Euro's

[Galfon]

Great start for the Welsh..England fail yet again to convert chances & allow the Ruski's in.
The team played well however.
Kane disappeared second 'arf, Sterland can run but keeps giving the ball away - Owenesque.
Rooney subbed before match won..Brain F'Hart in nets is bound to pull something off in the tournament.
Still should progress.Walker,Ali excellent.

[mightyreturns]

I actually thought that was the worst russian side i've seen in years(on the night). England should have won for sure but i wasn't as enthusiastic about the performance as the itv panel were.
A draw isn't a disaster but the way it happened was. If we lose to Wales we could well be out the group(we blew it tonight which could spell danger).
Just not good enough tonight for me.

[Stom]

I know that many England fans don't like him, but for me, Jack Wilshere is still England's best player.

Football is a game about finding and using space. Sure, there are freaks out there like Messi who can get past people without space, but for everyone else, it's about being in the right place at the right time, and understanding when and where your teammates will also be.

Compare Wilshere to Rooney or Sterling or any of the other players, and there's a world of difference. He came on and immediately found little pockets of space, moved into them, and then found Sterling, Kane and Lallana all milling about waiting for the ball. You don't wait for the ball, you find space. If the ball comes to you in space, great. If it doesn't, a defender will, creating space elsewhere.

This is where English football fails. No-one recognises this and plays with space.

It also makes England excrutiating to watch, as it is so static.

[Galfon]

Wilshere has potential to be very special and has produced some exceptional moments -
He needs to stay fit for a while, keep on his feet
( there was a spell in recent seasons where he kept going to ground on just about every contact ) and if poss. only feature on the front pages for the right reasons.
Rooney's a steadying influence on a young team (bizarrely) but does not have the impact he once had.Sterling is frustrating due to his mixed offerings.

[Discreet Hooker]

Seems like most countries have their fking nutters . I'm fully expecting a brutal unforgiving clash in the England v Wales fixture . As for the game itself, i have absolutely no idea .

[WaspInWales]

Agree with Stom and England's inability to look for or utilise space. It has been a massive concern for a long time.

Getting mightily fed up of watching England play well for periods but unable to find the net when it matters. With more composure and precision, we should have been comfortably ahead by injury time.

It's hard to call the result against Wales, especially as they fear no-one now and that England can't match their pride. To paraphrase Bale, England have been bigging themselves up before they do anything and Wales are going to the Euros knowing they can beat England.

That said, Wales are a decent enough team. They can counter and they can play a bit. However, just like England, they can be gash at times.

Besides a win against Belgium in qualifying, I'm struggling to see why they're as confident as they are...at the same time as them thinking that England have bigged themselves up! Is Bale referring to the media, the fans or the players? I don't get it as the Welsh media has been optimistic for Wales. Quite a few of the fans fancy their chances to do well plus it seems the coach and players are already played 2, won 2.

Yet, England are arrogant.

[WaspInWales]

Don't suppose it'll matter when England are kicked out of the competition!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36510550

Fwcking knobhead fans.

[WaspInWales]

Love watching Germany play. Ukraine caused some problems before half time and that reaction save from Neuer was superb! Kroos was excellent throughout.

[Galfon]

Germany just get on with what needs to be done - helps being great athletes though.
Once Eng. are lined up for an early bath, if the team start to look a real threat then crowd trouble engineering could be an option.

[Stom]

9 games. 5 x 1-0, 2 x 2-1, 1 x 2-0, 1 x 1-1. It's been pretty boring so far. Pretty damn boring. 15 goals in 9 games. Could be the lowest scoring Euros on record (goals/game, as this is too damn long).

[WaspInWales]

Just about to say that Belgium and Italy have played out another low scoring game but Italy have just gone 2-0 deep in injury time.

Very entertaining game though.

[WaspInWales]

Some of those Russian fans are very dedicated to their cause and by cause, I mean street violence!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36523861



I've seen quite a few Russian road rage type videos and some of those fellas are fucking mental with absolutely no regard for their own or anyone else's safety.

Still when a Russian Football Union official who is also a Russian MP Tweets that "there's nothing wrong with fans fighting" and encourages the fans to "keep up the good work", it's not surprising that this behaviour seems to be encouraged.

On the one hand, it would be nice to see our gobby, beer-bellied lads get a good hiding from their Russian counterparts but I really want to see England to get the chance to possibly progress out of the group.

[Galfon]

Howay the Vlads!
Guess the Reds always win over there....

[rowan]

Russia punished by UEFA while the English team whose hooligans who started all the trouble go scott free. WTF?! How political is that...

[Numbers]

Russia punished by UEFA while the English team whose hooligans who started all the trouble go scott free. WTF?! How political is that...

I suppose it depends who you believe, the English media is saying that the Russians ambushed the English, whereas the Russians are saying the English started verbally abusing them first and so they handed their @rses to them.

[WaspInWales]

Russia punished by UEFA while the English team whose hooligans who started all the trouble go scott free. WTF?! How political is that...

Considering a few English fans have been imprisoned already, I think your comment is way off the mark.

Both teams were warned about supporter conduct after the match in Marseille. However, it seems pretty obvious that the stadium violence was down to the Russian fans.

I've no problem with the warning directed at England as some fans were involved in incidents with Russian fans and local French lads before the match and the previous night.

[Stom]

Just about to say that Belgium and Italy have played out another low scoring game but Italy have just gone 2-0 deep in injury time.

Very entertaining game though.

Best game I've seen so far, and even that wasn't amazing, imo.

I think it's obvious who will be the top scorer, though. Ronaldo will fill his boots against Hungary, Austria and Iceland. I reckon Portugal Hungary will be the highest scoring match in the tournament, and Ronaldo could easily get 3 or 4 in that match alone.

[kk67]

Wilshere is an utter scumbag of a human being which probably clouds a lot of people's opinion of him. I certainly allow it to cloud my opinion. I thought Barton was bad but Wilshere takes it to new heights of chicken-sh*t scumbaggery.

Very impressed with Danny ? Rose....Fantastic workrate and loads of thought.

[twitchy]

Russia punished by UEFA while the English team whose hooligans who started all the trouble go scott free. WTF?! How political is that...

I suppose it depends who you believe, the English media is saying that the Russians ambushed the English, whereas the Russians are saying the English started verbally abusing them first and so they handed their @rses to them.

The russians had been planning that attack for months. They aren't "hooligans" in the british sense they are off duty police/army. Very suspect how they managed to get into the country in the first place.

Any way I see us getting kicked out the tournament as the actual english hooligans are going on thursday. It's probably going to be a fucking shit show. Last night apparently there big fight between millwall/stoke and a load of russians.

Also if people think this is bad imagine what the world cup in russia is going to be like? I'm guessing fatalities. Who in their right mind would go to that.

[WaspInWales]

I just hope there are enough English fans with enough sense to go out and buy Russian and their domestic team shirts and flags then start throwing some chairs around.....

[WaspInWales]

The russians had been planning that attack for months. They aren't "hooligans" in the british sense they are off duty police/army. Very suspect how they managed to get into the country in the first place.

Any way I see us getting kicked out the tournament as the actual english hooligans are going on thursday. It's probably going to be a fucking shit show. Last night apparently there big fight between millwall/stoke and a load of russians.

Also if people think this is bad imagine what the world cup in russia is going to be like? I'm guessing fatalities. Who in there right mind would go to that.

Insane isn't it.

[kk67]

I always find it rather amusing how so many arbitrary cultural stereotypes are based on the behaviour of just a handful of people. Still.....lets indulge.
Once again England's cultural contribution to world affairs is a bunch of pissed up feckers going on holiday somewhere sunny and inflicting pain on poor defenceless (and occasionally mythic) creatures.
All around the world people are in agreement: St.George, Richard the Lionheart, Henry V, Baz, Daz, Tel and Mickey are all a bunch of w*nkers.

[rowan]

I had an argument with my English colleague about this on the way home today. He said the English hooligans are poor victimized little darlings who everybody likes to wind up, and that the Russian Neo Nazis carried out a premeditated attack on them for no reason. But I pointed out that I saw the English hooligans on telly the other day singing racist songs about all the other countries. He claimed this was propaganda. In that case they must have done a pretty good voice over!!

[WaspInWales]

I had an argument with my English colleague about this on the way home today. He said the English hooligans are poor victimized little darlings who everybody likes to wind up, and that the Russian Neo Nazis carried out a premeditated attack on them for no reason. But I pointed out that I saw the English hooligans on telly the other day singing racist songs about all the other countries. He claimed this was propaganda. In that case they must have done a pretty good voice over!!

I'm sure you'll find some people willing to stick up for what some English fans are doing. No doubt, some Russian people are taking the same view to what some of their supporters are doing.

I haven't met a single person who has seriously (and I add the word seriously as I've seen and heard jokes made about it) excused the behaviour of the mindless morons who have caused, or been part of the trouble in France.

[Stom]

I had an argument with my English colleague about this on the way home today. He said the English hooligans are poor victimized little darlings who everybody likes to wind up, and that the Russian Neo Nazis carried out a premeditated attack on them for no reason. But I pointed out that I saw the English hooligans on telly the other day singing racist songs about all the other countries. He claimed this was propaganda. In that case they must have done a pretty good voice over!!

I'm sure you'll find some people willing to stick up for what some English fans are doing. No doubt, some Russian people are taking the same view to what some of their supporters are doing.

I haven't met a single person who has seriously (and I add the word seriously as I've seen and heard jokes made about it) excused the behaviour of the mindless morons who have caused, or been part of the trouble in France.

It has no place in a civilised world. But, on the other hand, when was the last time something like this happened? We all know English hooligans still exist. We all know there are Russian thugs who follow the football team around. So why could the organisers and the security services not nip it in the bud?

To be clear: there is no excuse for the behaviour of any of the fans, but the lions share of the blame must go with the organisers and the security services.