Euro2012: England

[BLUEBLOOD]

For ENGLAND chat only .. ie Barna if you wanna dribble on about the Spaniards you can, BUT ONLY in direct reference to England :winking:

So what do we think up to now ??

v France .. defensively very good against excellent ball players like Nasri, Benzema and Ribery, i thought that gave us a base to build on and move forward, this evening verses Sweden that continued till half time then it all went egg shaped .. funnily(!??!) enough i had a flashback to Cameroon at Italy 90 (we were "expected" to win but boy did we make it hard for ourselves)

Ukraine is effectively a knock out, with us having the draw

Do we take a gallant 2-3 3-4 and bow out with dignity, or win/draw and face either Spain/Italy/Croatia all of whom will whip us 3-0 ???

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

Can you use an F10 tram ticket to get across Kiev?

 

[OldBlueLady]

We drop Ashley Young is what we do, he's been pants both games. Also thought Glen Johnson was poor last night despite Lawrenson describing him as "our best defender". Lescott was great against France but not so against Sweden, and Milner has been pretty much nondescript. I detest Andy Carroll but thought he was ok in the end, however, with Rooney back next game I'd be tempted to drop one of Carroll or Welbeck (who I also don't think has done enough so far). I wanted to see Defoe alongside Carroll yesterday, I felt that could have been a productive pairing, but what do I know?

 

[Pubey]

Swap Carroll for Rooney. Young has had 2 poor games but I'd give him another chance against Ukraine. Our defensive lapses were very worrying.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Last night was the most entertaining England game I've seen in a long time.

2 changes for Ukraine, Rooney in for Young and Walcott in for Milner.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

For ENGLAND chat only .. ie Barna if you wanna dribble on about the Spaniards you can, BUT ONLY in direct reference to England :winking:

So what do we think up to now ??

Ha!I fell asleep at HT,during yesterday's game(it's been hot here)and woke up 6 minutes from the end to find out we were 3-2 up after being 2-1 down.Great goal from Carroll though(and a smart cross from Gerrard).:zzzzz:

Think it'll be a draw against Ukraine and I fully expect to see France top the group(thought they won easily yesterday).Great to see Montpellier's(apparently) Arsenal bound Olivier Gerroud get on against Ukraine.The commentator's comparison of him with Grant Holt seems a little off the mark to me.Whenever I've seen him play, he reminds me of a young Alan Shearer(and I have no higher praise than that).

Looks like this thread's only got two more games to go.:winking:

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Can you use an F10 tram ticket to get across Kiev?

Good luck.:winking:

 

[canveyshrimper]

Looks like this thread's only got two more games to go.:winking:

Which is one more than you forecast.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Which is one more than you forecast.

Correctamundo.I'm not infallible you know.Or as I tell my students: "Do what I say and not as I do".:winking:
Let's face it, it's pretty standard for England teams in recent tournaments to get out of their group and then get knocked out by the first decent team they play in the later stages.Plus ça change and all that.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Correctamundo.I'm not infallible you know.Or as I tell my students: "Do what I say and not as I do".:winking:
Let's face it, it's pretty standard for England teams in recent tournaments to get out of their group and then get knocked out by the first decent team they play in the later stages.Plus ça change and all that.

Lucky I was sitting down when I read that.

England have struggled to get out of the group stages a few times. I think they will beat Ukraine on Tuesday. In essence they only need a draw but playing for the draw is always a dangerous game

 

[Pubey]

 

[Ron Manager]

I had very low expectations going into Euro 2012 but credit to Roy, his management of the group and tactical organisation has us on the brink of qualifying - something I really had my doubts about pre-tournament.

If we do the job against Ukraine then I'm sure we'll struggle against really top opposition (Spain potentially in the QF) but I'd still give Hodgson a pass mark. The relative turnaround in such a short space of time has been great, it's clear we aren't World Beaters but are a decent if unspectacular international team. Quarter Final is a par score for England historically but for getting to par from the shambolic mess we were in when he took over is a fine achievment.

Trouble with England generally in the past is according to the press and in the eyes of many fans we are either the best in the world after a win or the worst team ever after a defeat. Reality is we've only ever been the former once and have never been the latter. Hopefully we are starting to look a bit more realistically at things now.