A lot of negativity and doom & gloom for a country that reached a semi for the first time since 1990! Expect some idiotic Utd & Liverpool anti-England brigade everywhere on the internet and this place is sadly no different. Oh well. Least I know the majority care about the NT which is something. I'm a bit annoyed that this tournament is taking place at all tbh. I bought 1000€ worth of tickets 2 years ago, also bought the flight tickets to Budapest, Dublin, Glasgow & Baku but had to cancel everything (got refunded no trouble). I wouldn't say I'm a high covid risk (heart problems in the past) but travelling to games this summer just looks a bit off and I'm glad I'm not doing it but also jealous of the people who are actually going (and going through quarantines in various European places). Don't really care who wins. This tournament won't be played in packed grounds and that to me makes it underwhelming before a ball has been kicked.
I try to ignore the negative people. I enjoy these tournaments so much I immerse myself and don't want distractions. I also had four tickets but lost them now. Tough to take. Bloody covid...
*1996 I think people would be a lot more confident if there was a different manager in charge, we weren't perennial bottlers and we didn't likely have to face either the reigning world or European champions in the round of 16. I always thought the English over coinfidence was bit of a myth to be honest, in my lifetime it's only tournaments in 2004 and 2006 where I've believed we had a real chance.
Even if Müller and Hummels are back for Germany, it's the group of death, and I think we'll only finish third, possibly qualifying as lucky losers, then get knocked out in the quarters. We have no world-class strikers anymore. Volland might score against Hungary, but I don't expect much more than that. My expectations are the lowest since Euro 2004, when they couldn't even beat Latvia (who the Germans will try to build confidence against tonight). Despite my low expectations, I can't wait for this tournament to start and I'm really in the mood, even more than before Euro 2016. Probably, the recent good weather and opening up of bars and restaurants got me so excited about this (even if I watch all my important games at home, where I won't be distracted by all the fake fans discussing irrelevant matters instead of watching). I'll watch all the games, if possible. I never understood football fans only watching their team (that's more like doing a job).
Quite, I forgot about the euros. I get why Southgate gets flack as the games are not great to watch but to me he did a very good job playing to the squad's strengths and I reckon he will keep doing so this summer. Watching both Croatia and England friendlies yesterday, I'm backing England to sneak it 1-0. Only friendlies I know but England look more resilient than most. I always get abnormally bored between the end of the domestic season and the start of the tournement. Oddly enough a summer of no football doesn't bother me as much as it used to so yeah can't wait to be Friday. Still in Switzerland Oli? Things just reopening in France too. Fingers crossed it stays that way for good.
With all due respect, the route to the final of that world cup couldn't be any easier. I would expect us to beat columbia and sweden. When a half decent nation comes along, we'll be out on our arses again. I actually struggle to remember in my lifetime when we beat a team like germany, italy, spain in a tournament. As for my expectations, i expect us to get out of the group. After that, anything is a bonus. I'm 30, and I don't expect to see england win a trophy in my life
Was thinking this earlier and the first real tournament I can remember clearly is 1996. We dismantled Holland who had a good side and beat Spain who obviously were nowhere near the Spain of 2006 onwards. Other than that Germany in 2000 and Argentina in 2002 both in group stages though and 2000 was a total disaster anyway.
I live in Hamburg ever since 2012. We're nearing two weeks since outdoor catering and non-essential indoor shops opened. The sun finally showed up just in time after a miserable May that resembled October. Fingers crossed no more variants come back to haunt us. I haven't been impressed with the speed of vaccinations in Germany, but I hope a large majority get their first shots within a few months. I should've been eligible for long, work-related, but the supply of vaccines was never enough.
Apologies, I left you going to games during Euro 2008 (yeah, a while back). Vaccination has been very good in France lately. Close to a full reopening on Thursday (11pm curfew which is good).
Full reopening just in time for the Euros is a nice gesture. Hopefully, people won't all get too cozy too soon. I also went to Russia 2018, after the Germans already got knocked out. It was a great vacation anyways. I attended Russia-Spain in Moscow, and Switzerland-Sweden in St.Petersburg (the initial plan was Germany-Switzerland). That party in Moscow after they eliminated Spain was so epic. Awesome night!
i was pretty disillusioned with the format before covid started, i think it's still fairly irresponsible to be putting it on given what the situation is in the world, and the fact that Mount looks likely to start for England means i'll be hoping England lose every game and go out early
I think England will go out round of 16 when we come up against someone from the group of death. I hope we'll give it a good go against those teams but the absolute state of recent high profile games like Champions League finals of 2019 and 2021 means we absolutely won't as we'll be too afraid to do anything on the ball so will go out with a wimper. I'd love to be wrong but I don't think Southgate's lightening will strike twice.
Think he’s insinuating that both were all English finals but not taken into account that the majority of participating players weren’t English.
I'm not convinced England will top the group. I can see nothing but a draw v Croatia, i think both us and Croatia will beat Scotland and the Czech Rep but we will miss out on 1st spot to goal difference, setting us up for Spain in the last 16.
