Group F: Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany

[carolinablue232]

I’d have paid money to just watch Jon Moss try and keep up with play here.

Would’ve been at least 2 penalties given as he dragged behind the play.

 

[carolinablue232]

Germany could be on the verge of elimination by the weekend. Lose to Portugal and only the format will save them. That was a fairly typical German performance in recent years, albeit one of their better ones. Löw is making it up as he goes along now. France were very comfortable. Germany's biggest problem - the lack of quality defenders - came back to bite them on the ass tonight. If they had quality, Hummels would have stayed in forced international retirement. Up front, they have some triers, like Serge Gnabry, but, let's be kind, he's not Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Rudi Völler, or Gerd Müller. Kevin Volland - as he proved - is fantastically third rate at this level. Timo Werner is a broken waste of space. Others are still too callow, like Havertz, while Kroos and Müller are simply too slow and pedestrian now.

France were largely unruffled tonight, did the job, took the points. They are deserved favourites, but they still let themselves open to the sucker punch that a side better than Germany could yet deliver.

Portugal and Germany both benefit from a draw. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a particularly drab 0-0

 

[BigDunc'sFod]

Unbelievable how bad Werner has got since his Chelski move. The less said about Volland the better.

 

[tommye]

The less said about Volland the better

He looked like a lad who'd won a raffle for a game. Brett Angel levels of crap

 

[emir]

Who do England have the bigger rivalry with? Germany or France?

 

[wm02]

Who do England have the bigger rivalry with? Germany or France?

Germany

 

[Yank]

Germany

Is it? I think the Dutch and Italy are more Germanys rivals than england.

I also think of France and England more so as a rivalry. I'm not really from any of these places other than some distant ancestry though, so not really my place to say.

 

[PhilM]

Is it? I think the Dutch and Italy are more Germanys rivals than england.

I also think of France and England more so as a rivalry. I'm not really from any of these places other than some distant ancestry though, so not really my place to say.

For pretty much most England fans who actually care, it’s Germany. The WWI and WWII vibes are still strong for such people.

 

[Drico]

Portugal and Germany both benefit from a draw. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a particularly drab 0-0

It's certainly on the cards. That said, a draw suits Portugal far more than it does Germany. Portugal would have a +3 goal difference and a game to play against an already qualified France (should they, as expected, beat Hungary). Germany would then, in all likelihood, need to beat Hungary - not a certainty for a team that lost to Mexico and South Korea at the last World Cup - and still only get third, unless they could win by 4 or 5.

I don't think the Germans can risk the draw.

 

[allen]

Is it? I think the Dutch and Italy are more Germanys rivals than england.

I also think of France and England more so as a rivalry. I'm not really from any of these places other than some distant ancestry though, so not really my place to say.

Rivalries don't have to be symmetric, though. Look at Leeds United and Manchester United.

I think, politically, France would be more our classic national rival. Certainly historically, with the exception of the World Wars. But as far as football goes, we don't have a lot of meaty history there.

For pretty much most England fans who actually care, it’s Germany. The WWI and WWII vibes are still strong for such people.

Yeah, the war thing won't go away amongst the berks, sadly. I think that's born out of England beating them in the '66 World Cup Final, when memories of the blitz and the like were still pretty raw. That kind of locked it in as part of the narrative.

But for me, World Cup '90 and Euro '96 are what define Germany as England's bogey team. The crushers of dreams.

 

[Billy Dean]

Rivalries don't have to be symmetric, though. Look at Leeds United and Manchester United.

I think, politically, France would be more our classic national rival. Certainly historically, with the exception of the World Wars. But as far as football goes, we don't have a lot of meaty history there.


Yeah, the war thing won't go away amongst the berks, sadly. I think that's born out of England beating them in the '66 World Cup Final, when memories of the blitz and the like were still pretty raw. That kind of locked it in as part of the narrative.

But for me, World Cup '90 and Euro '96 are what define Germany as England's bogey team. The crushers of dreams.

Yeah there have been some epics between England and Germany. 66 and 70 too. I think we see Germany as a bigger rival than they see us. But they still do see us as a rival.

 

[Billy Dean]

How good were France. Beating Germany without ever really getting out of 1st gear.

 

[Papa Shango]

I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but I reckon he's great - at least he's not dull as dishwater like so many others! They made the Netherlands vs Ukraine really enjoyable.

I also quite like john hartson as a commentator too.

Yeah I like McCoist. Hartson seems like a nice enough bloke.

 

[ForestBlue]

McCoist comes out with some nonsense most games though.

Lost count of the times I've just turned the sound down/off to stop the noise a lot of commentators/pundits make to stop them annoying me. Why wont they learn that they don't HAVE to talk all of the f'ing time etc

I miss Barry Davies (no one else comes close alas)

 

[jonnyboy316]

I think the French are - in the starting lineup there isn't an obvious weakness (apart from Benzema maybe), but the rest are all both fantastic and experienced at winning. Everyone else has to a greater or lesser degree worse / less well-balanced sides.

Lloris is a chocolate wrist. Pogba had a good game yesterday but has been inconsistent for the last 3 years I have been watching him. Greizman appears to be on the decline. I think Varane has a mistake in him too. They are the team to beat but I would give England a 40% chance of getting by them in the knockout stages if we meet.