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The Euro 2020 (football) thread.

I think there is a lot of unconsciousness racism among football fans (I am trying to be generous here). As an example look at the vitriol poured down upon Sterling for ‘diving’ in the Denmark game when Kane had a penalty turned down also. I don’t recall any comparable outrage re our captain?

Black players always receive more criticism.
 
Joe Hutch said:
Another new one to me was a defender being described as 'nibbling' at a forward. When I were a lad, the likes of Tommy Smith would take great chunks out rather than just nibbling.
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You’re not even allowed to take chunks out of someone’s leg anymore. PC gone mad
 
Woodface said:
I think there is a lot of unconsciousness racism among football fans (I am trying to be generous here). As an example look at the vitriol poured down upon Sterling for ‘diving’ in the Denmark game when Kane had a penalty turned down also. I don’t recall any comparable outrage re our captain?

Black players always receive more criticism.
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Nothing has changed. I’d say it’s even worse since Brexit.
 
Anyway, congrats to Mancini’s Italy. They were deserving winners having come through the tougher side of the draw. A missed opportunity for Gareth’s lads, it was virtually a home tournament and we might not get such a fortunate draw again but the team have improved especially in the area they’ve been weakest in for a long time which is the defence so definitely something to build on.

Just a shame Gareth didn’t respond to the changes Mancini made sooner as they were vulnerable up till then.

Anyway as they say in football - We Go Again.
 
Could those substitutes not be practising penalty shots for 15 minutes before coming on ? Is there no such facility at Wembley ? Is it not allowed in the rules ?
 
wacko said:
Could those substitutes not be practising penalty shots for 15 minutes before coming on ? Is there no such facility at Wembley ? Is it not allowed in the rules ?
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No, there is no such facility, but practicing taking penalties is not an issue, they do it all the time. Taking a penalty when your legs have turned to jelly is the issue, all the practice in the world will not prepare you for the huge pressure of taking a penalty in the circumstances that those England players did.
 
Nail on head and perfectly put.
Even at the crap Sunday league level I played at I missed plenty of penalties. The goals shrink and the keeper becomes a colossus as you face them.
 
It's nearly all mental. Visualising yourself taking the shot and scoring certainly helps (as does practice and experience - the players though were 19, 23 and 21 and it was their first final) but it is very hard to completely prepare yourself for a Euro final in front of millions of people. And we are all human and make mistakes.
 
Pressure is huge, makes no difference how much money you are on either. These young lads have had a life of having to perform to get to the next level.
 
wacko said:
Could those substitutes not be practising penalty shots for 15 minutes before coming on ? Is there no such facility at Wembley ? Is it not allowed in the rules ?
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Football remains a game, I reckon. And even though I'm an England fan I am OK with the final result.
 
Kirk said:
It's nearly all mental. Visualising yourself taking the shot and scoring certainly helps (as does practice and experience - the players though were 19, 23 and 21 and it was their first final) but it is very hard to completely prepare yourself for a Euro final in front of millions of people. And we are all human and make mistakes.
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Every week I visualise taking a par at the huge second where I play golf.
Not managed it yet…
 
Woodface said:
Pressure is huge, makes no difference how much money you are on either. These young lads have had a life of having to perform to get to the next level.
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Yes, anyone who does not recognise the effect that pressure can have on performance has not even a basic understanding of football at any level, as appears to be the case with racists
 
Woodface said:
As an example look at the vitriol poured down upon Sterling for ‘diving’ in the Denmark game when Kane had a penalty turned down also.
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Well, dive, he did... That the ref decided to compensate later doesn't matter I guess.

As for the vitriol, this is of course not acceptable, but this is not so much Brexit or BJ's fault (actually I expected it to read here that the god-forsaken reactions of some 'fans' were the PM's fault :D). This is the work of our Social Media monarchs who built their fortune by giving a platform to such moronic commentators.
 
Cheese said:
As for the vitriol, this is of course not acceptable, but this is not so much Brexit or BJ's fault (actually I expected it to read here that the god-forsaken reactions of some 'fans' were the PM's fault :D). This is the work of our Social Media monarchs who built their fortune by giving a platform to such moronic commentators.
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Well your last sentence is quite a claim! Tyrone Mings, England/Aston Villa centre back tweeted yesterday, in response to Pritti Patel's pretend protest about racism and her hypocrisy:

'You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.'

Surely you acknowledge a link between the increasingly racist words and policies of UK government since (at least) 2016, and particularly under Johnson as PM, and the fact that the 'moronic commentators' on social media (and, unfortunately also in real life) apparently feel more freedom to express their abhorrent views/behaviour?

 
ks.234 said:
No, there is no such facility, but practicing taking penalties is not an issue, they do it all the time. Taking a penalty when your legs have turned to jelly is the issue, all the practice in the world will not prepare you for the huge pressure of taking a penalty in the circumstances that those England players did.
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In addition, goalkeepers are often knowledgeable about penalty takers. Does the player generally try to put the ball into orbit or take it more gently? Does he go high or low? Does he tend to go for the left or the right? (Right-footed players often tend to go for the left side as they face the goal). In the end, of course, the keeper has to make a commitment, because he can't wait until he sees where the ball is headed before diving, but I'd imagine it can be intimidating with the weight of a championship on your shoulders, and not being able to afford to miss.
 
tones said:
In addition, goalkeepers are often knowledgeable about penalty takers. Does the player generally try to put the ball into orbit or take it more gently? Does he go high or low? Does he tend to go for the left or the right? (Right-footed players often tend to go for the left side as they face the goal). In the end, of course, the keeper has to make a commitment, because he can't wait until he sees where the ball is headed before diving, but I'd imagine it can be intimidating with the weight of a championship on your shoulders, and not being able to afford to miss.
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100%. Jorginho missed his penalty too. He has a formidable record from the spot, but even he changed his run up. Instead of the big hop and wait for the keeper to move, he seemed to anticipate that Pickford would stand still. Jorginho shaped to do his hop but went for placement instead. Pickford double bluffed him, went early and made a terrific save from what was still a well placed penalty.

All of which shows the pressure on normally cool and efficient penalty takers, the fine margins, and the luck needed to beat a keeper from 12 yards
 
How to win a Cup.
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