Here are the tomatoes I picked from my greenhouse whilst it was taking place.
I was sat at a dining table with my family of Swedes at a family party during normal time. As we went to extra time I drove to someone else's house and watched the pens. I must say they were 5 solid pens and under the pressure we England fans put them under, they were top notch. Forget the performance, it's a results business. If Southgate's team bring home a cup, who really cares. I'm not really feeling the love for this team though. It feels a bit meh.
As for Charlton I couldn't give a feck if Jones has us playing like City next season if we don't go up. Give me a Powell-esque season of boring 1-0 to the Londoners results (and promotion) and I'd be delighted.
I’ve watched England playing well and losing in quite a lot of tournaments over the years, the first of those being 1970.
We’ve been frustrating in this tournament, but have defended well, and have acquired the winning habit.
Southgate has a knack of getting results, whether by luck or hard work, it doesn’t really matter.
Thought Ezri had a very good half as well. Proud to see a Charlton academy boy playing so well for England.
I thought Ezri was brilliant. The future of our backline is bright based off how he and Guehi have performed so far this tournament.
We're obviously a little biased but I don't think Guehi should get back in on that Konsa performance. Guehi has been good overall but he's got caught out on concentration a couple of times in this tournament. I think he should have reacted quicker for the Slovakia goal and he's not dealt very well with the high ball over the top. Konsa completely marked Embolo out of the game yesterday and stopped him from being able to hold up the ball and bring Vargas and Ndoye into the game. The one time Konsa wasn't on Embolo because he'd moved they got a goal as Walker switched off. It's moments of lost concentration that have seen us concede goals so far this tournament and Konsa stayed so focused the entire time he was on
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
We've certainly played poorly this tournament, but we've not had a bad one - Reaching the Semi-Finals is still a decent achievement. I mean even if England don't win the Tournament, but France do playing a very similar style, will people admit that its how you need to win these things?
But then I'm wary of whoever comes next as England Manager, and am not as confident as others that whoever follows Southgate / Holland will necessarily do as good, let alone better... Read that Lineker was another backing Lampard in his latest podcast!!
I equally hope that its his last tournament regardless, as tired and bored of hearing the slagging off now.
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
We've certainly played poorly this tournament, but we've not had a bad one - Reaching the Semi-Finals is still a decent achievement. I mean even if England don't win the Tournament, but France do playing a very similar style, will people admit that its how you need to win these things?
But then I'm wary of whoever comes next as England Manager, and am not as confident as others that whoever follows Southgate / Holland will necessarily do as good, let alone better... Read that Lineker was another backing Lampard in his latest podcast!!
I equally hope that its his last tournament regardless, as tired and bored of hearing the slagging off now.
Graham Potter still for me.
Can't blame him for Chelsea considering the continued aftermath.
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
We've certainly played poorly this tournament, but we've not had a bad one - Reaching the Semi-Finals is still a decent achievement. I mean even if England don't win the Tournament, but France do playing a very similar style, will people admit that its how you need to win these things?
But then I'm wary of whoever comes next as England Manager, and am not as confident as others that whoever follows Southgate / Holland will necessarily do as good, let alone better... Read that Lineker was another backing Lampard in his latest podcast!!
I equally hope that its his last tournament regardless, as tired and bored of hearing the slagging off now.
Graham Potter still for me.
Can't blame him for Chelsea considering the continued aftermath.
Lee Carsley for me... I like the idea of having someone in whose used to International Manager, and will slowly start working with a few of those U21s he's already been successful with
I hope we win the whole thing and Southgate goes out on a high point, and the subsequent manager we bring in plays attacking and expansive football but we lose in the quarters every tournament, as that's clearly what the people want
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
We've certainly played poorly this tournament, but we've not had a bad one - Reaching the Semi-Finals is still a decent achievement. I mean even if England don't win the Tournament, but France do playing a very similar style, will people admit that its how you need to win these things?
But then I'm wary of whoever comes next as England Manager, and am not as confident as others that whoever follows Southgate / Holland will necessarily do as good, let alone better... Read that Lineker was another backing Lampard in his latest podcast!!
I equally hope that its his last tournament regardless, as tired and bored of hearing the slagging off now.
Graham Potter still for me.
Can't blame him for Chelsea considering the continued aftermath.
Lee Carsley for me... I like the idea of having someone in whose used to International Manager, and will slowly start working with a few of those U21s he's already been successful with
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
In fairness though, i don't think any country has really had a good tournament apart from Spain.
We've been pretty poor. France didn't win their group and have been poor by their standards. Germany almost didn't win their group and then were out at the quarters. Portugal apart from a good group stage win over Turkey didn't really impress and were out at the quarters. Holland came third in their group but have grown into the tournament. Belgium were poor and out in the last 16. Italy were awful and out in the last 16.
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
In fairness though, i don't think any country has really had a good tournament apart from Spain.
We've been pretty poor. France didn't win their group and have been poor by their standards. Germany almost didn't win their group and then were out at the quarters. Portugal apart from a good group stage win over Turkey didn't really impress and were out at the quarters. Holland came third in their group but have grown into the tournament. Belgium were poor and out in the last 16. Italy were awful and out in the last 16.
That can also be true, but then should point to the fact that really we should be taking advantage and winning this tournament. Like we should have in 2020.
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
We've certainly played poorly this tournament, but we've not had a bad one - Reaching the Semi-Finals is still a decent achievement. I mean even if England don't win the Tournament, but France do playing a very similar style, will people admit that its how you need to win these things?
But then I'm wary of whoever comes next as England Manager, and am not as confident as others that whoever follows Southgate / Holland will necessarily do as good, let alone better... Read that Lineker was another backing Lampard in his latest podcast!!
I equally hope that its his last tournament regardless, as tired and bored of hearing the slagging off now.
Graham Potter still for me.
Can't blame him for Chelsea considering the continued aftermath.
Lee Carsley for me... I like the idea of having someone in whose used to International Manager, and will slowly start working with a few of those U21s he's already been successful with
So a repeat of Southgate
Yup... but ironically that Southgate wasn't actually that good with the U21s in Tournament Football - I've been scarred by Club Managers being hired, and then being shite at International Football.
Southgate - Carsley - Coleman - Scaloni - Clarke have shown you dont necessarily need a decent CV from the club game.
I'm happy to hail Southgate as the greatest manager ever if we win the whole tournament.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
In fairness though, i don't think any country has really had a good tournament apart from Spain.
We've been pretty poor. France didn't win their group and have been poor by their standards. Germany almost didn't win their group and then were out at the quarters. Portugal apart from a good group stage win over Turkey didn't really impress and were out at the quarters. Holland came third in their group but have grown into the tournament. Belgium were poor and out in the last 16. Italy were awful and out in the last 16.
Germany were unlucky with the draw, as they and Spain, both group winners, were scheduled to play each other in the QF, whereas England wouldn't play a group winner until the SF.
Indeed a 24 team tournament is a bit suboptimal like this. With 16 teams, the knockout games would all be 1st vs 2nd in the QF, then on seeding all group winners in the SF. With 32 teams, the knockout games would all be 1st vs 2nd in the R16, then on seeding all group winners in the QF.
Instead we have a situation where Germany were no better off than the team who came second in their group, Switzerland, as both played 2nd placed teams in R16 then group winners in the QF, which seems unfair.
My biggest gripe this tournament is how noticeably more painful it is watching England in major tournaments out in public.
The beer throwing epidemic has reached new levels this year. I had some random telling me how overrated Shearer is/was yesterday, and a group of lads singing the RAF shooting down 10 SWISS bombers.
I do think some people just don't watch the game, see the final score and wonder why people are criticising.
It’s more people have watched England at tournaments for the last 20/30/40/50 years and have seen Southgate take us to a third semi final as manager.
Every time it’s argued he’s too cautious and gets lucky.
If he keeps doing it then he must be doing something right, it can’t only be the players dragging us through. We’ve had good squads before that could never progress past quarter finals. We’ve had a terrible penalty shootout record.
For me the truth is somewhere in the middle. With the players we have there must be scope for us to be a bit more attacking in our play and more proactive with subs without making us too open.
Although we’ve got this far it’s felt at times like watching a much better version of Michael Appleton’s Charlton - there’s a lack of energy, tempo and intensity in periods during games. These players have shown they can still get results playing that way of course, but they should be capable of creating more chances against some of the sides we’ve faced so far.
I believe I am correct in saying England have made the Semi Finals of a major tournament 6 times now. 50% of those have been with Southgate as manager.
Although his cautious style is not that easy on the eye, Southgate deserves some credit for taking us to a Euros Final and a Euros semi-final in successive tournaments.
Yesterday's performance was certainly a significant improvement (albeit from a very low base), although the game was one that could have gone either way, particularly after England started to look flat and fatigued in the second half. I couldn't understand why he left Harry Kane on in the latter stages - he looked knackered and I do wonder if he's fully recovered from the back injury he suffered at Bayern towards the end of the season. At least the three subs livened things up when Southgate was effectively forced into it after the Swiss goal, albeit I get worried when I see Eze in the left back position trying to defend. On the plus side, the Swiss - a good side - created much less than in their previous matches, which was down to us.
I was hoping that Turkey would beat Netherlands, as I admire the Turks' thoroughly entertaining devil may care attitude. It would have made for an interesting contrast in styles, whereas there is a risk that England v Netherlands will end up resembling a rather uninspiring game of chess (I've only just recovered from the utter tedium of the latter's 0-0 against France). Let's hope that some of England's top players finally put the burners on and show what they can do.
I also really hope that Spain see off France on Tuesday night. After Spain's epic win against the Germans, watching France v Portugal was purgatorial, even with the solace of a few pints down the local.
He looked a bit heavy to me, but we looked so much better balanced with Luke Shaw on the pitch giving us a natural left balance
Not really a surprise though. With Trippier at left back and Foden there we were so easy to defend against. If you're the right back it must be great going into a game knowing that the opposition full back nor the left sided attacker are hardly ever going to run behind you and they'll only play in front of you.
With Shaw there he can provide width, get down the wing, get a cross in without having to stop, slow the game down and come back inside. Having Gordon out there would've also solved that issue but it seems as though he's pissed Southgate off, because there's rumours his post-match interview after the Slovenia game didn't go down well.
Comments
As for Charlton I couldn't give a feck if Jones has us playing like City next season if we don't go up. Give me a Powell-esque season of boring 1-0 to the Londoners results (and promotion) and I'd be delighted.
”are you not listening you little shit, we played rubbish”
This England, complaining is what we do best.
I am not a Southgate fan but at least England have been consistent.
It might not be pretty but if we keep finding a way to progress it’s good enough for me.
As long as some of you admit we've had a bad tournament and have played poorly if we lose to Netherlands or the final.
If you play this badly you have to win it. No more 'oh we were plucky until we faced someone good in the final, good tournament', we need to win now.
But then I'm wary of whoever comes next as England Manager, and am not as confident as others that whoever follows Southgate / Holland will necessarily do as good, let alone better... Read that Lineker was another backing Lampard in his latest podcast!!
I equally hope that its his last tournament regardless, as tired and bored of hearing the slagging off now.
Can't blame him for Chelsea considering the continued aftermath.
We've been pretty poor.
France didn't win their group and have been poor by their standards.
Germany almost didn't win their group and then were out at the quarters.
Portugal apart from a good group stage win over Turkey didn't really impress and were out at the quarters.
Holland came third in their group but have grown into the tournament.
Belgium were poor and out in the last 16.
Italy were awful and out in the last 16.
Southgate - Carsley - Coleman - Scaloni - Clarke have shown you dont necessarily need a decent CV from the club game.
Indeed a 24 team tournament is a bit suboptimal like this.
With 16 teams, the knockout games would all be 1st vs 2nd in the QF, then on seeding all group winners in the SF.
With 32 teams, the knockout games would all be 1st vs 2nd in the R16, then on seeding all group winners in the QF.
Instead we have a situation where Germany were no better off than the team who came second in their group, Switzerland, as both played 2nd placed teams in R16 then group winners in the QF, which seems unfair.
The beer throwing epidemic has reached new levels this year. I had some random telling me how overrated Shearer is/was yesterday, and a group of lads singing the RAF shooting down 10 SWISS bombers.
Yesterday's performance was certainly a significant improvement (albeit from a very low base), although the game was one that could have gone either way, particularly after England started to look flat and fatigued in the second half. I couldn't understand why he left Harry Kane on in the latter stages - he looked knackered and I do wonder if he's fully recovered from the back injury he suffered at Bayern towards the end of the season. At least the three subs livened things up when Southgate was effectively forced into it after the Swiss goal, albeit I get worried when I see Eze in the left back position trying to defend. On the plus side, the Swiss - a good side - created much less than in their previous matches, which was down to us.
I was hoping that Turkey would beat Netherlands, as I admire the Turks' thoroughly entertaining devil may care attitude. It would have made for an interesting contrast in styles, whereas there is a risk that England v Netherlands will end up resembling a rather uninspiring game of chess (I've only just recovered from the utter tedium of the latter's 0-0 against France). Let's hope that some of England's top players finally put the burners on and show what they can do.
I also really hope that Spain see off France on Tuesday night. After Spain's epic win against the Germans, watching France v Portugal was purgatorial, even with the solace of a few pints down the local.
With Shaw there he can provide width, get down the wing, get a cross in without having to stop, slow the game down and come back inside. Having Gordon out there would've also solved that issue but it seems as though he's pissed Southgate off, because there's rumours his post-match interview after the Slovenia game didn't go down well.