Holmes_and_Watson

'Hayley Barnett, SYP assistant chief constable said: "We know how hard it must be for a victim or survivor, who has been so badly let down in the past, to put their faith into the South Yorkshire Police of today."' A rather pathetic attempt to pretend that there's some sort of separation between the wretched organisation they had with the wretched one that whistleblowers have said continues now. No surprise that victims withdraw their statements from investigation by the organisation that perpetrated the offences.

I half expected it to say he wasn't leaving, it was someone else, in a last act of deflecting responsibility. 🙂 Our quality requirements and repeated recruitment failures made him our best defender for a number of seasons. He would have been a starter going into this one too. We ended up getting a lot of appearances for such a small investment. As posted earlier, he went some way to come back after the Polish international incident and his failed time at Villa. It's not certain, but hopefully the likes of Edwards and Quarshie will minimise the impact of losing a starting player.

I heard them mention that not long after the pens. It came across as prepped well in advance and was clunky. Not because I remembered Carsley, as I didn't. But the women's team did fantastically well, and had no need for clumsily pitching them with the men's team. Just another reason to avoid the hacks and the commentators.

Just synch his hand waving blame to a dance track, and you're done. 🙂

Bucket

SOG managing to switch from it being "utter nonsense" to "the truth is we will never know." in the space of a sentence, doesn't suggest someone with a strong grasp of anything. England have Russo, Hemp, Kelly, James, Mead, Agyemang and Beaver Jones as all very capable finishers. Toone is also there in support. It's been a fantastic achievement that, for years, the squad have been there for each other. They all work well within Wiegman's plans, where she looks to balance her side, with the players trusted to interchange when needed, and with the bench to then exploit and maximise impact. The whole squad continue to do a tremendous job. It seems needlessly critical to point out a player, like Kelly, who has made a massive impact, against others who work so hard in other roles in the team.

Just as recently as the last Euros, the same starting arguments were there when Ellen White started and it was Russo coming off the bench. Toone was also a sub then. It was all part of Wiegman's preferred plan, and team balance.

Underfoot

Phenomenal from England. They've worked incredibly hard all tournament, have never given up and have dug out the results. Such a great squad, where every player plays their part, and is ready, regardless of the minutes they get.

A little surprised Russo went off so early. Agyemang goes near post a lot, while Russo was offering a central target. Not to mention her single woman press, that brought the others up, and changed the game. England showed they could win this, despite Spain's possession and passing. When England had the space after they'd pushed Spain back, they put together some good moves of their own.

If they do, it will be naturally late on. Firstly as energy levels drop. But mainly to counter England's attacking subs. Even 5 yards or so might unlock Walsh a bit.

Turkish attempts to launch an Agyemang fan club, to support the Lionesses. 🙂

England's best chance was a strong start, to dictate the play and push Spain back. We got a couple of flashes of it. One where James might have got to a ball across, and a second with Hemp intercepting and forcing the save. After that, it's been played to Spain's tempo. They have throttled the midfield. England haven't sussed out how to regain possession, but release Kelly, Hemp or Russo. Mainly because all 3 are doing defensive work. England haven't been in control long enough to build anything. They've tried to use Carter to launch a few longer balls,but with no success. James often plays within herself, but was clearly not firing on all cylinders today. That did contribute to England's early attacks fizzling. A much tougher ask to break Spain down in the second half. But hopefully they'll drop back, allowing England a few direct chances.

Thanks for sharing. Not a surprise at about his relationship with Ralph. You could see relationships with some of our independent minded, technical players going wrong, as Ralph focused solely on implementing his system, and wasn't one to take feedback on it kindly. Also interesting to hear how Ralph adjusted, during his time with us.

That, and the lettuce then took over as emperor.