True! I was a little bias there as an Italy fan myself, but I have to admit, we played terribly. Mancini needs to be sacked. He’s not a bad coach but his tactics and philosophy just do not work well with our current team and squad. What I saw was unacceptable.
But the way the game totally changed in the second half would tend to indicate that Mancini schooled Southgate! Granted, maybe that's not saying much. Scary to think how good England could be with a good manager. Southgate fielded a couple of players that had hardly seen any action with their clubs all season. And it showed. Macguire at fault for the Italy goal and Phillips was meh. No idea what Pickford is doing starting ahead of Ramsdale. Also, when you get reduced to 10 men wouldn't it make sense to keep the guy with fresh legs on the field (Foden), and sub someone else off for an extra defender? But worst of all, Southgate had no answer when the game changed on its head from the start of the second half.
True, but the issue with Mancini’s style is that we cannot score goals playing his style. We don’t have the talent in attack in order to make the domination and game control count. It’s true we dominated the second half, but if we can’t score goals; that’s a problem. And the number of shots on target we had was not enough considering how much we dominated the second half.
Predictions for following matches this qualifying week: March 25: Scotland 2-0 Cyprus Israel 2-1 Kosovo Armenia 2-3 Turkey Belarus 0-3 Switzerland Spain 4-0 Norway Croatia 2-0 Wales Andorra 0-2 Romania March 26: Kazakhstan 0-3 Denmark England 5-0 Ukraine Liechtenstein 0-1 Iceland Slovenia 2-0 San Marino Slovakia 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina Northern Ireland 2-0 Finland Luxembourg 0-2 Portugal Malta 0-2 Italy March 27: Montenegro 1-3 Serbia Netherlands 4-0 Gibraltar Poland 3-1 Albania Austria 3-0 Estonia Sweden 2-0 Azerbaijan Moldova 0-3 Czech Republic Hungary 4-0 Bulgaria Republic of Ireland 1-2 France March 28: Georgia 1-0 Norway Wales 2-0 Latvia Romania 0-0 Belarus Switzerland 3-0 Israel Kosovo 2-0 Andorra Turkey 2-2 Croatia Scotland 0-2 Spain
You've got 6 correct. Nailed also two matches of which the France-Netherlands match. I've got 6 correct too.
I changed my prediction to 1. Switzerland 2. Kosovo 3. Israel 4. Romania 5. Belarus 6. Andorra Comon boys let's do it. I know for a fact that a maxed out Kosovo is better than a maxed out Israel and a maxed out Romania.
Overview of my finalised predictions 1. Spain 2. Georgia 3. Norway 4. Scotland 5. Cyprus 1. Netherlands 2. France 3. Greece 4. Rep. of Ireland 5. Gibraltar 1. England 2. Italy 3. Ukraine 4. North Macedonia 5. Malta 1. Croatia 2. Wales 3. Türkiye 4. Armenia 5. Latvia 1. Czechia 2. Poland 3. Albania 4. Faroe Islands 5. Moldova 1. Belgium 2. Austria 3. Sweden 4. Estonia 5. Azerbaijan 1. Hungary 2. Bulgaria 3. Serbia 4. Montenegro 5. Lithuania 1. Finland 2. Denmark 3. Slovenia 4. Kazakhstan 5. Northern Ireland 6. San Marino 1. Switzerland 2. Kosovo 3. Israel 4. Romania 5. Belarus 6. Andorra 1. Portugal 2. Bosnia and Herzegovina 3. Slovakia 4. Luxembourg 5. Iceland 6. Liechtenstein
Oh yeah, here are my finalized predictions after the first 2 match days: Group A: 1. Spain 2. Norway 3. Scotland 4. Georgia 5. Cyprus Group B: 1. France 2. Netherlands 3. Republic of Ireland 4. Greece 5. Gibraltar Group C: 1. England 2. Italy 3. Ukraine 4. North Macedonia 5. Malta Group D: 1. Croatia 2. Turkey 3. Wales 4. Armenia 5. Latvia Group E: 1. Poland 2. Czech Republic 3. Albania 4. Faroe Islands 5. Moldova Group F: 1. Belgium 2. Austria 3. Sweden 4. Estonia 5. Azerbaijan Group G: 1. Hungary 2. Serbia 3. Montenegro 4. Bulgaria 5. Lithuania Group H: 1. Northern Ireland 2. Denmark 3. Slovenia 4. Finland 5. Kazakhstan 6. San Marino Group I: 1. Switzerland 2. Israel 3. Kosovo 4. Romania 5. Belarus 6. Andorra Group J: 1. Portugal 2. Slovakia 3. Bosnia-Herzegovina 4. Iceland 5. Luxembourg 6. Liechtenstein
You can't change your prediction from Austria to Sweden in Group F. Matches already played in that group. I changed my prediction in a group where no matches have been played yet. I wrote down 1. Belgium 2. Sweden for you for Group F. Same with Group. Your original prediction had 1. Italy 2. England. You have to stick to that now given matches already played in that group.
Oh I didn’t know there was a rule about that. I was just updating my predictions as we go! Go with my original predictions then before anything started! I was just updating them after the first round finished.
Well after the first and second match days are over, I stand by my original prediction: Group A: 1. Spain 2. Norway 3. Scotland 4. Georgia 5. Cyprus Group B: 1. France 2. Netherlands 3. Republic of Ireland 4. Greece 5. Gibraltar Group C: 1. Italy 2. England 3. Ukraine 4. North Macedonia 5. Malta Group D: 1. Croatia 2. Turkey 3. Wales 4. Armenia 5. Latvia Group E: 1. Poland 2. Czech Republic 3. Albania 4. Faroe Islands 5. Moldova Group F: 1. Belgium 2. Sweden 3. Austria 4. Azerbaijan 5. Estonia Group G: 1. Hungary 2. Serbia 3. Montenegro 4. Bulgaria 5. Lithuania Group H: 1. Northern Ireland 2. Denmark 3. Slovenia 4. Finland 5. Kazakhstan 6. San Marino Group I: 1. Switzerland 2. Israel 3. Romania 4. Belarus 5. Kosovo 6. Andorra Group J: 1. Portugal 2. Slovakia 3. Bosnia-Herzegovina 4. Iceland 5. Luxembourg 6. Liechtenstein
Will UEFA send any debutants to the 2026 World Cup? If you believe so visit the following thread and vote for the team of your choice. Thanks. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/these-nations-could-debut-at-the-2026-world-cup.2126983/
I've never seen a manager make such random and crap subs in all my life. We play them on Tuesday, I hope he messes up and we bang in two against them and just shut them down, don't let them get a sniff. England are a potentially great side, but we've seen that before in the Rooney era. Something always goes wrong. I just wish that Germany had a terrifying machine-team, not the flaky flops at present. It's impossible to have strong predictions for Euro 2024 at this point, even the qualifiers and draw won't tell us anything, it will all be about the Round of 16, which will be the most surprising last 16 ever, I reckon. It won't be the usual suspects...
I reckon Greece will beat Holland tomorrow (Thursday). Just a feeing based on watching the two teams over the past 12 months. Koeman was a great player, but I don't rate him as a manager that much. He has had his moments, cup wins, but they need someone better. The talk is that Sarina Wiegman will replace him, that must add to the pressure, making way for her to be the first woman managing a men's top-flight manager. Would that work? Holland used to cruise through qualifiers. Something has went wrong in Holland as it has in Germany over the past few years. It needs sorting out, as without those two teams at the World Cup, it will feel very, very strange. But I want to see Greece become a great side, I just loved it when they won Euro 2024 - HAIL KING OTTO!