Euro 2016

[redandwhitemike]

England are in total control and yet it's 0-0

Rooney is having a hell of a game in midfield - but it's just not working up front - Lallana for all his tricks isn't switched on enough and the game is crying out for Vardy's quality in the box.

And what on earth is this nonsense with regards to Kane taking the corners,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

H T and Hodgson has to change it.

[redandwhitemike]

Gutted for England that we couldn't beat Russia, but we all knew the defence was suspect.

Still can't get my head round the fact that Vardy played no part in the game.

I thought for once Kane had a poor game and our threat in the box was non existent in the second half.

Team selection still worries me and some of the players didn't quite come up to expectations - for all his pace there was no end product from Sterling and Lallana became anonymous after half time.

With a few tweaks I would expect to beat Wales, but the same starting eleven will struggle to score.

The way England played tonight I think Andy Carroll would have had a field day , but Kane was never going to win the aerial battle.

The other aspect which leaves an ugly taste is the violence before and after the game.

[harry211]

Great performance in the first half from England, and for parts of the second too, but the inability to finish (how did Rooney and Lallana not score second half??) really bit us. Sterling got in the right positions but no end product, he's fast becoming another Shaun Wright-Phillips type, wonder if Roy was regretting not taking Townsend after all!

Agree Mike, Kane was poor. Would have liked to have seen Vardy but I suspect with Milner and Wilshere coming on he was hoping to shut up shop. Whoever was supposed to be marking Ignashevic needs to have some rigerous coaching tomorrow!

Walker MOTM for me. Still plenty of time to go, can qualify. Remember what happened in Euro 96, opened with a 1-1 draw then too?

[redandwhitemike]

Having had a little more time to reflect, I have come to the conclusion that the balance in the squad overall is wrong.

There needs to be a Plan 'B' that does not include Kane or Vardy and gives an option for Rooney to play up top, and it seems to me that Hodgson can't/won't go that way.

Based on how England played against Russia I would definitely have played Andy Carroll second half alongside Sturridge or Rooney.

But off course that's not possible because Carroll is sunning himself somewhere nice.

[Phil]

Two to forecast today.

Poland v N Ireland and Germany v Ukraine later this evening. So?

[Jackygold55]

Croatia looked a very decent outfit earlier, but only beat Turkey by the one goal. They're certainly a danger going into the later stages (and if we get through) we'll need to avoid them.

Northern Ireland offered absolutley 0 threat so far, but they did this throughout their qualifying campaign and managed to qualify, perhaps its a plan? Or perhaps they're just not good enough for this standard of football, the more the game goes on at 0-0 though i fancy NIR to snatch the draw or possibly even a cheeky 1-0 win.

Germany my banker for today. Ukraine not the side they were a few years ago when we used to play them every tournament.

[Joe Stalin]

A pedant queries: by "playing Ukraine 'at every tournament,'" do you mean if very tournament was the 2012 Euros? (The only time England have played Ukraine at a tournament finals).

Sorry!

[Phil]

2nd half Germany was like watching CG's dream next season. I drifted off with boredom.

[Jackygold55]

A pedant queries: by "playing Ukraine 'at every tournament,'" do you mean if very tournament was the 2012 Euros? (The only time England have played Ukraine at a tournament finals).

Sorry!

I may be thinking of Sweden too then. My mistake!

[garthrockett]

Had a telephone conversation yesterday with a mate who was over in Marseille for the Russia game, and now is on his way to St Etienne for the final game (he's not got a Wales ticket)

Worrying perspective on what went on:
His group were thankfully several miles inland prior to the match but match day noticed groups of Russian fans wearing England shirts (i.e. none of them spoke English), and it was obvious ticket allocation was a shambles as both Russian and English fans were in each others segregated areas before the match.
Numerous reports from other fans of several 'gangs' ( mostly French) calmly cruising looking for trouble (carrying coshes, gumshields, bricks, even knives etc. all in clear site of all, including some police)
The French police seemed to rely on water cannon and tear gas and were indiscriminate who they used it on- innocent and guilty. No one seems to be stopped, searched, arrested etc, and seem to be reliant on crowd dispersion rather than arrests.

It might get a bit more ugly.

[Jackygold55]

I was thinking to myself earlier, how have france managed to get a major championship three times since England have last hosted one. I'm not saying there wouldn't be hooliganism in England, there would be. But our policing seems so much more efficient and effective than the likes of foreign police.

For me, things will only get worse this tournament as the stakes get higher. What i'm hoping is that most of the hooligans (russians, ukraines, germans and polish mostly) get sent home (knocked out) and we can enjoy some football instead of reporting on disorder.

I also find it shocking how England have had 8 arrests, the french have had 3 and the russians 0. This shows how inept the policing has been out there.

I am seriously worried for any fan, for all the home nation teams and hope they all get home safetly. I know a few Harriers fans are out there at the moment, i hope they all stick together in numbers where they cannot be hurt.

If it were me, i'd call off the euros, but obviously there is so much money and training that has went into this and that cannot happen. But in this day and age with modern surveillance, im aghast at how all these russians will go home without even a ticking off. Disgraceful. I hope France dont get to host a major tournament again.

[Jackygold55]

Back to the football anyway, the best team so far for me has been Germany, looked very strong.

Will be interesting to see how Belgium play tonight, they're my fancy to make the finals.

Also got the ROI playing Sweden today, which should be an absolute cracker and if ROI win they'll have a great chance of knocking Italy or Belgium out. Same for Sweden if they win.

Very interesting day of football ahead, probably the best day so far!

[redandwhitemike]

Can we please have Martin O'Neil as our next England manager ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

ASAP !!

[Jackygold55]

Can we please have Martin O'Neil as our next England manager ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

ASAP !!

Cant see ROI beating Italy or Belgium, so for me this is the fight for third place.

[Harry Err]

In my 20+ years of following England abroad I can safely say that Saturday in Marseille was the worst I've seen.

I'm afraid that England's probably deserved reputation in the past is still stuck with them and as a result trouble is attracted.

Yes there was some anti-social behaviour but absolutely nothing on the same scale as what was offered up by the Russians and to a lesser degree the locals.

I was also at NI v Pol yesterday and the contrast was incredible. It was a real eye opener to show just how badly England fans are treated by police,locals and rival fans on many occasions. I suppose over time you just get used to it but I do wonder how long until things change. England's support of 15/20 years ago when the reputation was gained bears very little resemble to the make up of today's following.

Anyway not to worry I'll be enjoying the next few weeks over here. Next stop Spain v Turkey before the England game in St Etienne. I really couldn't face the 9 hours each way on the train to Lens for the Wales game!