Right, here goes England and Republic of Ireland fixtures below.
EnglandMonday 11th Kickoff 5pm (BST) V France
Friday 15th Kickoff 7.45pm (BST) V Sweden
Tuesday 19th Kickoff 7.45pm (BST) V Ukraine
Republic of IrelandSunday 10th Kickoff 7.45pm V Croatia
Thursday 14th Kickoff 7.45pm V Spain
Monday 18th Kickoff 7.45pm V Italy
What do we think? just had a look at the official fifa website, and England will either play the winner or runner up of group c in the next round should we get through the group, which as much as me being of irish routes pains me to say will either be probably be a match between Spain or Italy. Spain we all know about and are rightly to be feared, but a 1-0 nil win back at wembley and baracelona's recent wobbles does show they can be beaten.
Italy are in turmoil, police arresting players and coaches left right and centre on match fixing charges. So that could also mean Croatia sneak in the back door and we have played them often enough of late to know this will not be an easy game. Of course this is all pie in the sky if england dont make it out of group D which on paper is by no way a walk in the park.
Certain newspaers have already started to dig out Roy and predict nothing but doom and Gloom. Having seen recent interviews with him i really am going to back him and i think he could do really well. Anything past round 2 will be a great result for England and will have us in good shape for the world cup games starting in september.
As for Ireland, jesus wept! could we have got a harder group? i still remember ronnie whelans wonder goals and ray houghtons lob over the italians in usa'94, we have a much stronger team and play the italian way, can we upset a few? of course we can, finish second and if England top the group we will have a cracking match to look forward too.
This is the first Euro's in years that i am actually looking forward to and cant wait for it to begin, have started a sticker book with my little lad and he is getting excited too, ignore all the doom and gloom about roy and whats going on in poland and ukraine and lets enjoy a summer of great football which will be a great starter for whats to come back in the championship in August!
Come on England!
Come on Ireland!..
ps, lets all laugh at scotland...
Comments
Good preview Adam but I would disagree about Italy, I wouldn't say they are in turmoil, I think I'm right in saying only Criscito has been kicked out of the squad, they also have an excellent manager in charge, Prandelli will get the best out of what is probably one of the better Italian squads in recent years and his teams generally play some nice football.
Like Colthe3rd, I love all football tournaments, possibly because they remind me of being young. I just hope England play openly and without fear, instead of the castrated bull performances we normally produce at tournaments.
BTW - is it bad form to leave a funeral early to watch a football match?
German's are going to win it, again.
France will be the surprise package, they cocked up in South Africa but they have a good young squad that will be eager to impress.
germany v england (england win on pens)
holland v croatia (holland in extra time)
england v holland final... england to return both happy and glorious!
i know.... croatia aren't likely to get to the semis.... :-)
stick to a rigid 442 and we'll do well to get out the group and the Manager will end up getting hammered by the press.....I actually just thought Capello was getting the team and formation right when he went
I think the Germans will win it
I think English footballers in general (Rooney, Cole and Wilshere exempt) have been trained to be a bit too one dimensional. Our strength has always been direct, fast football but now most other countries seem to have figured out how to counter that. Maybe it's becasue the laws of the games have been tweaked to encourage a more non-contact game or whether they've just developed a style of play that negates our threat.
The creative foreign players in the premier league have always kept our teams successful in Europe but in international football we don't seem to have the skill or know-how to retain possession and to open up teams. I'm not knocking everyone, we have some great players; Gerrard, Lampard etc but to excel in modern football they need to be playing alongside the David Silva's or Juan Mata's of the world.
My team for the group would be 4-2-3-1.
Hart
Jones Lescott Jagielka Cole
Gerrard Parker
Milner Lampard Young
Carroll
Havent got any tickets this time but would be tempted to try my luck if we get past the group stages finances permitting.
You're the boss of you and no doubt you'll do the proper thing with a gentle nudge from Mrs Boat perhaps...
I think Russia will do pretty well. Group A is easily the weakest group, and i can see them cruising through that.
With the expectancy off England for the first time since i can remember, it will filter through to the players who i hope will relax and play to the standards we would love to see. I quite like Roy and i reckon he will have the respect of the players. We will make it out the group but more penalty heartbreak is on the cards.
But in football nothing is certain and everything is possible.
England I think will go dramatically one way or the other under Hodgson, they'll either crash out at the group stage or reach the semis at least.
Cannot wait for the tournament to start but as always with big international tournaments I watch it to see everybody play and just enjoy the spectacle and if Italy and England do well then its a bonus. Always going to be a club before country man, and after the amazing seasons that both Charlton and Juventus have had I'm not fussed with the outcome of the Euros.