Right, **** the premier league, the real football event of the year commences in under 3 weeks. Football's coming home too with England playing a minimum of 3 matches at Wembley (4 if win group). France are surely heavy favourites? Quite fancy Holland to have a good tournament too and you can never write off the Germans at a major tournament. Portugal might be a dark horse and that group looks really interesting. Belgium to carry on with their England noughties impression. Squad named on Tuesday, who do we think or want to go? Let's ****ing do this.
Italy aren't to be ignored either. I will have a soft spot for Scotland too, with Stu and Che in there.
I will until they beat us! Actually think they've got a decent chance of qualifying. Think Croatia will have a bad tournament and plenty of 3rd placed teams will qualify. Not really sure who Italy have atm.
Group A: Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland. Group B: Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia. Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia. Group D: England, Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic. Group E: Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia. Group F: Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany
And if we win our group, we play the runner up from F. It would actually suit us better to finish second as I think that matches us up against an opponent from a much weaker group. But I guess if you’re gonna be champs, you gotta beat whoever is put in front of you. Come on England!!!
Think I'd still rather win the group as we then play at Wembley again. Think that can have a big impact with fans this time round. England v Germany at Wembley in a major tournament ko match will certainly be one to get the juices flowing, and likely the tears. Must say that I'm not a fan of this multiple hosts ****.
I reckon France and Portugal are looking good. England are taking an incredible squad though, but unfortunately, we’re England. Probably lose to f*cking Scotland.
Did I read right that the squads have 26 players this year? Will probably watch the odd game but not really fussed about who wins. France comfortably the best squad on paper in my view. Don’t fancy Englands chances all that much, think they are too weak at centre back and defensive midfield
Not sure about incredible, we've got some talent going forward but still severely lacking at CB and CM which will be our downfall.
An attack with the likes of Kane, Sterling, Foden, Grealish, Sancho, Alexander-Arnold... it shouldn’t matter if our defence isn’t the strongest.
Win the group - Runner-up of group F in the L16 at Wembley, Winner of group E in the QF in Rome (or 3rd side from A/B/C/D). So possibly something like Portugal and then Spain. 2nd in the group - Runner-up of group E in the L16 in Copenhagen, Winner of group F in the QF in St Petersburg (or 3rd side from A/B/C). So possibly something like Poland then France. So we'd be paired with the same two groups anyway (assuming a top two finish), it's just a case of which way round. F then E, or E then F. And the three sides in F are so good, that whether we play the winner or the runner-up isn't monumentally important in my view. I can understand both arguments: F then E allows us an extra game at Wembley, but probably means running into Spain from E; whereas E then F allows us easier opposition from E, but sends us travelling around Europe. In theory it makes a more tangible different come the SF. If the seedings more or less go to plan, then winning the group is likely to send us into a SF against Holland (or the 3rd side from F, if they end up in that half). Whereas coming runner-up is likely to send us into a SF against Italy or Belgium (or the 3rd side from F, if they end up in that half). But in all honestly, the SF is too far away to be worrying about - and most likely the opponent will be tough, regardless of the path to get there. PS. If we finish as one of the best 3rd place teams, it would be the winner of either B (eg Belgium), C (eg Holland), or E (eg Spain) in the L16. And with a likely chance of not facing someone from F in the QF.
Holland appear to be the real winners of the draw. Not only is their group pretty straight forward, but their group is one of only two where the winner isn't seeded to play another group winner in the QF. Instead, the winner of Holland's group (if they beat a 3rd place side in the last 16) play one of the runner-ups from A or B.
Of course it does. You can't always outscore the opposition and you're always gonna have periods under pressure, particularly against the top sides, and that's when it will tell. You can't dominate games at international tournaments without a top CM imo. Plus, I'm far from convinced by 3 of the 6 listed!
Did the Euro 2020 predictor and ended up with a Belgium - Spain final, which I think Belgium would win. Highlights 1.Wales will go out bottom of Group A. 2.Scotland will finish 3rd in Group D, but will not be one of the 4 best third places due to there being groups with easier opponents on paper. 3.England will go out in the Round of 16, I just can't see us getting past France, Portugal or Germany in a knockout game. 4.Denmark will make the semis. 5.Ukraine will beat the Netherlands to the top of their group, Frank DeBoer is a crap manager and their team is nowhere near the quality it needs to be. 6.In the Group of death France will come top, Portugal second and Germany third. 7.Semi-Finals will be Belgium-France and Spain-Denmark.