Euro 2020 Final: England vs Italy

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It's the big one on Sunday and for me the two best teams have made it to the final in the end.

England 1 win away from ending a 55 year wait for an international trophy back in a final for the first time since 1966.

Whole country is bouncing and behind the team (apart from a few right wing idiots/MPs).

I'm sure we'll talk more about line ups over the next few days but 10 players to me are basically nailed on to start the only question mark will be does he go for a back 3 in which case Tripper would come in or does he stick to the back 4 which means it'll be one of Saka/Foden/Sancho to start on the right side.

I think Italy will cause us a lot of problems their quality in the midfield is going to be very hard for England to cope with and in Chiesa/Insigne they've got two really dangerous one vs one attacking players. Last night I felt England were letting far to many passes get through our midfield and in to the Danish strikers that simply cannot happen vs Italy.

Positive is I think our attackers will cause Italy a lot of problems just like Spain did they'll struggle to pick up Kane when he comes deep and they've got no chance covering the breaking runs of our wide players.

I've felt really confident about winning every game so far I've said if we play well we can beat anyone and I do still feel that way but my worry is can we win if Italy also play well as it's going to be very hard to get a lot of possession against them and they look like the 1 team in this tournament that can match our work rate and intensity.
 
Depends massively about Italy too. I think they'll be more scared of us than us them. They were terrified of Spain at times and if we get the chances Spain did we will be out of sight.

I think the game comes down to one really key battle. Chiesa Vs Shaw. If Shaw wins that battle i'm confident England win it.

England have had a problem all tournament with that easy pass through the middle opening them up. But the Italians don't really utilise that ball. A lot of their build up play is done down the wings.

I think whoever scores first wins it both teams are excellent counter attacking sides and will pick off the opposition is they steam forwards trying to get an equaliser.

Got to employ a bit if the dark arts and get Verraiti in the book early.

My heart says 2-0 England.
 
They're right to fear us but equally they'll feel is they play at their best they should win the game I think this is two very good sides on paper we probably have the better players but they have looked very well drilled and are on a sustained run of great form.

I think Mount has a big role to play if he's in the number 10 position he needs to stop Jorgino getting on the ball deep and threading those passes almost making sure our two don't get over loaded in there.

Hopefully we get a strong ref that doesn't put up with Veratti trying to ref the game for him he's a nightmare that lad.
 
I'm going to assume that German bloke (Felix Brych thanks to Google) will be the ref. He doesn't put up with much.

I don't think there's any doubt Southgate will go with 5 at the back. As soon as we scored he subbed the sub (Grealish) to bring Trippier on, and I figure he'll go with the same lineup that started v Germany.

I expect this to be cagey and both sides to be nervous and cautious. We've seen how England responded to going behind for all of 9 min, which is encouraging in hindsight, as we know that we have another few gears we can go through if needs be. Have Italy been behind? I don't think so, so an early England goal would really help to settle our nerves, and put them under some pressure they've not really faced so far.
 
Ref is Bjorn Kuipers from Netherlands.

Even better news is he got so fed up with Verratti last time he reffed him he apparently told him to F*ck Off something which caused a massive stink from the PSG players.

I think tactically if he's thinking of a change it would be to match their 4-3-3 system so he can get Henderson into that midfield for a bit more control.
 
Stop Veratti and you stop them getting control. The other danger of course is the pace of Chiesa.
I think he'll defo go 5 though.

Our advantage, which I would play to, is our pace against their CB pairing.
 
I don't really see the benefit of going to the back 3 as it doesn't put the extra body in midfield which is where it'll be needed.

I don't really like the idea of Henderson as well as Phillips/Rice that's just showing way to much respect but I do think if they feel Henderson is ready for 90 minutes they have to seriously consider bringing him in to play with one of Phillips or Rice.

For me Mount give you the option to switch between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 in game I think his struggles at times are with Kane also dropping deep for the ball it's hard for him to really get on the ball in the areas where he can be dangerous.
 
who mentioned playing Hederson, Rice and Philips! they need to take a look a themselves.

I do see the key to this match Veratti though. Hardly got a touch against Spain, apart from the goal.

Dominated vs Belgium

I hope we just go for it, stick on a load of pace and peg them back.
 
Well if you really want to smother the midfield that's what you'd have to play.

Spain are the pass masters though it's their entire identity and it worked really well for them against Italy but it's not really our game even against Denmark put under pressure we struggled to keep hold of the ball.

Mount for me is key he needs to get on Jorgino and make sure he can't dictate the game from that deep position in front of the defence he's almost got to be prepared to go a man marking job on him so the other two midfielders can go one vs one against the Italians.
 
Some people are just never happy played all but one game to get us to the final and people want him ditched ;)
 
Sees he's so bad you can't even tell when he plays and when he doesn't.

Missed Czech and Germany games.
 
Mount is a good player but I have not really seen him influencing games in this tournament. Personally i would play Sancho on the right, Sterling on the left, and Grealish at number 10. Grealish should win us loads of free kicks around the edge of the area.
 
Southgate will set up as cautiously and defensively as possible. We know England has the players to really go at Italy if Southgate would trust them, but he won't. When Italy score, then Southgate will bring on some speedier players with more control like Grealish and Sancho. Hopefully this one ends with straight goals, no over time, no dubious penalties, and no penalty shootout.
 
I fear Southgate will do what he did against germany and try to match up exactly. Trouble, for me, is Italy are way better than Germany and their midfield is better than ours. That said, if we do out-muscle them and Rice is involved, it would show what I suspect: he has the right mentality and strength for United.

I'd rather see us go for it by starting either Sancho or Grealish to put those Italian midfielders more on the back foot...
 
Who cares if he’s played 4 games or 5, he’d have played every game if it wasn’t for Covid isolation. I think he’s done well and all the managers who work with him seem to love him so he must be doing something right as he’s kept plenty of good players on the bench behind him for club and country.

There’s no way we suddenly chuck Grealish in as a number 10 it’s not his position that lad is a winger so if he starts he’d have to start out on the left get him on the ball in space and let him cause as trouble.

Grealish is my go to sub he’s my game changer and that is exactly where he should start.
 
Where is everyone watching the match? I am just going to watch it at home. If we win though I could imagine I will get the urge to go out.
 
Who cares if he’s played 4 games or 5, he’d have played every game if it wasn’t for Covid isolation. I think he’s done well and all the managers who work with him seem to love him so he must be doing something right as he’s kept plenty of good players on the bench behind him for club and country.

There’s no way we suddenly chuck Grealish in as a number 10 it’s not his position that lad is a winger so if he starts he’d have to start out on the left get him on the ball in space and let him cause as trouble.

Grealish is my go to sub he’s my game changer and that is exactly where he should start.
Once again I find myself thinking that the modern game has overtaken me. Is there any such thing as wingers anymore? When I think of wingers I think of Kanchelskis, Giggs, Sharpe, Coppell, Hill, Morgan. Nowadays we have Strikers and number 10s playing out there. I suspect if you asked Grealish what position he considers himself it would be no 10. When we play Pogba out there is he a winger?
 
Yeah, so mount right of a front 3

You think mount out for saka or Sancho really
 
Once again I find myself thinking that the modern game has overtaken me. Is there any such thing as wingers anymore? When I think of wingers I think of Kanchelskis, Giggs, Sharpe, Coppell, Hill, Morgan. Nowadays we have Strikers and number 10s playing out there. I suspect if you asked Grealish what position he considers himself it would be no 10. When we play Pogba out there is he a winger?

Well the game now is very different but is a number 10 really any different to a playmaker typestriker that have existed in the game since Pele and Maradona. Cantona was a number 10 as was Dalglish creative players in the middle that score loads of goals playing just off a centre forward. They’re hardly a new thing in football.

Wingers have changed but I’d probably say if Grealish was asked where he wanted to play it would be off the left so much more space to work with
 
Leaked team can only mean a back 3 but he could play a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.

The hope I guess with 3-4-3 might be the front 3 really pressing the Italian defence.
 
The number 10 has not really changed, but you would not expect to find any of those players playing off the left. Totally disagree about Grealish, I am sure he is happy enough playing off the left, but I am pretty certain he would see himself as a `10.
 

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