UEFA Euro 24

[weeksy]

I simply can't understand some teams, England being one of them. They have arguably the most gifted squad in the competition but play like they're 1000-1 outsiders. Foden was rubbish, the rest we distinctly average at best. But it's the style of play that's lacking, the attacking, the fire, the urgency.

Admittedly i didn't see the first 40 mins and i get the impression they were OK in that time period, but the 2nd half was sodding awful.

[Taipan]

The winners so far;
Scotland for the biggest loss in an opening game.
Albania for the quickest goal.
Italy and England for the most boring games of football in the tournament so far!
Think i'll watch Love Island instead...

[Whysub]

Screenshot_20240617_110512_Sky News.jpg (163.25 KiB) Viewed 413 times

Think this from Sky News sums up the game perfectly.

And yet another record for England!

[KungFooBob]

What a bunch of miserable bastards.

We won, take your negativity and stick it up yer bum.

[Taipan]

What a bunch of miserable bastards.

We won, take your negativity and stick it up yer bum.

[Whysub]

No one is being as negative as Southgate and his tactics.

Here is what the some of the European media said about the England game.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... rtivo.html

[Dodgy69]

I may think differently than some... but for me, it's all about the performance, not the result. A big performance means a lot, effort, pride, etc. I admire that, whatever the result. But a poxy 1 0 win means little to me.

I honestly ain't bothered how far they progress, i just want to see effort and pride. That's my opinion. Let's see what Thursday brings.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Screenshot_20240617_110512_Sky News.jpg

Think this from Sky News sums up the game perfectly.

And yet another record for England!

Were Serbia not allowed to take shots then?

[Felix]

Did the French bring their own ref?

[DefTrap]

When you see the French struggle and the Belgians maybe victims of poor decisions, which can always happen, it makes England's opening game look quite polished ....

[weeksy]

When you see the French struggle and the Belgians maybe victims of poor decisions, which can always happen, it makes England's opening game look quite polished ....

National football is the worst kind of football in terms of play, structure and results. None of the big players perform, their performances are stifled and it's all about defensive rubbish 'lets not lose' sort of play for the bigger teams. Which is why i love seeing a team of minnows battering the bigger teams with balls and pride/persistence. France, Belgium, England, Germany, all a pile of crap.
When eventually a team realises if they play like City, Real etc and pass, move, press, push, they'll completely destroy teams, the better

[DefTrap]

I think we have to give them a break - they have all just come off 40+ match seasons - you do wonder how much being completely knackered plays a part in some of these strained performances. It's probably also the same mentality near the end of a club season when you're a top player in a top club team playing a nothingy match against a lower team fighting relegation. You don't want to lose but I dunno if you're bothered about going out there and battering the opposition just because you can. I mean Mbappe ended up with a broken nose last night.

[Dodgy69]

VAR really does need giving the boot. Football is a fast, contact sport, accidental contact with ball or player happens.
It spoils the game for the fan's. If they must use it in certain competitions, use it for the cheats, diving etc, but not discounting decent goals for very negligible offences. Imo.

If you over analyse, you will find.

[weeksy]

VAR really does need giving the boot. Football is a fast, contact sport, accidental contact with ball or player happens.
It spoils the game for the fan's. If they must use it in certain competitions, use it for the cheats, diving etc, but not discounting decent goals for very negligible offences. Imo.

If you over analyse, you will find.

It's be re-voted for in the Premier League somewhat astoundingly, so won't be going away.

For example last nights Lukaku goal for offside, i'm OK with that... but it was clear from a 5s replay he was offside. Some of the others, like the handball, leave that to the on-field officials though as you say.

Due to VAR though i've gone from watching 30+ games per season to watching 1-2. The only reason i've watched any Euros is because they're on when i'm sitting in the living room and it's just background stuff.

[DefTrap]

If they ditched VAR we'd just be back to arguing about woeful "you're blind ref" decisions where they all miss obvious offsides, handballs and fouls and are so readily swayed by home support in the moment. I'm not convinced that is any better. All that VAR has done is allow us to review finer margins alongside the ref. and to blither on about somehow allowing some offsides "in the spirit of the game".

[MrLongbeard]

Football is a fast, contact sport

It is?

[Cousin Jack]

I simply can't understand some teams, England being one of them. They have arguably the most gifted squad in the competition but play like they're 1000-1 outsiders. Foden was rubbish, the rest we distinctly average at best. But it's the style of play that's lacking, the attacking, the fire, the urgency.

Admittedly i didn't see the first 40 mins and i get the impression they were OK in that time period, but the 2nd half was sodding awful.

This is why I hate professional soccer. Score just one goal, and then just put the shutters up and relax.

[Whysub]

This is why I hate professional soccer. Score just one goal, and then just put the shutters up and relax.

Unless you are either Turkey or Georgia.
The best game I've seen for a long time. End to end stuff, great goals, no diving, no acting. In fact only 2 fouls in the first 25 minutes.

Best referee too, and Argentinian to boot.

[Felix]

So, Scotland beat Hungary 4 - 0 and the Germans beat Switzerland 3 - 0 then Scotland go through in 2nd place no

[Dodgy69]

Really enjoyed the Scotland match last night, plenty going on to keep my attention. Fullbacks a bit dodgy mind.