Euro 2012 Match Discussion Thread

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Insane game yesterday. Low quality, but still a lot of energy was thrown and it was a very emotional fight. Gratz to the English for winning this match. I expected much more from Zlatan against this poor defense, but I guess he is not very comfortable in this position. Anyway the Euro needs more matches like that one.
 
Insane game yesterday. Low quality, but still a lot of energy was thrown and it was a very emotional fight. Gratz to the English for winning this match. I expected much more from Zlatan against this poor defense, but I guess he is not very comfortable in this position. Anyway the Euro needs more matches like that one.

A poor defence?? Arguably the strongest part of the English team, ok yesterday they conceded two very easy goals.

Glen Johnson = Probably the weakest part of the defence, loose on positioning and should probably be third choice behind Kyle Walker (injured), Micah Richards (not selected..).

John Terry = Immense, lack of pace but made some excellent tackles and had Ibrahimovic pretty much under his thumb for the most of the night.

Lescott = Premier League winner and a very nice complimenting defender to a stopper like Terry/Kompany.

A.Cole = Arguably one of the best Left Back's in the world still despite what people say and a bit of a dodgy performance last night, he is keeping a very good Leighton Baines out the side, played a huge part in Chelsea's Champions League success.
 
Was a very entertaining game, wasn't expecting that at all after the France- England game.

Hoping for some more good games. I'm very torn about my thoughts on the overall winner, thinking Spain or Germany. Not surprised that the Dutch have failed so far, seem to always find a way to implode even though they usually have one of the best sides.
 
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Still just viewing this tournament as a learning curve for many young players in the team, though it's nice to see a bit of spirit against Sweden for once and be the team coming from behind.

Welbeck's finish was superb. Some are questioning he fully intended to do what he did, but I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Walcott's freshness and speed completely penned the Swedish defence back, which of course allowed us to overcome a stubborn Mellberg-led back four at the end. Mellberg completely deserved MotM also, not just for his goals, but he made so many timely tackles and interceptions to keep the Swedes ahead.

Still think Defoe would have been a good choice against the tired legs last night, but que sera sera.
 
What a game of football that was, first half was decent and we looked mainly in control. Brilliant goal and if only they combined like that for Liverpool last season then Swansea would still have Rodgers and Sigurdsson. Got off under the cosh abit in the 2nd half and it showed with 2 sloppy goals, first a poor tackle by Carroll and then a poor tackle by Milner and we got punished by both. But the best thing of the night was maybe in the past England sides would have thought that was over. This time was different, they believed and actually showed passion, well that and the manager (who shock horror media is not Redknapp who you all wanted) making the right calls at the right time. Genuinly thought it was a totally different Walcott playing especially with that 20yarder, he really changed the game for me. Sensational performance again by Welbeck and was capped off with a brilliant goal, really good to see England score 3 genuine good goals. On a negative i thought Young and Milner were average again and although Johnson's positioning was poor (like it always has been) he did make up for it by tracking back very quickly which is something i slated him for not doing against France. Very happy with this result and performance overall and it will give everyone a huge boost by the way we won this and also the fact we have Rooney to call on from now on.

On a different note and this is not just because i support Chelsea because as many know i'd rather they didn't play for the national sides but. Both Robbie Savage and Alan Hansen tried to slate his performance and there was just no ground for it at all! Hansen tried to blame him for the second goal saying he lost Mellberg until Shearer pointed out JT was never the one marking him. And then Savage went on Twitter posting on numerous occasions "I'd drop Terry where is Rio etc, his lack of pace will hurt England". Now ok, i take the point he got beat once or twice by Zlatan in a foot race today but on both occasions Terry got back to him, showed him outside and as Zlatan tried to go inside he won the ball back off him. He also made 2-3 sensational crunching tackles on Zlatan, no wonder he was a bit slower today when he had a 6ft5 13 stone player in his pocket!!!!
No, just no. He had 6 shots, and most of them were dangerous. Hart saved England twice. I remember Terry bounced off Ibrahimovic once or twice in the game. I really don't blame Terry for goal, his positioning was always world class.
 
Glen Johnson - who was that guy? I remember that few years ago he was named as the next big thingie, but he is playing for Liverpool now?
Terry - slow, dirty, nervous, arguable leadership, poor decision making. I can name at least 20 defenders better than him in this tournament.
Lescott - stable, but nothing impressive. Man City's defense is not what made them champions - Tevez, Aguero did, even Balotelli had bigger impact imo :) (that is a joke)
A. Cole = good defender, a bit slower nowadays, but definitely with lots of experience. However nowhere close to the best LB's in the world imo. Chiellini, Lahm, Boateng, Abidal, Marcelo, Coentrao, Alba, Alaba will put him on their pockets and some of them are not even tipical LBs. The comparison with Banes is ... laughable. Just because some left mid can cross, run and score from free kicks does not make him a good defender. And the guy is still young and unproven. Maby in a couple of years he can be there, but not yet.

Oh well, we can argue on individualities for years, but it is not what makes one defense good. The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well as we could see Zlatan struggled to go from there and Terry did well with some help from Cole against him.

I actually think that the English mid is class. Yesterday Gerard pulled some awesome performance. And the fact that their wingers are quick and tireless adds extra people in the mid for England and they are able to put more man there, which gives them some advantages. Just my thoughts though, do not be too harsh.
 
Glen Johnson - who was that guy? I remember that few years ago he was named as the next big thingie, but he is playing for Liverpool now?
Terry - slow, dirty, nervous, arguable leadership, poor decision making. I can name at least 20 defenders better than him in this tournament.
Lescott - stable, but nothing impressive. Man City's defense is not what made them champions - Tevez, Aguero did, even Balotelli had bigger impact imo :) (that is a joke)
A. Cole = good defender, a bit slower nowadays, but definitely with lots of experience. However nowhere close to the best LB's in the world imo. Chiellini, Lahm, Boateng, Abidal, Marcelo, Coentrao, Alba, Alaba will put him on their pockets and some of them are not even tipical LBs. The comparison with Banes is ... laughable. Just because some left mid can cross, run and score from free kicks does not make him a good defender. And the guy is still young and unproven. Maby in a couple of years he can be there, but not yet.

Oh well, we can argue on individualities for years, but it is not what makes one defense good. The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well as we could see Zlatan struggled to go from there and Terry did well with some help from Cole against him.

I actually think that the English mid is class. Yesterday Gerard pulled some awesome performance. And the fact that their wingers are quick and tireless adds extra people in the mid for England and they are able to put more man there, which gives them some advantages. Just my thoughts though, do not be too harsh.

If you think that Boateng is a better left back than Ashley Cole then you're nuts.
 
Glen Johnson - who was that guy? I remember that few years ago he was named as the next big thingie, but he is playing for Liverpool now?
Terry - slow, dirty, nervous, arguable leadership, poor decision making. I can name at least 20 defenders better than him in this tournament.
Lescott - stable, but nothing impressive. Man City's defense is not what made them champions - Tevez, Aguero did, even Balotelli had bigger impact imo :) (that is a joke)
A. Cole = good defender, a bit slower nowadays, but definitely with lots of experience. However nowhere close to the best LB's in the world imo. Chiellini, Lahm, Boateng, Abidal, Marcelo, Coentrao, Alba, Alaba will put him on their pockets and some of them are not even tipical LBs. The comparison with Banes is ... laughable. Just because some left mid can cross, run and score from free kicks does not make him a good defender. And the guy is still young and unproven. Maby in a couple of years he can be there, but not yet.

Oh well, we can argue on individualities for years, but it is not what makes one defense good. The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well as we could see Zlatan struggled to go from there and Terry did well with some help from Cole against him.

I actually think that the English mid is class. Yesterday Gerard pulled some awesome performance. And the fact that their wingers are quick and tireless adds extra people in the mid for England and they are able to put more man there, which gives them some advantages. Just my thoughts though, do not be too harsh.

Lets start:

Glen Johnson: Nothing wrong with playing for Liverpool. Saying "who was that guy" isnt an argument, either you are trying to dismiss him out of hand, or you are showing your own lack of knowledge. Good going forward, can be defensively suspect. Been better this tournament than expected.

Terry: Slow, hasnt been dirty, not been nervous, leadership has been pretty good, decision making solid. Start naming those 20 central defenders then.

Lescott: Again very solid. And City's title tilt was built on defence first, or have you not been watching Mancini since he went there. It was only once they had that solid base sorted at the start of this season that City really cut loose. Last season they were very pragmatic.

Cole: Very good defender, not as quick as he used to be, but still very quick. Not as good as he used to be, but still one of the top 5-6. Better than Marcelo (just, slightly better defensively), Coentrao (laughable you put him here, since even Madrid fans have castigated his poor performances), Alaba (who will be a star), Boateng (who is a centre back by trade, and is only fairly good on the flanks), Abidal (who is slightly better defensively, but certainly not as good attacking wise, so it depends on what you are asking). I mean, it seems you have just pulled names out of a hat, without really thinking it through.

Also Baines: Not a left mid, but a very good full back who defends well (averages, 2 interceptions a game, 1.7 tackles, was only beaten 10 times in the entire league season, playing 33 games), attacks even better, dangerous set piece threat. He is also very consistent, has been for the last 3 years, and has proven he can cut it in the league (hence why United see him as Evra's replacement) He is also 26.
 
Glen Johnson - who was that guy? I remember that few years ago he was named as the next big thingie, but he is playing for Liverpool now?
Terry - slow, dirty, nervous, arguable leadership, poor decision making. I can name at least 20 defenders better than him in this tournament.
Lescott - stable, but nothing impressive. Man City's defense is not what made them champions - Tevez, Aguero did, even Balotelli had bigger impact imo :) (that is a joke)
A. Cole = good defender, a bit slower nowadays, but definitely with lots of experience. However nowhere close to the best LB's in the world imo. Chiellini, Lahm, Boateng, Abidal, Marcelo, Coentrao, Alba, Alaba will put him on their pockets and some of them are not even tipical LBs. The comparison with Banes is ... laughable. Just because some left mid can cross, run and score from free kicks does not make him a good defender. And the guy is still young and unproven. Maby in a couple of years he can be there, but not yet.

Oh well, we can argue on individualities for years, but it is not what makes one defense good. The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well as we could see Zlatan struggled to go from there and Terry did well with some help from Cole against him.

I actually think that the English mid is class. Yesterday Gerard pulled some awesome performance. And the fact that their wingers are quick and tireless adds extra people in the mid for England and they are able to put more man there, which gives them some advantages. Just my thoughts though, do not be too harsh.

Interesting perspective, although I doubt a bad defence could of kept France to long shots throughout 90 minutes. I disagree about how you claim Cole is poorer than those you mentioned, he is a very good LB although last night it was slightly dodgy.
 
I agree with Mike on all four defenders, it seems that Johnson has actually learned how to defend properly.
 
Aye, in both games the defending has been very decent. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of, especially considering that there's no team in tournament so far with seemingly unpenetrable defense.
 
Aye, in both games the defending has been very decent. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of, especially considering that there's no team in tournament so far with seemingly unpenetrable defense.
Should definitely be ashamed of the two goals conceded against Sweden, it was painfully bad
 
Glen Johnson - who was that guy? I remember that few years ago he was named as the next big thingie, but he is playing for Liverpool now?
Terry - slow, dirty, nervous, arguable leadership, poor decision making. I can name at least 20 defenders better than him in this tournament.
Lescott - stable, but nothing impressive. Man City's defense is not what made them champions - Tevez, Aguero did, even Balotelli had bigger impact imo :) (that is a joke)
A. Cole = good defender, a bit slower nowadays, but definitely with lots of experience. However nowhere close to the best LB's in the world imo. Chiellini, Lahm, Boateng, Abidal, Marcelo, Coentrao, Alba, Alaba will put him on their pockets and some of them are not even tipical LBs. The comparison with Banes is ... laughable. Just because some left mid can cross, run and score from free kicks does not make him a good defender. And the guy is still young and unproven. Maby in a couple of years he can be there, but not yet.

Oh well, we can argue on individualities for years, but it is not what makes one defense good. The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well as we could see Zlatan struggled to go from there and Terry did well with some help from Cole against him.

I actually think that the English mid is class. Yesterday Gerard pulled some awesome performance. And the fact that their wingers are quick and tireless adds extra people in the mid for England and they are able to put more man there, which gives them some advantages. Just my thoughts though, do not be too harsh.

England have one of if not the best defence in the competition.. Ashley Cole is, along with Phillipe Lahm the best left back in the world.. The fact that you named certain players who rarely play at left back (Chiellini, Boateng, Coentrao etc.. Just makes you're whole arguement on England has a poor defence futile. Plus Jordi Alba, Alaba are young and only just started, you can't compare them to Ashley Cole (just yet)..

Anyway..
England have a very good defence, let in two sloppy goals yesterday but hope they can build on those mistakes and make sure they won't happen again.. Glad to finally have a keeper who we can rely on, it's been YEARS since we've had a world class kepper.. Our attack seems quite "bland" .. That being said we have one of the best strikers to come back now in Rooney who will make a HUGE difference.. Plus we can hopefully start with some pace on the wings with A.Young and Walcott, with Chamberlain coming on as a sub.. Don't see why Milner plays on the wing, doesn't offer much other than a great cross and good work rate, he looked knackered yesterday..

Hope to see vs Ukraine, Gerrard and Parker in the middle.. A.Young on the left (even though he was poor vs Sweden), Walcott on the right.. Rooney just behind the striker.. And not to sure who would accommodate this team better in A.Carrol or Welbeck
 
Problem I can see with the work rate is Gerard and Parker will run out of steam as they're both the wrong side of 30, and Parker is absolutely necessary for the side to work with his protection of the def.
 
Problem I can see with the work rate is Gerard and Parker will run out of steam as they're both the wrong side of 30, and Parker is absolutely necessary for the side to work with his protection of the def.

Can't wait for World Cup qualifiers though, Wilshere and Rodwell, would be an amazing duo in the middle of the pitch, one for the future. Hope they stay injury free though.
 
No, just no. He had 6 shots, and most of them were dangerous. Hart saved England twice. I remember Terry bounced off Ibrahimovic once or twice in the game. I really don't blame Terry for goal, his positioning was always world class.

6 shots does not mean anything, most or even all of his shots were from outside the box and you would expect as he did a keeper of Joe Hart's ability to deal with them. Terry and Lescott both bounced off him a long with others but both times they stood back up, composed themselves and won the ball off him straight after.

Glen Johnson - who was that guy? I remember that few years ago he was named as the next big thingie, but he is playing for Liverpool now?
Terry - slow, dirty, nervous, arguable leadership, poor decision making. I can name at least 20 defenders better than him in this tournament.
Lescott - stable, but nothing impressive. Man City's defense is not what made them champions - Tevez, Aguero did, even Balotelli had bigger impact imo :) (that is a joke)
A. Cole = good defender, a bit slower nowadays, but definitely with lots of experience. However nowhere close to the best LB's in the world imo. Chiellini, Lahm, Boateng, Abidal, Marcelo, Coentrao, Alba, Alaba will put him on their pockets and some of them are not even tipical LBs. The comparison with Banes is ... laughable. Just because some left mid can cross, run and score from free kicks does not make him a good defender. And the guy is still young and unproven. Maby in a couple of years he can be there, but not yet.

Oh well, we can argue on individualities for years, but it is not what makes one defense good. The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well as we could see Zlatan struggled to go from there and Terry did well with some help from Cole against him.

I actually think that the English mid is class. Yesterday Gerard pulled some awesome performance. And the fact that their wingers are quick and tireless adds extra people in the mid for England and they are able to put more man there, which gives them some advantages. Just my thoughts though, do not be too harsh.

Your name says it all "insanity"!!!!! Terry has always been slow, put one of the best tackles of the tournament on Ibrahimovic on the half way line yesterday how is that dirty. And arguable leadership, are you serious!!!! And decision making is one of his best attributes, if he didn't have that he would be half the player he was/is.

Name me a squad who has won the Premier League or any league for that fact who have had a bad defence? Lescott was magnificent for City last season, its a TEAM game mate if you didn't know already.

Ashley Cole was and always has been consistantly brilliant for 6-8 seasons now no question about it.

I really don't know why i am even bothering posting back because you said "The only good part of the English defense is their left part - the combination of Therry and Cole works well". This shows you either did not watch the game or know absolutely nothing about football considering Lescott plays the left side of the two.
 
So Czechs won the group and Greece got through second... Who saw that coming.
 
My god. what a game. Greece again making headlines. 2004 memories still lives.
 
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