2020-21 Football thread (2 Viewers)

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.
Kane was poor again. but only the Danes could stop them getting to the Final now though.

all of the Group of Death are dead and buried now strangely.

Sweden and Ukraine was surprisingly good until an avalanche of injuries and substitutions in extra time.

anyway I could do with a break for a few days now
 
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.
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.
 
OK - but how many shots did England have on target before Jack Grealish came on ?
it was dull stuff from both until then.

England are actually creating very few clear cut chances but Sterling has bailed them out.
that squad should be winning in style.

the defence has been impressive but Southgate's too cautious for me.
maybe I don't have a clue but they are going along OK but no more than that.
Kane has been poor but he could come good.
 
OK - but how many shots did England have on target before Jack Grealish came on ?
it was dull stuff from both until then.
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.

What's really sad to see though, from a football culture perspective, is how media-trained and calculated and soulless Southgate is in interviews because of the media/social media pressure they are under. Bring back Bobby Robson and Jack Charlton being able to have the confidence and freedom to speak like a fucking human being about the beauty of the moment etc.
 
England are cunts, and always will be, haha.

Fuckin ref bottled it anyway, Rice should have been shown a straight red for taking down Goretzka on 10 minutes when he was through 1 on 1 with the keeper, instead the nice ref only showed him a yellow. Bullshit decision, no way were those other England players in position to cover, fucking nonsense. That's what happens when you play all your matches at home though.

Also Phillips should have been sent off in the first half too, his yellow should have been his second yellow.

Ref fuckin bottled it.
 
Apart from the couple of chances, Germany were pretty dreadful though. I think Kimmich should have been playing alongside Goretzka in the middle. Loew was worried about the right back position but it was too much of a price to pay to lose one of the best midfielders in the world. In the form he's in, Werner shouldn't have been anywhere near the starting line-up. I think Volland or Musiala deserved a chance. They oriented themselves too much to the opposition rather than playing to their strengths and ended up going out with a whimper. They should have had the confidence to play their in-form players in their best positions.
 
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.
 
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.
Is that type of injury career ending as the tone of your post sounds like it is?
 
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.
 
Is that type of injury career ending as the tone of your post sounds like it is?
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.
 
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.
Great analysis Cormac.
The pressing by Italy was immense. A bunch of very good players that are far greater than the sum of the parts.
After missing the last World Cup
only a mass injury or Covid crisis will stop them now.

Belgium weren't quite good enough in the last two tournaments but not getting to a Final either time was very lucky.
The easily beat England a few months ago.
Jeremy Doku turned 19 five weeks ago!
 
Doku was class last night, surely there'll be clubs queueing up to sign him.
I watched that match where Belgium beat England, they were all over them and made the Brits looks shit, they could have scored 3 or 4 more than they did.
Italy have been the heart and soul of this Euros, right from the opening ceremony. If they don't win it, there's no justice!!
 
New posts

Users who are viewing this thread

Activity
So far there's no one here

21 Day Calendar

Mohammad Syfkhan 'I Am Kurdish' Dublin Album Launch
Bello Bar
1 Portobello Harbour, Saint Kevin's, Dublin, Ireland
Mohammad Syfkhan 'I Am Kurdish' Dublin Album Launch
Bello Bar
1 Portobello Harbour, Saint Kevin's, Dublin, Ireland

Support thumped.com

Support thumped.com and upgrade your account

Upgrade your account now to disable all ads... If we had any... Which we don't right now.

Upgrade now

Latest posts

Latest threads

Back
Top