No sarcasm at all. We may not always agree, but I like to read your opinions. I agree here. Italy had Verratti and Jorginho bossing, and of course as @Sofabloke mentioned already, their system, their tactics were on point. But lets keep it real, players like Jorginho or Verratti would probably never have even made to this level, if they were born in England [or America]. Despite not being athletic, not having any power or size or strengh, they bossed every team they came up against, besides Spain. Two slow little guys. That is fair!
English media is hailing their midfield where they should be upset at it. But we have seen people like Scholes Gascoigne Carrick came through so there is always hope though they won't ever be Bravehearts like English like them.
You're right, but the truth is Carrick and Scholes are still not valued or respected nearly enough. Gazza is because apart from being a bully [typical english desire/fight] he was actually good. But your point stands. I mean this current generation of England is actually very good. Even outside of Sancho and Foden who are at the top of the u21 list for England, you have Odoi Hudson [needs to have a better 21/22], Nya Kirby, Emile Smith Rowe, Morgan Gibbs White, Angel Gomes [good first season in Portugal], Connor Gallagher, etc... Forgot about our own in Greenwood, Mengi and Garner.+ They just need a good manager. I know there's no chance, but I'd like to see Graham Potter or Hansenhuttle with these group of players. Those kind of coaches.
England will win a major tournament in the next 10 years. They have bags of talent. No matter how you slice it, they are good.
This is kind of why, even though Harry Winks overall, is an average player, he has characteristic that the England midfield need. Just a balanced CM who can defense and contribute to attack. He's far more press resistant that Rice and Phillips. Not saying he's a world class player, but the way he plays the game. Southgate actually gave him tones of chances to break in, but I guess his club situation didnt help[,
Would be absolutely amazed if England were to win a major tournament with Southgate in charge, unless he seriously evolves and changes some of his ways. That would be the only way it could realistically happen. History is littered with nations with their 'golden generations' who either don't make it or come short. And most of the time, it's time to how the team is led and coached. Seen it again with Italy under Mancini. You can all the talent in the world, that is certainly no guarantee of success on its own.
Very impressed indeed with the job Mancini has done. They'll be amongst the favorites of course for next year's WC, still need to find that reliable and consistent 9 though as Immobile and Belotti don't appear to be it. Not even that worried about whether Chiellini and/or Bonucci will step down. Bastoni for starters is a fine CB prospect waiting in the wings. Curious to see also how quickly Zaniolo can come back and how Mancini will integrate him into the team also. Solid nucleus they currently have though: with a little more fine tuning, they could be even more dangerous and a team to watch for sure.
UEFA's Team of the Tournament. Agree with the back 5, although Spinazzola does deserve a special/honorable mention at LB: not hating on Shaw in the least but he was that good until he got hurt. Bonucci is another one also would deserves a very special mention, as he not be out of place at all for either one of Mag or Chiellini. In midfield, Jorginho has to be in there (for Xhaka). Would go 4-3-3 personally with Verratti as the 3rd midfielder alongside Pogs (with a mention to Pedri). Up front, CRon would not have been the CF of choice: Schick is the one I'd go with. No real arguments with Chiesa and Sterling on the flanks. So my team would look something like: Donnarumma, Maehle, Chiellini, Maguire, Shaw, Jorginho, Pogba, Verratti, Chiesa, Sterling, Schick. As further proof that when it's all said and done, Italy were clearly the best team in this tournament, the team of the tournament reasonably could have had 6 Italian players in it.
Another one I forgot, as a special mention or alternative for the 9 is Benz. Pogs aside, he was the other French player who I was impressed by (especially after not being in the national team setup for all these years). CRon got his goals and that's cool but during this tournament, was more impressed by the overall performances of both Benz and Schick at the 9 spot.
Nani came on in the 101st Minute, and he was penalty taker number 5 His was an interesting substitution too as it was in place of Rooney (compared to Anderson stacking the deck by replacing Wes Brown)
Agree 100% - as have said before, poor #6s get no appreciation / love Jorginho was excellent. Not worthy of the team but worthy of a mention was Biscuits who still plays the position so well. Kjaer definitely deserves a mention too. For football reasons also given how they progressed and his role in that.
We win together and we lose together. So proud to have teammates with such top character. Takes huge bollocks just to volunteer. As for the racism, hurtful but not surprising. Will never get bored of saying that more needs to be done. Educate and control the platforms!✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/LHSBoZin8O— Jude Bellingham (@BellinghamJude) July 12, 2021
Kalvin Phillips covered 83km over the course of #EURO2020. More than anyone except Jorginho. He's had a superb tournament, but I think finding the energy and compassion to run to console Bukayo Saka here was his best contribution of allhttps://t.co/3mVgDBzBLi Vid from @Likeith8— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) July 12, 2021
Ambiguous stat, did he cover that ground because he was out of position and scurry or his team turned the ball over a lot by having him cover. Covering ground does not mean anything.
I think what we've seen from Phillips, who already was a good player in his own right, is a result of the tutelage he's had under Bielsa in recent seasons. Pretty well known that Leeds players are among the most fit ones in the league due to Bielsa's very demanding style physically and the fact that Phillips covered lots of ground is a testament of that. The consensus on him is that he had a very good tournament, by and large: his passing was on point and his work rate was very high and consistent throughout the tournament. If we had any realistic chance to get him without being completely ripped off (being a Leeds player+an English international to boot), he'd be a terrific acquisition.
Class from Barca, even if unfortunately racism is a part of life... Losing a penalty shootout is a part of football, and a part of life.Racism is not. pic.twitter.com/tUckiMT1Os— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 12, 2021 Truthfully, the reaction from the world in general(and not the just the sports one) one has been pretty surprising. People you never thought even were aware of this expressed their support to the England 3. Certainly can't make them forget what happened but they felt some love today and that is something that matters. Even the papers were on good behavior today: let's hope that lasts...
Great read. THIS IS ENGLAND.Boris Starling on Facebook wrote this and you should read it if you are having trouble remembering the country we are. pic.twitter.com/7zEILrKIdE— That Baratheon Girl 🇪🇺 🏴 🌹 (@baratheongirl) July 11, 2021
The following apparently is the official team of the tournament. While I can agree by and large with the vast majority of these picks (agree with/can accept 9 of these choices), the fact that Pogs couldn't find his way there, when he arguably was the player of the tournament by the time of his exit, is kind of crazy. Those lists are subjective though and can easily vary from one person to the next.. Interesting though...
A lot of good sentiment, however key test will be first few weeks of the season from oppo fans once things get tribal again. Our three lions. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FQl4zWH4rR— England (@England) July 13, 2021