Foden was City's best player this year. Saka on Arsenal right there. Palmer for Chelsea. The other 3 sure. Bellingham was Real's best player winning Champs league. It's not a great argument.
OT: EURO 2024 Thread
- Thread starter Zak57
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Chelsea lmao. I'm talking about good teams in England. Rodri was the best player on City for me. If I'm drafting city players Foden is middle rounds at best. Arsenal is the best argument with Saka and Rice but I'd take Odegaard over either. Obviously England hasn't produced a talent like Salah in forever if ever.
I get that but what they have is still way more than what you have on the Slovenias, Slovakias, etc of Europe.
I’ve never thought Southgate was that great a manager too even in their run in the last Euro but again that’s just my layperson opinion.
Southgate has to be gone immediately. All the talent without a plan is useless.
Laughing at Chelsea but they finish top 6 and was top 3 in points since Boxing Day. Odegaard kind of stunk for a big part of the middle of the year. You mentioned Rice. Kane puts up monster numbers but he's a bit of a choker but still dominates Prem and then Bundesliga. The talent is there.
Weak arguments. Hair-splitting over whether England's players are the very top vs. slightly below that at almost every position is irrelevant vs. the argument about whether their players are much more talented than almost everyone on Slovakia. That's why if England had lost it would've been labelled a major choke job. But Bellingham may have just saved England, which may make all of this somewhat moot.
Yes. Don't remember his big penalty miss in the WC? I think you're a spurs fan if I remember correctly so I know you won't see it that way.
Yeah I think we are arguing but I think we actually agree. If the point is England has enough talent to do better, I'm 100% in agreement. My point was basically responding to the "they have the best league in the world - so they should be great" point which they definitely do, but it's the best in the world because it has fantastic foreign players.
I never made that point. My point was in response to a poster thinking they should do better because their league is the best. Scroll up and read.
Messi has won oodles of trophies. Kane zilch. He's a great player but in big moments I'd take others that's all.
I think England should pull it out now. I feel like Slovakia wasn’t really trying to do anything all second half and it’s hard to turn that switch on after.
Totally fine. Like I said I didn't expect you to agree and you can certainly make plenty of arguments making me look wrong as well. It's what makes this stuff fun!!
I agree. Too many goals disallowed by players’ hands and feet offsides by inches but otherwise bodies even with the defenders.
Back in the 1990s, I refereed soccer and took classes on the offsides rule to be qualified. Then, “even was off.” Eventually, so many teams focused on defensive tactics such as offsides traps, attacking players lost initiative and the style of playing put fans to sleep.
The 1990 World Cup was a disaster of boring play and few goals. Only one team, West Germany scored more than 2 goals per game on average. Most teams averaged one or less.
FIFA reacted smartly. The offsides rule was changed, so "even was on." Goalkeepers were banned from handling passes from their teammates, eliminating the time delaying and attack killing passes from midfielders backwards to goalkeepers. Wins counted for 3 points, from 2. Referees were allowed to wear colors other than black. It worked, every World Cup since 1990 has featured more goals and fewer shootouts.
Perhaps the time has arrived to revise the offside rule again. I like the idea of the entire body in offside position.
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Terrible own goal by Spain. Georgia doing to Spain a bit of what Slovakia did to England for awhile, although Spain has been completely dominating, whereas England wasn't really. Fascinating stuff.
Yamal was the most dangerous player on the pitch... and he's only 16. Kid has a real bright future if he keeps his head on straight and stays healthy.
I get that and I know that the rankings are issued only four times a year, but I can’t imagine their “form” placed them behind some of these teams coming into the tournament. Like I said, I would need to do more of a deep dive into their pre-Euro results.