T O P

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KelsonCats

it’s happening like the prophecy foretold


ReZeaL

As was written


Whizzo50

Schranz al gaib!


do_a_quirkafleeg

But then! 


KirbyWarrior12

Somehow, Ingerland returned.


WoodpeckerFuzzy5661

Lmao


mgorgey

Agreed. A string of poor performances with a manager either unwilling or unable to make a tactical change. Now coming up against opposition we expect to beat with a fairly easy route to the final.


DarthMaulofDathomir

I mean when you actually look at the cold hard facts its a fucking joke he hasn’t made a change since the first game besides Mainoo😅 why are we still forcing Foden to do fuck all in a position he doesn’t thrive in… bring on Gordon and Palmer ffs


jackyLAD

This dude wins. Total respect. I retire.


ToughCompetition

Wins what?


jackyLAD

Nothing now. We win. He is right about something about 2016 though.... England are gonna win Portugal 2016 style, by being absolutely dogturd and pulling a homer.


apocalexnow

I think we will see a similar game where England scrape through. It's the Switzerland game that I think we will be humbled in.


Thetallerestpaul

This. Swiss team and Austria are the sorts of team that will make us look very pedestrian.


LastTangoOfDemocracy

82min into the match and Sweden looks like a dream.


a_f_s-29

You’re not wrong. Switzerland will dominate us so bad


Opposite_Dog8525

I fancy a bet on a 2 or 3 nil. I feel so unpatriotic 🤣


tragicidiot67

The worrying comparison for me is not Iceland 2016. It’s Iceland 2024. The team then is very broadly similar to the one we appear to be picking today.


Ben_yeah

Everything you say makes perfect sense and you're probably right. I think the quality of the players alone could be enough to scrape us by this game but it won't be through anything that Gareth has done to instill tactics or balance the squad.


tomatowisdom

I hope somehow things will start to click, just through familiarity of playing together. But the same will be happening with all our opponents, so its a case of hoping for individual stand out performances, of which we have the potential to happen from most of our attacking players. My one real issue I really really hope Southgate changes, is to make substitutions or changes to the formation if things are obviously bot working. He's never managed tl do this , and if he does make changes, he leaves them when it's too late.


Unique_Dragonfruit10

It's not about clicking, it's about fundamental tactical mistakes.


sholista

15 minutes in and not looking like a bad prediction so far


slidingjimmy

Lotto numbers for next week please mate


fullpurplejacket

Do you still want them? 😉


slidingjimmy

Would probably get 5 and the bonus ball so yes!


fullpurplejacket

What would spend it on if you won a cool 1 mil?


slidingjimmy

A new ticker after this game


fullpurplejacket

Good one 😂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿


tomatowisdom

I don't know why I ever doubted Southgate. It's obviously coming home now!


FTGFOP1

Are you a time traveller or actually Southgate himself?


phpMyBalls

And so it begins


Jimmie94

lol this prediction happening in real time


PurahsHero

It’s either going to be 2-0 to England with a slightly better but not completely inspiring performance, or we are going out. No in between.


FondSteam39

:)


UnpleasantEgg

The sacred text!


Spam250

The comments so far are practically identical to after the Scotland group game, were we went on to lose in the final on penalties. This is nothing new. England can’t win. If you beat Switzerland or Austria, people forget the form, they’re small teams so it doesn’t count If we drew and beat Italy, they’re in bad form so wouldn’t count


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tomatowisdom

That Italy final epitomises everything about Southgate. A relatively easy route to the final, overlay pragmatic and negative tactics, and a final where after scoring early, we sit back and defend the rest of the game, and his reluctance to make changes before its too late. England should've pushed for a second, or made much more effort to win before it reached penalties. Penalties vs donarumma was always going to be difficult. I don't expect England to win every euros or world cup, or even to make the final etc. All I want is for the manager tl set up thr team so they can give it really good go and fulfil their potential, Southgate doesn't allow this. If we get beaten in a game where we create changes, have good attempts, score goals but get unlucky, I would be satisfied


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tomatowisdom

Statistically speaking there will be easier and harder routes to finals. No one says any team will or should roll over. There's a lot of ifs and buts in your response. Most teams can have good and bad luck in a game, it's a managers job to not rely on luck.


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tomatowisdom

You literally wrote ifs and buts in your next response lol. But it doesn't literally mean using the words "if" and " but".


tomatowisdom

Not sure the point you're trying to make. Italy are a poor team at the moment. We can only base things on the performances we've seen from England so far and they have been poor, and unless Soutbgate tries something a bit different I can't see it improving. Switzerland and Austria are playing well and have good managers with clear systems of play, they will he hard to beat for anyone in this tournament, England included.


Spam250

But if we beat Switzerland and Austria the Southgate hate parade will claim it was a super easy run and we only beat weak teams (ignoring their great form). He can’t win


tomatowisdom

Don't really care what "Southgate hate parade" say. I'm just giving my analysis on the situation. I think most reasonable people will appreciate bearing Switzerland won't be easy, but it is a game that we can and , with the players we have, should hope to win. There will always be people who like Southgste regardless, and there will always be those who dislike him regardless, like with anything. I just hope he allows the team to give it a good go, and not defend the whole hame if we score an early goal.


claytdhuy

It's obvious that Southgate doesn't do training drills, fitness training and even penalty training, his ego doesn't see mistake to fix it sooner. The team is stagnated tactically and mentally and their luck is prob end today


GunnerSince02

Even the kit colours are the same.


Gloria_stitties

Regardless of tactics regardless of Southgate !!!!! If these players cannot beat Slovakia they all deserve sacking off, they are petrified to attack, so imbalanced down the left it’s unreal


amatteroftheredshoes

I'd love to say I'm shocked by this performance. Predictable, negative, sideways passing. No urgency. It's abysmal.


XADEBRAVO

Truly horrendous


ScottTenormann

Lisan al-Gaib


Jaloosky

1 Bellingham away from a perfect prediction


Francis_Bengali

30 seconds away from being absolutely spot on!


servesociety

Nah, it's different. Our defence wasn't as good. We conceded easy goals against Russia and Wales. We had worse quality players, including Dier and Smalling, in our starting 11. We didn't have a coach who had taken us deep in the knockout stages of tournaments before. Watch what the pundits were saying after our 0-0 draw with Scotland in the last Euros or the 0-0 draw with USA (which we deserved to lose) in the last World Cup. It was also very similar to what the pundits have said during this group stage (with the addition of more daily podcasts). So it could be more like an England 2 - 0 Germany or England 3 - 0 Senegal. Let's hope I'm right.


DidgeryDave21

We also had Kane taking corners, so the quality we did have was used completely wrong


AlternativeTop511

If we had Dier or Smalling from that era Dier would be CDM in this team and Smalling would partner Stones. They weren't bad players at all.


servesociety

Yeah, I guess it's subjective as to how good we think those players were. I don't think Dier would be getting into this team alongside Rice, but I may be wrong.


AdrianPimental

Fucking hell lads, let’s have a bit of positivity going into the game


honeybirdette__

How’s that positivity going for u right now


buzz3001

Absolutely buzzing mate you?


tomatowisdom

I mean, I'm going to support rhe team regardless, but why be blindly positive when the issues are there to see


servesociety

What are you gaining from being negative?


Unique_Dragonfruit10

It's a discussion board, isn't it about discussing how people are feeling and what their opinions might be? I don't understand the mentality that this is a stadium crowd area and we should all be cheerleading. The players can't hear us


tomatowisdom

Its not about gaining anything, I'm just trying to set up a discussion and maybe to warn people that this feels a lot like 2016. There not much to gain form being overly positive either, and I enjoy the debates and analysis. But It just suprises me how so few can see the similarities.


Professional_Ad_9101

I would say that you are using the negativity to protect yourself from the feelings that a result today like the Iceland game would give you. Just let it go lad, bung three lions on and behind the boys


tomatowisdom

Not sure what you mean by this. I was just making a prediction based on recent events.


Loz41333

Not getting severely let down when the inevitable happens?? What do you think??


Loz41333

Like we did for the last three?? Ever heard of the "trick me once" saying?


UnpleasantEgg

“Once”


electroplankton

I agree, I'm quite worried.


dyltheflash

I'm not sure that's an especially fair comparison. Of all the criticisms to level at Southgate, can it really be said he doesn't know his best team? We're still searching for balance in the midfield, but he's stuck to a pretty consistent structure overall. I'd say the evidence we might win comfortably is that Southgate's England have a great record against lesser teams in tournament knockout games. With respect to Slovakia, our players are individually far superior to theirs. Although we're yet to click, we should have enough to overcome Slovakia anyway. Beating us would be among the biggest footballing achievements in Slovakian football history. Now that's not to say we'll definitely win - there's a small but reasonable possibility they beat us tonight. We've been crap so far this Euros. But comparing Southgate to Hodgson isn't fair at all - and there's no reason for all the doom and gloom just yet.


tomatowisdom

I agree the situation is better than in 2016. And I do have some hope that the knock out rounds will bring out better performances from individuals, despite the teams performance as a whole. Southgate has mainly stuck with the same team, which I think is the issue, and he never really experimented enough in past friendlies to solve the glaring issues with the staring 11. For example Bellingham, kane and foden all wanting to occupy the number 10 position, no width on the left, no target man up top, no partnership between Rice and another cm. And worst of all, not being able to press, counter press, or even create chances, despite whoever is playing.


jackyLAD

No it doesn’t. Unless Gaz decides to lump Kane in midfield as Rice’s partner…. and drop Rice for an inferior version… say… oh we left them at home.


tomatowisdom

I'm not talking about the specifics of comparing the line ups between 2016 and now like you are, more in terms of the managers approach, the friendlies and group stage games, and the apparent lack of concern that this game could very well be England's last, and people still predicting comfortable wins for England vs Slovakia.


jackyLAD

England came 2nd in their group when the opportunity to top it was well within their hands in 2016.. this England was very much in control of that destiny. I'm not denying Southgate is a defensive first manager, because it's essentially the easiest way to safely manage and tends to be what people bring in when looking to stay clear of the relegation zone... but the talent to get goals is just so much superior now compared to 2016... don't let a few damp squid and no need to motivate themselves games in the groups and friendlies distract you from that. You are welcome to come gloating in.. 4 hours.


MartyMcflysTrainers

Struggling to see anything but defeat. Probably on pens


P1wattsy

Watching the build up I have the same gut feeling This feels like 2016 again


WesternHovercraft400

Southgate is the worst ever England Manager. Squandered all the talent at his disposal.


trashmemes22

Near half time and your right. I see Slovakia nicking another goal. We look sloppy, nothing in final third. Absolutely awful


slidingjimmy

Half a chance we go down to 10 men by desperately trying to stop the second goal


Cfro199

One difference, we actually played ok against Iceland and they had to defend like mad - Slovakia have been shite and completely unthreatened 😂


ArchibaldVonGorduan

Yup lmao


Chazzermondez

Well this is looking incredibly accurate


FTXACCOUNTANT

This is coming true haha


atheblade

Spot on lmao


the_motherflippin

Th fact this post was 3 hours ago? Kudos my dude


pharmer25

Lotto numbers, OP?


red_anchor

This post has aged like fine wine


Perseus73

Drinking now …


chute_uk

Or has it….


valleycroissant

Lisan al-gaeib


SupervillainMustache

Spot on.


mrgroves

Just got to full time. You are correct. It’s a hard day to be an England fan.


TheEpicOfGilgy

Brother you were so right but thank fuck for the Instagram highlight reel merchant Bellingham


Hagler3-16

Nostradamus over here


TheBigGriffon

Man wtf you almost nailed it lmao.


stingchimp

This was pretty much spot on except for Wild Card Bellingham playing his joker 🤡


GunnerGrazzo

nah trust we win this 2-0


honeybirdette__

We’re 1-0 down 20 mins in


Jononucleosis

Thanks for posting this! It's the perfect anti jinx. Genuinely think we'll smash em now.


LastTangoOfDemocracy

That's no anti jinx. It's a prophecy.


2012Cfc2021

There’s levels of negativity I didn’t realise were possible 


Loz41333

Yeah. It's out on that fucking pitch for all to see.


tomatowisdom

Were you talking about me or Southgate?


2012Cfc2021

BELLIGOL


aehii

I would think about Iceland and the games prior to it but i can't recall it, or what decisions Hodgson made. I just remember them being bad.


Bayern07

Anyone looking for tickets? just trying to get rid of them at this point.


_I__yes__I_

I’ve bet on Slovakia to go through 😬


jt663

We've looked nervous throughout the group, the pressure could be too much in this game


mrkoala1234

Regardless, I hope none of our players get the usual post-tournament treatment from people and the media. Usually, we have one player people hate very much for little reason. Let's enjoy the game!!!!


Musicman1972

It seems different this time for sure. I feel like the players will get sympathy for having to play in this disjointed system and Southgate will take absolutely all the heat. You're right though fundamentally.. if anyone is sent off......


Opposite_Dog8525

I think you're very correct but I think Iceland 2016 is better than this Slovakia. So I still feel it'll be a 2-0 where we are a boring as f*CK but everyone kind of says "why is everyone so negative look at these results" with no comment on how they've actually played. If we get through tonight I fancy a 2-0 or 3-0 quarter loss to a team in Switzerland who have desire, quality and a clear game plan. We will look as pedestrian as Italy as we limp out


lbjandmjarethegoats

it's actually really similar to our group stage in Euro 2020


deffcap

If it is like Iceland. I am not sure Southgate would return to England


lazzzym

Southgate is really bringing things full circle.


amatteroftheredshoes

Fear is the mind killer.


LookingAtScrews

All they’ve got is the big lad up top, Schranz… oh no


Goseki1

As someone who's doesn't watch football why has Kane been tripping and stumbling over nearly every ball passed to him?


Prestigious_Elk_5413

At Least Southgate might leave


Idkwhattoname247

Why lack of substitutes though?


DigitialWitness

Wasn't worried at all.


Logan9Fingerses

To be fair I didn’t see that o warhead kick coming either


Professional_Ad_9101

Might as well enjoy it mate. We will probably be fine


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Idkwhattoname247

It didn’t though


Touched_By_SuperHans

We have to hope Mainoo makes a difference in midfield - I think he will, for what it's worth. If it stays tight for a while, we have subs who can make a difference. Historically, Southgate has a great record when it comes to facing lower ranked sides.  A key difference with the Iceland game... just look at our team. It was horrendous. A midfield three of Alli, Dier, and Rooney ffs. We have more quality almost everywhere now. And for all Southgates flaws, he won't have Kane taking corners.


ddbbaarrtt

No it doesn’t. Nobody thought England would lose in 2016 and Hodgson didn’t have the record for England that Southgate does For all that we’ve been poor, Southgate has a better record and we are still talking about how we might lose


WellRed85

We also have no evidence that Slovakia will be able to create anything. In fact, we have a good deal of evidence that England don’t allow chances


Unique_Dragonfruit10

Could absolutely see this one ending 1-1 with penalties


A1Hunter0

You were right but fuck you


yungdiablo

😂😂😂


Wheel_of_Cheese

Nice call on 1-0 🤣


bob2481

Not over til it's over 😂


tomatowisdom

Lol seconds away from looking quite clever . Maybe next time


elkirku

https://preview.redd.it/qw35kmlr5r9d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=bcf9111c6cf1115b93fde7160cbcb41cdd41d698


AlternativeTop511

I think people are being overdramatic, Frane has been ass but you don't see half the limp wrists crying about it.


DisorientedPanda

Ok.


Tobemenwithven

I think people forget just how bad the 2016 team was. The quality in this squad is just not comparable. That said I dont see us getting past the Swiss.


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Musicman1972

Why didn't you just ignore the post and be quiet instead of being negative about it?


spiritofbuck

We were much better against Iceland. Our deliveries have been good tonight but nothing else.