Euro 2016 - hype, anticipation and general excitement

And where better to start than with Cantona basically calling Didier Deschamps a massive inbred racist?

Yes! Giroud and Martial over Benzema and Ben Arfa is perverse whatever the motivation. The latter has been astonishing this season, and not just because it's him.

so the racism, name-calling, and fighting is moving to this thread?

Cantona otm

So excited for this. I don't expect much but equally I know what a rare joy it is to have Ireland taking part in a summer tournament.

xp
martial or coman over ben arfa the correct and obvious move. being good at dribbling in ligue 1 doesn't equal being effective in euro 2016

cantona still jealous of deschamps all these years later

Being least shit in a shit EPL team clearly the more relevant qual

Xp, c'mon - his vision / passing have been sublime, not to mention 17 goals from midfield.

What's the latest with the sex tape blackmail thing? If Benzema is going to seriously impact squad unity then he shouldn't go.

Ben Arfa's omission is bewildering though.

Oh shit I didn't realise Varane was out as well. How good are France in general right now? Surely they must be in with a considerable shout?

I think they are probably my favourite to win.

got to be france, germany, or spain

with engerlund not impossible

me and my 1/8th italian ancestry will be cheering on possibly the most depressingly, mediocre azzurri ever, which is saying something.

catenaccio!

Despite Dechamps this French side is probably the most likable since Les Blues in 1984. Je suis game.

Or '82, for that matter

Pps. Someome point A Hoy Hoy to this thread, he needs to be in on the fun tbh

Spirit of Leicester City still reigns right now so I might have a flutter on I dunno Iceland or someone.

Ha I said the exact same thing about Iceland too, particularly as I'll be spending a week of the tournament there. At the moment money is on France with Croatia each way although I can't see why Germany should be any worse than 2 years ago and fully expect them to step up as usual.

Fancy Lewandowski for top scorer with a cheeky each way on a nicely rested Hazard.

Arent there very good reasons benzema stays home?

The push for ben arfa is silly stuff

Shane long obv top scorer

... for Ireland. One goal.

rooting for the team with the best odds of winning!!!!

Tellin ye now shane long ten goals

http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/359a9782-9633-4a93-83ab-fcf0358a2dce/2121d05d-dbb8-4051-8bdb-c241673c6297.jpg

we're ready

assuming I'm gonna be the sole Wales advocate itt. am good with that

Nonsense, Wales have never been as well supported as they will be in this tournament.

surprised myself at how pleased I am to see wales qualify, I think watching the over-the-top/ironically triumphalist/perfect celebrations of wales fans after the bosnia game has helped

suspect ireland are going to have a brief tournament

but it will feel agonisingly long

we're marginally more entertaining this time around.

i actually think we could get a result off one of the teams in our group. our aggressive anti-football is more of a return to traditional values in which we are open to the possibility of a goal from a setpiece or long ball, rather than the goal ban of the trappatoni era.

agonisingly shane long

why tf are there matches at 1700 GMT btw?

at least I have a chance of seeing those, gonna be pretty awkward getting caught in our workshop study room watching the 2 o'clock kick-offs on the computer

oh there's 2pm as well? bah...

3pm/6pm/9pm CET so 2, 5 and 8 in the UK

yeah, England - Wales for example is 2 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon. wondering if the Guinness Book of Records keeps a track of days when most sick leave has been taken.

shit I'd not even noticed that. I'm the only person in my small office that really gives a shit about football so could probably just ask for a half day w/o constructing a tissue of lies

I took the week off but have to now go to Dubai to work for the first three days, making it a slightly inconvenient 5pm, 8pm, 1am.

11pm actually. That's more doable.

I could probably work out some time off in lieu for key games but it's always the not-key games I end up enjoying most

Pps. Someome point A Hoy Hoy to this thread, he needs to be in on the fun tbh
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 26 May 2016 21:11 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hiya!

What sex tape? Benzema just cant stay away from gross sex scandals can he? He is an amazing striker and seemingly a deeply unlikeable character. (He was all over the underage prostitute mess a couple years back right?)

Im really excited about this tournament. It seems like it could throw up a lot of interesting possibilities. Like who would have tjought wales would be in it with a sound team with one of the best players in the world? If they get lucky and Bale is on FIYAH they could be fun to support. And england are actually worth liking again, unless the white pele ruins everything.

(That makes it seem like i think wales could win it which i obviously dont. But then who knows anymore? Get the Tinkerman for Wales boss)

Didn't really work for Greece, tbf.

I think Turkey could be one of the better outside bets to get to the semi-finals if they can get a result against Croatia.

If James McCarthy can score an important winning goal that gets Ireland through to the second-round I'll have a shitey piece of trivia about how every momentous Irish tournament goal is scored by someone from Castlemilk to wheel out

Never easy for Ireland to win from the smallest football countries, wouldn't take this draw too seriously.

For me, personally, I would take Rashford. I think me and him and our belief and youth could be a match for anyone.

Never easy for Ireland to win from the smallest football countries, wouldn't take this draw too seriously.

What does this mean? Wouldn't place much credence in the apparent spirit shown by Netherlands to salvage a late draw? Agreed.

I was being sarcastic, Ronan. Didn't even watch the match but felt like calling our national team "one of the smallest football countries", as that's what we're heading towards rapidly with our FA tools and managerial fools. And apparently our equalizer was celebrated as if we actually will participate this summer, as if it matters. Wasn't taking anything away from Ireland, au contraire tbh.

Tl;dr: the shoe is on the other foot. Holland is disgrace. It is a crying shame we're even playing these dumb friendlies.

Holland looked totally disinterested in the first half but they perked up a bit once they brought some subs on later in the game

I don't know if it's inspiring or depressing that we're going to the Euros with a striker who made his club debut three months ago.

I'm assuming Studge is out here but at this rate of injuries when it comes to squad culling time Roy will just be sending Andros Townsend off like a banished medieval villager.

sturridge left in, townsend and drinkwater left out of the 23

kein trink wasser

Reus out of the Germany squad yet again, poor bastard.

did wonder if he'd take all 5 forwards given Rooney's multitasking ability. probably a shade harsh on both mids given Milner and Henderson get to go

I don't know if it's inspiring or depressing that we're going to the Euros with a striker who made his club debut three months ago.

Amusing is the word you're looking for.

remind me anything about the scotland team

100% behind our fellow Brits at this summer's tourney.

Reus out of the Germany squad yet again, poor bastard.

and yet schweinsteiger is in after a really ropey season

Shit calls from woy

Rooney so obviously will be fat weight in any xi this tournament

I'm not sure what Barkley brings to the table given that Alli, Lallana and Sterling are all in the squad. He feels like the classic squad player who will come on in the 70th minute of a 1-1 draw in the first game, then not appear at all until extra time of the final game when England are staring down the barrel of imminent elimination on penalties. Doing nothing of note in either.

yeah

proud to have been an early barkley is shit adopter

I for one am disappointed Drinkwater isn't in the 23. He had a good run, and has a Giggsian stubble.

He probably should be in the likely event that Wilshere and a CB or two get injured and suspended and we have to player Dier back there. Sending back any player who can provide some additional solidity strikes me as short sighted when there's a glut of attacking midfielders. At the very least Drinkwater should be in there over James Milner.

real talk, but you forget that Rooney is a top class DM

Milner has a good second half of the season and is relatively versatile. And as much as I hate the little one, Wilshire is obviously England's best midfielder. Hendo is the real mystery. Literally hasn't done anything in about two years

Italy squad is horrendous btw

: Portieri: Buffon (Juve), Marchetti (Lazio), Sirigu (Psg); Difensori: Barzagli (Juve), Bonucci (Juve), Chiellini (Juve), Darmian (Manchester United), De Sciglio (Milan), Ogbonna (West Ham). Centrocampisti:Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Candreva (Lazio), De Rossi (Roma), El Shaarawy (Roma), Florenzi (Roma), Giaccherini (Bologna), Sturaro (Juventus), Thiago Motta (Psg), Parolo (Lazio). Attaccanti: Eder (Inter), Immobile (Torino), Insigne (Napoli), Pellè (Southampton), Zaza (Juve). Riserve: Zappacosta (Torino), Rugani (Juventus), Benassi (Torino)

devil's advocate: the defense and goalkeeping aspect is decent eough, strikers are mediocre but not awful. that midfield really is mince though.

For the first time in a decade or so not thát impressed with Germany's squad, especially the forwards. Muller is there, but not sure Mario Gomez and Podolski ar still of any real use. (I say this fully aware that Podolski lives for these tournaments, but still). Also puzzled at why Reus was left out. Even with one leg he's still better than Schweini.

lol

Wayne Rooney wants to play as a holding midfielder for England at Euro 2016, Sky sources understand.

Rooney was named by Roy Hodgson in a 26-man England squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Turkey, Australia and Portugal on Monday morning.

Rooney has been used both as a striker and as a central midfielder by Louis van Gaal this season but it is understood Hodgson will use him on the left wing in a 4-3-3 system, following conversations between the two.

Another option would be to use England's all-time leading goalscorer at the top of a midfield diamond or as a 'number 10', where he has also been used by Manchester United this season.

Sky sources understand Rooney has told the England manager than he would prefer to play at the bottom of the diamond, effectively as a holding midfielder.

you heard it here first, folks

"since i can't score anymore, i need to play in a position where i'm less likely to score"

with any luck he can get an injury before the first match and take up the beckham 2010 world cup on the bench wearing a suit

FYI
England's midfield etc

rooney should play left wing.
― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 13:52 (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he used to quite a bit for Utd. And he was good

called it 11 years ago

spain's squad made me a bit sad because quite a few of the veterans of their great triumphs are gone: torres, xavi, xabi alonso, david villa

and yet Casillas is still there

altho he has been gaffe prone at times i can't say I've seen him play for porto at all and so can't really comment on the form he's in

can't say I have either but this happened a few months back

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/porto-president-slates-iker-casillas-7566556

For the first time in a decade or so not thát impressed with Germany's squad, especially the forwards. Muller is there, but not sure Mario Gomez and Podolski ar still of any real use. (I say this fully aware that Podolski lives for these tournaments, but still). Also puzzled at why Reus was left out. Even with one leg he's still better than Schweini.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Dienstag, 31. Mai 2016 19:53 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm. One can only assume Reus' injury is way worse than reported, though Löw's general stance towards the fitness of players compared to their assumed moral value is rather inconsistent.
Doubt Schweinsteiger is able to repeat his impact on the latter games in 2014 after such a terrible season, Podolski, Schürrle, Götze, Draxler all with underwhelming performances this year plus still literally all wing-back options after two years of trying to find a successor to Lahm are improvisations with varying degrees of shakiness.

Still, the axis Neuer - Boateng - Khedira/Kroos - Özil - Müller seems in good shape and might make for up it as long as they stay healthy.

This Belgium Finalnd friendly is pretty terrible. Not sure if playing Jan and Toby as fullbacks is the biggest problem but it certainly seems strange. Wilmots also apparently has said that Fellaini is their biggest goal threat. They now seemed destined to be another golden generation that doesn't win anything.

I hate myself and am therefore watching the Poland vs Holland friendly. Holland leading by an easy peasy header from Janssen (who will be scooped up by a 5-10th place PL side this summer, underperform terribly and to never be heard of again), and both sides don't seem to have a clue what football is. Loving it.

Wilmots doesn't know what to do with them but it seems the Belgian FA can't get or afford anyone else atm (not even better domestic coaches)

Cantona on Deschamps suing him: "It's the first time he will go from a defensive position to an offensive position."

lol this England formation is fucked

Other than Hodgson and TWP himself there isn't a single person who thinks that Alli wouldn't be better suited to playing behind the front two.

how the fuck can this be allowed to happen

wtf!

(Bruno Alves sent off for a HEAD HIGH kung fu kick on Harry Kane)

No easy games in international football:

Croatia 10 San Marino 0
France 3 Scotland 0 (at half time)

holland dispatching former tournament dark horses austria makes me feel 3% better about poland's shit performance the other night

Ryan Maxwell ‏@TheeRFS Jun 4
2016 Ridiculous Soccer Almanac.pdf - Google Drive #CopaAmerica #EURO2016 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-UyhZNN6pi2MUZCbG16QzhkWlk/view …

Ryan Maxwell ‏@TheeRFS 1h
@Zonal_Marking @jonawils

Michael Cox ‏@Zonal_Marking 1h
@TheeRFS what is this?!

Ryan Maxwell ‏@TheeRFS 1h
@Zonal_Marking Euro and Copa Almanac I put together. Thought you might enjoy it.

wow

Michael Cox ‏@Zonal_Marking 1h
Big fan of the variety of information in this

lol

pls move to I Love Cooking

this is wonderful

http://i.imgur.com/sd2e5Ssl.jpg

haha

Fucking spoilers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwAOc4g3K-g

Some wishful thinking in the 'ENGLAND - expected tactics' section

ENGLAND (Mango Chutney)

this is a work that transcends scholarship and probably deserves a prison sentence or a knighthood

he did one for the women's world cup last year too, in whose contents page can be found

50 Ports

Inspired by a blurb I wrote about Vancouver, I found a list of the largest shipping ports in the world and listed them here.

ok and *now* I find his tour de france board game

I find it very inspirational, even the errors and peculiarities are evidence of a certain sort of singular vision and effort that is charming and ambitious

comprehensive without the pretense of being definitive

also seems very in keeping with the gently weird spirit of cosmopolitanism you get with international football

as always, I'm stoked

i'm almost crying

was going to suggest an ilx meet up to play that but the appeal of the idea faded somewhere around page 78

http://i.imgur.com/kM3eoPx.png

Poland's preparations still going well.

Can't be much worse than Czech Republic, who were absolutely awful against S. Korea yesterday. Wales also looked terrible against Sweden but Bale only played the last twenty minutes or so.

https://twitter.com/rightbankwarsaw/status/739806483223879680

blasphemy is cultural progress of sorts tbfttl

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/676a78446280ed417584058ef5c7a7b2ddf660ee/0_20_2864_1719/master/2864.jpg?w=1920&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=0422aba68c35a2ee1841fb851b0a581b

seriously Cantona can go eat a bag of bites.

I'm starting to reconsider my hopeful punt on Iceland.

https://thisonesforyou.com/artwork-share.png

Spain have somehow contrived to lose to Georgia, who you could have had at 29/1.

Spain doesn't have a single decent striker or forward, that's their problem.

Morata? although he didnt have a good season

same with Costa

oh wait Costa isnt on the squad

I have taken the plunge and started a BBC predictor league, if you like.

http://bbc.in/1tjX1Wo

Aye, why not. Might as well have some interest in this thing :-(

I joined. :)

in

Game.

Only 128 messages in this thread so should we just roll on into to the tournament with it?

Go on then.

Scottish guy at work has drawn England in the random office sweepstakes. lols have ensued.

I just got Belgium in ours. So, out in the first knock out round...

Scottish guy was like "I'll wear an England shirt and then when England get knocked out I'll never support England again", to which I replied "just like every other England supporter then".

Few of my mates are in Bordeaux for the Wales game tomorrow.

No alcohol allowed on any trains to Bordeaux on Saturday. No games allowed to be shown on bar terraces. Supposed to turn up at the ground three hours before kick off (no games shown in stadium). No alcohol in the stadium. Twitchy cranky CRS everywhere.

Sounds like a lot of fun.

guess the clampdown is fairly well-publicised for the euros, i've been to stade de france a few times for the rugby and it's always amusing when you talk to friends after the game who've had 4/5 non-alcoholic pints and been delighted with the lack of queue while buying them.

Yeah, Paris is my favourite rugby trip. We always drink in Gare Du Nord before hand as we know there's nothing around the ground itself apart from those non-alcoholic stalls.

There are obvious reasons why, but this sounds way twitchier and more edgy than South Africa.

i realise the chances of something happening are probably extremely slim, but it was definitely a factor in my decision not to go to any of the games. there were plenty tickets around and it's not as if it's far away. not just the threat of an attack but the sense that the atmosphere might be extremely intense and the security very tight.

It's a real shame because I was staying in Birmingham during Euro 96 and the atmosphere with all the Scottish and Dutch fans wandering around was fantastic. Different times though.

My friends who have gone were going to stay for the England game but decided to just make a weekend of it instead as I imagine the security will be pretty grim around that game on Thursday.

This stuff limiting alcohol, no games shown in bars, etc, sounds more like eighties style hooligan paranoia than the high level of terrorism twitchiness you'd expect. Or is it just that emergency measures introduced after the terror attacks are seeing increasing authoritarianism in all aspects of life?

I'm guessing bar terraces (which is where the ban is, rather than bars themselves) are seen as a soft target for any passing nutter with a gun?

Also I have zero idea about the logistics of policing and organising security around an event on this scale with a persistent terrorism threat but I'm guessing having a load of drunk England fans doing their usual thing has to be an unwanted distraction at the best of times.

TBF the French authorities might be inclined to look almost affectionately towards the seat-throwing Ingerlund fan if he's the worst thing they've had to deal with by the end of the tournament.

bbc predictor wouldn't let me use merdeyeux as a name, political correctness gone etc etc imo

This stuff limiting alcohol, no games shown in bars, etc, sounds more like eighties style hooligan paranoia than the high level of terrorism twitchiness you'd expect. Or is it just that emergency measures introduced after the terror attacks are seeing increasing authoritarianism in all aspects of life?

Maybe they just don't want people associating Bordeaux with alcohol consumption?

Spain have just sent De Gea home apparently. Very horrible story developing by the looks of things.

http://www.marca.com/en/football/national-teams/2016/06/10/575ac480ca4741b4688b4581.html

RafaelH117: In Spain, a porn actor and director has been investigated for numerous crimes, including pedofilia, sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
RafaelH117: One of the protected witnesses in the case has testified that this man, nicknamed Torbe, forced her to have sex with two footballers.
RafaelH117: These two footballers are Muniain and an unnamed player. De Gea is said to have set up this date with Torbe, but didn’t assault her himself.
RafaelH117: De Gea is also mentioned in another incident in which he supposedly tried to set up a meeting with her and five Manchester United players.

thankfully I'm sure this won't lead to any sententious think pieces about why football is terrible

He's ready

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkmCtUUWkAAZHvi.jpg

De Gea has not been sent home and is training with the team fwiw.

yeah that was debunked p quickly.

no pitbull on that playlist? oh wait this isn't the copa america thread

Hodgson looking for our boys to play without fear. would make a change from playing without flair i guess.

https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCSporf/status/741330540331171840

Stanciu vs Evra might be interesting. France defending appallingly so far.

Pogba warming up nicely

He must be on Stoke City's radar.

Kante and payet both looking good so far, blitw confirmed, as if it needed confirmation

Ref has given Romania fuck all

Really disliking the red socks of les blues tbh

First shot of pretty female fan of the tournament?

usually i look forward to a tournament weeks, if not months, ahead of time but haven't been too bothered about this. so far the lovely contrast between the kit colours and the grass has been the highlight. giroud on arsenal form so far.

Oh, nice to see Maradona off the drugs

Everyone otm so far

diddy tournament

only missing a cat to be completely ready for his role in the next james bond film

xp

This is great so far, Stancu misses two sitters, French back four not so much an Achilles's heel as feet, calves, shins, the lot

mcdonalds may want to rethink their 'mcdonalds player escorts:you're lovin' it' pitch side advertising.

Lol unproven at time of broadcast

well that woke me up, almost a classic goal.

Shit keeper

lol keeper didn't want any of that

Possibly a foul. Not sure the keeper could have missed that if he wasn't being bodied.

never a foul, no more contact than any 2 players jumping for the same ball ever have imo

I've been holding back on a stack of "France would be dangerous with a centre forward" wisecracks too

Yeah, keeper just didn't commit fully, foul would've been v harsh I think

it's the spirit of Guivarc'h

xp

Giroud whacked into the top of his arm which would have surely restricted his reach. France are good value for it either way.

ooh dodgy

ey up

Stonewall pen

Ref otm

not content with losing juve the game vs bayern evra doubles down

i'm a gk and that was an obvious foul (for the france goal)

Stanciu vs Evra might be interesting.

There goes my first correct score

useless from evra

ah on comes coman, finally somebody exciting

How does a Frenchman end up being called Kingsley?

TV ref says no pen

yeah well the france goal was a foul

giroud literally bats aside his arms

thought a midfield of pogba/matuidi/kante would boss this much more than they have.

Not like a goalie to moan about being under protected

hmm would've hooked kante before pogba

Will love it if Romania nick this

Payet and pogba have used the ball appallingly

Thought the french goal was a foul, but only on replay.

Boom

So good.

damn son

Claiming assist

Payet you cliche git :D

wow, beauty

Payet you magnificent bastard

off-foot too, eh?

France frantically trying to fuck it up again

Can't be doing with this crying after scoring a goal though.

Youre scottish. How would ye know.

Criying Payet = 🐐

Aubameyang was one of the 4 players from Ligue 1 I was unfamiliar with that really stood out for me
last season. The others being Payet (who LFC should have got for the RWF role that I guess Aspas/Moses are set for) Ochoa and Valbuena.

― pandemic, Saturday, September 7, 2013 2:02 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sadly i think of this often.

Youre scottish. How would ye know.

― Daithi Bowsie (darraghmac), Friday, June 10, 2016 8:52 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

All I can say is youse lot better play well in this tournament.

If not we'll just blame mccarthy

Result

Castlemilk might just have to come to your rescue once again.

Heh that ones passed me im afraid

Houghton, McCarthy and McGeady (is he there?) are all from Château de Lait.

mcgeady isnae i don't think, but from close by/has family there

Oh right, Wiki has him as a 'Notable Resident' - along with 50 other footballers and 5 other people.

Good info

Just saw Emirates are showing the games live in flight, making my decision to go with Qantas because they have marginally better wine regrettable.

I will miss all the games today but think England should win fairly comfortably. Slovakia should also be too strong for Wales.

How in the hell did West Ham manage to sign Payet

will just say that my current predictions for today don't match either of SV's

so, Albania - Switzerland. a drubbing?

i have somewhat pessimistically opted for 1-0 Switzerland on the BBC predictor thing. form book suggests that they've been rubbish this year, they squeaked past Moldova last week with a late winner(2-1).

Albania i know nothing about except that during qualification they only conceded more than one goal on one occasion (0-2 defeat to Serbia), which suggests that they are at least organised.
3rd place qualification thing means that weaker teams and boring bastards who are keen to progress might just shut up shop and pray for a point.

this is my reasoning, though i hope i'm dead wrong and Shaqiri tears the Albanian defence to pieces

yeah i don't trust the qualifying/pre-tournament form too much when it comes to the pressures, stupidity and dumb luck of tournament play. feel like Switzerland are flat track bullies too.

this is fun, crowd are making a nice racket

Good call, NV.

uh oh, could indeed be a drubbing

(xp)

Plenty of time! But obv Albania 's will to keep it tight is gonna be tested now

Otoh Romania last night kept good shape without being negative. Albania look made in a similar mould - they're not gonna sit in their own half

Lol rooney

Stupid twat.

ah you cunt i was on for the 1-0 as well

oooh Embolo, he's the boy on the latest FM, i love seeing these guys in real life

Switzerland's lack of commitment to matching my Predictor score here has been a disgrace

I predicted a 1-1, and tbh Switzerland would deserve that

Ohhhh you fool!

X(

whatever the result now either side only have themselves to blame

altho Albania not being given that pen 10 minutes ago didn't help them

Oh you jammy Swiss bastids.

Albanian incompetence rather than Swiss luck I'd say, the Albanians had plenty of chances

Swiss shd've won it at a canter but for lack of application. couple of big saves from Berisha after fucking up for the goal, too.

yeah the Albanians had chances too, it's just that by rights Switzerland could've bossed it much more convincingly

let us hope that is the most inept game of the day

Otm. The way they played the second half was a disgrace, esp against ten. Xp

Xxp otm.

I'd fancy Romania's chances after that game

i am willing to bet cash that that isn't the most inept game of the day

yeah Romania clearly 2nd best in the group on those first performances

BBC's D&D trailer for Wales pretty fucken embarrassing huh?

Looks like Terry Yorath takes a drink, as they say North of the Border.

when he was assistant at Town he wasn't shy of hitting the road after a drink either. In my irl dealings with him he was a real horrible tosser tbh, he's got that indelible Dirty Leeds spirit in him for sure.

Dave Edwards, brings a tear to my eye, not for the first fucking time

Ffs Wales. Wake up

Great block though

Amazing start

Get fucking in! Bale you beauty!

BOOM

I thought he was going the other side too

keeper's fucked it

bunderful!

Slovakia look extremely inept

Joe Allen is playing a blinder tho theres no-one there challenging him either

Slovakia look rattled, not inept. Perhaps hadn't anticipated this level of intensity from Wales, I dunno. Far from out of this.

yeah, Allen has been great. Ramsey is trash though

Jason Mohammad disagrees, "He's been terrific this first half".

Skrtl prime example of a player who needs to cheat to play top level but refs constantly seem to apply lenience based on this, in individual cases or to entire teams.

Those goalline official positions are just a joke

Why isn't there a No Savage option on the red button ffs

There is! You can listen to John Hartson instead.

Oh dear, Duda

oh ffs

Lol commentator's eye

Williams not amking a good noise

Nor moving too well

J Williams played well imho

Went down too easily but looked good besides. Refs letting play run so far.

Ramsey you sod

Woeful woeful woeful

Yaaa

Ya dancerrrr

nice one!

Slovakia are dirty tarts

Ramsey with the accidental assist

Otm, he's completely useless

He made a cunt of himself there but the assist was kosher

I had this 1-1, so near yet so far

Oof

Save or post

Lol NV. I predicted 2-1 and am content.

Oh Ramseypaws

Shocking from ramsay

Ramsey gash again

Talk about a dumb blonde.

De bumble don

This is gonna make England's lame 0-0 even sweeter for Celts everywhere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyNRmZiRd9g

I had 1-1 and am now finding myself in the awkward position of wanting a Slovakia equaliser for points. Predictor leagues are evil beasts.

Have already decided not to get emotionally involved with the Predictor

Uhm correction seems my dumbass changed the prediction to 1-0 last drunk night smdh

Finally Skrtled

This is lovely. Pretty much a perfect start too, no yellows for Wales right?

This is gonna make England's lame 0-0 even sweeter for Celts everywhere

Yeahhhh, well, can't say I've ever had too much fellow feeling for the Welsh tbh

This is lovely. Pretty much a perfect start too, no yellows for Wales right?

I was another 1-1 predictor, had a giddy 20 minutes there where I thought I was gonna be 2 for 2 today.

Fuxk it tho, I'm very pleased for Wales, would love to see them do over Russia and have a run to the quarters

So your predictions for Ingerlund? I've a 2-1 win for them tho think it could easily be 3-0. Russia are so useless. But then it is England. Hmmm.

I feel like getting behind ROI in this tournament but with Keane involved it almost totally puts me off them. Otherwise in the short term I'm supporting whoever is playing England :P

Yeah, I'll be amazed if England don't win that one, 2-0 I reckon.

England kinda deserves to lose for the MAYHEM in MARSEILLE

England 0-0, then if he has any human decency Rooney writes a brief note and walks out of the tent and disappears

@Simon_Rowntree I cannot believe what I am seeing. #ENG fans have lifted a disabled black man off his wheelchair and thrown him into the river. Disgusting.
@Simon_Rowntree #ENG fans in their thousands, collectively chanting "Refugees fuck off to Pakistan, we're voting to leave the EU". Very distasteful.
@JakeJefferies A number of #ENG fans are chanting to French inhabitants, "we know what you are, ISIS terrorists, we know what you are". Absolutely vile.
@JakeLynchSports Small group of #ENG fans completely naked chasing women around Marseille city centre. Absolutely repulsive, illegal and embarrassing.
@Jamie_Scoines A group of around twenty #ENG fans are outside a mosque in Marseille and throwing packets of bacon and sausages at the entrance. Disgusting.

Oh, seems to be fake. Fuck if I know.

Not fake? Idk

xp
It's like it was with Owen, once you are in the international club it doesn't matter how mediocre you currently are. Just keep quoting your stats and talking up the importance of international experience and grimacing every time Vardy scores yet again.

(xp) Looks fake to me. Nice combination that though, Ingerland and Russia.

Those tweets may be fake but ive seen enough disgraceful footage of Ingurlish beating the crap out of anything and anyone.

Hoping England win tonight and are saving one of their traditional shit group games for Thursday.

2-1 England tonight, in spite of Rooney. if Hodgson were only prepared to drop Rooney and bring someone in who can run, Henderson or someone, fuckin Milner even. jfc i'm getting angry just thinking about it

I'm more amused than angry but there's something morally bankrupt about his place in the starting line up

Shame Rashford isn't starting.

tbf Rooney's transformation into the creaking, wheezing wreck of an athlete that he is today has given me inordinate pleasure over the last few years, can't have your cake and eat it i guess

It was laughable when Man U gave him the security of that mega contract, like as if they were desperately fending off multiple imaginary suitors. it was really funny tho!

Building an entire foireann around the fuckin rúnaí

Those kits! Hadnae seen them before. Hurting my eyes.

Ah, the thrill when the national anthem starts and I picture her head on a pike

Photoshopped onto the body of an actual pike

which would probably make her look better than the rude lime green getup the senile fucker was wearing today:p

Kane still on corners...

so it wasn't just me who thought that Ramsey sucked ass?

Nah he was dreadful.

Lol that cross field pass by Rooney

Lol waz getting caught in his own half

He learned that from LVG, it's called a "tikkie breed"
xpost

Lol

Walker and rose great fun going forward but never more than a cunthair away from calamity at the back. Haven't followed ilf too closely the last year or so but I daresay this will have been noted by te Spurs contingent

Tbf to England I've seen them go whole tournaments without creating this number of chances

Sterling is a fuxkin coward

England playing quite well tbf. I'd put Vardy on for Kane though, he looks knackered

Rhttps://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/designs/12253239,width=178,height=178,version=1360541789/Happy-Poop-%7C-Poop-Emoticon.pngney

Lord knows I hate the prick more than anyone, but he hasn't been that bad

Rooney doing alright here largely because Russia don't seem to have a midfield tonight

Can't remember England ever being so dominant in a tournament game, this is very pleasant

He just doesn't belong (any more). Think of the possibilities with some decent youngun taking his place.

NN and Windsor otm

best half in a tournament i can remember seeing from an England team

Oh, seems to be fake. Fuck if I know.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 June 2016 18:09 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

iirc those are all from a weird cluster of twitter handles that constantly post made up eyewitness accounts like that

Rooney has made a few good passes to cancel out the bloopers, it's more a case of there must be somebody better for that position

Rooney, walker and lallana all outstanding. England in danger of running themselves into the ground if they dont get a goal soon. Two Russian centre-backs look pretty solid too

I expected Russia to be shit but Jesus.

Vardy on for Sterling if anything atm, don't know if Kane is knackered or just dropping deeper, nicely fluid across the front 3/4

Sterling has looked good though. Final ball isn't quite there but this is all very promising. Kane taking the corners isn't working AT ALL though.

Rooney's distribution is probably better than Milner or Henderson's so I'm okay with him in that role but two recently converted players in central midfield is probably not going to work against proper opposition.

Watching Alli wriggle away from two Russian defenders was particularly enjoyable though.

xxxpost not too worried about guys getting tired, Vardy, Milner, Henderson, Studge, lots more legs on that bench if people start slowing down(and some half-decent players too!). this is weird guys, I know this Russia side are dogshit but when has that ever made a difference to England before? it shouldn't be this much fun to watch us at tournaments.

not sure i agree w/ Matt about Sterling, i don't like him and i don't think he offers much at all besides the initial burst of pace down the oustide and the little step back in. never seems to do anything incisive, doesn't know what to do with the ball when he actually has a choice to make

No problem with Walker and Rose flying forward, manager's job is to structure the team to cover that. Back four looks porous tho.

Sterling has been good in parts, his decision making is a bit suspect for me. Wouldn't change owt at this point.

"it's more a case of there must be somebody better for that position"

Drinkwater for a start, what did he do wrong this season?

Nah, I agree with Matt. Sterling's backheel for Ali's cross was the best move of the game imo.

maintain my position on this, Sterling also bang out of form, whereas Jamie Vardy was so brimming over with confidence by the end of the season that you could see it sloshing about behind his beady little rodent eyes

be pointless playing Vardy in Sterling's position though

Yeah i guess that's true, wouldn't want to change the shape at this point

Befuddled that Kane is assigned to take all corners and set pieces tbh

Putin's got this.

Walker and rose great fun going forward but never more than a cunthair away from calamity at the back. Haven't followed ilf too closely the last year or so but I daresay this will have been noted by te Spurs contingent

― Windsor Davies, Saturday, 11 June 2016 19:21 (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

We're set up to cover for this ye have rooney

Dunno if England are tiring or taking a breather but there's less players attacking the box when they get forward now

They're throwing it away imho. Chokehold of the first half is gone completely.

You may've missed the memo darragh, rooney's good now

Certainly don't have a defence you'd want to fall back on for any length of time

Yeah Roy needs to do something here, we've got enough on the bench to make an impact

Russia is so utterly piss poor. And yet.

Haha wow

jesus bloody hell

It had to be Roo

Amazing save tbf

Hodgson should've changed this up 10 minutes ago

omg save of the tournament

Had 0-0, changed it to 1-1. Think that was a mistake.

Half decent

Yeeeeeeeesssss you beauuuuty

Ok, I'll forfeit the 40 points for that

Boom

Get in

didn't know Dier could do that

This has been great this

fairly sure I've drained myself of any residual emotion for this team but stoked for Dier

lol me, curse of the commentator.

justice for the England eleven

tyldsley! "Justice for the England 11" :/

lol xpost

"Justice for the England 11" - wtf! I can't believe he just said that

OT but where are Nakh and LJ itt?

clive tyldesly disgusting cunt

Yeah that line completely had me hating England again, good work Clive

(Also xp)

i'm strictly limiting myself to support of the 72 goalkeepers at this tournament

lol so who the fuck is this coming on for England then?

steve mcmanaman calling out akinfeev for his positioning there - it was a monstrous hit and the lad's just made the save of his career ffs

Good to see you around and putting your care where it's most needed LJ :)

can we not get 10 mins of Jamie Vardy offering an out-ball here? Kane's done tonight

Ah hubris, haven't seen you for a while

a million quid kane misses this

Sterling is soooooo dumb

why have we not put some fresh legs out there? got 2 subs left, they all look tired

thank god

Sterling basically just runs forward with the ball really fast in a straight line and then loses it. Over and over again.

o rite. well yeah, 30 mins too late for hooking this cunt

NBS wholly otm

NBS otm

Xp

3 mins to fuck this up lol

wtf was that sound

Ahahaha

i hate myself

lol England

lol

(lovely header tho)

Justice for the Russian eleven

Real England

No way should that have gotten in

Hart walker out

"England deserve better" as if it wasn't their fault that they conceded

lmao

Your welcome, Wales

that never would have happened if Rooney was still on the pitch

stand up and walk off like pros, it's the first game you wankers

odd to see so plainly how much worse england are than spurs

Lol tho

what's not lol is the camera not cutting straight to that bull-necked mass of corned beef that had been bellowing "God Save the Queen" five minutes earlier

wd've been a sweet image

The state of Gary Cahill sitting in the middle of the pitch like he'd just lost the World Cup Final.

#prayforMarseille

xp EXACKLY

agreed about the England players being overly dramatic about this but all the same, fucking whistles and jeers at the whistle for the best England tournament 90 minutes in two decades (injury time doesn't count), fuck off lads what are you thinking

i couldn't gaf about us going through(we almost certainly will go through, try as we might to fuck it up for ourselves) or about how far we go in the tournament, 3 entertaining performances and a group stage exit is 100000x more appealing rn than a snoozefest thru to the QF's, and that was an entertaining performance.

that was fun. never been able to say that about England in a tournament in my life, so far as i can recall. whistling them off after that. i hope the marseille riot police kick yr fckin heads in

Daylight robbery, no justice for the England 11 there.

Aaaaand the English are up to fighting again, in the stands this time....

All those fighters that can fit into england shirts and still picking those two centre halves

Lee Dixon, magnanimous

can't decide if i am more convinced by LBI's anti-English fan bias or the BBC's pro-English fan bias

https://twitter.com/ianherbs/status/741736287737122817

WD, I'm not anti-English by any means, but cmon. Check one Twitter etc. 'fans' behaving terribly.

Not just the players that shit the bed so

lol!

Ha!

Caught the last twenty minutes. Genuinely amazed Russia got anything out of this but credit to Slutsky for shaping them into something resembling a team again.

lol i was teasing really LBI, do not use twitter and no inclination to start, England fans abroad are always the worst and i would never try to defend that shit.

but on this particular occasion it does seem like they may have been more sinned against than sinning? no police in a stadium w/ unsegregated fan groups does seem a little wtf given the heightened security measures that have supposedly been put in place

https://twitter.com/nickeardleybbc

Reports and video. After letting off smoke bombs, Russian fans charged on England fans at full time.

Seems like some serious complacency from the hosts here, after all the shit that kicked off earlier there is no segregation?

Rooney, Dier and Lallana played great, btw.

Yeah idk WD, Russia's fans tonight at least seem just as worse.

It just annoys me there's no mention of British fans destroying Marseille on here whatsoever. But whatevs.

The poor bloke whose Twitter handle is @woy is taking it with good humour

https://twitter.com/woy/status/741715957161299968

Less of the "British" please LBI, ta

xpost

Here are some Welsh fans being nice:

https://twitter.com/photosofootball/status/741701073665183744

Noted, Ailsa, and you're right

Glad to see Wales fans being cool. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in their game.

French BeIN have just called Eric Dier 'Payet Anglais'

Amazing.

Kicking off in Nice between some NI and Poland fans according to twitter reports.

Yep. England / Russia and Poland / NI are probably the two worst ties of the first stage for potential fan violence so it might calm down after this weekend.

"the best England tournament 90 minutes in two decades"

Second half was pretty drab fwiw.

Is Poland/NI a Catholic v Proddie thing or is there another reason?

Xpost Yeah most def, had been drinking and regretted that as soon as i posted it.

Still, it was much better than usual, and I maintain that if we do that twice more and don't get out the group that'd be preferable to blagging our way to the latter stages the way we have for the past x # of tournaments

Reading now that NI/Poland isn't them fighting each other but both sets of fans being set upon by locals

Second half was pretty drab fwiw.

this.

I was actually living in London during Euro '96 and can recall getting a late bus to Plumstead from work and witnessing the post Germany defeat kristallnacht that seemed to have occurred everywhere. Football hooligans are such grim beasts. I used to meet some great people travelling away, but also some of the worst people ever as well.

Obviously got hugely carried away last night ito praising the England performance as best in decades or w/e, touch of the sun perhaps, but I have nevertheless been genuinely amazed at the amount of criticism I'm seeing leveled at Hodgson and some of the players this morning - a mess, tactically inept, a demoralising start to a tournament etc.

have these cunts not watched England play at a major tournament in the past 12 years? have they forgotten the 0-0 draw with Algeria? 1-1 USA? 1-0 win scraped against Ukraine in 2012? the 0-0 and penalty exit against Italy? so we were naive last night and we didn't put away our chances against obviously vulnerable opposition. so fucking what really? what's that set against a decade or more of uninterrupted tournament tedium? constant fuckin tedium.

how long have these guys been saying hang the results, all we want is for an England team to turn up at a major tournament and just show a bit of passion, a bit of enterprise, just try to actually play some attacking football? some cunts will never be fucking happy.

Yeah, you could quite easily score 3 or 4 in one of your games if you keep playing like that. Just hope it's not Thursday

first half was as good as i can remember watching England play in a tournament, maybe going to back to beating the Netherlands in 1996, which i don't exactly recall with clarity.

this reaction is the real problem with England - i can't believe every other country responds to a 1-1 draw in the first match of a group as if it's a national disaster. that was real progress for the team last night, and for the first time in i don't know how long i wished them well, mostly.

defence was an accident waiting to happen but that's all about the available players. Rooney mostly acquitted himself well but is still completely unnecessary. some of the attacking players had better games than others but nobody was out of their depth. some tweaking necessary and some tactical acknowledgement that this squad isn't built for holding onto narrow leads.

no big deal. probably get thrown out of the tournament anyway. journalists and hoolies deserve each other.

Windsor Davies 100% OTM

Yep. Also the youngest team at the tournament so expecting flawless performances rather than a base to build from is ridiculous.

All very positive but worth bearing in mind that Russia are pish.

england were decent, although i'm not as sold on them as WD. The control in midfield was promising helped by the 2 wide forwards, unfortunately this positive is countered by the fact that the control they help foster means england play 2 wide frwds one of which lallana pretty much never scores and the other sterling can't finish which means they're relying on kane to score and he looked a little off it last night.

looking frwd to seeing croatia this afternoon

Drop sterling and kane, play rashford and students instead. Problem solved. Looking forward to Croatia too, my each way bet for the tournament.

Studge not students

After my sterling predictive work of wins for Slovakia and England yesterday i think Turkey could get at least a point here.

got this as a 2-2

Excited for this. 1-3.

england were decent, although i'm not as sold on them as WD. The control in midfield was promising helped by the 2 wide forwards, unfortunately this positive is countered by the fact that the control they help foster means england play 2 wide frwds one of which lallana pretty much never scores and the other sterling can't finish which means they're relying on kane to score and he looked a little off it last night.

should be noted that I rowed back my admittedly overzealous comments on the quality of the England performance; it's more the spirit of the thing that I admire, even when we weren't playing that well we were at least trying to.

more than praising the performance i was trying to express my disgust that after how many years of ppl begging for exactly this ("we don't care about the results! it's the turgid style of play!" etc., you wake up the next morning after a performance that was at worst encouraging (and at times positively thrilling) and it's still the same old shit in the newspapers / fb feed /w.e. bunch of moaning wankers

really excited about this one, i've got money on the score draw so i'm hoping to see something from Turkey here

Friend of mine predicts Turkey to win the competition. Highly doubtful but she did predict Leicester to win the league.

That was a yellow if I ever saw one, but you could see the ref indicating w/ three fingers that he thought it's too early in the game smh

England were ok against a poor outfit last night but the inability to make good use of possession and time out wide is something thats been a big trend in english football the past few years and showed last night. Sterling is exciting but pretty useless. Walker is the kind of player youd be happy to let cross all night as an opposition manager. Without incision through the middle its very easy to lock kane down.

Tbink wilshere and sturridge provide a little more of that than was evident in last night's lineup but without true width its just too compact in the centre.

Croatia otoh plenty of quality crossing but wasted so far

Oh my word luka

ooooh luka

Modric <333

God. Just the greatest little player.

Well that woke me up

hmm keeper poor on replay, still luka is lovely

Disagree. The dip and pace on that gave him another dimension to worry about.

think modric is the most obviously fantastic player whom i resisted recognising said fantasticness for the longest time.

lot of shit keeping so far

don't even have a dodgy ball to blame either

don't think i rated him till his last season at spurs iirc, shamefully belated on my part.
xp

Don't think this was shit keeping. It was an unexpected strike and fast as a cannonball.

Think if youre criticising the keeper there youre looking for reasons not to love football there i said it

turned on the radio, Lawrenson blaming the keeper, i'll go with the opposite of whatever Lawrenson says

Sterling really reminds me of when Gervinho played for us, they are best and fastest players to run into the opposition and give away the ball, achieving absolutely nothing

Lennon

Walcott actually better than them, which from me yknow

turned on the radio, Lawrenson blaming the keeper, i'll go with the opposite of whatever Lawrenson says

Oh, he always blames the keeper and if a keeper makes a spectacularly good save, it's "One for the cameras there". Twat.

Again- hates football

Definitely.

Hoddle blaming the keeper there on ITV. Again, tempted to go against him just because, y'know, twat. Bilic basically telling him to shut up.

TV3 has a female analyst and she is exactly as bad as anyone else in the role, viva progress

looking at it again the keeper seemed woefully unprepared to me. but it's true i do hate football tbf.

luka's technique was exemplary from an insanely difficult ball

Croatia Turkey definitely the best kit pairing so far fwiw.

She blamed the gk but in the nicest way possible

British ex-players should be banned from punditry for the duration of this tournament.

dunno i'd quite happily sub in souness for anyone the bbc has fronting up for them

Gk sees it late and did well to get close enough for his missing it completely to look pretty bad. Again id argue the dip had a lot to do with it

Nice connection, loses points aesthetically for being too central and bouncing before it goes in. Not a "great" goal

If Charlie Adam or some other midtable EPL landfill had scored that in an inconsequential game everyone would be pissing their pants.

everyone hates charlie adam

so no

imagine if it was Joe Hart in goal xpost

exactly

Great goal.

Ref sprays line. Everyone steps over line. Ref does nothing.

how du miss that ?!

absolute shocker

srna no way

Croatia starting to look like contenders here

What have i missed, was oit of room for a minute

Bounce of ball is irrelevant imo if the pace has it going by you like that

keeper parried the ball out to Srna, screwed it wide with most of the goal to aim at

shame that would have been a beautiful goal after modric turned and flicked himself out of pressure at the start of the move there

who does Perisic play for? Impressive