rgk_lfc

They were checking for VAR if Sommer had his feet on the line.

Not sure the problem is with Benzema. The entire French defense and midfield look confused with this new formation. Swiss are breaking into France's half with ease.

If that Mbappe free kick had gone in, would that goal be disallowed using VAR? Because the incident which lead to that freekick , the handball should have been overturned by VAR?

One of the best coaches in Europe now - Gasperini.

So much better than the Belgium Portugal game.

Not trying to downplay Lippi's, Conte's, Del Bosque's, and Mancini's achievements, but I think having a national identity in the style of play whether it is catenacchio or tiki-taka helps in this regard. I remember reading somewhere that in 2005, Germany also instituted a centralized philosophy in player development and education at the national level which all Bundesliga clubs participated in. One of the reasons why England managers role is so tough is because clubs develop players and the style of play varies from club to club and sometimes within the same club for successive managers. Maybe that is one of the reasons premier league is so popular.

I dont think you need to be an elite level tactical coach to be successful at the international level. Low, Santos, Deschamps are not exactly tacticians of the order of Rafa or Pep. You need to be lucky with the quality of players available on hand. You also should be able to drill the available talent into a simple and effective system within a week or two of practice.

You think Belgium have another gear in them without Hazard and KDB? It was an impressive victory for them. Portugal are a very difficult team to get past in the knockouts. But I think without their main creative players, Italy hold a little bit of an edge.

During the game, the camera panned to their bench and stayed there for a few seconds. I was wondering if I was the Dutch manager whom would I like to bring on to salvage this. Honestly, my first thought was Ruud Van Nistelroy.

Renato and Moutinho have done a very good job of controlling the midfield. Kante not upto his usual superhuman levels.

According to this: https://www.espn.com/soccer/uefa-european-championship/story/4404465/euro-2020-bracket-and-fixtures-schedule Semifinal is winners of Match 47 (Italy or Austria vs. Winners Match 40) vs Match 48 (England?)

Get past the opponent in the second round at home and it should be a relatively easy QF. Semi-final is going to be tough but it is at home. Second Round England vs runners up of Group F (most likely Germany) at London Quarter Final Vs winner of (Sweden vs. 3rd in A/B/C/D) at Rome Semi-Final Italy or Austria vs. Winners (Belgium vs 3rd in A/D/E/F ) at London

The football was not pretty but comfortably came first, clean sheets in all games. The tactics might not look all that convincing but cannot argue with the results. Got the job done. At one point, the commentator was pointing out that Southgate's approach is to be pragmatic than adventurous as he believes that is the way to win the trophy. While I hate evaluating a manager based on one game, the next game is going to define Southgate's reign. Give a good account of themselves and he will get a lot of plaudits. If it is a Scotland game type performance, he will be criticized.

Roberto Mancini substituting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for Salvatore Sirigu late in the game vs Wales had social media laughing, but the reason is much more than a gag ? Mancini was part of Italy's World Cup squad in 1990 but he didn't play a single minute on home soil, something he says is the biggest regret of his career ? As a result, he's made it his personal mission to give all 26 players a game this summer. So far, 25 have played ? .. https://www.facebook.com/SPORTbible/posts/4493524970793000

Thank you for the insights. Just curious, has Italy been moving away from their traditional style even before last 3-4 years. Italy were impressive in Euro 2012 under Prandelli - very technical and attacking. Reached the finals where they got mauled by Spain but their performances before the final was very good including a landmark win over Germany. Under Conte in 2016, again they did not look like a traditional Italian side. Their results were - defeated Belgium 2-0, defeated Sweden 1-0, Ireland 1-0, Spain 2-0. They lost to Germany on penalties in the quarter final. A string of impressive performances. Also, was wondering, if this change happened organically or did the Italian federation provide some guidance or incentives. I remember in the early 2000s Germany decided to revamp the way they developed footballers and all the clubs in the Bundesliga bought into the system. Same with France. If the FA is serious about England making a mark at the international level, they should also think about this. Look at ways to commit to a common playing style across all clubs. English players have their strengths - the pace, physicality, ability to take quick decisions on the ball. Develop a playing style which maximizes this strength and promote it among all clubs. Start providing more opportunities to coaches like Howe, Graeme Jones rather than PFMs like Bruce, Pardew.

Morata must have one hell of an agent. Over the last seven years, clubs (Juve, both Madrid clubs, Chelsea) have exchanged more than 200 million US $ for him.

Admiring Scotland's organization there. Sterling had only one option to pass and even if he had taken that pass, it is not like the player (Reece James?) had many other options to pass through. Scotland were easily marshalling and marking the players in the center.

Kane should have been hooked soon after half time. It was so obvious he was not at 100%. You could have replaced Foden and Rice with Zidane and Pirlo and they would have struggled to create chances when there is no movement in front of them.

Kane looks injured and not fit. Scotland's defenders are easily able to keep him quiet. Sterling also looks off his game. Difficult to comment on or criticize the formation when two main attackers are not offering anything. There is no movement upfront for Mount and Foden to exploit. Credit to Scotland also. They came with a plan and have executed it well. The press from the front has been quite good at times and put England on the defensive.

I have been fascinated with Mueller for ages. Read so many articles about trying to understand his game. If you look at his physical skillset and ability on the ball, it is not that great. There is this great line about him in a guardian article "Müller can’t beat you with his close ball control, he can’t beat you with his pace, and he can’t beat you with his dribbling skills. He just beats you." Two really good articles about him if you are interested: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/23/thomas-muller-modest-assassin-bayern-munich-germany#:~:text=In%20other%20words%2C%20M%C3%BCller%20can,a%20legendary%20namesake%2C%20Gerd%20M%C3%BCller. https://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/03/31/thomas-muller-the-first-and-possible-last-ramdeuter/

You don't need to be a great tactician at the international level. Santos (Portugal), Low didn't exactly cover themselves with glory at the club level. Simple tactics, implemented well, create a team spirit - all of those are more important. Cannot argue with his results until now.

I had not thought of the factions and splinters aspect. Agree with you on that.

But did England really learn anything from the two friendlies. - England have solid technical players in most positions who are capable of playing at a high level. - There is no semblance of plan or tactics which will elevate this group to playing beyond the sum of their parts. - The quality is good enough to get past teams like Austria etc. - The lack of tactics and coherent plan and the lack of an elite attacking player like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Messi to overcome tactical deficiency means England will be in trouble when they face the first decent team with attacking threats. I have watched England for 20 years and you could say the same about any team in that period. Not quite sure what these "trying" out players for the national team really does. Players who play amazing for the club suddenly look bad for the national team because of the shirt? Luis Aragones dropped the captain Raul from the Spain squad because he did not fit into his vision of football which set the tone for their domination starting in 2008.

Klopp has been unsuccessfully trying for an attacking midfielder who can provide assists and goals from midfield for ages. Ox, Keita were bought with that idea in mind but have not lived up to their billing. Thiago has been decent for his first season but he is more of a controller and doesn't rack up a lot of assists or goals. Grealish would elevate our midfield to a whole new level. He would start every meaningful game for us. Same with City. Pep does rotate his players quite a bit but he would be among the players with the largest amount of minutes. Pep would love his adaptability. He would be pure dynamite for City. Until Pep decides to play him at left back in a CL semi-final.

Of course, I think any footballer would be like that. I maybe wrong here, but I don't think Grealish is that desperate to move to a trophy guaranteeing club, right now. He only signed a contract extension in September 2020. If he was desperate to move, why sign a new contract extension. Villa would be far more likely to listen to offers for him if he had not signed the new contract.