Why WON’T your country win the Euros?

[Danny]

A thread for the pessimists. If you dont have a country at the Euros just pick a country you most want to win.

From an England perspective, other than decades of consistent failure, I would say our biggest problem split between us not having more quality in defence and not having a playmaker.

In terms of the defence Walker is great, best RB in the world, Stones is up there as one of the best centre backs, but then imo there is a pretty big drop off after that at CB, LB and GK. Pickford is great at what he does best, but then his wider game isn’t up there with the best. Shaw and Chilwell not particularly great, Maguire does the basics well but can be turned inside out.

In terms of a playmaker, Foden and Bellingham aren’t that. They can create yes, but they are goal scorers and match winners. Rice just doesn’t have the capacity to break teams down, he has the occasional switch but you need more, look at Rodri and Tchouameni, they do it all. Rice severely lacks imo when it comes to his passing game. He is a galloper, wants to run, be that to cover space and defend or to progress the ball forward. He’s no playmaker imo. Reality is that we really only have Trent that can do that, and I’m not sure if he will start. I was set on an England midfield of Rice, Bellingham and Foden but the more I think about it, the more Foden needs to play on the left, put Bellingham in the attacking mid and let Rice and Trent try to control things from deep. That’s what I would go with, but I’m not sure we will.

Overall, I think our biggest problem since Southgate took over, and it has included the above issues, is that we don’t overachieve. We don’t win enough against the bigger nations (or smaller nations who overachieve) and realistically we will never win anything whilst we can’t beat those teams. I’ve said it before but I don’t think success at this tournament means having to win it, but there is a chance we’d have to play Spain/Croatia in the QFs and France in the semi’s just to get to the final. Beating those teams (highly doubtful) would represent success even if we were to lose the final.

[Tommy]

Because of the rainbow flag captain's armband, obviously. 

[Rucksackfranzose]

3 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Because of the rainbow flag captain's armband, obviously. 

No, it's because the players don't sing the national anthem with enough fervor.

[Spike]

Didn’t qualify, mate. 

[Stan]

India isn't in Europe.

[Happy Blue]

7 hours ago, Danny said:

A thread for the pessimists. If you dont have a country at the Euros just pick a country you most want to win.

From an England perspective, other than decades of consistent failure, I would say our biggest problem split between us not having more quality in defence and not having a playmaker.

In terms of the defence Walker is great, best RB in the world, Stones is up there as one of the best centre backs, but then imo there is a pretty big drop off after that at CB, LB and GK. Pickford is great at what he does best, but then his wider game isn’t up there with the best. Shaw and Chilwell not particularly great, Maguire does the basics well but can be turned inside out.

In terms of a playmaker, Foden and Bellingham aren’t that. They can create yes, but they are goal scorers and match winners. Rice just doesn’t have the capacity to break teams down, he has the occasional switch but you need more, look at Rodri and Tchouameni, they do it all. Rice severely lacks imo when it comes to his passing game. He is a galloper, wants to run, be that to cover space and defend or to progress the ball forward. He’s no playmaker imo. Reality is that we really only have Trent that can do that, and I’m not sure if he will start. I was set on an England midfield of Rice, Bellingham and Foden but the more I think about it, the more Foden needs to play on the left, put Bellingham in the attacking mid and let Rice and Trent try to control things from deep. That’s what I would go with, but I’m not sure we will.

Overall, I think our biggest problem since Southgate took over, and it has included the above issues, is that we don’t overachieve. We don’t win enough against the bigger nations (or smaller nations who overachieve) and realistically we will never win anything whilst we can’t beat those teams. I’ve said it before but I don’t think success at this tournament means having to win it, but there is a chance we’d have to play Spain/Croatia in the QFs and France in the semi’s just to get to the final. Beating those teams (highly doubtful) would represent success even if we were to lose the final.

England's defence is shit, Walker has been a massive liability this season and poor yesterday, hope we get rid of him this summer. Stones has been injured most the season and didn't look good yesterday in his first game back, another liability with his injury record and they supposed to be England's best 2 defenders  id of taken Lewis. it's fucked, it's all fucked. England going to be needing wonder goals from Foden, Bellingham & Kane 

[Devil]

Because Southgate is obsessed with playing Bellingham as a 10, drop him deeper and play Foden at 10 and get double the quality.

 

[Dan+]

I think there's a deep ingrained participation award mentality in English football.

[The Palace Fan]

The fanbase.

[Danny]

5 hours ago, The Palace Fan said:

The fanbase.

I always find England discourse weird. I don’t know many people personally that think we should be winning this competition, or any of the previous ones. But then you go online and see your TalkSport types and think they must be out there

[CaaC (John)+]

Scotland won't get anywhere, end of story, England? they have always had class goalkeepers, Banks, Shilton, Clemence, Seaman and maybe throw in Chris Woods and that's about it, guys who could command the back line and get respect, none of them around nowadays.

Also there is the media, all the hype they throw out when a competition arrives how great England are the players believe them and when it all goes ape shit the media come down on them like a ton of bricks.

I read once other countries around the world won't highlight the games ahead like England does and just start the campaign off low key and stop plastering the media with all the news how great they are.

I am no expert at all this so take it as a load of bullshit. 

[Dan+]

4 hours ago, Danny said:

I always find England discourse weird. I don’t know many people personally that think we should be winning this competition, or any of the previous ones. But then you go online and see your TalkSport types and think they must be out there

People are automatically negative with England but I don't see any good reason England shouldn't be seeing themselves as a serious contender this time around.

I think it will be the usual which is beat everybody we're expected to beat and lose as soon as we hit a bit of genuine adversity. Biggest flat track bullies in football.

[Rab]

It's Scotland.

[Beelzebub]

My reasons for each team for not winning

Germany Going through a bad patch for some time now with mixed results recently

Scotland Have never progressed out of the group stages in history and not likely to change that

Hungary Remerging on the intl scene after decades of wilderness that is good enough

Switzerland Switzerland in football is like India pre-2003 in cricket which was called team of bank clerics. Competitive enough to do the job here and there but nothing inspiring about them individually and collectively. 

Spain apart from that 2008-12 period they have always been chokers on intl scene

Croatia Their best days are behind them

Italy Last Euro win was an anomaly from the deep structural problems in their football. Even a broken clock thing

Albania Why have they even qualified ?

Slovenia Should be happy they even qualified

Denmark Piss poor at the last WC under different conditions showed they are not all that great with last Euro run

Serbia meh

England Self-explanatory

Poland Like Switzerland but have one very popular player

Netherlands Were really good in last WC expect them to reach semis but 50/50 after that

Austria Like Slovenia but have one very famous player who I believe won't be playing

France No reason not to win

Belgium Wasted golden generation now back to being mediocre like they were from 2000s to early 2010s

Slovakia meh

Romania Eww

Ukraine Expect them to top their group but meh after that

Turkey Did fuck all despite so much talk around them last Euros. A mediocre NT in essence, the best entertainment they can give is by starting one those brawls like in their league

Georgia Technically shouldn't even be here since they are part of Asia

Portugal Ronaldo haters kept saying they are better without Ronaldo but did the same without Ronaldo last WC. QF stuff max

Czech Republic Croatia of Euros but won't win it

 

 

[Stan]

1 hour ago, Beelzebub said:

Austria Like Slovenia but have one very famous player who I believe won't be playing

 

Alaba, Sabitzer, Arnautovic, Weimann, Kalajdzic? They're more than just one very famous player.

They're by no means the best country and probably won't be in top 2 based on Netherlands/France being streets ahead. But they're better than Slovenia and I fancy them to finish ahead of Poland.

1 hour ago, Beelzebub said:

Belgium Wasted golden generation now back to being mediocre like they were from 2000s to early 2010s

Slovakia meh

Romania Eww

Ukraine Expect them to top their group but meh after that

Belgium are beyond their golden generation but even so, I cannot see them finishing behind Ukraine. 

[OrangeKhrush]

The obvious one is that South Africa doesnt qualify for europe, generally doesnt qualify for any tournament however I will will give them credit for the Afcon semi.   Sure I think it was the weakest Afcon in a decade but you still have to win.   

As for who I am supporting, I like underdogs, the Greek win was one of those lake placid miracle on ice moments that rarely happen.   I supported Morroco in the World Cup.  It would be amazing if Scotland can make it out the group stage.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Gareth Southgate’s tactics and Harry Kane being cursed

[Harry]

...Unless they start making it like the Eurovision song contest, it'll be because we won't be competing

[CaaC (John)+]

On 07/06/2024 at 11:52, OrangeKhrush said:

It would be amazing if Scotland can make it out the group stage.

                               

[Happy Blue]

Southgate

[Reluctant Striker]

England : because years & years of not really quite having a good enough team to win & that sense of being a former World Cup winner has faded to a deflation of multiple nearly but not quites (3 major semis & 1 final since 1966 now) And that deflation passes on to the latest footballing generation fairly quickly. Collectively fans expect the worst at certain moments & it's easy to imagine the players do too. And I honestly do not think we have the same national pride as much as many others, for whatever reasons that is. And if it goes to penalties we will sorely miss Harry Maguire. 

[KMAmes]

3 hours ago, Reluctant Striker said:

England : because years & years of not really quite having a good enough team to win & that sense of being a former World Cup winner has faded to a deflation of multiple nearly but not quites (3 major semis & 1 final since 1966 now) And that deflation passes on to the latest footballing generation fairly quickly. Collectively fans expect the worst at certain moments & it's easy to imagine the players do too. And I honestly do not think we have the same national pride as much as many others, for whatever reasons that is. And if it goes to penalties we will sorely miss Harry Maguire. 

England have never beaten a World Cup winning nation (Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy etc) in a knockout match, away from Wembley, in their entire history. In qualifying and group matches, yes, but once we meet a major footballing nation at a knockout stage - out we go. We have beaten others, e.g. Sweden, Paraguay, Denmark, Cameroon and Colombia, and we have progressed in some tournaments thanks to a relatively favourable draw. Notably in 1990 and 2018. But until we overcome the true giants of international football, we will be also-rans. (Oh and England will miss Maguire's aerial dominance that's for sure. Don't hold out much hope for our defending corners for a start).

[El Profesor]

Well, we weren´t invited to the party. haha

But I must admit, the Euros are much more exciting than the borefest that is Copa America, which is by far the worst continental competition in the world.