Internationals June (Euro Qualifiers + Nations League Finals)

Snow

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Iceland home record must be incredible, when was the last time you lost a World cup or euro qualifier @Snow ? Can see you holding France when you play them.
We lost recently to both Belgium and Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League. Played horribly in both matches and were missing too many players with a new manager. Couple of the worst games I've seen in a good while.

In the WCQ we won all 5 and only conceded in 1. Didn't lose a match in the Euro 2016 qualification. Last loss in a qualification was 6 years ago. We did finish 2nd in that group but lost the play-offs against our now arch nemesis Croatia.
 
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Are Welsh people happy with Giggs then or? I've only watched their last two games, they don't look up to much. Although Bale looks so over the hill so that's a major disadvantage compared to Coleman's side.
Short answer.... no. Too cautious and don't get the same manager/players vibe... Coleman was a good man manager and the team was more than the sum of its parts.

Apart from Bale though, a few players have aged badly in 2-3 years .... Allen, Williams, Davies. Also there was an element of the stars aligning in 15 and 16 - everything Bale touched turned to gold, Williams was immense, Ramsey key in the middle, squad players stood up, we rode our luck at times (no idea how we beat Belgium in the qualifiers).

Three years on, a couple have left, a couple injured, 3/4 over the hill. We haven't got the squad/depth to cope with that and we tend to have one decent team per decade. Roll on 2022 :)
 

SquishyMcSquish

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I actually think they've got some of the best youngsters in British football. Amapdu and Brooks are very good talents, just need to stop getting injured. James is good and has got his big move then you have likes of Woodburn who's regressed lately but still very young. Harry Wilson is a bottom half premier league player so will probably get a move to a side there next season.

They can never seem to produce international quality striker though Vokes is their best and you have to play hoofball for him to be effective so he's just a plan B option for them.

Missed Ramsey's energy and goal threat in these round of games big time aswell. Going to be pressure on them to win the home games now, was same for the last World cup qualifiers and they choked at the end.

Getting 2nd ahead of Hungary and Slovakia is not some impossible task so it would be a bit of a failure from Giggs not to make euros imo.
They've got some promising youngsters, but that can't be expected to translate to success on the pitch immediately. Ampadu is 18 and doesn't start for a senior side, Brooks is a good talent but injuries have stopped him being able to make an impact in qualifiers, James has got his move but is still a championship player with unexceptional productivity .. Woodburn has done very little of late and Wilson, as of now, is still just a very good championship player. They have very little top level, proven quality, the potential is there for sure but that'll need time.

And yeah, Ramsey is a huge miss, with him they have another proven player at the top level with experience and that can make a big difference. I also think they need to start working on transitioning from becoming a side reliant on a bit of Bale magic to a more all round team, because it's increasingly becoming clearer that he's no longer at that level where he can carry a side on his own. That'll be tough for them, they had the best British player for a good while and it transformed them.

The defensive options are still absolute shite though, and I can't see anyone coming through to change that. Ashley fecking Williams should not still be getting international call ups, he's dreadful now.
 

bosnian_red

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Still think we'll be ok overall, but we are really reliant on Pjanic for any creativity or good play. Remaining fixtures are:
  1. Liechtenstein (H) - easy win
  2. Armenia (a) - should win, might be tricky
  3. Finland (h) - should win
  4. Greece (a) - tough but I'm confident if we are fully fit we can win
  5. Italy (h) - Italy favourites, based on today at home we can get something
  6. Liechtenstein away
Rough results after the opening 4, 1 win, 1 where we threw away the game, one bad performance without Pjanic against 2nd place currently, one unlucky loss against the main favourites... Think realistically we can go 4-1-1 in those 6, giving us 17 points total (might do 5 wins but need a lot of injury luck).

The 2 points dropped at home vs Greece could be the most costly, especially because it meant Pjanic missed the next one.
 

Peyroteo

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Holland have playoff insurance from the Nations League and I think best placed 3rd teams get a shot in the playoffs too. It’s really hard for the bigger nations to fail now. Holland managed it last time but I don’t see it happening again.
No, only the top 2 get through.

Holland and Portugal are the only two big teams that should be worried about not qualifying directly but both have the playoff as insurance since they made it through the Nations League groups.
 

FootballHQ

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Giggs has actually mainly gone for the new generation at the back, today he just went back to the old guard of Gunter and Williams to play for a 0-0 seemingly.

I agree it's a weak part, that Lawrence guy does look hopeless. No idea what his usual level for Anderlecht is, Mepham is part of a Bournemouth back 4 shipping 3-4 often in premier league and Connor Roberts really struggled at RB on Saturday although of course a Perisic on form is a very tough left winger to defend again. Ben Davies is miles off being fit aswell given they asked him to delay an operation to play in these games.

They had more security playing the 3-5-2 under Coleman. Conceded very few goals in the euro 2016 qualifying (two clean sheets v Belgium). Seems Giggs dosen't want to play that even though they still have the players to perform in that system.
 

FootballHQ

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Still think we'll be ok overall, but we are really reliant on Pjanic for any creativity or good play. Remaining fixtures are:
  1. Liechtenstein (H) - easy win
  2. Armenia (a) - should win, might be tricky
  3. Finland (h) - should win
  4. Greece (a) - tough but I'm confident if we are fully fit we can win
  5. Italy (h) - Italy favourites, based on today at home we can get something
  6. Liechtenstein away
Rough results after the opening 4, 1 win, 1 where we threw away the game, one bad performance without Pjanic against 2nd place currently, one unlucky loss against the main favourites... Think realistically we can go 4-1-1 in those 6, giving us 17 points total (might do 5 wins but need a lot of injury luck).

The 2 points dropped at home vs Greece could be the most costly, especially because it meant Pjanic missed the next one.
Finland still got home games v Armenia, Leichtenstein and Greece so could easily be another 7-9 points for them there. Think it will be similar to euro 2016 qualifiers for you guys when that shock early loss to Cyprus at home basically screwed up your chances and allowed Wales to move comfortably ahead as Finland are doing.

Can't remember if you have fall back option of play offs.
 

bosnian_red

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Finland still got home games v Armenia, Leichtenstein and Greece so could easily be another 7-9 points for them there. Think it will be similar to euro 2016 qualifiers for you guys when that shock early loss to Cyprus at home basically screwed up your chances and allowed Wales to move comfortably ahead as Finland are doing.

Can't remember if you have fall back option of play offs.
Yeah think so too. Even with those results, think Finland will get 9 points and finish 2nd. We made playoffs then but coach was shite and we lost to Ireland I think. This year we'll have playoffs one way or another though, we got promoted to division A in nations league and we're probably the only side who won't have made it in division A so we'll make it to the playoffs through that. The hope is direct qualification, but we'll see. Aldo I might be misunderstanding how Nations league works.
 

Classical Mechanic

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No, only the top 2 get through.

Holland and Portugal are the only two big teams that should be worried about not qualifying directly but both have the playoff as insurance since they made it through the Nations League groups.
But with so many of the elite group qualifying anyway, would Germany likely get a playoff place if they finished 3rd anyway?
 

Amar__

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Still think we'll be ok overall, but we are really reliant on Pjanic for any creativity or good play. Remaining fixtures are:
  1. Liechtenstein (H) - easy win
  2. Armenia (a) - should win, might be tricky
  3. Finland (h) - should win
  4. Greece (a) - tough but I'm confident if we are fully fit we can win
  5. Italy (h) - Italy favourites, based on today at home we can get something
  6. Liechtenstein away
Rough results after the opening 4, 1 win, 1 where we threw away the game, one bad performance without Pjanic against 2nd place currently, one unlucky loss against the main favourites... Think realistically we can go 4-1-1 in those 6, giving us 17 points total (might do 5 wins but need a lot of injury luck).

The 2 points dropped at home vs Greece could be the most costly, especially because it meant Pjanic missed the next one.
We are screwed, again we will depend on our rivals to lose games they should be wimning easy and that never turns out good for us. We shouldn't at least have lost against Finland, or drop points against Greece. Italy was our hope, but considering the difference in quality we should be looking at these games as a bonus. We simply lack quality all around, we have no decent players to fill the team who are good to play for lower teams in Bundesliga anymore, let alone at top teams.
 

SCP

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But with so many of the elite group qualifying anyway, would Germany likely get a playoff place if they finished 3rd anyway?
If they finish third they won’t have a playoff. Anyway as things are they will comfortably finish first. It will be between NIR and Netherlands who gets second place.
 

do.ob

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Germany already won the hardest match of their group, maybe Netherlands will win the return match and take first place, who knows, but how many points do you think Northern Ireland will get against both teams?

I have no idea how good Germany is at this point, but I have little doubt that the team is sharp enough after the WC and the following shake up that they won't drop points against Belarus or Estonia, unless already qualified.
 

FootballHQ

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Germany already won the hardest match of their group, maybe Netherlands will win the return match and take first place, who knows, but how many points do you think Northern Ireland will get against both teams?
Belfast is a tough place to get a win, they've turned over many good teams at Windsor Park over the last 15 years. I can see it being a low scoring draw v Holland (think their defence can contain Memphis and Babel comfortably) and also a draw v Germany if you've qualified by then and aren't putting a full team out.

They'll more than likely lose the two away games though so think Holland will still pip them even if they lose in Germany themselves.
 

bosnian_red

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We are screwed, again we will depend on our rivals to lose games they should be wimning easy and that never turns out good for us. We shouldn't at least have lost against Finland, or drop points against Greece. Italy was our hope, but considering the difference in quality we should be looking at these games as a bonus. We simply lack quality all around, we have no decent players to fill the team who are good to play for lower teams in Bundesliga anymore, let alone at top teams.
The way I see us is we have 4 genuinely good players, then a group of players who can at best do a job. Take out 2 of those 4 good players like vs Finland and we'll look awful. Just no depth these days.
 

Gentleman Jim

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Bit silly. I definitely don't recall him being a failure at City at all, certainly not a roaring success but a decent backup striker who had his good and bad moments, which is what you can pretty much expect from a substitute striker.
He wasn't a failure and wasn't crucified except from a few keyboard warriors and gobshites in the ground.
His control was ordinary and he was very much a confidence player so scored his goals in bunches in between droughts.
It certainly didn't help trying to cope with being part of a group of 4 highly regarded strikers with Aguero, Tevez and Mad Mario but he scored some big goals for City and is remembered fondly by the majority of Blues.
 

Amar__

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The way I see us is we have 4 genuinely good players, then a group of players who can at best do a job. Take out 2 of those 4 good players like vs Finland and we'll look awful. Just no depth these days.
... with two or three who can't even do that. I think that's the biggest problem. Our fullbacks are worse than United's.
 

Patchbeard

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Paddy McNair scored a belter of a late winner. Looked like a proper inside forward cutting inside and lacing it past the keeper.
 

Reiver

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Lukaku isnt bad with a decent system huh?
You should have seen one of his misses tonight. He attempted to tap it in with his right foot, only to clear it with his left. Probably couldn't do it again if he tried.
I started to have hope he was going to have one of those nights, or as he calls it, just a typical United performance. But no.
Hopefully his goals tonight against us put to bed the claims he never scores against the big teams.
 

No Idea For Nickname

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You should have seen one of his misses tonight. He attempted to tap it in with his right foot, only to clear it with his left. Probably couldn't do it again if he tried.
I started to have hope he was going to have one of those nights, or as he calls it, just a typical United performance. But no.
Hopefully his goals tonight against us put to bed the claims he never scores against the big teams.
:lol: good one.
 

Ainu

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It’s so unreal as a Belgian that we are winning these games so easily. Growing up losing to Cyprus and Azerbaijan, this is just fantastic. It won’t last, but I’m enjoying every bit of it.
Yup, we even get bored during matches like this now. Routinely beating lesser teams 3-0 isn't impressive on paper, but in 10 years time when we're massively struggling and often losing against such teams again, we'll be looking back fondly on times like these.
 

Andycoleno9

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Portugal now secured Euro 2020? So they will play qualifications for what? What a strange situation
 

Peyroteo

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Portugal now secured Euro 2020? So they will play qualifications for what? What a strange situation
Winning Nations League doesn’t give automatic qualification. We’ll go to the playoffs if we don’t finish top 2.

Right now the playoffs would be Portugal v Croatia and Holland v Switzerland
 

KirkDuyt

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No, only the top 2 get through.

Holland and Portugal are the only two big teams that should be worried about not qualifying directly but both have the playoff as insurance since they made it through the Nations League groups.
Please tell me we can't draw each other :lol:
 

KirkDuyt

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Read up a bit. So as it stands now, the play offs will be between: The Netherlands, Swiss, Portugal, England. But any of these that qualify directly give their play off ticket to the team that finished below them in the Nation's league poule?
 

Mrs Smoker

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Some Poles below:

Andrzej Bendyk
"Pogrom" in Poland means just "decisive and great victory with big loses to enemy". Eg "pogrom wojsk niemieckich pod Stalingradem" ( pogrom of German troops at Stalingrad)., "pogrom wojsk szwedzkich pod Kircholmem" ( Pogrom of Swedish troops at Kircholm ). Polish antiterrorist division has a name "Grom" which means "thunder" Word "po " means after. So its just "after thunder"
Jędrzej Ziółkowski
Well, don't shit yourself, in Polish 'pogrom' is a normal sports term meaning victory over much worse opponent. Don't search for antisemitism where it isn't present. Cheers!
Cheers, Jędrzej!
 

SquishyMcSquish

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Wait, the Nations League doesn't even give you a fecking Euro's spot? I mean I was wondering whether a team would still play the qualifiers and how that would make sense, but jeeze.

Southgate should have played the u21's. Some of our seniors (kane, alli etc) badly needed the nice early holiday.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Read up a bit. So as it stands now, the play offs will be between: The Netherlands, Swiss, Portugal, England. But any of these that qualify directly give their play off ticket to the team that finished below them in the Nation's league poule?
That's how I interpret it but I have been told that the playoff places won't get passed on.
 

KirkDuyt

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That's how I interpret it but I have been told that the playoff places won't get passed on.
Confusing stuff.

Eitherway, I'm not worried about the playoffs. I'm sure we will finish above N. Ireland in our qualification poule. Even with the silly order of play and them somehow winning all their games somewhere around the 85th minute.
 

Peyroteo

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So it would be a major balls up for one of the top nations not to qualify.
The playoffs have 4 teams and only 1 makes it through. It's basically 2 one off games, fairly easy to miss out if teams don't qualify automatically.

It only takes one or two bad games and the dutch could easily miss out on going to the Euros for example.