England v Switzerland - Sat 6th July, 17:00 | Euro 2024 Quarter-Final

[Bewar3them00n]

This is the formation Southgate should’ve started the tournament with, a better performance, against a side who gave Germany a good game, & humbled Italy. Signs of things clicking finally.
Defensively much better, thought Konsa had a good game. Rice was better, & the rest of the midfield looked a lot more secure. Still should’ve changed it before Switzerland scored, as it you could see it coming from a mile away. I still think Gordon has a role to play.
Penalties were outrageous, if only the rest of the play was that good.

 

[Stephen230]

The irony if we go all the way just by winning penalty shootouts and in doing so not missing a single pen.

Palmer, Toney and Trent all feel like locks and Saka + Bellingham took there's confidently too. The biggest question mark I have is over Pickfords giddyness on the line and his ability to save one or two.

That would be the last of my worries.

Pickford is 3 from 4 in shootouts for England.

The rest of England’s goalkeepers in history are 1 from 7.

 

[KS55]

Great, even more weeks of Jingoism. Just fuck off Waistcoat and your fucking take on of Portugal 2016.

One win and 4 draws and in the semis. I hate teams who dog their way to deep runs. They are even worse than Argentina at Italia 90.

See Arsenal in their famous “unlikeables” season.

 

[NZBlue]

See Arsenal in their famous “unlikeables” season.

I can't think of any season when they were likeable

 

[RiversideBlue]

So Southgate has got England through to the semis as a minimum. He's not getting sacked whatever happens now is he?

Shame, i quite fancied him as the rags next manager.

 

[Crooked_rain]

I disagree about Saka but maybe I appreciate Bernardo’s intelligence of his decision making over Saka. If your going to beat the man & not find anyone with the cross it’s pointless.

In fairness, it's not like we get many runners into the box when he beats his man, there's usually nobody there to pick out.

 

[Tuearts right boot]

Well done Gareth for beating the Swiss in a penalty shootout, a population of Greater London and more in tune with clock making, nice chocolate and dubious financial dealings.

 

[jaiguruKun]

I juat can't fathom how any manager can look at those first four matches and keep things basically the same. He's so cautious that he thinks the team playing free flowing football is a bad sign. I genuinely think his strategy is to bore everyone including the opposition to death. If they do not come against Spain they'll be annihilated.

 

[Crooked_rain]

I juat can't fathom how any manager can look at those first four matches and keep things basically the same. He's so cautious that he thinks the team playing free flowing football is a bad sign. I genuinely think his strategy is to bore everyone including the opposition to death. If they do not come against Spain they'll be annihilated.

The thing is I don't think England will be annihilated at all. They may well lose, I'd expect Spain or France to get over the line vs England when it comes down to it, but England won't be annihilated and Southgate knows it, and that seems good enough for him. Don't be easy to beat and try to snatch a win, that seems to be Southgate's way.

I'm not sure we'll get past Netherlands anyway.

 

[BlueHammer85]

David White

It’ll all be over on Saturday. Southgate is a very limited manager with no bollocks.

Blue Maverick

Roll on Friday and give us all something to smile about before Switzerland embarrass us on Saturday

burnley blue mcfc said:
I watched the Swiss take Italy apart, they’ll more than likely do exactly the same to us

burnley blue mcfc

We won’t get the chance to compare ourselves to Spain because the Swiss will beat Us.

chris85mcfc​

What a truly awful side and formation he's got out there

Astonished that you can get 3/1 about the Swiss in 90 minutes

abu13​

I think we are going to get fucked today.

 

[bluemoon32]

If France beat Spain, England will win the tournament.
I think Spain though would have too much for England

 

[Crooked_rain]

David White

It’ll all be over on Saturday. Southgate is a very limited manager with no bollocks.

Blue Maverick

Roll on Friday and give us all something to smile about before Switzerland embarrass us on Saturday

burnley blue mcfc said:
I watched the Swiss take Italy apart, they’ll more than likely do exactly the same to us

burnley blue mcfc

We won’t get the chance to compare ourselves to Spain because the Swiss will beat Us.

chris85mcfc​

What a truly awful side and formation he's got out there

Astonished that you can get 3/1 about the Swiss in 90 minutes

abu13​

I think we are going to get fucked today.

How have you got this much time on your hands?

 

[BlueHammer85]

How have you got this much time on your hands?

took 2 mins

 

[Crooked_rain]

If France beat Spain, England will win the tournament.
I think Spain though would have too much for England

I think France would beat England.

They're just as poor as us to watch right now, but i think they have a bit more "know how" to get over the line than England when it comes to the biggest moments.

We might be able to drag Spain into an awful game and win.

Either way, that's putting the cart before t'horse. Netherlands are no mugs and have some players playing well.

 

[bluemoon32]

I think France would beat England.

They're just as poor as us to watch right now, but i think they have a bit more "know how" to get over the line than England when it comes to the biggest moments.

We might be able to drag Spain into an awful game and win.

Either way, that's putting the cart before t'horse. Netherlands are no mugs and have some players playing well.

Netherlands aren't a great side but as you say, they have a couple of players that can turn it on and hurt you.
I still think England will beat them, maybe on pens again

 

[RACHACE]

For me it was another under par performance.

I can't remember their goal keeper having to do anything of note and we once again rely on a moment of brilliance to avoid going out after going a goal down to a side that we really should be beating fairly comfortably.

Switzerland are a solid team. But they're a team that have never progressed further than the Quarter-Final of a major tournament ever so I don't think it's arrogant to suggest or expect England to win that game.

We did win (eventually) but it still feels that we're dying the slowest death possible, especially after what we've witnessed previously against both Croatia in 2018 and Italy in 2021.

The truth is that only happy clappers are happy with our 'progress' in this tournament whilst the rest of us are fuming that Gareth Southgate has had the opportunity to manage England at 4 different tournaments now and we're arguably as boring to watch as we've ever been, despite having some brilliant players going forward.

The only slither of sympathy I have for Southgate is that the team probably isn't as good as many think. We have some cracking individuals, especially in the more attacking positions but there's a clear imbalance with no left back, no proper DM or creative spark in centre mid either. Not that it'd matter as even if we did have a KDB or Odegaard type, Gareth would probably instruct him to pass sideways, no more than 10ft and don't try to be a maverick by playing balls that can actually hurt the opposition.

There's also a real lack of chemistry. Probably in part due to the ego's in the team. I get the feeling that many of the players don't particularly like each other and are just going through the motions. Phil, Bellingham, TAA, Palmer, Saka all play for different clubs with big ambition. Some have tasted success more than others and it's likely an underlying issue. Senior players like Kane probably aren't arsed and any attempts to create harmony by say someone like Kyle Walker has probably fell on deaf ears.

I imagine Gareth just says things that nobody listens to in this regard.

 

[RACHACE]

The record books will say Southgate got to two semi finals and a final minimum.

WC 2018 (ranking at the time)
Tunisia (14th)
Panama (55th)
Belgium (3rd)
Colombia (16th)
Sweden (23rd)
Croatia (18th)

EURO 2020
Scotland (44th)
Czech Rep (40th)
Croatia (14th)
Germany (12th)
Ukraine (24th)
Denmark (10th)
Italy (7th)

EURO 2024
Serbia (32nd)
Denmark (21st)
Slovenia (57th)
Slovakia (45th)
Switzerland (19th)

Denmark semi final in 2020 is the only time we’ve beaten anyone in the top ten.

The equivalent of this euros run in comparison to last season’s final standings would be City or Arsenal (depending on individual quality alone you think England are the best or second best team in the competition)

Cardiff City
Leicester City
Exeter City
Portsmouth
Burnley

Never known a manager to get an easy run so much and struggle to get through with the talent he has available.

I think this is a great post that highlights just how fortunate Gareth has been.

The fact remains that despite touching down on fortune, we've won nothing under him and I've seen nothing that makes me confident that it's going to change in this tournament.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Kane needs dropping big time, the greedy lazy not fit **** contributes fuck all for our attacking press, might as well be playing with 10 men

The laughable bit is it looked like Southgate was only keeping him on for a penalty then takes him off in extra time!

 

[Wretched Vengeance]

I thought it was better, particularly against a well organised Swiss team playing with confidence.

However, there are still serious issues to address, which I expect Southgate will ignore.

Kane continually dropping deeper, and then deeper again can't be helping the team. Trippier (not many options) is hindering the balance.

Might as well drop Foden(I thought he played well first half) He appears frustrated and it just isn't happening for him. I don't think Phil and Bellingham can play those roles together and he isn't dropping Bellingham.

The press - well, it's just a bit of a mess. Sometimes we do, often we don't. Some press while others amble around, then it just stops altogether. Foden seems to be the only one who does it regularly and with purpose.

We only seem to be able to play well going forward for a few minutes at a time - there's rarely sustained pressure where you feel the opposition will cave in.

Still, it's something to build on. Some positives, but much bigger improvement required from Gareth if we want to progress and ultimately win it. Feels like we are still being bailed out by rare moments of individual brilliance.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I think this is a great post that highlights just how fortunate Gareth has been.

The fact remains that despite touching down on fortune, we've won nothing under him and I've seen nothing that makes me confident that it's going to change in this tournament.

you must be hating every single minute and preying we don't win. weird obsessive negativity.

England are in ANOTHER semi final. great achievement again - Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy - and some other very good sides with star players are packed up and out the cup - England are still in and just don't know when to be beaten. Bring on the Dutch!