The Official EURO 2012 thread

[Superted]

I wonder if Roy is still shaken by his treatment and legacy at pool such that he's trying to win them back by over compensating on selections.

Never should have selected Terry though.

 

[alen_cro]

Olić injured and out for Croatia
Kalinić in

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

4 days to go before it starts but hardly looks like Euro is around the corner. In fact, some people are already looking ahead to Olympics in July/August instead ! Maybe if it is hosted by any of the traditional football nations, it would get more attention. Poland/Ukraine hardly a good advert for football.

I dont think its the hosts, I think its a combination of the Jubilee/Olympics taking the lime light at home and the fact no one expects the team to do jack squat

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

I'd have picked Terry too. He's obviously made some pact with the devil whereby success befalls him effortlessly.

 

[spurspinter1]

Olić injured and out for Croatia
Kalinić in

That's a shame for him, has he signed a new contract with Bayern? Thought he'd be playing out of his skin to either get a new contract or a move to another club, the same with Modric Charlie and Niko essentially, which is why Croatia are my dark horse, was going to put on a few quid but can't really spare it now, will rage if they do end up winning it...

 

[ArcspacE]

I thought he'd be better because he wouldn't just pick his mates like Harry would. Perhaps I was wrong...

Who are Arry's actual 'mates' other than Lampard, Paker and possibly Gerrard (I'd assume Joe Cole is a step too far even for him)?

I'd say he would have left Downing, and Milner and opted for 2 of Lennon / Sturridge / Carrick. Ferdinand would have been considered, imv.

 

[ArcspacE]

Olic signed with Wolfsburg some weeks back, mate

 

[Rossi22]

Olic has looked terrible since his injury.

 

[elltrev]

[h=1]So solid England will be a tough nut to crack[/h]

NASTY ... Gary Cahill is pushed into goalkeeper Joe Hart


By HARRY REDKNAPP

Last Updated: 03rd June 2012


[h=3]WHERE do England stand now after such a rollercoaster pre- tournament ride?[/h]
WE go to Ukraine with a lot of confidence. England looks a team that will be difficult to beat.
The back four looks strong and solid and there will certainly be no better keeper than Joe Hart at Euro 2012.
There is an especially strong spine to the team; Hart, John Terry, Gary Cahill, Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole — it looks robust at the back that’s for sure.
Roy Hodgson would have loved more time to prepare and get used to the job, naturally, but the important thing is that the players had a good qualifying tournament.
They qualified very easily and won the group.
England will be one of the better teams in the tournament. I certainly feel optimistic.
ARE the England players adaptable enough to outwit and combat different foreign opposition?
OF COURSE they are. Go through the squad list and there’s a host of players with Champions League medals to their names.
Again it’s Terry, Cahill, Gerrard, Cole and the like. We have great quality in our squad and I think as a nation we underestimate them too much and overrate the opposition. It’s been the same for years.
There are five or six players in the Holland squad who wouldn’t get anywhere near the England team and they are being touted as one of the most fancied sides.
Every year an English team is there or thereabouts in the Champions League.
Sure, I know there are lots of foreign players in those teams but also some great English players and there have been for years.
We should give our players more credit.
WHICH England players emerged with most credit from Wembley last night?
THAT’S difficult really because there were no sparkling individual performances.
It just wasn’t that kind of game. What it was was a good, solid team effort, hard working.
Belgium were clever on the ball but lacked punch. If we’d had a bit more punch it could have been very different. But as a unit England did well.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing that no one player stood out. I thought that Danny Welbeck took his goal very well, very confidently. I like him as a player and it will be a big boost for the youngster.
The substitutes got some good time on the pitch too and we have cover in key areas.
Jermain Defoe looks sharp and he was unlucky not to grab a second goal for England when his shot hit the post.
HAS this match influenced the starting line-up against France on Monday week?
NO. I think that Roy will know his starting 11 by now and I don’t think Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Welbeck will start.
I should imagine it will be Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott.
But what the past two games have provided is a goal for Ashley Young, a goal for Welbeck and those things will be of high value heading into a tournament because it will give those players extra confidence.
But with France just over a week away I would have thought the first names on the teamsheet will be well known, unless of course there are more injury problems.
HOW far can we go at Euro 2012?
IT’S Cup football so anything can happen.
You need luck in the draw, luck in qualifying, luck in the games and so on.
Just look at Chelsea in the Champions League this season. It’s not always the best team which wins a tournament. Maybe the fact that the expectation around England is relatively low-key could do them a big favour.
There’s not so much hype. Look at our group. Ukraine are nothing without home advantage, Sweden should not really pose a problem which leaves France as the big threat without a doubt.
IF we can’t win it, who can? Who are your favourites?
GERMANY or Spain are my two choices for that.
I know Bayern Munich did not win the Champions League final but look at the players in that side.
Throw in Mezut Ozil and players like Lukas Podolski and they are a formidable bunch.
I like the Munich keeper Manuel Neuer. He’s very young but very confident — such assuredness to take a penalty in the European Cup final.
He’s up there with Joe Hart but like I say, there’ll be no one better than Joe at Euro 2012.
Spain are an obvious choice with the players they have and the confidence of being reigning European and world champions.
I do not fancy Holland at all though. Defensively they are not strong enough for me.
I would say if anyone fancies a quirky bet at the tournament it would be that Holland won’t make it out of their group.
WHAT strengths did you see in the England team against Belgium?
WE looked solid. Whether we have got the flair to win games is a different issue. We will be relying on the likes of Theo Walcott and Ashley Young with their pace to unlock teams for us.
I think the strongest part of our team is the defensive unit, from the keeper through the back four and into Parker and Gerrard in midfield.
WHAT did you make of Eden Hazard?
I LOVE him as a player. He did some good things too.
He and Marouanne Fellaini and Mousa Dembele ran the game in terms of possession, without posing too many problems though.
I think they had two shots and so did we.
It wasn’t an exciting match, more a big tournament game but with a positive result for England.
Therefore we go forward to Euro 2012 on the back of a couple of good wins.

A quarter of the way through reading this I thought 'what a load of tripe, who is getting paid to write stuff of this quality!?'

Then I read the name of the author.... :lol:

 

[chancer]

Olić injured and out for Croatia
Kalinić in

Sorry about that alen...but good for Ireland...O

 

[Raziel]

imo, neither Harry or Roy was going to win either the Euros or WC (England just doesn't have the players), difference

- Harry might have actually had England enjoyable to watch, could see a QF run with a couple of nice wins (3-1, 4-2) and perhaps a heavier loss when finally up against one of the big teams
- Roy is just going to make it like watching grass grow, and will fade out very early with all the scores being 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 type results ...

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

imo, neither Harry or Roy was going to win either the Euros or WC (England just doesn't have the players), difference

- Harry might have actually had England enjoyable to watch, could see a QF run with a couple of nice wins (3-1, 4-2) and perhaps a heavier loss when finally up against one of the big teams
- Roy is just going to make it like watching grass grow, and will fade out very early with all the scores being 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 type results ...

Agree with this, I don't think anyone in England thinks England have the players to do any sort of damage (that's been the case for about the last 2, possibly 3 Championships). The only hype and expectation is from the media, your average football fan or man down the pub has been very realistic about Englands (lack of) hopes for quite a few years now. The last time I felt we had any chance of Semi's were the Euro's in Portugal.

Harry would have got us some glorious failure in the manner you describe above, we may even have gone out on pens vs one of the favourites (ala Venables / Hoddle days), but Hodgson just seems to be heading down the same path as Capello and Eriksson's later years.

I was quite excited about getting Roy in, thought I might be able to get really pationate about England again, but it just feels like more of the same to me.

 

[spooky]

England. meh.

 

[spursworm]

Let's see how we do against France shall we. Everyone's going potty about Ferdinand but in reality how much difference would have made to this terrible england team. thinking about england i think the last time we have actually performed well was 1996 and even then we bottled it. we looked half decent in 1998 but again bottled it. since then bar the 5-1 germany game and maybe 4-2 crotia in 2004 when have england actually looked anything other than a championship team.

england went through a period where they didnt qualify for anything for 12 years, and tbh you can see that happening again after this tournament.

 

[parklane1]

Amen

Not sure why s manyo believe he was a much better choice than Harry - absolutely baffling choice if you ask me

Because Redknapp would have been a disaster, England have NO chance of winning the trophy ( the players are not good enough) so what the FA did not want was another KK situation which was always likely to happen with Redknapp.

 

[T-C]

Amen

Not sure why s manyo believe he was a much better choice than Arry - absolutely baffling choice if you ask me

Because the appointment is about more that the team being an entertaining failure at this particular tournament.

 

[Jordinho]

Wolves have more players at the Euros than Inter Milan.

 

[Fuego]

A quarter of the way through reading this I thought 'what a load of tripe, who is getting paid to write stuff of this quality!?'

Then I read the name of the author.... :lol:

I did the same. I got a few lines into "ARE the England players adaptable enough to outwit and combat different foreign opposition?"...

 

[chancer]

Paddy's Latest

Spain 13/5

Germany 3/1

Holland 13/2

France 10/1

England 14/1

Italy 16/1

Portugal 18/1

Russia 22/1

Ukraine 50/1
Croatia 50/1
Poland 50/1

Czech Republic 66/1
Sweden 66/1

Denmark 80/1
Ireland 80/1

Greece 100/1

...

Top two a long way ahead of the field. France, Portugal and Czech showing a bit of value I think.

 

[Mumorn]

Portugal won't make it out of the groups