Gareth Southgate

[Filo]

A good point made on twitter by Rob Staton


“ If Raheem Sterling wasn’t taking a penalty, why did Marcus Rashford come on for Kyle Walker and play the last three minutes at right back??”

Not a good point really is it,
If the penalties go to sudden death then you’d much rather have Sterling taking one than Walker

Not much between them to be honest, Sterling has scored 2 out of 5 pens in his career and Walker has never taken one

[dickos1]

Exactly
There’s probably a reason he’s never taken one

[DRNaith]

The problem Southgate has now, is that usually when the team exit a competition, there's a bit of football still going on to distract people!

[The Beast]

Sorry but it is fact we’ll never have a better chance. Cups are lotteries unlike leagues, so on the law of averages we won’t get there for a long time. Although Italy were probably the team of the tournament they are very average. The Italian left back last night hardly features for Chelsea, the Chelsea first choice left back can’t get on the pitch for us. Their midfield was decent but we never had a proper go at their ancient defenders, no outstanding striker for them either, no standout player like del Piero, Baggio etc, probably on a par with a mid table Prem team and we were petrified of them most of the game. We have a 4 good defenders all in their prime, why did we have to wrap them up in cotton wool?

Well it’s not a fact is it!

You’re right it’s not a fact but I’m sure we won’t ever have a better chance, playing a mediocre Italy side at home in a final, everything was in our favour.

[dickos1]

They haven’t lost in 35 games or something
Almost a world record
But because we got knocked out by them they’re being described as average.
If they’d beat Spain in the final instead of us everyone would be saying how good they are

[The Beast]

So do you think they’ve got superior players to us? Man for man I do think they’re mediocre, played well but not full of world class players like France.

[danumdon]

Sorry but it is fact we’ll never have a better chance. Cups are lotteries unlike leagues, so on the law of averages we won’t get there for a long time. Although Italy were probably the team of the tournament they are very average. The Italian left back last night hardly features for Chelsea, the Chelsea first choice left back can’t get on the pitch for us. Their midfield was decent but we never had a proper go at their ancient defenders, no outstanding striker for them either, no standout player like del Piero, Baggio etc, probably on a par with a mid table Prem team and we were petrified of them most of the game. We have a 4 good defenders all in their prime, why did we have to wrap them up in cotton wool?

Well it’s not a fact is it!

You’re right it’s not a fact but I’m sure we won’t ever have a better chance, playing a mediocre Italy side at home in a final, everything was in our favour.

That, was never a mediocre Italian side, Mancini has developed a fluid and strong side taking a lot of the previous reliance on a strong defence and winning a match 1-0 to the extremes. The quality they had right across the team made all the difference.

The fact he pulled the pin and made the changes at the right time worked for him.

Southgate should take this match and study it carefully, he has plenty to learn and this could be the making of him.

He has now failed to go the distance in two tournaments where for a bit more bravery on his part he could of and should have taken both.

[EasyforDennis]

Don’t talk daft,
After they equalised they stayed on top for another 10-15 mins but after that it was very even and in extra time we looked like the side who wanted to score, Italy looked happy for pens.
All the pundits said all that after Russia yet 3 years later we’ve done it again.
Of course there’s teams you’d rather play but it’s ridiculous to say that’s the only reason we got to the final in an attempt to diminish the achievement.

If someone before the game had offered me 1-1 - into penalties and Pickford was going to save 2 of them - i would have taken it. Fantastic chance to win.

Making two subs defending a corner was a bold move that nearly backfired massively.

It wasn’t bold, it was stupid, Southgate was panicking that he wouldn’t get his penalty takers on in time, as throughout the game he left it late to do something, his mindset needs to change to make us a more offensive unit

Maybe we might have done better with our penalties if the ref had blown for time before we managed to get our subs on!

[drfchound]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

[EasyforDennis]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

No way that was a red card offence. He was on the touchline just inside Italy's half.

[drfchound]

A good point made on twitter by Rob Staton


“ If Raheem Sterling wasn’t taking a penalty, why did Marcus Rashford come on for Kyle Walker and play the last three minutes at right back??”

Not a good point really is it,
If the penalties go to sudden death then you’d much rather have Sterling taking one than Walker

Absolutely right mate.
Also Sterling was the one player most likely to burst through in the last three minutes to score or create a goal.

[dickos1]

So do you think they’ve got superior players to us? Man for man I do think they’re mediocre, played well but not full of world class players like France.

Just because you’ve not heard of them doesn’t mean they’re average.
Id not heard of a few of their squad but they’re going to be household names now.
Whatever way you look at it they’re not average and mediocre

[drfchound]

So do you think they’ve got superior players to us? Man for man I do think they’re mediocre, played well but not full of world class players like France.

But it is the team that won the match, not a few individual players.
As Alf Ramsey famously said, he didn’t always pick the best players to make his team the best.

[drfchound]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

No way that was a red card offence. He was on the touchline just inside Italy's half.

I know where the foul took place mate but the fact is, our player was past the last man and Chiellini was never going to catch him.

No wonder he was smiling when the ref showed the yellow card.

[GazLaz]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

No way that was a red card offence. He was on the touchline just inside Italy's half.

I know where the foul took place mate but the fact is, our player was past the last man and Chiellini was never going to catch him.

Never a red card. We’d have been raging if it had gone against us.

[Chris Black come back]

It looked bad because of how he fouled him, but it was a booking not dismissal.

Officials did a very good job, potentially bar the Jorginho assault on Grealish.

[steve@dcfd]

I know what you are saying but he grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled him to the floor I’ve seen players grab shirts but never the back of the neck. Also how does Jorgeno only get a yellow when his studs go into the knee /  thigh of Grealish that should have been a red. But we lost and the talking point is the penalties but the referee was slightly biased towards the Italians last night.

[drfchound]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

No way that was a red card offence. He was on the touchline just inside Italy's half.

I know where the foul took place mate but the fact is, our player was past the last man and Chiellini was never going to catch him.

Never a red card. We’d have been raging if it had gone against us.

Gaz, I remember us all raging when that Sunderland defender only got a yellow when he caught the ball on halfway to stop our player having a free run at goal.

I agree that otherwise the ref was quite good.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

A good point made on twitter by Rob Staton


“ If Raheem Sterling wasn’t taking a penalty, why did Marcus Rashford come on for Kyle Walker and play the last three minutes at right back??”

He was above Walker but not in the first 5?

[NickDRFC]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

No way that was a red card offence. He was on the touchline just inside Italy's half.

I know where the foul took place mate but the fact is, our player was past the last man and Chiellini was never going to catch him.

No wonder he was smiling when the ref showed the yellow card.

There were 2 Italian players infield closer to goal, Chiellini wasn’t the last man. There were no England players in their half other than Saka either so not sure who you mean by the support inside.

Horrible “challenge” but under the current rules of the game it’s not a red card.

[drfchound]

That’s ok Nick, you have your opinion.

[The Beast]

So do you think they’ve got superior players to us? Man for man I do think they’re mediocre, played well but not full of world class players like France.

Just because you’ve not heard of them doesn’t mean they’re average.
Id not heard of a few of their squad but they’re going to be household names now.
Whatever way you look at it they’re not average and mediocre

Unfortunately I know all their players, after losing a fortune on Football Index, been watching the likes of Belotti and Chiesa for a couple of years. Agree with what Hound says about the team over individuals but still standby what I said, they’re not brilliant, gave them far too much respect. When we eventually got Grealish on and got at them a bit they were ragged.

[EasyforDennis]

That’s ok Nick, you have your opinion.

Didn't you see the two players in the middle then 

[drfchound]

That’s ok Nick, you have your opinion.

Didn't you see the two players in the middle then 

I’ll tell you what mate, had an England defender done that to an Italian, there would have half a dozen of our posters shaming him and saying he was lucky to only get a yellow card.

[NickDRFC]

That’s ok Nick, you have your opinion.

I’ll have my opinion but you might want to consider having an eye test!

 

[drfchound]

That’s ok Nick, you have your opinion.

I’ll have my opinion but you might want to consider having an eye test!

 

Nah, One of those defenders would have had to come over to Saka and Sterling would have easily got past the other one………. ready for the tap in. 

[BillyStubbsTears]

The last World Cup we only just missed out in the final.
It’s a bit silly to say we won’t reach a final again,
The players we have are as good as anyone else in the world, this tournament has proven that

Er,  if I recall England did not make the final. And on that note let’s talk about England’s progress in that competition.
Group stage. Win against a poor Tunisia followed by a similar game against Panama. Two easy games on paper. Then lose against Belgium in a game the press billed as a “good one to lose” as it set up an easier next game. (Sound familiar?)
Win against Columbia ((pens) then against Sweden before losing to Croatia in the semi. Couldn’t even beat Belgium to get third place.
In many ways, this has been a carbon copy tournament with the exception of getting to the final.
The current squad have been great. No doubt.
But it’s not enough.

Drives me mad when people keep going on about our “easy” routes in tournaments
No other supporters in the world would look at it in such a negative way.
Have a look at the teams Portugal played in the last euro to win it,
If donny got to the fa cup final would you care who they played.
The fact is in this tournament we’ve beaten
Croatia, the World Cup finalists who went on to draw with Spain
Czech Republic who Knocked out Holland
Germany
Denmark who were as good as anyone after rhe first two games and had the massive motivation,
And then we’ve lost on penalties in the final to a side who everyone has been raving about

It's not negative. It is recognising a fact.

England will be very fortunate to get a path to the latter stages for a third time in a row without running into a serious contendernin R2 or QF.

Saying that does not in any way belittle what England have achieved. It contextualises it. There's likely to be a significant improvement needed to match, let alone better these last two tournament performances. And for once in my life, I think that is doable.

[scawsby steve]

Final thought. The officials were excellent. They didn’t fall for Italian antics or even some of the English diving. Question mark over his call on the assault on Grealish from Jorginho. Otherwise they let game flow and added to game rather than subtracted. Well done millionaire Dutch bloke and his two mates.

What about the incident when Chiellini nearly choked Saka with that shirt pull back.
You could argue that he was the last man as Saka would have been on a clear run to goal and no way would anyone have been able to catch him.
Saka had support inside too so could possibly have done a Billy Painter and squared it for a tap in.
Chiellini should hav3 been sent off and IMO the ref bottled doing it.

No way that was a red card offence. He was on the touchline just inside Italy's half.

I know where the foul took place mate but the fact is, our player was past the last man and Chiellini was never going to catch him.

No wonder he was smiling when the ref showed the yellow card.

There were 2 Italian players infield closer to goal, Chiellini wasn’t the last man. There were no England players in their half other than Saka either so not sure who you mean by the support inside.

Horrible “challenge” but under the current rules of the game it’s not a red card.

Your last sentence says it all, Nick; under the current rules it's not a red card, but it bloody well should be, and I hope something's done to change it.

It looked like something you'd see from a drunken thug on a Saturday night. I've seen players sent off in Rugby League for similar incidents.

That needs cutting out of the game immediately. He nearly f*cking choked him.

[dickos1]

You may not be using it as a way to belittle the achievement billy, but there’s plenty that are.
This tournament we’ve played some very good sides the only game we were fortunate in getting was the Ukraine game.
Our group wasn’t the toughest but it certainly wasn’t the easiest,
Germany in the 2nd round as as tough as it could’ve been, and Denmark in the semis was always going to be tough after what they’ve been through

[DonnyNoel]

The last World Cup we only just missed out in the final.
It’s a bit silly to say we won’t reach a final again,
The players we have are as good as anyone else in the world, this tournament has proven that

Er,  if I recall England did not make the final. And on that note let’s talk about England’s progress in that competition.
Group stage. Win against a poor Tunisia followed by a similar game against Panama. Two easy games on paper. Then lose against Belgium in a game the press billed as a “good one to lose” as it set up an easier next game. (Sound familiar?)
Win against Columbia ((pens) then against Sweden before losing to Croatia in the semi. Couldn’t even beat Belgium to get third place.
In many ways, this has been a carbon copy tournament with the exception of getting to the final.
The current squad have been great. No doubt.
But it’s not enough.

Drives me mad when people keep going on about our “easy” routes in tournaments
No other supporters in the world would look at it in such a negative way.
Have a look at the teams Portugal played in the last euro to win it,
If donny got to the fa cup final would you care who they played.
The fact is in this tournament we’ve beaten
Croatia, the World Cup finalists who went on to draw with Spain
Czech Republic who Knocked out Holland
Germany
Denmark who were as good as anyone after rhe first two games and had the massive motivation,
And then we’ve lost on penalties in the final to a side who everyone has been raving about

It's not negative. It is recognising a fact.

England will be very fortunate to get a path to the latter stages for a third time in a row without running into a serious contendernin R2 or QF.

Saying that does not in any way belittle what England have achieved. It contextualises it. There's likely to be a significant improvement needed to match, let alone better these last two tournament performances. And for once in my life, I think that is doable.

Not replying to you specifically but who genuinely has "run the gauntlet" in terms of winning a major tournament? Certainly this milennium? As every tournament gets diluted with average teams it's highly unlikely that we're going to have to beat Holland then Argentina then Spain then Italy to win a WC.