Who will win Euro 2020?

  • England

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Germany

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Italy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Netherlands

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Portugal

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Spain

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    3
  • Poll closed .

jfy1999

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Apr 25, 2015
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Birmingham/Austria

I thought now would be a good time to start a Euro 2020 thread, as the nations involved have announced their provisional squads.

England's provisional 33-man squad in full

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Sheff Utd)

Defenders: John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Reece James (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Ben Godfrey (Everton), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Ben White (Brighton)

Midfielders: Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Jesse Lingard (Man Utd), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Mason Greenwood (Man Utd), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)


England are being seen by some as potential favourites for the competition as we will have home advantage in all three group games. Wembley will also host the round of 16 game for the winners of our group, and will host the semi-finals and the final.

Some surprises might be in store in the group stage as multiple teams will have home advantage. Italy and the Netherlands are probably favourites to top their respective groups, but Denmark, Hungary, Scotland and Russia will be playing “home” games against teams which are currently in the top 10 world rankings. The “group of death”, Group F, is of particular interest as Germany and Hungary are ranked below France and Portugal but will be playing all their games on home turf.
 
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England’s final squad -

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Defenders: John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Reece James (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielders: Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)


 
Not many takers for this thread at the moment.

I can't summon up a lot of interest in this competition even though I am a life-long football fan. In fact, my interest in professional football has increasingly revolved around club football rather than the international scene. The same applies with rugby union.

As with the 1966 World Cup, England will have a great opportunity to take advantage of many home games although I'm not sure how many spectators will be allowed in to watch. I read the other day that in the football season just ended there were more away wins than home wins in the Premier League - for the first time ever. It seems then that the absence of spectators has nullified home teams' advantage so perhaps England's plethora of home fixtures won't count for so much if the grounds are sparsely filled.

I haven't been following the fortunes of the the non-UK countries so I can't really offer any view on the likely winner.
 
As is usual, no player from the Championship selected to the squad and I am unconvinced those that are selected as a unit can successfully compete against Europe 's best. As the Premier league is full of European international players they hold an advantage of knowledge about our lot!
 
Having reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup Gareth Southgate admitted that if England fails to reach that stage in this years Euros it would amount to a failure. It was in answer to a journalist's question but it could now put additional pressure on him and the team. Or it might galvanise them to greater effort. We shall know in the next few weeks.
 
Given the trouble at the French Tennis Open over media rights over athletes, journalists might consider their attitudes or they may finish access permanently and face massed boycotts. Going for the jugular might be a tactic but readers and consumers of journalism may turn against the press..having the right to illicit answers that are unprepared is unwise even if legitimate!

Mr. Southgate is a decent chap and may have bounced himself out of a job by pre judging the tournament.
 
As is usual, no player from the Championship selected to the squad and I am unconvinced those that are selected as a unit can successfully compete against Europe 's best. As the Premier league is full of European international players they hold an advantage of knowledge about our lot!
There was a time when Second Division players (today's Championship) were not exactly an uncommon site in an England football team although by the 1970s the practice had probably died out. Occasionally Third Division players (today's League One) were selected - Johnny 'Budgie' Byrne of Crystal Palace is one I remember from the early 1960s.

I found a list of the parent leagues of all players appearing in the national squads for Euro 2020. Amazingly the Championship is the sixth highest league represented, and has more players in the squads than many top leagues in other countries.

The EFL Championship is reportedly the fourth most watched football league in the world with only the English Premier League, German Bundesliga and the Spanish La Liga attracting more spectators.

This is the list:

English Premier League 118
German Bundesliga 90
Italian Serie A 70
Spanish La Liga 39
Russian Premier League 33
EFL Championship 31
French Ligue 1 29
Ukranian Premier League 19
Turkish Super League 18
Hungarian OTP Bank Liga 17
Dutch Eredivisie 17
Czech First League 15
Scottish Premiership 14
Croatian First Football League 13
Belgian Pro League 10
Polish Ekstraklasa 9
Swedish Allsvenskan 8
Portuguese Primiera Liga 8
Cypriot First Division 8
American MLS 7
 
You have put a lot of effort in your response for which I thank you. However, I struggle to recall the non premier player selected for a tournament most recently, was it Steve Bull of Wolverhampton?
 
You have put a lot of effort in your response for which I thank you. However, I struggle to recall the non premier player selected for a tournament most recently, was it Steve Bull of Wolverhampton?
Steve Bull first played for England at the end of the 88/89 season. I looked it up - I'm not Leslie Welch, if anyone remembers him. He was technically a Third Division player as his club Wolves although having gained promotion that season had yet to play in Division 2 the following season.

As far as I can determine, the last actual Third Division player to appear for England was Peter Taylor in the mid 1970s - an England caretaker manager in later life.

I can't think that a third tier player would be selected nowadays and a second tier player would be highly unlikely. I believe that the differences in standard between the leagues in England ( Prem/Championship; Championship/League One etc) is widening all the time.

That said, many countries are using Championship players in Euro 2022 and with England-qualified players still a minority in many Prem sides there is not a huge reservoir from which to pick.

I note that there are 14 players from the Scottish Premiership in Euro 2022, all or most in the Scottish squad no doubt. I think it's generally accepted in football that, Rangers and Celtic apart, most of the other Scottish Prem clubs would not set the world alight in the English Championship.

Incidentally, I mentioned Johnny Byrne playing for England in 1962 whilst at Third Division Crystal Palace. Around that time Bridgwater Town drew Palace at home on their old Castle Field ground in the first round of the FA Cup. Bridgwater played in the mediocre semi-pro league in which my fledging career began and ended. Two weeks before the Palace match we played at Bridgwater in a league match and Bridgwater, anxious to cash in, announced that people wanting tickets for the FA Cup match would have to attend our game when vouchers would be issued giving the right to buy FA Cup tickets.

Instead of the usual few hundred, over 3,000 turned up to watch our match at Bridgwater. I still have the match programme.
 
Two of this season's promoted were Prem clubs with some players with top level experience but not worthy of selection. Does that indicate Southgate has made the best of all talent or just prejudiced toward premier league only bar Sancho of Dortmund?
 
Going back to the question of England's likely chances in this competition, the pre-tournament friendlies against Austria and Romania told us very little. Such games are little more than public practice matches anyway and, with Chelsea and Manchester City players not considered for these matches, Southgate resorted to using some players who aren't even in the final EURO 2020 squad.

Both games were won 1-0 but the overall performances did little to boost fan confidence although it's likely that the starting eleven for England's first match against Croatia (their semi-final conquerors in the 2018 World Cup in Russia) will bear little resemblance to the teams that began the pre-tournament matches which begs the question - also put by some football journalists - why play these games in the first place?
 
I agree with TLY,the friendlies told us very little.In fact I worry about our overall chances,not from a creative and attacking point,but from our defence.
As a Villa fan,I can say that despite Tyrone Mings being a generally good defender,he is prone to making some bad mistakes.In fact had VAR been in use,or the officials on the day been more alert,he could and probably should have been pulled up for a bad foul on an Austrian player.A penalty ,maybe even a red card should have ensued.
Harry Maguires’ fitness is open to question,and John Stones like Mings can make mistakes as well.
Maybe biased,but I would have preferred to have seen Ezri Konsa called into the squad,as he is the more dependable of the Villa defence and has had a super season.
I honestly cannot see England getting out of the group stages.Croatia will be up for a battle,that game will not be pretty,and if England need to beat Scotland to keep their hopes alive then good luck with that.
We need to beat Croatia,then a draw against Scotland might be okay.The Czech Republic game should be the easier of the 3 games,but if a win is needed to guarantee further involvement then it could get very nervy.
While there is no argument over how good England can be going forward,defensively they can be a shambles.Even Southgate himself said he wasn’t happy with that part of the game during the friendlies.
Well he has some work to do then,doesn’t he???
 
I agree with TLY,the friendlies told us very little.In fact I worry about our overall chances,not from a creative and attacking point,but from our defence.
As a Villa fan,I can say that despite Tyrone Mings being a generally good defender,he is prone to making some bad mistakes.In fact had VAR been in use,or the officials on the day been more alert,he could and probably should have been pulled up for a bad foul on an Austrian player.A penalty ,maybe even a red card should have ensued.
Harry Maguires’ fitness is open to question,and John Stones like Mings can make mistakes as well.
Maybe biased,but I would have preferred to have seen Ezri Konsa called into the squad,as he is the more dependable of the Villa defence and has had a super season.
I honestly cannot see England getting out of the group stages.Croatia will be up for a battle,that game will not be pretty,and if England need to beat Scotland to keep their hopes alive then good luck with that.
We need to beat Croatia,then a draw against Scotland might be okay.The Czech Republic game should be the easier of the 3 games,but if a win is needed to guarantee further involvement then it could get very nervy.
While there is no argument over how good England can be going forward,defensively they can be a shambles.Even Southgate himself said he wasn’t happy with that part of the game during the friendlies.
Well he has some work to do then,doesn’t he???
I agree about the defence being shaky and with the comments about Mings and Stones being prone to making unforced errors.

The current FIFA rankings table shows England in fourth position out of 210 countries, with Belgium, France and Brazil ahead of them. Croatia is in 14th place, Czech Republic in 40th and Scotland in 44th. On that basis England ought to have a fairly comfortable ride but we know that rankings don't tell the full story, and I always think they are a bit artificial anyway despite past attempts to revise the methodology in order to make the rankings more relevant.

No matter how poorly a Scotland team has been performing, and sadly these days Scotland's national side is but a pale shadow of many of its illustrious predecessors of much of the 20th Century, it will always raise its game when playing England. It's very much like a local derby at club level where respective league positions count for nothing.

I think that England ought to qualify from the group stage with at least two wins and the other match perhaps drawn, but England squads have regularly failed to step up to the plate when reaching the final stages of European and World Cup competitions although Russia 2018 was an encouraging exception.
 
I cannot disagree with anything you have said TLY.In fact you speak sense.
I am not entirely convinced with the ranking system though.In theory England should beat all 3 teams in the group,but we all know that is not as easy as that.
More to the point,Belgium and France are superb teams.I haven’t seen Brazil play since the last World Cup,so can’t comment,but the other 2 definitely deserve their ranking.Question is how far behind in terms of actual style and finished article are England.Four in the rankings may sound great,but exactly how far behind third are we.
You are also right when you say other teams will raise their game against us.This will always be true.Beating England is top of most countries to do list in any sport ,not just football.
Therefore it leads to another question,is England capable of raising it’s game in the same way when needed?.
We have rarely seen it before,I very much doubt it will happen in Euro 2020. I just hope to be proved wrong.
 
The bare fact is that England players are good when playing with their continental team mates on a weekend yet when on international duty are distinctly average amongst their own compadres. Jadon Sancho is perhaps the gemstone less in need of a polish but then , he plays the Bundesleague in Deutschland.

One could say the Champion players of Manchester City will bring the necessary class once they have recovered from European Cup but the same can be said for Belgian and French players of Chelsea.

Every other competitive team will know about England's team, their level of training and fitness and general attitudes. There can be few, if any surprises left in international football with domestic leagues stuffed with international players.
 
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Here’s the line-up I would prefer out of the players that have been picked - from right to left:

GK Pickford
Defence - Trippier, Walker, White, Shaw
Midfield - Rice, Mount, Phillips
Forwards - Foden, Kane, Grealish

and here’s the line-up I would pick if I could have chosen the squad:

GK Pickford
Defence - James, Tomori, Konsa, Shaw
Midfield - Rice, Mount, Ward-Prowse
Forwards - see above

Here’s how i think we will actually line-up, there are two possible systems i can see being used, unfortunately for those who would like to see attacking football, I can see there being either a back five or two holding midfielders to protect our centre-backs, some of whom were less than convincing in the warm up matches.

3-4-3 in attack/5-2-3 in defence
GK Pickford
Defenders - Walker, Stones, White
Wing-backs - James/Trippier, Shaw
Midfield - Rice, Mount/Phillips
Forwards - Foden/Sancho, Kane, Grealish/Sterling/Rashford

4-3-3
GK Pickford
Defenders James/Trippier, Walker, Stones, Shaw/Chilwell
Midfield Rice, Mount, Phillips
Forwards - see above

There are plenty of options for a more attacking line-up if we simply aim to out-score the opposition, but Southgate won’t do that. Since 2000 we’ve had 3 defeats, 4 draws and just 2 victories in our opening game at major tournaments. I have a suspicion that we wont be improving that record against Croatia as we have yet to find a settled first 11 and the weight of expectation is probably greater than the 2018 World Cup.
 
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Turkey 0–3 Italy

Listening to the Italian national anthem on the radio was an experience to remember. The two sets of socially distanced fans made it sound like a full stadium! Despite their heavy defeat i would not write Turkey off from the group just yet as they will practically have a home crowd in Baku against Wales and Switzerland.

 

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