And? I am talking about during the game.
So a team who hadn’t lost in three years were there for the taking because they were arguing after they went a goal down? Inconceivable they could survive such turmoil.
They were there for the taking in that first half. I think that's undeniable.
ok buddy, a team that is falling apart on the pitch in a game is not there for the taking. It wasn't just arguing over the goal.
He's not alone in that of course. Guardiola's bizarre selection for the Champions League final against Chelsea stands out as one of the great mysteries of our time!
There was me thinking it’s because Southgate removed all the pressure and tried to sit on the lead for an entire half.
We were 1-0 up early on which is clearly a great position to be in, but Italy were still a very strong team and so it proved. As I said earlier, it’s quite fair to blame Southgate for how he managed the game but the idea that our victory should have been inevitable because a few Italian players were exchanging words after 5 minutes is laughable.
We had them on the rack first half then took a super defensive approach in the second. So we dropped deeper and deeper until conceding-when you have your opponent under pressure and pinned down, why take it all away?
I mean, I doubt any of us were in much of a state to offer real-time tactical analysis. We looked to go for a smash and grab victory and it worked fine in the first half. Italy made good changes and equalised. Our changes didn’t help things much (including moving from the dreaded back three to the hallowed back four). Italy definitely looked the better side. We still could have won the whole thing on pens. I was gutted, of course, but I still to this day don’t think it merits going full David Beckham effigy.
We do have a match thread to look back at…
Have at it!
www.skybluestalk.co.uk
Definitely confirms the Italians were rattled. That's how I remembered it too.Have at it!
European championships 2020 thread
9-1-1 formation from Southgate Bold move playing with an extra man (GK doesn't count in the formation;) )
It’s not a bad read - the mood changes a LOT after half time. Obviously the postgame stuff is a classic forum shitshow.
Here they saw it as the complete and utter humiliation of England, which was a pretty fair assessment.
Gibraltar down to 10 men after the 3rd goal as well. Some "good" goals but the level of defending was shocking.
If it was England, our fans would be fuming that Deschamps started with two holding midfielders
Since the final
From an England perspective, the final was just humiliating.
It's astonishing that we play such dull football at times with such a rich vein of attacking talent within the squad.
Some of my Southgate praise is clearly tongue in cheek, but I think the man management part of his approach is seriously under-rated. The structure and togetherness that Southgate has bought to this team has been seriously lacking in the past and proved to be the undoing of England teams that were just as talented (and probably a bit more balanced) than today’s team is. Him being a boring and conservative person is good! Because modern international football is generally the same.
Surprise to me too.
Good read, thanks.Luxembourg are no longer Europe's whipping boys after transformation
HARRY SLAVIN: The saying goes that there are no easy games in football. Those that subscribe to the well-worn theory clearly never had the privilege of facing Luxembourg.www.dailymail.co.uk
You know I'm generally in agreement with you that the standard of the middling teams has dropped but reading that piece, Luxembourg have definitely gone the other way and a lot of hard work has gone into that.
Interesting that a lot of the complaints thrown towards Southgate could also be thrown against Robins as well yet the same posters will endlessly slag one off while defending the other to the hilt.
