Where's Robert Smith when you need him, after England beat the Netherlands I looked at ticket availability for the final, Germany is easy to get to and I don't envisage being able to see England in a final again any time soon. So,tickets available, costing between £1k and £2.5k, I opted for a posh seat and got ready to drain my bank account of approx £2.k, then the booking fee was added, almost an extra £1k!! £860 booking fee!!
Where's Robert Smith when you need him, after England beat the Netherlands I looked at ticket availability for the final, Germany is easy to get to and I don't envisage being able to see England in a final again any time soon. So,tickets available, costing between £1k and £2.5k, I opted for a posh seat and got ready to drain my bank account of approx £2.k, then the booking fee was added, almost an extra £1k!! £860 booking fee!!
England will not win a tournament with Southgate in charge, his tactical ineptitude was highlighted throughout the whole tournament, it was clear to everyone Kane was not fit or just not up to it and should have been dropped for Watkins earlier in the tournament. The Saka or Palmer debate baffled me, it should have been Palmer or Foden and Palmer wins that one. In the first en minutes Saka roasted Cucurella, made him look like the hapless Chelsea defender he was all last season, so what do England do? They stopped passing to Saka, Walker gave him no support at all, apart from the ocassional ball belted down the pitch in desperation, or sideways to Stones, every attack went through Bellingham or Foden, and every attack stopped as soon as Kane got involved. It's time Kane and Walker said goodbye to international football, Walker could be blamed for both of the Spanish goals, but, England were just not good enough. We had a chance at 1-1, albeit a very slight chance, England were on top for five minutes an should have gone for a second goal, bizarelly Southgate had Gallagher and Trippier warming up, Spain brought on another attacking player and the game was basically over ..... Simply put, England were not good enough and Southgate being "a nice guy" is not enough to keep him in the job, England used the worst tactics of any team in the tournament - roll on 2028 with Ben White at right back!
The English media, along with the fans and the pundits, were highly critical of Southgate throughout the entire tournament, but now, the media seems to have forgotten their part and are acting like they've all acted perfectly!! Every media outlet has criticised "A section of the fanbase" for over the top criticism of Southgate, when will they look at themselves and accept they were equally at fault, or even worse, than the fans?? My criticism would only reach a tiny pool of people, criticism from any of the media outlets, radio, tv, newspaper, social media etc etc would have been seen by millions, not just in England but all around the globe. The hypocrisy is baffling, the fans criticism has been pretty constant, wasn't swayed by England winning games they seemed destined to lose - it was the media who changed their minds when England reached the final, collectively they were saying we owed Southgate an apology , I don't think we do. I don't feel the need to apologise for thinking Southgate didn't have the nous to win a tournament, I think he would have picked Kane if he were on crutches, decent managers make big decisions, sometimes unpopular decisions for the sake of the team, Southgate doesn't, I couldn't believe he was actually getting praised for substituting Kane after an hour, AN HOUR!! He should have been off in half that time, actually he should have been dropped. So no, I don't think I owe an apology, but perhaps the media should apologise for just printing or stating whatever they think will sell the most copies or get them the most views. Sorry, I waffle and wander way off topic!!
steve
Big Hand
Songs Of A Lost World *CRUMPET BOY*
