The Official EURO 2012 thread

[thfcsteff]

Well, I hate Terry but the bloke consistently puts himself on the line to get jobs done for whoever - he fudged us three times this season with three goal line clearances that I don't think any other CBs would've been there to make...again, nasty, horrible taco BUT he is a warrior. So sadly, I can see why he's going...Rio? He IS past his prime. And quite why he thinks he should had a divine right to be liked by Hodgson is beyond me. I haven't seen Aaron Lennon bleating in the press about being looked over, I haven't seen Peter Crouch (England's most prolific current goalscorer) bleating about being left out, but any fudging chance camel gob gets to "tweet" about it, he's in there. I really do wish he would shut the fudge up and just ACCEPT that his England days are over. Michah Richards is the one who should be "tweeting" if any one, but there we go, you cannot dismiss Rio's ego...nearly as big as his gob! Seriously, I wish he'd fudge off and go on his hols...

 

[spurspinter1]

Olic signed with Wolfsburg some weeks back, mate

Ahh right, completely missed that one. Could have been a shrewd move if Defoe moves on for good money.

 

[thfcsteff]

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 ...

I think we could bluff our way to the semis with Hodgson's lot...

 

[Jordinho]

I agree with the criticism over Kelly getting called up, he should not be anywhere near that squad, but I don't think Rio should be an automatic choice just because he has played 81 times or whatever for England.

 

[thfcsteff]

I agree with the criticism over Kelly getting called up, he should not be anywhere near that squad, but I don't think Rio should be an automatic choice just because he has played 81 times or whatever for England.

I quite like Kelly as a player TBH, Richards should've been straight in as he can do it all, but at least Hodgson is looking to young players and not old duffers...

 

[Rossi22]

I agree with the criticism over Kelly getting called up, he should not be anywhere near that squad, but I don't think Rio should be an automatic choice just because he has played 81 times or whatever for England.

True in that regard, but Rio is England's best centre back so should be an automatic choice.

 

[Yossarian]

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.

I'd say that Holland is the value there.

 

[parklane1]

I quite like Kelly as a player TBH, Richards should've been straight in as he can do it all, but at least Hodgson is looking to young players and not old duffers...

Which is what the majority of the country has been screaming for since the last WC.

 

[Kingdawson]

I'd say that Holland is the value there.

France is the value bet for me and Croatia at 50's is worth a cheeky 10p.

 

[Raziel]

I quite like Kelly as a player TBH, Richards should've been straight in as he can do it all, but at least Hodgson is looking to young players and not old duffers...

Mate, my issue with Kelly (beyond the fact that he's not good enough to own the spot on a brick Pool side) is really the 6 Pool selections.

For me that screams Roy (despite being back in the PL for what 4 years now?) does not have a good knowledge of English players, really he picked 6 players just as a coincidence from the team he used to manage?

How prepared is he going to be for players from European sides?

 

[Jordinho]

With Harry in charge and all these injuries, would he have taken Caulker or Naughton by now?

 

[markysimmo]

Which is what the majority of the country has been screaming for since the last WC.

He hasnt done it by choice though

 

[Rossi22]

With Harry in charge and all these injuries, would he have taken Caulker or Naughton by now?

I'm guessing he'd have taken Richards and Rio in the original squad so he'd have had no need to.

 

[raboner]

i still don't understand the richards love-in. when has he had a consistent season? he's always injured and when he plays he's very hit and miss, in my opinion.

so what if he makes the odd barnstorming run forward? i'd feel much more optimistic having bale run at richards than zabaleta.

taking a punt on kelly would be no different to taking a punt on richards.

 

[ArcspacE]

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.

Why do you say that - i.e. what is it based on?

 

[ArcspacE]

I wonder what the odds were on Greece back in 2004

 

[markysimmo]

I wonder what the odds were on Greece back in 2004

100/1

 

[parklane1]

Why do you say that - i.e. what is it based on?

Because whether we like it or not at international level you need a manager with a bit of tactical knowledge, at least Hodgson has showed that with Fulham and WBA he can get a team organized( getting Fulham to a finla with basically average players was a sign of that). Redknapp may be a good motivater but so was KK and look what happened there, you need more and Redknapp has not got it. IMO

 

[milo]

Because whether we like it or not at international level you need a manager with a bit of tactical knowledge, at least Hodgson has showed that with Fulham and WBA he can get a team organized( getting Fulham to a finla with basically average players was a sign of that). Redknapp may be a good motivater but so was KK and look what happened there, you need more and Redknapp has not got it. IMO

I'm not convinced that a manager has enough time with his players at international level to do much detailed work. The following quote from Simon Davies is interesting

"We work on it every day...Every day in training is geared towards team shape. I've been working with the manager three seasons now and every day is team shape, and it shows...If you're going to play for him you've got to put a shift in and perform, work to a system and be tight defensively...We do a lot of work after every game on analysis, sorting the bad things out, sorting the good things out. It's nice to know what you work hard on works so well."

 

[T-C]

I'm not convinced that a manager has enough time with his players at international level to do much detailed work. The following quote from Simon Davies is interesting

"We work on it every day...Every day in training is geared towards team shape. I've been working with the manager three seasons now and every day is team shape, and it shows...If you're going to play for him you've got to put a shift in and perform, work to a system and be tight defensively...We do a lot of work after every game on analysis, sorting the bad things out, sorting the good things out. It's nice to know what you work hard on works so well."

With the limited time available, what should happen over time is that the players who are intelligent enough to understand the system quickly will be the ones who thrive.

If we are going to improve the pool of players available in the long term in England, then we have to start educating younger players about systems, tactics and movement. This needs to be demonstrated from the top - as painful as it may be to watch with the current set of players.