Three Kittens not Lions against Slovenia, but can England still win it?
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- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- What’s up with Bellingham? Just how fit is Harry Kane? And will Gareth Southgate finally ring the changes for the knockout stages? Jeff and Merse discuss England’s drab display against Slovenia. Merse genuinely still thinks England will win the Euros…but why?
They also debate if it’s the end for Steve Clarke and Scotland, assess the other contenders, ask if Austria's good form reflects badly on Manchester United and pay respect to Luka Modric and some of the other legends at the tournament.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Our next episode on Saturday is a Q&A with Merse and Jeff where you can react to anything they've said or ask them about the Euros, football or themselves.
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Football's Greatest: Euros is a Folding Pocket production with BBC Studios. - Спорт
Dont know why Merson gets stick. He actually makes good points, and better insight than most pundits.
I've always said this mate. Merse offers a lot more insight.
People tend to judge Merson for his off field issues, but he was a great player, and he knows what he's on about because he's won trophies.
He's humble and speaks with a cockney accent so people think he's a thicko.
The booze and coke may have addled his brain but he's still a born baller.
@@kevyarhamPrime Merson was silk.
We could play Barbados and Southgate would still play 2 defensive midfielders. The guy needs to grow a pair. He earns 5 times what the Spanish coach earns and for what? Being a nice guy that the players like?
He’s a political manager not a football one. That’s why he’s still in the job.
Because he’s exactly what the FA want, a yes man.
Southgate reminds me of an incompetent boss I used to work with. Would I enjoy having a pint with him? Sure. Do I want him in charge of my team? Absolutely not.
Jurgen Klopp spent his entire playing career as a full back in Mainz. Yet, he masterminded the most aggressive heavy metal football ever.
No he Didn't he just copied another managers philosophy and made tweaks to improve it to a degree, just as Guardiola is copying Cruyff Ticky Tacka philosophy none of the current managers in the game have invented any new Footballing philosophy just took other managers styles and tweaked them where they felt the tweaks could make the philosophy even better. Major issue with Southgate is his that Dumb he can't even copy any mangers style he played under he seems to suggest his kind of following Venables philosophy and even then his no where near how Venables set up etc. But hey Southgate gets £5 mill a year for being that utterly useless and to get paid that amount for being that useless makes him the smartest manager in footballing history.
@@cheetah8667 everyone borrows from people. bottom line is, with the players England have, Kloppo would have finished the group with 9 points and a goal difference of 23-0. Not all defenders play defence-minded football. Southgate is a national disgrace
@@cheetah8667 Klopp and Pep didn't just copy. They took over and made it to the best existing styles. Soon or later other managers will do the same to them 😂
He scraped a lot of results & settled for a lot of draws. 😄
He understands what hurt him
don't know why there's this obsession with "playing rice further up the pitch". He's so wooden when he gets the ball on the edge of the box he has absolutely no idea what to do with it and hasn't got the agility to turn with any kind of guile. He's englands best tackler. When an opponent takes a heavy touch or shows him too much of the ball, he takes the ball off their feet every time and has the vision and composure to move it forward quickly. He's the only option we've got as the deep midfielder. We have enough creativity further up the pitch so it's baffling that these pundits seem to think rice is steven gerrard going forward.
🔴 I agree with most of what you have said! But I think that playing Wharton at the base is perfect and probably better than playing Rice there because Rice is not a 6. He can't play it, he can't dictate. He doesn't pass the ball forward quickly enough, takes too many touches before releasing and doesn't break lines with forward passes. He passes side ways and backwards. I believe Wharton can do it and play that role better. Wharton's first through is forward and at international level that is key 🔴
Southgate’s record is good against poor teams, but awful against the top teams. And this is with a talented squad of players
Sincerely a very funny conversation....love Paul's optimism borderline delusional but sincere nonetheless.....Hartlepool supporter....Jeff is more grounded....it would be a sporting tragedy if such a character like Southgate wins this or any other competition....c'mon England.....
Basically Spain play the same style of football with the same patterns of play from the youth ranks up to the national team. Similar with the German team. Plus they play the best player they have for a given position. They very rarely try to shoehorn in players just because they’re good (ie scoles on the left, foden on the left) as it unbalances the team and ruins the basic tactics these players have played for years. English international football has been a joke for years because the media and therefore the fans always focus on the individual rather than the strategy. It’s a team sport made up of individuals not individuals who make a team.
England have been incredibly lucky again with fixtures. Favourable draws and poor performances are what Southgate’s England are most famous for.
Maybe Uefa, fifa, are feeling sorry for them, and are desperately trying to help them win something after 58 years of trying?😅
ENGERLUND have been lucky in previous draws in a lot of competitions world,European whatever which hides the fact that they have failed in every competition 😴 apart from 60 yrs ago past glory is not good enough 🤷🏻♂️
@@garyfletcher1910Qualifying for tournament's ain't worth a hill of beans if you make no impression when you get there, 55 years to wait for just a second tournament final appearance is pretty pathetic for a country with nearly 60 million people, and it's supposedly the national game of that country!😮
@@garyfletcher1910For goodness sake man, the Netherlands with only a fraction of the English population, has reached 3 world Cup finals, and a Euro final in 1988.....
Why are you being so negative about it. Isn't it a good thing?
Merse was spot on with his comment @ 14:45 i.e sic "they're playing 442 lets go the same and match them, ,we've got better players"
It was my thoughts exactly when the game kicked off.
It would be a big call by Southgate but I think he should leave Bellingham out for the next game, he looks tired and confused. and people should remember that in 1966 Alf Ramsey left out Jimmy Greaves after 3 games and everyone thought Greaves was the best striker in the country. Sometimes you have to leave out a great player for the sake of the team.
The off-the-ball movement is strangling England. Gordon's more than a winger, he runs from outsside to in and beyond the last defender. Palmer and Gordon have to play. Bellingham loses every physical duel, he's getting bullied in midfield.
Yes, I agree. Not because Gordon is a Newcastle play, of which I am a fan, but because he really is good and will make impacts.
It's literally like watching an over 60s walking football team. Mainoo, palmer, Gordon looked electrically charged by comparison with the others.
Yes, that's the problem in a nutshell. There is NO movement off the ball. It's Foden's strength, but Bellingham keeps getting in the way.
Rice does not really offer anything in an England attack. His role has to change for England, otherwise I would rather have Bellingham and Mainoo in the centre. 99% of his passes are either backwards or sideways.
He is been doing for arsenal all the time
"You gotta have your best players on the pitch.." not when they're unfit and playing badly, Kane. Bellingham plays in a great midfield - the England midfield isn't balanced - he & Foden looked visibly frustrated against Slovenia. They haven't forgotten how to play.
Merse is correct people have sacrificed a lot to support this team and they should be giving back loads ,I’m sure everyone is glad England are top but they need to show a bit of fire
Merson is real he keeps it 💯 it’s refreshing. He is better than most pundits.
Merse is like going into Tesco after 8pm lookin for half price food, you need know what your gunna get, brilliant
Horse meat?
i could listen to merse for hours talks so much sense...
Three crabs
😁
Correction. Three Lambs .....
@@russellmathews3599 Lambs go forward we go sideways
Three donkeys 🫏
For me the image of the tournament so far was watching modric’s nervous face on the bench and then a minute later Italy score and Croatia get knocked out.
These guys literally didn't mention Mainoo apart from the fact he came on. Didn't mention if they thought he played well or not. Just shows the issues we have in English football. We don't recognise a different type of footballer. Mainoo getting on the ball and recovering the ball ensured England had their most dominant half of football. Let alone those couple of third man runs that created opportunities.
The england vs slovenia was putting me to sleep😡🏴
Gareth's secret plan. He's trying to make the opposition to fall asleep and then a secret hatrick while they are snoozing. 😂😂😂😂😂
are u 5 yrs old
@user-pw6gm1tu6q if you can't have a laugh at Englands performance so far, I suggest that you don't have a sense of humour 😉. Moron.!!
@@user-pw6gm1tu6qYou spell like you're 5.
Go back too 4 4 2 play like england play with wingbacks overlapping runs and crossing the ball into the box these teams can't handle two centre forwards they're not used to it because no one plays 442 no more most teams now play one up front
Can't wait for that to come back and it definitely will. There's no way every team can keep playing with this keep the ball and don't lose attitude as people will stop watching
You got no proper leftback who can cross with left foot
@@ronnyron4681 SAKA natural left foot
@@Junglist-zr4ui
Can he defend against top opposition?
@@ronnyron4681 I don't no he hasn't played there for years and there's no top teams until the semi finals and final so I would play him would be more balanced on the left as long as England attack more less pressure on a defence
Top comments by Merson
Harry Kane looked knackered after the pre-match warm-up!!! He was panting and sweating, for god's sake.
Never known a manager who is more bothered about the opposition!
No Paul you don't "have" to have your best players on the pitch...You have to have the 11 that play as a team under a system.....sometimes that means NOT having the "best" players on the pitch.🤷♂️
All Southgate cares about is players wanting to play for England and them being happy, couldnt care less about winning things or pleasing the fans. How is that acceptable? Imagine a club manager being like that? Who do they think they are? The whole point of international football is to represent your country, otherwise dont bother putting on the shirt and go play on your yacht all summer.
Merse cursed it when he said he will be shocked if we dont win it, we are terrible
Has Merson been put on something? Is he on crack, or Magic mushrooms 🍄 or some other substances or other? The Spanish, French, German, serial winners must be chuckling at this English idiot, and his hilarious babblings!😅😂😂
Love the Merse. He's able to hold multiple, contradictory thoughts in his head and share them in such a charismatically-matey way. He's brilliant.
there was real potential in the last 20 mins of the last game. fingers crossed that Southgate makes the changes
@@jakeyskywalker66Yes against a 57th ranked team, what about the serious big boys though?!
Still think England will win it
Southgateball has given a whole new meaning to ‘Three Lions on a shirt… never stopped me dreaming.’ ⚽️😴💭
Your talking like he's been a failure 😂! Look at the players he's had to work with! Not exactly like tge players Sven had!
I'm guessing this was an attempt at some sort of humor.
Great show, Guys. Great questions from Jeff & great insights from Paul.
9:16 mins hilarious 😂 😂😂
I agree, it looks bad that England topped the group with 5 points whereas Ukraine with 4points didn't even make it to the knock-out stage.
Paul merson always overhypes english players and the prem , he was saying england are the clear favourites and that no french player would get in the england side before the tournament started , he calls man united the biggest club in the world over madrid and barca which is just not true , the prem and english players are not as good as u make them out to be
Cry more pal
@@jamieoreilly3987 lol u want to suk off merson or something? Why do u care what im saying about another man ? Looks like ur the one crying trying to defend merson in the comments
England were favourites and Manchester United are much bigger than Barcelona who only won things coz of Messi
Harsh but fair...
@@dondamon4669 barca are bigger in every way to united , more tophys won , more ucl trophys won , more legendary players and ballon dor winners , bigger stadium, more fans and soical media followers, every player dreams of playing for barca and madrid
Merson said "Kyle Walker, he doesn't have to defend". Wow....he will never say that about Trent Alexander-Arnold.
He said ‘he hasn’t had to defend’. Completely different to what you said.
If Walker was playing in a first eleven where he ‘doesn’t have to defend’, then of course, if defending isn’t necessary, we would put Trent in immediately. But that’s never going to be the case with England. As soon as we play challenging opponents who will deliberately target Trent and that right hand side, we will be in trouble. Walker is all we need at right back.
Romania won their group with 4 points, the other 3 teams; Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine all finished on 4 points ... unreal ..
Thanks to you two legends. All the best!
Love Jeff n MERSE so much
Why dont other teams manage that? Because they are coached at national level into a system- a way of playing.
We ve been playing pedestrian football a long time before this tournament. Not sure what your seeing what the rest of us arent. No way will we win it, not a chance, France, Spain, Germany.....no way England.
Garth Southgate has got to go. He is more worried about loosing then winning. He was a defender his folofisey is defensive our best players our attacking players. He only has a plan A. When he leaves no top team will be interested.
I've seen a lot of talk about England having a very favourable draw, but that often works against them. As Merson says, as soon as England play a top level team, they lose.
2 goals in 3 games in the easiest group with effectively league 1 level opposition. Stats show were one of the worst performing in the tournament and everyone sees we’re playing the most boring football. But what riles me is the denial from the camp that were underperforming.
Palmer
Gordon / Foden / Saka
Rice /Bellingham
Trippier / Guehi / Stones / Walker
Pickford
Like it👍
The unusual thing is not getting more attacking flair out of that squad.
England's performance against Slovenia was significatly better than the previous two, especially the Denmark performance, and now they go into the knockout phase on the back of their best 45 minutes of the group. I know that doesn't suit the 'it's a disaster' hyseteria, but such is life.
The mighty Slovenia
@@christopherpaul1272 Yeah.
Merse is right about Rice, he plays further fwd for arsenal
Merson comments are 100% right he tells it how it is
Love Merse, wish he’d joined Chelsea back in the day. Quality.
Southgate made substitutions and changed the outcome of the game, fair play.
Like he said he doesn't know how good the Spanish league is I can tell you now it's a piss poor league worst its been in 15 years makes jude bellingham look amazing while in reality he's just an over hyped bang average player like Dele Alli was. We all know how the English media made out Dele Alli was this world beater he never was doing the same with bellingham
Still won the champ league
I know he is the biggest problem and can see other players don't like him, no one likes someone trying to make it all about themselves,and slapping there faces, he seems like he would be unbearable to be around
@HKVDay yea so did the Real Madrid 3rd choice goalkeeper doesn't make him world class does it 😂 he went missing in the champions league that's a fact... he's overhyped just a bang average player in a great team in a poor league
@@HKVDayThey got absolutely battered by city. Played like a league one team set up in the fa cup everyone behind the ball and played for penalties they are not a good side Madrid.
If it’s bang average what does that make the English league? Spanish clubs have won the ucl and the Europa more times than any country. U are clueless
I must agree with Jeff here about 11 minutes in. It's baffles me as to why a substitution should be allowed in the 89th minute or beyond that. It's unacceptable.
Make all your substitutions by at least the 75th or 80th minute, for goodness sake. Southgate has a lack of common sense frankly 😴
Our players are simply not enjoying playing football at the moment.
Pressure?
Tactics?
Lack of confidence?
Players 'out of position?'
All of the above?
Love Merse but not sure agree with the wavelength statement lol
Lesser teams don't have such good players so that means they don't have the wavelength issue?? 😅
I think if anything it's that those teams are more focused on the national game cos they have less intense and lucrative club careers
Plus.. Southgate
Absolutely spot on about the fans perspective
And they don't expect us to win, they just want to see decent performance and play to our potential. Then they will support the team, simple
We've lost nothing yet. Just get the right team on the pitch.
Good assessment from Merse. Not always a fan of Merson’s punditry. Sometimes I feel he gets the blinkers on for teams he likes and doesn’t
But bang on here!
About once a game we run beyond defenders following a dissecting pass and we often nearly score. We just don’t do it often enough. It seems that above all else the tactic is to keep possession. No one wants to risk a pass that might not come off and damage their personal Stats, so the most popular pass are short sideways and backwards passes.
At last ,Southgate has put Mainoo on for a whole half. Why aren’t they talking about that bravery from Southgate. Mainoo is a better midfielder at his age than the rest.Rice is passing sideways .
If Rishi Sunak was asked he would probably say 'they don't have a plan' Maybe the premiership isn't as good as people say it is and pundits and media build players up like Foden and Bellingham as world class, or simply they play for the best club sides in Europe?
Southgate has only ever won a league cup 30yrs ago, he’s not a winner and as for patterns of play in the final 3rd you can see Saka and Foden in deep discussion before kick off, thats lack of direction , lack of confidence all of which is at Southgate’s door.
Slovakia could do an Iceland simply because they will want it so badly compared to England
Picking the best 11 players does not mean they will make an effective playing team. I've been saying this since 1966.
Brilliant love this show love Merson
Great comments and some solutions for the England team Merse is very optimistic about Englands chances i hope he is right but i cant see it happening . Great pod cast tho .
Merson spot on about everything! These players and Gareth basically wanting to stop free speech!! Players and teams are getting so boring now i think football will start losing popularity and tv will stop paying the money, vibe is that people are starting to dislike the premiership and England. Pep has destroyed football by making it all about tactics, systems and all players the same and not allowed to be individual and everyone copied! Every team plays the same!!
Agreed 👍
Robots
I'm sorry but what is Merse talking about... Bowen doesn't win games? What games of West Ham's has he seen that Bowen has scored the winner including the UECL final!!?? His judgement of Bowen is absolutely mind boggling.
Swapping GS for Pep & no change?....so in what Universe does that happen?
Did Paul Merson just say that Switzerland and Austria are doing so well in the tournament because they're not the best players? His point was that Man City-type players become so beautifully choreographed under Guardiola that no national teammate is on his wavelength. But then how were Spain so brilliant 15 years ago with a mix of Barca, Madrid and other Spanish players? There are thousands of examples of why he's off the mark here. Oh, Paul. He couldn't have meant it.
Because the Spanish players were used to playing in similar systems since they were kids, keeping ball being key.
La Liga and youth football in Spain is/was long way from PL.
A well drilled side where best players for a position are picked NOT we've got our star players and we need to find a way to pmay them. Picking Foden as LW, Bellingham at 10, Trippier instead of Chilwell or a LB reeks of it.
Sides like Swiss or Austria that doesn't have players with huge reputations that have to be picked (like England or Portugal) have a different ethos. They want players that can play in their managers system. Look at Klopp with LFC 2018/19. Pick a relegated Hull City LB and relegated CM cos they'll do the job manager wants. Same with Endo in 2023, the 31yr old DM. Players that fit the system rather than finding a way to pick the most skillful players.
I don't think it's an outrageous take.
also praised austria endlessly for getting at teams and running around closing them down then says a minute later ''where does legs and running around get you lol
Merson keeps it real and that's why I like him. Kind of similar to Keane where he says things how it is and doesn't sugar coat much. People hate him for literally being an Arsenal player and fan 🤦🏻♂️
I like most of the pundits to be fair. I think they all enjoy still being able to be part of the game. The only one I don’t really want to listen to is Carragher. Not sure why. He just isn’t my cup of tea.
Take kane out and put ollie in up front, kane looks knackered n just don't have the legs or pace to break the oppositions defence, ollie has pace to burn n would stretch teams that'll give other players a chance to get about
Mick Quinn up front with Beardsley left wing Sharpe right wing les Seeley midfield frank bruno and aj left back big daddy centre left hulk hogan right centre Warwick Davis right back stu Francis in goal rod hull
Awesome 👌
Merson is class 👌
Hes an Aston Villa legend you know!
Italy stunk out the World Cup tournement group stages out in 1982 but went onto win. It aint how you start its how you finish.
Paul merson. Brilliant 👍
😢guhei has been the only bright spark...excellent 👌
Agreed 👍
Top player
Mainoo and Rice makes a big difference
We need kalvin Phillips,wot a player he is,reminds me of a prime iniesta or a xavi lol
Lol
didnt they start against iceland?
That match was not taken seriously really. Palmer and Gordon also started so lol.
@@ps5andstuffhere would have thought they would have taken it seriously to try to get into the team
At man city those players WONT EVER play for many city if they DONT PERFORM. There is no downside if you play poorly for england.
Gotta admire English optimism in mean just saying England can win the tournament with a straight face after watching em play 3 whole games!! Cheers mate
They can win it, as can France who have also been terrible. Merson is definitely optimistic saying he thinks we will, but saying we can't is a nonsense.
"The teams that are doing good is because they are actually bad and the teams that are doing bad is because they are actually good, you know what I mean?"
No sir. No I don't. Sounds like extreme waffling.
I’m a great believer in hard work and recognising when your just not good enough, and that is why I say this particular statement engerlund are just as good as the person a makes them out to be 1 tournament 60 yrs ago is nothing to dwell on yes it was a great achievement but, live in the moment, players are put under so much pressure to live up to 1 9 6 6 and on and on it goes there’s know way anybody can perform under these pressures 😢🙏🏻👍
"Everybody seemed to believe...from the England camp anyway. Well John Stones said......! Give us a break Jeff.
The players are playing rubbish because they do not have effective direction....Denmark looked brilliant because they were clearly well coached...our talent is playing shit as we are not well coached .. without direction it's a bunch of individuals looking useless
Some good points made by Merson but to say Real Madrid are nowhere near City is ridiculous.
My English friends, with Southgate you will not win against France, Portugal, Germanu, Spain etc. England, unfortunatly, has zero chance. Next time you need to get a proper couch.
Merse is so right I have to subscribe! 🤣
Merson is right but the players haven't played well regardless of the tactics. No ones has played well as an individual. Stones at the back is so negative back pass as normal and that is the mind set of the team.
3 Violins on my shirt,
Southgoat is a bleeting.
If there was a war and you were in the trenches, who would you want next to you, England players or Georgian players.
We are so slow, because we have nobody who can move quickly up front, it’s that simple guys. You create space with speed in dangerous areas, it’s not rocket science. 🤔🤔🙏🏻🙏🏻
Put Jose Mourinho in charge and we win it. Should have done it pre tournament
'The best teams have been the lesser teams, the reason is they are not great top top players' Yeah, that is the issue, England's players are too good...
Yes they are too good alright........too good at being failures.....which means that maybe they're not too good at all....but folks are made to believe they are by the hype merchant delulu's who write in the shyster English press!😅
As media pundits, your all the same. All living in the past and
remembering what it was like in the days.
The little teams slip in. Why didn't you see the Iceland result. ??
Keep thinking of Pele and teams of the past. Your in for a shock on Sunday.
England have not done well defensively,they have consistently given the ball away in their own half by being way too cavalier with their sideways passing in defence,better teams will definitely have noticed that and will punish those mistakes.
Love Mers ⚽️
Get your facts right Mers. We had Italy in our Euro qualifying group and beat them home and away. Romania qualified for knock outs with 4 points here .
Merson says Walker is touching the ball more then saka but then says to drop him lol
Saka doesn't look right. I'm sure he's carrying a knock.
I'm gonna ask a rather left field question....Is it possible that our so called "Top class" players were told by their clubs...go play for your country but don't get injured? Coz Something doesn't feel right. I've never seen a bunch of players with the talent, skill and week on week excitement like the current England team have just sit back like they have? Anthony Gordon came on the other night for 4 minutes and went for it, something just isn't right.
How many goals has vini scored against city in the last 3 seasons
I only saw the first 10 minutes. Am I right in saying England are terrible but Merson fell short of directly criticizing he's mate Southgate
Top thoroughbreds at their peak win big races, not Donkeys pulling carts, the same applies to footballers in big tournaments. Speed of thought, is as important as speed of legs. All top players, just have it. Sadly, England does not. 🤔🤔🙏🏻🙏🏻