Euro: R16: England v Germany, 6/29/2021

[ItsFineImFine]

Does Low not bother to have Germany practise defending crosses? Three at the back, two good wingbacks, and they look vulnerable and panicked EVERY time there's a cross whipped in. Also thought him subbing Werner off instead of Muller for Gnabry was the wrong move, Muller wasn't doing anything other than pointing around. Probably would've been over in the first half if England had a competent manager and had Reece James whipping early crosses in.

Now we have a talented England team being walked by a pedestrian manager who's gonna get a World Cup. We could've gotten rid of two shit international managers in one at the end of this tournament if Germany had won.

 

[All Mod Cons]

If England want people to take them seriously, they need to make quick work of this fragile and inconsistent German team.
So far Southgate has shown his ineptitude with his selection, so it's anyone's guess how this one goes.

Will that work though?

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Will that work though?

There will always be naysayers including English fans. One thing is pretty clear, the talent of the squad is capable, it's up to the manager to put them in a position to succeed when they play either Belgium or Italy in the finals.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

I see no reason why England shouldn't be able to win the Euro at this point. It's not like any uber-opponents are in the way. Italy? Spain? Belgium? No-one that England can't theoretically handle. Solid at the back, difference makers at the front opportunistically using the couple chances you get in a match. That's how you win tournaments.

They have good but not world class defenders and the problem with that is that Southgate just thinks he can sit back and absorb the pressure. Fair enough, 0 goals so far, but negative play only gets you so far and they're fortunate Germany didn't take a couple of the chances before the first England goal.

The English team is really good enough to zip the ball around and launch attacks in waves but Southgate has them playing at a walking pace like it costs him every time he lets them attack continuously for more than 5 minutes.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

They have good but not world class defenders and the problem with that is that Southgate just thinks he can sit back and absorb the pressure. Fair enough, 0 goals so far, but negative play only gets you so far and they're fortunate Germany didn't take a couple of the chances before the first England goal.

The English team is really good enough to zip the ball around and launch attacks in waves but Southgate has them playing at a walking pace like it costs him every time he lets them attack continuously for more than 5 minutes.

I think he's cautious and knows that the team playing conservatively often wins in tournaments. It got him pretty close to the World Cup Final three years ago. It will be interesting to see how it will look vs Ukraine who will be more than happy to park the bus and hope for a gift on a counter.

 

[S E P H]

Lucky for England that's not red.

Which play because the one on Goretzka was the biggest fake news I've ever seen. This was the breakaway one, but he actually puts his leg in front of Rice, Rice trips over him, and Declan gets the yellow. Absolutely shambolic reffing.

Saka has been the best English player thus far

I couldn't watch the entire match, but when I left he was by far away the best player on the pitch. Was drawing so many fouls he was like a machine.

Wait so the Belgians should be ashamed of being Belgian then?

Burning flags doesn't do anything to other people except make the super patriotic nationalists pissed off. Throwing beer cans and water bottles to injure players is way worse. Again I don't understand why you keep defending your hooligan French comrades here...

Lol, cheeky.

Still not a fan of Rice.Phillips together...way too stagnant.

That's because managers are wanking to their 3-4-3. It's pathetic to see, Grealish or Mount should be starting for England yet because it's an even number across the midfield you can't play them. It's terrible that instead of playing the best XI, you have to take great players off to fit your formation's vision. That'll bite them back in the arse if Southgate keeps making mistakes like this.

Of course, Germany will come back. Its 80+ million people in a football crazy country where the national team takes strong precedence over club football.

I don't know about this. Sure, they'll always be a power house since no sport can challenge for your best athletes. However, you just played a match that started Werner, Kroos, Rudger, and Ginter in a big match against England. I wouldn't want those four to be starting for my Polska squad let alone for a team with as high expectations as Germany does. Also, the squad is going to get way worse when Mueller eventual declines and retires. Germany always had problem developing a proper #9 and through the youth I don't see anybody being able to be a Harry Kane level striker in the next five years as well. Maybe Gnarby, but he's better off the wings and nobody off the bench from this squad was going to be a difference maker neither except for maybe Sane (he doesn't play striker though). .

 

[PanniniClaus]

Backing England..pleased with the win and i have to tip the cap on the tactics.. Not pretty but a clean sheet and a win.

No team has subbed less than England.. He made 2 subs although only one with the game on the line. He seems petrified to make any kind of moves despite having a plethora of options at almost every position. I really feel he needs to make 4-5 changes for the Ukraine game and get away from wing backs. Putting in hungry, fresh players against a Ukraine teams on the ropes is a must as they then have a semi and a final (if in it) in short order.

They have a clear path to the finals if they play their cards right.

 

[Eisen]

Which play because the one on Goretzka was the biggest fake news I've ever seen. This was the breakaway one, but he actually puts his leg in front of Rice, Rice trips over him, and Declan gets the yellow. Absolutely shambolic reffing.

I couldn't watch the entire match, but when I left he was by far away the best player on the pitch. Was drawing so many fouls he was like a machine.

Burning flags doesn't do anything to other people except make the super patriotic nationalists pissed off. Throwing beer cans and water bottles to injure players is way worse. Again I don't understand why you keep defending your hooligan French comrades here...

Lol, cheeky.

That's because managers are wanking to their 3-4-3. It's pathetic to see, Grealish or Mount should be starting for England yet because it's an even number across the midfield you can't play them. It's terrible that instead of playing the best XI, you have to take great players off to fit your formation's vision. That'll bite them back in the arse if Southgate keeps making mistakes like this.
I don't know about this. Sure, they'll always be a power house since no sport can challenge for your best athletes. However, you just played a match that started Werner, Kroos, Rudger, and Ginter in a big match against England. I wouldn't want those four to be starting for my Polska squad let alone for a team with as high expectations as Germany does. Also, the squad is going to get way worse when Mueller eventual declines and retires. Germany always had problem developing a proper #9 and through the youth I don't see anybody being able to be a Harry Kane level striker in the next five years as well. Maybe Gnarby, but he's better off the wings and nobody off the bench from this squad was going to be a difference maker neither except for maybe Sane (he doesn't play striker though). .

We didn't always have a problem developing a 9 like Seeler, G. Müller, Rummenigge, Völler, Klinsmann, Klose, etc. But I do agree that right now we have nobody. And there was this time when Brdaric et al. started and Kirsten wasn't working.

 

[Shrimper]

“It’s coming home” bugs me lol

It's supposed to

 

[serp]

Flick needs to find a way to stabilize the defense. If he can do that the team should be fine even in the shortterm. Löw just couldn't do it anymore .

 

[NyQuil]

Flick needs to find a way to stabilize the defense.

Traditionally Germany was strong from the back out. This is a priority.

 

[John Price]

Kloppo lookalike

 

[cgf]

Still so hyped that the Jogi era is finally over

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Backing England..pleased with the win and i have to tip the cap on the tactics.. Not pretty but a clean sheet and a win.

No team has subbed less than England.. He made 2 subs although only one with the game on the line. He seems petrified to make any kind of moves despite having a plethora of options at almost every position. I really feel he needs to make 4-5 changes for the Ukraine game and get away from wing backs. Putting in hungry, fresh players against a Ukraine teams on the ropes is a must as they then have a semi and a final (if in it) in short order.

They have a clear path to the finals if they play their cards right.

Not using substitutes has been an issue with Southgate all the way back to the last WC. Desperately needed to be done in the semi-final when Croatia changed their formation to exploit our 3-5-2.

See also: Solskjaer, Ole-Gunnar.

 

[cgf]

Flick needs to find a way to stabilize the defense. If he can do that the team should be fine even in the shortterm. Löw just couldn't do it anymore .

It also didn't help that Jogi exacerbated the shakiness in defense by mixing & matching so much back there and playing Kroos right in front of them. Toni is still a brilliant passer of the ball, but he just can not shelter a backline at all...especially when they've got a washed-up Neuer behind them & old-slow-Hummels in the middle...which meant that his midfield partner was caught between pushing up to help with the attack & not leaving Toni exposed to counters.

So while getting the backline stabilized would be huge, if Flick can instill confidence in ter Stegen at the NT level now that Jogi & Neuer are gone, while cementing Kimmich at the 6 (like he did at Bayern)...that could make even more of an impact. Part of the backline's shakiness has been no longer having absolute faith in Neuer to sweep up behind them, which causes some second-guessing & hesitation, as well as the lack of cohesion.

Now obviously we need some stability & chemistry from the CBs as well as changes around them...but if Flick succeeds with the changes around our CBs, then getting them to play at a sufficient level will be a lot easier whether we get big steps from Süle / Tah / Uduokhai & Klostermann / Torunarigha stay healthy, or not.

TL;DR:
There should just be more natural stability to any of these lineups than the lineup Jogi used, regardless of who the CBs were:

Musiala - Gnabry - Havertz
Goretzka - Wirtz
Kimmich
Gosens - ??? - ??? - Baku
ter Stegen

Gnabry
Musiala/Wirtz - Havertz
Gosens - Kimmich - Goretzka - Baku
??? - ??? - ???
ter Stegen​

 

[Rob]

Kloop is such a great sport

 

[Albatros]

In Jogiball even the wingers didn't always seem to know what formation they were supposed to be playing and were too often just floating around aimlessly, so if certain players became defensively exposed by the discord I wouldn't blame them for that too much.

 

[I am not exposed]

It's supposed to

Even English people? Because it annoys the hell out of me.

 

[Live in the Now]

Kloop is such a great sport

That's the best impersonator I've seen yet.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

That's the best impersonator I've seen yet.

I assumed some deep fakery helped with that video.

 

[1TuchAnd1NoTuch]

People love to hate England. Simply can’t handle that it’s coming home can they?

 

[cgf]

Kroos officially retiring from the NT; it's well past time...but a part of me will miss the last DDR-born star.

Hopefully Neuer & Müller...who have also crossed the 100-cap threshold...follow suit soon as well.

 

[Eisen]

Kroos officially retiring from the NT; it's well past time...but a part of me will miss the last DDR-born star.

Hopefully Neuer & Müller...who have also crossed the 100-cap threshold...follow suit soon as well.

Barely, I'm sure he remembers nothing from the DDR.
Con erning Müller and Neuer, Schweini thinks they will, too.

 

[cgf]

Barely, I'm sure he remembers nothing from the DDR.
Con erning Müller and Neuer, Schweini thinks they will, too.

Oh I am perfectly aware of that...we're basically the same age ...neither of us had to actually experience it, but Toni will forever be the last star to have been born in the same country as me.

I think it's time for them. They've won a trophy & hit the century mark, they have nothing more to accomplish and we have better alternatives that would be better served by those oldies stepping aside so lazy journalists can't start campaigns to bring them back into the team for the WM next summer.

Hummels & Ilkay haven't featured as prominently throughout their careers, and there might be more of a need for both of them next summer...so I'm not deadset on them moving on, but like it was for Toni, it's time for Neuer & Müller too.

 

[Eisen]

Oh I am perfectly aware of that...we're basically the same age ...neither of us had to actually experience it, but Toni will forever be the last star to have been born in the same country as me.

Must feel strange when put that way. Yeah, that's a bit of history gone. I didn't even make me aware that he's the last.