[mancunian_mike]

Belgium’s golden generation out again. There is a lot of pressure with that kind of tag and whenever Belgium go deep in a tournament you can see it weighing heavily. Italy are a very experienced side which is a quality that cannot be underestimated.

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[mancunian_mike]

It’s all Italy at the moment. 😂. Just as I type it’s a penalty to Belgium, they certainly need this.

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[mancunian_mike]

You could see how much the pressure has ramped up in the Spain v Swiss penalty shoot-out, a lot more misses and nervous faces than in the first round – it begins to mean a lot more as you progress.

50/50 who will win in the Belgium v Italy game, think I’ll go for a sneaky Italian win against the run of play 😉

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[mancunian_mike]

Blaze, surely we already have 3 good midfield link players? Grealish, Mount and Foden can, and do, play that role for their clubs (Foden only occasionally though). I’m hoping g Southgate is just waiting until the team bed in a little more before trying it. I would love to see him try it against Ukraine.

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[mancunian_mike]

C’mon Ed, surely Denmark have already had their ‘unlikely underdog winning’ story; even Greece have had one, isn’t it England’s turn 😉

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[mancunian_mike]

Foxy, Southgate has had to rebuild the England set-up from the shambles it was in. If you recall back when he was given the job, prior to the last World Cup, he was scouting at almost every EPL game because England had few quality players to choose from. He has selected youth out of necessity but those players need time in competitive matches to knit together and learn what it means to play in international games, including experiencing the pressure. Over the last 2 years, due to Covid, Southgate has had no opportunity to test, or bed in, any of the recently emerging talent (Grealish, Foden, Saka, Bellingham, Sancho, Philips, James, etc.); and so now he is having to do it on the fly, and he is (I think wisely) choosing to make the team difficult to beat first, to make sure we play more games and gain more experience, before committing more and more players to the attack. He is technically further behind in the rebuilding of the national team than Germany, Netherlands or even Spain are, and yet he is achieving better results with England, in less time and with less experience, than their managers and teams are. It will come but is not an overnight fix, be patient 😉

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[mancunian_mike]

I’m on your side Dirty Harry 😉

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[mancunian_mike]

Don’t fear it Foxy, you definitely sound negative 😂

In fear of sounding positive, I’d be amazed if fans of other countries put their team and manager down as much as England fans do. Southgate and his relatively young and inexperienced squad have, in the last 3 tournaments, gotten to the World Cup semi-final (eventually finishing 4th) doing as well as any England team ever has apart from 66; came 3rd in the inaugural Nations League (yes I know it’s a bobbins competition) and have now booked an eminently winnable quarter final against Ukraine in the European Championships; if we were, somehow, to win that it’d be only the second time ever England had gotten this far in the tournament – even the 66 squad only got to the semi’s in 68.

Southgate and his team are gaining experience, learning how to defend solidly and be bloody difficult to beat, something very few England sides could boast of in the past; together they are burying past ghosts (the Germany curse for one) and they are getting better and more confident with every game. I agree they are not flamboyant and exciting in attack…yet…but they are learning, they are succeeding and they are developing. For a country with 1 trophy to its name in 100 years of competition I would think there’d be a bit more praise. And for anyone saying ‘look who we’ve played’ or ‘England had an easy route’ remember there are no easy games at international level – just look at the results in this tournament so far…or ask France 😂

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by mancunian_mike.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by mancunian_mike.

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[mancunian_mike]

Excellent result. I think we deserved it on the play, Germany didn’t offer much in the second half apart from missing a sitter. Glad Kane is off the mark. More experience for the new generation and another knock out game to come. C’mon England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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[mancunian_mike]

Agree with Adlab; after a reasonably solid first half England are struggling to link the defensive 8 players with the front 3, I’d be tempted to sacrifice one of Rice or Philips in the second half for creative midfielder – any 1 of Grealish, Mount or Foden for me. Maybe give it 10 minutes of second half first then make the change.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by mancunian_mike.

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[mancunian_mike]

I think the smaller nations have thought ‘sod it, let’s have a bloody good go’ and so far they’re being pretty successful with it.

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[mancunian_mike]

Best day of the Championships so far. Two great games, great comebacks, some lovely goals (some iffy defending) and drama right to the end. 14 goals in 2 games not including a 5-4 penalty shoot-out. Top entertainment.

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[mancunian_mike]

Agreed, that was a good game, pretty open and some good play. Austria were really good and we’re unlucky not to take it all the way to penalties.

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[mancunian_mike]

Hey nine, Grealish is 26 in September, if he doesn’t move ‘at this stage of his career’ when do you expect him to move. I don’t know a single City fan who doesn’t think Kane is too old for us and has left his chance of a big money move too late. Will that be Grealish’s fate too? Personally I would love both Kane and Grealish to stay at their boyhood clubs for their entire careers (just as I want Foden to stay with us), it makes the EPL more competitive and both have the chance to become legends at their clubs and will always be loved by their fans. However I also appreciate that both of them may want to win silverware and realise they may have a better chance of getting it elsewhere. This could be Grealish’s only chance.

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[mancunian_mike]

I agree Ed, I can’t see us getting £100M for each either, but if they do go I hope we get good money back, they have both improved significantly at City therefore their fees should reflect that. £75M each minimum for me.

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[mancunian_mike]

Have to agree with nine, it’s easy to say Grealish isn’t worth £100M but if Villa don’t want to sell him other than for a high fee and City don’t see anyone else available who can improve their squad then it’s gonna be a big fee. I only hope if Bernardo Silva or Sterling are on there way out (rumours at this stage) then City demand similar fees as both are as good as Grealish if not better. I’d also take issue with those complaining about the money City spend; for clarity City don’t want to spend these figures but there is clearly a fee for City and a fee for other clubs. City didn’t create this market, it was this way when we got here.

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[mancunian_mike]

Loved the Dambusters post Chucky 😂. Maybe 633 Squadron for the warm up with players linking arms and doing a flying wing up and down the pitch 🤣

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[mancunian_mike]

Hey Nike, I’ve no issue with the ref getting it wrong, he only sees it once at full speed, it happens, but VAR has been sold to us as sorting out these issues and it isn’t, instead it’s solving problems that weren’t really problems before whilst steadfastly refusing to get involved in what many supporters think is the biggest issue…diving. It completely ruins games for me.

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[mancunian_mike]

That wasn’t a pen. If VAR is not gonna help the ref with that what’s the point of it. This has been all season, forwards just need to run at a defender and dive and they’ve got a decent chance of a pen. Piss poor.

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[mancunian_mike]

England through with 7 points and no real scares. Tough game whoever we get from France, Germany or Portugal, think I’d rather take on Portugal as I think their defence is the worst of the 3 but let’s see who we get. We stay at Wembley which should be a positive for the team but it’ll certainly be a tough test. Fingers crossed we actually put one of these early chances in rather than hitting the post again 😂

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