Euro 2020 : Semi finals and final

[Ingram85]

I hate Neil Diamond nearly as much as Garth too 

[foreveryoung]

Just now, HanoiVillan said:

He was also *beaming* at the final whistle.

(And why wouldn't he be really? Maybe he was pretty chuffed to be part of an England side reaching a final for the first time in 55 years. Maybe he's not as precious as everyone on this thread assumes.)

You never been P***** off and put a brave face on. He had to be happy with the rest of the team didn't he, there's about 150 million people watching.

He would have been properly upset about coming off when he was just coming unto the game, lets hope it doesn't effect him, I'd be well embarrassed in front of all the others.

All the villa fans on Talk sport now moaning about it.

[pfunk1974]

43 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Villa were in a final more recently than that.

Villa are the only "we" in my book.

100% hard to find a more divided nation than England. Being united by that shower of diving shite and seeing Jack blatantly disrespected by Southgate ain’t the one for me! UTV VTID 

[jim]

1 minute ago, tom_avfc said:

Couldn’t agree more with this. He looked as delighted as anybody to have played his part in getting England to a major final.

I actually find the reading into his body language etc. all a bit odd and makes us look pretty small time.

Southgate has made a decision (not one that I’d have made) to try and see out the game. At the end of the day it’s worked and we’ve won a semi final.

He’ll likely turn to Grealish again come 60 minutes in the final if we need a goal. That’s Jack’s role and once we got the goal he clearly felt that tightening it up was the way to go. 

Spot on.

[TheAuthority]

6 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Absolutely baffling reactions on this thread, I absolutely cannot understand people on here. It's like we've somehow gathered all of the 1% of people who are miserable about this in one place. There's nobody in the real world who is moaning about this lads. 

I hope you know I have a lot of respect for you HV, but watching from afar and not from inside the "England bubble" it just looks like, well, we cheated 

All the times we were outraged by bad calls against us in the past in comps and then to go through by diving just makes it not a good feeling.

The 1% you mention in here are a lot larger I think around the world with folks that have a broader perspective.

The Grealish sub - meh nothing surprises me about Southgate any more. I just hope Jack and his family aren't too upset.

Edited July 8, 2021 by TheAuthority

[Xela]

7 minutes ago, jjaacckk91 said:

I don't know what's wrong with me, I can honestly say I don't think I've been hyped or excited after any of the games in this tournament.

I've put it down to the style of play, and the sub today left a bitter taste, but we are in a euro final and I'm not really enjoying it.

I'm actually worried that the last few months of my life has broken me, because go back 5 years and before and I'd be going mental about a euro/world final.

Am I alone in this, do I need to see a shrink?

I think the last 16 months has had a huge impact on a lot of people in a lot of ways! 

Maybe it has made you realise football isn't as important as you think? The world is a different place now. 

I've been WFH for 16 months, I live alone and have barely seen my mates. My highs and lows have been replaced by a beige line of mediocrity. 'Normal' times, i'd be in a bar tonight. Instead I sat at home and watched the game with a bag of cashew nuts and a can of Fanta. While dressed like Jim Royle! More disappointed in the last 15 mins than excited. 

You are not alone

 

[HanoiVillan]

5 minutes ago, tom_avfc said:

Couldn’t agree more with this. He looked as delighted as anybody to have played his part in getting England to a major final.

I actually find the reading into his body language etc. all a bit odd and makes us look pretty small time.

Southgate has made a decision (not one that I’d have made) to try and see out the game. At the end of the day it’s worked and we’ve won a semi final.

He’ll likely turn to Grealish again come 60 minutes in the final if we need a goal. That’s Jack’s role and once we got the goal he clearly felt that tightening it up was the way to go. 

Ran out of likes, but yes that's exactly how I see it too.

[OutByEaster?]

I've calmed down a bit now, I think it's a terrible decision and an awful bit of man management, but as long as we're winning he'll get away with it.

What I will say is that Sterling has been superb all tournament, I didn't want him starting, but he's been exceptional in just about every game - he can be incredibly proud of his performances.

Of the other wingers, I don't think that Sancho or Saka have really taken their opportunities and I think Jack has added something every time he's been brought on - in a sensible world he'd start on Sunday - I'll cling to that hope.

 

[tom_avfc]

2 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I've calmed down a bit now, I think it's a terrible decision and an awful bit of man management, but as long as we're winning he'll get away with it.

What I will say is that Sterling has been superb all tournament, I didn't want him starting, but he's been exceptional in just about every game - he can be incredibly proud of his performances.

Of the other wingers, I don't think that Sancho or Saka have really taken their opportunities and I think Jack has added something every time he's been brought on - in a sensible world he'd start on Sunday - I'll cling to that hope.

 

The problem is that Sterling will start on the left and rightly so as he has been up there with the best players in the tournament playing in that position.

I don’t think you can start Grealish on the right as he would be completely ineffective there so I guess you’d have to pick Sancho or Saka there.

That leaves the one position where I’d actually like to see Jack starting in attacking midfield. Mount hasn’t really done anything in this tournament so I’d like to see Grealish or Foden get a start there to be honest.

[bobzy]

23 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

My honest reaction to the penalty is that people are over-reacting, it was a marginal decision and we got lucky. I'm not going to cry about it.

You honestly think you feel that penalty is marginal if it’s given against England (or Villa)?

[Xela]

6 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I've calmed down a bit now, I think it's a terrible decision and an awful bit of man management, but as long as we're winning he'll get away with it.

What I will say is that Sterling has been superb all tournament, I didn't want him starting, but he's been exceptional in just about every game - he can be incredibly proud of his performances.

Of the other wingers, I don't think that Sancho or Saka have really taken their opportunities and I think Jack has added something every time he's been brought on - in a sensible world he'd start on Sunday - I'll cling to that hope.

 

Saka will start but Jack will be first change if we need it IMO

 

[pfunk1974]

4 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I've calmed down a bit now, I think it's a terrible decision and an awful bit of man management, but as long as we're winning he'll get away with it.

What I will say is that Sterling has been superb all tournament, I didn't want him starting, but he's been exceptional in just about every game - he can be incredibly proud of his performances.

Of the other wingers, I don't think that Sancho or Saka have really taken their opportunities and I think Jack has added something every time he's been brought on - in a sensible world he'd start on Sunday - I'll cling to that hope.

 

Sterling has played well to be fair to him and I think that makes it more difficult for Jack. He operates best off the left like Jack and he’s higher up on Southgates favourites list so I can’t see much change moving forward unless sterling gets injured. 

[jacketspuds]

3 minutes ago, Xela said:

Saka will start but Jack will be first change if we need it IMO

 

If we are somehow cruising with 10 minutes to go I hope Southgate brings Grealish on as a thank you for his performances in this tournament, as opposed to bringing on the likes of Rashford. He has played a big part despite his lack of minutes.

[El Zen]

As a neutral and a football romantic, Gareth Southgate is the anthesis of everything I stand for and like about the sport. As a Villa fan and anglophile, I really want to like England and want to wish them well, but as a football fan I can’t. I don’t like Southgate and I don’t like that he’s been rewarded for his cautious and bland style, for his favouritism and failure to use one of the most gifted and most entertaining footballers on the planet, and I really don’t like the manner in which England won tonight. 

Fair enough. He’s got the team to the final and that makes it hard to knock him. But f*** me, I don’t like it and I want Italy to win it. 

(Unless Jack plays, of course. I won’t say I’m not fickle about it.) 

[PaulC]

27 minutes ago, Ingram85 said:

I hate Neil Diamond nearly as much as Garth too 

Sick to death of that song! 

[Xela]

Southgate's view

Quote

Commenting on his decision to withdraw Grealish, Southgate told talkSPORT: “Jack had a brilliant influence on the game.

“Denmark threw four forwards forward and we needed five [defenders] back.

“Raheem [Sterling] was such a threat that it was either going to be Phil [Foden] or Jack to get the solidity without the ball.

“We still needed to get that pressure up the pitch. We sank a little bit too deep for five minutes or so.

“We just needed to keep the ball and it took us five minutes to work that out. When we started to keep it, we were running the clock down with a lot less anxiety.”

https://talksport.com/football/908514/gareth-southgate-jack-grealish-denmark-england-euro-2020-final/

[HanoiVillan]

23 minutes ago, bobzy said:

You honestly think you feel that penalty is marginal if it’s given against England (or Villa)?

If I say yes you'll accuse me of lying, and if I say no you'll accuse me of hypocrisy

Of course I'm biased, I'm an England fan. I'm hardly an objective judge of it. But from my biased viewpoint, it seemed like there was contact and it was probably quite hard for him to stay on his feet, but also that he was more than happy to go down and he arguably didn't have control of the ball, ie it could have gone either way, ie it was marginal.

[tonyh29]

36 minutes ago, Only2McInallys said:

I have to admit Southgates treatment of aJack is damping my joy at reaching the final.

On the other hand ,Sterling was our best player on the night and I think he is keeping Jack out of the team.Look at Rashford and Sancho they aren’t playing at all.

I think Villa fans and Jack have to be grateful for any time he gets on the pitch.
Jack will only get on the pitch if we need a goal.

This is the thing , 6 months ago he hadn’t even been capped and yet now he’s continually getting on in front of Rashford and Foden etc…. In that first game Sterling was about to be subbed for Grealish  and then popped up and scored and the rest is history .

I thought Sterling  was far far better on the right flank when he switched over , could be some food for thought instead of playing the ineffective Saka  or Sancho … but I’d be amazed if the starting 11 tonight isn’t the team for Sunday 

 

[MessiWillSignForVilla]

2 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

If I say yes you'll accuse me of lying, and if I say no you'll accuse me of hypocrisy

Of course I'm biased, I'm an England fan. I'm hardly an objective judge of it. But from my biased viewpoint, it seemed like there was contact and it was probably quite hard for him to stay on his feet, but also that he was more than happy to go down and he arguably didn't have control of the ball, ie it could have gone either way, ie it was marginal.

For me there was contact from two players that on their own aren't enough for a penalty, but together would make it very hard for Sterling to stay up.

[maqroll]

1 hour ago, rjw63 said:

Lineker/BBC rimjob at i's best

Boy scout.