EURO 2021 |OT| Sponsored by COVID 2020

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England- Denmark is going to be an absolute blast to watch. England is on fire and slaughtered Ukraine but Denmark is gonna put up a real fight I think. Rooting for Denmark. If they can repeat 92 the skies over Copenhagen will light up for days.
 
5 games without a goal conceded

i knew it! going to smash denmark 2-0 and finish off italy with a 1-0 finals.

imo international football going forward will be about putting young players with raw burst of energy than big names.
 
Germany and Ukraine failed us. Do them Denmark.

if England are lucky to get to the final then Italy or Spain will slaughter them.
 
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When started supporting England national team in 2000 due to being a Man United fan since 1995 all my friends laughed at me.

Well, seems football is coming home to its parents after so many unlucky runs during the last golden English team era back then.
 
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finally got around to watching the Italy vs Belgium game and I have to say I was very impressed by the italians. there's a sort of arrogance that is used as bait when it is backed up with skill that is very enjoyable to watch
 
12Goblins said:
finally got around to watching the Italy vs Belgium game and I have to say I was very impressed by the italians. there's a sort of arrogance that is used as bait when it is backed up with skill that is very enjoyable to watch
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Yeah they definitely deserve to be runners up.
 
12Goblins said:
finally got around to watching the Italy vs Belgium game and I have to say I was very impressed by the italians. there's a sort of arrogance that is used as bait when it is backed up with skill that is very enjoyable to watch
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I knew Belgium would bow out against Italy. Supremely talented squad, but never had that killer instinct imho. I don't think Martinez was ever the right manager for them either. (I'm an Everton fan too, ha.)

I both love and hate Italy in terms of their international history. I admire them for their obvious skill and organization, but I also find them to be the *most* blatant at drawing (non) fouls from the officials. We all know diving is and has long been a part of the game, but to their credit (or disservice in my view), the Italians, as skilled as they are at it, gain unfair advantage on a consistent basis. You would think eventually their tactics would be obvious and disregarded more often, but they are very good at what they do. And the sad part is that they don't need to do it. *(or maybe they do...) And with the fine margins in the sport, those favorable decisions can and do impact match outcomes so often. And they are always one of the best at really getting under the skin of their opponents. Zizou anyone? There's a part of me that just wants to see someone go ahead and take a red while stomping the face of a cheating Italian two feet into the turf. Gamesmanship? Cheating? I guess it depends on who you're rooting for.

Anyway, I'm rooting for Denmark to take it all. (now that Sweden did what Sweden does against the Ukraine, lol. Reminded me of the match against Senegal in the '02 World Cup knock out round of 16 with the post being unkind.)
 
Turnt said:
Courtois fucking De Bruyne's girlfriend and that not creating some kind of problem in the national team was bizarre.
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I feel the same. How do you become a leader, earn the respect to motivate those around, you when your goalkeeper made a fool out of you?
 
godhandiscen said:
I feel the same. How do you become a leader, earn the respect to motivate those around, you when your goalkeeper made a fool out of you?
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Obviously the whole team fighting and holding grudges against each other isn't productive either. So it's not like I'm advocating for the other end of the spectrum. You want a team that works together for a common goal. But there's a limit. The guy fucked his girlfriend and he's going to line up alongside him? The manager asks him if it's ok to still call up Courtois and he says yes? Yeh, Courtois is obviously a talented keeper but that's got to be a "it's him or me" scenario.
 
Turnt said:
Obviously the whole team fighting and holding grudges against each other isn't productive either. So it's not like I'm advocating for the other end of the spectrum. You want a team that works together for a common goal. But there's a limit. The guy fucked his girlfriend and he's going to line up alongside him? The manager asks him if it's ok to still call up Courtois and he says yes? Yeh, Courtois is obviously a talented keeper but that's got to be a "it's him or me" scenario.
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Yeah those situations destroy a team from the inside. Now a lot of dirt is coming out around the French national team. A lot of it is surely to create more media attention, but it also paints the picture of a ticking bomb that exploded mid match against the Swiss.

You can also argue that part of the success of Denmark is due the strong bond established after the tragedy Eriksen experienced. The bonds among teammates is particularly important for national teams since they do not have the ability to train together for an entire season.
 
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godhandiscen said:
Yeah those situations destroy a team from the inside. Now a lot of dirt is coming out around the French national team. A lot of it is surely to create more media attention, but it also paints the picture of a ticking bomb that exploded mid match against the Swiss.

You can also argue that part of the success of Denmark is due the strong bond established after the tragedy Eriksen experienced. The bonds among teammates is particularly important for national teams since they do not have the ability to train together for an entire season.
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The England players from years back talked about the national team having been divided into factions and this may have been why the "Golden Generation" underperformed. You had the United players keeping to themselves, the Liverpool players keeping to themselves and then the rest then hanging out together. Whereas that doesn't seem to be the case with the current England team. Maguire and Henderson seem to get on well for example.

The Spanish players that won the World Cup talked about recognising the bitter Barcelona/Madrid divide (during the time Mourinho had gone scorched earth) was hurting the team overall and that they actively worked to bring everyone together in order to achieve their potential.

I just can't imagine the De Bruyne/Courtois situation not being a massive elephant in the room every time the Belgium team gets together. Or how does that affect how other players look to De Bruyne?
 
Turnt said:
The England players from years back talked about the national team having been divided into factions and this may have been why the "Golden Generation" underperformed. You had the United players keeping to themselves, the Liverpool players keeping to themselves and then the rest then hanging out together. Whereas that doesn't seem to be the case with the current England team. Maguire and Henderson seem to get on well for example.

The Spanish players that won the World Cup talked about recognising the bitter Barcelona/Madrid divide (during the time Mourinho had gone scorched earth) was hurting the team overall and that they actively worked to bring everyone together in order to achieve their potential.

I just can't imagine the De Bruyne/Courtois situation not being a massive elephant in the room every time the Belgium team gets together. Or how does that affect how other players look to De Bruyne?
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Yes it matters a lot, and a lot of this is just hidden to the fan who only pays attention to the matches. Sports are great to understand as analogies for other more important aspects of life.
 
Turnt said:
The England players from years back talked about the national team having been divided into factions and this may have been why the "Golden Generation" underperformed. You had the United players keeping to themselves, the Liverpool players keeping to themselves and then the rest then hanging out together.
Click to expand...

 
synchronicity said:
(now that Sweden did what Sweden does against the Ukraine, lol. Reminded me of the match against Senegal in the '02 World Cup knock out round of 16 with the post being unkind.)
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Lmao, it's always that fucking post. Happened in Euro 2004 against Netherlands in the quarter final. Fredrik Ljungberg hit the post and I think Henrik Larsson hit the bar with a header. And then we lost the penalty shootouts.
 
There were numerous stories circulating that England's golden generation were very clique with their own clubs and you definitely tell when they were on the pitch at times then Terry went and did the dirty on his mate and shagged Lampards missus. No wonder we never performed well on the international stage.

I do think Southgate has got the England squad thinking they are a team and acting like a unit on the pitch which is great to see.
 
GamingKaiju said:
There were numerous stories circulating that England's golden generation were very clique with their own clubs and you definitely tell when they were on the pitch at times then Terry went and did the dirty on his mate and shagged Lampards missus. No wonder we never performed well on the international stage.

I do think Southgate has got the England squad thinking they are a team and acting like a unit on the pitch which is great to see.
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You mean Wayne Bridge's missus, right?
 
Turnt said:
The England players from years back talked about the national team having been divided into factions and this may have been why the "Golden Generation" underperformed. You had the United players keeping to themselves, the Liverpool players keeping to themselves and then the rest then hanging out together. Whereas that doesn't seem to be the case with the current England team. Maguire and Henderson seem to get on well for example.

The Spanish players that won the World Cup talked about recognising the bitter Barcelona/Madrid divide (during the time Mourinho had gone scorched earth) was hurting the team overall and that they actively worked to bring everyone together in order to achieve their potential.

I just can't imagine the De Bruyne/Courtois situation not being a massive elephant in the room every time the Belgium team gets together. Or how does that affect how other players look to De Bruyne?
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Even though I'm not living in England, I can easily feel that the "intense" rivalry a decade ago between teams has become so much civil and you can see Man United players laughing with Liverpool players or even hug. Same with other teams as well. Also let's not forget that the arrival of so many top tier managers with very different mentalities to the EPL has helped a lot in complimenting the English football style and make it much more varied and adaptive with teams from Spain, Germany, etc in the UCL/EL competitions. That would naturally go well for the national team, even if the manager isn't really experienced with other types of leagues but he seems to be a good listener and close to the players from what I feel, not the authority type of coach that forces his own ideas only.

This reminds me of Ole as well, he's as well more adaptive to ideas that can be shared by the players themselves not just the coaching team. Van Gaal was too strict that Giggs complained about it as he was just a decoration there. I think modern era doesn't go well enough with too strict higher ups in any working field as well.
 
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Bo_Hazem said:
Even though I'm not living in England, I can easily feel that the "intense" rivalry a decade ago between teams has become so much civil and you can see Man United players laughing with Liverpool players or even hug. Same with other teams as well. Also let's not forget that the arrival of so many top tier managers with very different mentalities to the EPL has helped a lot in complimenting the English football style and make it much more varied and adaptive with teams from Spain, Germany, etc in the UCL/EL competitions. That would naturally go well for the national team, even if the manager isn't really experienced with other types of leagues but he seems to be a good listener and close to the players from what I feel, not the authority type of coach that forces his own ideas only.

This reminds me of Ole as well, he's as well more adaptive to ideas that can be shared by the players themselves not just the coaching team. Van Gaal was too strict that Giggs complained about it as he was just a decoration there.
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From the United perspective, I think the "anyone but United" mindset that was prevalent in England during United's dominance combined with a feeling that the media scapegoated United players on a few occasions led to an "us vs everyone else" mindset among both players and fans. Stuff like the huge backlash against Beckham after France 98 which led to fans siding with Beckham over the England team. I still know a bunch of United fans who are indifferent to how England do.
 
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