| England Thread 🏴 19:29 - Oct 17 with 260389 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
About time we had one I think? |  | | |  |
| England Thread 🏴 on 14:29 - Jul 17 with 3007 views | DannytheR |
| England Thread 🏴 on 14:16 - Jul 17 by daveB |
The irony of appointing overseas coaches is we always get ones who want to play 4-4-2 up and at them which is what we were supposed to be getting away from. Even Southgate was trying to build teams who kept the ball in vast majority of games. |
Weird, isn't it? So much money spent and talk talked about our need for intelligent, possession-based players, and really, the last two coaches we had with ideas about what to do with them were Venables and Hoddle. |  | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 15:13 - Jul 17 with 2893 views | TheChef |
| England Thread 🏴 on 14:29 - Jul 17 by DannytheR |
Weird, isn't it? So much money spent and talk talked about our need for intelligent, possession-based players, and really, the last two coaches we had with ideas about what to do with them were Venables and Hoddle. |
Who both should have stayed in their jobs (and built some form of dynasty?) but got done over by off the field activities which barely had anything to do with football.
FWIW I'd have happily kept Carsley on (I don't think he'd have done any worse than Tuchel) but the FA are always obsessed on spending money on big names, just because.
Talk about Pep just because he's available is absolute nonsense; his wages would be stupid and I don't think he's suited to international football anyway. Would be Capello all over again.
Look at the two head coaches for Sunday's final - neither are top performing club managers, both have earned their experience in coaching and being close to the national team across the age levels. De La Fuente worked with Spain U19s since 2013 and worked his way up from there. Scaloni started with Argentina U20s in 2018 before getting the senior role. You think there might be something in that? |  |
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| England Thread 🏴 on 15:16 - Jul 17 with 2887 views | Northernr |
| England Thread 🏴 on 13:04 - Jul 17 by daveB |
He had that one game where he picked all the technical players, Palmer, bellingham, Foden, Palmer think Grealish may have started as well and we got beat. He was going along the right lines but needed a lot of help with the media stuff |
As I recall the media did their usual thing of running around asking him whether he was going to sing the national anthem.
I saw an interesting point from Jack Pitt-Brook the other day, to my mind one of the few journos on the circuit today still worth reading (will always get in touch before writing a QPR piece to guage opinions rather than just assume) where he said after all that, this massive engorged World Cup, we’ve ended up with two teams in the final managed by international football specialists. The countries who paid big money for big name club managers fell by the wayside. International football is a different beast. England with Keegan, Eriksson, Capello, Allardyce (lol) and now Tuchel repeatedly go for the flavour of the moment from clubland. |  | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 15:22 - Jul 17 with 2838 views | TheChef |
| England Thread 🏴 on 15:16 - Jul 17 by Northernr |
As I recall the media did their usual thing of running around asking him whether he was going to sing the national anthem.
I saw an interesting point from Jack Pitt-Brook the other day, to my mind one of the few journos on the circuit today still worth reading (will always get in touch before writing a QPR piece to guage opinions rather than just assume) where he said after all that, this massive engorged World Cup, we’ve ended up with two teams in the final managed by international football specialists. The countries who paid big money for big name club managers fell by the wayside. International football is a different beast. England with Keegan, Eriksson, Capello, Allardyce (lol) and now Tuchel repeatedly go for the flavour of the moment from clubland. |
And I'm not even sure Tuchel was, er, that much of a flavour anyway.
As mentioned, the FA just not fit for purpose like so many other UK organisations, sporting or otherwise. Starting at the top with our so called government.
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| England Thread 🏴 on 15:30 - Jul 17 with 2799 views | TK1 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 14:12 - Jul 17 by robith |
Foden would be spectacularly ill suited to playing deep lying play maker. He's a terrible tackler and far too slight. Rodri and Pirlo work cos they put their boot in. Rodri has made 22 tackles in this world cup - Foden made 34 in all competitions last season
Rice's biggest asset is his engine which enables his relentless pressing, putting him at centre back totally nullifies that, no? |
In a three man midfield you could have Anderson flying into people, winning the ball, alongside two technicians to keep and progress it.
Rodri was perhaps a bad comparison. Xavi, however, would be much better. Spain or Barcelona didn't play him on the wing or behind the striker because they needed two ball-winners behind him. He played as deep midfielder, dictating play, passing, passing, passing. Spain/Barca would've tried Foden there.
Rice, well, both Souness (this week) and Lampard (when he tried to buy him for Chelsea) have said they see him as a centre-back and would play him there. Two blokes who know a bit about what midfielders need to be.
Anyway, Tuchel identified in defeat a "cultural problem" with England not being able to control a ball. It would be worth him and us exploring solutions with the tools we have, as he's on such an enormous wedge to do so. |  | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 16:13 - Jul 17 with 2682 views | daveB |
| England Thread 🏴 on 15:16 - Jul 17 by Northernr |
As I recall the media did their usual thing of running around asking him whether he was going to sing the national anthem.
I saw an interesting point from Jack Pitt-Brook the other day, to my mind one of the few journos on the circuit today still worth reading (will always get in touch before writing a QPR piece to guage opinions rather than just assume) where he said after all that, this massive engorged World Cup, we’ve ended up with two teams in the final managed by international football specialists. The countries who paid big money for big name club managers fell by the wayside. International football is a different beast. England with Keegan, Eriksson, Capello, Allardyce (lol) and now Tuchel repeatedly go for the flavour of the moment from clubland. |
Yes usual madness which I think probably put him off.
Bang on about international football, been saying it for years all that talk that Southgate not a great club manager it never mattered, he was very good at international level. If they do sack Tuchel will probably be Pep next and the same issues will come up.
I think it will all end up with Tuchel continuing to blame everyone, his next 2 games are France and then Spain so a good hiding in both and he'll probably be gone by Christmas especially with Dan Ashworth coming back. That 3rd place game might be worth a watch to see how the players react, they have been proper thrown under the bus by him. |  | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 20:36 - Jul 17 with 2446 views | ed_83 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 14:18 - Jul 17 by daveB |
Rice's problem was he was injured and ill so was miles off it in the last few games.
I'd agree Foden is not the answer in a deeper role, you have Mainoo and Wharton who can do that even Angel Gomes who looked decent under Carsley.
One of England bigger issues is lack of creating chances most of the time even when we have the ball we don't create a great deal despite having all these creative players. |
Yep, I like Rice and Anderson but they’re the same type of player. If we’d had a Wharton type alongside one of them I think the Ghana game would have gone very differently, for one thing.
The two things which have consistently let England down are being unable to break through a low block, and being unable to organise a low block ourselves when defending a lead against high-quality opposition. Insanely frustrating that Tuchel was specifically brought in to correct those, and has failed at both of them. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 21:44 - Jul 17 with 2352 views | OldPedro |
| England Thread 🏴 on 16:13 - Jul 17 by daveB |
Yes usual madness which I think probably put him off.
Bang on about international football, been saying it for years all that talk that Southgate not a great club manager it never mattered, he was very good at international level. If they do sack Tuchel will probably be Pep next and the same issues will come up.
I think it will all end up with Tuchel continuing to blame everyone, his next 2 games are France and then Spain so a good hiding in both and he'll probably be gone by Christmas especially with Dan Ashworth coming back. That 3rd place game might be worth a watch to see how the players react, they have been proper thrown under the bus by him. |
I think Tuchel has gone on the defensive rather than quit. If the FA decide to replace him, he probably gets a bigger payoff.
He did get his tactics wrong but equally, most of the players didn't perform well in those last 30 mins or so. I also found it strange how quickly the pundits, especially Rooney, turned on him after the game. Maybe Rooney with his outstanding managerial record should take over........
My final thought is also around how good the Argentina changes were and how their players reacted to going behind. I thought they were superb both as a unit and individually after going behind. |  |
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| England Thread 🏴 on 22:32 - Jul 17 with 2284 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| England Thread 🏴 on 21:44 - Jul 17 by OldPedro |
I think Tuchel has gone on the defensive rather than quit. If the FA decide to replace him, he probably gets a bigger payoff.
He did get his tactics wrong but equally, most of the players didn't perform well in those last 30 mins or so. I also found it strange how quickly the pundits, especially Rooney, turned on him after the game. Maybe Rooney with his outstanding managerial record should take over........
My final thought is also around how good the Argentina changes were and how their players reacted to going behind. I thought they were superb both as a unit and individually after going behind. |
It’s not hard to look superb though is it when every single time they had possession they could amble unopposed to the edge of the penalty area, had wide men in acres of space on both flanks - one of them the best player in the history of the sport - and were afforded all the time they wanted to pick a pass, shot, or cross.
Not taking anything away from them as they took advantage ruthlessly and 2-1 flattered us. But our shape and pressing patterns having been near perfect for an hour became an utter disgrace. Well… completely non existent actually. We’d have lost to every single last 16 team had we done the same thing against any one of them. [Post edited 17 Jul 22:44]
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| England Thread 🏴 on 22:42 - Jul 17 with 2243 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| England Thread 🏴 on 14:12 - Jul 17 by robith |
Foden would be spectacularly ill suited to playing deep lying play maker. He's a terrible tackler and far too slight. Rodri and Pirlo work cos they put their boot in. Rodri has made 22 tackles in this world cup - Foden made 34 in all competitions last season
Rice's biggest asset is his engine which enables his relentless pressing, putting him at centre back totally nullifies that, no? |
That’s because he plays exclusively ahead of the ball until the final third. Which was the entire point. We should be teaching players like him from a young age how to tackle and press. Modric and Foden are almost identically sized. Pirlo is a couple of inches taller but actually played a few kilos lighter than Foden so I can’t see any reason whatsoever he couldn’t be taught the off the ball stuff.
He has the elite touch and vision that is rare in an English player and he can’t even find his way into a World Cup squad. Feel like his talent is being totally wasted. [Post edited 17 Jul 22:45]
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| England Thread 🏴 on 23:02 - Jul 17 with 2151 views | JamesB1979 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 22:42 - Jul 17 by Padulas_Shampoo |
That’s because he plays exclusively ahead of the ball until the final third. Which was the entire point. We should be teaching players like him from a young age how to tackle and press. Modric and Foden are almost identically sized. Pirlo is a couple of inches taller but actually played a few kilos lighter than Foden so I can’t see any reason whatsoever he couldn’t be taught the off the ball stuff.
He has the elite touch and vision that is rare in an English player and he can’t even find his way into a World Cup squad. Feel like his talent is being totally wasted. [Post edited 17 Jul 22:45]
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Lots of talk about Palmer and Foden. But they barely played this season. I don’t think anyone (maybe Bellingham excepted) should just walk into the squad. For me, I think we needed to take Kane off and have someone with more pace to get us up the pitch. Not to mention maybe keep Gordon on and have Rashford with pace on the other side. Anderson and a fit Rice are a good partnership. Rice was off it for last couple of games and was huge miss. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 23:10 - Jul 17 with 2122 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| England Thread 🏴 on 23:02 - Jul 17 by JamesB1979 |
Lots of talk about Palmer and Foden. But they barely played this season. I don’t think anyone (maybe Bellingham excepted) should just walk into the squad. For me, I think we needed to take Kane off and have someone with more pace to get us up the pitch. Not to mention maybe keep Gordon on and have Rashford with pace on the other side. Anderson and a fit Rice are a good partnership. Rice was off it for last couple of games and was huge miss. |
I’m not saying he should have been taken to this World Cup. My point is a more general one about his technical talent being wasted playing so high up the pitch. If he were Spanish there is no way he would have been nurtured to become a winger. It’s likely too late for him to change and learn it now but until we start producing players with his technical ability that play behind the ball in attacking phases we’ll always struggle for possession and territory when the chips are down in major tournaments.
We just don’t produce nor nurture players than will dictate tempo as metronomes. Largely because they’re not wildly effective in the premier league. If Barcelona had signed Foden at 16 he’d probably be a Xavi clone by now and we might be in a World Cup final. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 23:43 - Jul 17 with 2037 views | JamesB1979 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 23:10 - Jul 17 by Padulas_Shampoo |
I’m not saying he should have been taken to this World Cup. My point is a more general one about his technical talent being wasted playing so high up the pitch. If he were Spanish there is no way he would have been nurtured to become a winger. It’s likely too late for him to change and learn it now but until we start producing players with his technical ability that play behind the ball in attacking phases we’ll always struggle for possession and territory when the chips are down in major tournaments.
We just don’t produce nor nurture players than will dictate tempo as metronomes. Largely because they’re not wildly effective in the premier league. If Barcelona had signed Foden at 16 he’d probably be a Xavi clone by now and we might be in a World Cup final. |
Fair enough. I can’t really see him as a Xavi type but that’s probably because he’s played in that more advanced role. And I think he lacks the physicality for that position.
I actually think JFH and Jordan nailed the issue it was 1) player mentality and then 2) compounded by decisions that made it worse. 1) is very difficult to explain and solve. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 00:17 - Jul 18 with 1987 views | TK1 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 23:02 - Jul 17 by JamesB1979 |
Lots of talk about Palmer and Foden. But they barely played this season. I don’t think anyone (maybe Bellingham excepted) should just walk into the squad. For me, I think we needed to take Kane off and have someone with more pace to get us up the pitch. Not to mention maybe keep Gordon on and have Rashford with pace on the other side. Anderson and a fit Rice are a good partnership. Rice was off it for last couple of games and was huge miss. |
It's a minor point. It doesn't matter. But...
"Palmer and Foden... barely played this season."
Season 2025/25:
Palmer played 34 games, (11 goals)
Foden P50 games (10 goals) (more games than Saka or Madueke in 25/26)
Meanwhile:
Mainoo P30 games
Stones P18 games
Henderson P34 games
"I don’t think anyone should just walk into the squad."
John Stones barely played at all last season and did just walk in. Saka barely played in the second half of the season, arrived injured, was a shadow of himself, walked into the squad. Henderson picked on vibes. It wasn't picked on season availability or performance (if so Wharton would have been included above both the midfield backups), it was picked on the autumn camps as TT said.
Agree, Anderson and Rice are a good partnership, but not in every game against every team, in every situation. Especially as Rice also arrived injured, was forced to play right back in one game for a bit because we fked that selection up too and was flogged to death as we hadn't picked enough midfielders with appropriate skill sets.
As I say, it doesn't matter. It's gone now. But all the things that seemed weird and a problem about the squad when he picked it, but he assured us were perfect, actually turned out to be a problem. And then he says it's a cultural thing. £6m a year and it's our fault, nothing to be done to defend a 1-0 for 40 minutes. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 00:30 - Jul 18 with 1937 views | CLAREMAN1995 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 16:13 - Jul 17 by daveB |
Yes usual madness which I think probably put him off.
Bang on about international football, been saying it for years all that talk that Southgate not a great club manager it never mattered, he was very good at international level. If they do sack Tuchel will probably be Pep next and the same issues will come up.
I think it will all end up with Tuchel continuing to blame everyone, his next 2 games are France and then Spain so a good hiding in both and he'll probably be gone by Christmas especially with Dan Ashworth coming back. That 3rd place game might be worth a watch to see how the players react, they have been proper thrown under the bus by him. |
The only reason to watch this idiotic 3rd place game is exactly that daveb.What lineup will England run out ,will it be completly changed and give everyone a game ( Watkins ,Toney,Manoo etc)or go as close to the Argentina line up as possible putting aside injuries ,sickness fatigue and wear and tear of that crushing defeat.
Kane and Jude are still in the running for Golden Boot and everybody knows Mbappe will start to try and get a couple of goals .I am actually looking forward to see how it shapes out not that Tuchel is getting pinned to the wall |  | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 02:28 - Jul 18 with 1861 views | JamesB1979 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 00:17 - Jul 18 by TK1 |
It's a minor point. It doesn't matter. But...
"Palmer and Foden... barely played this season."
Season 2025/25:
Palmer played 34 games, (11 goals)
Foden P50 games (10 goals) (more games than Saka or Madueke in 25/26)
Meanwhile:
Mainoo P30 games
Stones P18 games
Henderson P34 games
"I don’t think anyone should just walk into the squad."
John Stones barely played at all last season and did just walk in. Saka barely played in the second half of the season, arrived injured, was a shadow of himself, walked into the squad. Henderson picked on vibes. It wasn't picked on season availability or performance (if so Wharton would have been included above both the midfield backups), it was picked on the autumn camps as TT said.
Agree, Anderson and Rice are a good partnership, but not in every game against every team, in every situation. Especially as Rice also arrived injured, was forced to play right back in one game for a bit because we fked that selection up too and was flogged to death as we hadn't picked enough midfielders with appropriate skill sets.
As I say, it doesn't matter. It's gone now. But all the things that seemed weird and a problem about the squad when he picked it, but he assured us were perfect, actually turned out to be a problem. And then he says it's a cultural thing. £6m a year and it's our fault, nothing to be done to defend a 1-0 for 40 minutes. |
Surprised as those stats, didn’t realize they’d played so many games. I thought Pep had barely started Foden last season. I’d have picked Palmer over Madueke. Not really a fan of Foden based on his England performances. But anyway, I still think we had players to manage out that 2nd half. Oh well, another 4 years eh? | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 07:27 - Jul 18 with 1703 views | stevec |
Not an excuse, just an observation, but we played 7 games in 28 days, that’s the equivalent of our Saturday-Wednesday-saturday routine over 4 consecutive weeks.
We’ve seen what we’re like over a single week!
Starting to wonder if we suddenly hit a wall that just coincided with us going a goal up.
Think we played the spine of our side, the engine room, in virtually every single game. It’s quite conceivable that they all crumbled at the same time. Maybe rather than aiming at top spot, in future we manage selections in the group stage from a whole squad view. Dangerous if only two from four qualify but with largely three from four, that may be the way to go.
Tournament now far too many games in my view. France far and away the best side, again, their performance v Spain was inconceivable. A lot of energy expunged against teams who shouldn’t really be there. The first sixteen out were pretty awful, the eight surviving third placers, all out in the first knock out stage. From a footballing point of view only, it degrades the tournament. [Post edited 18 Jul 7:31]
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| England Thread 🏴 on 08:12 - Jul 18 with 1619 views | LongRanger |
We're out due to a poor tactical decision to retreat. The shift after the goal was glaring, if Tuchel didn't want that he could have changed it at the hydration break, he didn't, if players weren't listening, he could have replaced them with those that would push us higher up the pitch, but instead opted to bring on more defenders.
The players should have done better to stop crosses, protected and retained the ball better and used all the shithousery they could muster, but this defeat is on Tuchel.
I don't think we sack him, as so much up to that point was good, but this was a tactical error that cost us | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 08:54 - Jul 18 with 1524 views | nix |
| England Thread 🏴 on 07:27 - Jul 18 by stevec |
Not an excuse, just an observation, but we played 7 games in 28 days, that’s the equivalent of our Saturday-Wednesday-saturday routine over 4 consecutive weeks.
We’ve seen what we’re like over a single week!
Starting to wonder if we suddenly hit a wall that just coincided with us going a goal up.
Think we played the spine of our side, the engine room, in virtually every single game. It’s quite conceivable that they all crumbled at the same time. Maybe rather than aiming at top spot, in future we manage selections in the group stage from a whole squad view. Dangerous if only two from four qualify but with largely three from four, that may be the way to go.
Tournament now far too many games in my view. France far and away the best side, again, their performance v Spain was inconceivable. A lot of energy expunged against teams who shouldn’t really be there. The first sixteen out were pretty awful, the eight surviving third placers, all out in the first knock out stage. From a footballing point of view only, it degrades the tournament. [Post edited 18 Jul 7:31]
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I think that’s a fair point. But even more reason to replace your forwards/midfield who’ve done a hell of a lot of running and take pressure off your defence by putting on players who’d carry the ball up the pitch.
But yes France looked a shadow of themselves. And we had two very physically demanding matches against Mexico and Norway in very different weather conditions. A problem with a tournament across such diverse regions means players can’t really acclimatise. |  | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 09:42 - Jul 18 with 1417 views | PunteR |
Argentina were battering us for about 5- 10 minutes before Tuchel made the defensive subs change. For the first time in the tournament i was relieved about the hydration break. Maybe the players were just done, due to fatigue? But Tuchel has a squad and a lot of players hadn't even played much in the tournament. I think that argument doesn't really stack up. |  |
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| England Thread 🏴 on 09:43 - Jul 18 with 1412 views | stevec |
| England Thread 🏴 on 08:54 - Jul 18 by nix |
I think that’s a fair point. But even more reason to replace your forwards/midfield who’ve done a hell of a lot of running and take pressure off your defence by putting on players who’d carry the ball up the pitch.
But yes France looked a shadow of themselves. And we had two very physically demanding matches against Mexico and Norway in very different weather conditions. A problem with a tournament across such diverse regions means players can’t really acclimatise. |
Absolutely, Tuchel didn’t handle that at all well.
But it’s one thing changing wingers and full backs. If the spine of the side suddenly hit a wall, one that’s been in place virtually every game, I’m not sure you can substitute your way out of that.
Not excusing the nature of the collapse, just pondering the degree certain things may have contributed. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 09:44 - Jul 18 with 1413 views | TK1 |
| England Thread 🏴 on 07:27 - Jul 18 by stevec |
Not an excuse, just an observation, but we played 7 games in 28 days, that’s the equivalent of our Saturday-Wednesday-saturday routine over 4 consecutive weeks.
We’ve seen what we’re like over a single week!
Starting to wonder if we suddenly hit a wall that just coincided with us going a goal up.
Think we played the spine of our side, the engine room, in virtually every single game. It’s quite conceivable that they all crumbled at the same time. Maybe rather than aiming at top spot, in future we manage selections in the group stage from a whole squad view. Dangerous if only two from four qualify but with largely three from four, that may be the way to go.
Tournament now far too many games in my view. France far and away the best side, again, their performance v Spain was inconceivable. A lot of energy expunged against teams who shouldn’t really be there. The first sixteen out were pretty awful, the eight surviving third placers, all out in the first knock out stage. From a footballing point of view only, it degrades the tournament. [Post edited 18 Jul 7:31]
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Yeah, agree with that.
But he did have a 26 man squad. And he kept talking about knowing who the 15 starters were. Maybe pick more starters! Pick more midfielders, pick more players who can play in different scenarios, more technical players, as you rotate a bit with the big moment in mind. Three goalies seems luxurious when you haven't got a recognised full back for a couple of games, but that I know is heresy.
Depressing that Gary Neville called it exactly before the tournament started. It was obvious from the squad how it would play out against the best.
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| England Thread 🏴 on 10:12 - Jul 18 with 1352 views | Clive_Anderson |
Ever since I've been watching England we've got beaten by the first top quality midfield that can control the game. We start the game well and usually go ahead with some nice football, but it is based on being high energy and it always falls off towards the end of the game as they get tired and the other team just gradually smothers us and we can't get the ball back for any meaningful possession.
There must be loads of examples of this by now:
Argentina 2026 - we were 1 nil up
Croatia semi final - we were 1 nil up
Brazil 2002 - we were 1 nil up (Brazil were even down to 10 men and it didn't matter)
Italy Euro Final - we were 1 nil up
Spain Euro Final
2-2 at home to Netherlands after being 2-0 in 1993 qualifiers
England Portugal 2-2 Euro 2024 - we were 1 nil up
Italy Euro 2012 - they passed us off the pitch in that one, very lucky to get to penalties
Portugal Euro 2000 - we were 2-0 up and lost 3-2
Probably more examples I've forgotten about.
We just don't have the technical players to go from defence to midfield in good areas for a full 90 minutes against an opposition with a quality midfield and we never have.
Having said that I didn't like the selection of the squad for this World Cup or the subs against Argentina as I think that made things even worse than they normally are. It's as if Tuchel hadn't even considered this issue before that game. | | | |
| England Thread 🏴 on 11:10 - Jul 18 with 1213 views | Northernr |
| England Thread 🏴 on 07:27 - Jul 18 by stevec |
Not an excuse, just an observation, but we played 7 games in 28 days, that’s the equivalent of our Saturday-Wednesday-saturday routine over 4 consecutive weeks.
We’ve seen what we’re like over a single week!
Starting to wonder if we suddenly hit a wall that just coincided with us going a goal up.
Think we played the spine of our side, the engine room, in virtually every single game. It’s quite conceivable that they all crumbled at the same time. Maybe rather than aiming at top spot, in future we manage selections in the group stage from a whole squad view. Dangerous if only two from four qualify but with largely three from four, that may be the way to go.
Tournament now far too many games in my view. France far and away the best side, again, their performance v Spain was inconceivable. A lot of energy expunged against teams who shouldn’t really be there. The first sixteen out were pretty awful, the eight surviving third placers, all out in the first knock out stage. From a footballing point of view only, it degrades the tournament. [Post edited 18 Jul 7:31]
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The other big comparison with QPR is you don’t win many games of football while losing midfield. The two best midfields in this comp are the two teams in the final. | | | |
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