Sunday - a Final game
Pen to paper
By David Sindall
July 11 2024
In recent years England getting to semi-Finals in football competitions has started to become common enough. Now we face our first final on foreign soil, this is exceptional and we have to pinch ourselves to see how this squad has progressed. Could it be?
Now, I know this is a Tranmere website and I will be looking at the lessons for Rovers. By and large though we're not like Man Utd supporters or Liverpool supporters, we can bet behind this England team and celebrate their success. 1966 has become a millstone around the national teams necks. We need a trophy simply to move the narrative forward but failure will still represent good progress.
Tournament football is a bit like League football. You have to know when to come good, when to press the accelerator and when to take your foot off the pedal. At times some of these England performances have been painful to watch. There has been a turgidness to our play that belies our role as finalist. Yet here we are, on the edge of winning. Even in the knockout stages our performances against Slovakia and Switzerland left a great deal to be desired. We got better against Switzerland and the result against the Netherlands showed that we have built on success with more success.
This isn't a team with outstanding individual talents. That's not to say we don't have very good players, we do. Saka has been outstanding. Guehi, Palmer and Kyle Walker have all had good tournaments. Harry Kane has been disappointing but looks like he's getting back to full fitness. I've had a soft spot for Harry since Tottenham played him at Prenton Park a few seasons back. I think that was the first time I had seen a World Cup golden boot winner playing against us. Hopefully he will come good for the final, and Jude Bellingham might raise his game again to show how good he can be. From my perspective though this is a collection of players that work best as a team, not a bunch of outstanding talents who happen to have found themselves on the same pitch.
The possible lesson for Rovers in all this might be that gradually building your performances up could be the key to success. Yet Spain, our opponents on Sunday, seem to have played each game well, there has been no need for a gradual ascent. In Yamal they have someone who almost looks as promising as Rob Apter! I wonder if we can have him on loan next season?
The other important lesson is patience with the manager. I suspect we are all eagerly anticipating a full season under Nigel Adkins. It might be that we don't get off to the flying start we would hope for. What the Euros have shown is that you have to keep faith with a manager, and you have to get behind the team. The way in which matches are won is often forgotten because football is a results driven business. We would all love the teams we support to be pleasing on the eye, but I will settle for winning ugly rather than losing poetically.
Yet here we are, Sunday beckons. We'll all be wearing our lucky tops (mine's last years Rovers shirt), sitting in our lucky places and following our pre-match routines. Let's hope the wait is over.
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For Sunday - C'mon England!
For the new season - C'mon the Rovers!
I suppose its the old conundrum of does it matter how we play as long as we win or as long as we play attractive football it doesn't matter if we win. Promotion would be amazing but being dull and frustrating at the same wouldn't be good for my health.
I remember Bristol city going up in the 90's they were terrible both games against us, one of the worst teams I saw.
Spain were the better side, but they are not a great side. That was winnable last night, if the bench had gotten it right
Quote:Agree winnable after we equalized then little or no more attacking intent just let Pickford punt it up field so as to give Spain possession every time inviting pressure and defeat .Spain not great but deserved the win handed to themthe kav
Awful management last night. They were there for the taking after Palmer's goal, but no, we all sit back and try and counter attack again.
Spain were the better side, but they are not a great side. That was winnable last night, if the bench had gotten it right
Quote:the kav
Awful management last night. They were there for the taking after Palmer's goal, but no, we all sit back and try and counter attack again.
Spain were the better side, but they are not a great side. That was winnable last night, if the bench had gotten it right
Same as against Italy in the last Euros. I think Southgate has at least built the foundations - now there is a need for a more attacking minded manager to use the talent available. Kane was clearly unfit.
That I suspect stems from Southgate.
Picking up early posts on this thread, the start of last season surely showed that being defeated regularly brings no joy regardless of whether the football is good or boring..
At the end of a game, I always leave happy if we win and it is only marginal comfort if we play well and lose.
Give me 46 grounded out wins for the season ahead, and I will jump at it, confident that it will be a memorable season.
Quote:hong kong rover
i thought he'd go...the nearly man..deserves a lot of credit for pulling England out of the doldrums after the Iceland debacle. Even though it was never the most entertaining of football under his leadership he was a damn sight more successful than nearly every other England manager that came before him, he got us to a World Cup semi and 2 Euro finals during his 8 years...So who is gonna be the next manager? and how long will the FA take to make that appointment?..Potter could be a possibility., and i really hope Eddie Howe doesn't get it..or will we go for a foreigner?
Could Southgate be available as an advisor at Prenton Park?