France v England Match Thread

shano1888

Ah sorry read it that you did bets today. Nice price, Powers had them at 8's yesterday!

bwatson

shano1888 wrote: »

England to get utterly humbled. 4-0; Benzema 2, Ribery 1 and an own goal from one of the chelski lads.

How would 4-0 to France utterly humble England? Nobody in England expects them to do anything this tournament and a lot has been made of France's unbeaten run. I don't see how any result like that could "humble" England.

Jax Teller

Whoever plays left wing for will have to work hard tracking Debuchy . Dunno if id trust the ox with that .

shano1888

bwatson wrote: »

How would 4-0 to France utterly humble England? Nobody in England expects them to do anything this tournament and a lot has been made of France's unbeaten run. I don't see how any result like that could "humble" England.

No you are right England expects to lose to 4-0 to France and would not be at all put out by the result.

leonidas83

havent been a huge fan of Hodgson in the past but I must take my hat off to him for starting chamberlain. Takes a bit of guts and some progressive thinking. We could with that over in the irish camp

Green Diesel

shano1888 wrote: »

No you are right England expects to lose to 4-0 to France and would not be at all put out by the result.

They'd be embarrassed maybe, but not humbled. Humbled would apply if England were the superior team.

Giggsy11

England to win 1-0 or 2-1. Everyone is writting them off and looks like no better time to make a statement. (Not by playing French team off the park, but by parking bus and scoring from set piece or scrappy goal).

England looked organized in both the friendly games and were difficult to break down. They defended deep and have the quality to hit on break. Evra wont bother to track back and Mexes is just avergae. So there are weakness in French team to be exploited and Welbeck pace can be very handy.

leonidas83

anyone who thinks England are going to get humbled doesnt know a thing about football. This is going to be an extremely tight close game with either team possibly nicking it. France are nowhere near as good as people think and England are nowhere near as bad

greendom

leonidas83 wrote: »

havent been a huge fan of Hodgson in the past but I must take my hat off to him for starting chamberlain. Takes a bit of guts and some progressive thinking. We could with that over in the irish camp

Let's see the rest of the team first

bwatson

shano1888 wrote: »

No you are right England expects to lose to 4-0 to France and would not be at all put out by the result.

I think that most in England actually do. I genuinely don't know anyone in England who cares much for this tournament or squad and who expects anything other than another failure. Its strange that so much travels across the Irish Sea (BBC, Premier League etc) but that an obvious thing like the national atmosphere leading up to a tournament can be shut out to suit a viewpoint.

Tox56

Yep, everyone I've met in England expects the usual rubbish, most people hope England do well but this tournament appears to have been written off already. Played mediocre football in the warm up games with generally mediocre players.

grohlisagod

Don't care what happens really as long as Benzema gets off the mark.

But I expect a 2-1 win for France a la 2004.

kronsington

Sky Say OX to start for england..

mike65

Guardian paper boy Daniel Taylor confirms this, instead of Downing though not Milner.

GavRedKing

Confirmed, the Ox starts in place of Downing.

ricero

really want England to have a good tournament to shut up the likes of rio and the rest of the haters. come on england i predict 2 - 1

RayCon

The England team visited an orphanage in Poland today. "It's heartbreaking to see their sad little faces with no hope" said Igor, aged 6 from Warsaw.

greendom

ricero wrote: »

really want England to have a good tournament to shut up the likes of rio and the rest of the haters. come on england i predict 2 - 1

YES!! Will that Rio ever shut up !

Glico Man

England haven't beaten France in their last five meetings; four losses and a draw. Despite this, I can see them doing a Denmark and nab a 1-0.

ricero

to get us in the mood come on England !!!!!!!!!!!!!

SirDelboy18

leonidas83 wrote: »

anyone who thinks England are going to get humbled doesnt know a thing about football. This is going to be an extremely tight close game with either team possibly nicking it. France are nowhere near as good as people think and England are nowhere near as bad

I appreciate your opinion but perhaps it can be made without using lines such as "anyone who thinks England are going to get humbled doesnt know a thing about football". You can make a point without doing that. People are entitled to their opinion and you may well be proven wrong.

SirDelboy18

Also, I hope Blanc grows a pair and drops Evra for Clichy who has been brilliant this year. Koscielny also definitely deserves to start in one of the centre back slots.

GavRedKing

SirDelboy18 wrote: »

Also, I hope Blanc grows a pair and drops Evra for Clichy who has been brilliant this year. Koscielny also definitely deserves to start in one of the centre back slots.

I think Mexes and Rami are both good options at CB and just slightly better then Koscielny.

The Clichy/Evra debate must of entered Blanc's mind when he picks the team, I'd favour Clichy going forward but Evra is still a better defensive LB then Clichy but that wont last for long.

mike65

ricero wrote: »

to get us in the mood come on England !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah great times, the best football song apart from the one below and looking at that squad, comparing it to the current one, inducing sadness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLph6ePNkGQ

steelcityblues

With Ox Chamberlain starting it should be a more exciting game, than I previously thought. I'll go for 1-1.

ricero

mike65 wrote: »

Ah great times, the best football song apart from the one below and looking at that squad, comparing it to the current one, inducing sadness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLph6ePNkGQ

dunno mike this is a cracker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q33sNrncVmI

Dozen Wicked Words

mike65 wrote: »

Ah great times, the best football song apart from the one below and looking at that squad, comparing it to the current one, inducing sadness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLph6ePNkGQ

Its about time Keith Allen wrote another England song after being a part of 2 of the finest. One not so fine he did write though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Mb5RYyjkI

kevohmsford

2-1 to England I think. Should be a good game.

xtal191

Hopefully England can win this, Welbeck to destroy France and get a hat-trick!

Paul Tergat

Pumped now. CMON ENGLAND!

mewso

bwatson wrote: »

Nobody in England expects them to do anything this tournament

I find it highly amusing that the media in the uk for the last few weeks keep doing the "we are underdogs so who knows we might actually win it" thing so that even when they are not expected to do well they have somehow turned it into a sort of unspoken expectancy. I think the players are buying into a bit too. This invisible blob of people in the uk who expect nothing from their national team are magically heaping the usual amount of pressure.

Mr Alan

mewso wrote: »

I find it highly amusing that the media in the uk for the last few weeks keep doing the "we are underdogs so who knows we might actually win it" thing so that even when they are not expected to do well they have somehow turned it into a sort of unspoken expectancy. I think the players are buying into a bit too. This invisible blob of people in the uk who expect nothing from their national team are magically heaping the usual amount of pressure.

Was thinking this earlier. It's pretty funny

murpho999

Lots of shouts for England but people seem to forget who their manager is.

shano1888

Expectations may be relativley low (imagine that) but England have realistic aspirations of reaching the quarters at least. They are not half
As bad as some are making out. I fancy them to get out of the group (just about) but they are playing a top top team tonight in my opinion and they will get badly found out.

Professional Griefer

murpho999 wrote: »

Lots of shouts for England but people seem to forget who their manager is.

And how brilliant France have been of late. Reckon France will win the Euros.

yomtea98

Ix Deadmau5 wrote: »

And how brilliant France have been of late. Reckon France will win the Euros.

Finalists beaten by Ireland in the final

shano1888

bwatson wrote: »

I think that most in England actually do. I genuinely don't know anyone in England who cares much for this tournament or squad and who expects anything other than another failure. Its strange that so much travels across the Irish Sea (BBC, Premier League etc) but that an obvious thing like the national atmosphere leading up to a tournament can be shut out to suit a viewpoint.

Failure is relative though. For once the english media are not hyping them up to win it out but, national atmosphere aside, a group stage exit would be embarrassing and Annihilation v the French would be devastating for English football.

Blatter

Difficult to know what will happen in this match tbh. England are underwhelming but still have a few good players. France are the better side overall but not by a whole lot imo.

Lloris is solid, Evra is the obvious weak link if he starts, Mexes hasn't played an awful lot of football this season and looked dodgy in the game against Iceland. Remy's a good player, as is Debuchy. Alou Diarra isn't anything special, Cabaye is quite good but not great, Malouda is pretty poor, Nasri is excellent if he decides to turn up and Ribery, Benzema are the two best players on the pitch bar possibly Cole.

Hart is good but not as good as made out, Cole is great, Terry is good but his form has been dodgy enough over the past couple of months imo, Lescott is very decent, Johnson's a good player, Milner's good on his day but quite limited and isn't a natural wide player, Gerrard isn't a CM, Parker's average enough at this level, Chamberlain is a talent but impossible to know what to expect from him, Young's a good player but can be anonymous at times, Welbeck is good but too goal shy.

murpho999

shano1888 wrote: »

Expectations may be relativley low (imagine that) but England have realistic aspirations of reaching the quarters at least. They are not half
As bad as some are making out. I fancy them to get out of the group (just about) but they are playing a top top team tonight in my opinion and they will get badly found out.

Reaching the quarters is the aspiration of all teams as it simply means getting out of the group!

bwatson

shano1888 wrote: »

Failure is relative though. For once the english media are not hyping them up to win it out but, national atmosphere aside, a group stage exit would be embarrassing and Annihilation v the French would be devastating for English football.

Why would it be devastating for English football? I don't think it would make any difference. England were booted out of the World Cup in South Africa by Germany and then proceeded to win their qualifying group for this tournament at a canter.


A loss for England in the grand scheme of things won't make too much difference. Its been ten years since England beat a fellow big footballing nation - Argentina in 2002. Another year of underachieving won't be too much of a hit!

shano1888

murpho999 wrote: »

Reaching the quarters is the aspiration of all teams as it simply means getting out of the group!

Ok

Rekop dog

Lol at Southgate and Carragher talking down France's chances here. They're in for a nasty surprise unfortunately.

greendom

Rekop dog wrote: »

Lol at Southgate and Carragher talking down France's chances here. They're in for a nasty surprise unfortunately.

ITV shouldn't be anywhere near a football match. Awful, awful.

shano1888

bwatson wrote: »

Why would it be devastating for English football? I don't think it would make any difference. England were booted out of the World Cup in South Africa by Germany and then proceeded to win their qualifying group for this tournament at a canter.


A loss for England in the grand scheme of things won't make too much difference. Its been ten years since England beat a fellow big footballing nation - Argentina in 2002. Another year of underachieving won't be too much of a hit!

I just mean the immediate aftermath. It would probably be a good thing in the long term. The current generation of german players were born out of the WC defeat to to Croatia in 98 and failure to get out of the group in euro 2000.

I would not class the german defeat in the same terms as a potential hiding from the French tonight. England should have gone in at 2-2 at half time etc and at least that was in the knockouts. Anyway you seem like a genuine fan so best of luck and enjoy the game.

kronsington

teams named yet?

bwatson

Rekop dog wrote: »

Lol at Southgate and Carragher talking down France's chances here. They're in for a nasty surprise unfortunately.

Just this one game though. There is no talk of progression through the stages or anything. The way it should be.

Samich

Come on England. Hope they do well. Hope the majority of the Irish are supporting them too

Nalz

Would love to see Welbeck destroy France today

SirDelboy18

Allez les Bleus!

IvySlayer

Ugly scenes in Donetsk. Lescott and Ribery are both warming up