I;d second thatTo stick my neck out a bit, I reckon England to win this evening (let's say 2-1 in normal time), then to get complacent and lose unexpectedly to either Sweden (quarters) or Denmark (semi).
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I;d second thatTo stick my neck out a bit, I reckon England to win this evening (let's say 2-1 in normal time), then to get complacent and lose unexpectedly to either Sweden (quarters) or Denmark (semi).
I am not sure about that. Apart from a nervy opening by England, the Germans were contained (they had zero shots on target in the first 70 mins), the English wingers were causing them some bother, and then they sprung Grealish on 65 mins and it worked. Can't fault that. They haven't conceded a single goal in the tournament and they have won when they've needed to, with plenty in the bank.England were only good for 20 minutes today after Grealish came on. Southgate is nice guy in a lot of ways but he's not getting the best out of his squad. his man management is ace but purely as a manager he's unproven. they've created feck all chances but managed to score the few they do create.
It doesn't matter. If the strategy is to contain them and tire out their defence athletically for 65 mins and then bring on the game changers. That was the plan and it worked. It's a results business and 99% of England fans are happier that they've beaten Germany than whether they played like Brazil in 1970.OK - but how many shots did England have on target before Jack Grealish came on ?
it was dull stuff from both until then.
Is that type of injury career ending as the tone of your post sounds like it is?Italy were super. Belgium would beat anyone else in Europe but it looks like their team's time has passed.
I would love them to have won something.
De Bruyne was obviously injured.
that would have been a great final but the draw was tough on Belgium.
the only criticism I could level at Italy was several Italians feigning injury near the end to waste time.
poor Spinozzola seems to have ruptured his Achilles - what a pity. he was as good as anyone today.
The ruptured achilles? It's a nasty one alright, but not career ending at all. There's very few career ending injuries nowadays. Spinazolla will be back, but it will take a lot of months, and the biggest thing about the ruptured achilles is that when he recovers, he will surely lose a bit of pace from it, and his pace was one of the reasons he was so good last night. Like, the actual move where he did it was from him nodding a ridiculous ball to chase past a Belgian defender which most players wouldn't have had a hope of catching.Is that type of injury career ending as the tone of your post sounds like it is?
Great analysis Cormac.Italy tore Belgium apart there for about 75 minutes, before the press tired them, they made some subs, and Spinozzola got injured. Then they reverted to absolute classic Italy, the catenaccio masters. It was fuckin class to watch. Even the messing about time-wasting, just clever bastards.
The whole game they pressed the absolute shit out of Belgium. What said it all was the moment when Courtois was almost dispossessed beside his own net, but the referee gave him the free. There's no other team in the world would have been able to get anywhere near Courtois when the Belgians have the ball.
The Italian performance was like watching a combination of classic Barca and classic AC. In possession, their passing was superb. They played some amazing tiki-taka stuff, and knew exactly when to switch it up with a longer pass. Every time Belgium thought they could press in one direction, the Italians instantly switched direction to find a free man, it was fucking unreal. Bonucci's balls were incredible, fucking central defender like. It took about 70 minutes for Belgium to finally catch him out, but he did enough to win the free kick fortunately.
Out of possession, they totally smothered Belgium. Chiellini and Bonnuci made Lukaku look shit. Belgium did have a few chances for sure, because they are a good enough team to find and exploit the only weak part of Italy, the right back, and that Belgian left winger played amazing and was their only real danger. Apart from him, Belgium had fuck all to offer really. The block on Lukaku's scuffed shot by the Italian defender, and the reaction from Chiellini and co. afterwards, says everything about this Italian team. It's pure 100% football commitment, and it absolutely fucking rules. They're the best team by far because they almost all play 100% for the team, there's no ego bullshit on display. Germany played similarly when they won the world cup in Brazil, just ruthless no bullshit football that is fucking great to see because it tears the 'superstar' teams apart (Argentina were a bit unlucky to come up against that in the final with their best team since peak Maradona times).
I think if Italy played that way against any other team but Belgium last night, you'd be looking at an easy 3-0 win, possibly going to a 7-0 hammering if they were playing 'teams' like France. That Belgian team is actually a great side, and they generally play well as a team, but they got shown what real teamwork is about last night, and the Italian's intelligence in passing was unstoppable. Spinozzola would have scored the goal of the tournament by some distance if that volley of his had found the net around 65 minutes.
I hope this Italy can fucking tear Spain to shreds playing at the same level in the semifinal. If the Italians play that way again, and Spain play the way they did against Switzerland, it should be an easy 5-0 to Italy. The injury to Spinazzola is a big loss though. And just imagine how fucking good Italy would be if they had somebody like Lukaku up front for them. Immobile hasn't been up to much, he's not bad but he's maybe their least effective player when they have possession.
It was only a matter of time.England are fucking amazing, I love them
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