Moppy
Samurai Cop
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Post by Moppy on Jun 5, 2021 13:19:08 GMT -5
(Thought this might garner enough interest to stand out from the regular Football thread, but I throw myself at the mercy of the Mods if not.)
It's finally here!... nearly. Kicking off on Friday 11th June with Turkey v Italy, 1 day short of a full year on from its originally scheduled start, EURO 2020 heralds the welcome return of international tournament football.
The Copa America starts in Brazil on June 13th with Brazil vs Venezuela.
Any other international tournaments or friendlies this summer will be discussed in this thread.
Who will you all be supporting? Who are your favourites to win? And above all else, who have you drawn in your office sweepstake?
Current favourites as per bet365:
France 9/2 England 5/1 Belgium 6/1 Germany 7/1 Spain 15/2 Portugal 8/1
For me, it should really be the same story as the World Cup: France clearly have the strongest squad going in, so it's very much theirs to lose. Can they get the job done again though?
It's funny, it feels like England were the bookies' favourites for about 2 years, until, Benzema is suddenly announced for France, everybody takes a closer look at the French squad list and goes hang on, this is really strong.
Turkey, I think, have a shout as the dark horses to make the semis or even the final.
Any domestic discussion involving Managerial Changes, bids, transfers should go in the normal footy thread.
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Jun 5, 2021 14:29:22 GMT -5
I was going to do a separate thread for the Euros and Copa America and any other international tournaments, so Iāll amend your post a bit to include those.
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Spider2024
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Post by Spider2024 on Jun 5, 2021 15:20:55 GMT -5
Turkey, I think, have a shout as the dark horses to make the semis or even the final. "And once they get to the final, Turkey just might be sitting ducks!"
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4real
Wade Wilson
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Post by 4real on Jun 6, 2021 8:17:29 GMT -5
Itās coming home! Obviously!
Well England are hosting the final so technically yes football is coming home.
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Moppy
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Post by Moppy on Jun 6, 2021 13:00:03 GMT -5
Well, not too sure what England can learn from that 1-0, but it was nice to see Rice and Bellingham get run outs. We'll need them across the tournament considering how light we are in that area of the pitch. Grealish looks the real deal to me, I hope he starts next week, although I doubt he will. Thought our full-backs were quite poor tonight although at least one of those (Godfrey) isn't in the finals squad anyway, I don't think. And naturally, in typical England style when one penalty is scored, the next is saved
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Jun 6, 2021 17:35:53 GMT -5
Really sticking my neck out here but Iāve got to go with France. If they can keep themselves under control I canāt see anyone beating them. Italy may not be as heavily tipped as other sides but I wouldnāt bet against them getting to the semis. Dark horse team : Russia. I would say Hungary if they werenāt in a group with Portugal, France and Germany.
As for the Copa America. itās Brazilās to lose.
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Jun 6, 2021 22:25:35 GMT -5
Sergio Busquets has tested positive for Coronavirus. The rest of the squad tested negative but as a precaution theyāve called off their friendly with Lithuania tomorrow.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Jun 7, 2021 1:57:29 GMT -5
US beat Mexico to win the CONCACAF Nations League Finals
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Jun 7, 2021 2:56:05 GMT -5
Well, not too sure what England can learn from that 1-0, but it was nice to see Rice and Bellingham get run outs. We'll need them across the tournament considering how light we are in that area of the pitch. Grealish looks the real deal to me, I hope he starts next week, although I doubt he will. Thought our full-backs were quite poor tonight although at least one of those (Godfrey) isn't in the finals squad anyway, I don't think. And naturally, in typical England style when one penalty is scored, the next is saved Godfrey's not a full-back anyway. I know he has played there for Everton, but he's at best a makeshift option. I suppose Southgate was giving him the chance to stake his claim to replace Trent. Safe to say, he'll be watching the tournament at home based on that performance. For me, Ward-Prowse not only needs to be called in to replace Trent, he should probably be starting. My pick for the first match: GK: Pickford RB: Walker LB: Shaw CB: Stones CB: Mings DM: Rice CM: Ward-Prowse AM: Grealish RW: Sancho LW: Rashford CF: Kane
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Moppy
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Post by Moppy on Jun 7, 2021 8:17:46 GMT -5
GK: Pickford RB: Walker LB: Shaw CB: Stones CB: Mings DM: Rice CM: Ward-Prowse AM: Grealish RW: Sancho LW: Rashford CF: Kane I'm with you there for the most part, even if in isolation I'd prefer Chilwell and White over Shaw and Mings, but admittedly I probably wouldn't throw them in for the first game. And I'd opt for the experience of Sterling over Sancho, despite the former's propensity for dribbling into the post instead of shooting with the goal at his mercy.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Jun 7, 2021 13:02:29 GMT -5
I'm with you there for the most part, even if in isolation I'd prefer Chilwell and White over Shaw and Mings, but admittedly I probably wouldn't throw them in for the first game. And I'd opt for the experience of Sterling over Sancho, despite the former's propensity for dribbling into the post instead of shooting with the goal at his mercy. I'd definitely opt for White now that he's in the squad. He's looked a quality player the last two seasons and I fully expect to see a top-six side sniffing around for him in the coming years. I feel as though Sterling is slipping into old habits again. Despite City coming so close to the quadruple, his form and general goal-assist output was way down on previous seasons, and in any case, if he plays he's playing in behind Kane rather than out on the wing. Given Grealish has played there the last two games it would be him who loses out, and he's one of the few whose spot should not be open to debate right now.
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4real
Wade Wilson
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Post by 4real on Jun 7, 2021 13:57:07 GMT -5
Given England have a load of injuries itās hard to pick a first 11 but I picked this one earlier:
Henderson James Walker Stones Coady Chilwell Rice Mount Foden Sancho Kane
Iām not convinced by our centre back choices at all with Maguire injured Coady is a bit better than Mings for me and I just couldnāt pick White with as little inexperience as he has. Not sure why Ward Prowse didnāt get the call. I do like a Rice-Foden-Mount midfield though and I wouldnāt be too disappointed if Bellingham started either.
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Post by sshfof on Jun 8, 2021 17:47:52 GMT -5
Really sticking my neck out here but Iāve got to go with France. If they can keep themselves under control I canāt see anyone beating them. Italy may not be as heavily tipped as other sides but I wouldnāt bet against them getting to the semis. Dark horse team : Russia. I would say Hungary if they werenāt in a group with Portugal, France and Germany. As for the Copa America. itās Brazilās to lose. I have to agree that I think France will win it. It very much depends on how they fair in the group of death but they have the strongest squad on paper. In reality it's very wide open, you could make a case for at least 8 nations to win the whole thing. And there's always a suprise package somewhere. My outside bets I'd make would either be the Netherlands or Poland.
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AdamAFL was sooooo wrong
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Post by AdamAFL was sooooo wrong on Jun 8, 2021 19:26:02 GMT -5
My XI for the first game would be
GK D Henderson RB Trippier CB Walker CB Stones LB Shaw CM J Henderson CM Rice CM Mount RW Sancho ST Kane LW Foden
I really wish I could find a way to fit Grealish into the side but I think 433 is by far our best formation and both Sancho and Foden have been too incredible this season (especially towards the end of their respective seasons) to leave out. Also I know Walker is a RB but I do not rate our CBs at all and feel like playing him out of position at CB is a better option than the others we have at our disposal.
I expect Southgate to go with this though:
GK Pickford CB Walker CB Stones CB Mings RWB James CM Rice CM Henderson LWB Shaw RF Sterling ST Kane LF Grealish
I just think with Maguire out he'll feel the need to play with 3 at the back.
Also wanna echo what someone said earlier. France are the clear favourites but if you want an outside shot that people are sleeping on which isn't a complete longshot, Italy are the team. They are going to surprise a lot of people at this tournament. I also expect Holland to be absolutely awful having seen them play a few times in the past 12 months they do not impress me at all.
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Jun 9, 2021 0:12:41 GMT -5
Thereās still serious doubts about whether the Copa America will happen. Only two teams have revealed their squads with four days to go. Thereās a lot of talk that some of the Brazilian players are considering a boycott. Itās a giant clusterf*** and it really should be cancelled.
It now seems the Brazilian players will not boycott the event but have expressed their frustration about the competition being moved to Brazil.
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Post by burdette25159 on Jun 10, 2021 0:40:05 GMT -5
Thereās still serious doubts about whether the Copa America will happen. Only two teams have revealed their squads with four days to go. Thereās a lot of talk that some of the Brazilian players are considering a boycott. Itās a giant clusterf*** and it really should be cancelled. It now seems the Brazilian players will not boycott the event but have expressed their frustration about the competition being moved to Brazil. If I were Copa America, I'd cancel the event or move the event to the united states even if it means delaying it to August, NFL Preseason, MLS and in the case of Las Vegas: Summerslam be damned
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Jun 10, 2021 0:45:07 GMT -5
Thereās still serious doubts about whether the Copa America will happen. Only two teams have revealed their squads with four days to go. Thereās a lot of talk that some of the Brazilian players are considering a boycott. Itās a giant clusterf*** and it really should be cancelled. It now seems the Brazilian players will not boycott the event but have expressed their frustration about the competition being moved to Brazil. If I were Copa America, I'd cancel the event or move the event to the united states even if it means delaying it to August, NFL Preseason, MLS and in the case of Las Vegas: Summerslam be damned They couldnāt delay it. The European Leagues start up in August and the clubs wonāt allow the players to report back that late. Itās even more complicated as the African Cup of Nations starts in January 2022 and teams will have to let players go for a month then to play for their countries. So thereās no way the employers will allow two periods of a season where they are forced to let players go.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Jun 10, 2021 2:27:17 GMT -5
If I were Copa America, I'd cancel the event or move the event to the united states even if it means delaying it to August, NFL Preseason, MLS and in the case of Las Vegas: Summerslam be damned They couldnāt delay it. The European Leagues start up in August and the clubs wonāt allow the players to report back that late. Itās even more complicated as the African Cup of Nations starts in January 2022 and teams will have to let players go for a month then to play for their countries. So thereās no way the employers will allow two periods of a season where they are forced to let players go. Also, I think the problem is we are not part of South America and I think every country in the Copa America would rather play in their own continent.
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Jun 10, 2021 2:37:59 GMT -5
They couldnāt delay it. The European Leagues start up in August and the clubs wonāt allow the players to report back that late. Itās even more complicated as the African Cup of Nations starts in January 2022 and teams will have to let players go for a month then to play for their countries. So thereās no way the employers will allow two periods of a season where they are forced to let players go. Also, I think the problem is we are not part of South America and I think every country in the Copa America would rather play in their own continent. The US hosted it five years ago, Granted, it was a special centenary competition then with the USA and other CONCACAF teams involved but they could still host it without taking part. On this occasion, I think a lot of the countries wouldnāt mind playing outside South America. When Brazilian players donāt want their own country hosting it, somethingās wrong.
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Post by Hit Girl on Jun 10, 2021 2:45:48 GMT -5
Italy to win it.
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