Euro 2012 - Group Stages

[Starfish]

Why wasn't the England band allowed in btw?

Shameful decision.

They better be back for the Sweden game.

Or what?

[RFCSPACE]

We'll never win anything until we master the basic skill of ball retention.

Every other team are capable, why can't we? It really is quite simple.....

It drives me mad.

I have to agree with this, although we did have a bit of possession there were a lot of times were we made a tackle and passed it straight back to them. The French defence looked pretty poor and if we could have tested them more we could have won.

We also seem to be incapable, or under instructions not to, close down and tackle players on the edge of our box. We just stand off them, so it was no surprise that's where their goal came from. When we have the same position at the other end you get two defenders closing us down and generally winning the ball.

Defensively we're (almost) always closing down, but we don't challenge for the ball. We seem to win it from intercepting passes which is pretty easy given how compact the defense is. The goal was a lapse of concentration where no one was close enough to get in the way. Had someone been stood in front of him, he wouldn't have shot and would have passed it.

In terms of keeping possession, I thought the first half an hour was excellent. Comfortable on the ball in defensive and midfield areas passing as good as any other team, but going forward we're lacking. Personally I think we just lacked numbers and therefore options to keep possession higher up the pitch, as opposed to any lack of talent. It's tricky to pass through 8 or 9 players when there's only 3, sometimes 4 attacking.

If we play with a bit more attacking intent for the next 2 games, I believe we can go through. However, I fear we'll end up with 3 draws...

[Bandini]

I'm a big fan of LoyalRoyalFan's parody posts (which is all of them, as far as I can tell).

[Silver Fox]

I read on popbitch last week that Bernie Clifton plays trombone in the England band, which makes them even pcuntier than before and only further justifies the Ukranian stance

[pea]

I'm a big fan of LoyalRoyalFan's parody posts (which is all of them, as far as I can tell).

[Ark Royal]

Hard to blame Gerrard for the goal. Think we were caught defensively by the lay-back by Ribery when he could easily have turned. That gave Nasri the time to bury it before Gerrard could block. Talking of Ribery, he may have the face of the orc leader, but his work rate was phenomenal.

As for Ukraine v Sweden, it was great seeing Shev roll back the years. The movement for both of the goals was superb and he literally ran rings around Ibrahimovic for the second.

So far, an absolutely cracking tournament.

[Uke]

As I said earlier

Shevchenko - pure poetry!

A figure to restore the Ukrainian national pride even If he's a little pretentious at times

Shame no one got the reference - fucking filistines the lot of you!

[Extended-Phenotype]

I thought Shevchenko’s first goal was Emeka, a biography by Frederick Forsyth about his friend Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, head of the state of Biafra.

His secord was more Multi Access Video Disk Recorder (MAV), a video recorder based on a hard disk and used in television studios.

But still good.

[HoneyRoastHoax]

[TBM]

[pea]

Really excited about this evenings game - moreso than yesterdays

[Royal With Cheese]

Is that Spacey's entourage?

[Wax Jacket]

LOL, as if

[No Fixed Abode]

3,2,1

[Simon's Church]

Fights between the Poles and Russians already.

[TBM]

How does the TV scheduling work? - it seems that ITV are getting most of the games

[pea]

Really excited about this evenings game - moreso than yesterdays

Why?

As I'm more Welsh than I am English I don't tend to support England a great deal and find them pretty boring. Got Russia in the sweepstakes at work so I'm more interested in how they do to be honest, plus its got a bit of rivalry between the two strongest teams in the tightest group and some really talented players in their squads. Plus they're both rubbish enough at the back to see a few goals!

[pea]

How does the TV scheduling work? - it seems that ITV are getting most of the games

BBC have got the final and both semi-finals so have a worst pick in the first round

[Pepe the Horseman]

Gr8 start for the Czechs

[Pepe the Horseman]

2-0!