Post-Match Thread and Ratings Netherlands 1 - 2 England - UEFA Euro 2024 - Semi Final 10 July

[Tangled up in Blue]

My sister in law was in Edinburgh and they were cheering Spain’s goals like mad. When she asked why .. “they’ve got a better chance of beating England”. ****ing hell.

Your sil is absoluyty right So are the Scots!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Never mind all that Tangers, get your England shirt on Sunday and give some welly to the locals.

Fir me it's a heart v head thing.While I'd like to see us beat Spao

Footnote...In Germany,most EXPERTS think it was a pen....and the better team won

Sorry Swiss there's no doubt in my mind that Spain are the best team in the tournament

Phil Neville dicn't nor did Ronald Koeman.Nor the ITV interviewer who described the pen as "fortunate" in a postmatch interviw with HK.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Fir me it's a heart v head thing.While I'd like to see us beat Spao


Sorry Swiss there's no doubt in my mind that Spain are the best team in the tournament

Phil Neville dicn't nor did Ronald Koeman.Nor the ITV interviewer who described the pen as "fortunate" in a postmatch interviw with HK.

To be fair Koeman would know a stone cold penalty

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Fir me it's a heart v head thing.While I'd like to see us beat Spao


Sorry Swiss there's no doubt in my mind that Spain are the best team in the tournament

Phil Neville dicn't nor did Ronald Koeman.Nor the ITV interviewer who described the pen as "fortunate" in a postmatch interviw with HK.

Of course Koeman didn’t think it was a pen .. what else would you expect him to say ..

Netherlands had plenty of time to get a 2nd goal - oh that’s right they didn’t and England (the better team) won ..

 

[londonblue]

Of course Koeman didn’t think it was a pen .. what else would you expect him to say ..

Netherlands had plenty of time to get a 2nd goal - oh that’s right they didn’t and England (the better team) won ..

Even Koeman said so. He said England won the 1st half and the 2nd was more even. If you win the 1st and and draw the 2nd you're the better team.

That said, the Dutch were interesting as they are a decent team, but we ripped them apart in the 1st half. So much so they had to revert to Slovenia tactics of stopping us playing in the 2nd. That was at the expense of their own forward play.

They began to put us under pressure in the last 15 minutes but even then we had one ruled out and scored another. Why? Because they committed players forward and we were given more space. The game became more like the 1st half again.

We were simply too good for a decent team. Of course there are idiots who will say once we come up against a decent team we'll lose. But they will never commit to telling us who is good and who isn't until after the event so they can never be proved wrong. Which is extremely childish in my opinion.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Even Koeman said so. He said England won the 1st half and the 2nd was more even. If you win the 1st and and draw the 2nd you're the better team.

That said, the Dutch were interesting as they are a decent team, but we ripped them apart in the 1st half. So much so they had to revert to Slovenia tactics of stopping us playing in the 2nd. That was at the expense of their own forward play.

They began to put us under pressure in the last 15 minutes but even then we had one ruled out and scored another. Why? Because they committed players forward and we were given more space. The game became more like the 1st half again.

We were simply too good for a decent team. Of course there are idiots who will say once we come up against a decent team we'll lose. But they will never commit to telling us who is good and who isn't until after the event so they can never be proved wrong. Which is extremely childish in my opinion.

I just find it sad that there's people who do nothing but run down the national team and are just dying for them to get knocked out so they can smugly say 'I told you so'. Just getting to two consecutive Euros finals is a great achievement for England. Enjoy it FFS. I certainly enjoyed the Netherlands game and Watkins' late winner. Quite a story .... but no let's instead look back at a pen that was a bit soft (soft but correctly awarded, as per the rules and after a VAR check). Like no other national teams have decisions that go in their favour. Like we have always been so lucky with decisions in these games. Maybe it was karma for Koeman ....

 

[Rob Noxious]

I just find it sad that there's people who do nothing but run down the national team and are just dying for them to get knocked out so they can smugly say 'I told you so'. Just getting to two consecutive Euros finals is a great achievement for England. Enjoy it FFS. I certainly enjoyed the Netherlands game and Watkins' late winner. Quite a story .... but no let's instead look back at a pen that was a bit soft. Like no other national teams have decisions that go in their favour. Like we have always been so lucky with decisions in these games. Maybe it was karma for Koeman ....

Nice alliteration.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I just find it sad that there's people who do nothing but run down the national team and are just dying for them to get knocked out so they can smugly say 'I told you so'. Just getting to two consecutive Euros finals is a great achievement for England. Enjoy it FFS. I certainly enjoyed the Netherlands game and Watkins' late winner. Quite a story .... but no let's instead look back at a pen that was a bit soft (soft but correctly awarded, as per the rules and after a VAR check). Like no other national teams have decisions that go in their favour. Like we have always been so lucky with decisions in these games. Maybe it was karma for Koeman ....

I wouldn't say I " do nothing but run down the national team".In fact I very much enjoyed seeing us win the WC in 1966 (as a teenager) and have been diasppoined at our failures ever since,as I will be .on Sunday.Spain are the better team that's just a fact.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

I wouldn't say I " do nothing but run down the national team".In fact I very much enjoyed seeing us win the WC in 1966 (as a 15 year old) and have been diasppoined at our failures ever since,as I will be .on Sunday.Spain are the better team that's just a fact.

You're doing it now!! If you see a SF, final, QF and another final as 'failures' it sums up the entitlement really, that Southgate was on about earlier in the tournament. I give up. If Spain win can you please keep your gloating to yourself.

 

[londonblue]

You're doing it now!! If you see a SF, final, QF and another final as 'failures' it sums up the entitlement really, that Southgate was on about earlier in the tournament. I give up. If Spain win can you please keep your gloating to yourself.

That's an interesting one isn't it? There are a load of extremely arrogant England fans who think we ought to win every match we play. It's almost like we expect the opposition to roll over and let us win and anything else is failure. It's such a xenophobic view and really infuriates me.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

You're doing it now!! If you see a SF, final, QF and another final as 'failures' it sums up the entitlement really, that Southgate was on about earlier in the tournament. I give up. If Spain win can you please keep your gloating to yourself.

FWIW though I think GS is a nice guy I imagine he will go down in footballing history as the loser who took us to 2 consecutive finals & lost them both!

 

[Swiss Tony]

FWIW though I think GS is a nice guy I imagine he will go sown in footballing history as the loser who took us to 2 consecutive finals & lost them both!

 

[londonblue]

Just seen this on YouTube. Quite interesting:

 

[Rob Noxious]

Just seen this on YouTube. Quite interesting:

Had to watch this game 'dahn the pub' (hardship of all hardships) as the Fort Nox telly packed up soon after the France-Spain SF. It's not always that easy to discern the detail of a game in that atmosphere and especially by the time you're on your seventh pint so this provided a good insight into how the Dutch made it a bit more difficult for us in the second half. I was obviously aware of HK's limitations (in not getting behind a defence) but the movement of Watkins for the goal was very impressive. Top ball through from Palmer too.

 

[londonblue]

Had to watch this game 'dahn the pub' (hardship of all hardships) as the Fort Nox telly packed up soon after the France-Spain SF. It's not always that easy to discern the detail of a game in that atmosphere and especially by the time you're on your seventh pint so this provided a good insight into how the Dutch made it a bit more difficult for us in the second half. I was obviously aware of HK's limitations (in not getting behind a defence) but the movement of Watkins for the goal was very impressive. Top ball through from Palmer too.

Agree with everything here. And yes, I find the 7th pint tips me over the edge too. 6 is fine, but that 7th is a killer!

It also shows how clever GS was in bringing on Watkins and not Toney because he would be better at exploiting the space the Dutch left behind their defence by pushing up in order to squeeze the space we were finding in the 1st half. I guess what it comes down to is that there will always be space somewhere on the pitch, you just need the right players to be able to exploit it, but also a manager that can analyse the game well enough to notice.

 

[londonblue]

This is a graph from the FIFA website that shows England's world ranking over the years. The line I have put on it is when GS was given the role permanently (give or take). That's the highest and most consistent we've been since the start of the rankings.

It's easy to have a go, but he's actually been very successful as England manager. And as Paul Clark always says, it's easy to be a pundit or fan who can turn round and say, "he should have done..." because your opinions will never be put to the test. The only person who is put to the test is the manager. What's more, all fans and pundits will have different views, and not all of them can be right, but again they won't ever be tested.

 

[Dave Smiths Love Child]

Find it funny when quoted as a loser who will be known as losing two finals .
When you think EL Tel had probably one of the best English squads ever and couldn’t reach a final on home turf, yet GS has done a double home and away finals a remarkable achievement and he has made it his team built from endeavour trial and error
I hope he wins and leaves on a high, then those who like to knock him will see what a great job he has done, not always a pleasure to watch , but has put the roar back into three lions on the shirt . Sunday is the time to show Europe who is the No 1 team x

 

[RHB]

FWIW though I think GS is a nice guy I imagine he will go sown in footballing history as the loser who took us to 2 consecutive finals & lost them both!

 

[BoyWonder2]

Agree with everything here. And yes, I find the 7th pint tips me over the edge too. 6 is fine, but that 7th is a killer!

It also shows how clever GS was in bringing on Watkins and not Toney because he would be better at exploiting the space the Dutch left behind their defence by pushing up in order to squeeze the space we were finding in the 1st half. I guess what it comes down to is that there will always be space somewhere on the pitch, you just need the right players to be able to exploit it, but also a manager that can analyse the game well enough to notice.

Pretty much all of Southgate’s substitutions during the tournament have worked, and I was discussing this with my brother. We’ve questioned some of them, and been made to look silly.

What ive found strange is how Watkins was the “answer” against Denmark, then the next two times a centre forward came off the bench for us it was Toney, to great effect. He got an assist and scored the penalty. We then turned to the bench against the Netherlands, and Watkins was the answer and it worked magnificently. I questioned why not Toney at the time.

Bowen was our “answer” earlier on in the tournament as a substitute, but now can’t get a look in and we’ve favoured Eze, whose scuffed effort against Slovakia, found Toney who found Kane.

Palmer has made a huge impact off the bench, his assist against Netherlands case in point. Shaw it’s been great to see, and when Gallagher has come on it’s been for his legs and he has done a job.

Even the players we’ve wanted to be substituted have worked. Against Slovakia, I’d have taken Bellingham and Kane off, I felt we’re both really poor, but they both got the goals. If I was in charge, they’d have been off the pitch.

Konza, was a forced replacement for Guehi, and was excellent, then Southgate has a decision to make, goes for Guehi, and he was excellent against the Dutch. Mainoo has been very good since his inclusion into the starting XI.

Some of the stick he has had all tournament has been awful. The beer thrown at him, people demanding him being sacked during the tournament and so forth. If there is one person who deserves to win tomorrow night, it’s Southgate. Stuart Pearce got his redemption for Italia 90 in Euro 96. Saka got his redemption for Euro 2020 against Switzerland in this tournament, it’s now the turn of Southgate to get his redemption for Euro 96 and Euro 2020 by getting his hands on the trophy tomorrow night.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

Pretty much all of Southgate’s substitutions during the tournament have worked, and I was discussing this with my brother. We’ve questioned some of them, and been made to look silly.

What ive found strange is how Watkins was the “answer” against Denmark, then the next two times a centre forward came off the bench for us it was Toney, to great effect. He got an assist and scored the penalty. We then turned to the bench against the Netherlands, and Watkins was the answer and it worked magnificently. I questioned why not Toney at the time.

Bowen was our “answer” earlier on in the tournament as a substitute, but now can’t get a look in and we’ve favoured Eze, whose scuffed effort against Slovakia, found Toney who found Kane.

Palmer has made a huge impact off the bench, his assist against Netherlands case in point. Shaw it’s been great to see, and when Gallagher has come on it’s been for his legs and he has done a job.

Even the players we’ve wanted to be substituted have worked. Against Slovakia, I’d have taken Bellingham and Kane off, I felt we’re both really poor, but they both got the goals. If I was in charge, they’d have been off the pitch.

Konza, was a forced replacement for Guehi, and was excellent, then Southgate has a decision to make, goes for Guehi, and he was excellent against the Dutch. Mainoo has been very good since his inclusion into the starting XI.

Some of the stick he has had all tournament has been awful. The beer thrown at him, people demanding him being sacked during the tournament and so forth. If there is one person who deserves to win tomorrow night, it’s Southgate. Stuart Pearce got his redemption for Italia 90 in Euro 96. Saka got his redemption for Euro 2020 against Switzerland in this tournament, it’s now the turn of Southgate to get his redemption for Euro 96 and Euro 2020 by getting his hands on the trophy tomorrow night.

He was saying in a press conference the other day that he didn't ask them to sit back in those first few games. He said the players were soo scared of getting knocked out in the group stages and coming back as failures (they were favs after all), it made them over cautious. He said before the semi they look much more relaxed now and will prob play with a bit more freedom. Watch out, Spain ! it's gonna be some game