So this is now definitely wide open.
This aged well. What a topsy turvy world. Adieu les bleus.
Should have known when Euro 2020 showed up in 2021 they’d be drunk.
Two matches, 14 goals and an upset. And in the knockout round, no less. Strange day. Sorry to have missed the action.
Please can any of you lovelies start the England v Germany thread.
Start it yourself, you lazy so-and-so!
It is not written in my TAN remit. I don’t want to jinx it eirher .
Done
(10 whatever )
Thanks Dutch, i never do match threads, i am superstitious.
De Boer out, but early reports are that the France are going to keep Deschamps. It’s difficult to make sense of that decision, especially with ZZ now available and whispers that he’d be interested, unless the FFF are viewing DD as a company man and only care about supporting one of the club.
It’s early days.
@Iftikhar Sure, but I wasn’t commenting on the fact they hadn’t let him go yet, but on the reports that they’ve made the decision to stick with him regardless.
Well you are right then, sorry, my brain is a bit foggy. That’s somewhat surprising. Nearly a decade is a long time for a NT manager, I think France has stagnated in recent years.
Zidane is not God though (nobody is, but I don’t think they should necessarily jump around just because he’s available). I’m sure he’ll be available again somewhere down the line. I understand it’s not an easy decision or if they’ve decided to stick with Deschamps for now and give him that “last” tournament in Qatar.
Yeah, not saying he is, but I think his skills probably translate even better to international football than they do to club football, and he is available at a time when the incumbent who was viewed skeptically just demonstrated the validity of all the criticisms made about him. People have been saying this about Deschamps for years…it’s not going to get any better. So if they stick with him they will go into the world cup in 18 months saying exactly the same shit and feel just as frustrated when they go out looking like a side that is way less than the sum of its parts.
Kroos done with Germany.
Ordinarily you would think this would be the natural watershed moment for the likes of him, Muller and Hummels, especially with Flick coming in. But with the world cup a year closer than normal after this tournament, and qualifying already 1/3 of the way through you’d expect a lot of players otherwise on the verge of stepping back deciding they’d have one more run.
31, that’s pretty low for a retirement age.
There are a few factors that might have influenced his decision.
Milner quit in his early 30s, which has done him some good in terms of career longevity. Maybe he just wants to do the same and maximise his club football.
In terms of the German team, maybe he feels he’s done his part. Won a world cup, tried at the Euro’s a couple of times without a win, and the next Euros are in 2024. Maybe the new Germany coach is coming in and looking to entirely refresh things, and therefore Kroos is moving out the way for the younger players of the future. Or he’s made his own assessment of the Germany team and decided they’re not good enough to win another tournament.
It’ll be a combination of things forsure.
Kroos said he would now just like to concentrate fully on Real Madrid and now have more time for his wife and three children. He said that this decision was already made before the tournament and that he had discussed it with Hansi Flick weeks ago.
He doesn’t want to travel so much anymore and then spend weeks communicating with his family only via video chat etc.
Kroos can still make a comeback if he changes his mind later (or there are some injuries and Flick requests him back etc)
I wouldn’t rule out anyone at 31/32 making a comeback into the international side a couple of years down the line.