For those who were out there what was it like? I assume Greece away is one of the more intimidating places to go to, both in and outside the ground. Read a lot of reports of police tear gassing fans for pretty much no reason at all.
I only realised there was an England game last night when I saw a mention of the result on tv this morning. Once upon a time an England game would have been a big deal. I can’t believe it slipped under the radar of everything else I’ve been focussing upon, of which there wasn’t anything necessarily that noteworthy so far this week, unless you count the Charlton v Bromley galatico match of course.
I got in half an hour before KO and was absolutely fine. Heard it went south after that.
Good performance especially first 25 mins, that opening goal was wonderful football. Left 15 mins to go as couldn’t be doing with another lock in. Athens is a great city.
For those who were out there what was it like? I assume Greece away is one of the more intimidating places to go to, both in and outside the ground. Read a lot of reports of police tear gassing fans for pretty much no reason at all.
Really tame tbh mate. No problem in the city or around the ground with locals. I think it's different for fans visiting with clubs though, where they are a bit more partisan.
We were only held back for about 20 minutes, and they ran the metro late especially to get us all back in town. 21.45 is a mad ko time though, I wasn't back into the centre until 1am.
The police/stadium security created a ridiculous bottle neck to get into the ground, funnelling 3,500 fans through 3 gates for the initial ticket check. They all had their riot gear and gas masks on, and just started spraying for no reason claiming there was a 'surge'. I don't think any other nation in our group would get that treatment.
For those who were out there what was it like? I assume Greece away is one of the more intimidating places to go to, both in and outside the ground. Read a lot of reports of police tear gassing fans for pretty much no reason at all.
Really tame tbh mate. No problem in the city or around the ground with locals. I think it's different for fans visiting with clubs though, where they are a bit more partisan.
We were only held back for about 20 minutes, and they ran the metro late especially to get us all back in town. 21.45 is a mad ko time though, I wasn't back into the centre until 1am.
The police/stadium security created a ridiculous bottle neck to get into the ground, funnelling 3,500 fans through 3 gates for the initial ticket check. They all had their riot gear and gas masks on, and just started spraying for no reason claiming there was a 'surge'. I don't think any other nation in our group would get that treatment.
Yeah i experienced this in Qatar for the World Cup where some of the games were 10pm kick offs. Coming out of a stadium at midnight is bizarre.
For those who were out there what was it like? I assume Greece away is one of the more intimidating places to go to, both in and outside the ground. Read a lot of reports of police tear gassing fans for pretty much no reason at all.
Really tame tbh mate. No problem in the city or around the ground with locals. I think it's different for fans visiting with clubs though, where they are a bit more partisan.
We were only held back for about 20 minutes, and they ran the metro late especially to get us all back in town. 21.45 is a mad ko time though, I wasn't back into the centre until 1am.
The police/stadium security created a ridiculous bottle neck to get into the ground, funnelling 3,500 fans through 3 gates for the initial ticket check. They all had their riot gear and gas masks on, and just started spraying for no reason claiming there was a 'surge'. I don't think any other nation in our group would get that treatment.
Finishing at 9:30pm feels bad enough in the UK, as most people can barely make their last trains home from Wembley but that's earlier than almost every European nation. I never understood why they don't stagger them so they just start at 7:45pm local time rather than all kicking off at the same time regardless of time zone
I think the locals must be used to such late kickoffs, as games seem to kick off at a set time of 7.45pm UK time in most European countries, so most of Europe is used to 8:45 kickoffs, and Greece where the time zone is +2 hours over the UK would then be 9:45.
Greece fans made a noise whenever they were on an attack or got a corner, and I can imagine if they had scored it would have been deafening.
But outside of that, they were kept relatively quiet. The early goal from Watkins helped.
Might have been different in the Stadium, but the lack of noise after the second goal sounds almost hilarious. In an instant went from the Greeks making a load of noise, to where you could have heard a pin drop apart from the small noise from the England fans.
We were only really kept in for about 10 minutes max after the game. Police just blocked the exit by standing on the stairs and eventually just moved and let everyone out.
What’s people’s opinion after this performance re the players that dropped out ? Should they automatically get their spot back when the players that came in did pretty well ?
I hope Tuchel has the balls to pick players on form and we get away from picking players on reputation and past performances
The thing is, the likes of Saka and Palmer will likely be in form and undoubtedly be stronger players than those who are usually lower down the pecking order. Regardless of whether they fancied playing these last couple of games or not.
I don’t like it, but part of me thinks we need to just accept the fact that on this occasion some of our best players chose to opt out knowing Carsley was not going to be important to them going forward. It’s a weird limbo position between now and Tuchel coming in and shouldn’t be the norm.
It will likely be forgotten about by the time Tuchel’s first game rolls around, and he’ll just name the strongest squad that will inevitably require the high profile names unless they are drastically out of form (which is unlikely)
What’s people’s opinion after this performance re the players that dropped out ? Should they automatically get their spot back when the players that came in did pretty well ?
I hope Tuchel has the balls to pick players on form and we get away from picking players on reputation and past performances
The next games aren't until March so a lot can change between now and then in terms of fitness and form, but realistically Tuchel is going to pick the best players. So for example although they missed out this time, Rice and Saka are obviously going to play if they're fit.
That said there is now a lot of competition and i'd say the only players guaranteed their place if fit are Pickford, Stones, Rice, Bellingham, Saka and Kane. You could maybe add Shaw to that as we have no other decent natural left back.
They know which ones would have genuinely been pulled out - for example makes sense for Rice to try and heal broken toe rather than having multiple injections to get through training and another two matches. Also why call up someone like Grealish who had been out injured for last 5 games?
As an aside, did anyone see David Seaman the other day? Apparent said he had spent a couple of days with the squad recently and that Pickford was head and shoulders above any other goalie in the squad.
The thing is, the likes of Saka and Palmer will likely be in form and undoubtedly be stronger players than those who are usually lower down the pecking order. Regardless of whether they fancied playing these last couple of games or not.
I don’t like it, but part of me thinks we need to just accept the fact that on this occasion some of our best players chose to opt out knowing Carsley was not going to be important to them going forward. It’s a weird limbo position between now and Tuchel coming in and shouldn’t be the norm.
It will likely be forgotten about by the time Tuchel’s first game rolls around, and he’ll just name the strongest squad that will inevitably require the high profile names unless they are drastically out of form (which is unlikely)
My question didn’t mean to not pick players as a punishment for pulling out I meant it may have opened the door for some players. For to long England have picked players by virtue of the fact of their obvious ability but sort of shoehorned them into the team whereas perhaps you just have to say yes they are great players but we get a better balance by leaving them out. I thought Gallagher and Jones looked to have real potential as a pairing for example but undoubtedly Rice walks back in next game if fit. We are fortunate enough to have quality in depth and I guess what I was saying is I hope Tuchel is strong enough to pick a team and not individuals
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Good performance especially first 25 mins, that opening goal was wonderful football. Left 15 mins to go as couldn’t be doing with another lock in. Athens is a great city.
We were only held back for about 20 minutes, and they ran the metro late especially to get us all back in town. 21.45 is a mad ko time though, I wasn't back into the centre until 1am.
The police/stadium security created a ridiculous bottle neck to get into the ground, funnelling 3,500 fans through 3 gates for the initial ticket check. They all had their riot gear and gas masks on, and just started spraying for no reason claiming there was a 'surge'. I don't think any other nation in our group would get that treatment.
But outside of that, they were kept relatively quiet. The early goal from Watkins helped.
I don’t like it, but part of me thinks we need to just accept the fact that on this occasion some of our best players chose to opt out knowing Carsley was not going to be important to them going forward. It’s a weird limbo position between now and Tuchel coming in and shouldn’t be the norm.
That said there is now a lot of competition and i'd say the only players guaranteed their place if fit are Pickford, Stones, Rice, Bellingham, Saka and Kane. You could maybe add Shaw to that as we have no other decent natural left back.