Holmes_and_Watson

Had a peek, and that one was less a hooked clearance, and more the defender trying to hit it behind his own goal, only to make it a striker's finish. All the fun...

Praise for Laura Rafferty, and for Southampton, from the NI manager. https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2022-07-15/northern-ireland-england-kenny-shiels-laura-rafferty-southampton

I'd like to think our scouting dept could find better value for that kind of money. As the whole team's form fell off a cliff, it's harsh to single him out at his stage of development. I recall Ralph's comment along the lines of him not being quite the same player that was going through a purple patch. Whether that was a reaction to loss of form, the chances he got, his head being turned or Ralph chucking him under a bus, I don't know. I did think at that point, we might not be seeing him back.

Having watched an enjoyable game of football, I come back here to find a notification involving MLG. The online equivalent to returning from a lovely night out, to find a turd on your doorstep. 🙂 I'm sure even in DatabaseLand it will be clear that both Winks and Romeu can play a number of roles in a defensive or central midfield position.

Russo did well when she came on. But at the final whistle, you could see the later missed chances were on her mind. The own goal for the 5th was avoidable. That, like the penalty in their first game, annoyed their manager. It will be interesting to see how their players progress from here. One we can see is Laura Rafferty, who had an okay game, before going off on 65mins. England got a comfortable win, but will know they can play better. Hopefully that makes them focused even more on the next round.

The goals were coming. NI were really hanging on for a bit before the first. Took a really good shot for that opener though. NI unfortunate, that Mead's shot deflected for the second. NI had a couple of chances when they passed through England's defence, and will wonder what might have been. England are stronger and have more stamina. NI are going to have to dig even deeper in the second half. Rafferty did okay. A couple of good early first time passes. A couple of other first time efforts that came across as just trying to clear it. A good block before the first goal. And rightly shown not to have given away a penalty.

Good news. I've not tuned in yet, tragically missing pundits at work. 🙂

"The BBC has announced a new structure to its online reporting. In between the new distinct tabs for men's and women's football, will be a new chaperone tab. Interim sports minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said "it's the best way to prevent intermingling and restore wholesome, traditional values. " 🙂

Perhaps as a tactic to get Romeu to extend his contract? "If you're not going to extend, we'll just have to bring someone else in." Good plan. Some folks have a mint choc chip on their shoulder, when it comes to puns. Right, back to waiting for the next transfer scoop...

Echo Headlines... Strange feelings of déjà vu sweep the Southampton area, baffling residents...Matt Jansen deal "close"... Saints sign promising glint in the milkman's eye from Chelsea academy...

A levy levy. 🙂

I hope she gets some game time too. Good for our club too. NI have been the weakest of the team's I've seen. Which considering their development, is only to be expected. England will probably have to be breaking them down. I'd not be expecting to see NI play out so much from the back, with England swarming over them. It might be a different challenge to England's last 2. Still expect a comfortable win. No doubt the commentators would get carried away with goals going in or moany if it takes a little while. But it wouldn't hurt England to not get complacent ahead of a tougher game to come.

Have the waves cover a bit of the SFC to future proof the design for global warming? 🙂

One of the commentators mentioned xG the other night. I thought that there was a topic that all of us could appreciate: xG at Euro 2022. Great to see you've anticipated that, and really looking forward to more of your thoughtful analysis.

And with so much of the tournament to go, there's every chance of similarly exciting games to come!

As a centre half, she didn't have the instinct to follow through with some composure. She'll be glad the game was won shortly after.

I was looking forward to this one. But the first 35 minutes of French domination didn't result in the best of matches. The French were wasteful with their final deliveries, after getting an early lead. Out of nothing Belgium got a really good equaliser from a deep passing move. That lasted all of 4 minutes, as a good aggressive header past a static defence restored the lead. Belgium troubled the French keeper once or twice, without any real chances in the second half. A late bit of controversy gave France a penalty. Depending on the view it was a natural movement of the arm, or a sneaky deliberate deflection. France missed the penalty, and Renard rushed the follow up, missing a sitter. Belgium left out a couple of players on yellows. So,they already had an eye on their final game, and I think that showed.

Super

Our badge is lovely. I was going to say "never say never" in case someone comes up with something. And then I see Nolan has just posted all the things I'd like in any replacement. 🙂

Tuned in just as they were reviewing a goal for the Dutch. Although it was ruled offside, it wasn't long before they got a third with a cracking strike. The commentators were saying how well Portugal had done in the second half, but it seemed to fizzle out. Lots of scrappy bits of play and tackles going in. Portugal looked tired and the Netherlands just a bit unhappy generally. Something to do with their coach behind the scenes perhaps, or just not being at their best.

Where do euros/world cup threads normally go? Double post after not being able to type past emoji. Although, I do wonder where Laura Rafferty would prefer the thread to be... 🙂

That was post one of a thousand in my Laura Rafferty, Saints international series. This is post two 🙂

I wonder how Southampton's Laura Rafferty will reflect on her time at the Euros as part of the Northern Ireland squad? 🙂

They read out a passing stat, with a massive difference between the two. But Spain didn't seem to have anything that would be more direct. Like you say, Germany were able to shut out all the passing moves around the box, that Spain were relying on.

Germany crushed any avenues for Spain's attack in the second half. Really compact lines. Spain had to go wide. I thought they'd persevere with that, but they prefer passing through the middle. But, even with a couple of unforced errors, Spain couldn't get back into it. All the possession and passing just seemed to drain them as the game wore on. Germany nearly pounced on a third, with Popp ruled to have gone over with no foul, when nearly through against the keeper. Spain will have to be careful not to lose second spot to Denmark.