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EURO/COPA '24
- Thread starter xfactor
- Start date
Priller
Well-known member
Never seen a group of fans so angry despite winning the group. Arguably the worst group of all time, mind. Lots of Scouse Republicans online having a grand old time that the scapegoat du jour, Trent Alexander-Arnold, being out of the side made them noticeably worse. Unless they make the semis at least, Southgate had best settle into life in Spain for the foreseeable.
Austria winning a group with France and Netherlands in it is genuinely amazing. Opposite to Southgate, Rangnick has that side drilled to perfection, and I can see why he turned down Bayern to see this out. He'll be able to name his price after this, and considering the 2-4 spots in Group F are awfully soft, he has a good shot at going deeper.
Very interesting round of 16 coming up. Would love to see the Swiss upset the Italians. Also curious to see how far Romania can take this Cinderella story.
I think Portugal is in jeopardy of being upset. They are not playing well at all.
England, Germany, Spain and a France should all advance.
Thoughts?
I think Portugal is in jeopardy of being upset. They are not playing well at all.
England, Germany, Spain and a France should all advance.
Thoughts?
Other than England being their pitiful self, I'm actually enjoying the outcomes of these games. No longer there are pushover teams and everyone is at somewhat of an equal footing. Georgia played with heart and Czech should of won but c'est la vie.
England somehow just mange to steal the joy of the game, I want to put the blame squarely on Southgate, but it takes a the entire staff and leadership to screw up a talent of this magnitude. I would drop Kane and go with the false 9 and let Foden run wild, give Palmer a starting chance and send Trent to gather woods and water to make some soup for the boys. Seems weird to say that as a Liverpool fan, but the man is lost in the weeds. Southgate just needs to find his balls if he ever had any and play the damn game; win or lose.
Go Georgia!
England somehow just mange to steal the joy of the game, I want to put the blame squarely on Southgate, but it takes a the entire staff and leadership to screw up a talent of this magnitude. I would drop Kane and go with the false 9 and let Foden run wild, give Palmer a starting chance and send Trent to gather woods and water to make some soup for the boys. Seems weird to say that as a Liverpool fan, but the man is lost in the weeds. Southgate just needs to find his balls if he ever had any and play the damn game; win or lose.
Go Georgia!
Here’s what needs to happen…the Royal Navy steams over to the Falklands at top speed…annexes Argentina. Then we field the Argentina 11 as the new England team. Klopp as manager.
Priller
Well-known member
Really feel for Ukraine. I'd like to start a petition to let them advance and just not allow anyone from England's group of garbage to advance at all. At least they went for it instead of the tepid football we've seen from so many of the so-called big sides where England isn't the only side underperforming. They have company with France, Belgium, Portugal, and the Netherlands. I'd say Italy was underperforming, but I actually think that side is really weak and just performing to their level.
France is the most likely to 'wake up', I think, purely based on recent performances and a proven manager, whereas Belgium and the Netherlands both suffer from similarly uninspired management to England. On paper, the draw is extremely unbalanced and does England a massive favour, but from play so far, Austria may be the best team in the tournament, so maybe it's more balanced than it first appears.
Based on the group stages, it should be a Spain-Austria final, but that'll never play out. Would really love to see some big upsets by smaller countries, though...
France is the most likely to 'wake up', I think, purely based on recent performances and a proven manager, whereas Belgium and the Netherlands both suffer from similarly uninspired management to England. On paper, the draw is extremely unbalanced and does England a massive favour, but from play so far, Austria may be the best team in the tournament, so maybe it's more balanced than it first appears.
Based on the group stages, it should be a Spain-Austria final, but that'll never play out. Would really love to see some big upsets by smaller countries, though...
Priller
Well-known member
Spain-Germany an absolute bloodbath of yellows. Crazy game, but I think Spain deserved winners, especially considering Kroos should have been sent off midway through the first half. Will be interesting to see how Spain copes in the next round with all the suspensions and Pedri likely out with injury. Germany worked very hard, definitely a tough draw for them.
Yep.
That draw could have been a final if the bracket was setup differently.
Both of Spain’s goals were well taken, but that was a hand ball in the box all day long.
That’s football, son.
Le sigh…
Priller
Well-known member
I think the Canada game took a year off my life. Between the relentless pace, the insane ref, the lack of finish, the high Venezuelan line that kept possession in Canada's half except when we broke, Liam Millar being a turnover machine and the instant shootout, I barely held it together.
I was not happy about the Marsch hire (as a Forge fan, I was half hoping Smyrniotis would get a look), but I'm eating my words now. What I'm most impressed by is how he has improved the back line. They handled a constant flow of crosses and probing through passes with absolute confidence, and it took a whole sequence of crazy to allow Venezuela a goal. I was especially impressed with Cornelius, who locked things down and cleared the zone impeccably.
Beating Argentina is definitely a long shot, but Panama took them to pens, and we had a few chances in the first game that could have made things very interesting. It's unlikely, but it is way more possible now than it's ever been in my lifetime...
Watching England continue to stumble towards the final now, fully expect an underwhelming performance in a 1-0 win. Netherlands-Turkiye later is almost guaranteed to be a heck of a lot more entertaining if you take the schadenfreude out of watching an eminently hateable England side...
As an avid fan of England I can say this: This team has stolen the joy of watching football. Kane needs to be dropped to improve pace and flow.
Go Canada go! Was at the Can vs. Arg game for the opener and had a chance to go to the semis in Jersey but opted out, kicking myself of not getting those tix with my friends. It will be a tall order for sure for Canada to come out against Arg, just happy that the guys are there and performing. Hopefully we get a good ref, but doubt it.
Spain deserve to take the whole thing, but somehow I'm predicting a lackluster Fra vs Eng.
Go Canada go! Was at the Can vs. Arg game for the opener and had a chance to go to the semis in Jersey but opted out, kicking myself of not getting those tix with my friends. It will be a tall order for sure for Canada to come out against Arg, just happy that the guys are there and performing. Hopefully we get a good ref, but doubt it.
Spain deserve to take the whole thing, but somehow I'm predicting a lackluster Fra vs Eng.
At the end of the day, the four teams left in the Copa America - the top teams for this whole region looks like:
Argentina
Colombia
Uruguay
CANADA
That’s incredible!!!
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