Goooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[Dmitry]

14 hours ago, mikeweil said:

... and now they beat the Swedes with a last minute goal.

England-Ukraine this Saturday in Rome. If the Ukrainians will neutralize the elastic Sterling, we might have a game!

Edited June 30, 2021 by Dmitry

[mjazzg]

54 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

England-Ukraine this Saturday in Rome. If the Ukrainians will neutralize the elastic Sterling, we might have a game!

But what about the elastic Saka and Grealish?

[Dmitry]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

But what about the elastic Saka and Grealish?

Luckily, your manager isn't good enough to understand how important Grealish is for your side.

[mjazzg]

54 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Luckily, your manager isn't good enough to understand how important Grealish is for your side.

His safety-first conservatism is an issue but so far it's worked.  Against better teams it may become a bigger issue.

[Dmitry]

Interesting statistic, tracing the teams who made it from the Group Stage into the 1/4-finals.

100% В - Belgium, Denmark. 2/2.
66 % А- Italy, Switzerland. 2/3.
66 % D- England, Czech Republic. 2/3.
50% Е - Spain. 1/2.
33 % С - Ukraine. 1/3.
0 % F - 0/3.

The objectively strongest group F - France, Germany, Portugal, is decimated. 

45 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

His safety-first conservatism is an issue but so far it's worked.  Against better teams it may become a bigger issue.

I'm just talking friendly trash, I hope you aren't taking it to heart. I was so hopeful England would show us the fast and dynamic football this squad is born to play - Shaw, Walker, Phillips, Mount, Foden, Grealish, Kane, but this hasn't been the case yet.

[mjazzg]

24 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Interesting statistic, tracing the teams who made it from the Group Stage into the 1/4-finals.

100% В - Belgium, Denmark. 2/2.
66 % А- Italy, Switzerland. 2/3.
66 % D- England, Czech Republic. 2/3.
50% Е - Spain. 1/2.
33 % С - Ukraine. 1/3.
0 % F - 0/3.

The objectively strongest group F - France, Germany, Portugal, is decimated. 

I'm just talking friendly trash, I hope you aren't taking it to heart. I was so hopeful England would show us the fast and dynamic football this squad is born to play - Shaw, Walker, Phillips, Mount, Foden, Grealish, Kane, but this hasn't been the case yet.

no, not taking it to heart at all, it's not that important. I'm not sure we'll see too much dynamism under Southgate but I can forgive him that if we keep winning but when we lose to Ukraine and haven't unleashed our creative players then he's in trouble 

The hype over here today is ridiculous, you'd think we'd got to the final by beating Germany not the quarter-final

Edited June 30, 2021 by mjazzg

[erwbol]

22 hours ago, Dmitry said:

Also, Pickford is one of the best keepers I've ever seen on the goal line.  I'm just referring to his awesome saves on the line, not him being an amazing universal keeper overall.

He's also a butcher who should have gotten a deep red card and a lengthy ban for what he did to Virgil van Dijk last season.

[mjazzg]

12 minutes ago, erwbol said:

He's also a butcher who should have gotten a deep red card and a lengthy ban for what he did to Virgil van Dijk last season.

Wasn't his finest moment and was definitely a red card tackle but butcher is taking it a bit far. It wasn't a Harald Schumacher on Batiston.or even a De Jong on Alonso.

That aside, he always plays well in an England shirt.

[Dmitry]

Today, in his annual call-in with the serfs, Putin has voiced his dissatisfaction with the performance of his hockey and football teams. Rest assured, changes will be made. The serfs are rejoicing. 

I must add that the Stalin-lookalike coach of the Russian national soccer team makes 2,500,000 Euros per year. That is way more than an average Russian serf makes these days, even though the playing field is leveling for the serfs.

[mjazzg]

Magnificent match between Italy and Belgium. Italy have been my team of the tournament, they can pass the opposition to death. However, their tactical innovation is based largely on Spinnazola, my player of the tournament so far. Such a shame to see him so badly injured. His absence could make a big difference.

[Brad]

Spain was lucky to get through today. They looked terrible and that red card on the Swiss player was a travesty. They deserved to win. Sadly, the Italians will probably win. 

[Dmitry]

I don’t remember seeing a National team miss three penalties in a row. That was painful to watch.

italy is the favorite for me, after their lesson today. 

[mjazzg]

A step closer to it coming home  but Italy are still my favourites to win as they've been consistently the best team

[Dmitry]

What a bad game from the Ukrainians… Their mental stamina appears to be immature.

Still, good luck to the English!

[sidewinder]

Kane woke up !

Significantly better performance tonight though.

Edited July 3, 2021 by sidewinder

[mikeweil]

My bet for thge final: England - Italy

[Brad]

Infuriating loss as they were better than Italy but it was a good tournament although it could have been better. Big things will be expected next year. 

[Dmitry]

A good match. Spain was surprisingly-good in the second half. I was not sure who’d win until the very end. 
Italians were not prepared for such a good game from the Spanish, but their discipline was strong. Good luck to them!

Also, if you have not been watching the Copa America, you’ve missed out on a lot. The elimination matches were amazing. Tonight’s Argentina-Colombia was more intense than most of the Euros. Messi finally scored a penalty that mattered!

Saturday is the final - Brazil-Argentina at Maracana!!!

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Dmitry

[mjazzg]

Great match from a neutral's point of view.  Some great play, especially by the Spanish but both sides lack a proven goalscorer  (neither Morata nor Immobile score enough from the chances presented them) which would take them to the next level.  Italy have been my team of the tournament so I was pleased to see them prevail.

Copa America is on in the middle of the night so not likely to see it.  

[Brad]

7 hours ago, mjazzg said:

Great match from a neutral's point of view.  Some great play, especially by the Spanish but both sides lack a proven goalscorer  (neither Morata nor Immobile score enough from the chances presented them) which would take them to the next level.  Italy have been my team of the tournament so I was pleased to see them prevail.

Copa America is on in the middle of the night so not likely to see it.  

Spain lack a finisher like Kane or Ronaldo. Obviously you can’t invent them out of thin air.  Perhaps over time Morata will become that. Some of the players who advanced to the semis of the Under 21 Championship were on this team so it gives you plenty of hope for the future.

I’ve seen a little bit of the Copa America but it seems sterile compared to the Euros and no crowds only reinforces that impression. 

[Dmitry]

Argentina-Colombia semifinal was intense, and the outcome even more dramatic.

[mjazzg]

Well that was a good match. Denmark played well but most of their chances were due to England errors. The amount of pressure England exerted on the Danish defence was very impressive. Was it a penalty? Of course it was 

Another step closer. England look so incisive going forward it's very impressive. Defensively they need to tighten up but the worry is midfield where they can become exposed by slick passing and fast breaks.

Italy will be a real test but not one beyond this squad if all perform well.

[Dmitry]

IMHO, without Sterling and Kane England would be just a slightly above average team.

Also, Playing all but one match at Wembley, with near unanimous fan support had played a major part only afforded to a host team.

 

[mjazzg]

Agree on both counts but someone has to be the host...

[Niko]

Agreed, but the English fans in the stadium made it crystal clear that they're not much into playing the host, pretty much any country's home audience would have been more welcoming than them... I know it doesn't say everything about the country at large, it just makes a bad impression and spoils the game