France, Adam Wharton, Albania, Slovenia (solely because I'm going on holiday there during the tournament and would like to watch them play a game in a Slovenian bar)
I know it'll be deeply unpopular but could Mason Greenwood be considered? He's had a cracking season in Spain and with several big European teams looking at signing him, could Gareth make that call?
I reckon Croatia will upset either Spain or Italy in their group stage while I can see Belgium or Holland (Netherlands) being involved in the latter stages of the competition
England are firmly in "I'll believe it when I see it" territory. Sadly, I don't even think a tournament win would feel like it makes up for all the botched opportunities over the decades. I feel we should have at least a second WC win and 2 Euro wins, on the very conservative side, with a few more final appearances.
Totally agree! It was there for the taking with positive substitutions when we were under the cosh. Alas. I also think we should have won WC 90 and Euro 96, and made the WC 18 final. This is not to mention passed up opportunities in various QF defeats that could have led to more finals.
re: your assertion England should have won Italia 90 and Euro 96, it might be worth refreshing your memory on the Belgium and Cameroon games from the knockouts in the former, and the Spain quarter final in the latter.
We've got a hell of a chance this summer though. Best England squad of my lifetime I'd say
I'm surprised you've left out Euro 2004. I think we were the best team in that tournament with the best player (Rooney) and had he not got injured early on in the quarter final I think we'd have won that game and indeed won the whole tournament
I was trying to be fair/conservative by leaving out any QF exits as still having an extra step to the final if we had won. There are a few other QF exits that are galling, especially WC 70 (taking Charlton off), WC 86 (Hand of the Devil), and WC 02 (leading Brazil and lost to Seaman misjudging the flight of the ball).
The beauty of getting older is that many of the finer details of previous tournament failures now escape me. Although the Euro final defeat still hurts.
Maybe if I set my expectations low this time I might be pleasantly surprised.
Comments
Who are people backing to win the tournament?
Any wildcard picks for the England Squad?
Any countries that might surprise us?
Assuming you're English, who are you backing as your 2nd team?
I'll support whoever i get in the work Euro sweepstakes.
France, Adam Wharton, Albania, Slovenia (solely because I'm going on holiday there during the tournament and would like to watch them play a game in a Slovenian bar)
France, England, Spain and Germany look the most likely winners to me. I'd be quite surprised if the winner came from outside that group.
Can't wait for it to get started. It's been a long time since we've had a 'proper' summer tournament.
Any other gasroomers going out? I'll be at the Denmark and Slovenia games.
Should be either England ,France or Spain I reckon... our biggest stumbling block could be our over defensive manager.
I think Portugal will win it
I think you’ll find Eusebio is a bit over the top now.
Portugal are always a threat, good technical side, good at cheating.
Mind you, Cristiano Ronaldo is still banging in a goal a game at 39 and apparently is looking forward to competing in the next World Cup.
I'll be at the Slovenia game too @Glenactico! 🤣
@micra, I hope, will understand why that's funny.
Does anybody think we'll get over the line this time? Close but no cigar methinks (again). 58 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming.
I know it'll be deeply unpopular but could Mason Greenwood be considered? He's had a cracking season in Spain and with several big European teams looking at signing him, could Gareth make that call?
I reckon Croatia will upset either Spain or Italy in their group stage while I can see Belgium or Holland (Netherlands) being involved in the latter stages of the competition
absolutely not
Eusébio. Sorry, couldn't resist it!
No thank you.
England are firmly in "I'll believe it when I see it" territory. Sadly, I don't even think a tournament win would feel like it makes up for all the botched opportunities over the decades. I feel we should have at least a second WC win and 2 Euro wins, on the very conservative side, with a few more final appearances.
No chance
We definitely should've won the last euros, until Southgate decided to try and sit back on a 1-0 lead 2nd half
Totally agree! It was there for the taking with positive substitutions when we were under the cosh. Alas. I also think we should have won WC 90 and Euro 96, and made the WC 18 final. This is not to mention passed up opportunities in various QF defeats that could have led to more finals.
And I thought you were partisan about Wycombe!!!!
Haha - to be fair, if Ireland were playing England I would be supporting Ireland.
Klopp for England!!!
I still don't understand how Gazza didn't score against Germany in the Euro 96 semis. I'm not over it.
Should have won Euro 2020 too.
Just imagine what a difference he would make to the amazing batch of players available for England right now.
re: your assertion England should have won Italia 90 and Euro 96, it might be worth refreshing your memory on the Belgium and Cameroon games from the knockouts in the former, and the Spain quarter final in the latter.
We've got a hell of a chance this summer though. Best England squad of my lifetime I'd say
Winning those games in very nailbiting style does not mean the semis were no longer missed opportunities, though? Sorry for the double negative. 😁
I'm surprised you've left out Euro 2004. I think we were the best team in that tournament with the best player (Rooney) and had he not got injured early on in the quarter final I think we'd have won that game and indeed won the whole tournament
Sadly we will never know
I was trying to be fair/conservative by leaving out any QF exits as still having an extra step to the final if we had won. There are a few other QF exits that are galling, especially WC 70 (taking Charlton off), WC 86 (Hand of the Devil), and WC 02 (leading Brazil and lost to Seaman misjudging the flight of the ball).
2006 was probably the one we should have won if the idea of a bit of balance in midfield being more important than wedging names in was desirable.
Have we ever had anyone operating at Bellinghams levels btw? Kane despite his trophy allergy also smashing it
Maybe we'll get further before heroically losing. Probably not.
Am probably going out there for a bit but without tickets so far.
The beauty of getting older is that many of the finer details of previous tournament failures now escape me. Although the Euro final defeat still hurts.
Maybe if I set my expectations low this time I might be pleasantly surprised.