Euro 2020 Preview - England
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Okay. Here we go.
Time for England.
No doubt, the most popular and arguably the most hobby relevant side in the comp.
If you think American fans and media hype up their own players - England is on another level.
It’s like a Charmander next to a Charizard.
Here we’ll look at England’s chances in the upcoming Euro tournament.
England Squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion), Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Defenders: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Atlético), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Dortmund)
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Euro Preview: England
England qualified with ease, only losing once in their qualifying games. They also scored 37 goals in eight games which was the best of any qualifying side.
Although, they were in a group that Kosovo finished third in…. So that gives you an insight into how tough the group was.
Since qualification, England have been pretty disappointing - finishing third in their Nations League group, and needing to switch to a 4-at-the-back backline to try and get some more stability and improve on performances.
Since then, they’ve looked a bit better and beat Poland, Albania and San Marino without too much of a struggle.
It’s their backline and goalkeeper that’ll likely cause them problems in this competition.
On a side note - ever realize Harry Maguire is shit when he plays for Manchester United, but all of a sudden seen as a god when he plays for England?
And that’s a fit Maguire - there’s a chance that he’ll not even going to be at 75% this comp.
Still, England have a really good squad for this tournament when you look at attacking options. - way better than their World Cup squad…. and are one of the bookie’s favorites. They’ve also got a bunch of games at Webley, which will help.
England will be looking for a semi-final finish at worst. But there’s a problem….
Yep.
The winner from England’s group D (which they should should win quite comfortably as long as they beat Croatia in their first game) will play the second place team from Group F, which is the ‘Group of Death’.
So England (or whoever wins their group) will likely play one of France, Germany or Portugal in the round of 16.
Imagine getting France or someone like that in the second round - crazy.
Key Players
Harry Kane is England’s best and most important player (assuming their defenders do their job).
The Tottenham man won the goal scoring and was leading assist getter in the Premier League, and he will lead England’s attack in this tournament.
Because international soccer is mostly more defensive (it’s easier to coach a defensive system than an attacking one in the limited time national teams spend together), having a goal scorer that can break a game open is the most important player-type in these tournaments.
Harry Kane also won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup, so he’s a proven tournament scorer too.
Alongside Kane, I think Jadon Sancho will have a good tournament. The Dortmund winger is likely moving to Manchester United this offseason if you read the news (I’ll believe it when I see it though) - and is primed for a good showing in this competition.
Looking at youngsters though, England are stacked:
That’s probably the best young cohort in the tournament.
Final Prediction
England are a weird one for me - on paper, their attacking options are great (although, I’d like to see one with a bit of prick in them. Grealish is the closest), but their defenders are pretty bloody accident-prone.
And yes, they made the semi-finals of the last World Cup, but you could also say that they got knocked out by the first team they played, and still needed to ride their luck to get that far! (I’m half kidding)
I like this England team. I think if they can avoid a nightmare second round match-up, I can see them getting into the final four. However, if they go get unlucky I can totally see them getting knocked out in the second round which would be an absolute disaster.
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