UEFA European Championship 2021

^ You don’t think we went 4-0 up too early then?

Ukraine not even turned up tonight ffs!

(03-07-2021 21:30 )SecretAgent Wrote:  ^ You don’t think we went 4-0 up too early then?

We should probably give that 4th one back and score it again in 10 minutes

Lots of euphoria over the 4-goal route, but I’ve gotta say, I’m blown away that they are 5 games into a major tournament and have yet to concede.

I’m on board. I’m loving this team.

This is only the second time that England have scored 4 goals in a tournament knockout match and the first time without needing extra time. The other instance was the 4-2 win in the 1966 World Cup Final against Germany.

Chelsea has a player in every semi-final team, so therefore at least one Chelsea player is remarkably going to become a double European Champion in the same year (Champions League winner + Euros Championship winner).

ENGLAND - Mount, Chilwell, James.
DENMARK - Christensen.
ITALY - Jorginho, Emerson.
SPAIN - Azpilicueta.

Congratulations to Jorginho & Emerson

4-0!! that should have been at least 6 or even 8!! Well I was impressed but think we have to hope that we have players fully fit but Denmark will be a a challenge tokeep at bay for 90 mins

we have to look to possibly playing a different formation.

A quite unexpected one-sided win for England - I expected far more from Ukraine. Pickford was largely untested and our forward play was way too powerful for their defence. England could have won by a bigger margin.

I'm expecting sterner tests from now on. Denmark are galvanised and look a very powerful unit with very dangerous forwards. England's defence has proved rock solid so far and whilst still relatively low scoring in the tournament, Southgate's methods have been successful. Dolberg, Maehle and Damsgaard against Maguire, Stones and Walker; Kane, Sterling and either Mount, Grealish or Sancho against Kjaer, Christensen and Vestergaard - should be intriguing battles between attack and defence.

Spain look to have rediscovered their scoring form now, although still vulnerable at the back. Italy have looked amazing so far. I'm not expecting too many goals from this one but a very much anticipated tactical battle. I'd back Italy to shade it, with their pace from the wings being slightly more effective.

Looking forward to both semi-finals.

This would be my fantasy eleven based on the results and performances from the quarter-finals:-

4-3-3

Goalkeeper
1 - Simon (Spain)

Defenders
4 - Spinazzola (Italy)
6 - Maguire (England)
3 - Chiellini (Italy)
2 - Zuber (Switzerland)

Midfielders
5 - Maehle (Denmark)
7 - Barella (Italy)
8 - Delaney (Denmark)

Forwards
10 - Insigne (Italy)
9 - Kane (England, captain)
11 - Schick (Czech Republic)

I agree both semis are ones to be looked forward to mate. Italy are to miss Spinazzola if that injury has ended his tournament, but the clash has that feel of European south America with Spain being say Argentins & Italy say Brazil. I have a feeling that at times it should be a free flowing open game but sense Italy might gain the upper hand late on and both nations know what it means to be European champions with Spain IIRC winning back to
back titles in 2008 & 2012 and Italy looking for their second title since 1968
I reckon the pendulum might swing in Spain's favour if it goes into extra time.

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I think the Danes are probably a shade or two quicker in going forward and think they wil put our defence under a lot of pressure throughout the 90 mins plus they have good reason for winning it - Eriksen and I think we have to play a formation that doesn't give the Danes that much room to expose our defence. Yes our defence has been rock solid but this will be by far our sternest test yet throughout this tournament in all departments and we're 90 mins away from a first major international tournament final since 1966. Would winining this even galvanise our women to go and strike gold in Tokyo?

Aside from that, does Southgate deserve to remain in charge for England's bid for Qatar? I think he does, but I reckon if we do win this, the side that finishes the final will likely be the starting line up for that crucial away game on 2 September in Budapest which I think England cannot afford to even lose. If we lose that, we might hand control of the group to Hungary. Even if we thrash Andorra 4 - 0 we still have to visit Poland on 8 September which ultimately could seal our fate whether we qualified or not. Failure to qualify as champions of Europe would probably bring Southgate's reign to an end. But who would step up to the plate if that happened?