mejonaNO12 aka riskit
Well-known member
Greece also scraped through their group on 4 points after a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 loss.
It does seem I may have to concede your point about Greece in the face of evidence trumping my fairly woeful memory! But even so, that is just ONE "lucky" winner in however many tournaments since, say 1966. The overwhelming majority of tournaments are won by one of the top 3 or 4 teams at retaining possession and making their opponents chase the ball.
It kind of flies in the face that a team as average as England "might just win it". That's like saying Wigan "might just win" the title next season.
But that analogy is also flawed because the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain are all unlikely to rest their best players for certain matches in Euro 2012, unlike the big 5 or 6 clubs when they play certain FA Cup matches.No it isn't. It's like saying that Wigan "might just win" the FA Cup.
But that analogy is also flawed because the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain are all unlikely to rest their best players for certain matches in Euro 2012, unlike the big 5 or 6 clubs when they play certain FA Cup matches.
I like this line, I am going to use it today.
I understand your point, but your post contains one of my most hated things in football punditry.
I don't care if we haven't beaten Sweden in the last 99 years. Its not the SAME PLAYERS. it has literally NO relevance to the players on show. If we were travelling to Sweden, for a qualifier, we would expect a win.
I honestly have NO idea where people are getting the notion that we definitely wont get out our group.
If we played France in a freindly we would expect to lose. Fine.
If we played Sweden in a friendly we would expect to win. 3 points.
If we played Ukraine in a game we would expect to win. 3 points.
6 points, out of the group.
Now you get to the point where ANYONE can win a one-off game. Can we beat Spain on our day? Yep, did it a few months ago and Rooney would be back.
Then you get to the Semi's. The tension has risen dramatically. Hold your nerve, defend like Chelsea and snatch a 1-0 through an Ashley young free kick which evades everyone, creeps down the corridor of uncertanty and goes straight in.
We're in the final now. Anything can happen.
EASY
Re: beating Sweden in qualifiers, the fairest way would be to look at how we have done against similarly-ranked sides to Sweden in qualifiers over the last few years. I think it would show that generally we have a favourable record (i.e. Croatia).
The qualifiers are one thing, the finals are something different. England choke when they get onto the big stage. Citing games during the qualifiers is one thing, at the sharp end of the tournament England repeatedly freeze.
Our Euro 92 squad was poor, but this lot is worse. Incredibly less than half are even regulars in a Premier league team. How it's come to this with the billions that swills round our game these days is something the F.A. need to look at. Quarter finals at best i reckon.
I think the honest truth is that under Hodgeson, we genuinely don't know what to expect. The team are definitely looking stronger so far, but it's only been a couple of friendlies so it's impossible to tell.
I thought Belgium could have scored against tbh. All the sides we're playing are better than Belgium and miles better than Norway.At no point in the last 2 games did we look even vaguely ruffled when the other team had the ball. That is one positive (no, I don't think we're going to win it, probably quarters at best, maybe semis if the draw is kind).