The UEFA European Championship 2020 Thread

[nottingram]

I would be going with:

Pickford

Walker Stones White Shaw

Mount Rice Grealish

Sancho Kane Foden

Quite attacking but in the groups we should really be dominating the games so a lone DM with two forward thinking CM’s should be enough especially with the more defensive minded full backs. Mount also versatile and intelligent enough to drop in if needed. Don’t rate Mings in the slightest so would just play the others even if Stones and White are a bit similar.

It won’t be that though. I would expect a 3 at the back with Rice and Phillips protecting and Mount in the front 3. Probably win the group games with some goals from penalties and corners.

[rynny]

4 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Stop bloody moaning!

But @Van der MoodHoover is right. Why pick players with question marks over their fitness without adequate cover. There is 3 extra squad places this year, if you we really needed to take them then pick your 23 fully fit squad then add the 2 doubts and 1 extra versatile player. 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

1 minute ago, rynny said:

But @Van der MoodHoover is right. Why pick players with question marks over their fitness without adequate cover. There is 3 extra squad places this year, if you we really needed to take them then pick your 23 fully fit squad then add the 2 doubts and 1 extra versatile player. 

Because he's always moaning about England and I want to moan about him moaning.

[rynny]

59 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Because he's always moaning about England and I want to moan about him moaning.

I wanted to moan about England as well though. 

[Andicis]

I'm pretty worried for our defense in these games. Chillwell and James are quality fullbacks, though I fear we'll see Walker, who knows if Maguire will be fit enough. Mings is just a bit rubbish in my opinion. Stones can also be a huge liability at moments. White was sensible to bring along as cover, but I can't help but think taking Tomori over Mings would have been a better call. 

[Andicis]

5 hours ago, Rammy03 said:

Mings, Godfrey, White, Coady, Phillips, Saka, Bellingham, Ward Prowse are all not up to this level at the moment and shouldn't be playing. 

Pretty controversial to say White, Saka, Bellingham aren't up to it at this level. White played well in his few England appearances, I thought Bellingham was our best player in his start the other night and looked good when he came on vs Romania, and Saka scored and played pretty well as well as playing well this season for Arsenal. 

[Rammy03]

20 minutes ago, Andicis said:

Pretty controversial to say White, Saka, Bellingham aren't up to it at this level. White played well in his few England appearances, I thought Bellingham was our best player in his start the other night and looked good when he came on vs Romania, and Saka scored and played pretty well as well as playing well this season for Arsenal. 

White has played well but we gave away a lot of chances. Johnstone made some terrific saves. Bellingham did okay, Saka did well for Arsenal who had a shocking season. Phillips hasn't pulled up any trees in an England shirt. I'm just saying at the elite level, these players are average. There's a lot of mediocrity starting to creep in and people are accepting it. They may be ready to start in major tournaments in a few years time, but not yet in my opinion. They are squad players. I want us to field a side that I know will compete with the world champions. 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Rammy03

[Andicis]

8 minutes ago, Rammy03 said:

White has played well but we gave away a lot of chances. Johnstone made some terrific saves. Bellingham did okay, Saka did well for Arsenal who had a shocking season. Phillips hasn't pulled up any trees in an England shirt. I'm just saying at the elite level, these players are average. There's a lot of mediocrity starting to creep in and people are accepting it. They may be ready to start in major tournaments in a few years time, but not yet in my opinion. They are squad players. I want us to field a side that I know will compete with the world champions. 

Yes, but objectively the chances we gave away weren't down to White. Apportioning blame to all defenders because Mings and Godfrey are horrifying is pretty weird, IMO. Mediocrity creeping in? Have you seen some of our teams in the last 10 years? Because this is by **far** the best, in my opinion. Bellingham is going to be world class, Johnstone is a back up keeper, Saka is young and has come off of a phenomenal season and looked pretty good for England. Don't rate Phillips much but he's a decent squad player. None of these other countries have 26 stars. They have plenty of squad players too. 

[TigerTedd]

9 hours ago, Rammy03 said:

White has played well but we gave away a lot of chances. Johnstone made some terrific saves. Bellingham did okay, Saka did well for Arsenal who had a shocking season. Phillips hasn't pulled up any trees in an England shirt. I'm just saying at the elite level, these players are average. There's a lot of mediocrity starting to creep in and people are accepting it. They may be ready to start in major tournaments in a few years time, but not yet in my opinion. They are squad players. I want us to field a side that I know will compete with the world champions. 

I don’t see your point. “They are squad players.” Yes they are. What’s you’re point? They’re not likely to be in the staring 11. There’s a fair few that will probably never kick a ball, unless we’re clear in the group after 2 games. 

some are mediocre, no doubt, but we do have probably the deepest squad of 26 in the whole tournament. Our starting 11 might not quite be the best, but our squad is up there with the best. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by TigerTedd
Mistook you got rample

[Ghost of Clough]

16 hours ago, Rammy03 said:

Thankfully a lot of the players who played in those friendlies will not be playing in the tournament, at least I'd hope not. 

Mings, Godfrey, White, Coady, Phillips, Saka, Bellingham, Ward Prowse are all not up to this level at the moment and shouldn't be playing. 

With Maguire not being fit, Mings will be starting alongside Stones.

Similar applies to Phillips because of Henderson.

15 hours ago, Kernow said:

Surely White's inclusion suggests that they aren't confident on the fitness of Maguire. Will Henderson be fit enough to start at any point during the groups?

TAA missing out still leaves James, Walker and Trippier. White being included should make it less likely to see Walker at CB in a back 3.

[Ghost of Clough]

10 hours ago, Andicis said:

Yes, but objectively the chances we gave away weren't down to White. Apportioning blame to all defenders because Mings and Godfrey are horrifying is pretty weird, IMO. Mediocrity creeping in? Have you seen some of our teams in the last 10 years? Because this is by **far** the best, in my opinion. Bellingham is going to be world class, Johnstone is a back up keeper, Saka is young and has come off of a phenomenal season and looked pretty good for England. Don't rate Phillips much but he's a decent squad player. None of these other countries have 26 stars. They have plenty of squad players too. 

Most of their chances came from exploiting White and Godfrey. Mings was covering for White all game

[cannable]

I think Sterling has to play. You need some pace and running to threaten in behind and stretch the opposition. 

Flip of a coin on Foden and Grealish. Could literally boil down to whether you’d prefer a right or left footer. 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

Love this from Phil:

 

[Anag Ram]

19 minutes ago, cannable said:

I think Sterling has to play. You need some pace and running to threaten in behind and stretch the opposition. 

Flip of a coin on Foden and Grealish. Could literally boil down to whether you’d prefer a right or left footer. 

For me:

                                  Johnstone (Pickford is a liability)

Walker            Mears                Stones         Chilwell

 

   Mount                       Rice                     Foden

 

Sterling                         Kane                 Grealish 

 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

30 minutes ago, cannable said:

I think Sterling has to play. You need some pace and running to threaten in behind and stretch the opposition. 

I saw a tweet from a respectable football writer yesterday, saying that the idea that Foden doesn’t get in behind is a bit of a false narrative. Apparently he’s very quick as well.

I haven’t seen enough of him to judge.

[Marriot Ram99]

I think Bellingham is slept on vastly, he's our best proper midfielder. 

He can cover alot of ground, he's strong, he can tackle, carry the ball and pass nobody else is as well rounded. He's definitely not a mediocre player, best player in the world for his age. 

I'd play him next to Henderson and Mount and wouldn't bother with Rice. Henderson as a holder is better on the ball than Rice and more experienced and has won alot for Liverpool. Grealish can't play CM because he can't tackle or mark anyone. Foden will play RW with Rashford LW Kane in the middle. 

[Rammy03]

3 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

I don’t see your point. “They are squad players.” Yes they are. What’s you’re point? They’re not likely to be in the staring 11. There’s a fair few that will probably never kick a ball, unless we’re clear in the group after 2 games. 

some are mediocre, no doubt, but we do have probably the deepest squad of 26 in the whole tournament. Our starting 11 might not quite be the best, but our squad is up there with the best. 

My starting 11 would be something like

 

Rashford               Kane               Sterling

Grealish                 Rice             Mount

Chilwell      Maguire      Stones        Walker

                             Pickford

 

I have tried to get our best players into a side. I appreciate Rashford is out of sorts but you could easily put Sancho or Foden in there. My point is that I would be concerned if the likes of Coady or Phillips are playing because I don't think they're good enough to win the European Championships. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

13 hours ago, rynny said:

I wanted to moan about England as well though. 

Always room for one more inside my bubble of misery mate.....?

[Van der MoodHoover]

4 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

I don’t see your point. “They are squad players.” Yes they are. What’s you’re point? They’re not likely to be in the staring 11. There’s a fair few that will probably never kick a ball, unless we’re clear in the group after 2 games. 

some are mediocre, no doubt, but we do have probably the deepest squad of 26 in the whole tournament. Our starting 11 might not quite be the best, but our squad is up there with the best. 

?

[Van der MoodHoover]

1 hour ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Love this from Phil:

 

but....but.....the new Gazza is Grealish. Lee Dixon has spoken....?