England v Italy Euro 2020 Final: Match Day Thread

[Banksy]

My MDT’s got us to the final

Thanks for that Al

 

[Alistair20000]

If you are going to sub in penalty takers it helps if they can score ! Woeful choices by Southgate!

Our final three penalties were p*ss poor, especially after that superb save from Pickford off Jorginho’s effort had got us back into it

 

[grecIAN Harris]

We lost it at half time. We dropped deep and gave up the territory and momentum that was murdering the Italians in the first half. Declan Rice was running the game for us. Him and Phillips were shutting down the Italian midfield high up the pitch and we could build from the turnovers. We dropped deep second half, Jorginho and Verratti became more and more influential and we couldn't wrestle the game back.

 

[Banksy]

We lost it at half time. We dropped deep and gave up the territory and momentum that was murdering the Italians in the first half. Declan Rice was running the game for us. Him and Phillips were shutting down the Italian midfield high up the pitch and we could build from the turnovers. We dropped deep second half, Jorginho and Verratti became more and more influential and we couldn't wrestle the game back.

Absolutely , summed up in a nutshell. Played right into their hands when it should have been ours.Oh well , there’s always next year.

 

[PeteUSA]

Those last two of our penalty takers should never have been allowed to take them having come on specifically for that purpose. Just because they take good penaltys generally doesnt mean they can come onto the pitch and do it with little or no warm up! All three were ghastly misses, particularly Rashfords; what was that all about FFS!

 

[Alistair20000]

We lost it at half time. We dropped deep and gave up the territory and momentum that was murdering the Italians in the first half. Declan Rice was running the game for us. Him and Phillips were shutting down the Italian midfield high up the pitch and we could build from the turnovers. We dropped deep second half, Jorginho and Verratti became more and more influential and we couldn't wrestle the game back.

Mancini changed the dynamic at half time and Southgate failed to respond to it. Poor use of the subs tonight.

 

[Rosencrantz]

On the other hand, the average age of the squad is 24. Under Southgate they have reached a semi final and a final. This team will get better with the likes of Foden, Bellingham, Sancho, Alexander-Arnold etc to establish themselves. Southgate knows they are missing a bit at the moment, particularly in midfield, and set out tactics to get as far as they could which ended up being the final. Other countries would have liked that chance but didn't take it.

When it came to the last step we were short against the best team in the tournament. There were things we needed to do better in the second half although how many clear chances did Italy create? Not many. Extra time ended up much tighter. Penalties saw Italy scramble over the line.

This has been, much like City's youth structure, in the planning for years, primarily led by Southgate and Dan Ashworth to begin with. St George's Park was built as a base to develop English coaches as much as players. We have a generation of players just coming onto the international scene that have won the biggest tournaments at youth level. The World Cup was a surprise, lucky draw etc.. There was pressure this time and we went one step further. Lucky again say some. This generation has a far bigger chance of winning a tournament than the previous because they are better adapted and have more depth.

 

[Banksy]

Mancini changed the dynamic at half time and Southgate failed to respond to it. Poor use of the subs tonight.

Yes , keeping them back for the pens was simply ridiculous. Guess it won’t be coming home after all then?

 

[Mr Jinx]

On the other hand, the average age of the squad is 24. Under Southgate they have reached a semi final and a final. This team will get better with the likes of Foden, Bellingham, Sancho, Alexander-Arnold etc to establish themselves. Southgate knows they are missing a bit at the moment, particularly in midfield, and set out tactics to get as far as they could which ended up being the final. Other countries would have liked that chance but didn't take it.

When it came to the last step we were short against the best team in the tournament. There were things we needed to do better in the second half although how many clear chances did Italy create? Not many. Extra time ended up much tighter. Penalties saw Italy scramble over the line.

This has been, much like City's youth structure, in the planning for years, primarily led by Southgate and Dan Ashworth to begin with. St George's Park was built as a base to develop English coaches as much as players. We have a generation of players just coming onto the international scene that have won the biggest tournaments at youth level. The World Cup was a surprise, lucky draw etc.. There was pressure this time and we went one step further. Lucky again say some. This generation has a far bigger chance of winning a tournament than the previous because they are better adapted and have more depth.

Yeah. 56 years, 59 years....

Lolz

 

[Rosencrantz]

It was similar to the Croatia game in the WC. With a glimpse of the summit we went into our shells and let a technically good side back into it. The difference being that in the main we defended better this time and didn't let Italy have many clear chances. It will annoy them to concede from a set piece. It's actually remarkable that the only two goals conceded were from set pieces.

Guillem Balague said yesterday that England staff know they can control a game in midfield without the ball to be better defensively than we were at the WC. We did that in the first half. But they also said they know they have to progress by being able to control the midfield with the ball to take the next step.