Euro 2016 thread

Rocker

As you know, there are four 'home' countries in the Euro finals.  England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

England: qualified for the finals very comfortably in an easy group, tricky finals group but I expect them to emerge from their group and bow out at the semi-final stage.

Wales: qualified easily enough, difficult finals group that includes England, last eight is a reasonable expectation.

Northern Ireland: very difficult finals group, likely to be eliminated at the group stage.

Republic of Ireland: Scotland blew up with a Euro finals place there for the taking, letting the Republic in almost by the back door.  Very difficult group, again likely to be eliminated at the group stage.

The BBC have hyped England way off the scale.  Make no mistake about it, England are a decent team.  But behind Spain, Germany, Italy and so so with Poland and Belgium in terms of  footballing qualities.  Wales are presented as a one man team.  Experienced Euro finalists will have worked out how to beat them.  Both of the Ireland teams are way down the pecking order re: in qualifying from their respective groups.  One [the Republic] might make it to the next round.  Northern Ireland will impress with their bravery and fighting spirit, the Republic with their never say die attitude.  It would be a miracle if both got out of their groups.  But it is nice for us Irish to have two teams to cheer on.

thecolourbox

I shall be supporting the two Irish teams and not England, because they are actual teams whereas the England squad is a group of mismatched potential but no application or spirit. I happily have a go at them every other week playing at the hawthorns so I'm sure it'd be wrong to suddenly like them again now. The Irish players in our team however I have much more time for

xSkarloey

I am still annoyed/ upset that Chris Brunt is out of the Euros.

I see my local Sainsburys are going overboard on the bunting and and other decorations 'celebrating' the Euros. They just do it to shift crates of beer. They don't genuinely think England will win do they?

Then again if Leicester can win the league...

Honestly, these days unless I'm at a match I can't sit and watch football on telly, having the attention span of a flea, probably because I find the producation of football on the box rather offputting.

I might not bother with the football and just play my guitar instead. So many tunes, so little time.

mudslide73

I was at the Etihad today - very interesting. The last 3 pens I've seen in the flesh were all missed. Sterling's final ball is worse than McLean's. Roy's usual defensive prowess is compromised playing 433. Lovely stadium though... much better facilities than the Brummie.

menamestom

Not sure how far England will get, quarters would be par. Defensively a little weak but attacking wise the strongest for many years.

menamestom

thecolourbox said:

I shall be supporting the two Irish teams and not England, because they are actual teams whereas the England squad is a group of mismatched potential but no application or spirit. I happily have a go at them every other week playing at the hawthorns so I'm sure it'd be wrong to suddenly like them again now. The Irish players in our team however I have much more time for

You generally just support the country you are from, that's how it works with internationals.

NotNowJohn

I reckon Semis for England. They're not great but for the first time in ages they've actually got strikers who can score.

It's going to be tough for Wales and N. Ireland but Eire could go past the group stages.

I predict France to win - home nation, balanced squad, good manager in Deschamps.

NotNowJohn

I reckon Semis for England. They're not great but for the first time in ages they've actually got strikers who can score.

It's going to be tough for Wales and N. Ireland but Eire could go past the group stages.

I predict France to win - home nation, balanced squad, good manager in Deschamps.

UnclePsychosis

I normally really look forward to the Euros but they've diluted the quality down so much by adding these extra teams. The likes of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales do absolutely nothing to excite me as a neutral. They should have stuck with 16 teams and had a top quality tournament. Sadly, money talks these days. I'd love to be proven wrong but I can't see it happening.

England have a decent young team, will be interesting to see how they do. Not sure I can handle the media hyperbole if a team featuring Kane and Vardy does well though.

I have a tenuous family connection so in the absence of Scotland (who are also crap, before the Irish/Welsh start complaining) I will be "supporting" Italy as usual but on the whole I just want the best team to win it and have some great games.  

Fretwired

Based on yesterday's performance they will struggle to get out of the group stage. You can't defend like that and do well - possession is also a problem. England just can't seem to hold the ball for any length of time. Long balls forward simply give possession back to the opposition. There doesn't seem to be any leadership or a plan. One of Roy's weaknesses.

cj73

Gutted we're not there but I'll be supporting the rest of the home nations. Agee with the op re outcomes

menamestom

Fretwired;1082495" said:

Based on yesterday's performance they will struggle to get out of the group stage.

To be fair, we beat a team yesterday unbeaten since 2014 that are 13th in the world rankings. In our group the rankings of the other teams are 24, 27 and 32. It wasn't great yesterday but there's nothing to suggest we wont get out of the group. Appreciate Wales is a Derby and anything can happen, but we are a team that won 10/10 in qualifying and have recently beaten Germany with ease. We probably will bittle it under tournament pressure but the team is good enough to do relatively well.

Babones

NotNowJohn said:

I reckon Semis for England.

I reckon we lose to France in the QFs, after beating Iceland in the round of 16. Italy v France final.

joeyowen

Being Welsh, I'm just super happy we made it!

I think England will struggle, and although I don't think we deserve it, I can't help but wonder if we can win that game.

Bale has so much star quality, and no one in England has that type of attacking threat.

Still, as per I'll root for the home nations, and hope that someone can stop Spain/Germany

earwighoney

With the terrorism related incidents that have impacted the landscape of Europe so significantly over the last few years, I'm hoping the major stories of the Euro 2016 will be all football related, which I think would be a very positive outcome (despite from a very negative perspective)

EricTheWeary

earwighoney;1082985" said:

With the terrorism related incidents that have impacted the landscape of Europe so significantly over the last few years, I'm hoping the major stories of the Euro 2016 will be all football related, which I think would be a very positive outcome (despite from a very negative perspective)

Not had many conversations about Euro 2016 but in the ones I've had that has always been brought up (not by me).

Rocker

menamestom said:

Fretwired;1082495" said:

Based on yesterday's performance they will struggle to get out of the group stage.

To be fair, we beat a team yesterday unbeaten since 2014 that are 13th in the world rankings. In our group the rankings of the other teams are 24, 27 and 32. It wasn't great yesterday but there's nothing to suggest we wont get out of the group. Appreciate Wales is a Derby and anything can happen, but we are a team that won 10/10 in qualifying and have recently beaten Germany with ease. We probably will bittle it under tournament pressure but the team is good enough to do relatively well.

It is a hell of a different game when there is a Championship on the line.  Friendly matches are often used to try out different players or systems.  For England, the manager seems unsure about the formation of the team.  Where to play Rooney.  Vardy and Kane up front?  

menamestom

Rocker;1083148" said:

menamestom said:

Fretwired;1082495" said:Based on yesterday's performance they will struggle to get out of the group stage.

To be fair, we beat a team yesterday unbeaten since 2014 that are 13th in the world rankings. In our group the rankings of the other teams are 24, 27 and 32. It wasn't great yesterday but there's nothing to suggest we wont get out of the group. Appreciate Wales is a Derby and anything can happen, but we are a team that won 10/10 in qualifying and have recently beaten Germany with ease. We probably will bittle it under tournament pressure but the team is good enough to do relatively well.












It is a hell of a different game when there is a Championship on the line.  Friendly matches are often used to try out different players or systems.  For England, the manager seems unsure about the formation of the team.  Where to play Rooney.  Vardy and Kane up front?  

Obviously. It's different for everybody. My only point is really that England should get out if the group based on form, whatever formation. Every other team has slight changes in personnel and formation and face the same issues. Kane will play up front with Vardy to the left and Rooney as a no 10 probably, he won't play 4-4-2 because Rooney will play.

menamestom

joeyowen;1082951" said:

Being Welsh, I'm just super happy we made it!

Bale has so much star quality, and no one in England has that type of attacking threat.

I'm not so sure. Bale is great, world class even, but he was out scored and arguably out performed by Vardy and Kane this season. England are not a great team, but they have more goals in them that Wales, scoring 3 times as many in qualifying (in a relatively weak group however). Should be interesting. Wales have not had good results lately but I think they will rise to the occation when it comes to it.

Sarge

Rooney has to play in Ali's position yesterday, Ali won't last 5 mins at a major tourney with the aggression he showed recently.
imagine Rooney in his new deep role dinking those delicious balls over the top for the rapid Vardy to run onto! could be very interesting indeed, I'm pretty sure no defence will want someone with Vardys pace going at them.
Smalling to replace Stones and Bertrand ovwr Rose and that back four looks a lot tighter.
should be taking Jagielka though, just as backup.

TheBlueWolf

I'm not convinced England will make it further than the quarter finals unless they somehow bribe the ref so I fancy France or Italy to win