Slovakia v England and Russia v Wales 8 PM on ITV, ITV4, RTE 2, TV3 (phew)

Fratton Fred

citytillidie wrote: »

https://twitter.com/FBAwayDays/status/744875383238107136

English and Slovakian fans had a bit of a carnival apparently. It was the Olympic Lyonnaise "ultras" causing the trouble,but it was relatively minor from what I heard.

AllGunsBlazing

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

You wouldn't back either Sweden or Ireland to win on current form, and they would only need Czechs to draw with Turkey in order to qualify then.

More than plausible. Likewise I don't see ourselves or Sweden winning, and I'd be hard pressed to back the Czechs either.

surripere

Mec27 wrote: »

I keep forgetting that, we actually have to win

And even then it may not be enough.

Irish_rat

Didn't see much of the England game tonight but one player in particular that has disappointed is Alli, I hope he finds form as the tournament goes on.

Iused2likebusts

Mec27 wrote: »

Albania are not making it.

They have a decent chance of making it . If Ireland or Sweden don't win that''s one group they are better than. N ire group if the Germans beat them well.

Prufrock

Fair play Slovakia. They were able to grind out the result they needed. If only they had a striker but they'll be a tough nut to crack.

Paully D

Hungary are 11/1 to beat Portugal with Portugal solid odds on. I know they have been very underwhelming so far, but you'd still expect the Portuguese to win that game. Iceland v Austria is harder to call, but the bookies side with Austria with Iceland available at 3/1.

IF Portugal and Austria win, which is the most likely scenario, Portugal will win the group and Hungary will come second, so England will meet Hungary. A pretty easy last 16 draw considering they didn't even win the group, but such is the joy of the expanded tournament.

That_Guy

Bilic: "Let's not praise the possession when they were playing against a team who didn't want possession"

Absolutely brilliant pundit. Easily the best on any station this tournament.

Ol' Donie

Mec27 wrote: »

England looking like the worst big nation?

Russia's pretty big.

Icaras

Crouch saying England should have won it - wont see him on ITV anymore.

Ol' Donie

We've got nooo feeah, says Chris Coleman.

Love it.

Arthur Daley

Russia keep qualifying for tournaments convincingly and then really disappoint at the tournament. Apart from Euro 2008 it's 30 years for them flattering to deceive.

Mec27

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Russia keep qualifying for tournaments convincingly and then really disappoint at the tournament. Apart from Euro 2008 it's 30 years for them flattering to deceive.

08 was the only time they have been good in my time, I remember them being hopeless in 2002 world cup

mansize

Huw Edwards trolling England on
BBC News apparently

That_Guy

Icaras wrote: »

Crouch saying England should have won it - wont see him on ITV anymore.

Given the amount of chances they had, he is right.

namloc1980

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

More than plausible. Likewise I don't see ourselves or Sweden winning, and I'd be hard pressed to back the Czechs either.

Yeah agree. Can see Nordies going down to Germany too so actually reckon Albania well in with a shout.

That_Guy

Hodgson is some spoofer.

Icaras

wrThat_Guy wrote: »

Icaras wrote: »

Crouch saying England should have won it - wont see him on ITV anymore.

Given the amount of chances they had, he is right.

Dead right but the Englandbots dont like him saying it. Wright said it was a great performance.

jacool

surripere wrote: »

And even then it may not be enough.

My wife is German and she watched their post match analysis after the bore draw against Poland. They will be gunning for a positive result tomorrow night, leaving Northern Ireland on 3 points, potentially.

Green Fella

That_Guy wrote: »

Given the amount of chances they had, he is right.

They only had 1 shot on target? The Vardy chance. They really lacked that final ball, and any width.

Pretty frustrating game to see but I dont think the draw is that bad either, they will probably get Hungary. Hodgson needs to make his mind up on what way they are going to play.

AllGunsBlazing

And that England away kit is like something you'd see on a pub team. Fkn awful!

BorneTobyWilde

jacool wrote: »

My wife is German and she watched their post match analysis after the bore draw against Poland. They will be gunning for a positive result tomorrow night, leaving Northern Ireland on 3 points, potentially.

How wunderbar is she .

BorneTobyWilde

Roy Hodgson is Horny Goods when rearranged .

Ulysses Gaze

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Russia keep qualifying for tournaments convincingly and then really disappoint at the tournament. Apart from Euro 2008 it's 30 years for them flattering to deceive.

You could say the same for England.

AllGunsBlazing

Just looking at my Euro 2016 wallchart (the best thing about summer footbal tournaments imo) and it seems France and England could be on a collision course for quarterfinals.

siblers

Ulysses Gaze wrote:

You could say the same for England.

And Poland as well as Sweden

thebaz

really hope slovakia don't qualify - thers Parking a bus , but at least play a little football - absolute dire to watch.

Ulysses Gaze

siblers wrote: »

And Poland as well as Sweden

Neither of those teams is considered a Top team.

England, for some reason, are still considered a top team.

Irish_rat

jacool wrote: »

My wife is German and she watched their post match analysis after the bore draw against Poland. They will be gunning for a positive result tomorrow night, leaving Northern Ireland on 3 points, potentially.

Muller has yet to announce himself in Euro 2016. The north will hand him a great opportunity

citytillidie

3rd place table after tonight's games

Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
Slovakia 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
Northern Ireland 2 1 0 1 2 1 1 3
Albania 3 1 0 1 1 3 -2 3
Portugal 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2
Czech Republic 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
Sweden 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1

The Talking Bread

citytillidie wrote: »

3rd place table after tonight's games

Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
Slovakia 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
Northern Ireland 2 1 0 1 2 1 1 3
Albania 3 1 0 1 1 3 -2 3
Portugal 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2
Czech Republic 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
Sweden 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1

I love this third place thing! Uefa deserve a few plaudits! Makes every game so vital!

fryup

That_Guy wrote: »

Bilic: "Let's not praise the possession when they were playing against a team who didn't want possession"

Absolutely brilliant pundit. Easily the best on any station this tournament.

yes, he tells it like it is, which goes against the grain on ITV

Ol' Donie

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I love this third place thing! Uefa deserve a few plaudits! Makes every game so vital!

No way! It takes the edge off games like last night. Well done Albania, now we sit around for a few days waiting to see if you have another game or not!

Billy86

That_Guy wrote: »

Bilic: "Let's not praise the possession when they were playing against a team who didn't want possession"

Absolutely brilliant pundit. Easily the best on any station this tournament.

Class. What channel is he on? Abroad so only have itv/BBC access thanks to the filmon TV app,but it's always refreshing to see a good pundit, like friedel at the last WC.

Chivito550

Ol' Donie wrote: »

No way! It takes the edge off games like last night. Well done Albania, now we sit around for a few days waiting to see if you have another game or not!

Albania could play as early as 5pm on Saturday, and not find out until 10pm on Wednesday that they have actually made it into this game. Crazy.

This is the problem with 24 team tournaments. 16 and 32 team tournaments work so much better.

Also it's a bit unfair that 2 of the 6 runners up play group winners, while the other 4 just play each other. 2 of the group winners have to play runners up, while the other 4 get to play third place teams.

It's all very messy, but it was done in 1986, 1990 and 1994, so we should be familiar with it.

ShooterSF

Ol' Donie wrote: »

No way! It takes the edge off games like last night. Well done Albania, now we sit around for a few days waiting to see if you have another game or not!

As opposed to enjoy your game against Romania even though you can't get anywhere even if you win

Chivito550

ShooterSF wrote: »

As opposed to enjoy your game against Romania even though you can't get anywhere even if you win

I think the final round of matches are less exciting when 3 teams from the group can go through. Seems like results are more relevant regarding teams in other groups than they are for qualification in their own group. I love the drama of 4 teams playing for 2 places in the final round.

Prufrock

thebaz wrote: »

really hope slovakia don't qualify - thers Parking a bus , but at least play a little football - absolute dire to watch.

Ah here that's a bit harsh. They're doing the best they can with the players available. If they tried to open up and play a bit England would have won by 2 or 3. It's working for them I mean they best Spain during qualifications and Germany 3-1 in a friendly just before the euros. With a bit of luck they could take another big scalp before they are done.

Ol' Donie

ShooterSF wrote: »

As opposed to enjoy your game against Romania even though you can't get anywhere even if you win

Yeah, fair enough, but it is still flawed.

Ol' Donie

thebaz wrote: »

really hope slovakia don't qualify - thers Parking a bus , but at least play a little football - absolute dire to watch.

If we qualified by parking the bus, I'd be delighted.

It's a perfectly good system, unless you have all the money in the world to buy whatever players you want, in which case it defeats the puropse of sporting contest.

citytillidie

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I love this third place thing! Uefa deserve a few plaudits! Makes every game so vital!

It's nothing new was used in Mexico 86, Italy 90 and USA 94. Even used last summer in the woman's World Cup

delaad

"Oh the Grand Old Duke of Hodgson,
He had eleven men.
He waved them up to the 20 yard line,
And he waved them back again.

And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were back, they were back.
And when they were only half way up,
They were neither up nor back!

Ohhhhhhhh, the Graaaaaand Old.........."

Canadel

Knex. wrote: »

Not a single wide player then, though? Can't see how that would work. Everyone would want to be in the same part of the pitch.

Bertrand and Clyne can cover the wings. I'd love to see them try Rooney, Wilshire and Dyer together and see if an England team could dominate an international tournament from midfield. In fact, drop Rooney, call Scholes back, and they'd manage it!

~Rebel~ wrote: »

No Lallana in their best team? He's been amongst their best performers this tournament thus far imo. In that midfield role i'd have Lallana over Rooney every day of the week to be honest.

If it's a case of one off a lone striker, then i'd go for Rooney, but as long as there's 2 up, Rooney's best assets are all negated.

Certainly wouldn't have Wilshire ahead of either of them though.

Sorry, but as much as I admire Adam Lallana since his S'Hampton days, he is not good enough to be the focal point between midfield and attack in an international competition. Delle Alli should be ahea dof him. And Rooney, like him or not, should obviously play ahead of him. People seem to judge Rooney nowadays on the odd bad performance he has rather than the consistent form he has shown this season and certainly most recently.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Williams, Allen, Ramsey are all proof that Wales aren't just a Bale team.

Predicted them to threaten this competition before the tournament (see Euro thread). They are certainly the one country out of the home nations that seemed to embody the Leicester spirit and style this season. Solid defence, spine, and a layer who could have proven himself the best in Europe once the tournament is over.

bucketybuck

I think people are being harsh on England, they were playing a side that didn't even pretend that they wanted to attack, just two buses parked in front of the goal all night and save all energy for pressing in front of their own box. Better teams than England struggle to break down well organised teams like that, that they failed to do so isn't really a massive shock.

They have qualified from their group and it doesn't seem to matter about finishing 1st or 2nd, the potential opponents are all much of a muchness anyway. I'd say its job done as far as they are concerned, they are unlikely to meet another team with as little ambition again so the team should just move on and forget this match, certainly don't waste energy worrying about it.

thebaz

Ol' Donie wrote: »

If we qualified by parking the bus, I'd be delighted.

It's a perfectly good system, unless you have all the money in the world to buy whatever players you want, in which case it defeats the puropse of sporting contest.

its a style thing , not a money thing - plenty of teams with little money play good positive football - the anti-football played by Slovakia is just horrific to watch for me , if you enjoy it fair eneogh - we have different tastes - good night.

ionadnapokot

Prufrock wrote: »

Ah here that's a bit harsh. They're doing the best they can with the players available. If they tried to open up and play a bit England would have won by 2 or 3. It's working for them I mean they best Spain during qualifications and Germany 3-1 in a friendly just before the euros. With a bit of luck they could take another big scalp before they are done.

They do look like a decent "team"
Hamsik is a proper midfielder. England could do with one!
They could again face Germany or Spain (or Croatia) in the next round

Green Fella

thebaz wrote: »

its a style thing , not a money thing - plenty of teams with little money play good positive football - the anti-football played by Slovakia is just horrific to watch for me , if you enjoy it fair eneogh - we have different tastes - good night.

Im not sure we can talk too much considering what we did vs Belgium. I imagine neutrals thought it was appalling

Never wrestle with pigs

Anyone see the Russia chick the camera man zoomed in on around the 50th min? One of the best looking girls iv ever seen.

AllGunsBlazing

Green Fella wrote: »

Im not sure we can talk too much considering what we did vs Belgium. I imagine neutrals thought it was appalling

If you were to compile a list of poor sides at this tournament we'd be near enough to the top. Thank goodness for Russia.

Green Fella

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

If you were to compile a list of poor sides at this tournament we'd be near enough to the top. Thank goodness for Russia.

Ireland
Sweden
Russia
Turkey
Romania

Take your pick really. Ukraine as well probably. Thats about our level .