Yeah, a 3-0 would have been more deserved accounting the dominance Spain had and chances they created. I can’t remember any really dangerous shot on the Spanish goal.
Spain were a joy to watch, and Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal are so good for their age! Italy were so weak it made me wonder what was wrong with them. They only played in the last 10 minutes like a team, and still that was not threatening.
Not that I am complaining! Few teams are more of a treat to beat than the Italians. It just feels strange when it looks so easy, the numerous missed chances nonwithstanding. Usually, when you miss so many chances you are punished in the end with a lucky punch. Sometimes, though, the other team does you the favour of scoring an own goal. Thanks! I appretiate that!
The Italians are not out, though. A draw or a win against the Croats and they are through to the last 16, and even a loss could be enough to scrap through. Maybe we will meet them again.
But who cares tonight? We are through.
So…any other games happening tonight? 
In about an hour and a half the World Cup without France, Germany, Italy, England and Spain starts!
Agreed that Italy were terrible/toothless. They were also, predictably, terrible divers.
That’s a bit disengenerous to Croatia and Morrocco who were in the semi fanals of the last World Cup and Portugal and Netherlands who along with Croatia are ranked in the top 10.
The Copa America has only two teams ranked in the top 10 in the world and only 7 of the 16 participents are in the top 30.
It was totally disingenuous, I was joking.
Oh, yes, that too! And they got away with it more often than not despite being so bad at it, damn the stupid referee! Of course, they have been practising for years! Cite. Cite 2.
I thought Italy’s counterattacks looked good, their defense was awesome.
I’ve not seen many teams that would scare this squadra. They even looked convincing when they decided to put pressure on Spain
Spain was also very strong defensively. They still don’t have a plan what to do when they have the ball: Tiki Taka without Iniesta is just waiting for a counter attack.
Luck decided this match. I feel if you could replay this match 10 times, the Italians would win 6/10.
That’s certainly a non-conventional reading of the game.
I think after yesterday we can count out England as among the favourites. They would be utterly destroyed by Spain or Portugal. though they have a habit of turning up against the bigger teams (but losing heroically).
There’s part of me that just wants England to drop Kane and play Bellingham in the false 9 where he’s been playing for Real Madrid all season. That way Foden can play at 10, and England can actually play with a proper left hand side and get some width. The whole midfield could be pressing like they can all do with their club side. Hard to drop a guy with 63 international goals though.
There is always a time when a player is getting old and no longer good enough to perform at a high enough level but Kane scored more than a goal a game for Bayern this season, not sure he is the man to drop.
Experimenting at a major tournament is a bad idea sticking Trent in the middle of midfield hasn’t worked and I do not this playing Bellingham as a false 9 will do any better. Not sure what the answer is other than give up on the Trent experiment.
I was surprised England were the bookies favourites going into this tournament I would have put them behind at least France, and Germany and probably Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Having said that their is a lot of luck involved. Once you get to the knockout stages there wil be very few matches where one team has more than a 70% chance to win. Greece won in 2004 but had far from the best team.
Well I am a Spurs fan so maybe some will see bias in this post. But here goes…
Blaming Kane for England’s rigidity is the most ridiculous overreaction of this tournament so far by the pundits. This is a player who is the greatest goal scorer England has ever had and the best they have had in tournaments too. I’ve been reading the BBC website and on the sidebar is an advertisement for a Rooney nostalgia programme from Euro 2004. His one and only good tournament for England when he was a teenager that ended in a QF exit. I don’t think they appreciate how good Kane is and I always believed that in part because he spent most of his career at Spurs and in part because he wasn’t a typical boy wonder the media predicted for greatness unlike Rooney. He was already 21 when he finally really had a breakout season at Spurs.
Obviously Kane is not performing to his best level. Not close to it because we know that at his best he is a goalscoring dynamo who is an elite passer too. His crossfield passes from dropping deep to the wingers are world class and we’ve seen when he has a quick partner like Son at Spurs how you can have him play him more of a number 10 playing balls in behind defences for Son to run in on. England doesn’t have a player like Son in the team because he is not just a speed merchant but also a world class finisher and excellent shooting from long range. In this squad Anthony Gordon is the closest though in terms of being an electric runner off the ball and I would say given Foden’s awkwardness on the left wing Gordon deserves a chance in the next game. I think once you have that Kane can be taken to a closer level we all expect now he would have someone on the side of him who is going to run in behind off the ball rather than moving into the middle seeking the ball as Foden does. I also think the experiment with Alexander Arnold in midfield needs to end and an actual central midfielder who has the awareness of space around him needs selecting. That will shore up the team off the ball but also allow Kane to do his thing being the playmaking number 10. Alexander Arnold is brilliant at long passes and crossing but he is functionally a right back who can move into midfield spaces when his team dominates the ball. That’s a whole lot less demanding than being positioned to do all the duties of a midfielder which off the ball means you’re going to have to do a lot of positional play and tracking runners.
The problem is clearly structural and not the fault of any of the players. Kane is absolutely world class but do they build the attack around him, Bellingham or Foden? I think they need to choose and that could mean one of those players not always starting. Or they need to keep with the plan, avoid panic, and work through the issues.
But what do I know? Opinions are like arseholes - everybody has one.
I think it’s funny that Kane also scored a nice poacher goal.
I’d be curious about a 4-1-4-1, but I have no idea about England’s prep.
Re: England being the bookie favorites, that’s likely due to England fans being willing to bet more, not that the bookies think they’re the best. They are stacked though.
I think the conundrum of Bellingham and Foden creates a headache for the manager. How do you fit them both in the team and not leave the rest of the team unbalanced?
Foden in a 10 only happened this season because De Bruyne was injured and he became POTY in the Premier League as a result. Bellingham also is at his best right now with the freedom given to roam in that space too and had an amazing season with Real Madrid.
The only option in my mind is take Saka out and put Foden on the right wing as he does for Man City when De Bruyne is fit. But Saka is a great player in his own right and is one of England’s most reliable players.
I don’t think Foden as LW can carry on so either he has to be benched or Bellingham if he really is the heir to Zidane as he gets proclaimed to be (largely because he wears No.5 for Real Madrid) has to play as a deeper CM.
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(Duplicated post)
It’s a shame we don’t have more quality centre backs because if we did, I would suggest moving Stones into the defensive midfielder position and replace him with AN Other centre back, which would free up Rice to drive forward more, like he does for Arsenal. Then drop Trent AA, drop Foden (who will be more use coming off the bench to replace a knackered Bellingham), bring on Gordon on the left. And that still leaves Palmer, who unbelievably Southgate has not even brought off the bench yet, to come on with Foden, maybe if Gordon or Rice is tired.
Shades of Dennis bergkamp in Ukraine
This group is getting fun. Real possibility Belgium have to sneak through in 3rd.