus said:
This is literally the opposite of what Portugal do.

They consistently play down to inferior opposition in infuriating ways yet are capable of hanging with the very best teams in the world. At this point it all comes down to whether Martinez has the stones to keep Ronaldo on the bench; the team is significantly more effective without him (case in point, their last results were win vs Sweden 5-2 without him, loss vs Slovenia 0-2 with him).
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From what I saw from them last year, they beat Luxembourg 9-0 and 6-0, beat Bosnia 5-0 and 3-0, Liechenstein 2-0 and 4-0 and Sweden 5-2. I don't rate Sweden at all, and think they're a poor side. You're right that they lost to Slovenia 2-0 with Ronaldo, but it was also without Bruno, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao, Ruben Dias etc. They usually manage to hold off against better sides, but what I meant was that they're not as good offensively against these sides as they are against poor opposition. I think France and England are more of a threat offensively regardless of opposition, and I think they're favorites slightly ahead of Portugal.

I agree that Ronaldo should definitely be on the bench, though, but like you say, it's going to take massive balls from Martinez.
 
Hypnus said:
From what I saw from them last year, they beat Luxembourg 9-0 and 6-0, beat Bosnia 5-0 and 3-0, Liechenstein 2-0 and 4-0 and Sweden 5-2. I don't rate Sweden at all, and think they're a poor side. You're right that they lost to Slovenia 2-0 with Ronaldo, but it was also without Bruno, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao, Ruben Dias etc. They usually manage to hold off against better sides, but what I meant was that they're not as good offensively against these sides as they are against poor opposition. I think France and England are more of a threat offensively regardless of opposition, and I think they're favorites slightly ahead of Portugal.

I agree that Ronaldo should definitely be on the bench, though, but like you say, it's going to take massive balls from Martinez.
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True - but historically Portugal have managed to cock things up in tournaments by dropping points against easy opposition. Even in the Euros they won they only got through the groups because the format was expanded and they could only muster 3 draws.
 
ENGLAND

Would expect England to make the semi’s at least.
 
It really should be England. I think the squad is peaking in the majority of its areas so now is the time.
 
Solius said:
It really should be England. I think the squad is peaking in the majority of its areas so now is the time.
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The setup still seems off to me. Shaw and Gordon are vital because otherwise there’s going to be 0 running threat and 0 creativity from deeper areas and you’ll just see endless recycling of possession where every attacker wants the ball played into their feet.

Talent wise probably the strongest team in the tourney along with France, but I’m not sure Southgate will have the creativity or balls to play the best TEAM and not just the best names.
 
The England squad is too overloaded in certain areas. If I was Southgate I’d gamble with Mainoo even though he’s only 18 as he’s the kind of player the squad has really been missing. Centre of defence looks a little meh although doesn’t seem to be massively behind other countries.
 
Pickle85 said:
Don't understand this. They're one of the favorites. They've got an excellent chance. I reckon this is England's year. I suspect it won't be pretty but we'll do enough.
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You can't win a tournament with that defense, they will get found out earlier than usual.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Obviously I can't speak for everyone here in Portugal but it does feel like the general populace has cooled on him somewhat. No one really gives a shit about Saudi football of course which is part of it but it does feel like there is genuine recognition that he's a net negative on the team at this point.
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True, most people I know want him benched. Most people think he'll start.
 
Pickle85 said:
Don't understand this. They're one of the favorites. They've got an excellent chance. I reckon this is England's year. I suspect it won't be pretty but we'll do enough.
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England are terrible. One of the worst sides we've had.
 
awop said:
You can't win a tournament with that defense, they will get found out earlier than usual.
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Greece won the euros. Denmark won the euros. We're not great at the man but we're certainly not all that bad. To say there's no chance we win it is nonsensical when we're among the favourites.
DixieDean said:
England are terrible. One of the worst sides we've had.
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:lol:
 
I'm going with Croatia to win it
 
Pickle85 said:
Greece won the euros. Denmark won the euros. We're not great at the man but we're certainly not all that bad. To say there's no chance we win it is nonsensical when we're among the favourites.
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This is was a long time ago and they specifically relied on a very strong defensive unit.Of course it's technically possible but very unlikely. I don't even think France will have enough either this year. CB partnership is too weak.
 
I’ve predicted and betted Portugal to win it this year.
 
Portugal have a very strong squad but if a spoofer like Roberto Martinez wins a major tournament then every other country's manager wants sacking.
 
awop said:
This is was a long time ago and they specifically relied on a very strong defensive unit.Of course it's technically possible but very unlikely. I don't even think France will have enough either this year. CB partnership is too weak.
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But, again, you say it's very unlikely yet we're up there with the bookies' favourites, if not actual favourites. So how is it very unlikely?!
 
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