Thetownend.com

Apparently only I can do these...

I'm not nervous yet. Right now I know that even if we lose, this is the best performance from an England team at a tournament in my lifetime and it's built on great foundations which should mean we have a good chance in the future.

I'm sure by Sunday it'll be death or glory.

Dead right Nemo.

A lot of the foreign press appear to think we have been lucky with home games and decisions. They can go fuck themselves. We crushed Ukraine in our game away from Wembley. As for decisions, we've not been given one blindingly obvious wrong one.
Sunday will be tough with the Italians being favourites I'd imagine.
However it goes this group has done the country and themselves proud. I've got enough room for a bit more pride though should we win.
I'm not nervous yet as we are where we deserve to be. I'm quite chilled as whichever way it goes we've done well. And I'll forget all that on Sunday when I'll be on the piss and the adrenalin starts pumping.

The home game thing is grating on me. Every major tournament one team is at home for the whole thing. What’s the difference?

 :smugfu:

I agree, however.....

You know as well as I do, if the boot were on the other shoe and say Scotland were in the final having played most of their games at Hampden whilst other teams had traipsed about round Europe, much of our support and media would be making exactly the same point at great length.

Similarly with the penalty against Denmark, it was given and that's that, however should the boot have been on the other foot the whinging from England fans would have been long, loud and equally tin pot and pathetic.

Poster of the tournament - Nemo.

I'm just still delighted we beat Germany. Getting to the final is an incredible effort. Arise Sir Gareth Fucking Southgate. 13 year old me forgives you for the penalty miss in '96.

Superstition... You've been a good omen Nemo!!  :pint:

you're right
but you're wrong.

finals are even hard for good sides to get to. Ask Belgium.

Let's finish this thing.

"There are a quarter of a million Italians in Britain and they'll be made to suffer"

Thoughts on Monday being a Bank Holiday?

What from the hangovers from celebrating.... ;) :D


I have seen certain schools suggesting kids won't have to be in till 10.30 on Monday, albeit nothing from ours.

However, all changed anyway as got to the the young 'un to the dentist for 10.40 on Monday morning so she will be off in the morning anyway!

We're closing the business for the day.

Shame I've got a wife that's 34 weeks pregnant so I can't get shitfaced.

Home advantage has been key in this tournament. All 4 teams who got to the semis all played their 3 group games at home. I don’t think having more fans behind you is a massive advantage (even though it does help). It’s more the travel and commuting which is a pain as teams who played all 3 group games at home had more time to recover.

Overall the quality and standard of football in this tournament has been poor in comparison to prior tournaments. I think the travelling has been a major part of this as well as Covid.

Hopefully the standard will improve for the world cup next year.

Yes we had a very favourable draw - both with lack of travel and the teams we played. Yes, we had the rub of the green on a couple of occasions. But, I think you make your own luck. I also think that we have been solid across the team and replacements coming in have not weakened the starting 11.

I don't think we have had stand out performers (like a Ronaldo or Modric) but haven't needed them. The team has worked for eachother.

I think Italy have done something similar. However, I think they have that bit of extra star quality and may unfortunately produce a single moment of magic that will unlock the final. I hope not, as I would love to see England win - obviously. But an England win or Swindon stay up ? I know what I want more!

Nah. Good opportunity for businesses to paint themselves in a good light and show some flexibility, however

Aight, no brainier I would have preferred Swindon to stay up.

not happening. But a future one, yes. if we win it

IF England win we can expect all the negatives to come bleating out of the usual suspects. Poor tournament, home advantage, get all the decisions, never a penalty, blah blah blah.

No! Not past tense, future tense! I meant Swindon stay in the league this year!

I ain't got a clue how this is going to go. The Denmark game was easier to predict but this is another thing completely. I think my head's saying Italy will win as they know how to do it, but my heart says we'll blow them away. We need to keep discipline as they will be playing the foul diving/feigning game for sure. Hopefully the ref is strong as that will benefit us.

England win - fights and pissed up cunts fighting.

England lose - fights and pissed up cunts fighting.

Which is why I'll be watching at home.

We're no longer slouches in that department either !

Stories on twitter that there has been quote an outbreak of the rona close to the Italy camp (media etc).

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Cheers Chalkies. You've summed up my thoughts better than I could.

I feel the need to get into a classic mini.

Right then, nowt else to do tonight so I've written a quiz to keep you busy in the build up. England then and now, 20 questions. All questions refer to the England senior men's side only unless otherwise stated.

Then
1. Name the two players have been sent off for England more than once

2. Which permanent England manager has the lowest win percentage at 38.9%?

3. What was the final score in the England v Germany match at the 2010 World Cup, best remembered in England for Frank Lampard’s clear goal not being given?

4. The Euro 1996 penalty shoot-out in which Gareth Southgate famously missed had seen all of the first eleven penalties scored by both teams. Name any three of the five England players to successfully convert from the spot.

5. Who were the fourth side who shockingly topped Group D in World Cup 2014, finishing ahead of Uruguay, Italy and England?

6. Who is England’s most capped defender?

7. What is the best finishing position at a European Championships for the England women’s national team, achieved in both 1984 and 2009?

8. Who has the most caps: Wes Brown, Michael Gray, Rob Green, Ben White or Jamie Red-knapp?

9. Who is England’s youngest ever full international player?

10. How many Tudor roses are on the England crest?


Now
11. There are six teams that have two or more players in the final Euro 2021 squad - name those clubs

12. How many goals have England scored in the tournament before the final?

13. Where was the one England game held away from Wembley played?

14. Who are England’s backup goalkeepers in the current squad?

15. Who was the first England player booked in this tournament?

16. Who is the oldest player in the England squad?

17. How many teenagers are in the England squad?

18. Who started England’s opening game against Croatia at left back?

19. Who is the only outfield player to have played every minute of England’s tournament so far?

20. How many members of this squad have more caps than their manager, Gareth Southgate, who won 57 in his England career?


Will post the answers tomorrow afternoon.

Two best teams in tournament. I backed Italy at 11s. I hope I lose. It's a 50/50 match up.

If we're getting beat with 20/25 minutes to go I want Grealish, Sancho, Fodden (if fit) Sterling and Bellingham all on the pitch

Its a common fan question between teams but in my lifetime I have seen swindon promoted 5 times and relegated 7 times. Success for England...nope just continuous heartbreak.

I would never want Swindon to be relegated and would like nothing more than for us to climb the leagues. But last season was a complete waste of a year and we are back to where we were so i might break the ranks on this and would love to see some national success. To see the whole country buzzing is a special thing to enjoy  

Defence wins championships. I predict a one nil win for the successful nation.

100% for sure and it started early in the tournament. Iv developed quite a good fuck them attitude over the years. It always happens against us so fuck em. It was my exact same thoughts when they showed that little german girl crying. fuck her they have won stuff more recently than us- where was the sympathy for me when i was a young lad crying at euro 96. In years to come the year will have a name of the winner against and few will remember the way it happened in tiny moments in a match

A decent post for the nation  :clap:

They go 1 up. Harry Maguire late equaliser. Sancho winner for us in extra time.

Shitting myself...going to watch the Copa America final as a bit of a warm up.

The sympathy was not for her crying but for the disgusting & vile racist abuse people were posting alongside the photo of her crying

only saw it live on TV.

such a hard game to call. we do have winners in our team. I'm sure I will see the lineup and doubt it once more. Will be interesting to see how tight the match is, subs will be huge once again

Yes, no place for that in society. Nor in attacking the Danish chap and his family after the last game

Nerves not set in yet but I am sure they will when I start to hear the build up later especially when the crowd sing Its Coming Home or Sweet Caroline.

Unlikely to be many goals in this game, both sides will set up ultra defensive and hope to not slip up early in the game with a cagey start by both teams.

Called it right last time.


I predict a single goal win in normal time, hopefully for us.

A close game of few chances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_uOAng9Yas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxiRvOp887c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6BDncfgm9s

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

Hoping Pickford has his head screwed on right today

He has been playing really well until the last game then 1 silly mistake and his mind went awol for ages afterwards.

A thought: who serves vindaloo in a bucket anyway?

If social media is to believed its already getting a bit nawty in central London, I dread to think what happens if we lose?

Sent from my SM-A125F

Those quiz answers in full, by the way...

Then
1. Name the two players have been sent off for England more than once (1 point each)
David Beckham (v Austria 2005, Argentina 1998), Wayne Rooney (v Portugal 2006, Montenegro 2011)

2. Which permanent England manager has the lowest win percentage at 38.9%?
Kevin Keegan (1999-2000)

3. What was the final score in the England v Germany match at the 2010 World Cup, best remembered in England for Frank Lampard’s clear goal not being given?
Germany 4-1 England

4. The Euro 1996 penalty shoot-out in which Gareth Southgate famously missed had seen all of the first eleven penalties scored by both times. Name any three of the five England players to successfully convert from the spot.
Shearer, Platt, Pearce, Gascoigne, Sheringham

5. Who were the fourth side who shockingly topped Group D in World Cup 2014, finishing ahead of Uruguay, Italy and England?
Costa Rica

6. Who is England’s most capped defender?
Bobby Moore (108 caps) - Ashley Cole has 107, unlucky if that was your guess!

7. What is the best finishing position at a European Championships for the England women’s national team, achieved in both 1984 and 2009?
Runners-up

8. Who has the most caps: Wes Brown, Michael Gray, Rob Green, Ben White or Jamie Red-knapp?
Wes Brown with 23

9. Who is England’s youngest ever full international player?
Theo Walcott - 17 years and 74 days in 2006. Rooney and Bellingham are second and third.

10. How many Tudor roses are on the England crest?
Ten - blame Baddiel & Skinner for not including that fact in the lyrics of Three Lions.

Now
11. There are six teams that have two or more players in the final Euro 2021 squad - name those clubs (1 point for 5, 2 points for all six)
Man City 4, Man Utd and Chelsea 3, Everton, Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa 2 each

12. How many goals have England scored in the tournament before the final?
Ten - two in the group, two against Germany, four against Ukraine and two against Denmark

13. Where was the one England game held away from Wembley played?
Rome (QF vs Ukraine)

14. Who are England’s backup goalkeepers in the current squad?
Sam Johnstone and Aaron Ramsdale

15. Who was the first England player booked in this tournament?
Phil Foden v Croatia

16. Who is the oldest player in the England squad?
Kyle Walker (born 28 May 1990)

17. How many teenagers are in the England squad?
Two - Bukayo Saka is 19, Jude Bellingham turned 18 mid-tournament. Foden, James and Sancho are all 21

18. Who started England’s opening game against Croatia at left back?
Kieran Trippier

19. Who is the only outfield player to have played every minute of England’s tournament so far?
Kyle Walker (John Stones is close, but was subbed in the 80th minute of the  Czech Republic game)

20. How many members of this squad have more caps than their manager, Gareth Southgate, who won 57 in his England career?
Four -  Sterling (67), Henderson (63), Walker and Kane (both 60)

A lot of people aren't making kick off, are they?

Met keeping well away, must have a candlelit vigil that needs breaking up somewhere.

Help me out guys,   absolutely no idea which way this one's going to go,  free £10 bet waiting to be used and for the first time ever, not a clue what or who to put it on,  any ideas ???, Be stupid not to use it.

Fucking bring it on you bunch of bell whiffs.

https://lovebylife.com/the-whole-world-is-supporting-italy-rome-newspapers-claim-no-one-wants-england-to-win-euro/

I'm starting to get a bit edgy now and the roads by me are already getting quiet :pint:

We're playing wing backs, Trippier for Saka according to the usual sources who've got the early team news most of the tournament.

I can see the logic. More conservative option but it matches up pretty well and gets a top class free kick taker onto the pitch.

Enormous amount of firepower on the bench when we need it.

Wondering If he will keep the same 3 in midfield

https://twitter.com/i/status/1414220915274092553

Leicester Sq 2 hours ago

No one likes us, we don't care  :smugfu:

Honourable 2nd place finish for Italy in the tennis.

Isn't there normally a 3/4th place game?

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Not in Euros since 80s

Bit late now! I think it's only in the World Cup

Don't think there in the Euros, don't remember one in 96 anyway.

I've opened the wine, made it much further through the day than I thought I might.

I did better at that than I thought I would, only 3 wrong. Thanks for posting, took my mind off the game itself for a while.

Fucking come on England!!!

Enjoy your evening everyone  :pint:

Foden sounds like he's out of the 23 with his knock.

Wing backs it is, no Saka in the starting XI. Suspect Mount will sit on Jorginho and Kane will play deeper to try and replicate the success Olmo had against Bonucci and Chiellini. Walker and Maguire to match up with Chiesa and Insigne.

Let's hope it works.

Here we go again FFS!

https://twitter.com/therealruncey/status/1414278655560278027?s=21

Sounds like a bit of a mess outside Wembley. Let's hope it all goes a lot smoother inside.

For god sake, what is wrong with these morons?

Ah, a closing ceremony. That's what we were all hoping for.

Oddly the atmosphere is louder on ITV

BBC probably trying to silence the booing of the Italian national anthem.

What a start !

Scored too early.

Ha, I missed the goal switching to ITV  :D

Italy dive number 1

What a finish that is from Shaw

So much space on that right.
It’s like Italy aren’t even playing a left back.

Stick Kane in midfield, his vision is ace.

Harry Kane is playing like prime Pirlo.

England have the Italian full backs on bruschetta

Hold on Kane was rubbish two weeks ago😀

No.

He was playing rubbish a few weeks ago. Huge difference.

Not playing to his strengths which they are now!

Cagey game. Italians starting to play better now but neither team creating any chances (other then the goal of course).

I wish we wouldn't drop so deep

Just what I was thinking.

Italy better team overall but haven’t created any major chances. England defence has looked comfortable.

Italy will have to push more men forward in the second half and England will have chances to pick Italy off.

Italy have only had the last 15  ???

I feel sick😵

Very enjoyable half, in as much as anything like this can be enjoyable. We might not win this game, but we've come to win and with a plan and the players to execute it.

First the goal. What a start - amazing from start to finish - four incredible bits - the ball from Kane, Walker's run, Trippier's cross and Shaw's finish. If you stopped the game and asked them what they wanted to do, every one would describe exactly what happened - perfect execution and calmed any nerves about the formation immediately.

No doubt Italy grew into the game, but England have dropped off the second part of the first half in every game and we've defended well and still look very dangerous on the break. Shaw is playing exceptionally in defence and attack, Kane is playing the template Olmo wrote in the semi brilliantly.

Italy are a good side, there's every chance they come back at us especially through Chiesa who looks bright, but they have weaknesses in both full back positions

The referee seems keen to let anything short of actual GBH go, which is frustrating at times but I think will benefit us more on balance.

Come the fuck on England.

We won't learn giving stupid fouls away in dangerous positions

Referee having a great game. Not falling for the simulation diving from both teams.

Still sitting too deep.

I know we’ve defended well in this tournament, but wish we could get hold of the ball and play in their half for a bit

Yeah spot on much too deep

Southgate needs to change something here.

1-1. Been coming.

Fuck sticks

Playing too deep Inviting them towards goal

We've been playing the wrong game this half. It was coming

Footballs not coming home!!

Dropping to far back, no outlet!!

At the moment we're not much of a threat going forward

Only one team winning this as it stands

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Rather that than fucking penalties

Sadly agree with you as they have all the momentum

Barring the first 20 minutes we have been dog shite!!

Only 1 team deserves to win and its not England!!

Can't sit back on an early lead.

We need to attack rather than chasing shadows

15 shots to 3  :cry:

Saka having a bit of a stinker here...

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Need Grealish  and Sancho on

Whatever the result, I personally think the Italians have been the best team in the tournament.

What a phenomenally stupid time to invade the pitch.

Wembley security appear to have had a fucking nightmare of a day.

In the break, disappointing half but there are two teams in the game and Italy are playing at their absolute best. No striker, no problem - playing like Spain did against them.

Unfortunately, I think it's gone.😢

We need to be a bit more cynical. Almost all of their team on yellows now from professional fouls to snuff out our attacks - we've had none at all right? Sometimes you need to take a man out.

We have quality on the bench. Italy ruled the second half but haven't got a winner. I still believe.

Come on Gareth we need changes now

This is going to the dreaded P word.

Let's hope Grealish wins one.

Come on England. You've done us proud, one last push.

Players are tired yet fresh legs on the bench still😳

Dirty bastard

Very dirty and boy do they like to exaggerate their pain threshold

Penalties. I'm out.

Oh to be a goalie now. No pressure and you can be a hero if you make the vital save.

They've done us proud come what may. Now bring it home

Called both those.
Stupid run ups.

Unbelievable 😢

Too cocky for me

Right result overall. Rashford needs to stop hanging out with pogba.

Shithousery at its finest there from the Italian player shouting it’s coming to Rome.

Ah well. We are getting better. Still need to practice penalties. Fucking hate em.

Been a nice ride but was always going to be a big test and found out tactically. From half time onwards everything Southgate tried backfired summed up by bringing on players to take pens and both missing.  The heat of Qatar will be too much IMO so 2024 is the next target I guess!

Aw fuck.

Heartbreaking end but that is nothing to be cross about. We played well, Italy played well and it could have gone either way.
 This is a startlingly young team and there are so many talented players there.

They did us proud. I hope the country reacts the way this team deserve.

Doesnt matter does it.  Just a football match.  Much more disappointment and joy ahead.  

Ive got a front room of family and friends being upset.  I've managed to just not get involved too much. 

Very proud of this team. They had a poor second half but I think they bosses the extra time. It is what it is. Just glad I’m actually looking forward to seeing England play in next year’s World Cup, I’ve not felt excited about England for a very long time

Agree entirely. Second half of normal time was all Italy bar maybe the last ten minutes but we were right in the game in extra time. Italy are an excellent side and it's no shame to run them this close.

This team deserve immense credit and I hope we don't get too bogged down in what ifs

fucking penalties. fucks sake. fuck off football

World Cup semi, euros final. We're doing better than most. Fuck the twats who make digs, their nations are fucking nowhere to be seen  :smugfu:

I've just had a relative tell me that England - The Euro 2020 finalists - are shit at football.

I've decided against engaging with them.

We played well for 20 mins in the first half & a 10 min spell in ET, other than that we have been outplayed.

Not a fan of bringing players on just to take a penalty, just too much pressure on them.
Surprised Saka took one & Grealish didn’t

That said, we would have taken making the final before the tournament, just hope we can improve from here

Great effort but feel Southgate got it wrong tonight and sat back when he could have made the attacking subs in the second half when we were tired and pinned back

People say we were outplayed, but I don't think we were. We sat back too much, that was the problem. Italy had all the ball because of that. When we went forward we rattled them. Pity we sat so deep.

England have a good up and coming team. I don’t think they will win the World Cup in Qatar next year due to the heat as England don’t dominate possession against the better teams. However good chance to win the next euros.

Agreed but inviting trouble sitting back for so long.

In that case you can’t really say England outplayed Denmark as this game was the role reversal of that game.

It’s difficult to go forward when the other team are just better in possession. Its getting the right mix between attack and defence.

Don’t feel like we were outplayed either. Italy the better team but not by much

Thought all the way through that Italy were the best team in the competition. I think we all dared to believe, especially after the brilliant start to the game. If only we could have created a second chance in the first half

Can't believe that we thought we'd keep them out for 88 mins!

Thought the ref did well.

Just realised this is a repeat of euro 96 against Germany.  Shearer scores within 3 minutes, Germany equalise and win on pens.

Also disappointed Sterling didn't take a penalty as he's scored a few for City

The first 25 were ours. The next 65 theirs. Extra time pretty even. They were as cynical as usual and shithousery always wins. They are the masters at it.
Penalties are a lottery, we lost. Fair play the youngsters stepped up. The Pickford save from jorginho was excellent.
This group of players have done us proud and they will have learned.

Don’t like this taking off of the medals. Empty gesture

Missed a lot as well, he’s not a penalty taker.

Neither is Saka

Neither is Saka, but he has an awful lot less experience.

Jinx

Good post😀

But rightly or wrongly he chose to step up. The penalties are what they are, our conservatism and not kicking on is what cost us.

Agreed and as I said earlier Southgate didn't change things when we were pegged back for much of the second half

If Sterling or Graelish wanted to take the decision away from him, I’m sure they could have insisted (could be completely wrong about that assertion)

Italy were the better side for the last 60 mins. England did well and should be proud. Feel for saka. 19 years old. Hopefully won't affect him too much mentally.

Yep, we sat back too much. Italy are very good but we made them look so much better. Like they were camped in our half for the last 70 mins of the first 90. They were always going to score if given enough opportunities. Big mistake. When we pushed they were uncomfortable. We should have put them under a lot more pressure in the second half. That cost us.

Five years ago Iceland happened. We've come so far in that time. The building blocks are there, the system is working. Keep the faith.

I think we lost the tactical battle not just on penalties

As I said earlier, World Cup SF in 2018, finalists in Euro 2020. Great stuff. Just need to finish the job. Football is coming home even if the cup is a little way behind  :)

Did well and should be proud

But tonight was about winners and losers. We lost. Not got another 55 years to wait for another crack.

it's a bit raw now, I'm sure everyone will look back at our last 2 competitions as the successes they were

but we were so so bloody close

What frustrates me is we could have won if we had changed personnel and attacked them 

It’s hard to get up the pitch when you have 34% possession in the game. England played 7 defensive players and 3 attacking players. Against better quality teams it’s always going to be hard

Italy were the best team in the tournament. We went further than Belgium, France, Spain etc. Got to be happy with that. More importantly for me we had a unified team and fan base that represented an England of today - celebrated our diversity and hopefully banished forever the right wing meat head support England teams had to put up with in the past. Well played boys.

We had 34% possession because we sat too deep. Italy were good but not exceptional. On the back foot they looked poor.

It’s disappointing, but how many of that squad will be gonners by next Christmas??

France won in 2018 after losing the 2016 final
Germany won in 2014 after losing the 2010/12 semis

I think there’s valid criticism for being too defensive in today’s final, but the ambition was always semis in 2020, win 2022. Were on track

I don’t thing England necessarily choose to sit deep. Italy just pushed us back. It was possibly the right decision to be compact and not lose the game.
However, once Chiesa went off - that was when we should have opened the game up. He was by far and away Italy’s main threat. All their attacks came through him.

We definitely should have gone for it in extra time. It was there to be won in that window imo.

No clue on the process behind picking penalty takers. Do they volunteer? Does Southgate pick his best 5 from training? It was strange to put two players on for a minute to take penalties. Even with the best warm up they aren’t in the game and haven’t had touches of the ball. If they’d played the last 15 would that have made a difference either to the result in extra time or their penalties?

A lot of people questioning why the more experienced players didn’t take the penalties but when you think about the only really experienced players on the pitch who didn’t take one were Sterling & Stones!

Italy didn't allow us to play, but we should have done the same to them. We didn't.

Well done on getting to the final, gutted for the lads who missed penalties.
Thought the subs were a bit strange - saka as right attacker is good, but he was clearly told to track Emerson, you could see he was torn each time the Italians had the ball.
There didn't seem to be a plan to do something different from attacking set pieces as Chiellini and Bonucci were dominant in the air.
Thought the ref and lack of VAR was strange all game. The Jorginho yellow i thought could easily have been a red and there was definitely contact with Sterling in the penalty area.

Anyway, easy (and fun!) to play retrospective FM, just seemed one game too far and there are definitely things to build on going forwards

Agree with everything said,  just wish players would stop this silly hop, skip and a jump when taking penalties.  Hit it hard and get it on target if the keeper saves it then fine,  all these 'mind games '  don't do it for me.  Anyway, proud of the team, better times ahead, World Cup next year............ Come on England,  now back to the County Ground .......

I called all three misses, in my living room with no one to hear me expect my Mrs who wasn’t really paying attention.

Rashford & Sancho based on their run ups and Saka based on the fact he’s had a really good tournament.

I wonder how different it would have turned out if all the defenders had stepped up and just smashed it like Maguire did!
It almost like the attackers thing about it too much and the defenders just hit it.

Yep, the best penalty was Maguire's.

If you larrup it into the top corner and the keeper saves it, then the keeper has done well. If you are a bit cutsie and don't score, you look a fool.

Like one of ours last night.

well,I don't want to harp back to work 96 too much.. but...

Maguire breaking the camera was great. Suspect if we'd tried that penalty five times we'd have hit the crossbar at least twice though, I don't think it's possible to pick a spot that precisely when doing that (I realise we missed three in reality).

Fair point however, across to two shoot outs we had we took 10 penalties and scored 9 of them.
The only miss coming from Southgate who wasn’t in the original 5 but stepped up 6th.

Bit different from missing 3/5

...and stupid hop, skip, jump run ups weren’t a thing in 1996!

Overshadowed a bit by what came later, but thought Declan Rice played the best game I've seen him play in an England shirt last night, which bodes well against a really good midfield. Don't want to pick out individuals negatively really, but Henderson didn't have the same impact after replacing him.

It would also be interesting to know how many players in the 2021 squad are their clubs first choice regular penalty taker vs ‘96.

Shearer, Platt, Pearce, Gazza and Sheringham were the 5 in 96.
At least Shearer, Pearce and Sheringham would have been their clubs first choice. Maybe Platt too? Gazza probably not at Rangers.

Kane obviously takes Spurs but after that....

Was surprised to see Henderson come on but also surprised to see him go off again.
I thought he might be lined up to take a penalty despite his missed one pre tournament.
One of the few players in our squad with experience under that sort of intense pressure.

We have been great throughout and Southgate has been spot on most of the time. Thought he got it wrong at various stages last night throughout the game to be honest

Penalties are not a lottery in the slightest, it’s an outdated cliche to say otherwise, it’s skill technically and mentally

This all an assumption……I know it’s been said that we have been practising them a lot in training so I assume Rashford & Sancho were doing those stupid run ups in training. In which case I’m bit disappointed they weren’t told to put their laces behind it.

You do have to somewhat question why Sterling didn’t step up, assume he was shitting his pants. For his sake I’m glad he didn’t miss one though, the fallout would have been even worse than what the 3 kids have received so far

Best team won in the end, after that second half mauling we did well to make it to extra time and indded Pens (which i didnt watch...i cannot bear it).

I was hoping in all of the second half that we would have a 5 or 10 minute purple patch and snatch something....we didnt.

Southgate plays safe all the way and it worked up until last night, we really had to gamble against a team on top to win it and we didnt.

Its been an epic journey and a great distraction from our own shit storm.

Well done lads.

Yep, that's pretty much how I saw things too.

Perhaps if Kane and Sterling looked to actually play football rather than throw themselves petulantly on the floor looking for free kicks all the time we might have had a better chance. It was obvious the ref wasnt falling for any of their nonsense yet they kept trying the conman act.

We seen the best and the worst of Sterling in this comp. Unfortunately, his worst came last night

I think sterling was our player of the tournament.
Kane and sterling may have gone to ground easy but there were clear fouls on them not given. The Italian shithousery intensified as the game wore on making it pretty impossible for England to run through the ranks. The ref allowed it.
In hindsight the foul on grealish was a red. VAR seemed to have a day off yesterday. There was also a possible penalty on sterling I was surprised was not reviewed.
UEFA will no doubt knock one out over the way the ref let play flow but he did is no favours.
I don't care if this comes across as sour grapes but I'm fucking tired of cheaters prospering and they neat always do.
If Italy stuck to football theyd probably still win. They have excellent players but every one of them is a cheating cunt.

I see Grealish has come out and said he wanted to take a penalty but Southgate chose the takers.

It appears that Southgate chose the penalty takers in order to take full responsibility. I'm not convinced (easy to say now we've lost) that was the best thing to do. Surely you have to let the players decide who wants to take them? You would have thought Sterling and Grealish would have put themselves forward for sure.

I just want to use this thread to say well done to the England squad, you did well and we are proud of you. Please ignore the ignorant twats who are scapegoating players and giving abhorrent abuse to them.

100% this.

Theres a fine line though. You can't say someone has had a bad game these days without being told you are making a scapegoat out of them

This is indeed also true.

When I'm referring to scapegoating it's down to the vile abuse certain players are getting in this case.

Yes, but I don't see any of that on here.

Did I hear Shearer right last night when he said that Kane did not touch the ball once in the opposition penalty area ? Don't get me wrong, I thought he played well dropping deep in the first half, very effective, but how can we have our only central striker not touching the ball in the box and still expect to win ?

Kane was magnificent for 30 minutes in unlocking the Italians.

He and Stirling were anonymous second half. Not sure if that's their fault so much as the situation England were in being pressed back..

the Italian midfield were pretty good. we did well really to stay in it for the 90. I wish we'd have gone for it in extra time though.

I think Jude Bellingham's development is a pretty key factor in how we'll do in Qatar. It'll be hot even in winter, which will mean we probably need to control possession a bit more - which we did in quite a few games in this tournament, but obviously not yesterday.

But still, Rice (22), Mount (22), Foden (21), Bellingham (18) and Phillips (25) should give us hope there.

Only really Henderson & Walker who past their prime, and even they'll only be 32 come Qatar.

As for the game itself, not sure there was much more we could do, probably the best team in the tournament won and roll on future tournaments for this very young and incredibly likeable team. Comment has been made of the referee, I think he had a reasonable game, I also got the impression that he decided after about 20 mins that everyone was going to fall over at every opportunity and decided to not give anything to either side unless it was blatant, albeit their lad got away with one for the tackle on Grealish.

Can I just comment on the idea that the climate in Qatar will adversely affect us, whilst it will undoubtedly have an effect, however, temperature wise winter in Qatar is not a million miles off summer Spain (1982), Mexico (1986), Italy (1990), where from recollection it didn't have a terribly detrimental effect bar Mexico where I suspect in many cases altitude was as much of a problem.

Gutted but proud of the fact we've made a major final. Becks, Lampard, Gerrard etc never even made it to a semi final. We're on to a good thing with Southgate I think. Yes a little negative at times but he's an intelligent bloke. We did a few things differently in this tournament from Russia 2018 which benefited us. Hopefully he will continue to learn and we can take the next step of winning something. France lost the Euro 2016 final at home and then won the WC two years later so it's not out of the question.

Get behind the young squad - they should all be that bit better by the time Qatar rolls around and although last night was painful, should hopefully prove beneficial in the long run.

My main concern for this squad is what measures will Southgate take to get us to that extra level. I was looking through those players this morning and i just don't see how he incorporates those players with his football mentalioty. It isn't a pop at him whatsoever because it has taken us this far but in a world cup theres twice as much quality and sitting back for so long . I know it is all what ifs but people like Guardiola would get more out of this talented bunch. Wouldn't they?

On another forum I likened it to Chelsea this season in reverse.
Lampard got them attacking and pressing well but couldn’t sort out their leaky defence. Tuchel came in and sorted that. With Lampard attacking players and attacking strategies with Tuchels defensive nous - CL winners were created.


In reverse would England do better with Lampards attacking strategies but with Southgates solidness still there?

Would having joint managers help/work?

I really enjoyed the tournament and watched nearly all the games played. Our boys were brilliant. A unified squad guided superbly by the manager, and to make the final was a fine achievement. I think they all were great. Everyone of them. No need to dissect the performance last night. It was just unlucky. Someone had to lose. Shame loads of English morons have to ruin things as usual.

I don't really know, we do seem to slightly lack the ability to up a gear, last night it was noticeable that once Italy got on top of us we struggled to get the upper hand again.

Looking at the stats, our W,D,L in the tournament was exactly the same as Italy, albeit they probably had a harder bunch of games, likewise we were the 4th highest scorers,  with the fewest goals against and the most clean sheets.

There is definitely the foundations of a very good team to work with there, and a very young one at that.

Yeah i think you are right mate it's tough isn't it.

Southgate's cautiousness is the one major weakness of this team, but then you have to wonder if we'd have gotten as far if we didn't play two holdings DMs. My one criticism of Southgate is that he waits too long to change things up. Mancini showed last night how to change your tactics to counter your opponent. There were a few games (Scotland, Denmark) where one of Rice or Phillips could've been swapped for Grealish/Sancho/Foden much earlier.

I think the squad is one more goalscorer away from really being able to challenge at a World Cup. There's too much reliance on Kane as the focal point of the team and Rashford or Calvert-Lewin aren't quite at the standard.

Disappointing not to win in the end but what a journey. A team to be proud of.

It is a young squad and to me it feels like this team is capable of going pretty deep into the next 3 or 4 tournaments.

And to be fair Italy couldn't beat us in 120 minutes of football and only beat us by one penalty, if they are world beaters we're in with a chance !!!

Disappointed with the result, but expected it.

Some good performances on the day, but some not so good too.

Very disappointed with the behaviour of some 'fans' pre and post match.

I'd like to move on now please.

100% agree

In extra time we should have brought on all of the flair players and attacked them which would have relieved the pressure on the defence

And a quote from our own Berniman makes the Indy's coverage of Danny Baker's miserabilist views on Southgate.

https://www.indy100.com/celebrities/danny-baker-twitter-england-italy-b1882452?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=Feed

Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me. Well said Bernieman.

Fair play Berniman.

I think I'd have just called him a fat cunt.

Bakers rhetoric never changed throughout the tournament, even after the better performances. Unfollowed him, miserable old man

Same mate. It was personal wasn't it

Blimey..

The only thing that matters is..  Do i get paid?

I wrote that Tweet on Sunday night when absolutely mashed - I impressed myself..

Fair play, Berni. As someone who loved his shows, it's a shame.  The tweet after yours was from a bloke I used to work with, very funny and intelligent guy.