[mcoops]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Distracted, things on his mind, loss of confidence, system doesnt suit him...... one thing is for certain he aint doing his sales value much good!

Yes it's interesting isn't it, especially if (when?) England get knocked out in the last 16 and if he has another anonymous game. Will Spurs soften on selling him? Will City refuse to increase their bid or even drop their pursuit? Probably neither as he is still a great player in his prime, but fascinating to see what happens.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by mcoops

Yes it's interesting isn't it, especially if (when?) England get knocked out in the last 16 and if he has another anonymous game. Will Spurs soften on selling him? Will City refuse to increase their bid or even drop their pursuit? Probably neither as he is still a great player in his prime, but fascinating to see what happens.

I think we will go out in next round and he will then conclude his transfer deal and be back to normal...

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by mcoops

So what's the view on Harry Kane? Is he injured? Distracted? Is it the system? He's hardly had a touch in 3 games, and when he does, it bounces off him and he falls over. What's going on?

I don't really follow the premier league much, nor England, so have not had a chance to see Kane in action all that often… I mean, he must be doing it for somebody, somewhere, to be as lauded as he is, I do understand that… but I struggled to see how the commentator was justified in calling him one of the best strikers in the world on the evidence I have seen in Euro 20…

He looked most effective last night playing passes forwards from deep, like Bale does for Wales…

[JustChris]

I think Kane needs a pacey partner up front with him like Son. England don't seem to want to play that kind of system with say Rashford sleight yo too with him.

[TouringPleb]

Anyone watching the footie tonight? Swapping between BBC1 and 2. Can't keep up with who England are playing next! Keeps changing!

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by TouringPleb

Anyone watching the footie tonight? Swapping between BBC1 and 2. Can't keep up with who England are playing next! Keeps changing!

Me too… quite entertaining doing the 1-2 shuffle… i even timed it right to catch some of the goals in both games…. Hungary going back in front from the restart after the equaliser must have been a gut punch for Germany… think France/Portugal might fizzle out so am now sticking with the game from Munich…?

[planemad]

So it’s Germany!

National pride at stake.

[JR1664]

Germany it is then. They looked poor tonight, will probably raise their game etc etc. Would rather face them than Portugal or France.

[Scoobyd]

Originally Posted by planemad

We topped the group! Just gone quietly about our business.
Credit to him so far as his approach has been tactically dull, let’s hope we turn it on a bit now.

Very quietly! And, just like the last World Cup, we've qualified from a group we should have. We were ok against Croatia but only created 2 attempts on target. We were utterly woeful against Scotland and mustered one shot on target. We started more brightly last night but after we scored we only managed one more shot in the game... and that was in the 26th minute!

We have a wealth of attacking players yet aren't creating any chances.

Knockouts now... Germany. The first true test. And they're certainly not a Germany of old to be feared. If you go at them you can cause them a lot of problems. And there's my fear... if you go at them!

Will we get knocked out again at the first game of note we face...? I really hope not!!! But we'll need to improve a lot not to.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by JR1664

Germany it is then. They looked poor tonight, will probably raise their game etc etc. Would rather face them than Portugal or France.

Yes, I think Germany are very beatable, much more so than France or Portugal IMO; I just hope we give it a real go and take it to them rather than defaulting to safety first and passing sideways or backwards as we so often do!

And with the way the draw for the knockout stage has worked out England are in by far the weaker half and hence on paper will probably never have a better chance of making it to the final of a major competition - what could possibly go wrong?!

[TouringPleb]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Yes, I think Germany are very beatable, much more so than France or Portugal IMO; I just hope we give it a real go and take it to them rather than defaulting to safety first and passing sideways or backwards as we so often do!

And with the way the draw for the knockout stage has worked out England are in by far the weaker half and hence on paper will probably never have a better chance of making it to the final of a major competition - what could possibly go wrong?!

We've definitely got the easier side of the draw with France, Portugal, Italy and Spain all on the other side. Probably never have a better chance to progress.

That can only mean we will stuff it up against Germany.

[planemad]

I think we will get knocked out in the semi’s.

[Wills2]

Well through to the qtr finals and the via meeting the Germans.

[SuperHamz]

Just read through some of the older posts, so much negativity towards Gareth Southgate, I'd rather we played for the 1-0 and finally won a tournament. It'd be a first for many a generation.

Also, Scotland and Wales were more likely to get further than England...hahahahaha, they sure showed us

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by saltyamigo

Apologies if I missed the posts, but can't see where any Scottish or Welsh person said that Scotland or Wales would get further than England. Wales did very well considering their population, I think only Macedonia qualified with a lower population, and to get out of their group with strong Italian and Swiss teams was an achievement in itself. Italy and Switzerland are still in the last 8 while Wales were well beaten by a very good Denmark side, the game got away from them with two late goals and a red card. Scotland were quite poor apart from the England game, with a lack of threat up front. After losing the first game against the Czech's it was always going to be an uphill battle, but signs of a few promising players for the future. England and Czech are still in the last 8, and Croatia gave Spain a good game in the last 16.

Its funny isnt it, we all referred to France, Germany and Portugal as the group of death - but none have made the last 8....

whereas two from England's group......

[Scoobyd]

Yup. I'll put my hands up and admit I've been no great fan of Southgate as a manager, and I still stand by that! But, so far, what he's doing is working for him. And for once we didn't fall at the first real hurdle put in front of us! Hopefully finally getting past the Germans in a major tournament can raise the confidence and belief even further now.

I still get frustrated that we're not getting the best out of the squad in an attacking sense. Until our first goal, and until Grealish came on, we hadn't mustered a single attempt on goal. On target or otherwise. In fact our first goal was our first attempt! Grealish made the difference a lot of us hoped and expected he would, heavily involved in both goals.

Not having conceded yet in the tournament is to be applauded though. Yet I still can't believe how Muller missed... phew! And we're controlling games and looking very solid. When it comes to tournament football winning is ultimately all that matters.

I'd like to see us take the handbrake off at least a bit v Ukraine. Attack more and hopefully get a few more goals to lift the spirits even higher. You could see the weight off Kane's shoulders when he scored. And what he can do if we actually get the ball to him!

With Ukraine and most likely Denmark standing between us and the final now it would be a huge disappointment not to get there. And if we do, whoever we play, in front of 60,000 fans at Wembley we can beat anyone on our day. Just the 40,000 on Tuesday created a hell of an atmosphere! It felt like a proper football match again after so much behind closed doors stuff.

Here's hoping we don't put in a Scotland performance on Saturday night and get the next stage of the job done!!

[isleaiw1]

I'm not sure I'd agree Grealish was heavily involved in the first goal, I reckon I could have made that pass to Shaw. The first one was down to Sterling, ran at them and then carried on the run....

Its great to have such fab attacking options on the bench but it would be nice to see a bit more of some of them, now Sancho's deal is done surely we are going to see him at some point?

[JR1664]

Walk in the park tonight. Might need to engage 2nd gear against Denmark.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by JR1664

Walk in the park tonight. Might need to engage 2nd gear against Denmark.

Yes, Ukraine weren't up to much but you can only beat what's in front of you and we certainly did that tonight. No reason why we can't beat Denmark in the semi-final and, while I'd say Italy look the strongest of the four remaining teams, they were fortunate to beat Austria and are certainly beatable if they're not at their best.

England have been improving steadily in their last few games and have a quiet assurance about them that I haven't seen for quite a while with the national team. After the Scotland game I thought we had no chance of doing anything in the tournament but I'll now be disappointed if we don't make the final and if we do I reckon we'll have a decent chance of winning it!

[Scoobyd]

We'll certainly never have a better chance! A semi final in front of 60,000 fans at Wembley against a side we should be beating. Denmark are a good side, but they won't be favourites. Then a potential final at Wembley in front of 60,000 again. Italy have looked very good but they have to get past Spain first. And if we play at our best there's no reason why we can't beat either.

Such talent available in this squad. To be able to give so many players a run out in the second half given 4 up was a big plus. And quality like Grealish and Foden didn't even come on!

Harry Kane… the moment he's got chances he's put them in the net. Never in doubt. Yet many did.

And I'm loving how Southgate is making me eat some of the words I've said about him. I don't think I can recall an England side looking so in control of games nor can I remember seeing such a fantastic togetherness and spirit in the camp. No divisive cliques, no individuals, just a bunch of thoroughly decent lads.

Come on England… two more big performances and let's finally get over the line again! For the first time in most of our lifetimes!

[Wills2]

Looking back the doubters posts on this thread is hilarious especially the details they go into to "explain" why they're simply not good enough...now we've knee jerked into them winning the thing and beating Spain or Italy in the final.

Fickle is as fickle does.

[JustChris]

England Italy final I'd say and England to lift it after extra time in a battle of the stingy defences.