Gareth Southgate

[dickos1]

Not sure
Trippier, guehi, rice, mainoo,
These aren’t world class.

Also what about all the other squads that are just as good as ours?
Weve had better squads and never got past a quarter final, Southgate now has two finals and a semi out of 4 tournaments

[PDX_Rover]

Well… Southgate is a master of disguise. Had everyone thinking we were shite, then… tada… pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

That was a cracking game. Better team first half. Koeman panicked into throwing Weghorst on at half time. Holland had a good period of pressure second half, but overall we deserved to win.

Yes. It was a penalty.


Sako so unlucky with that Walker VAR. That’s when technology ruins things. Talking about a foot… Harsh but I get it.


And Olly Watkins. What a finish. Immaculate

[BillyStubbsTears]

And we did not play boring crap
Remember euro 96 every other car had  2 england flags on it, this tournament i have  seen 2 cars with flags on it.

 I'll see your Euro 1996 and raise you the Euros in 1984 (oops, sorry), 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008 (oops, sorry), 2012 and 2016.

[Silkscarf]

58 years of hurt…

If he wants to, Gareth should stay whatever the result on Sunday. Win and everyone wants him to take us to the World Cup. Lose and he’s still done amazingly well so he should stay on, but he may have had enough.

[dickos1]

And we did not play boring crap
Remember euro 96 every other car had  2 england flags on it, this tournament i have  seen 2 cars with flags on it.

Euro 96 we were rubbish apart from one half of football. Watch all the games back, I did the other week.
Even the Dutch game we were second best in the first half.
People were excited because it was the second decent tournament we’d had in 30 years, I remember flags everywhere in 2010 and we were proper shite then,
Fact it people have become accustomed now to us doing very well in tournaments, because Southgate has transformed tournament football for us

[jmt23]

Nice Dickos enjoy ! Massive result tonight, we were so much better. People need to get a grip over Southgate, the best manager the nation has had factually!
Nice bloke with a sense of service, he doesn’t need cash, or particularly want fame, he wants England to win.

[sf9944]

Where are you now, you who doubted Southgate you obviously don’t understand football. Brilliant tactics from day one Darren.
Let’s have a drink dickos, we stuck to our guns and showed um.

I’ve been with you all the way too, where are we meeting?

Hey, worrabout me!

You’re in mate.

Any room?

[ncRover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

[Filo]

Mainoo and Foden were outstanding in that first half, but the big thing for me against Spain is that we play Shaw at LWB, offers so much more than Trippier in that position

[dickos1]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

People need to understand the process you can’t be brilliant every game, the negativity was over the top. Yes we can say we weren’t very good but the comments about Southgate were a disgrace. People should be embarrassed

[drfchound]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

People need to understand the process you can’t be brilliant every game, the negativity was over the top. Yes we can say we weren’t very good but the comments about Southgate were a disgrace. People should be embarrassed

Bang on.
When other teams have had a bad day but scraped through with a late goal the same people have said that good teams always find a way to win.

[Campsall rover]

Attritional, come on, jesus
It’s a euros final, don’t really think we’re going to batter them for 90 mins.
We’ve got it done in 90 mins.
It was a great performance, and takes us to our first final ever on foreign soil

Yes the 2nd half was attritional. Please don’t tell me we were playing flowing football.
Yes credit to Netherlands they stifled us.
No I don’t expect us to dominate for the entire match.
But yes it was attritional.

Crikey dickos I have said it as it is. It was a massively improved performance and we deserved to win.

But nobody plays 90 minutes of free flowing football, that was as good a performance as you’ll see in a major tournament semi final.

Dickos for crying out loud, why can’t you accept anyone who sees it differently to yourself.

Personally I think there is still plenty of room for improvement. Last night we looked like a team, a proper team. But in the 2nd half we never got on the front foot until Watkins and Palmer came on.
They should have been on after around 65 mins not 80 mins. It was obvious we needed to change things and this is GS weakness.
But it worked and we won so that’s what we all wanted. Job done.

[Goole Rover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

[Campsall rover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

No one is saying his record isn’t good.
What many have been saying is the football has been slow, boring and too defensive.
That is factual not fiction. 99% of people can’t be wrong.
If we win it on Sunday then yes not many will care about it.  If we lose then it will re surface no doubt.

The fact is we all want us to WIN SOMETHING.  It’s 58 years. 58 years of hurt.  FINISHING 2nd is SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Might sound harsh but the bottom line is, WE HAVE TO WIN or its going to be seen as failure again.

[Jonathan]

I expect Sunday will be Southgate’s last game in charge. Whatever the result, he should walk away with his head held high. He’s presided over the most consistent tournament form in our history and he’s done so with dignity and grace. I do sometimes wonder if it’s his statesman like demeanour that’s the root of some of his unpopularity, which is a bit sad really. On the football side, I think we can all point to times where we’d like to have seen a bit more of an expansive approach, but you can’t argue with the facts - his relative success far outweighs any of his predecessors. It can’t just be down to the players, otherwise we’d have been in semi finals and finals constantly with the so called golden generation. But we reached none.

[i_ateallthepies]

I expect Sunday will be Southgate’s last game in charge. Whatever the result, he should walk away with his head held high. He’s presided over the most consistent tournament form in our history and he’s done so with dignity and grace. I do sometimes wonder if it’s his statesman like demeanour that’s the root of some of his unpopularity, which is a bit sad really. On the football side, I think we can all point to times where we’d like to have seen a bit more of an expansive approach, but you can’t argue with the facts - his relative success far outweighs any of his predecessors. It can’t just be down to the players, otherwise we’d have been in semi finals and finals constantly with the so called golden generation. But we reached none.

Jonathan, I really would like to believe that you're thought on the statesman like demeanour is wrong but sadly as recent and present evidence on the Off Topic forum suggests there are all to many people who favour fluff over substance.

[MachoMadness]

Attritional, come on, jesus
It’s a euros final, don’t really think we’re going to batter them for 90 mins.
We’ve got it done in 90 mins.
It was a great performance, and takes us to our first final ever on foreign soil

Yes the 2nd half was attritional. Please don’t tell me we were playing flowing football.
Yes credit to Netherlands they stifled us.
No I don’t expect us to dominate for the entire match.
But yes it was attritional.

Crikey dickos I have said it as it is. It was a massively improved performance and we deserved to win.

But nobody plays 90 minutes of free flowing football, that was as good a performance as you’ll see in a major tournament semi final.

Dickos for crying out loud, why can’t you accept anyone who sees it differently to yourself.

Personally I think there is still plenty of room for improvement. Last night we looked like a team, a proper team. But in the 2nd half we never got on the front foot until Watkins and Palmer came on.
They should have been on after around 65 mins not 80 mins. It was obvious we needed to change things and this is GS weakness.
But it worked and we won so that’s what we all wanted. Job done.

To be fair I thought he got his tactics spot on last night. And this is from someone who's been critical of him in this tournament.

The first half the Dutch came to play a bit but we dominated because we have better players, and clearly the 3/5 at the back system suits us more. Second half the Dutch sat back more, looked to spoil and stifle the game in a well-organised mid block, and doubled up on Foden who was running the show in the first half. They are no mugs, they're a big physical side with lots of pace that means they always looked threatening on the counter or from a set piece.

Sometimes you can only play as well as the other team allows you to. We've struggled against teams playing like that throughout this tournament, but last night we mostly kept control, tired them out, and brought on the subs to make an impact just as the Dutch started to get leggy, and were probably mentally looking ahead to extra time.

[In the box]

Virgil van Dijk having to say something nice about England I assume

[dickos1]

Attritional, come on, jesus
It’s a euros final, don’t really think we’re going to batter them for 90 mins.
We’ve got it done in 90 mins.
It was a great performance, and takes us to our first final ever on foreign soil

Yes the 2nd half was attritional. Please don’t tell me we were playing flowing football.
Yes credit to Netherlands they stifled us.
No I don’t expect us to dominate for the entire match.
But yes it was attritional.

Crikey dickos I have said it as it is. It was a massively improved performance and we deserved to win.

But nobody plays 90 minutes of free flowing football, that was as good a performance as you’ll see in a major tournament semi final.

Dickos for crying out loud, why can’t you accept anyone who sees it differently to yourself.

Personally I think there is still plenty of room for improvement. Last night we looked like a team, a proper team. But in the 2nd half we never got on the front foot until Watkins and Palmer came on.
They should have been on after around 65 mins not 80 mins. It was obvious we needed to change things and this is GS weakness.
But it worked and we won so that’s what we all wanted. Job done.

There are two teams in every game, people go on like we just have to turn up and be superb.
The most successful teams in tournaments have been the pragmatic ones. That’s a fact

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Well that was so refreshing wasn't it. It didn't take long to see the approach to the game was so much more positive. Seeing Foden get into those pockets causing the Dutch all sorts of problems. Despite going a goal down, it spurred us on to the best first 45 mins we've seen for a long time and they were relieved for it to be 1-1  at HT.

Whilst the subs were perhaps later than we would have liked  Southgate made them and we felt for once we wanted to win the game in 90 mins. I had reservations about Watkins but, it was the right sub, and the right message that came with it....and, that was a proper centre forwards finish!!

Thank you Gareth for letting the Lions loose.

Now, if you're in the Spain camp, you'll be confident in your own ability but when they've watched that last night, they'll be privately thinking  "Oh sh*t " because they know, they're going to have to work their nuts off to win the final. The seeds of doubt have been sewn.

[drfchound]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

No one is saying his record isn’t good.
What many have been saying is the football has been slow, boring and too defensive.
That is factual not fiction. 99% of people can’t be wrong.
If we win it on Sunday then yes not many will care about it.  If we lose then it will re surface no doubt.

The fact is we all want us to WIN SOMETHING.  It’s 58 years. 58 years of hurt.  FINISHING 2nd is SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Might sound harsh but the bottom line is, WE HAVE TO WIN or its going to be seen as failure again.

I doubt very much that 99% of England fans want GS out, it isn’t even that on this forum.
Out of interest Camps, who do you think should get the managers job.

[ncRover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

The criticism of Southgate’s record is that when we come up against a team as good as us on paper, we lose when it matters.

“Since September 2016, England have won just seven of their 23 matches against teams ranked in the world’s top ten.”

We were 90 seconds away from getting knocked out by Slovakia and were saved by a moment of individual brilliance.

What will be the first real test on paper for our players is on Sunday.

Like you, I hope we win it. For the nation and for Southgate. Such a sweet moment shouldn’t be something we goad and mock each other about.

[DonnyNoel]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

No one is saying his record isn’t good.
What many have been saying is the football has been slow, boring and too defensive.
That is factual not fiction. 99% of people can’t be wrong.
If we win it on Sunday then yes not many will care about it.  If we lose then it will re surface no doubt.

The fact is we all want us to WIN SOMETHING.  It’s 58 years. 58 years of hurt.  FINISHING 2nd is SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Might sound harsh but the bottom line is, WE HAVE TO WIN or its going to be seen as failure again.

Why? I genuinely think Spain are better than us.

His record isn't a failure. If success and failure is that black and white why aren't 70+ managers sacked every May?

Also, slow and defensive football set us up quite nicely in 2012/13 L1.

[DonnyNoel]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

The criticism of Southgate’s record is that when we come up against a team as good as us on paper, we lose when it matters.

“Since September 2016, England have won just seven of their 23 matches against teams ranked in the world’s top ten.”

We were 90 seconds away from getting knocked out by Slovakia and were saved by a moment of individual brilliance.

What will be the first real test on paper for our players is on Sunday.

Like you, I hope we win it. For the nation and for Southgate. Such a sweet moment shouldn’t be something we goad and mock each other about.

The "we always lose against the first decent team" is lazy, false rhetoric and insulting to some of the teams we've beaten that have put better teams out already. Switzerand and Netherlands were a test.

[ncRover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

The criticism of Southgate’s record is that when we come up against a team as good as us on paper, we lose when it matters.

“Since September 2016, England have won just seven of their 23 matches against teams ranked in the world’s top ten.”

We were 90 seconds away from getting knocked out by Slovakia and were saved by a moment of individual brilliance.

What will be the first real test on paper for our players is on Sunday.

Like you, I hope we win it. For the nation and for Southgate. Such a sweet moment shouldn’t be something we goad and mock each other about.

The "we always lose against the first decent team" is lazy, false rhetoric and insulting to some of the teams we've beaten that have put better teams out already. Switzerand and Netherlands were a test.

I said “as good as us” not “decent”.

Look at the players of Netherlands and Switzerland compared to ours. Do you think they’re as good?

Netherlands knocked out Romania and Turkey. Switzerland a very poor Italy team.

I’ve also included an objective fact in my previous post.

I’m defending the right to have a different opinion, not choosing to die on that hill. The argument against this isn’t strong enough to conclude that people “should be embarrassed” or “know nothing about football”.

[Campsall rover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

No one is saying his record isn’t good.
What many have been saying is the football has been slow, boring and too defensive.
That is factual not fiction. 99% of people can’t be wrong.
If we win it on Sunday then yes not many will care about it.  If we lose then it will re surface no doubt.

The fact is we all want us to WIN SOMETHING.  It’s 58 years. 58 years of hurt.  FINISHING 2nd is SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Might sound harsh but the bottom line is, WE HAVE TO WIN or its going to be seen as failure again.

I doubt very much that 99% of England fans want GS out, it isn’t even that on this forum.
Out of interest Camps, who do you think should get the managers job.

Where have I mentioned that 99% of England fans want GS out hound. I said 99% of supporters, media, pundits, ex players managers have been saying he is not great tactically and doesn’t react quick enough during games to make the changes needed.
Never mentioned he should go.
If we want another English manager then not sure there is anyone who fits the bill right now.
If he was to resign after this tournament then I think Klopp should be approached to see if he would be interested.
No I hope GS stays on in the job. He has created a great team spirit in the England camp. Probably the best we have ever had. He is a great man manager and has the utmost respect of the players.
Yes tactically he is re active rather than pro active, but the facts speak for themselves and he has done a tremendous job. If we win on Sunday he goes into hero status.

[DonnyNoel]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

The criticism of Southgate’s record is that when we come up against a team as good as us on paper, we lose when it matters.

“Since September 2016, England have won just seven of their 23 matches against teams ranked in the world’s top ten.”

We were 90 seconds away from getting knocked out by Slovakia and were saved by a moment of individual brilliance.

What will be the first real test on paper for our players is on Sunday.

Like you, I hope we win it. For the nation and for Southgate. Such a sweet moment shouldn’t be something we goad and mock each other about.

The "we always lose against the first decent team" is lazy, false rhetoric and insulting to some of the teams we've beaten that have put better teams out already. Switzerand and Netherlands were a test.

I said “as good as us” not “decent”.

Look at the players of Netherlands and Switzerland compared to ours. Do you think they’re as good?

Netherlands knocked out Romania and Turkey. Switzerland a very poor Italy team.

I’ve also included an objective fact in my previous post.

I’m defending the right to have a different opinion, not choosing to die on that hill. The argument against this isn’t strong enough to conclude that people “should be embarrassed” or “know nothing about football”.

Player for player there isn't much between us and the Netherlands, particularly in defence/GK. Also Romania were one of the brighter teams in the group stage.

I haven't made any point regarding your last sentence which is obviously correct.

[selby]

  What would people prefer, a brilliant manager, or an average manager who is lucky to have a great group of players?

[dickos1]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

The criticism of Southgate’s record is that when we come up against a team as good as us on paper, we lose when it matters.

“Since September 2016, England have won just seven of their 23 matches against teams ranked in the world’s top ten.”

We were 90 seconds away from getting knocked out by Slovakia and were saved by a moment of individual brilliance.

What will be the first real test on paper for our players is on Sunday.

Like you, I hope we win it. For the nation and for Southgate. Such a sweet moment shouldn’t be something we goad and mock each other about.

The "we always lose against the first decent team" is lazy, false rhetoric and insulting to some of the teams we've beaten that have put better teams out already. Switzerand and Netherlands were a test.

I said “as good as us” not “decent”.

Look at the players of Netherlands and Switzerland compared to ours. Do you think they’re as good?

Netherlands knocked out Romania and Turkey. Switzerland a very poor Italy team.

I’ve also included an objective fact in my previous post.

I’m defending the right to have a different opinion, not choosing to die on that hill. The argument against this isn’t strong enough to conclude that people “should be embarrassed” or “know nothing about football”.

Surely you realise football doesn’t work like that, they beat them so that means they’re better than them.
That’s just rubbish.
Fact is over the last 4 tournaments he’s performed miles better than any other England manager has ever. We’ve never ever been consistently good in tournaments even when we won it.

[ncRover]

Just because England were very good last night doesn’t mean that people were wrong to point out they were bad before.

No but the annoying thing for me was the criticism of Southgate whose record speaks for itself.

The criticism of Southgate’s record is that when we come up against a team as good as us on paper, we lose when it matters.

“Since September 2016, England have won just seven of their 23 matches against teams ranked in the world’s top ten.”

We were 90 seconds away from getting knocked out by Slovakia and were saved by a moment of individual brilliance.

What will be the first real test on paper for our players is on Sunday.

Like you, I hope we win it. For the nation and for Southgate. Such a sweet moment shouldn’t be something we goad and mock each other about.

The "we always lose against the first decent team" is lazy, false rhetoric and insulting to some of the teams we've beaten that have put better teams out already. Switzerand and Netherlands were a test.

I said “as good as us” not “decent”.

Look at the players of Netherlands and Switzerland compared to ours. Do you think they’re as good?

Netherlands knocked out Romania and Turkey. Switzerland a very poor Italy team.

I’ve also included an objective fact in my previous post.

I’m defending the right to have a different opinion, not choosing to die on that hill. The argument against this isn’t strong enough to conclude that people “should be embarrassed” or “know nothing about football”.

Player for player there isn't much between us and the Netherlands, particularly in defence/GK. Also Romania were one of the brighter teams in the group stage.

I haven't made any point regarding your last sentence which is obviously correct.

I’d say you’re right on their back 4 being a similar standard. Our GK and midfield better. But our attack is world class, theirs is average. I am very positive in how much I rate our lads.

My last point was just to make sure you understood the argument I was making against the others.