England'S Official 2012 Euro Discussion Thread

[carmine]

I have no idea what Milners role in the team is??

He is certainly not playing as he does at City. Even though he is somewhat limited, he does a decent job at City.

All I see him do for England is stand on the wing with his finger up his rs!!

Personally I would play Walcott or Ox Chamberlain against Italy.

Agree that Gerard is having a magnificent tournament

Milner certainly does seem to have played better for City than he is now for England, although perhaps at City his play has been flattered somewhat by the players around him?

Good point.

It just seems to me that he has not been given a job to do!!

But aside from Hart, Gerard and Rooney, England are a team of mediocrity.

I still think they will squeeze past Italy, but will be no match for Germany

I think Lescott and Johnson have also played well this tournament

Edited June 23, 2012 by carmine

[Abrak]

I have no idea what Milners role in the team is??

He is certainly not playing as he does at City. Even though he is somewhat limited, he does a decent job at City.

All I see him do for England is stand on the wing with his finger up his rs!!

Personally I would play Walcott or Ox Chamberlain against Italy.

Agree that Gerard is having a magnificent tournament

To be honest whoever has taken that wide midfield role or has been destined for it has been pitiful.

You could in fact argue that Milner was the best of a bad bunch until the 3rd game when he completed just 9 passes before being taken off. Admittedly over 3 games 2 successful crosses from 13 wasnt much to write home about.

Still he was competing with Young who managed just one successful cross from 11 over 3 games and managed to lose possession 18 times in the Sweden game which was rather more than the 11 times he managed to successfully pass it in the previous game.

As for the super sub Walcott who was brought on in the 69th minute of the game against the Ukraine, he had precisely 1 touch of the ball.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is possibly beginning to look good on the basis that he didnt make a single cross so he doesnt have a failure record and 15 completed passes isnt that bad afterall (even if only 4 went forward).

Of course we could use the player with the best pass completion record this season and with the second most assists in an England shirt over the past two years but his name is Downing.

[smokie36]

What about Carroll's goal...he's fantastic!! A sure starter...the new Lineker in the making....get him a crisp contract and a seat on the Newcastle board!!!!

[rijit]

Yeah for sure going forward, i would have ox's or walcots pace, but I dont think that tracking bac or defending is one of either's strong points

And we all know woys big up on defending as a unit, and I think Milners defensive willingness and work rate in tracking bac and defending, has won him the place.And donrt forget defending aint in the past been johnson's strong point but this tourn'nt it's been excellent, down a bit maybe to milners easily miss able support ? not sure. Dont think milners particulary pleasing to the eye or i agree with him playing but i sort

of can see where woys comin from

Edited June 23, 2012 by rijit

[SantiSuk]

Yeah for sure going forward, i would have ox's or walcots pace, but I dont think that tracking bac or defending is one of either's strong points

And we all know woys big up on defending as a unit, and I think Milners defensive willingness and work rate in tracking bac and defending, has won him the place.And donrt forget defending aint in the past been johnson's strong point but this tourn'nt it's been excellent, down a bit maybe to milners easily miss able support ? not sure. Dont think milners particulary pleasing to the eye or i agree with him playing but i sort

of can see where woys comin from

Cover for Johnson by Gerrard too on one or two key occasions.

Clearly Roy likes to start defensively, hoping to frustrate the opposition and build a base for the second half when he can bring the faster front man on to take advantage of opposition tiredness. Either that or Milner is his secret love child! [Maybe Young too]

[rijit]

Lets just hope it's neither but if it does fingers 'xd it's Balotelii.

. And got to say what an inspirational leader Stephen Gerrard is, seems the captaincy has really pushed his England game on.

?????

I feel your pain leetle Englander....

Actually no....I don't !

You dont feel it, cos there isn't any mate , were in the q/fs of the euros after running out winners of our group!!

unlike you're mob , but its getting a bit boring going there!!!

[rijit]

Yeah for sure going forward, i would have ox's or walcots pace, but I dont think that tracking bac or defending is one of either's strong points

And we all know woys big up on defending as a unit, and I think Milners defensive willingness and work rate in tracking bac and defending, has won him the place.And donrt forget defending aint in the past been johnson's strong point but this tourn'nt it's been excellent, down a bit maybe to milners easily miss able support ? not sure. Dont think milners particulary pleasing to the eye or i agree with him playing but i sort

of can see where woys comin from

Cover for Johnson by Gerrard too on one or two key occasions.

Clearly Roy likes to start defensively, hoping to frustrate the opposition and build a base for the second half when he can bring the faster front man on to take advantage of opposition tiredness. Either that or Milner is his secret love child! [Maybe Young too]

Yeah ,makes sense, seems young does sort of get a touch stifled with his defensive duties, seems maybe he's roy's one 'luxury' player but saying that his pace on the break is useful and of coarse his goals one in four aint bad for a winger.

[smokie36]

Lets just hope it's neither but if it does fingers 'xd it's Balotelii.

. And got to say what an inspirational leader Stephen Gerrard is, seems the captaincy has really pushed his England game on.

?????

I feel your pain leetle Englander....

Actually no....I don't !

You dont feel it, cos there isn't any mate , were in the q/fs of the euros after running out winners of our group!!

unlike you're mob , but its getting a bit boring going there!!!

[carmine]

Smokes, if you qualify for the world cup will you all skip off the south america wearing skirts and ginger wigs?

[smokie36]

Smokes, if you qualify for the world cup will you all skip off the south america wearing skirts and ginger wigs?

I will be there aye...on Copacabana beach....I'm not booking my ticket yet though!

[rixalex]

Smokes, if you qualify for the world cup will you all skip off the south america wearing skirts and ginger wigs?

I will be there aye...on Copacabana beach....I'm not booking my ticket yet though!

You a Mr Manilow fan smokes?

[smokie36]

Smokes, if you qualify for the world cup will you all skip off the south america wearing skirts and ginger wigs?

I will be there aye...on Copacabana beach....I'm not booking my ticket yet though!

You a Mr Manilow fan smokes?

me no unnastand. Probably before my time rix.

[rixalex]

Smokes, if you qualify for the world cup will you all skip off the south america wearing skirts and ginger wigs?

I will be there aye...on Copacabana beach....I'm not booking my ticket yet though!

You a Mr Manilow fan smokes?

me no unnastand. Probably before my time rix.

Music and passion were always the fashion....

No?

[rijit]

Smokes, if you qualify for the world cup will you all skip off the south america wearing skirts and ginger wigs?

I will be there aye...on Copacabana beach....I'm not booking my ticket yet though!

copacabana aint the best mate, best stick to ipanema or leblon, safer and imo nicer!!!!

[SantiSuk]

Thought you meant that Mr Big nose was well-known for liking skirts and ginger wigs, Rix. Seemed quite plausible, so I didn't stop to think twice!

[rixalex]

Thought you meant that Mr Big nose was well-known for liking skirts and ginger wigs, Rix. Seemed quite plausible, so I didn't stop to think twice!

I didn't mean that no Santi, but come to think of it, a ginger wig might work like a form of concealer, dragging the eyes focus away from that unfortunate hooter.

[nev]

Maybe because players that are able to retain possession have not been picked or are injured, Carrick Wilshire Cleverley Lampard an ageing Scholes all would walk in Englands current midfield and i am sure there are others that i have missed, funny that i select 3 man utd players so maybe called biased but man utd have not been at the top of the league and in 3 European finals by not being able to retain possession.

not true at all. or funny really. ferguson's teams have never been noted for their ball retention but for their counter-attacking and rapid movement of the ball at pace. i wonder what some football fans see at times.

wilshere is the only one of the above who would particularly add anything to this current england midfield. scholes would get sent off, cleverly is average. carrick's not bad but not as good a spoiler as parker or as good a passer as gerrard.

Well i agree to disagree, Cleverley is a excellent prospect and at the start of las season was excellent for us played a huge part in the 8-2 over Arsenal and was going great until Davis of Bolton crudely put him out for the season with a dreadful tackle, as for Carrick he is a excellent player, and the two things you have mentioned being a spoiler and passer imho better than both you mentioned, Parker just reminds me of Park for us runs around a lot falls over but looks ok but not class, and as for Gerrard a better passer is that is famous overhit hollywood passes maybe, but short passing your having a laugh mate, as for Scholes if England had built there team around him years ago instead of trying to play Gerrard and lampard together England would have been a better team for it.

[smokie36]

Maybe because players that are able to retain possession have not been picked or are injured, Carrick Wilshire Cleverley Lampard an ageing Scholes all would walk in Englands current midfield and i am sure there are others that i have missed, funny that i select 3 man utd players so maybe called biased but man utd have not been at the top of the league and in 3 European finals by not being able to retain possession.

not true at all. or funny really. ferguson's teams have never been noted for their ball retention but for their counter-attacking and rapid movement of the ball at pace. i wonder what some football fans see at times.

wilshere is the only one of the above who would particularly add anything to this current england midfield. scholes would get sent off, cleverly is average. carrick's not bad but not as good a spoiler as parker or as good a passer as gerrard.

Well i agree to disagree, Cleverley is a excellent prospect and at the start of las season was excellent for us played a huge part in the 8-2 over Arsenal and was going great until Davis of Bolton crudely put him out for the season with a dreadful tackle, as for Carrick he is a excellent player, and the two things you have mentioned being a spoiler and passer imho better than both you mentioned, Parker just reminds me of Park for us runs around a lot falls over but looks ok but not class, and as for Gerrard a better passer is that is famous overhit hollywood passes maybe, but short passing your having a laugh mate, as for Scholes if England had built there team around him years ago instead of trying to play Gerrard and lampard together England would have been a better team for it.

Agree re Scholes...not on Gerrard or Parker though. They are the best midfield partnership England have right now....your wing players or best wing players are still youngsters really.

Defensively you will struggle tomorrow I think....you've not had a proper test there yet.

[mommysboy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

Here's a bit of a hoot. How many of the England team can you recognise by childhood pictures?

Scroll down linked page to see article

[SantiSuk]

My sister, who is married to a German and has lived there 30 years (Koln and Chelsea supporter), reckons that the Germans are praying that England beat Italy, so they can avenge the 'Wembley Goal'. My initial thought was 'fer Christ's sake - it's 50 years ago'. Then I remember Scotland - still bitter about Banockburn from the 18th Century (or was it even earlier than that - Smokie??) Before my time was Banockburn - not sure I ever got to know the score from that game.

[smokie36]

My sister, who is married to a German and has lived there 30 years (Koln and Chelsea supporter), reckons that the Germans are praying that England beat Italy, so they can avenge the 'Wembley Goal'. My initial thought was 'fer Christ's sake - it's 50 years ago'. Then I remember Scotland - still bitter about Banockburn from the 18th Century (or was it even earlier than that - Smokie??) Before my time was Banockburn - not sure I ever got to know the score from that game.

We beat you 1-0 Nov 17th 1999.

Have fun with the lao khao Santi! Where is yer mucker fishface these days eh? Under the thumb is where....

[rixalex]

as for Scholes if England had built there team around him years ago instead of trying to play Gerrard and lampard together England would have been a better team for it.

Yes how many competitions and managers did we have to go through of persistently and doggedly playing Gerrard and Lampard together in midfield? It was a partnership that never came close to gelling and added to which, neither player delivered on an individual performance basis either. Very difficult to do anything in cup competitions when your two midfielders don't work. Not of course that i am suggesting that the rest of the team particularly did. But midfield is an important starting point to get right. Only when, thanks to injury to Lampard, Gareth Barry started getting selected under Capello, did the team start operating better.

As for now, i'm happy to have Gerrard's experience and quality, combined with Parker's work rate and determination, and they have done a great job..... but when you mention the name Scholes, it's hard not to miss those pin-point cross-field diagonal balls, or those defence splitting through balls down the middle. Gerrard can do both those things, but Scholes was for me on another level.. but that's a Man United fan speaking of course...

[SantiSuk]

Spain, and England or Italy, have 2 days less recouperation time before their semi-finals than Germany and Portugal. Seems unnecessarily unfair when a different arrangement of quarter finals would have made the difference only one day

[Abrak]

Parker just reminds me of Park for us runs around a lot falls over but looks ok but not class

It seems to me there are certain players - Parker is one, Johnson another - that even if they play a blinder, some people will always argue they arent much good or just ok.

Just for the record. Parker is ranked...

2nd in the PL for tackles per game

3rd in the PL for interceptions per game

14th in the PL for pass completion at 89.5%

14th in the PL for total passes per game at 59.3

...he is probably one of the top 3 or 4 DMs in the league

[nev]

Parker just reminds me of Park for us runs around a lot falls over but looks ok but not class

It seems to me there are certain players - Parker is one, Johnson another - that even if they play a blinder, some people will always argue they arent much good or just ok.

Just for the record. Parker is ranked...

2nd in the PL for tackles per game

3rd in the PL for interceptions per game

14th in the PL for pass completion at 89.5%

14th in the PL for total passes per game at 59.3

...he is probably one of the top 3 or 4 DMs in the league

How about posting the full list to see who is the best in each of those statistics mentioned, and who are the other two or three DM's you rate higher.

[Abrak]

Parker just reminds me of Park for us runs around a lot falls over but looks ok but not class

It seems to me there are certain players - Parker is one, Johnson another - that even if they play a blinder, some people will always argue they arent much good or just ok.

Just for the record. Parker is ranked...

2nd in the PL for tackles per game

3rd in the PL for interceptions per game

14th in the PL for pass completion at 89.5%

14th in the PL for total passes per game at 59.3

...he is probably one of the top 3 or 4 DMs in the league

How about posting the full list to see who is the best in each of those statistics mentioned, and who are the other two or three DM's you rate higher.

The stats are from 'whoscored.com' where you can easily rank players or teams by various measures.

I guess I probably consider the best couple of DMs in the PL as Lucas Leiva (stats not on whoscored as not played enough games but had the best tackling stats in Europe when injured) and Yaya Toure.

[salty]

Spain, and England or Italy, have 2 days less recouperation time before their semi-finals than Germany and Portugal. Seems unnecessarily unfair when a different arrangement of quarter finals would have made the difference only one day

Portugal are in the best position re days of rest. As you state they will have 6 days between matches as against 4 for Spain and the winners of that semi will have 4 days rest as against 3 for the 2nd semifinal winners.

[smokie36]

Spain, and England or Italy, have 2 days less recouperation time before their semi-finals than Germany and Portugal. Seems unnecessarily unfair when a different arrangement of quarter finals would have made the difference only one day

Mickey McPlatini's fault that one.

[ruddy2000]

In which pubs does everyone recommend to watch the Italy game?

[rixalex]

Way i see it chaps, is there are now five teams remaining, so we have at the very least made it into the top five.