Euro 2020(1)

[DavidMarrio]

4 minutes ago, MadJack said:

I agree! It's why I would've taken Trent and dropped one of the other three.

Although JWP is 100% the best set piece taker.

Walker he loves playing at centre back so I don't even consider him as a full back for England really. Wasn't there talk of them thinking about Trent being in the midfield? I know he played there in the academy but I think it's a bit of a risk to think about him there when he's not played there for so long. 

I think unfortunately for JWP he plays for Southampton which is a shame and I do think that's played some part. Because when you look at the squad as a whole there's not many out of your usual suspect clubs. 

[Bobfoc]

Gareth Southgate has said that anything short of reaching the semi-finals would be a failure for England. I think that's a bit of an oversimplification. If they won their group and narrowly lost to France, Germany or Portugal, I wouldn't class that as a poor showing. On the other hand, perhaps losing in the quarter-finals to a weaker team would be.

How the draw opens up is often a big factor in how far teams of England's standard progress. The semi-final runs in the 1990 and 2018 World Cups were exciting, but their knockout games were against Belgium and Cameroon in 1990, and then Colombia and Sweden in 2018, three of which they scraped through after extra time and/or penalties.

[Naitch]

I agree, a potential second round match against Poland or Sweden would bring much higher expectations than facing the Group F runner up, or whichever group winner they'd face should they scrape through in 3rd place.

[Jimmy]

10 hours ago, DavidMarrio said:

I mean why would you not want one of the best crossers in the Prem, probably your best set piece taker and one of the best attacking full backs in world football in your squad. 

I'm super glad Trent's gone, but JWP is leagues ahead as best set piece taker. I think I'd have found room for him in the 26 over four right backs. That said, Trent on set pieces is still very good. 

Either way, now super excited for the Euros, even if we're shit, I love an international tournament. 

[Benjamin]

1 hour ago, Jimmy said:

I'm super glad Trent's gone, but JWP is leagues ahead as best set piece taker. I think I'd have found room for him in the 26 over four right backs. That said, Trent on set pieces is still very good. 

Either way, now super excited for the Euros, even if we're shit, I love an international tournament. 

I think if we're talking corners it's a tie between JWP and TAA. For free kicks JWP is way better, but England still has Harry Kane and Grealish, so it's not so bad for them, I guess. 

[DFF]

Yeah, I suspect this means any FKs around the box is gonna be Kane attempting piledrivers. 

[Lineker]

Quote

Gareth Southgate was unable to give assurances over Harry Maguire playing for England in the group stage at Euro 2020 after including the defender in a squad featuring Trent Alexander-Arnold as one of four right-backs.

England’s manager, who could also be without Jordan Henderson for the opening group game against Croatia at Wembley on 13 June, is considering reverting to a back three because of his concerns over Maguire. The centre-back missed Manchester United’s defeat by Villarreal in the Europa League final with damaged ankle ligaments last week and Southgate, who named his final 26-man squad on Tuesday, is unsure whether the 28‑year‑old will be back to face Scotland on 18 June and the Czech Republic four days later.

The uncertainty has forced Southgate, who saw United’s Mason Greenwood withdraw with an unspecified injury, to gamble on two of his most important players. Henderson has just recovered from groin surgery and although the Liverpool midfielder is expected to play some part when England face Austria in a warm-up friendly at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night, there are no guarantees he will play against Croatia.

Southgate, who cut Ollie Watkins, James Ward-Prowse, Jesse Lingard, Aaron Ramsdale, Ben Godfrey and Ben White from his provisional squad, acknowledged the need to be adaptable. Including Alexander‑Arnold as well as Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier could give England greater versatility in defence. Maguire is yet to join the squad and Southgate, who would normally start him alongside John Stones in a back four, could not put a timeframe on his return.

“We have just got to keep assessing him and updating where he is,” he said. “With Jordan and Harry, we have selected a squad that, if they don’t get there, we are not in a situation where we are short of numbers and we haven’t got cover. Even though you would have a timescale for their recoveries, you only need one small setback and you are into the next game or the next phase of the tournament.

“It is not like repairing a machine – it is a human body and you can have little setbacks for any number of different reasons. Our aim is to progress them the best that we can. The most important thing is that we don’t push them beyond the point they are ready for – that would be stupid, negligent. But if we can them to the point where they can contribute to the team, that would be fantastic.”

Southgate was asked again whether Maguire, who has only just resumed running, would play in the group stage. “Both of the players are not where you would want them to be in terms of being available for Croatia,” he said. “We are realistic. But they are outstanding players. When you are talking about Maguire who hardly ever misses a game and Hendo, who has made a living out of making the impossible seem possible, then maybe they can get there.”

Southgate hit out at reports claiming that he was going to leave out Alexander-Arnold. “I spoke to Trent about three weeks ago,” he said. “I felt there were stories that ran that were so far off the truth.

“When it’s a player they might be reading it and thinking it’s true, maybe the manager is speaking to the press behind their back, but that’s obviously not the case. For me, it’s no drama. I accept as the England manager this is what I deal with. I always go back to the front page of whatever paper it was they said I was the biggest fan of British Bake Off, I always have Bake Off parties in my house and I’m desperate to be on the show. The only thing that was true in the story was my age.”

The buildup has not been ideal for Southgate, even though his squad is packed with exciting young talent. He named a larger squad last week because of injury concerns and the involvement of English clubs in the Europa League and Champions League finals. The United contingent are unavailable against Austria and players from Manchester City and Chelsea will not join the squad until Friday and will not play against Romania on Sunday.

Southgate, who will start Lingard against Austria because Jadon Sancho is unwell, was unsure about playing Alexander-Arnold in midfield. “I think it’s unlikely,” he said. “It’s a possible in that he’s a good footballer who played there as a young player. We might have a bit of a look at him so that it’s an option we’ve assessed in one of the friendlies perhaps. We want to see him at full-back first.”

England also have worries over Marcus Rashford after the forward’s admission that he has been struggling with injuries recently. “I spoke to Mason on Friday, so we had a little bit more time to be aware of that situation,” Southgate said. “I also spoke with Marcus a couple of days ago because I read his interviews after the Europa League and what I don’t want is a situation where he’s giving a similar interview after our games. He assured me he’s happy with where he’s at. He’s felt the last few days have been a help.”

Jude Bellingham was one of the most eye-catching names in the squad. The 17-year-old, who has starred for Borussia Dortmund this season, was selected in midfield instead of Ward-Prowse.

Southgate added that the six players left out would be on standby in case of injuries and had chosen to remain with the squad for the friendlies. Greenwood is not available.

 

[Gazz]

Cracked it, lads.

[Lineker]

Quote

Scotland’s preparations for their long-awaited return to tournament football have been thrown into chaos after a further six players were forced to sit out Wednesday evening’s pre-Euro 2020 friendly against the Netherlands in Portugal.

John Fleck was already missing from the Scotland party that travelled from a training base in Spain after testing positive for Covid-19. Now, a risk assessment by the Scottish Football Association has deemed another half-dozen players – Che Adams, Nathan Patterson, Stephen O’Donnell, David Marshall, John McGinn and Grant Hanley – were in the vicinity of Fleck for long enough to warrant staying in Spain as a precaution. All six have returned negative coronavirus tests – including on Wednesday – and, unlike Fleck, are not in isolation.

What is being portrayed as an ultra-cautious SFA approach presents Steve Clarke with significant planning problems. Marshall has been his first-choice goalkeeper; O’Donnell and Patterson were his two available right-backs; Adams, McGinn and Hanley are almost certain first-choice starters. Clarke had previously highlighted the meeting with the Netherlands as important with specific regard to facing England at Wembley on 18 June.

Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour were late in joining the Scotland squad after being given extra leave following European finals involving Manchester United and Chelsea respectively. It remains to be seen whether they are given a more significant role than planned against Frank de Boer’s Netherlands side. Scotland play away to Luxembourg on Sunday before their training base switches to the north-east of England.

 

Quote

Most hospitality packages for Euro 2020 matches at Wembley remain unsold 10 days before the start of the tournament, with Uefa telling the Guardian more seats will be made available to fans if those VIP tickets are not taken.

There remains “high” availability for hospitality at seven of the eight matches to be held at Wembley, with only tickets for the fixture between Scotland and England sold out.

Wembley is set to host England’s three group D matches, one last-16 match, one quarter-final, both semi-finals and the final between 13 June and 11 July.

Packages that start at €1,500 (£1,290) are available for England v Croatia and England v Czech Republic, and tickets that start at €5,200 and go as high as €9,100 are available for the final.

A lack of interest in high-end tickets could be explained by a number of factors, including restrictions on international travel and a lack of corporate entertainment during the pandemic. It comes at a time, however, when many fans who thought they had tickets to matches have been informed that they have lost their seats because of social distancing.

Uefa would not confirm the number of tickets available but a source told the Guardian “everything that could be released for the general public would be at some point”. The potential revenue from hospitality packages is an important consideration for the governing body, which was forced to postpone the tournament last year and is staging most matches at a reduced capacity.

The fan group Football Supporters Europe said that any unused tickets should be given to national associations to distribute among loyal fans.

“All of our respective groups do understand there needs to be a reduction in capacity for national team allocations,” said Matt Willis, the FSE’s fan ambassador for Euro 2020. “If there are surplus hospitality, however, they should be made available to those who have a history of attending tournaments or watching their national team play. We would lobby for any additional tickets to go to the participating national associations.”

Participating national associations have been awarded tickets amounting to 16% of capacity. That amounts to about 3,500 tickets from a capacity of approximately 22,500 going to England fans for their group matches. Half the tickets are sold to the general public, with the remainder divided between commercial partners, hospitality and the Uefa “football family”.

 

[JasonM]

2 hours ago, Gazz said:

Cracked it, lads.

Better start polishing that trophy, lads.

[Colly]

Fnarr.

[Jimmy]

22 hours ago, Benjamin said:

I think if we're talking corners it's a tie between JWP and TAA. For free kicks JWP is way better, but England still has Harry Kane and Grealish, so it's not so bad for them, I guess. 

lol I love Harry and I'd give him my ankle, but he's shite at freekicks bless him

[DFF]

TAA out of the euros.

[Lineker]

16 minutes ago, DFF said:

TAA out of the euros.

Grade two quad tear.

[Baddar]

Any indication as to who will replace him?

[METALMAN]

Who is England’s 5th choice right back?

[DavidMarrio]

Gutted for Trent. Least from the sounds of things it's not worst case scenario. Should be back for next season. 

Least it's one less attachment to England now for the tournament. 

[DFF]

43 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Any indication as to who will replace him?

Paul Parker is due another chance. 

[Jimmy]

Gotta be JWP for me. We don't know what Hendo's fitness is like, JWP's a good, solid player and is probably the best set piece taker in the Euros (happy to be debated on that). Seems like a valuable bench option to have.

[Benjamin]

11 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Gotta be JWP for me. We don't know what Hendo's fitness is like, JWP's a good, solid player and is probably the best set piece taker in the Euros (happy to be debated on that). Seems like a valuable bench option to have.

Nah, Calhanoglu might be the best in the world right now (plus there's that Ronaldo fella').