Euro 2016

An absolute embarrassment. Joe Hart at fault for 3 of the 4 goals we conceded in the tournament, I'd be happy to never see him play for England again. Never done anything in and England shirt apart from act the big man screaming and shouting in the tunnel.

He's only got this far, much like Sterling, because they're at City and there Hart gets away with it because they have a better defence to put infront of him than we do.

Worst England performance ever. Man for man Iceland were far better. Can't remember such a terrible array of passing, shooting and crossing by a so called major football nation. To think we were fourth favourite for the trophy before it started. As the commentator said last night since 1990 we have beaten two teams inside 90 minutes in the knockout stages of a tournament. Yet still we have the arrogance to think we can actually go far. We are miles behind Germany Italy and France. Hodgson should have got the bullet after the world cup. He is up there with Mclaren and Taylor as the worst we've had. Gary Neville will surely not get a managers job anytime soon. Where do we go now? The foreign route? Somebody needs to get this overpaid bunch of prima Donnas to play like a team, to play with the sort of pride that Wales and Ireland showed.

You cant really fault effort and lack of pride, the players have these. Unfortunately we turn up at a tournament and we don't know our best team, our best formation or our best system although Roy has had 2 years to work it out.

Everyone knew how Iceland would play - did we need a defensive midfield player like Dier in there?
Lalana has possibly been our best player in the group matches - was he injured? If not was Stirling given a game to boost his confidence? Why - we need to win the game if his confidence is gone so what, the team is more important than one man.

Did Roy fall into the usual trap of picking 11 individuals rather than pick players to suit the team and the system. Why wait till the last 5 minutes to try Rashford. What we were doing wasn't working, give the kid at least 15 minutes.

As Lee Dixon said, when Arsenal were struggling they would look to Adams to lift them. Who can this England team look to? Rooney maybe who is playing out of position but having decided he isn't our best option up front is still in the team for some reason.

Rusty Shackleford said:

I see that our old pal Slipperduke has described the Icelanders as 'magnificent' on Twitter. I disagree, I thought they were **** poor. If we had lost to a magnificent performance, then maybe I wouldn't be so angry. England were ****ing terrible but still should have won on the balance of play. Iceland were gash, but they didn't need to be any better than that.

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They were poor as an attacking team but were very well organised defensively, which is all they needed to be to cause us problems.

Stream of consciousness/word vomit from me, but:

I have to say, whilst I’m not travelling overseas every season beating the English drum and dressing as St George, I do have a lot of time for the international team. I’ve felt a lot of emotions watching England over the years, but never inexorable anger. That changed last night.

I don’t even think it’s about the result. The European Championships is a significantly more difficult tournament to win than the World Cup and Europe is a far more level playing field than it once was.

Without wanting to dwell too much on the actual result, if Iceland had beaten us and we’d thrown everything at them for 75 minutes I genuinely think I could’ve – begrudgingly – lived with that. It’s not even the limpness of the defeat. Again, there is absolutely no question that we should be putting nations like Iceland away given our resources, but there are results like this at every tournament. Senegal beating France in 2002 springs to mind in particular.

What particularly irked me last night is how abundantly apparent it became that England had no plan whatsoever were Iceland to go ahead. As soon as the equaliser went in, we were completely rattled. When Iceland’s second squeezed past Chocolate Wrists in net, we went to pot. The first touches were wayward, passes woefully overhit, concentration all over the place.

They had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to be doing.

It wasn’t remotely beyond the realms of possibility that England were to go behind at some stage last night. Iceland have persistently troubled teams, both in qualifying and at the tournament. They’re well drilled and have a strong aerial threat, two problems we’ve routinely struggled to deal with. That’s not to say that Iceland were particularly good. They’re not a good footballing side, but they make up for it. They executed a gameplan to perfection and England fell right into it.

That aside, England should absolutely be too good for that.

Hodgson and the coaching staff should absolutely be too good for that.

But they weren’t. There’s talk that the coaching and scouting staff sent to watch the Austria Iceland game celebrated the winner as if it was an England goal. Perhaps that kind of lackadaisical, arrogant attitude seeped into the preparations. Perhaps there was a plan and it’s the squad that never took Iceland seriously enough.

One thing’s for sure; that’s the worst I’ve seen an England side play. South Africa was bad, Brazil perhaps worse, but that was a true nadir. A special, one-off performance to truly cherish in the months and years that follow. What’s particularly disappointing is that a number of that squad could have really done without that. The likes of Dier, Alli, Kane and Rashford now all face being permanently scarred by the manner of that defeat.

You simply can’t absolve them of blame though. Every player on the pitch was staggeringly abject last night. Hodgson too was guilty of a complete abdication of duty. Rashford was stripped and ready to come on with 20 minutes to go, but had just five minutes. In those five minutes he at least gave it a go and, had he had more time, he might not have spared Roy the sack but he might have spared England its blushes. Hodgson’s refusal to accept questions was a coward’s trick.

It’s difficult to see where the FA takes the national team from here as well. As much as the young players will be tainted by last night, so too will Gary Neville. Southgate is absolutely not ready for the job, no matter what absolute myths Henry Winter tries to peddle. The bookies shortlist is so thin on the ground that Pardew’s third favourite.

Bilic for me. A proven international manager who instilled an identity into both Croatia and West Ham. It’s what we’ve been missing.

Absolutely ashamed to be an England fan after that performance. Roy has to take a large part of the blame. Tactically inept, allowing Kane to take set pieces, every corner was taken exactly the same, playing Sterling, putting Rooney into CM just so he can squeeze him into the starting 11.

First half against Russia was excellent. Our wing backs were bombing on and we were creating chances. Roy obviously didn't think this was a good idea and decided we were going to pass our way to goal, forgetting that our central players lack any sort of creativity.

Why not bring Rashford on with 15-20 minutes left. We were creating nothing so what was Roy expecting to happen?

Joe Hart should not be out first choice keeper for the world cup qualifiers. Give Forster a chance. Rooney needs to do the right thing and retire from international football.

I would be looking no further than Jurgen Klinsmann as our next manager. Did/doing an excellent job with a very ordinary USA side (not sure if he's still their manager).

How on earth did Kane stay on the set pieces all game? Surely the manager does something about that. One free kick nearly hit the corner flag!

Shrimpersfan said:

Absolutely ashamed to be an England fan after that performance. Roy has to take a large part of the blame. Tactically inept, allowing Kane to take set pieces, every corner was taken exactly the same, playing Sterling, putting Rooney into CM just so he can squeeze him into the starting 11.

First half against Russia was excellent. Our wing backs were bombing on and we were creating chances. Roy obviously didn't think this was a good idea and decided we were going to pass our way to goal, forgetting that our central players lack any sort of creativity.

Why not bring Rashford on with 15-20 minutes left. We were creating nothing so what was Roy expecting to happen?

Joe Hart should not be out first choice keeper for the world cup qualifiers. Give Forster a chance. Rooney needs to do the right thing and retire from international football.

I would be looking no further than Jurgen Klinsmann as our next manager. Did/doing an excellent job with a very ordinary USA side (not sure if he's still their manager).

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Dont think that was a change he made, just think Iceland saw the danger and defended it. Walker was forward constantly but I dont remember him getting a cross in all night.

...and a German in charge? No thanks :smile:

Clinton Baptiste said:

How on earth did Kane stay on the set pieces all game? Surely the manager does something about that. One free kick nearly hit the corner flag!

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You just knew every time he took one he was going to mess it up, why wasnt that addressed?

As the BBC pundits said, why was Rooney told to mark who he did for the throw in when he was the main threat, then in the second half after being so easily beaten was he still marking the same player.

Honestly, what an embarrassment. Big changes are needed to improve this England side and it's certainly not U21's in lower leagues Greg Dyke you incompetent p****. Abolish the league cup and bring in a winter break.

EastStandBlue said:

Bilic for me. A proven international manager who instilled an identity into both Croatia and West Ham. It’s what we’ve been missing.

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Would be my choice aswell. I'm still in shock this morning.

Bilic, or someone of that type would be fantastic. We need an inspiring tactician, and Hodgson was found woefully lacking in both regards. Some of the players need to hold their hands up and take a lot of responsibility (especially the 'experienced pros' in Hart and Rooney).

Pubey said:

Bilic, or someone of that type would be fantastic. We need an inspiring tactician, and Hodgson was found woefully lacking in both regards. Some of the players need to hold their hands up and take a lot of responsibility (especially the 'experienced pros' in Hart and Rooney).

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Indeed, its a two way thing.

Hodgson has been about as inspiring as I thought he would from the start, but its not down to him to ensure Hart cant save a soft shot or Rooney cant manage to pass the ball 10 yards. Not fair to blame those two alone, they were all very poor individually.

Jam_Man said:

Indeed, its a two way thing.

Hodgson has been about as inspiring as I thought he would from the start, but its not down to him to ensure Hart cant save a soft shot or Rooney cant manage to pass the ball 10 yards. Not fair to blame those two alone, they were all very poor individually.

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I think it's fair to blame Hart and Rooney above other players for last night's performance, due to their experience, their status on the world stage as individual players, and because Rooney is captain and Hart is a vocal leader in the team. Hart was very poor all tournament and we should be looking at alternatives to take the jersey going forward.

That's not to say that Kane, Sturridge, Wilshere etc also need to take a really good look at how they prepared and performed last night. I worry that the next generation of young talent (Kane, Alli, Rashford etc) will be scarred from this. Rashford should have had more minutes last night. Vardy is woefully ineffective against a defensive setup, Sturridge's decision-making is terrible, Wilshere was shown up against Slovakia and so why he was our first substitute is just insane.

Fit players who were in form (Drinkwater, Noble) should have been taken over half-fit and out of form alternatives, mainly because in and around the squad their energy and attitude would have been a lift.

The whole thing just stinks from top to bottom. We'll have yet another navel-gazing exercise and will end up with Mr FA Southgate (who I actually think it's doing good things in the right way, but it's too early for him).

If we want better players and coaches then we need to invest in facilities and coaching up and down the country. Iceland have a coach per 600 people, in England it's per 11,000. They also have a 3G pitch in every small town and every club has to allow community use of facilities. That's how to develop the game, through community and shared work, not through elitism and the PL's own motives. (thanks to AAS for the coaching stats on twitter).

The most highly paid manager in the tournament was tactically defeated by a part time ****ing dentist.

Pubey said:

The most highly paid manager in the tournament was tactically defeated by a part time ****ing dentist.

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Not quite. Lars Lagerback was the architect of our downfall. As manager of Sweden, he was great - and has never lost to England!

ps part-time only because he's focussed on the football.

Rusty Shackleford said:

I believe I owe the zone £10 as a result of this debacle. Can my pal Barnaby please confirm.

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Yup.I'm afraid you do,Rusty.

southendkid said:

I'd keep Kane, he's always been a poacher in the box and he's very good at it. The problem is England don't play any good balls in for him to feed off so he's left playing a striker role he isn't good at, we need a proper winger but the best we have is Sterling.

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Roy chose to leave a goal-scoring winger in form out of the final 23, sadly. I felt that Andros Townsend would have been a great 'impact sub' to have come on but unfortunately I wasn't consulted before he made another unfortunate choice.

Pubey said:

I think it's fair to blame Hart and Rooney above other players for last night's performance, due to their experience, their status on the world stage as individual players, and because Rooney is captain and Hart is a vocal leader in the team. Hart was very poor all tournament and we should be looking at alternatives to take the jersey going forward.

That's not to say that Kane, Sturridge, Wilshere etc also need to take a really good look at how they prepared and performed last night. I worry that the next generation of young talent (Kane, Alli, Rashford etc) will be scarred from this. Rashford should have had more minutes last night. Vardy is woefully ineffective against a defensive setup, Sturridge's decision-making is terrible, Wilshere was shown up against Slovakia and so why he was our first substitute is just insane.

Fit players who were in form (Drinkwater, Noble) should have been taken over half-fit and out of form alternatives, mainly because in and around the squad their energy and attitude would have been a lift.

The whole thing just stinks from top to bottom. We'll have yet another navel-gazing exercise and will end up with Mr FA Southgate (who I actually think it's doing good things in the right way, but it's too early for him).

If we want better players and coaches then we need to invest in facilities and coaching up and down the country. Iceland have a coach per 600 people, in England it's per 11,000. They also have a 3G pitch in every small town and every club has to allow community use of facilities. That's how to develop the game, through community and shared work, not through elitism and the PL's own motives. (thanks to AAS for the coaching stats on twitter).

The most highly paid manager in the tournament was tactically defeated by a part time ****ing dentist.

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Agree with all you say but trying to use Iceland as a comparison doesnt really work. They may have what you say but their players are not individually better than ours so they arent producing better players. What they were was very well organised as a team. Us providing better facilities isnt what will counter that.

As long as they dont try to use this to push B teams again, which Im pretty sure they will. (which again doesnt address the reasons we lost last night)

Check out Bonnie Tyler's 'Euro 2016 Goalkeeping Blunders' DVD: it's just totally clips of Joe Hart > [video=youtube;lcOxhH8N3Bo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo[/video]

Someone summed last night up perfectly when he said 'It was that bad that the English fans couldn't even be bothered to have a fight after'