I’ve been overseas of late but congrats to Spain, the best team of the tournament won.

Well Deserved, it will be interesting to see where England will go next after Southgate has resigned.

Thanks for your reply robbos.
Im talking a moment in time not a career.
Let’s say Saka 24 prime example age looking at the previous players mentioned.
I beg to differ all I pointed out was at same positions as I quoted they would have been picked this euro and play, likely better.
Nothing else matters.

The obsession with England trying to get Club managers to go to the national team is senseless. I don't think many of the names listed could wait so long between fixtures. Arnold showed it's possible but I doubt Howe, Klopp and others could wait that long. 

Southgate officially announces he's stepping down.

The wife never going to Spain ever gain.
Spain was easily the better team.
LFC you are comparing a whole career against some players like Mainoo who is 19 years old, Bellingham who is 21 years old & Saka who is 24 years old.
All I know despite this talk that they didn't gel, because they didn't get on with each other, BTW, I don't buy it, the Golden Generation did NOTHING at International level, while the likes of Saka has made 2 Euros finals, so even at his age he is already better than Becks, Gerrard, Lamps at international level.

I know you are a big fan of Gerrard, yes great leader, able to ping 60-70 metres passes & had a great eye for goal, this is why Liverpool did best when they had players like Alonso & later Suarez both far more creative players than Gerrard..
Lamps was a great scorer of goals form midfield & Becks a great crosser, none of these 3 players were overly creative.
Bellingam is already at 21 years old the best player in the best club in the world (Real Madrid), not of the GG ever did that.

@lfc g
Yeah we overrate our players too. In both cases it means fans have trouble enjoying wins unless it is a once in a generation miracle. But that is no way to live. Co trast to the oz cricket team. If we win a last over thriller against a weaker team we still have a lot of fun and go "woah what a match" while still having the space to ask questions on how to improve

Hahaha that made me spit out my coffee... lol

Just got back from Spain. I heard an English mum and daughter get in a fight over which one was 12 and which one was 13 when they first slept with someone. 

good to see you finally made the time to drop in robbos :)
Hope your wife and fam have recovered and you showed alot of sympathy.

grazor, your right how the english supporter over rate their NT, now and in the past, its always been over hyped, so do we but thats another storey but even though Club comes first they are right behind their NT as well despite the typical negative comments yaddayaddayadda, we humans have short/long memories high expectations every single game Club or NT.
Its not easy to compare gens, we do this here as it would be world over.
robbos lets pick some you mention above for the heck and we all will have our own outlook obviously but here's mine comparing Southgate starting line up talking mid careers.
Beckham, probably out class's Rice/Mainoo (young) in vision/ball distribution/set piece taker, I never rated him a defensive mid but he did enough, like any creative player others around do the covering, Scholes, same applies today. By the way Scholesy would eat these guys if he was todays 25yrs old.
Gerrard, can't see him being out played by either and not selected - his gas tank was 90min and a dog on a bone, he would get selected.
Lampard, lets put him with Bellingham/Foden 10 roles, both are top young players but Lampard same age as them would he not be selected ? hard call, maybe bench but his game was just as effective breaking the backlines as these 2 do.
Terry, seriously you think he couldn't match Stones/Guehi ? I reckon he would.
Cole talking LB, Shaw/Trippier, yer I could see him be just as effective as those 2 without a doubt.
Owen, his movement would match Kane and some - showed Watkins gave them options, Owen same applies, Kane I'm afraid was blunt whole tournament.

Again hard to call but thats my hindsight, the main trouble of that gen back in the day never gelled as a team.
There was alot of hatred amongst players that ruined their NT times.
Sacrilidge but thats their cross to bare with all the ability that era had.

+++ johns, not a bad mention plucking some championship players BUT he had a bench from mid table Clubs who never got a run and some hardly used.
There's your hungry vigorous players chomping at the bit for a go.

There is a lot of criticism of England & rightly so, but look they are building, they have many creative players, they have made 2 Euros finals & a semi & quarters in the World cup.
What happened yesterday our time, they came up against a better Spain side & anyone who doubt the quality of this Spanish side doesn't know football, 7 games 7 wins in Euros, quality & England 2nd best team in the final did push them a little bit.

The English media hype was never stronger for the Golden Generation of Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Cole, & Owen, they did nothing in the Euros & nothing in the WC, a very overhyped generation. Give me this present English side any day, far superior skill wise & technical ability. 

Some of the ones I have met struggle with their "first" language...lol

Add in the fact that the starting XI had a grand total of 2 players in a foreign league (one season each at that). It has to be a factor that these guys just don't get out of their comfort zones.

I've lived in Europe for 10 years and I've hardly ever met a pom that speaks a second language. 

It is a weird dispute though, considering there's an agreement in place for the Women's teams to qualify for Olympic Games

I think it comes down to the disrespect international football gets... many English would rather see their local club get promoted from the conference league to League 2, than see England lift a world cup.

Look at the fact that England won the u21 euros, a stepping stone to forming a generation of world champions. The next step? the olympics. Oops looks like they didnt qualify due to some crazy dispute with Team GB. Winning an olympic medal could of been that next step to start producing winners. I think its a key part to developing a world cup winning squad.

I keep hearing these english players are individual stars that struggle to play together but i think the opposite is true despite epl media hyping up hard woeking pros with limited skill sets (with a couple of exceptions)

I've felt England's issue is trying to create an all star set up of 11 individuals. The best 'team' of English players would be a much better unit. Germany made such changes to good effect. Players from numerous EPL clubs but even a few Championship players would likely fill the void England have where there's a lack of vigour or will. These blokes are on the beach already.

Players can look better at clubs because of the players around them compensating for their deficiencies

English players are so professional and perfect with their limited skillset that it doesnt matter that all bar 2 need good body shape to be effective when they play for their clubs. You can put some south american and continental players next to them to compensate

But put them all in the same team and they will be clunky. Most of them just have a limited skill set but are perfect team mates so long as they have enoigh skillful players around them.

The run is likely coming to an end. A bit like Löw with Germany. Do England risk and go to the next WC with Southgate? Better the devil you now than the one you don't?

It's true he get results; however, a lot of the time it was last minute survival after putting themselves in those problems. Surely there can be a coach who'll get the best out of the skillset with roaring confidence on the pitch and the experience and professionalism will just be there anyway? England were better in 2022 with the pace. Sterling and Rashford were great then. Foden had an utterly woeful tournament. I'd be curious to see a more narrow Foden with Gordon and Palmer around also.

The parallels to Australia are evident that these players are better at the clubs (yes, I know their clubs have a ix of players from all around the world that may embellish them) yet we hardly see a hint of what they show every weekend in a national team shirt.

Im skeptical about those that blame southgate. He has better results than any other coach for england. I think like every english generation in memory fans just massively overrate their players. They lacked the skill of some of the better teams this tournament but made up for it with their professionalism and mental strength

Time for a beer and slight football break I'd say. What a tournament. Well done by Germany. Oh...Danish league starts this weekend not to mention EPL Fantasy dropping.

maybe they should offer Luis de la Fuente whatever it takes :)

I reckon any England player that deviates rom Southgate's blueprint gets benched. Lack of freedoms just like under Arnold. Hopefully now someone new can come in and those players can thrive. Foden with a garbage tournament. Southgate only benefited when he had to go off script and let the players do their thing. It's true the players need to react on the pitch but I think they've been drilled to stick to a plan. Notice how they slowed down the closer they got to the Spanish end? No urgency. Their kits were too white at full time.

England were awful for the first 20 mins. Southgate is just so predictable... its incredible.. he had Shaw back! Should of went back to 4 at the back and get another man in midfield and started Watkins... Spain knew what England were going to do. Spain controlled 80% of the game... well done to them.

yes kudos to them always been amazing watching what they can produce.
Cruyff ??? WTF has his DNA stuck in their blood more than his own country of birth one wonders, well it has but the results are chalk and cheese..
9yrs player at Ajax 245 games a return of 193goals FFS !
Just 5yrs at Barca 143 games return of 48.
Retires from playing coachs Ajax 3yrs, goes to Barca 8yrs creates a factory, and Ajax/Netherlands produce some amazing players but their Clubs/NT's don't figure greatly compared to Spanish Clubs/NT..
The football world since the Xavi/Messi/Pulyols etc reign since have coachs leading the charge ala Pep/Xavi won LLiga the other season and their NT now have up coming world beaters.

Here quoted by Rodri :
More from Player of the Tournament Rodri: "We have made history, beating four former world champions in the process. We got through the toughest draw and it speaks for the mentality of the team. This has been cultivated. Many of us were champions at Under-17, Under-19, Under-21 level ... De la Fuente knew what he was doing."

Muz, stats below - possession 63 to 37.
https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/match/2036211--spain-vs-england/statistics/

Your right mentioning Morata.
He has been a victim many times not delivering enough over his years, heaps of pressure to perform especially whilst the side had dropped its dominance so he was called out alot.
Even I used to think friggin blanks but he has resurrected himself during their rebuild, I agree he ran his socks off and played a brilliant front role whereas Kane was polar opposites.
Morata 31 Kane 30, past the prime but still years ahead but the contrast is for all to see.
Kane had a good Bundas season, think he got lead scorer, seems he destined never to win a trophy though.
Yer Shaw, for having been injured for sometime he did play well.
Southgate their prob couldn't give a toss actually :)

Ange ? I reckon they would leak some goals but also score alot to counter that.
He'd also give some on the bench a better run to prove their worth and maybe expose the talent thats there.
For eg, I would have given
Gordon
Bowen
TAA
Gomez
Palmer more time on the pitch
Watkins more pitch time
Tony/Eze, why pick and never use them

Can you imagine how insufferable I would be if the English FA published the same amount of "love letter" posts to South Melbourne Hellas as Celtic and now Spurs do???

ahahahahah 

https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/1812463391304548770

Glad Spain has won this.

I mean... for England, Spain should be the blueprint of what to follow. Same for Italy too.

How much disappointment did they have to put up with, with quarter-finals after quarter-finals and disappointment after disappointment.

Since (and including Euro 2008)
Winner
Winner
Winner
Group of Death knockout
Round of 16
Round of 16
Semi-Final
Round of 16
Winner

And especially with winning Euro 2024 whilst STARTING a teenager that had their fingers in the pie across the tournament, the youth development for that country (which might admittedly be just Barca) is elite. As an example, the last time Italy did such a thing was Maldini at Euro 1988

Few quick random thoughts.
Bellingham falls over a lot.
Williams and Yamal were great. Tough night for the England defenders with not only those 2 blokes running amok but then there's talent galore streaming forward in the middle.
Don't watch enough Kane to know but he seemed to play way too deep. Saw him in his own box on more than one occasion.
Luke Shaw was terrific. 
Foden looks like one of the chavs from that movie The Gentleman when they're in the fish and chip shop.
On TV the running track is fine. For the fans it's shit. The blokes behind the goal on the fence would've been literally 130 to 140m away from the other goal. Further if you were up higher.
Morata was great.  
Hard for England to make chances when they don't have the ball. I'm assuming Spain had 70 odd % of possesion?

Spain were better in both halves and deserved to win.
Don't know whether to feel sorry for Southgate or not.

Here's a conversation starter. How do you think Ange would go coaching England?

Only thing the ref got wrong all game. Should've played at least 90 seconds extra. There were 2 stoppages in time added on.

BTW how great was it watching a Euro Final in a proper football stadium with a running track around it eh?