European Under 21 Championship

[markwwfc1992]

Southgate is a shit manager, still don't know why they gave him the job.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Southgate is a shit manager, still don't know why they gave him the job.

He's been brilliant with the U21s so far to be fair. I wouldn't complain if he got the senior England job.

 

[Jockney]

Spanish commentators lamenting the fall of English football: wistful talk of Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard reaching the end. They like Kane, though.

 

[mistermagic]

Is anyone watching this? Good game with chances for both sides. I liked the inside penetration of both Lingaard and Redmond although Carroll has been a bit of a passenger. It hasn't been route one at all as Kane has barely been able to challenge for a cross but great movement for his efforts.
England should win this with a bit more pressure. They're not up against mugs either. That Portuguese side can play.

 

[Leewilson]

Is anyone watching this? Good game with chances for both sides. I liked the inside penetration of both Lingaard and Redmond although Carroll has been a bit of a passenger. It hasn't been route one at all as Kane has barely been able to challenge for a cross but great movement for his efforts.
England should win this with a bit more pressure. They're not up against mugs either. That Portuguese side can play.

Yeah it's been a decent watch. I've been pretty impressed with us. A million times better than us under Pearce footballing wise. It could go either way though. The Portuguese look dangerous going forward. Bernardo Silva is a cracking little player.

 

[Luke_1884]

Poor 10 minutes from us, need to get our foot on the ball as we're chasing shadows at the minute. Chill boys.

 

[RavenBish]

I like Southgate but he seems have got this wrong with the JWP, Chalobah and Carroll midfield. I think Ings should've come on sooner too to partner Kane up-front and ask some more questions. The right side of Redmond and Jenkinson has been brilliant though, overall they've played well, just not quite well enough - kinda wonder if Berahino or Sterling would've offered them something a bit more dynamic in the final third.

 

[SamScfc]

Looks we've got another clueless manager. 3 midfielders who all do the same thing, none of them supporting Kane leaving them isolated, they're all playing pretty 5 yard passes but have done nothing to have a big affect on the game. Kane being on his own we've needed Ings to support him and when he finally does bring him on he puts him on the wing! Tit.

 

[Leewilson]

I really hope JWP is injured, because if he isn't, I do question why Tom Carroll is still on the pitch. Pritchard should be playing in the number 10 role behind the striker. He has been bloody excellent there for Brentford. Hughes has offered nothing since coming on.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

I hope no young players or coaches are listening to the shocking commentary from this pair of dinosaurs. The problem is that they're trying to get it from back to front too quickly and not building the play, it's not that they're not lumping it to Kane and getting bodies around him.

 

[SamScfc]

This has been such an England performance hasn't it. Decent on the ball without really doing anything and rubbish tactically, Portugal haven't been great but have looked comfortable.

I would have liked to see us in a 4-2-3-1 with Pritchard behind Kane.

​

 

[Modernist]

Southgate is a shit manager, still don't know why they gave him the job.

Because he's a perfect FA appointment, a nice Yes man.

 

[Luke_1884]

Pritch and Ings have livened things up a bit.

 

[Crewelad87]

Improved since prichard has come on. Moore looks dodgey at the back and Garbutts crossing has been woeful.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

This has been such an England performance hasn't it.

​

Only from the supporters. We're losing a game so the manager is shit and everything's terrible, but in reality while Portugal have had more of the game, the chances created have been about even and the goal they scored was a pure fluke.

 

[Crewelad87]

Silva (number 10) for Portugal looks some player

 

[SamScfc]

Only from the supporters. We're losing a game so the manager is shit and everything's terrible, but in reality while Portugal have had more of the game, the chances created have been about even and the goal they scored was a pure fluke.

Portugal scored because they had their midfielders in the box, that would never happen with England because they're all sat 30 yards away from goal waiting for the next 5 yard pass they can play and no one is brave enough to run with the ball. It's just shit and boring, Portugal's midfield has just dominated ours. And Southgate putting Ings on the wing then 5 minutes later putting him upfront sums it up.

 

[SamScfc]

Also, how good is Prtichard? Changed the game. He has to start next game.

 

[Leewilson]

Frustrating that. Not much between the two teams but I we were a Bernardo Silva short of winning that. Pritchard should have been our man behind the striker but Southgate obviously felt he had to contain the 3 in midfield. Still, I don't want to see Carroll in the team next game. It should be JWP, Chalobah and Pritch.

 

[mistermagic]

Disagree with the general opinion, reckon England have done alright especially the wingers. I have found a few performances with more unadvanturous midfield than JWP and Chalobah. It wasn't exactly their job to create spaces between the lines but I reckon they did what they could from a distance (given that it was a 4411). Carroll was shocking but it's always very hard to create space in that position (ask Özil) and Kane has looked lively.
Lots of positive to take out of the game. England probably would have lost that 3-0 2 years ago under Pearce. I reckon Southgate is improving stuff. But it takes time.

 

[Luke_1884]

Shame it took that long to get Ings and Pritchard on but hindsight is great. Pritchard should have come on instead of Hughes, a little bemused why you'd go 4-4-1-1 with Hughes behind Kane, he was dominated by the 6ft 2 Willian and hardly had a kick. Looked better with Ings and Pritchard buzzing about, food for thought for Southgate who will have learnt a lot tonight, he's no Pearce.

 

[Super_horns]

Well we now have to go for the win I guess..

 

[Master D]

Silva (number 10) for Portugal looks some player

He looked like diet Lionel Messi.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Portugal scored because they had their midfielders in the box, that would never happen with England because they're all sat 30 yards away from goal waiting for the next 5 yard pass they can play and no one is brave enough to run with the ball. It's just shit and boring, Portugal's midfield has just dominated ours.

That tends to happen when you're playing against superior players who play week-in week-out at a higher level. I would much rather they tried to build the play and failed than hit it to Kane and hope they could get bodies around him before he loses it, that would be a typical England performance. These will be lessons learned for the players, which is the whole point. They dominated at the end and will take that experience into future games. A 1-0 defeat to a strong Portugal side is nothing to get all dramatic about.

And Southgate putting Ings on the wing then 5 minutes later putting him upfront sums it up.

What does that even mean?

 

[cufc17]

Thought we were the better side 1st half, and we created a few decent chances. The 2nd half was disappointing though, and Portugal were fairly comfortable bar a couple spells where we were on top.

We looked dangerous towards the end, especially when Pritchard came on. As others have said, he should start against Sweden, preferably instead of Carroll who had minimal impact in midfield.

 

[Modernist]

England doing well in the qualifying but then failing in the tournament, and losing to Portugal too, it's all too familiar.



Just kidding, onto the next one.

 

[Ligue 1 fan]

I see a lot of praise for Bernardo Silva tonight. Not sure where you've all been, he's had a great season with Monaco and will only improve.

 

[Skinner]

Only from the supporters. We're losing a game so the manager is shit and everything's terrible

It's tiresome

 

[SamScfc]

That tends to happen when you're playing against superior players who play week-in week-out at a higher level. I would much rather they tried to build the play and failed than hit it to Kane and hope they could get bodies around him before he loses it, that would be a typical England performance. These will be lessons learned for the players, which is the whole point. They dominated at the end and will take that experience into future games. A 1-0 defeat to a strong Portugal side is nothing to get all dramatic about.



What does that even mean?

I'm not being over dramatic about it, it's just a typical, uninspiring England performance. I'm not saying we should lump it forward to Kane at all, but we had 3 midfielders who didn't get anywhere near in support of Kane, when Pritchard came on we looked far better, if we play him behind Kane and have 2 holding I think we'll be much better.

And RE my Ings comment, what was Southgate trying to do putting Ings on the wing? He's not a winger. 5 minutes later he went upfront and it was like Southgate said to himself "oh shit, we're 1-0 down." It just made no sense at all, we kept the same shape but had a natural striker on the wing. I've always thought the porblem with English football has been coaching at the top level, so when I talk about England most of points come from a tactical point of view, all in my opinion obviously, I'm not saying I'm a tactical genius.

 

[markwwfc1992]

I'd like to think we'll put an attacking lineup against Sweden, with it being pretty much make or break for us. I agree with the popular view that Carroll didn't make much impact for us, and would like to see Alex Pritchard start on Sunday.

Would also love to see Benik Afobe vs Sweden from my own bias POV. His form at the end of the season was outstanding, and was much more prolific than either Kane or Ings during this time. Sadly he'll get overlooked because he doesn't play in the Premier League.