[Archived] Euro 2008

[Ronin]

England going down

If being in the Euros represents the Top 16 in Europe (not sure about Austria/Switzerland as they didn't have to qualify) then England aren't.

[streakyb]

So are you saying they aren't then?

Well they did fail to qualify from a group, seeded in their favour, to make it into Euro 2008. We perhaps are capable of be in the top 16 sides in Europe but when given the opportunity we fail to show it. ( In my views if you asses the players etc rather than the performances and results then we should be in the top 8. But at the end of the day it is all about results.

[gumboots]

If we'd qualified for the tournament then probably McClaren would still be boss. People might think they'd miss England because in theory we should be a good if not exceptional side. However, if they'd had to watch McClaren's england in a tournament then, barring miracles, they'd soon be wishing we hadn't made it.

We do have some good players and one or two who might even be great, but a team has to be better than the sum of its parts, particularly in a tournament, and our team was and i suspect will be for some time less than the sum of its. There were reasons why we performed badly in Paris at the end of March, and Capello will need time to change the mindset of the squad, but we were awful to watch again that night.

I won't miss england in the tournament. I'll be able to watch without feeling I really ought to want england to win yet being embarrassed by their substandard performances. I won't have to listen to pundits and press saying how we have the squad to win etc etc and then watch us exit to a team we should be beating if the game were played on paper, but who somehow seem to have got their teamwork functioning while we play like a crowd of complete strangers.

I suspect it's the on-paper england side that many foreigners will miss and the energy and enthusiasm of the fans far more than the actual underperforming team we usually manage to send out.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

For me Portugal has the best individual talent however there lack of an out & out striker maybe there undoing. Nevertheless when you have the class acts like Ronaldo, Pepe, Bosingwa , Carvalho Quaresma, Deco, Simao and youngsters like Moutinho , Veloso in your starting XI your always going to go far. I just wish big Phil will let them play a little more.

Don’t rule out Italy or Germany, they are big tournament teams and are remarkably difficult to beat.

My head says Portugal or Germany; the heart says Italy.

[RoyRover]

I too like the look of Portugal. They are strong all over the pitch, Carvalho and Pepe at the back, Velso and Deco in midfield and going forward they have a ridiculous amount of options. I think that for a long time they have overlooked the effectiveness of Nuno Gomes to the system they play. I always thought that he was class player, not world class, but very good. As Bazza points out, they have always missed having a top striker, but I think that his size, strength and ability in the air allows the 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 formation to work better. I hate Ronaldo when he plays for United, but like him when he plays for Portugal! I look forward to seeing him and Ricardo Quaresma shredding teams this summer.

Elsewhere, I think that France, Spain, Croatia and Holland look good. I'm also looking forward to seeing Romania play and the likes of Chivu and Mutu being able to show their world class abilities on the major stage. It is very hard to pick a winner when the 16 best teams in Europe are all playing at once. I would like to see Portugal do well and finally win something that the last generation failed to. I think that France and Spain are also big threats.

[Daremz]

Just support us oranges. I'm a rover, so you must support my national squad now. That makes sense, right?

Shame we're alongside Benzema & Toni, who'll kill us. Italy for the win.

[Tris]

Got tickets for Italy v Holland, two weeks tonight in Bern

Will probably have to shout for Italy though - the rest of the honeymoon is going to be Lake Garda / Italian Riviera and we don't want to upset the locals ...

[DP]

Enjoy Tris, Switzerland is full of plastic Italians as well so you're probably better off supporting them.

[1864roverite]

Is there a football tournament on then ?

[AggyBlue]

Is there a football tournament on then ?

Not that I'm aware of. it's still two years away

[Rovermatt]

It'll be cancelled if England don't get there. I mean what's the point?

[AndyC]

for all those with facebook - check out this Euro 2008 predictor.....

http://www.facebook.com/add.php?api_key=52...ecd6e4d5b83b829

[philipl]

Might as well stick this here- From the BBC who screwed up their Prem price risers, a calculation of the Englishness of the EPL. They have got the 6+5 bit wrong- Blatter agreed with Platini that it could not be implemented without a change in the EU Law and the initiative has become to see if they can get the world bodies of all other major team sports to agree to join with FIFA to lobby for it.

Obviously Rovers are 100% correct in getting the proportion of England players as low as possible - we only end up getting that pinched and ruined by somebody else!

Looks like we will have a lower proportion than Arsenal very soon.

[FourLaneBlue]

I disagree with you there philip regarding "getting the proportion of England players as low as possible." Rovers should be bringing through young English players if possible...if they do get taken away from us then we will likely get damn good money as the prices of English players are probably overinflated...in fact in some cases there is no doubt at all that they are!

Just in case we did sell him...would Bentley get as much if he was a young Pole or South African? No chance. We could end up making a huge profit on him. Selling your best players is obviously not the way to go but if your hand is forced somewhat then at least getting the most you can allows other players to be brought in.

The problem is getting those English players at a bargain price. Hughes did it with Bentley and Warnock so it obviously can be done but it is not easy which means Hughes really does deserve praise for his transfer dealing in those instances.

[Ozz]

There's quite a lot of archive footage from Euro 96 on the BBC i-Player, including this montage of Shearers goals from the tournament, when he was just about still a Rovers player. The last one against the Germans in the semi was the last goal he scored whilst still employed by Rovers.

BBC Shearer Goal-fest.

[LWX]

There's quite a lot of archive footage from Euro 96 on the BBC i-Player, including this montage of Shearers goals from the tournament, when he was just about still a Rovers player. The last one against the Germans in the semi was the last goal he scored whilst still employed by Rovers.

BBC Shearer Goal-fest.

Best centre forward in the world at that time.

The 'shearer, shearer, shearer' chant caught on around the nation.

[Iceman]

ill be supporting France....

[b12_simon]

There's quite a lot of archive footage from Euro 96 on the BBC i-Player, including this montage of Shearers goals from the tournament, when he was just about still a Rovers player. The last one against the Germans in the semi was the last goal he scored whilst still employed by Rovers.

BBC Shearer Goal-fest.

Another good bit of Shearobilia is the Euro 96 England-Holland game now available on heavily-discounted DVD. I picked up a copy for about £3 a couple of years ago in Edinburgh (extra sweet to buy it in Scotland ).

[RibbleValleyRover]

Maybe its just me but does anyone else feel our Euro 96 side was one of the best in recent years. We might have better individuals now, but we functioned as a real team with that side.

Shearer and Sheringham was a brilliant partnership, the game against Holland was for me one of the best England games i have ever seen.

[philipl]

I agree with that RvR- one of the few times when England became at least as good as the sum of the parts.

After our play-off win, that game against Holland is my favourite memory of the old Wembley.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Best centre forward in the world at that time.

What better than Ronaldo ( in his absolute pomp aged 20), George Weah, Davor Suker , Gabriella Batistuta, Romario, Del Piero, Eric Cantona , Roberto Baggio & Predrag Mijatovic?

Take off your roe-tinted spectacles for a minute; Shearer was in the top 10 maybe even top 5 strikers in the world between 1994-97. He was never the best striker; look at the list above

[LeChuck]

What better than Ronaldo ( in his absolute pomp aged 20), George Weah, Davor Suker , Gabriella Batistuta, Romario, Del Piero, Eric Cantona , Roberto Baggio & Predrag Mijatovic?

Take off your roe-tinted spectacles for a minute; Shearer was in the top 10 maybe even top 5 strikers in the world between 1994-97. He was never the best striker; look at the list above

Only Ronaldo, Batistuta and Weah (possibly Sukur at a push) can be compared to Shearer, the rest are supporting strikers rather than out-and-and strikers.

As an leading front-man I'd take Shearer in his prime above any of them. He had absolutely everything, there wasn't a single flaw in his game...I don't think I could say that about any of the others as a leading striker; Ronaldo is pants in the air (but easily the closest contender to Shearer), Weah wasn't a prolific goal-scorer, Batistuta lacked pace, Suker had a few faults.

You didn't need blue and white specs to see how good Shearer was, it was there in black and white in the top scorers chart.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Only Ronaldo, Batistuta and Weah (possibly Sukur at a push) can be compared to Shearer, the rest are supporting strikers rather than out-and-and strikers.

As an leading front-man I'd take Shearer in his prime above any of them. He had absolutely everything, there wasn't a single flaw in his game...I don't think I could say that about any of the others as a leading striker; Ronaldo is pants in the air (but easily the closest contender to Shearer), Weah wasn't a prolific goal-scorer, Batistuta lacked pace, Suker had a few faults.

You didn't need blue and white specs to see how good Shearer was, it was there in black and white in the top scorers chart.

How many World player noms did shearer get? & To re-iterate you believe that Alan Shearer was better than Ronaldo, George Weah , Romario & Gabriella Batistuta?

[philipl]

The debate at the time was typically between Shearer and weah as the best in the world.

Statistically, Shearer is the best by miles:

Shearer Rovers career 112 goals in 138 appearances

Newcastle career 148 in 303

England career 30 in 63

Weah PSG 53 goals in 152 appearances

AC 58 in 147

The other players mentioned didn't really get a mention as the world's best at the time they were playing so hardly qualify now.

An unscientific sample I know, but I travelled a lot to Milan and Turin during the early to mid '90s and the majority of Italians I met unhesitatingly regarded Shearer as the world's best.

Ronaldo was later and was certainly the one regarded as best in the late '90s when Shearer was so restricted by injuries he could only manage a goal every other game for the barcodes.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

The debate at the time was typically between Shearer and weah as the best in the world.

Statistically, Shearer is the best by miles:

Shearer Rovers career 112 goals in 138 appearances

Newcastle career 148 in 303

England career 30 in 63

Weah PSG 53 goals in 152 appearances

AC 58 in 147

The other players mentioned didn't really get a mention as the world's best at the time they were playing so hardly qualify now.

An unscientific sample I know, but I travelled a lot to Milan and Turin during the early to mid '90s and the majority of Italians I met unhesitatingly regarded Shearer as the world's best.

You fail to mention the fact that Ronaldo has scored nearly 300 goals in just over 400 games for club & country.

Nor the fact that Gabriella Batistuta has over 320 golas in just over 500 games for club & country. Most of them scored n the most defensive league in the world for a second tier club

I realize you have little to no football knowledge outside of the premiership, but Ronaldo (aged 20) was actually world player of the year in 1996. The above statement is ridiculous even by your own standards.