England v Czech Republic Match Thread

[Raj]

7 hours ago, Bert said:

And? Did you see their performance against France where they were shite? 

 

 

 

Where as England have been shite throughout, lets be honest...

Watching them is a cure for Insomnia...

[fox_favourite]

5 hours ago, z-layrex said:

Think we're doing fine. Greece won it playing like shit, Portuguese won it playing like shit and even lost a group game. Cheer the **** up misery guts.

So, by that comment you agree we are “playing like s***”?

[HighPeakFox]

7 hours ago, Parafox said:

Sorry. I need someone to translate this into sense 

Alan Turing has refused to help you.

[Guest ttfn]

People talking about the sides who win tournaments after playing like shit are of course completely ignoring the fact that the overwhelming majority of the time sides play crap in the group stages they’re out at the first opportunity in the knockout rounds.

 

Portugal didn’t play well in the group stages of euro 2016 (although they scored twice as many goals as England did this year). You know who else didn’t play well? England. And they got beaten by Iceland in the next round.

[shen]

6 hours ago, z-layrex said:

Think we're doing fine. Greece won it playing like shit, Portuguese won it playing like shit and even lost a group game. Cheer the **** up misery guts.

Except Greece weren't shit, they beat probably the three best sides in the tournament outright. It was defensive football, but they had a clear idea and identity at least.

 

Either way, I know what will happen should England not progress or win the tournament - the only saving grace are the results. They will have had home advantage in every game except the QF as well. 

[fox_up_north]

I dread to think what team takes on Southgate after he leaves. I watched the last 10 minutes of the game, as well as the other two.

 

Don't play to win - play to score instead. Score goals. Score more goals than the other team and give the fans something to cheer about.

 

If we were in pretty much any other group, we'd be out. 

[Super_horns]

I’d think we would have got through the other groups save the last one (particularly with this 3rd place rule ) with the same sort of pattern tbh.

 

We would have been good enough in defence to hold off an Austria , Turkey , Ukraine , Poland, Sweden etc in much the same way we beat Croatia/Czech Republic.

 

(Presuming we were the top seeds in each group)

 

It maybe wouldn’t be pretty or eye catching and we’d certainly need to look better attacking wise next round whilst keeping the ball .

 

Edited 23 June 2021 by Super_horns

[Facecloth]

I've been critical of Sterling, but I think he played better last night in the central role. Not brilliant, but better. What worries me, is once Mount is back from isolation he'll come straight back into the central role, and Sterling will be put out on the wing again, where he's been less that useless, and it'll be at the expense of Grealish, Saka or Foden.

[Col city fan]

11 hours ago, Izzy said:

Gazi Giray for England manager I say 

😆

[Col city fan]

30 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

I've been critical of Sterling, but I think he played better last night in the central role. Not brilliant, but better. What worries me, is once Mount is back from isolation he'll come straight back into the central role, and Sterling will be put out on the wing again, where he's been less that useless, and it'll be at the expense of Grealish, Saka or Foden.

Bloody hope not! But you know it will happen!

[Col city fan]

8 hours ago, fox_favourite said:

I love your continual positivity to this England side. What have you seen in the English performances that gives you confidence that we can over turn them? We couldn’t score against Scotland where Croatia and the Czech’s scored and won. We have only scored 2 goals total in the other games, one being a bundle in. Germany yes we’re poor against France, but the fact they turned it around against the Portuguese shows they are a dangerous side and have confidence. 
 

granted, we’ve not conceded, as I said earlier the teams we played aren’t renowned for heir attacking ability. What is so frustrating is that we have players that can rip any team apart but the management can’t get that to happen. It’s poor and I can’t see England progressing any further.
 

Put your hand on heart and your neutral glasses on and tell me honestly your happy/delighted on how our tournament is going compared to some other teams? 
 

Also, what I’m saying here isn’t anything new for England. In 2014 I made a comment on England on Facebook about being so poor and again almost exactly the same in 2016, one slating Henderson, who I still can’t believe is I the side. 2021 we are still the same! 
 

Right on to the transfer thread and wait for the new premier league season. I’m done with England, when I thought I’d give them another chance. Ah well. 

What I’ve seen is a solid England side, who have topped the group without conceding a single goal

NOW is when we see if we have enough goals in the side to progress. Solid won’t be enough now. The sides who continue in this tournament will be the ones who control games by putting the opposition on the back foot.

Can England do that? Jury’s out...

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Happy enough with that, not conceding a goal in the group stages isn't to be sniffed at. We won't have a choice but to me more expansive now, unless we score an early goal and decide to just sit on it. 

 

Good to see Kane carrying on his typical big game form, but we have to find a way of getting more of our exiting players on the pitch at the same time. Wouldn't be too fussed if we went out with Bellingham, Sancho, Saka, Sterling and Grealish all on the pitch and we get sucker punched by someone, but if we go out chasing a game with Rice and Henderson in the middle I'll be fuming.

 

Will be good to see Wembley more full as well, good omens for us going there in August.

[String fellow]

2 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

Alan Turing has refused to help you.

Perhaps that's because the great man died in 1954. Btw, today would have been his 109th birthday.

[davieG]

We have 6 ball winners at the back who when they've got the ball they don't know what to do with it. There's no one there who can consistently provide a defence splitting forward pass so after passing it between them for more passes than is necessary they end up giving it to one of the full backs to try to get forward with it or a wishful lob over the mid field trying to get on to Kane's head.

 

I fell asleep again.

[davieG]

2 minutes ago, String fellow said:

Perhaps that's because the great man died in 1954. Btw, today would have been his 109th birthday.

Hmm I can't compute that.

[Gazi Giray]

10 hours ago, Parafox said:

What? 

English players seems not trying to shoot and avoiding it in the game . I do not know why.

[Daggers]

I’ve just woken up. That second half induced the best sleep I’ve had in an age.

 

Unbelievably sick of Southgateball.

[CosbehFox]

There’s a pattern throughout the tournament of teams struggling to break down defences. You saw with Germany v Portugal - first occasion that we had two teams having a go at each other and goals galore 

[StanSP]

The most frustrating thing was that the 2nd half was so different to the 1st.

 

1st half we saw some entertaining play. Saka and Grealish especially. It was as if the team had been unleashed. There was a freedom and enjoyment to the play, and the team profited. We looked more energetic and lively. 

 

I know there's the game management aspect to it and seeing out the win, but you do that towards the end of the 2nd half, not right from half time. It was as if in HT Southgate just said, 'win is done, don't attack too much, keep it really simple and don't be adventurous. I don't want to see what I saw in the first half!' 

For me it would have been better to see us try and kill the game off then manage it. Yesterday all it would have taken is one Czech Republic attack and it becomes a draw (appreciate that still would have seen us through) but momentum of a win carries so much weight. 

[HighPeakFox]

33 minutes ago, String fellow said:

Perhaps that's because the great man died in 1954. Btw, today would have been his 109th birthday.

I think it's unlikely I'd know who Alan Turing was yet not know he was dead, or the appalling treatment he was subject to. 

[shen]

11 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

There’s a pattern throughout the tournament of teams struggling to break down defences. You saw with Germany v Portugal - first occasion that we had two teams having a go at each other and goals galore 

I think that's a bit reductive - and before Germany v Portugal, we had Turkey v Wales, Netherlands v Ukraine, Ukraine v N.Macedonia and Denmark v Belgium which were all entertaining games with two teams swinging at eachother. We've had Italy completely choke their opponents as well.

[filbertway]

1 hour ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Happy enough with that, not conceding a goal in the group stages isn't to be sniffed at. We won't have a choice but to me more expansive now, unless we score an early goal and decide to just sit on it. 

 

What makes you think that? I'm not sure what logic you're using to get to, us playing better opposition means Southgate is gonna lift the handbrake? 

 

Whatever it is you're taking mate, I want some of it

 

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Happy enough with that, not conceding a goal in the group stages isn't to be sniffed at. We won't have a choice but to me more expansive now, unless we score an early goal and decide to just sit on it. 

 

You played three low scoring teams with unimpressive forward lines and played defensive football, grinding to two absolutely turgid 1-0 wins and a goalless draw. 

 

But you think you're going to be MORE expansive against one of Portugal, Germany or France? Teams absolutely over loaded with attacking talent? 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

33 minutes ago, filbertway said:

What makes you think that? I'm not sure what logic you're using to get to, us playing better opposition means Southgate is gonna lift the handbrake? 

 

Whatever it is you're taking mate, I want some of it

 

Not exactly going to play for draws in knockout football are we, not sure even Gareth is that boring.

[filbertway]

9 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Not exactly going to play for draws in knockout football are we, not sure even Gareth is that boring.

I feel like we're living in different realities tbh haha. Let's come back to this after next weeks game