I don’t know if we’re sure about his participation in Euro yet. Maybe he can wear a mask. His loss would be huge for a very talented Belgian squad, which, like most small nations, has a paucity of depth.
I liked the Belgies for a possible semi-final berth but I think Portugal and England will give the French their strongest competition.
On strength of roster, it’s France by a long shot, then probably England or Portugal. I never really think of England as a potential winner of tournaments though.
Really hope KDB is in though. My favorite midfielder to watch at the moment.
I wonder if there’s any internal grumbling about Pep. It’s been 10 years since he won the CL, and has been in charge of some of the most talented teams in that time. However, domestically they’re also the best team since, at least, the early 2000s Man U teams. Knock out tournaments are inherently higher variance, but eventually you wonder if he is a choker.
His decision making was being questioned right from his roster selection. City was going through 15 minute stretches without a shot on target, which is unheard of for them (except apparently against a Tuchel-led Chelsea).
I never regarded him as a great manager at Barca, since he had 3 of the best handful of players in the world. At Bayern, I’d say he “shot par”. My opinion of him grew a bit at Man City, since he was able to win with a relatively lower quality roster in a deeper league. I can’t imagine that he would be on the hot seat quite yet, this isn’t a PSG situation, where it’s Champions League or bust every year,
Turns out that England are the betting favorite. I don’t buy it, based on the goalkeeping options alone. I’ll likely invest in France +500 and Portugal +1000. I can see some potential magic between Bruno and Ronaldo. But would love to see France take it (for Benzema and Kante). I can’t remember if Kante didn’t play in the last Final due to injury, or manager’s decision.
Could just be that England fans are more confident/bet more than France fans. Odds don’t reflect the bookies’ predictions after all.
He won with Barca, a team with which it was basically impossible to lose.
Despite that, he lost twice in SF to Mourhinio and to Di Matteo, both using similar tactics.
Bayern, he never could get across the line
I like England’s chances more this year than in recent years mostly because I think Fodan and Mount are tremendous upgrades in central midfield, positions where the country was less than optimal in the past. Plus England will play something like 6-9 games at Wembley, I think I just read.
And I love Portugal’s attacking and midfield depth, even with Ronaldo a little past his sell-by date. Portugal’s problem is that their central defense is even older (hats off to former Saint Jose Fonte for winning the Ligue Oon title at the age of 37).
Before this thread closes or morphs into a Euro 2021 thread I would like to link to David Squires (as always) fantastic cartoon in the Guardian. He is a genius. Dedicated to the OP, in case he did not know him.